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

Corran looked up and met Booster's stare openly. Wait-ing to see if I break,
aren't you? Waiting to see if I knuckle under. In a nanosecond Corran resolved
never to give in, never to change his opinion of Booster. While all Wedge had
said was true-and made damned good sense-Corran had been raised with his
father's rivalry with Booster Terrik. If I do give in, I've betrayed my father.
Or have If Corran frowned as he thought about his fa-ther and the life his
father had led. Hal Horn had lived for years with the knowledge that he was
really the son of a Jedi and subject to the extermination policy the Empire had
put in
place concerning Jedi. His father could have done anything to make himself safe.
He could have retreated to the hinterlands of some backwater world and become a
hermit, but he chose not to absent himself from the duty his father-fathers,
really-had acquitted. A Jedi helped maintain the peace and uphold the law. Hal
Horn did the same thing as best he could by working with CorSec, no matter that
his duties might ex-pose him to the Emperor's Jedi hunters.
Corran suddenly realized that his father's rivalry with Booster Terrik had not
been personal. Hal Horn had pur-sued Booster because Booster broke the law. Yes,
the fact that Booster evaded him repeatedly did frustrate him, but the basis of
his pursuit was always the same. He didn't let it get personal. I have and in
that I've betrayed my father. He glanced down for a moment and thought about
some of the exercises Luke Skywalker had urged him to try out. By mak-ing things
personal-Kirtan Loor and Zekka Thyne-I have betrayed the Jedi traditions my
father, in his own cautious way, tried to instill in me.
Corran's head came up as he stepped forward and ex-tended his hand to Booster.
"You're not my enemy. Never have been. I'm not yours. For the sake of your
daughter, the people we've got to save, and the memory of my father, I don't
want to fight with you anymore. Doesn't mean we won't disagree-perhaps even
violently at times-but you don't deserve my ill-will."
Surprise slowly blossomed on Booster Terrik's face. He started to say something,
then stopped. His hand came up and engulfed Corran's. "Normally I'd be angry
that I had misjudged you so badly, but you've reinforced just how good a judge
of character my daughter really is. And you're right, we'll disagree and I can
guarantee it'll be violent, but that's okay. We're Corellians. We can do that."
Wedge dropped his hand on top of theirs. "Good. You know, the Imps on Coruscant.
used to call two Corellians together a conspiracy. Three they'd call a fight."
"More fools they, then." Corran smiled. "Any Corellian knows three of us
together is a victory. It's time we remind Iceheart and the rest of Imp
holdovers of that very fact."
32
Corran glanced at the chronographic display on the X-wing's main monitor.
"Whistler, confirm that we're ten standard minutes past the time for the
rendezvous."
The R2 unit blatted out an annoyed tone.
"Fine, so I won't ask you to confirm how late they are anymore-at least not
every minute." Corran forced himself to exhale deeply and tried to draw in some
of the inner peace that Luke indicated such a cleansing breath should bring in
its wake. He failed, and that just heightened his frustration. De-spite
accepting the mission, he had not liked having to be the one to draw Isard's
agent into Yag'Dhul. While he knew the deception Booster and Wedge had planned
would certainly make the discovery of their base appear to be serendipitous,