"The New Rebellion (Kristine Rusch)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

No. There it was again. The hollowy inhale of someone breathing through a
mask.
Jarril swallowed. As he turned, he put his hand on his blaster.
Two stormtroopers faced him, blasters already trained on him. "Where do
you think you're going?" one of them asked. The voice was unrecognizable
through the helmet's mouthpiece.
Then Jarril realized they weren't stormtroopers. They were wearing his
cargo. He recognized the battle scorch on the helmet on the right.
They must have come on the ship wearing other clothing. They had put on
the stormtrooper uniforms to scare him? He wasn't afraid of stormtroopers. At
least, not stormtroopers wearing his own haul.
"I think it's high time to leave Coruscant, don't you?" Jarril asked. He
wished he knew whom he was addressing.
"We plan to leave," the other trooper said, "after you tell us your
business here." "I was visiting an old friend," Jarril said.
"Strange time to be visiting," the first stormtrooper said.
"Strange time to be helping yourselves to my equipment," Jarril snapped.
"It's ours ultimately," the second stormtrooper said.
"You don't want to get caught wearing those on Coruscant," Jarril said.
"We won't get caught," the first stormtrooper said. He nodded his helmet
toward Jarril. "Put down the blaster." Jarril shrugged and let go. "I wasn't
going to use it anyway." "Tell us again why you're on Coruscant." "Why are
you?" Jarril said. "Did you have anything to do with that bombing?" "We'll ask
the questions," said the second stormtrooper.
Jarril swallowed. His head was woozy from exertion on top of too many
drinks. It was his ship. He should be able to find a way out of this. "I was
following a lead." "A lead," said the first stormtrooper. "I thought you were
visiting an old friend." "Where'd you think I was going to get the lead?"
"From Han Solo, husband to the leader of the New Republic?" They had followed
him. He wasn't going to be able to talk his way out of this one. He grabbed
the control console, but too late. A well-placed blaster shot hit his hands.
He screamed as pain burned through him.
He clutched his hands to his stomach and looked at the troopers. "What do
you want with me?" he asked, voice shaking.
"To silence you forever," said the first stormtrooper.
And then they did.


SIX

Luke had seen the medical center near the Imperial Palace this full
only once before, and that had been in the days after the Empire attack that
had forced the New Republic leadership to lead. A long time ago now, but it
felt close, with all these wounded around him. Wounded waited in reception
areas just like guests, while medical personnel found beds for them, or moved
them to more-specialized wings of the medical center.
Luke walked among them, feeling more shaken than he had when he learned
of the attack.
Familiar faces, some gray with pain, others so scarred he could barely
recognize them, looked away from him. The attack had to have been horrible. He