Star Wars_ X-Wing 08_ Isard's Revenge - Michael A. Stackpole [9]
“Very much so.” She pulled her face back a couple of centimeters and arched a black eyebrow at him. “No tears of joy from you?”
He shrugged. “You’d have a flood, but it’s bad for the pilot image thing, you know?”
Whistler’s harsh blatting from above them stole any need for Mirax to reply.
She jerked a thumb in the droid’s direction. “He’s right; you pilots take this image thing much too seriously.” Mirax flicked a finger up under his chin. “Then again, guys who weep never have done much for me.”
“You love me for my stoic attitude then?”
“No, dear, it’s the lightsaber.” She swung around on his left, slipping her right arm around his waist. “Do you need to report for debriefing, or can I steal you away?”
Corran frowned. “I think we covered everything on the trip back from Bilbringi.”
“So you want to just go home and fall into bed?”
He shook his head as they threaded their way through the chaos the squadron’s return had created. “I got plenty of rack time on Home One during the trip.”
“Not the question I asked, husband.”
Corran blinked. “I guess I have been away too long.”
“I’m sure Mirax will think of ways for you to make up for lost time, Lieutenant.” Wedge Antilles smiled broadly. “I hear she’s very inventive.”
“Wedge!” Mirax launched herself into his arms and gave him a big hug. “I knew Thrawn wouldn’t get you.”
Wedge smiled and brushed Mirax’s black hair back off her shoulders. “Well, someone had to keep Corran alive. I didn’t want to have to come back to Coruscant here and tell you he’d died.”
“Not a worry, not once.” Mirax brushed a hand across the rank insignia on the chest of Wedge’s orange flight suit. The round-cornered rectangle contained five dots in a cross pattern. “A General? Oh, Wedge, your folks would have been so proud.” Leaning forward, she kissed him on the cheek.
“Thanks.” Wedge slipped from her embrace and glanced down. His face reddened slightly, then he looked up with a smile. “Not really what I planned for a life, but I’ve heard it said that life is what happens while you wait for plans to work.”
“I’ve heard that, too.” Mirax stepped back to Corran’s side and slid the fingers of her right hand through those of his left. “New rank and new responsibilities for you, I guess.”
“True.” Wedge frowned and looked around the hangar. “And I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask how you knew when to meet us and how you got in here. This is supposed to be a secure area.”
Mirax shot Corran a hard glance. “Been giving him suspicion lessons?”
Corran shook his head. “Not me. And I know the Terriks better than to ask such a question.”
“Good point, Corran.” Wedge nodded sheepishly. “I guess I should be thankful Booster hasn’t parked his Errant Venture here.”
Mirax laughed. “He would have, but he’s not fully trusting the story that Thrawn is gone. He thinks it’s a rumor meant to get him to bring his Star Destroyer out of hiding so Thrawn can add it to his fleet.”
Corran tapped a finger against his chin. “Booster versus Thrawn. Now there’s a match I’d pay money to see.”
“Just wait. Eventually Booster will decide that his jumping the EV around produced enough stories of an Impstar Deuce running around behind Thrawn’s lines that he was the reason Thrawn was distracted enough to die at Bilbringi.” Wedge smiled broadly. “Five years from now we’ll find we were flying with the Venture when we took out that Golan station.”
Mirax pressed fingers to Corran’s lips and gave him a glare that forestalled any comment about her father. “To answer your earlier question, General Antilles, your arrival was anticipated because Admiral Ackbar requested a party to welcome the squadron back. Emtrey, being efficient and interested in good value, communicated to me the needs for this celebration.”
Corran gently pulled Mirax’s fingers from his lips. “We’re having a welcome-home party catered by a droid?”
His wife smiled. “I gave him a choice: his budget or his selections. Things will kick off in your base recreation center about eight.”
Wedge nodded. “You making a ryshcate?”
“That