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

spine, 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
tightfisted. He's left dermal ridge indenta-tions on every credit that has
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