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

deviated from the formula he was supposed to speak to do his Return correctly.
"This fighter is another. It bears the colors of the Alderaanian Guard and
transmits their code. It is my pledge to you-not of vengeance but of vigilance.
I hope you rest well knowing you will rest alone, because it is my life's work
to see to it that no one else suffers as you have. I won't rest until this quest
is complete."
He hit another button, closing the cargo compartment. The capsule continued
drifting away, and he was tempted for a moment to blast it to bits with his
lasers. He had no doubt that amid the debris, ships waited and searched for
things to recover. The individuals who had located and brought in the Another
Chance had been on a salvage mission of sorts, and
countless were the stories of treasures rescued from the ruin of Alderaan.
Many of those treasures were shown to be forgeries, cre-ated and planted by
confidence tricksters to prey on the Al-deraanian community. Even nastier than
they were the people claimed to have been from Alderaan-all rescued by miracle
or coincidence-and who subsequently sought to insinuate themselves with families
who had survived but had lost rela-tives. Because of the nature of the Imperial
economy, a con-siderable portion of the wealth of Alderaan had survived the
planet's destruction, making the survivors quite prosperous and, therefore,
targets of opportunity for criminals.
He watched the capsule until it vanished into the swirl of debris. "Rest easy. I
miss you all." He punched up the power on his IFF beacon and pulsed its
transmission out in one grand confirmation of his vow, then shut it down, turned
the X-wing around, and started the long trek back to Yag'Dhul and the war
against Ysanne Isard.
12
Fliry Vorru fought the sense of nakedness that his abbreviated clothing inspired
in him and braced himself for Ysanne Isard's tirade. "Yes, the diversion of the
convoy has been con-firmed by a number of sources. It is not the utter disaster
you have made it out to be since Antilles is not holding on to our tankers, but
is returning them."
"Returning them so we can refill them and he can take them again." Her
diaphanous red gown swirled around her like a tornado. "You should have
anticipated this sort of strike and taken steps to prevent it."
Vorru waved her suggestion away. "I did anticipate it and chose to ignore it.
The amount of bacta taken was insig-nificant in comparison to both our supply
and the demand for it. In fact, the loss of that bacta has provided me an excuse
for hiking prices yet again, increasing our profits. I calculate our losses at
between seventeen and thirty billion credits-an amount I will recoup by the end
of the month."
"Bah! We lost more than just money when Antilles hit our convoy. We lost
prestige and respect." She pointed a hand toward the sky. "We have people out
there laughing at us because a dozen aging snubfighters were able to pirate
bacta from us."
Vorru let his voice sink into a bass growl as he began to pace through her roomy
office. "What we lost was insignifi-cant and provides us an opportunity to cut
Antilles off from his base of support. He stole the bacta and made a present of
it to many of the worlds it was meant for anyway."
"My point exactly. He has earned their goodwill."
"But that will fade to bitterness when he cannot repeat his gesture." Vorru's