"Michael Stackpole "The Bacta War"" - читать интересную книгу автора

fleet, so I concluded there must have been three War Cruisers. The Valiant and
the other two were the last three built in that class, were commissioned, and
then were immediately decommissioned. Unlike the other ships the Alderaanians
had used in the Clone Wars-which were strapped and melted down into peace medals
that were pre-sented to the crews and surviving families as mementos- there were
no records of scraps being sent out to crews. Nor are there records of crews
having served on them, so I have concluded that they were immediately refitted
with droids to accompany the War Frigate Another Chance."
Booster's jaw hung open. "You remembered all that and figured it all out?"
Mirax laughed. "Winter has a holographic memory. She
remembers everything she sees, hears, or experiences, includ-ing that dumb look
you're giving her."
Booster snapped his mouth shut, then shook his head. "Then remember this: Never
have children."
Wedge snorted out a quick laugh. "Crumbs don't fall far from the Hutt's mouth,
Booster."
"Thanks a lot, Wedge." Mirax gave him a hard stare, but softened it with a
smile.
"Sorry, Mirax. Winter, what are the chances that Cour-age and Fidelity are still
out there?"
"Won't have any way of estimating that until we get a look at Valiant's inner
workings. Emtrey thinks he can find a way in, and he now has Whistler helping
him slice some code. Zraii is nearly shedding his carapace over a chance to work
on the Valiant, so my guess is that they'll have it open and functioning to our
satisfaction within a couple of weeks."
"That's something, then." Wedge glanced at Booster. "You want the Valiant, or is
it too small for you?"
"I'm sure you can find someone else who is better suited to commanding it."
Booster forced a yawn. "Overseeing a crew of droids would be more boring than I
care to imagine. You should give the job to that protocol droid of yours."
Corran laughed. Trying to visualize Emtrey on the bridge of a ship issuing
commands produced ridiculous images in his mind. "By the time he informed his
crew of his qualifications, they'd mutiny."
Wedge and the others who had worked with Emtrey joined Corran in laughter. Wedge
ended his laugh with a cough, then cleared his throat. "I think Emtrey is better
suited to be an Executive Officer, not a Commander. I do think, however, we've
got someone who has the skills we need and could get more out of a droid crew
than anyone else." He reached out with his right hand and touched Aril Nunb on
her left shoulder. "You've flown more than fighters. Inter-ested in commanding a
War Cruiser?"
Her deep red eyes widened in surprise, then she nodded. "That's a job I can
handle. I may need Emtrey to help me."
"He's all yours." Wedge gave her a nod, then smiled at the others. "Okay, I
think we've got some directions in which
we can head and some operations to plan. We got lucky this time, but from here
on out, we manufacture luck. The good we'll keep and the bad will go to Isard.
She missed her best chance to kill us off, and I see no reason to give her
another one."
26
The apathetic mask Fliry Vorru had fitted onto his face cracked. He'd managed to