Star Wars: I, Jedi: Star Wars by Stackpole Michael A

Author:Stackpole, Michael A. [Stackpole, Michael A.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9780307796424
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Published: 2011-06-27T16:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-THREE

The positively jubilant expression on Booster’s face reminded me of previously painful situations where he’d managed to find a way to embarrass me in front of my wife. Since there were no other witnesses in his office, however, I suspected that look of malevolent glee was reserved for someone else. He waved me in toward his desk. “Come on, I have something here.”

As I approached, he hit a button on the small datapad on which he worked, and a holoprojector popped up the image of a Corellian corvette. “This image comes from the data you pulled in when taking the Tinta Blue Seven out of the ambush. The Identify Friend/Foe transponder tagged this ship Captain’s Ladder.”

I nodded. “I’m with you so far, but I have to note, that particular IFF signal was undoubtedly used for that run alone.”

“Why don’t you just tell a Hutt how to smuggle spice?” Booster looked up at me through the hologram, his real eye rolling toward the ceiling. “Son, I was swapping out IFF transponders on ships before your father even thought about having kids. As you know, IFF isn’t the only way to identify a ship. The readings you got here were good enough that my people managed a spectral analysis of the ship’s sublight ion exhaust. If you get a good reading, and these were very good, you can get a fairly unique analysis for the ship, and that can be matched against other ships’ data to pick out a match.”

“And you found one?”

Booster nodded and hit another button on his datapad. Another image of the corvette appeared beside the first, with both of them slowly rotating to show off every detail. “It’s the Backstab.”

I closed my eyes for a second. “The name’s familiar but I can’t place it.”

“The Eyttyrmin Batiiv pirates operating out of the Khuiumin system owned her. They got busted up in an Imperial operation—fewer than three hundred out of the eight thousand pirates in the gang survived the Imp strike. Jacob Nive, the Backstab’s captain, became the leader by default. The Survivors, as they call themselves, went merc for a bit, striking at Imps, but with the death of the Emperor they’ve reverted to their pirate ways and the discipline Nive instituted has slackened. They are part of the Invids and have provided Tavira with some of her best clutch pilots.”

I stroked my goatee. “Anyone surviving the band’s slaughter had to be a hot hand. I can see why Tavira is happy to have allied with them. Any idea where they are?”

“I have a very good one. The Khuiumin system was too dangerous for them after the Imps hit them, so they were basing themselves near their employers. Now, with Nal Hutta proving to be a place where some Invids are known to ship from, Nive and his people have gone back to Khuiumin, basing themselves on the fourth planet again. A number of other ships and crews have gone there, too, which leads me to believe it is the new Invid base.

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