Star Wars_ X-Wing 05_ Wraith Squadron - Aaron Allston [114]
They broke into laughter at his words and he didn’t dare ask why.
21
As the world of Storinal grew in Narra’s viewscreen, the Wraiths still hadn’t finalized their plans.
There were too many unknown factors, Wedge reflected. Storinal was still under Imperial control, but at the very edge of Imperial space, and said to be leaning toward possible alliance with the New Republic or Warlord Zsinj. The Wraiths could count on running into Imps, and might run across factions of the other two groups. Possible complications there.
Exactly which disease agent they’d be using on the crew of the Hawkbat was an unknown. Phanan wanted to make that decision at the last minute, based on what was available on the planet’s surface and what they could find out about the crew of the Hawkbat. It wouldn’t do to use a biological agent that meant mild illness for most of the crew but death to others. Fortunately, many of Zsinj’s ships appeared to follow Imperial recruiting doctrine—employ no nonhumans if at all possible—which helped limit that danger.
There was the matter of stealing a pair of TIE fighters. The planet was probably swarming with them … but how good was Imperial security? The mission called for the Wraiths to locate and select their target fighters and perform all steps of their acquisition except the actual theft … and then wait until other elements of the mission were completed before launching for space with their new acquisitions. In the middle would be a wait that could be very dangerous.
The whole mission offered little but questions at this stage. Fortunately, it will offer nice scenery while we’re chewing the details, Wedge decided. Night Caller’s library record of Storinal displayed image afer image of lushly green countryside, rivers cascading down stepped hillsides, forest-sized tropical flower gardens, and cities of graceful lines and dimensions occasionally interrupting the world’s natural vistas. The people of Storinal were said to be steeped in a philosophy of beautification that extended to their world, making it one of the most gorgeous in what was left of the Empire, and a favorite center of tourism among those who enjoy natural delights. Falynn, of course, had looked through the data and decided, “Looks humid.”
Then there was the problem of clearing customs. Were they coming down to the planet aboard a cruise vessel or as part of the crew of a large military ship, they could blend in with fair ease and be accelerated through the routine inspection offered to large, precleared groups. But they’d be arriving in a private shuttle. They’d receive close, individual inspection. Face’s plan was to make them stereotypes, types very familiar to customs officials so their inspectors would dismiss them and give them the minimum likely inspection … but that could go wrong, too.
There were even unknown factors among his own team. In the space of two days, things had shifted, changed as though a rock slide had come through. Donos was functional again. Falynn Sandskimmer was cozying up to him once more, but this time he seemed to be reciprocating the sentiment. Kell and Tyria, though they did not advertise it, made no attempt to hide the fact that they were together. Kell himself seemed looser, more at ease, his very presence no longer causing fits to Janson. All these changes seemed to be improvements, especially in light of how down the Wraiths had been after Jesmin’s death … but Wedge was slow to embrace so many changes all at once.
At least they did have one piece of simple good fortune involving Storinal. The planet, despite its Imperial ties, had a small but visible population of Gamorreans. Most were guards whose chief role was to be visible and exotic for the entertainment of tourists. So Piggy would be able to move with the other Wraiths.
“Routine planetary inquiry,” Kell announced. “Means we’ve wandered into their outermost sensor