The Black Fleet Crisis_ Before The Storm Part 17

"I believe him because he wants the same things I do. "

"Or is smart enough to let you believe he does. "

"General, " Ackbar said reprovingly. "Princess, I must remind you that you are the one who agreed to meet with him alone. We are at a disadvantage in judging his motives. But that is not the issue. "

"What is? "

"Whether we are ready to accept that we are now a great power, " said Ackbar. "Princess, a third of that region is now aligned with the Republic. Another third or more is unclaimed, uninhabited, or under dispute. Even if you accept the Duskhan hegemony over all of Koornacht, they control barely a tenth of the region. We have every right to be there. "

"Because no government there can stop us? " demanded Leia. "Is that the morality you think the New Republic should be following? You sound more like an adviser to the Emperor. "

"Leia, we must follow our own principles, or they are meaningless, " said Ackbar. "Under Article Eleven of the Charter, we proclaim a principle of free navigation. Both interstellar s.p.a.ce and hypers.p.a.ce are owned by none, and open to all. We recognize no territorial claims beyond the boundaries of a single star system. Do you believe in the principle of free navigation? "

"Of course. "

"Then there is no precedent for the Duskhan League's claim to an entire star cl.u.s.ter, " said Ackbar.

"I am willing to accept that we will choose not to enter Koornacht at this time. I am not willing to accept that we have no right to go there. "

"It's what the Duskhan League is willing to accept that matters here. "

"Not more than our principles, " said A'baht.

"And not more than our own security. The idea that we should stay away from Farlax because it might upset the Yevetha is absurd. If it comes from them, it's unreasonable paranoia. If it comes from you, it's unreasonable timidity. "

Leia's eyes flashed dark anger. "General, you sound like you don't care about the possibility of alienating the Duskhan League. "

"If you're afraid to offend someone, they control you, " A'baht said. "And that's no way to govern. Or negotiate. No one respects weakness. "

"Is that all friends.h.i.+p is to you-weakness? "

"Treaties aren't built on friends.h.i.+p. They're built on mutual self-interest, or they're no more than polite lies. "

"You are quite the cynic, aren't you? "

"I'm afraid the general is right, " said Ackbar. "We must honor the same claims we make on our own behalf. But we cannot sacrifice our freedom of action simply to please a would-be ally. We cannot shackle our own hands simply to appease a possible enemy. If we do, we have given away our strength to them. We have raised them up and made them equal to when they are not. "

"I thought equality was another of our principles. "

"Between members of the Republic, yes. But even there, you must admit, some are more equal than others, " Ackbar said. "We must look to our own interests first, Princess, and our first and strongest interest here is to learn the fate of the Black Fleet. I would be more than glad if we confirm what the viceroy has told you. But we must confirm it. "

"The s.h.i.+ps about which Nil Spaar could say nothing are enough in themselves for concern, " said A'baht.

Leia ignored him, focusing her attention on Ackbar. "You feel that strongly about this? "

"Yes. If you do not agree to let the Fleet's orders stand, you will have to find someone to replace me, " said the Calamari. "I will have no choice. I cannot continue without your confidence. "

Leia closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly.

Searching her heart, she could not find the strength to resist Ackbar's earnest certainty. How could she place her judgment above his? This was his domain. She did not trust herself that much.

"Very well, " she said. "The orders stand. "

Han Solo knew that something was up when Leia came back to the president's residence in the middle of the afternoon. But he could never have guessed what she was going to ask him when she found him in the garden.

"Han, I need you to go with the Fifth Fleet on this mission. "

"What? That's crazy. What do you need me for? "

"It's A'baht, " she said. "I don't know if he really accepts my authority and judgment. "

"Then ask Admiral Ackbar to relieve him of command. You have a right to senior commanders you have confidence in. "

"There isn't anything I can point to to justify it, " Leia said. "He hasn't done anything wrong. I'm just not sure what he'll do when he's on his own out there. "

"That's reason enough, " said Han. ''Ackbar will understand. "

"No, " Leia said. "He won't. Han, I just have a feeling that I need to be there, by proxy, right at General A'baht's side. I can't explain it. The idea of watching the Fleet sail tomorrow without a friend on board makes me very afraid. "

"Why me? "

"You're the only person I trust completely, " said Leia. "And you have all the necessary clearances in place. "

"What about the kids?

"I've already talked to Winter. She's willing to come back and take over while you're gone. "

Han glowered. "That's not the way we decided it was going to be. "

"It'll be all right. I'll spend more time here. "

"You know A'baht's going to hate this, " said Han. "Commanders always hate feeling like they're being watched. And he's gonna take it out on me. "

"You'll bear up. "

"He's gonna expect me to be in full uniform. I'm gonna have to shave every morning-"

"I know I'm asking a lot, Han. The chances are it'll be a long, boring deployment. I hope it will be. "

"So why am I going? "

"Just in case I don't get my wish. "

He combed his fingers through his hair, then scratched the back of his neck vigorously. "Son of a-How you get me to do these things-" Leia hugged him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you, darling. "

"Yeah, that's how. " He sighed. "I'm gonna need to catch a shuttle up tonight, aren't I."

"By nine or so. They're holding a Fleet four-place for you at Eastport. "

"Then I'd better go in. I need to pack. "

Her arms tightened around him. "I already sent the valet to pack for you, " she said. "You need to stay here and hold me until the last possible second. "

"Right, " said Han. "That's what I was about to say. "

Chapter 9.

For twenty-two days Colonel Pakkpekatt's little armada had flown station with the Teljkon vagabond in deep s.p.a.ce near Gmar Askilon. In all that time the mystery s.h.i.+p had done nothing to acknowledge their presence.

The vagabond had not changed course, accelerated, decelerated, emitted any radiation, transmitted any coherent energy, altered its heat signature, or scanned the armada by any means known to the New Republic. It was coasting, seemingly inert, on the same heading it had been on when spotted by ferret IX-44 nearly three months before.

The armada had done its part to preserve the silence.

No messages had been sent to the vagabond. No active scanners had painted it with energy. No s.h.i.+p had approached closer than fifteen kilometers-respecting the facts that the Hra.s.skis contact had been at a radius of thirteen klicks and the debacle with the frigateBoldheart had been at a distance of ten.

Pakkpekatt's technical experts had captured countless images of the s.h.i.+p, using every band of the spectrum. They had modeled it in three dimensions for structural a.n.a.lysis. They had tried to correlate the visible structure and mechanisms with known technologies.

And for all that, there was still not much basis for choosing among the many possibilities. There were no sentient beings aboard. There were beings aboard once, but they had abandoned it. There were beings aboard once, but they were long dead.

There were beings aboard, but in hibernation. There were beings aboard, but their s.h.i.+p was disabled.

There were beings aboard, but they didn't consider the armada worthy of notice. There were beings aboard, waiting for Pakkpekatt to make the first move. There were beings aboard, waiting for Pakkpekatt to make a wrong move.

It was nearly impossible to have a conversation of any length without someone asking, "So, what's your guess? " Betting on one outcome or another had become rampant, and it was all Lando could do to make himself stay out of the action.

But when Lobot asked him privately, Lando opted for one of the less popular choices.

"Seems to me that this isn't much of a destination, but it's a pretty good place to hide, " Lando said. "Same with the other known sightings-all in deep interstellar s.p.a.ce. There's nothing out here to bring in even the low-rent crowd-prospectors, smugglers, short haulers. "

"Virtually all interstellar traffic goes by way of hypers.p.a.ce. "

"Which skips right over this neighborhood, " Lando said. "n.o.body goes to deep interstellar except pirates, and not many of them. This is about the loneliest place I've ever seen. And, something else-this s.h.i.+p doesn't seem to be in a hurry to get anywhere else. I don't think there's anyone on board. "

"Then what would be its purpose? "

"To hide something, " said Lando. "To keep something safe. Something incredibly valuable, considering the effort. I'm thinking what we have here is some sort of treasury s.h.i.+p. "

"There are twenty-two thousand, four hundred eight known cultures which entomb riches with the dead, " said Lobot, opening a link.

"That many? See, this could be some planetary potentate's tomb, packed to the scuppers with all his worldly goods. That'd explain a lot about why it's here, doing what it's doing. " Lando pursed his lips as he thought. "I like this notion a lot. "

"Tomb robbers are reported to be a common problem, " said Lobot, still processing the link he had opened. "Tomb design frequently incorporates traps, barriers, dead-end pa.s.sages, false entrances, and other defenses against intrusion. "

"Sounds like fun, " said Lando, showing an easy grin. "Maybe you'd better catalog all those defensive tricks, though. "

"I am doing so, " said Lobot. "Lando, my information suggests that tomb thefts are common immediately after construction is completed, unless the construction workers who have knowledge of the defenses are executed. Perhaps this vessel has already been entered. "

"If anyone else'd gotten inside that s.h.i.+p, they'd have taken her home with them, " said Lando, shaking his head. "She's still locked up tight and ready to fight. You watch tomorrow, when we violate the perimeter. If she doesn't put up a squawk, I'll walk back to Coruscant. "

The pilotless ferret D-89 had an appointment with an imaginary spot in s.p.a.ce, twelve kilometers directly astern of the Teljkon vagabond.

Racing in on a trajectory at right angles to that of the vagabond, it would slice across the imaginary defensive sphere surrounding the vagabond in the maneuver sailors call crossing the T. D-89's mission was to breach the perimeter much as the Hra.s.skis s.h.i.+p had, but not as aggressively as theBoldheart had.

"Minimal provocation, minimal risk to our a.s.sets, " Pakkpekatt had ordered.

According to the plan, the ferret would be inside the vagabond's defense perimeter for less than a second.

If the alien vessel tried to jump into hypers.p.a.ce, the interdiction pickets were directly ahead, ready to stop it.

"Like clapping your hands behind a sandfrog to make him jump into your net, " said Lando. "I hope the net holds, Colonel. "

"Do you have any reason to think it won't? "

Lando shrugged. "We don't know what sort of hypers.p.a.ce drive that s.h.i.+p has. An interdiction field designed for our engines might not work on it. "

"It is not a matter of design, but of principle. No hyperdrive can operate in the shadow of a planetary gravity well. Or so I am a.s.sured by my technicians. And I have confidence in their expertise. "

"I'll bet the captain of theBoldheart had confidence in his s.h.i.+elds, too, " Lando said. "A pity the Intelligence Service couldn't lay hands on a full-fledged Interdictor for this mission-"

"Here it comes, " Pakkpekatt said quietly.

"All recorders are on, " sang out Lieutenant Harona.

"All s.h.i.+elds at full strength. All commands report ready.

Interdiction field is ready. The captain of theLightning reports he is standing by to pursue if needed. "

"n.o.body blink, " Lando said under his breath.

In preparation for the intercept, Pakkpekatt had ordered that theGlorious be moved back from its usual trailing position fifteen klicks aft of the vagabond to the safer distance of twenty-five kilometers.

At that distance, the ferret would have been visible as a dot moving in swiftly from the right, the vagabond as an oblong dead ahead-if either s.h.i.+p had been lit by a nearby sun, carrying running lights or highlighted against the background of a bright nebula. None of those was the case, so there was nothing to see.

"Tracking, " said Pakkpekatt.

A red circle appeared around the position of the alien vessel. A moving green circle marked the progress of the ferret.

"Magnify center, right, " said the colonel.