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

"Right, a danger to anyone who tries to take it away from me."
"Let me see if I can rephrase this-the only people with that sort of firepower
at their disposal are Warlords and other Imperial renegades. The New Republic
has to consider any Star Destroyers that are not under the control of itself or
its allies to be an immediate threat to the New Republic's stabil-ity."
"Fine, General, fine. I'll just take the Virulence, conquer some planet with it,
have the planet become one of the New Republic's allies."
Mirax shook her head. "That's pretty much what they're afraid of, Father."
Booster winked at his daughter. "Okay, then try this: I'll make the Virulence
herself a nation. We'll just move from system to system, trading here and there,
and we'll be sover-eign and even join the New Republic. Think of a!! the guns as
ground-based defenses."
Cracken's breath hissed in between his teeth. "No, I don't think that will work.
That would constitute quite a large threat to peace in the galaxy. Such a threat
would have to be dealt with."
Booster's artificial eye's light seemed to flare for a sec-ond. "I think there
are several different degrees of threat, General, and I'd have to say, right
now, you're acting more threatening than I've ever contemplated being. The
Virulence is mine. She was surrendered to me."
"But only after three squadrons of New Republic A-wings appeared in the Yag'Dhul
system, giving Captain Varrscha the impression she had been trapped by New
Re-public forces." Cracken pressed his hands flat against the white tabletop.
"She thought she was surrendering the ship to
the New Republic, and you know that's true. Your represen-tations to her did not
dissuade her of this fact."
Corran looked over at Booster and shook his head. "You let Isard's conviction
that we were a covert New Republic operation trick Varrscha into believing we
actually were part of the New Republic? Not bad, Booster."
Mirax's father smiled proudly. "She was looking for any excuse to get out of
trouble, so I just used the one she gave me."
Corran winced. "Unfortunately, that means you've given the New Republic a claim
on the Virulence."
"What?!"
"Mirax, tell him. It's the same as a partnership for sal-vaging hulks. Just
because one partner is ceded ownership, he doesn't own it-the partnership does."
"Corran's right, Father."
"Nonsense. I've never heard of such a thing."
Mirax laughed. "No? As I recall, that's how you got your share of the Pulsar
Skate."
Booster frowned heavily. "That's not the same thing at all, not at all. But, for
the sake of argument here, let's say Captain Varrscha was mistaken about my
connection with the New Republic. I still possess the ship, and if they have a
share, so do I."
Cracken nodded. "You do. We will justly compensate you for it, of course, and
you'll earn our undying gratitude. Even a pardon for any indiscretions you might
have commit-ted . . ."
"You can stop there, General. Unless you want to give me back the five years I
spent on Kessel, I'm not interested in any judicial rewards, thanks. How much?"
The New Republic's representative hesitated. "The cur-rent situation is such
that an immediate payment is out of the question, but I think we could