Conviction: Star Wars Legends (Fate of the Jedi) (Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi - Legends Book 7) by Allston Aaron

Author:Allston, Aaron [Allston, Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780345519580
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-05-24T04:00:00+00:00

HAPES SYSTEM

“Sir. Flotilla breaking orbit, three Battle Dragons and an Escort of frigates and destroyers.” That was the voice of Dei’s pilot and second in command, Hara, drifting aft out of the cockpit.

Querdan Dei did not bother to poke his head into the cramped cockpit. The area in which he stood—a small compartment, one and a half by two meters in height, that provided access between cockpit forward, main work compartment aft, air lock port, and refresher starboard—was the only spot on this damnable spacecraft that was bare of apparatus, the only spot where he could practice his forms, and he wasn’t quite through with those exercises yet.

He straightened and placed his forearms against the compartment ceiling. Outside, he would have stretched, making himself a straight line from toes to fingertips, but there was no way to do that here. He swayed through a somewhat constricted version of the Snake Ascending a Waterfall exercise.

Hara, a lavender-skinned Keshiri woman, middle-aged and taciturn, had not one trace of Force sensitivity or imagination, but she was reliable, intelligent, and diligent. Dei kept his voice calm, though he knew Hara would not have alerted him if the flotilla was not potentially of great interest. “Enlighten me.”

“They’re accelerating away from the planet at atypical speed. We’re seeing transponder telemetry from only two Battle Dragons. The third is masquerading as a medical frigate, Jeweled Delight. Their formation suggests the Jeweled Delight is at the center of a protective pattern, at the sweet spot of overlapping weapons coverage.”

Dei sank smoothly from Snake Ascending a Waterfall into Mountain Storm. That exercise normally called for full splits, which were impossible here; instead, he kept his right knee cocked and fully extended only his left. Once he was down, he began the series of intricate arm movements that constituted the storm, suggesting winds around a mountain range. “All sensors and countermeasures to full power. Fall in behind that formation and pace it.”

“Sir?”

“Hara, the computer between my ears tells me that the odds are very high that we are looking at the Queen Mother departing Hapes. What does the computer embedded in this ghastly craft tell you?”

Another voice, male, floated out from the cockpit. “Still running those variables, sir.”

“Please execute my orders while running those variables.” With thigh strength alone, Dei slid back up to a standing position, then lowered himself for a second iteration of Mountain Storm, this time with his right leg extended. He felt the craft shift under him as Hara heeled it and began a stealthy approach into the flotilla’s wake. The maneuver caused him to wobble, spoiling the perfection of his form. He sighed.

“Sorry, sir,” the pilot said.

“Not your fault, Hara.” He finished his form and again exerted himself to slide up to a standing position. Then, finally, he felt he’d done enough, just barely enough, to warrant a return to work. He moved forward into the cockpit.

The blasted claustrophobic cockpit. There were three seats, two forward and one back, all with control boards pressed in so close there was barely room to get into them.

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