Star Wars - Firepower by Carolyn Golledge

Author:Carolyn Golledge
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 1995-11-18T04:05:44+00:00

Staring at the featureless gray walls of his tiny cell aboard the transport, Makintay decided that at least here he was being left alone. He marked time by the automatic dispensing of his rations every eight hours. Three times now. It seemed the transport’s drive system was not in good shape. They were making frequent stops and short jumps. Fine by him, he was in no hurry.

The only positive thought he could find was knowing he’d convinced Ketrian he had not abandoned her. That and the look on her face when she’d seen him on the shuttle pad. She’d begun to feel again, the old spark was back in those lovely eyes.

Mak jumped as the cell door whooshed open. Silently the stormtrooper guards pushed him from the cell and marched him down the corridor to a small room. Its only furnishing was a chair fitted with restraints. The troopers pushed him into it, arranging him so that the electronic clamps activated, securing both arms and legs. Then they left him.

He waited, growing ever more nervous. The door opened and Ketrian entered. “Ket,” he said with relief.

“You got me in a lot of trouble back there,” she said. “You owe me.”

“I’m not exactly in a position to grant favors.” He noticed she didn’t seem able to keep still, wringing her hands, pacing, fidgeting Muscles jumped in her cheeks and the bare forearms showing below the jumpsuit’s short sleeves. Her eyes glowed feverishly and her skin was an unhealthy greenish-yellow. “Are you okay?” he asked.

She stopped pacing and stared at him. “Okay? Oh, sure, I’ve never been better. I love being stunned, hauled in for questioning, and forced to leave my home.”

He held her gaze. “I’m sorry, Ket. Truly sorry.”

“And that’s supposed to make everything all right?” She turned her back, grabbed at her elbows and began trembling from head to toe.

Mak frowned. She’d been through a rough time, but he’d been with her through worse times. He’d never seen her shake like that. Her posture and behavior reminded him of something … of someone. “Are you sure you’re not sick?” he repeated.

She swung back. “I’ve been throwing up ever since we left Hargeeva. This ship is jumping around so much, I can’t stand it.”

“Hyperspace never made you sick before. Maybe it was the stun-shock.”

“No,” she resumed her pacing. “They fixed that back at the garrison.”

Mak felt a chill run through him. Now he remembered where he’d seen similar symptoms. “They fixed you up? How?”

“Pedrin’s med-droid gave me a shot. Happy? I wouldn’t have needed it if you hadn’t dragged me into this mess.”

“No,” he said slowly. “No, you wouldn’t. You came here to ask me a favor?”

She nodded, began to speak but a sudden loud groaning from the hyperdrive engines drowned her out. The bulkheads creaked with transmitted strain, then steadied again. “Cursed garbage scow. It’ll probably fall to pieces before we make the next stop.” Tears filled her eyes. “And I don’t think I’d care.”

Mak wished he was free to hold her.

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