"Michael Stackpole "The Bacta War"" - читать интересную книгу автораspine, then the second storm-trooper smashed headfirst into the floor and his
limp body crashed down on Corran, sandwiching him between their ar-mored bodies. With his lungs burning for lack of air, he leaned back and found himself looking straight up into the muzzle of the remaining stormtrooper's blaster. Unable to do anything but cough, Corran closed his eyes and prepared to die. He heard the whine of a blaster being fired, then felt a hammer-blow to his chest. It didn't hurt the way a blaster bolt hurt, but he knew he'd been hit. I'm dead, I have to be dead. As much as he knew that was the truth, he immediately felt a need to rebel and live. Open your eyes. If you can open your eyes, you're not dead. Corran willed his eyes open and would have laughed if he could have. Standing over him he saw Bror Jace, a member of Rogue Squadron the Imps had killed well before Coruscant had fallen. Though he wished it otherwise, as his conscious-ness faded, Corran knew there was only one explanation for what he saw. I am dying because only the dead can see the dead. He knew that made little sense, but he was beyond caring as he realized the dead really have little use for logic as well. 14 Wedge shivered as he waited for the shuttle from the Twi'lek freighter dock at the Yag'Dhul station. His shiver had less to do with apprehension about the Twi'leks' arrival at the sta-tion than it did the temperature on the station. Lowering it by an average of five degrees was just one of the few changes Booster Terrik had made since he'd taken over. Wedge slowly shook his head. Booster had long been legendary for being passed through his hands. While Booster was more than generous with his friends, in business he was shrewd and capable of saving money in any situation where he found himself. By lowering the station temp, and by refusing to heat unoccupied portions of the station, he low-ered its operating costs rather significantly. More important, by leaving the tapcafs and cantinas on the central levels warmer than any other place, he encouraged people to congregate there and patronize those establish-ments. Since the station's vendors were paying him a percent-age of their profits and were funneling all their supply needs through Booster, the old man was making credits hand over fist. Credits that are going to get us the things we need. Booster had put the word out through his network of con-tacts that he'd taken over the station and deals were to be had and made there. Traffic to and from the station had begun to increase and while Booster told Wedge there were some sup-pliers he'd have to visit to make deals with, the vast majority of the items they needed would be delivered straight to them at Yag'Dhul. The Twi'lek shuttle, an octagonal tube that lacked all the elegance of the Imperial Lambda-class shuttle, looked as if it had been extruded from the freighter. It moved sluggishly onto the landing platform. It settled down onto a docking collar, which rose up to meet it and formed itself to the ship's hull. Lights on the exterior of the collar went from red to yellow and then green, signifying an atmospheric seal had been achieved. A lighted panel near the viewport through which Wedge was watching showed the progress of a personnel-mover heading out to the Twi'lek ship. Outside, slowly moving across the loading platform area, droid-driven grav-sleds ap-proached the |
|
|