Star Wars_ X-Wing 07_ Solo Command - Aaron Allston [119]
She sat up, her tiredness apparently forgotten for the moment. “Is this everything you have on this chamber?”
YES, FOR NOW.
“We need more. Get a holocam droid into that chamber, assign it there permanently. And get a droid with a computer link in behind the walls, see what sort of data we can intercept. This is really important.”
IT WILL BE DONE.
“Now, I’ve got to sleep.” She flopped back onto the bed. “Concussions are no fun.”
DON’T DO THAT ANYMORE.
Admiral Rogriss froze with his wineglass halfway to his lips. “You want what?”
Face smiled. “Surely you have one available.”
Rogriss set his glass down with a thump. “Available to me, yes. I can’t make it available to you.”
“Even to destroy Zsinj?”
“Even then. Factor in the likelihood that Iron Fist will destroy her. Factor in the likelihood that you Rebels will destroy her—accidents do happen. Then append the certainty that you’ll take the credit for Zsinj’s destruction regardless. I become a failure who, at worst, collaborated with the enemy and, at best, lost an Interdictor cruiser. No, no, no.”
“Well, we can do a lot of things to keep this from happening,” Face said. “First, we’ll assign two of our own Imperial Star Destroyers to protect your Interdictor. Second, if you inform only the most trusted members of the Interdictor’s bridge crew that they’re temporarily working with the New Republic, the majority of the crewmen will never figure it out—they’ll see our Star Destroyers out of their ports and presume that they’re Imperial. Later, you can say that the Interdictor blundered into a fight between the New Republic and Zsinj and was able to get in the killing blow while everyone else was figuring out whom to shoot.”
“What will you give me?”
Face frowned. “How’s that again?”
“If I do this, I’ll be giving you an Interdictory even temporarily. Will you give me, say, a Mon Calamari cruiser for one of my missions?”
“I’ll give you a framed and autographed holo of Face Loran, Boy Actor.”
Rogriss brightened. “Excellent! I can trade it for a framed and autographed holo of Tetran Cowall. I always preferred his holodramas anyway.”
Face seized his chest over his heart. “A good shot, Admiral. I concede the duel.” Then he gave the admiral his most frank and evaluative stare. “Realistically, you’re not giving us anything. You’re joining us on a mission of mutual interest. If we succeed, we both win. If you lose your Interdictor, you can be assured we’ll have lost both Imperial Star Destroyers assigned to protect it … and many more ships besides. I guess it boils down to the question of what’s more important—accomplishing your Zsinj mission because it’s good for the Empire or because it’s good for Admiral Rogriss.”
The admiral touched his own chest, an echo of Face’s gesture. “You shoot well yourself.” He looked away, at the white bulkhead wall, and was silent for several long seconds. “I’ll do it,” he said.
“I’m glad.”
“We must have a rendezvous point.” The admiral held up his wineglass.
Face touched it with his own. “Good to be collaborating with you, Admiral.”
Lara could almost feel the stare of Tonin’s holocam eye on her. The R2 had been very solicitous since her return from the Comkin mission. Worse, it seemed to sense the way her spirits lowered as she reviewed the data they continued to receive from the secret chamber on Iron Fist.
It was awful stuff. She didn’t get into the worst of it in the summary she recorded for Mon Remonda. The attached data file would give the New Republic the most gruesome details.
“Project Chubar is what they call the techniques used to raise the intelligence of sapient and near-sapient beings. The name derives from a character in a series of children’s holos about a bilar, a cute mammalian creature, who is a clever pet of a young girl. The holos used animated graphics instead of actors. It’s a twisted sort of touch that Face Loran supplied the voice for Chubar. Maybe you ought not tell him that one of his roles was the inspiration for the name of the project. Anyway,