Star Wars_ X-Wing 07_ Solo Command - Aaron Allston [31]
And there it was. Donos did have a future, as Ton did not. Donos could choose to abandon it and pursue his life of revenge, and then maybe … maybe … come back from it if he lived. Or he could just choose to live. Which meant doing something harder than he’d ever done before.
He might just have to forgive himself for letting his pilots die.
He might just have to initiate a conversation with a young woman who was suddenly important to him.
It was a spot where the hillside leveled out in a treeless glade some seventy meters in diameter. Without repulsorlifts, they could never have all landed upon it, but Rogue Squadron and Wraith Squadron arrayed themselves precisely, in neat rows and columns.
As the pilots scrambled out of their cockpits under the sliver of a moon, Wedge said, “Get those camouflage covers out. Transfer any fuel remaining from the auxiliary tanks into the interceptors. Snap it up. I want us blanketed down and out of sight in ten minutes. We have dawn in less than an hour. Hobbie, Corran, Asyr, Tal’dira, I want you out on first watch. Everyone else, four hours’ sleep. Face?” He crooked a finger.
He and Face took a few steps aside to be out of the bustle of pilot preparations. The ground underneath was covered by shin-high grasses that were too pale a green to be healthy-looking in Wedge’s eyes. “We had a pretty good look at the northeast approaches to Lurark. Did you see anything to give us new problems?”
Face shook his head. “I don’t think so. The big question is how to acquire transport—the city doesn’t seem to be set up for pedestrian traffic.”
“That’s up to you. Sleep on it.”
Face managed a rueful grin Wedge could barely see in the moonlight. “Oh, sure. As though I could sleep.”
• • •
Once he had the camo covers tied down over his X-wing and had made sure that his astromech, Clink, was settled in, Donos sought out Lara. He found her under her own camouflage cover, kneeling on the starboard S-foils of her snubfighter, whispering to her own R2, Tonin. He waited patiently until she emerged and extended a hand to help her down. “Could I have a word with you?” he asked, and was immediately annoyed with himself, at the formality of his voice.
“Of course.”
He led her into the deeper shadow between her X-wing and Kell’s TIE interceptor. “There’s something I wanted you to think about.” There, that was better—a more normal tone to his voice, in spite of the way his chest suddenly felt compressed. He was in full control again.
“What’s that?”
“Me.”
She looked at him, and one eyebrow went up, a mocking look. “Rebel pilots have the biggest egos in all the known universe …”
“Well it’s not like that. I’m asking out of a sense of fairness. Since I’m spending all this time thinking about you.”
Her smile faded. “Myn, I’m not amused.”
“Good. I’m not trying to amuse you. Look, I just spent a long time working up the nerve to bring this up with you at all. It was harder than almost anything I’ve done. So don’t be amused. Take it seriously.”
She took a step back from him, bringing her up against the wing array of Kell’s interceptor. “No, no, no. Just turn around and go find someone else to be interested in. I’m not right for you.”
He couldn’t keep the smile from coming to his face. “Oh, that’s a very good sign.”
“What is?”
“You didn’t say, ‘Go away, I don’t like you.’ You started suggesting reasons that are theoretically in my best interest.”
She wrapped her arms around herself, as though to protect herself from a chill, and glared. “I don’t like you.”
“Now you’re lying. You do that a lot, just like Face. I’m getting better at figuring out when you’re doing it.” He stepped in close. “You can’t get rid of me by lying to me.”
“I’m a mess. I’m barely fit to fly.”
“Me, too. We make a perfect couple.”
“If I don’t get killed, I’m sure my career is going to crater. I’m going to be a tremendous