“I did,” Han said. “But we still should have been out of range. They’ve got an augmented tractor; those’re rare for a ship that size.” He threw her a grim look. “They must be really good at what they do. It’s not easy to buy a toy like that.”
Leia stared at the control board, thinking hard. “We still have weapons. I don’t suppose our shielding miraculously healed itself while we’ve been talking.”
“Yeah, no.” Han flicked through several status screens, wincing. “They take one shot at us and we’re in pieces.”
“They haven’t fired yet.” Leia tapped her fingers on the console. “If we wait until they pull us in for boarding, then fire all our cannons—”
“If we’re lucky.” Han shook his head. “We’d go down fighting, that’s all. We might take them with us.”
Ilen touched his headset. He had been monitoring the station’s comm frequency. “The merchant’s sublight engines are dead, and someone on board says they can’t get them restarted. The station launched a rescue ship.”
The comm frequency clicked back on and Metara said, “Princess Leia—”
Leia said, “My crew tells me you must be excellent pirates to afford this sort of tractor beam. Congratulations on your new career path, Metara. I’m sure your mother would have been very proud.”
The words came out with all the sarcasm Leia had been holding back, but there didn’t seem much point in suppressing it. The Aegis had made its intentions clear.
Metara said, “I—I understand what this looks like. But we just want to talk.”
Metara had the upper hand, and Leia wasn’t sure why she hadn’t used it. “I’d prefer to talk without my ship trapped in a tractor beam.”
“We want to talk here, face-to-face. Use an escape pod, and we’ll bring you on board. We have no intention of holding you prisoner, or harming you in any way. You don’t have to come alone.”
Leia shook her head, mostly at herself. This was a terrible idea. “If I do that, will you let both my ship and the merchant ship go?”
Ilen twisted around to stare incredulously. Han was trying to mouth something at her that was extremely critical of her mental faculties. She turned her back on both of them, listening intently.
She heard Metara’s sharp intake of breath over the static. Then Metara said, “Yes, Your Highness, I swear it. On my word as a Metara.”
Leia had to roll her eyes at that. On your word as a Metara turned pirate, she thought. But she said, “Then I’ll come to you.”
“I know what you’re thinking,” Han said, and Leia’s first impulse was to snap, Of course you don’t. Before she could react, he continued, “But the fact that they used to be Alderaanian doesn’t mean anything now. When they decided to take this ship and go pirate, they knew what they were doing. That’s not a step an entire crew takes lightly. They knew they’d be welcomed by the Alliance, knew they could get help, get repairs, supplies, whatever they needed, just like all the others did, just for the asking. And they didn’t ask. They didn’t turn pirate by accident or ’cause they had to. Just because you’re here, just because they’re sentimental enough to want to see you, doesn’t mean anything.”
So he did know what she was thinking. Leia pulled the headset off and hung it on its hook. She had just made an all-ship announcement to inform the rest of the crew of the identity of the Aegis and of the Gamble’s situation, and what she intended to do about it. She could imagine General Willard’s reaction and only hoped he didn’t injure himself further trying to get out of bed.
“I understand that,” she said to Han. “But we don’t seem to have a choice anymore. I can at least get the Gamble away and save the people on the merchant ship. I have to do this.”
“Uh, Your Highness …” Ilen was still monitoring the other frequencies through the headset. “The pirate—the Aegis just told the station controller that they’ll blow up the merchant ship if the station’s rescue ship doesn’t stand down.”
Leia’s gaze went to the sensor screen again as Han climbed out of the pilot’s seat. The station’s rescue ship, a converted freighter fairly bristling with quad laser cannons, had been on a direct course for the merchant. It must have received the threat, because the sensors showed it breaking off its approach. It slowed and circled back while it was still out of weapons range of the Aegis.
“The station must think they’re serious,” Ilen added.
“That’s because they are serious,” Han said.
Leia turned away. She had to hurry before the merchant’s situation got any worse, before Metara decided to fire on the Gamble to emphasize her demands. She climbed the access shaft with Han right behind her, and stepped out into the corridor to find herself facing Jerell, Sian, Kifar, Barani, and several other crew members who should all probably have been doing something else. They scattered out of her way as she strode past.
Still moving down the corridor, Leia took rapid stock. Anticipating disembarking on the station, she had changed into a clean dark shirt and put on her jacket, as well as her blaster belt and sidearm. Metara hadn’t said anything about coming aboard unarmed.
Jerell followed her, his expression confused and almost hurt. He was an Alderaanian, too, though his family had not been a prominent one and he had spent most of his youth offplanet. “Your Highness, you can’t—”
“You didn’t know any Metaras, did you?” she asked him. “Perhaps when you were in school?”
“No, Your Highness.” He held out a comlink. “But General Willard wants to speak to you—”
Behind her, she heard a scuffle in the corridor, which she suspected was Han conscripting Barani to take over as Ilen’s copilot. “Is that a secure comlink?” she asked Jerell.
“Yes. We thought you’d need one. It’s set to connect to two others; I have one, and General Willard has the other.”
Leia accepted the proffered comlink and heard the general asking, “Leia, are you certain—”
“Yes, I’m certain I want to do this.” Jerell followed her, listening to her end of the conversation. She told the general, “I don’t have a choice, Vanden. Just because they know I’m on board doesn’t mean they won’t destroy this ship.” She took a deep breath. “And maybe I can talk them into giving this up and joining the Alliance.”
“Leia, they are traitors.” General Willard’s voice was harsh. “If they weren’t, they would be with us already.”
“They aren’t traitors. We don’t know that they’ve ever worked with the Empire—” Leia caught herself. If the Aegis had gone so far as to prey on civilian ships, they might have done anything. She finished, “We don’t know what they went through.”
“We know what we went through,” the general said.
She took the small side corridor around to the ship’s first array of escape pods. “Yes, I know that. Believe me, I know that. And if you have another way out of this, I’d like to hear it.”
Willard was silent for a moment. “I can’t lose you, too. Be careful, Leia.”
Leia didn’t want to be lost, but she felt she didn’t have a choice at the moment. She would just have to see what options arose when she reached the Aegis. “Whatever happens, I can’t let them keep using one of our ships this way.” She cut the connection and told Jerell, “General Willard will be in command while I’m gone, of course, but he’ll need your help. Go to auxiliary control so you can relay his orders to Ilen.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Jerell said, and turned to obey. But he called after her, “Be careful!”
Han took two long strides to catch up with her, shouldered past Jerell, and said, “I know what you’re doing.”
“I know what I’m doing, too,” Leia said, and congratulated herself on her even tone. She stopped at the first pod hatch and opened the control pad to initiate the automatic systems check. The pods were meant for the larger crew complement of the Gamble’s pre-conversion state; each one had room for five large passengers.
“Yeah, you’ll either talk t
hem out of this, or die trying.” Han leaned against the bulkhead beside her, his voice low and grim. “Or make sure they die trying.”
Leia’s hand froze on the control pad. It was odd that, in this moment, it was Han of all people who seemed to understand what this meant to her.
Keeping her voice low, too, she said, “I can’t let them keep doing this, in Alderaan’s name. I can’t.” If she couldn’t talk Metara into at least reconsidering her course, she would have to find out as much about the Aegis as she could, whether it meant to stay in this area and where it might go if it didn’t, so it could be tracked down later.
Han gazed down at her for so long that she started to feel uncomfortable—though the feeling wasn’t all bad. She tried not to fidget, just waited him out. At last he said, his voice cool and calm, “Then it’s a good thing I’m going with you.”
Before Leia could tell him he absolutely was not, Sian said, “What, they didn’t say she had to go alone? I’m going, too.”
“No,” Leia began, “you are not—”
“And me,” Kifar added. “I know how to jury-rig an escape pod to reattach in its berth. Might need me on the way back.”
Exasperated, Leia said, “We have no idea what these people truly want. It’s too dangerous.”
“Princess,” Sian said, “it’s probably more dangerous here. Besides, it won’t look good if we let you go alone.”
The diagnostics finished and the round hatchway slid open. Inside, the pod’s systems were powering on, the readouts on its control board lighting up. Leia had run out of time to argue. “All right. We’ll go together.” She just hoped they didn’t regret it.
CHAPTER FOUR
The pod’s inner hatch cycled with a whoosh, the air that had just been pumped into it mixing with the corridor’s atmosphere. Han stepped inside, and Sian followed him. Kifar politely gestured for Leia to precede him.
Leia stepped into the pod. It had five seats and a simplified control station that could pilot the occupants out of danger while they waited to be picked up by a rescue ship; it could even be set to make an emergency landing, if necessary. The storage containers built into the walls would hold rations, medical gear, and other supplies. The upholstery smelled a little musty, but the pod didn’t look as if it had ever been used.
Han took the seat nearest the control station, and Leia sat across from him. As Sian strapped herself in and Kifar sealed the hatch, Leia tapped the small comm board and hailed the Aegis. She said, “Captain Metara, I’m about to launch the pod. I have three crew members with me.”
“Copy that,” Metara replied. “We’re waiting for you.”
Leia acknowledged that and signed off. Sian said, “Ah … did that sound a little creepy to anyone?”
Checking the controls, Han said, “Yes.” Kifar nodded.
Leia admitted, “Just a little.” She had no idea what was going on in Metara’s head—not an ideal position to be in when preparing for what would surely be a tense negotiation. She nodded to Han, who hit the launch sequence.
There was a thump as the pod ejected from the cradle. Leia leaned back against the seat as the brief burst of acceleration pushed them away from the Gamble. Once clear of the shelter of the ship, the pod fell into the tractor beam. Watching their approach through the small viewport, Leia saw that they were heading toward the Aegis’s shuttle bay. Alderaanian gunships had all been equipped with two shuttles, for use in rescue operations. Her jaw set. Now the pirates probably used them to board captive ships, she thought.
Han had brought up the pod’s limited sensor suite. “The tractor beam let the Gamble go when it picked us up.”
“Good.” Leia took the secure comlink out of her pocket to test it.
“Careful,” Han said. “If they’ve had their systems juiced up, they might be able to break the lock and listen in.”
“I won’t say anything they don’t already know.”
Leia called the Gamble and reached Jerell immediately. “Tell Ilen to take the ship into the station’s defensive perimeter.”
There was a pause, and Leia knew he was relaying the command to General Willard. Then Jerell replied, “Uh, we were going to wait here for you, Your Highness.”
“You can wait inside the defensive perimeter. That way you can’t be used against me.” She was giving the Aegis what it had asked for; she didn’t want Metara to get the idea to ask for more and threaten the Gamble again if Leia didn’t comply.
There was another pause, then, “Yes, Your Highness.”
Leia breathed out in relief.
The pod approached the shuttle bay, and the doors cycled open. A landing tractor caught the pod, drew it forward into the bay, then eased it into a docking cradle. Leia felt the rumble as the bay doors slid closed, and a few moments later the pod signaled that the bay had repressurized.
Leia nodded toward the hatch. “Open it.” Kifar hesitated, and she added, “If they wanted to kill us, they would have done it before now.” At least, she hoped so.
Kifar gave her a resigned nod and hit the open sequence for the hatch. As they climbed out, Han caught Leia’s arm to steady her. She didn’t need it, but she appreciated the gesture—not that she’d tell him that.
The bay wasn’t large, but there was space for more pods on this level. Overhead, two sleek shuttles hung in launch cradles.
“How many crew?” Han asked in a low voice.
“The standard was thirty-two crew and officers, but the ships were designed to hold more in case they had to transport evacuees off damaged ships,” Leia whispered back.
“So they could’ve taken on more once they turned pirate,” Han said.
The inner bay doors opened and five humans strode in, a woman in the lead. They weren’t wearing Alderaanian uniforms, which was something of a relief to Leia. They wore the utilitarian clothing spacers usually favored: pants, shirts, and vests or jackets in grays or dark colors. If Leia had been planning a pirate career, she would have approved; their outfits wouldn’t get them a second look at any commercial port or station. They were also all wearing sidearms, and they all looked a little nervous.
The woman in the lead was slim and elegant, with pale skin and short dark hair, and only a little taller than Leia. She stopped a few paces away and said, “Your Highness. I’m Captain Caline Metara.”
“I’m sorry we have to meet under these circumstances, Captain Metara.” Leia was aware her voice was dry. She was finding it hard to maintain a calm, neutral demeanor in the face of Metara’s confident, professional appearance. Piracy apparently agreed with her. “Now that I’m aboard, I’d like you to allow the station’s rescue ship to tow the damaged merchant vessel into dock.”
Metara answered so quickly that Leia knew she had anticipated the request. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. We haven’t had time to remove the merchant’s cargo yet. And while you can vouch for your own ship’s conduct, you can’t control the station’s picket ship. If I let it come close enough to take the merchant in tow, it will fire on us.”
She was probably right about that, and Leia hadn’t really expected a different answer, but it was a further test of her already stretched-to-the-limit temper. “Very well, then.” She wanted to add, And I hope not too many more of the people aboard the merchant ship die while we’re having our lovely little chat, but just managed to suppress it.
Metara seemed to realize she was perhaps not Leia’s favorite person at the moment. She gave her a grave nod and said, “Please come this way. We can talk more comfortably in the ship’s lounge.”
“Let’s do that,” Leia said. Her jaw was starting to ache from the tension of trying to keep her expression under control. She caught a wary look from Han.
As Metara led them through the bay blast doors and into the corridor, she said, “We had heard rumors that you survived the destruction, but we weren’t sure how much to believe of what was reported on the Imperial-controlled news services.” Her voice trembled a little, the first indication that she
was aware of the awkwardness of the situation. “I assume your ship is a rebel vessel.”
“It has an Alliance affiliation,” Leia said, glad to see the hint of vulnerability. Vulnerability meant doubt, and if Leia was going to talk Metara out of this, she needed a way past that polished demeanor.
The last Alderaanian gunship Leia had been aboard was one of the survivors that had joined the Alliance. She knew they were all much the same, but it was still something of a shock to walk down the familiar corridors, to see how little had changed aboard this ship. The crew was obviously being careful with the maintenance, though there were a few signs of normal wear like small tears and stains on the concussion padding around the blast doors, or mismatched metal finishes where the consoles had been repaired with different materials. She noticed that Metara was taking them through the crew quarters, and not past any of the engineering or weapons sections, and she wondered exactly what augmentations the ship had had been given.
At last Metara stopped before a doorway. Leaving her entourage in the corridor, she led her guests into what was obviously a crew lounge. Furnished with couches built back against the bulkheads and cabinets where games, readers, holo sets, and other entertainment items would typically have been stored, the room was clean, kept as well as it would have been had the Aegis still been under the control of the Alderaanian military. Leia saw the ship’s original commission plaque with the Alderaan planetary seal proudly displayed above the forward doorway and had to grit her teeth. How could they live as pirates and keep that plaque on display, as if they still had any right to it?
Two crew members waited for them in the lounge. “This is my second in command, Dannan Kelvan,” Metara said, gesturing, “and our engineer and weapons officer, Alia Terae.”
Leia realized again that she had been expecting people who looked more desperate, more affected by their decision to turn pirate. Terae and Kelvan were both younger than Metara, Terae with very pale skin and blond hair pulled severely back from her sharp features, and Kelvan slender and tall and dark-skinned, with an earnest expression. Terae’s attitude made Leia think of a rebellious adolescent who had been caught in some act of disobedience, and Kelvan looked grave and uncomfortable. Leia saw the discomfort as a good sign. If Kelvan or any other members of the crew weren’t as committed to this course as Metara was, she might just have a chance to talk them around.