Star Wars_ X-Wing 07_ Solo Command - Aaron Allston [51]
“Something like that. But you’re obviously too smart for that.”
Face shook his head. “Too experienced. A year ago, I’d have felt like bantha slobber after something like this. Maybe even a month ago. Now, I just feel pride for my pilots … and a realization that I’m going to be sleeping on my stomach for a while. By the way, I’m putting in a commendation for Kell for his initiative, and one for Lieutenant Janson for bravery.”
“Like he needs another one,”
“Maybe he can build a little fort out of them.”
Wedge smiled and departed.
There was another knock at his door.
“Come.”
Dia almost flew through the door. She wrapped her arms around his neck, high so as to avoid his bandages, and drew his face to hers for a kiss.
A long one. He held her to him, the two of them able, at long last, to be clear of the military traditions that made it inappropriate for them to embrace before the other pilots, to be able simply to appreciate that they were both still alive.
When she finally released him, it took him a moment to remember what he’d been up to recently. “I sure am glad you two arrived in the right order.”
She looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“I’d have hated to have offered you the chair and given the commander the kiss.”
She gave him a smile, the one she’d never displayed before the two of them became a couple, the smile that was only for him. “Let’s see what we can do so you’ll always remember to keep the order straight.”
Donos settled onto the stool next to Lara’s and looked across the bar. “Fruit fizz, double, no ice,” he said.
Lara looked curiously at him. “You know there’s no one tending bar.”
“Sure, but some of the old formalities have to be maintained.” Donos looked around. The two of them were the only people in the pilots’ lounge—not unusual, considering the lateness of the hour, and the way no one much felt like celebrating. “I was wondering if you’d thought about what I asked you to.”
“You, you mean.”
“Well, us, really.”
“Sure, I had plenty of time, when I wasn’t planting comm markers, shooting at stormtroopers, and tending the injured.”
“That’s what I thought.”
She gave him an exasperated look. “Lieutenant, will you give me an absolutely honest answer?”
“Call me Myn. Sure.”
“What do you want from me?”
He took a deep breath, stalling as he composed his answer. “I want to get to know you better. What I do know, what I’ve seen, suggests that we’d be good together. I want you to stop saying it can’t ever be—stop throwing that up as a theory and let us accumulate some evidence. I want to make you smile with something other than a wisecrack. I want to know who you really are.”
Her laugh, sudden and hard, startled him. “Oh, no, you don’t.”
“Try me. Lara, does anyone know who you really are?” That put a stop to her hard-edged amusement. She had to take a moment to consider. “No.”
“Even yourself?”
“Least of all me.”
“So how do you know no one can love you for what you are? Until you know, you can’t have friends, you can’t even really have family—you have to be absolutely alone in the universe.” He took a moment to settle his thoughts. “Lara, I just want you to give me a chance. But even more, even if it’s not with me, I’d really like to see you give yourself a chance.”
She looked away from him, studying the gleaming brown surface of the bar top. Real wood, protected by so many coats of clear sealant that it shone like glass. He could see thoughts maneuvering behind her eyes, could see her examining them as if measuring and weighing trade goods. But her expression wasn’t clinical; it was sad.
Finally, her voice quiet, she said, “All right.”
“All right, meaning exactly what?”
“All right, I’ll stop avoiding you. All right, let’s get to know one another.”
“All right, let’s find out if we have some chance of a future together?”
She looked back up at him. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to break your heart.”
“Well, that’s a step in the right direction. Can I break yours, too?”
She didn’t smile. “Maybe you already have.”
Normally, taking news to the warlord didn’t cause