Star Wars_ X-Wing 07_ Solo Command - Aaron Allston [87]
“Wraith Three, power down or I’ll be forced to fire.” The words were being choked out, the voice identifiable as Tyria’s.
“Wraith Four, this is Wraith One. Do not fire, whatever happens. This is not the same as the Jussafet situation. Acknowledge.”
“Acknowledged, sir.”
Lara, her voice raspy with pain, said, “Maybe you ought to let him shoot me, sir. Get out of the way.”
“Shut up, Two.”
Face’s sensor board howled, a new noise—the distinctive wail signifying a proton-torpedo launch. Donos had fired.
“Wraith Three, detonate your torp now.” Face made no effort to keep alarm out of his voice; that would have required concentration. He maintained his position immediately behind Lara’s X-wing and put all available power to his rear shields. He kept his free hand on his ejection lever. “Three, blow the torp, I’m your target.” From the moment of launch he had only a few seconds before the torpedo hit, and most of that time was already gone. “Detonate, dammit!”
The universe behind Face filled with bright blue fire. His stern shuddered as though he’d been rammed and his cockpit was suddenly filled with smoke, the howl of damage alert sirens, Vape’s mechanical shrieks of dismay, and the rumble and tremble of failing vehicle systems.
But he was still alive. Either the proton torpedo had detonated at the very outer edges of his rear shields, or Donos had detonated it prematurely—barely prematurely.
Bitter anger swelled within him. “Congratulations, Three,” he said. “I may be your newest kill.”
Donos jerked upright in his cockpit, confusion clearing from his mind like smoke sucked into hard vacuum. On his sensor screen, Wraith One was maneuvering erratically as Two continued on the straight-line course she’d been assigned. “Face—One. I’m sorry—” He tried to regain control of his voice, his thoughts. “Hold tight. I’m coming in for a flyover. I’ll check external damage.”
His astromech, Clink, shrieked at him and the shrill tone of an enemy targeting lock assailed his ears. That, and Tycho’s voice, hard and cold as Donos had ever heard it. “Abort that maneuver, Wraith Three.”
“But Captain, I’m closest, I have to see—”
“Deviate from your current course and I will blow you out of space.” There was no questioning the deadly seriousness of Tycho’s tone. “Wraith Four, do a flyby on Wraith One and report signs of damage. Wraith One, do you copy?”
Face’s voice was nearly as cold as Tycho’s, but his words were harder to understand, drowned by the cockpit alarms from his damaged snubfighter. “I read, Rogue Two. My fighter’s holding together for the moment.”
“Good. Wraith Two, swing back around and form up with the group.”
There was a perceptible delay. Then Lara’s voice came back, strained, but not racked with pain as it had been moments ago. “I don’t think so, Rogue Two.”
“That’s an order, Wraith Two, a direct order.”
“I’ve already surrendered once,” she said, “and have subsequently been fired on by an officer of this group. I no longer have any faith that I’ll survive long enough to meet a court-martial.”
“Wraith Two, this is Rogue Leader. You know you’ll make it now. The situation is under control.”
It was true; Donos was maintaining straight-line flight under Tycho’s guns. He wasn’t sure he was capable of doing anything but following orders. It wasn’t fear of death at Tycho’s hands that kept him in line—it was shock at what he was certain he’d just done.
“What I know is that you don’t believe me,” Lara said. “You don’t believe that I’m a loyal Wraith. You don’t believe that I’ve never done anything to compromise this unit.”
Wedge abandoned the formality of call numbers. “Lara, if what you’re saying is the truth, the court will bear you out. I can confidently state that Nawara Ven will take your case. He’s the best.”
“But that’s it for me with the Wraiths. I’ll never be able to fly with you again. I’ll never be able to help you. To get you out of a jam. I can never undo what I’ve done. Never.”
“You’re probably right, Lara. That’s the way it is. Now come around.”
When her voice returned, it was not Wedge she addressed.