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

to offer you the chance to pilot the Mimban Cloudrider on the run to Thyferra."
Booster sat back and brushed the fingertips of his left hand over his chin. The
Mimban Cloudrider was one of the Thyferran tankers. Wedge had pulled the crew
from it and, with Booster's help, had gotten identification files sliced
to-gether that listed Mirax, Corran, Elscol, Sixtus, and Iella Wessiri as the
crew under various pseudonyms. Once in orbit at Thyferra, they could make
planetfall in a shuttle and hook up with the Ashern. Wedge still needed someone
to command the mission and thought Booster would be invaluable in that position
because of his experience and instincts.
Booster lowered his left hand to the arm of the chair. "No."
"No? You'll be able to chaperone your daughter."
"She can take care of herself."
"You'll get to pilot a ship again."
Booster smiled and his body convulsed with silent laugh-ter. "Closer, but still
off the mark. The Cloudrider is too small. Too little to do."
Wedge frowned. "Wait a minute. When I got my freighter and started hauling
cargo, weren't you the one who told me that being the master of my own ship and
fate was the greatest thing to which I could aspire?"
Booster nodded and sat forward. "I did, but that was before Kessel. Five years
in the spice mines changed me."
"Five years spicing would change anyone." Wedge frowned. "Don't tell me Kessel
broke your spirit, because I flat refuse to believe it."
Booster's booming laughter filled the office. "Broke me? It would take more than
no air and lots of work to break Booster Terrik. The mines could be a brain
cracker for a lot of folks, especially the pols the Empire tossed in there.
Others of us were content to wait our time out. Fliry Vorru, for exam-ple, is
very patient, which makes him very dangerous. We knew the Empire would never let
him out, but he was confi-dent he'd be out someday. I knew I would get out, but
the time there still ground on me."
The flesh around his eyes tightened, leaving the red light in his left eye
burning like a laser in the darkness. "The time I spent in Kessel was
unbelievably boring, Wedge. Monotony. Day after day the same things would happen
with the same people. There was no night, no day, just shift after shift after
shift. Prisoners might come and go, but that was it. Pain I could handle and
fight against, but boredom? It was the en-emy, and it had me mashed flat."
Wedge winced. "I can't imagine . . ." There certainly were times when Wedge
would have welcomed less excite-ment in his life, but not year after year of it.
I'd have gone out of my mind.
"When I got out, I made one trip on the Pulsar Skate, but the solitude of
hyperspace reminded me too much of Kessel. That's why I retired and gave Mirax
the ship. Now I travel
and do deals for friends because it means I'm constantly meeting folks and
getting to know them and learn about them. I'm trying to fill the void that
Kessel left in me, and piloting Cloudrider isn't going to do that for me."
Wedge nodded. "I understand, though I wish it were oth-erwise. You've got skills
I need." He sat back in his chair. "Having someone I can rely on doing a job
that badly needs to be done would be a big help."
A smile slowly grew on Booster's face. "I have an idea for you that might serve
both of us and cover up some loose ends."
"What do you have in mind?"