Star Wars_ X-Wing 03_ The Krytos Trap - Michael A. Stackpole [149]
She’s right, it is all my fault that she’s being embarrassed by the attention, but I’m glad she’s alive to be blushing. As nearly as Cracken and his Intelligence people could make out, Erisi had betrayed the bacta convoy to the Empire for two reasons. The first was to eliminate a lot of bacta, dashing hopes on Coruscant and driving the price yet higher. The second reason was to get Mirax killed, since her Pulsar Skate was one of the ships in the convoy. Mirax recalled Erisi threatening her if Mirax continued her relationship with Corran, and the destruction of the convoy offered Erisi a way to kill her rival for Corran’s affections. Given that everyone thought Corran was dead at the time, the act was taken as a reflection of Erisi’s vindictive and petty nature.
Then again, Isard might have told Erisi of Corran’s survival and promised him to her as a reward for her continued loyalty. Wedge shivered at that thought. Luckily for Mirax, the Pulsar Skate didn’t go along with the final convoy jump. Mirax had instead shipped out to Borleias, where the captured Alderaan Biotics Facility was put to use synthesizing rylca. The plan had been for it to appear as if Mirax had just stolen a portion of the bacta going to Coruscant—what smuggler could have resisted taking such a prize? She would have remained out of sight until the production of rylca could allow the New Republic the freedom to anger the hacta cartel by announcing their possession of a facility that could produce enough bacta-like products to break the cartel. The death of the convoy provided an even better cover for her operation, so she remained dead until an opportune moment to reveal the deception.
Mon Mothma faced the holocams one last time. “Citizens of the New Republic, the last vestige of the Empire’s evil has been rooted out of Coruscant. What was once an Empire is now just a collection of bitter people clutching at whatever power they can find to keep themselves apart from those they have hurt. What they do not realize, and the reason they are doomed to failure, is that all power in the galaxy comes from the free and willful investing of power by one person in another. Human and non-human, gendered or not, young, old, hale or infirm, we can only give power, we cannot take it. Stolen power evaporates and when it does, the empires that were built on it and of it collapse, never to rise again.”
46
Wedge found it mildly annoying that he was able to resist the generally festive atmosphere of the reception following the awards ceremony. Various guests mixed and mingled with members of the squadron while holocams made the most of every holo-op. The images would be distributed throughout the New Republic, winning a small measure of the unit’s fame for the politicians and other celebrities present.
Though he was inclined to view such opportunism with a cynical eye, he didn’t condemn it. The Rebellion had won. Hundreds and hundreds of worlds flocked to the New Republic’s banner. The New Republic fleet was poised to go after Warlord Zsinj in a campaign that would strike fear into the hearts of all the other petty warlords in the galaxy. Even Ysanne Isard had to know her days were numbered, since there was no way the New Republic could let her remain in control of the bacta supply. With the installation of Fliry Vorru as Thyferra’s Minister of Trade, bacta prices had already started to climb, making that situation one that could not be tolerated.
The reason the celebration failed to reach him went beyond his sense of mourning for Iella Wessiri. She had declined to accompany him to the reception, and he understood why. No one saw Diric as anything but one more of Iceheart’s victims, out Iella clearly thought she should have been able to spot something, to have known Diric was under Iceheart’s control. The obvious implication of that thinking was that if she had been more vigilant