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

primarily because plans and orders are originating with us, not being passed
down from above."
Everyone nodded in assent with his remarks, so Wedge continued. "Corran Horn
began this whole thing by resigning from Rogue Squadron first, but he's agreed
to let me lead this group. I've appointed Tycho Celchu as my second in com-mand.
Lady Winter is our Intelligence Officer as well as han-dling part of the
Quartermaster duties. Mirax Terrik is handling the other half of those duties.
Tycho will let you know what we've got in the way of supplies."
Tycho turned around in his seat. "We have a fair number at credits-approximately
seventeen million, give or take."
Gavin laughed. "Seventeen million, I'll take."
"So would a lot of other folks, which is precisely what they want to do." Tycho
frowned. "Rumors of what hap-pened at the reception, despite the spin the New
Republic Information Ministry tried to put on it, have spread quickly. While we
are getting a lot of support, the folks who deal in the things we need to
accomplish our mission know how des-perate we are. Right now we have one
X-wing-Corran's ship-and the services of Mirax's Pulsar Skate. Other ships are
fairly dear. I would imagine, to get the fighters we need, we'll probably end up
hiring mercenaries who come with their own equipment. This shouldn't surprise
anyone, though the prices might. All the little Warlords out there are looking
for fighters, so its a seller's market."
Standing at the front of the room, Wedge nodded. "That's getting a bit ahead of
ourselves, but it's worth keep-ing in mind. We've got some basic data to mull
over first, concerning our objectives. Winter has put them together." Wedge
pointed to the holoprojector toward the front of the room. "Winter, if you
please."
Winter stood and walked to the front of the room with a stately grace that left
no question in Wedge's mind why peo-ple on Alderaan had frequently mistaken her
for Princess Leia Organa. Though Winter wore her white hair long and, today, in
a thick braid, she carried herself with a nobility that matched her exquisite
features. Slender and stunning, she seemed somehow incongruous with the
dangerous missions she'd been on during her career as a covert agent for the
Rebellion.
Which is exactly why she was never suspected.
Winter picked up the datapad that was connected by a cable to the holoprojector.
She hit one button, dimming the glow panels in the room and bringing up a
holographic pro-jection of a planet. "This is our objective: Thyferra. It is a
fairly normal terrestrial planet with a breathable atmosphere and two moons,
neither of which has atmosphere or is inhab-ited. Thyferra is covered with rain
forests and enjoys a day that is roughly twenty-one point three standard hours
long. The axial tilt is negligible so there are really no seasons. Be-cause of
its proximity to the system's star, a yellow star, and
the mildly elevated levels of carbon dioxide in the atmo-sphere, it maintains a
tropical climate year round. The way Coruscant felt after the storms that took
down the power grid is pretty much what this planet experiences all the time."
Wedge frowned. To take the power grid down and elimi-nate the defense shields on
Coruscant, Rogue Squadron had caused a lot of water to boil off into the
atmosphere, creating a huge thunderstorm. For a week and a half following that
storm the air had been thick and heavy. No wonder the plant that goes into bacta
thrives there.