Star Wars_ X-Wing 06_ Iron Fist - Aaron Allston [12]
“Demand is trickier. Zsinj’s records say he’s sort of a compulsive liar. So why hire people who are trained to see through those lies? My guess is that he doesn’t mind. He doesn’t lie to fool people—except his enemies, of course. He does it to entertain. To impress people with his brilliance.”
The remaining TIE fighter resumed firing on her; lasers flashed past her strike foils to blow through building walls below, and her stern shields took more hits.
Ahead and above was a crowd of high-altitude skimmers—aerial traffic following one of the posted routes. But these skimmers were all decorated with the colors of Coruscant police.
“Hey, fair game.” Shalla rose into the cloud of skimmers, flashing just below most of them, using them as a screen.
Her pursuer’s lasers hit skimmers all around her. Several detonated, raining shrapnel upon her.
When a skimmer ahead of her blew up, she decelerated as hard as she could and was vibrated by her snubfighter’s shudder. Half on main engines and half on repulsorlift landing engines, she rose through the cloud of flame and debris—
And as she cleared it she saw the other TIE fighter racing along ahead, not having anticipated her sudden deceleration. It was slowing now, preparing for one of the impossibly tight turns TIE fighters could manage.
She bracketed the TIE fighter with her heads-up display. The brackets went almost instantly from yellow to red and she fired, sending a proton torpedo straight into the Imperial vehicle’s cockpit. It detonated, a brilliant flash of light and debris.
Then Shalla’s view spun as she was hurled out of control. She saw a building side rushing toward her, frightened faces in the viewports—and then everything went black.
The canopy opened over her, admitting light. Runt, Kell, and Tyria stood nearby, all of them wearing headsets. “What happened?” Shalla asked, complaint in her voice.
Kell smiled. “You were hit by a skimmer. It was flying blind through that first explosion and slammed into you from the side.”
Shalla hissed in vexation and climbed out. “They say the city is a dangerous place.”
“Otherwise an excellent run,” Kell continued.
“So,” Runt said, “the Intelligence operatives are available, and Zsinj doesn’t mind that they can see through some of his deceptions. What else?”
Shalla gave the others a look. “Runt is pretty single-minded, isn’t he?”
They laughed. Kell said, “No, more like multiple-minded. But any one of his minds might get very focused.”
“I see.” She didn’t, but she figured she would eventually. She turned back to Runt. “Maybe it’s more than that Zsinj just doesn’t mind. Maybe he likes having an appreciative audience. Someone knowledgeable enough to understand what he’s doing and be impressed by it. He has to have a tremendous ego.”
Runt frowned. It wasn’t a proper human frown, but his very mobile eyebrows came down over his large, expressive eyes to suggest concentration. “He likes to be appreciated.”
“I think so.”
“He would enjoy playing the hero. Hero of the Empire.”
“Certainly. Why else make all these very public assaults on New Republic colonies and outposts? It’s not all for their strategic value. They’re not all valuable, and he could do more damage by being sneaky. It’s to show somebody that he’s a warrior. His audience, whoever that is.” She bent over, pressing her head to her knees, then straightened, arms high in the air, and began repeating the motion.
Tyria sighed. “She’s exercising. We have a compulsive exerciser.”
Shalla didn’t look up. “Just stretching. I get leg cramps when I’m in the cockpit too long.”
Kell said, “Her sister is like that, too. Always in motion. Want to drive her completely insane? Tie her to a chair for an hour.”
Shalla straightened and gave him her most wicked smile. “Try it, Lieutenant.”
“No, thanks.”
Wedge stood so fast that his chair slammed back into his office wall. “You promised her what?”
Phanan and Face were already standing. Face said, “We promised her nothing—except that we’d look into it.”
“Gentlemen, this is a matter for New Republic Intelligence.