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

doors could open. "I have the turbo-lifts regularly swept, so I know we are safe
for the moment. I ask you this, realizing I now place us at more risk than ever
before. Do you feel, as I do, that Madam Director Isard is not viewing the same
reality we are?"
Erisi's eyes narrowed. "Do I think she is insane?"
"Yes."
"Quite." Erisi twisted around and faced him fully. "An-tilles consumes her. If
he is not dealt with shortly, she could destroy Thyferra. This is not to say I
doubt her ability to eliminate Antilles-she is most dangerous in that regard."
"But you would be in favor of having contingency plans that guarantee the
survival of the Bacta Cartel no matter what happens to her."
"Exactly. You've read my mind."
"Only because our thoughts run in parallel." Vorru again hit the emergency
button and the door slid open. "Let us bravely face out fate and deal with the
future it presents us."
As they neared Isard's doorway, Vorru held a hand up, stopping Erisi. He
preceded her into the room and bowed politely in Isard's direction. "I came as
quickly as I was able, Madam Director." He half-expected her to jump all over
him, but as she turned, she just nodded.
Isard brandished a holoprojector remote control, then let a thin grin tug at the
corners of her flatline mouth. "Good, Commander Dlarit is here, too. I only need
do this once." She stabbed the remote at an unseen receptor and suddenly
Cap-tain Sair Yonka appeared life size, standing before her. "This is a
wonderful display of treachery."
Yonka's figure bowed to the room. "Madam Director Ysanne Isard, I regret not
being able to bring you this mes-sage personally, but not that much. In the time
I have been
associated with you I have found you to be sociopathically self-centered, prone
to irrational and impulsive reactions to situations, and prey to a preference
for appearance over sub-stance. I have no doubt these affectations were seen as
skills by the late Emperor, and indeed may have enhanced your ability to comply
with his orders, but by no means are these the traits that make for great, or
even adequate leadership."
Vorru killed the impulse to applaud. The fact that Sair Yonka wore a black suit
of military styling, yet lacking any military insignia, struck Vorru as
appropriate. Yonka was not abandoning his military background, just severing his
con-nection to Isard. The first mynock to flee a ship burning into an
atmosphere. Yonka's tone of voice-even, but full of con-viction-sharply
contrasted with the .fury clearly building in Isard.
"I have, upon reflection, come to the conclusion that fur-ther service to you
would be to condone and support an evil that perhaps would seem insignificant
when grouped with the Emperor, Darth Vader, and Prince Xizor. I sincerely doubt,
however, the billions of victims who have suffered because of you would be so
sanguine about you. I hereby resign your service and renounce allegiance to you
and what you repre-sent. The same goes for my crew, save those loyalists you had
aboard the Avarice. When informed of the new order of things, they hijacked a
Lambda-class shuttle and forced us to destroy them."
Yonka clasped his hands behind his back. "I know your intent will be to hunt us
down and exterminate us. There is no doubt that with the Virulence and Lusankya,
you could do just that, but you won't get that chance. Most of my career has