Survivor's Quest

There was a moment of silence from the others as the implications of that finally sank in. "What do you suggest?" Formbi asked.

"What Mara just said," Luke told him. "She and I go find them. Alone."

"No," Bearsh pleaded. "You must not leave us apart. We wished to pay tribute to the memories of these brave people. How much more should we not pay tribute to the people themselves?"

"We can bring you down afterward," Mara told him. "Once we've explained the situation—"

"No," Bearsh repeated, starting to become agitated. "You must not leave us apart."

"Your plan is unacceptable to us, as well," Drask put in. "I accept your reasoning as to why we should not bring a full boarding party. But Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano and I must at least be present at your first contact with these survivors. And the Aristocra must have a guard."

"He'll have the Five-Oh-First, General," Fel reminded him. "They can handle anything these people can throw at us."

"Your assurances are welcome but insufficient," Drask said stiffly. "We will bring a half squad of three Chiss warriors. No fewer."

He looked a challenge at Luke. "Do you argue that, Jedi?"

"No," Luke said, giving up. "Three warriors should be all right. I take it you're coming, too, Ambassador?"

"Absolutely," Jinzler said firmly. His tension had faded a bit into the background of his mind, but it was definitely still there. "My si—my superiors on Coruscant would insist on it."

"Then it's unanimous," Fel commented. "Good. Now all we're doing is wasting time."

"After fifty years, I do not think a few more minutes will make any difference," Drask said acidly. He turned back to the standard-bearer, who had stopped when the discussion began and was standing awaiting orders. "Return to the Chaf Envoy and signal drace-two alert," the general said. "Then order the Number Two Honor Squad to report to this chamber. They must be standing ready in the event we require immediate assistance." His blazing eyes dared anyone to argue with him.

No one did. "Very well, then," Formbi said. "Let us all return to the Chaf Envoy and obtain such equipment as each person wishes to carry on this journey through the past." He glanced down at his elaborate robes. "And perhaps a change of clothing would be in order, as well," he added. "We will reassemble here in thirty standard minutes and begin our search."

The first stretch of the trip went smoothly enough. The place felt like an extended tomb, with the bare metal decks and bulkheads dully reflecting the dim glow of the permlight emergency panels set into the ceilings and the brighter light from the party's own glow rods. But at least the passageways were open and relatively uncluttered by debris. Various rooms opened off the main corridor, some of them large enough for the glow rod beams to fade into the darkness, and the distant walls and ceilings of those larger rooms echoed their footsteps eerily as they stepped briefly inside for a look. Most of the rooms were loaded with silent equipment or dusty storage boxes. Occasionally they came across a sleeping area with rows of empty bunks and personal items scattered on the deck around them.

Mara walked up front with Luke, trying to read beyond the reach of her glow rod beam and wondering a little how this particular marching order had been set up. She and Luke were the most reasonable ones to take point, of course, and she had no particular problem with Formbi, Drask, and Jinzler following directly behind them.

But then came Fel, Feesa, and one of the stormtroopers, with the Geroons behind them. At the very back, walking silently despite their armor, came the other three stormtroopers.

The more she thought about it, the more the arrangement bothered her. Her own training would have put Fel and all four stormtroopers at the back, where they could act as a rear guard in case of trouble from that direction. If Fel still insisted on detaching one of his men, that spare stormtrooper ought to be closer to the front, probably directly behind her and Luke, where his firepower would be available without him having to worry about shooting around Jinzler and both of the senior Chiss.

Twice in that first stretch she thought about halting the party and calling for a rearrangement. But both times something stopped her, and eventually she gave up on the idea. Fel's military training was certainly more recent than hers, and it was possible the Empire of the Hand's tacticians had come up with a more efficient military doctrine than she'd been taught.

After the first fifty meters, travel abruptly became more difficult. Shattered slabs of insulation material, buckled bulkheads, and twisted support beams seemed to be everywhere, littering the corridors and sometimes blocking doorways and the smaller side corridors completely.

"What happened here?" Feesa murmured as Luke carefully pushed aside a set of dangling power cables covered with splintered armor sheaths.

"We've reached the part of the ship where the main turbolasers were located," Fel told her. "You remember Mara pointing out that the weapons blisters had been severely damaged? They would have been Thrawn's primary target."

"He did a thorough job, too, I see," Formbi said. "Why haven't the maintenance machines fixed this?"

"None of the droids they had aboard would have been big enough to handle damage this extensive," Fel said. "The survivors must have decided it wasn't worth the trouble to clear it away themselves."

"Or were unable to work in safety," Drask added. "With so many stars in such close proximity to each other, the radiation levels are higher inside the Redoubt cluster than most humans are accustomed to."

"Are we therefore in danger?" Bearsh asked nervously.

"We won't be here long enough for that," Luke assured him. "The outer hull is thick enough to stop most of the radiation. You'd have to live here months or years before you started having problems."

"Which probably explains why they decided to live in one of the lower Dreadnaughts," Mara put in. "Whatever the hull doesn't block, all that rock out there should be able to handle."

"Or else the other Dreadnaughts aren't damaged this badly," Fel said.

Luke shrugged. "We'll find out."

"Is that where we're going?" Jinzler asked. "To the lower ships?"

"That seems to be where the survivors are," Luke said. "Before we try to find the way down, though, I'd like to see if we can work our way up a few levels to the command deck. If it's in decent shape, there may be records left that'll tell us exactly what happened."

Bearsh made a subdued whistling sound in the back of his throats. "And what truly is the chance of that?" he asked darkly. "We see here how thoroughly this Thrawn was committed to its destruction."

"Thrawn never destroyed more than was absolutely necessary," Fel said. "There would have been no reason to wreck the command deck if taking out the shield generators and turbolasers was all he needed."

Jinzler turned his head. "What in the worlds are you talking about?" he demanded. "All he needed? What did he need to destroy Outbound Flight for in the first place?"

"He had his reasons," Fel insisted.

"He had reasons for killing civilians?" Jinzler shot back. "Men, women, and children who never did him any harm? What, he just needed some target practice that day and they conveniently happened along? And you." He turned his glare on Formbi and Drask. "You Chiss. What did you do to stop him?"

"That's enough, Ambassador," Mara put in, flashing a warning at him with her eyes. Formbi had already said the Chiss were carrying their own load of guilt over this thing. There was no need to hammer it into the ground. "The past is over and done with."