Survivor's Quest

He broke off as a stutter of laserfire raked suddenly across the hull just below and forward of the bridge. "What the—?"

"Chiss fighters," Mara snapped, grabbing the console for balance as the deck shook with another set of impacts. "At least twenty of them, coming in from behind."

Luke bit down hard on his lip. He'd had a perfect plan; only now here came the Chiss threatening to ruin it.

And maybe to blow the Dreadnaught out from under them in the process. "I'll transmit Formbi's message," Mara shouted as another volley stuttered across the hull. "If they believe it—"

"No!" Luke cut her off, looking around him. It had to be on this side of the bridge somewhere. "No communications, to anyone. Get back to the helm and get us an evasive course toward the station."

"What? Luke—"

"Don't argue," Luke snapped, crossing back to the turbolaser control console and looking at the consoles near it. "If we say anything to the Chiss, the Vagaari will know we can transmit."

"And that's a problem?"

"Yes, that's a problem." Beneath him, the deck started to sway slightly as Mara keyed in the evasive maneuvers he'd called for. "We need to look like a ship that can't communicate, where Estosh is still in command—ah," he interrupted himself. There it was, nestled between the ion ca

"Two-space-one-space-two," Mara told him. "And you've lost me completely."

"Just cross your fingers." The Chiss fighters were swinging around for another pass. Mentally crossing his own, Luke aimed the laser ca

For a long moment nothing happened. The fighters completed their turn and regrouped, heading back for another strafing run. Luke fired the pattern a second time, again aiming just wide of the group. They kept coming; he fired a third time—

And then they were on him, flashing over the Dreadnaught's surface, pouring volleys of laserfire into the hull.

Only this time there were no thuds as sections of hull metal vaporized explosively away. No impacts; no shaking of the ship; no nothing.

"I'll be a roasted nerf," Mara breathed. "They've cranked their lasers down to minimal power. They figured out the message."

"And at the same time were smart enough not to give the game away to the Vagaari," Luke said, abandoning the laser console and heading off across the bridge in a search pattern again. "I could learn to like working with these people."

"They're coming around for another pass," Mara reported. "You want to keep it evasive?"

"Right," Luke confirmed. The console he was looking for... there. "Where are the Chiss fighters?" he called as he keyed for activation.

"Off our portside stern."

"Good," Luke said. "Bring our flank around to portside, as if we're ru

"Got it."

The view ahead turned as the huge ship began rotating sluggishly to the left, and Luke shifted his attention to the attacking Vagaari. If they reacted the way every other squadron he'd ever served with would react under these circumstances...

He caught his breath. In twos and threes, the Vagaari were begi

"The Chiss are firing again," Mara reported. "Again, just for show."

"Perfect," Luke said, his full attention on the Vagaari. They were definitely abandoning the station now, pulling away in an orderly fashion and forming up again as they headed away at full attack speed.

Moving straight for the Dreadnaught.

Mara had spotted the new maneuver, too. "Uh... Luke?" she said hesitantly.

"Trust me," he said. Reaching down to his console, he keyed a switch.

And deep beneath them, he heard the faint sound of metal grinding against metal as the forward starboard hangar deck doors slid reluctantly open.

Across the room, he heard Mara's huff. "You're not serious," she said. "You really think they'll just—? No."

"Of course they will," Luke said. "Remember, their own carrier is wrecked. What else are they going to do?"

He looked up as she stepped to his side. "You have got to be the most brazen con artist I've ever met," she said, shaking her head.

"Better even than Han?" Luke asked i

"It wasn't necessarily meant as a compliment," Mara said. "That was a pretty serious risk you took."

"Not really," Luke said. "Remember, I know how starfighter pilots think. The rule is, any friendly port in a battle." He smiled lopsidedly. "And as far as they know, we're as friendly as they get."

Together they stood and watched until the last of the Vagaari fighters had come aboard. "There we go," Luke said, keying the massive docking bay door closed again. "Now we can send that message of Formbi's off to the station. I'm sure they'll want to be aboard to help us give the Vagaari pilots the bad news."

Station Commander Prard'enc'iflar was a tall Chiss with a generous helping of white in his blue-black hair and a highly intimidating look in his glowing red eyes. He was also, if Mara was reading the name and facial structures correctly, a relative of General Drask.

"We are grateful for your assistance in this matter," he said rather stiffly, his eyes mostly following his own people as they moved around the Dreadnaught's bridge inspecting the equipment. "It is evident now that Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano's counsel was well thought."

"Though I daresay you didn't think so at the time?" Mara suggested.

The glowing red eyes flicked briefly to her. "Past thoughts are irrelevant to the realities of the present," he said, looking away again. "You have aided us in the protection of our people and of our military secrets. That is high service from those who are not Chiss." He looked suddenly back at them again. "The secrets are safe, are they not?"

"Almost certainly," Luke assured him. "We had a chance to look at the communications log while you were coming aboard. Estosh made only that one transmission, and that was a short-range signal to his carrier here at Brask Oto."

"And he couldn't have sent anything earlier," Mara added. "Not from inside the Redoubt's natural interference."

"I see," Prard'enc'iflar murmured. "We will hope you are reading the data correctly."

Mara caught Luke's eye, sensing his wry amusement. For all his official gratitude, it was clear the commander privately wasn't all that impressed by humans and their abilities. Much the way Drask himself had been, in fact, early on in the mission.

It was time to give that attitude a little nudge.

"So what happens now?" she asked. "I mean, as far as the Vagaari are concerned?"

"They have committed multiple acts of war against the Chiss Ascendancy," he said flatly. "Even as we speak a strike force is being assembled, and scout ships are being sent to search for the enemy's location."

"That'll take time," Mara pointed out. "There's a lot of territory out there for the Vagaari to hide in. By the time you find them, there's a good chance they'll realize Estosh's team is overdue and fade back into the background hum."

"Have you an alternative to suggest?" Prard'enc'iflar demanded. "Or do the mind tricks Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano speaks of allow you to pull the location of the Vagaari base from dead minds?"

"Actually, we can't even do it with live minds," Mara said. "But we don't have to."

She pointed to the helm console. "The location is right in there."