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

effective. I would imagine they will also try to infil-trate some of the tanker
crews so they can hijack more ship-ments. Our losses-and we will have
some-should be minimal."
Isard's eyes half-closed. "Minimal losses to us will still be enough to let them
finance their war against us."
"True, but the fact is that time runs in our favor, not theirs. We have a number
of ways to deal with them, but their threat will not be ended until we locate
their base and destroy it."
Isard pressed two fingers against her lips for a moment.
"The elimination of their base has always been the way to deal with them. What
other plans do you have in mind?"
Vorru smiled hesitantly. "The prime method of eliminat-ing their ability to
fight against us is for us to open up our storage wells and make an abundance of
bacta available."
"No!" Erisi and Ysanne looked at each other in surprise as their joint
denunciation of that suggestion echoed loudly through the room. Isard shook her
head. "That would kill the price of bacta and loosen the dependency of others
upon us."
"Agreed, but we can survive the momentary weakness, Rogue Squadron cannot. The
strength of the bacta price is their strength. Take it away, and they are left
penniless. Karrde won't speak with them. They will be unable to main-tain their
spacecraft and will no longer appear to be friends worth protecting. Make bacta
abundant, offer a reward to bring Antilles and his people in, and hint that
bacta will re-main abundant if they are captured or betrayed to you and Antilles
is done."
Even as he outlined the plan, Vorru knew Isard would reject it. It is the
easiest and most bloodless of the plans needed for getting rid of Antilles. She
will reject it because it does not satisfy her sense of revenge. She wants him
to suffer, not wither. I doubt she recognizes she should reject it because of
the backlash she will suffer among the Xucphra people when their standard of
living crashes.
Isard slowly shook her head. "Antilles has defied me di-rectly and has killed
one of my Destroyers. I want him dead, I want Horn dead and the others, but I
want them to know I was the hand behind it, not market vagaries. Moreover,
relin-quished power is power that is not easily recovered. Next."
"The other plan is the current one-a plan that requires vigilance and patience.
We keep seeking information and then pounce when we know where he is." Vorru
shrugged stiffly. "The problem with this plan is that it is frustrating, since
we cannot act until we know where he is based. That could take three months,
six, a year."
"Unacceptable." Isard shook her head adamantly. "I am not going to sit back and
allow Antilles free rein while I just wait. This situation cannot be allowed to
mature further. We
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need action. I want to kill something, and I want to use her pilots to do it."
Isard pointed an unwavering ringer at Erisi. "If your pilots are truly elite,
killing something should not be beneath them."
Vorru felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Halanit was a disaster, yet she
would repeat it. "Madam Director, a raid right now would be a waste of people,