Star Wars_ X-Wing 07_ Solo Command - Aaron Allston [94]
There was more to it than that, details Wedge couldn’t give his pilots. There were no Imperial-held worlds on the task force’s hit list, because General Solo was forwarding to Admiral Teren Rogriss that same information about Zsinj’s business dealings. New Republic Intelligence would be ferreting out Zsinj-held businesses in New Republic territories, hoping to use some to lure Zsinj into a trap, cutting off Zsinj’s precious pipelines of money and matériel from others … and Imperial Intelligence would be doing exactly the same thing in Imperial-controlled territories.
General Solo and Admiral Rogriss, senior officers of two enemy governments making agreements that would be easy to interpret as treasonous … Wedge had to shake his head over that. It took a menace like Zsinj to make temporary allies of two men who would otherwise be bitter opponents.
“So. Mission One.” He shifted the holoprojector image to a single solar system, that of a red gas giant. “This is the Belsmuth system in Zsinj-controlled space. On the second planet in the system is what used to be one of the Empire’s finest technical universities. Now it’s an academy for Zsinj’s pilots and officers. Two days from now, it’s going to be a series of craters. Rogue Squadron will escort Nova Squadron in from north of the facility …”
“Lieutenant Petothel. Delighted to meet you.”
At the foot of the ladder to her X-wing cockpit, Lara shucked her helmet and turned to face the speaker. The man advancing toward Lara was tall and lean, with the crudest features she’d ever seen on a human being. The nails on the hand he offered gleamed like mirrors. She suspected that they were as sharp as a vibroblade.
She put on a broad smile that masked the sudden churning in her stomach. “I recognize your voice. General Melvar?” She took his hand.
“Correct. Welcome to Iron Fist. And thank you for dressing for the occasion.”
Lara smiled. She’d left her New Republic flight suit at Hawk-bat Base and was now dressed in a TIE fighter’s black jumpsuit, though it was adorned with the standard X-wing flight gear. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to be here at last.”
Melvar’s gesture took in her X-wing and her astromech, which was now being extracted from its berth by a hangar electromagnet. “Are you making a presentation to us of this vehicle?”
“No.” She laughed. “This Rebel starfighter and its astromech are all the property I have in the galaxy. If the warlord doesn’t choose to employ me, I’ll need them to continue on. To find someplace to call home.”
“Oh, I think the least you can count on is a medium-term civilian contract. You’re far more likely to receive an officer’s posting on Iron Fist. But let’s find out.” Melvar led Lara out of the hangar, which otherwise was occupied by Imperial-style vehicles and personnel. From the number of TIE interceptors and Lambda-class shuttles, she suspected that this was the senior officers’ hangar.
She was sure of it a minute later—its proximity to Zsinj’s personal office made it a certainty. She was led into the presence of the warlord like an honored guest. Zsinj actually rose as she entered the office, giving her a little formal bow. “Gara Petothel. So happy to meet you at last.”
“You’re the warlord,” she said, keeping her voice pert. “I won’t try to compete with you in degrees of happiness.”
Zsinj’s smile broadened. “Very good. She gives me my due, yet steals it back by making her presence the one that induces more happiness. Did you see that, General?”
“I saw.” The general hovered, standing a meter behind Lara’s chair, to the left. She forced herself to stay relaxed. She couldn’t let him know how tense his presence made her.
“Lieutenant Petothel—may I call you Gara, at least until we have questions of your employment settled?”
“Please do.”
“Gara, we must know.” The general’s mobile features took on an expression of sympathy, of worry. “We dispatched a team to make arrangements for your employ, and possibly your extraction, to Aldivy. We received word from their contacts several days later that our agents had been found—or,