"We seem to have time," Luke pointed out, glancing around the darkened room. Apparently, Bearsh's line creepers had gotten a solid grip on Outbound Flight's electrical systems. "Your turn."
"The Vagaari didn't bother to kill any of the Chiss when they left the Chaf Envoy except the squad we'd left in the Dreadnaught docking bay," Mara said. "That ambush is apparently what we felt while we were poking around D-One. They did dump a whole bunch of line creepers, though, which have pretty well incapacitated everything over there." She made a face. "Including the Sabre, of course."
"Of course," Luke agreed, eyeing her face and wincing for Estosh's chances if Mara ever caught up with him again. Messing with his wife's ship was not a healthy thing to do. "So we're basically stuck here?"
"Not as stuck as Bearsh was hoping," Mara said. "Jinzler taught us a little trick to draw the line creepers out of the conduits and kill them. Another three or four days and we should have all the ships cleaned out."
She smiled tightly. "Even more interesting is that Outbound Flight had a small starship tucked away. A Delta-Twelve Skysprite."
"Never heard of it," Luke said. "Is it functional?"
"They're running the final diagnostics on it now," Mara said. "Jinzler's stopped being an ambassador, by the way, and gone back to being a lowly hyperdrive tech."
"Sounds like a more useful profession at the moment," Luke said. "What about the others? Did everyone make it out of the battle all right?"
"Yes, though no one's going to be doing any strenuous dancing for a while," Mara assured him. "The Five-Oh-First took the most damage, but Fel says they should be fine. The big question right now is whether you feel up to a little trip."
Luke had already figured out where the conversation was heading. "You mean to try to whistle up an alert on the Vagaari before they get out of Chiss space?"
"Preferably before they even get out of the Redoubt," Mara said. "Don't forget they've got a whole bunch of disguised fighters waiting for them at that command station."
"Right." Luke had forgotten that, actually. "You figure they'll try to destroy the station on their way out?"
"I would, if I were trying to sneak out with a stolen warship," Mara said. "But right now they've only got a six-hour head start on us. They're also flying a Dreadnaught, which weren't exactly known for their speed even under the best of circumstances. And we know the course they're on. If we can get out of here in the next hour or two, there's a good chance we can beat them to the station."
"Yes," Luke murmured.
Mara cocked her head slightly. "You don't sound convinced."
"Just thinking," he said. "What about food and air? I seem to remember Deltas not having a lot of range."
"It has enough," Mara assured him. "Anyway, we only have to make it out of the cluster."
"Right," Luke said, still considering. "How about recognition signals? I presume that the Chiss on Brask Oto aren't just going to take our word for any of this."
"Hardly," Mara agreed. "Formbi's already given me a recorded message to transmit to them, with Drask and Captain Talshib cosigning on it. Drask's also given me his private emergency prefix signal, or rather the one that'll be current on the day we reach Brask Oto: two-space-one-space-two."
"Sounds reasonable," Luke grunted, easing himself up into a sitting position. "Do we have time to eat before we take off?"
"They've packed us a lunch," Mara said. "We need to get going as soon as Jinzler gives the okay."
"Then that time is here," Jinzler said, stepping through the doorway. "The Skysprite checks out just—"
He broke off. "What is it?" Luke asked, frowning at the sudden surge of emotion in Jinzler's face and sense.
"That lightsaber," Jinzler said, his voice suddenly stiff. "May I see it?"
"Sure," Luke said, pulling the relic from his belt. "We found it down on D-One, in what was left of the bridge."
"We think it might have been Jorus C'baoth's," Mara added.
"No," Jinzler said quietly as he carefully turned the old weapon over in his hands. "It was Lorana's."
Luke felt his heart tighten. "I'm sorry" was all he could think of to say.
Jinzler shrugged, a fractional lifting of his shoulders. "I knew she hadn't made it," he said. "All this hatred and prejudice would have disappeared years ago if they'd had a true Jedi living and working in their midst. Do you know how she died?"
Luke shook his head. "The bridge was pretty well wrecked, and of course any evidence that might have been there is half a century old. There was no way for us to tell whether she died in the crash or before." He hesitated. "We did find some alien bones in the same area, though. They may or may not be connected with her."
"They probably were," Jinzler murmured. "She would have died trying to protect her people."
"I'm sorry," Luke said again. "Would you like to have it?"
For a moment Jinzler continued to gaze at the lightsaber, and Luke could sense the struggle going on within him. Something that had been his sister's; possibly his last link to that part of his own life...
He took a deep breath. "Yes, I would," he said, handing it back to Luke. "But not now. You might need it; and I rather like the idea of Lorana's lightsaber being used against those who helped destroy her. You can bring it back to me when this is all over."
"I will," Luke promised, taking the weapon back with a new reverence.
"And you'd better get going," Jinzler added. "The ship's still over in D-Three, so you'll need vac suits to get to it. I'll take you to where Pressor's got a pair laid out for you."
Luke had expected to see most of their companions on the way out, with the opportunity for both a proper farewell and also a quick assessment of their individual injuries.
It didn't work out that way. Fel and the stormtroopers had been moved down to D-6 with most of the rest of the colony, where they would be more comfortable while they recovered from their battle wounds. Drask and Formbi had been similarly transferred back to the Chaf Envoy for more specialized treatment than the Outbound Flight medics could provide, with Feesa as always staying at the Aristocra's side. Director Uliar and the rest of the council had rather pointedly retired to D-6 as well, leaving behind an unspoken but distinct impression that they wouldn't be returning to D-5 until it was free again from the taint of the Jedi and their influence.
Which meant that aside from a couple of silent techs and a pair of Chiss warriors guarding the turbolifts, the only ones there to see them off were Jinzler, Pressor, Rosemari, and Evlyn. Only Evlyn seemed to have anything to say, and she seemed too shy or troubled to say very much of it.
Under other circumstances, Luke would probably have taken the time to try to draw the girl out a little. Mara, he knew, would definitely have done so. But with the Vagaari already hours ahead of them, personal and social considerations would have to wait.
Ten minutes after arriving at the turbolift lobby they were suited up and ready to go. One of the Chiss guided them up the broken turbolift tube to the sealant tent and field air lock that the Chaf Envoy's crew had installed, then escorted them over the rough terrain of the planetoid's surface to the docking bay where the Delta-12 was waiting.
Thirty minutes later, after a quick test of the control systems and a final diagnostic check, Luke eased the Skysprite out of the docking bay and turned its nose upward.
"You ever ride in anything like this?" he asked as they drove toward the brilliant starscape.
"No," Mara said, unsealing one of the self-heating food packets Jinzler and the Outbound Flight techs had put aboard for them. "According to Jinzler, Kuat sold the Delta line around forty years ago to Sienar Systems. They got most of the starfighter contracts under Palpatine, and they either built the hyperdrive into the hull or left it out completely."