HOTH ASTEROID BELT
CHAPTER 61
The Yavaris and the Assault Frigate Dodonna swerved aside as they escaped the treacherous core of the Hoth Asteroid Field, leaving the wreckage of the Darksaber behind.
“Saves us the trouble,” Wedge said, shaking his head. “But Madine is gone. I wish we had some way of knowing what really happened there.”
Qwi stared behind her with wide indigo eyes. “At least the weapon was destroyed without its ever firing a shot,” she said, then heaved a long sigh. “I wish people would stop trying to build bigger and better means of destruction.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Wedge said, hugging her. “I wouldn’t mind in the least if I found myself looking for a new line of work.”
“General Antilles,” the sensor chief said, “we’re picking up one small craft registering a single life form aboard. It’s too small to be much of a ship.”
Wedge frowned. He felt a surge of hope for just a moment—perhaps Madine had escaped!—but he knew that couldn’t be true, because the life monitor wouldn’t lie.
“Maybe it’s somebody who jumped ship,” he said. “Activate tractor beams. Grab it and bring it aboard.”
He left the Yavaris’s command station, gesturing to Qwi. “Let’s go meet it.” He flicked on the intercom. “I want a full security detail to meet me in the forward docking bay. Bring your weapons. We might have some trouble.”
Wedge and Qwi waited inside the bay. Around them a squad of armed guards held blaster rifles at their shoulders, fidgeting nervously and still keyed up from the days-long alert status they had just experienced, as well as the week of space battle simulation in the Nal Hutta system.
Wedge watched through the transparent atmosphere field as a bright dot came closer, a metallic hull of a spherical ship reflecting light from the distant sun. He realized with a strange shift in perspective how tiny this craft was, that it already hovered just outside the containment field. A round construction pod no more than four meters in diameter, a single-person inspection scooter.
“Where was he expecting to go in that?” Wedge said.
“Sometimes you take advantage of the only thing you have,” Qwi said. “In desperation you have few choices.”
Wedge looked at her, surprised at the insight. Qwi had always struck him as sweet but naive. However, she had learned much since her rescue from Maw Installation.
The battered inspection scooter drifted in and thumped to the deck plates, guided by the grip of the Yavaris’s tractor beams. The New Republic guards pointed their rifles, standing ready.
The hatch hissed as it unsealed, then popped open. Wedge tensed, then blinked in surprise as a paunchy old man hauled himself out. His face was grizzled, his white hair stood up in unruly shocks. He took deep breaths, scowling in disgust at the interior of his scooter.
The guards rushed forward to take the man prisoner. He didn’t resist, looking about him in confusion.
“Bevel Lemelisk!” Qwi said, her eyes filled with anger and surprise.
“You know this man?” Wedge asked.
Qwi nodded. Her glittery hair tinkled around her. “He helped me design the Death Star,” she said. “Grand Moff Tarkin removed him from Maw Installation to be the chief engineer on the project in the Horuz system. I thought I saw him on Nar Shaddaa, remember?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Maybe you weren’t seeing things after all.”
The guards ushered Lemelisk forward. The old engineer looked at Wedge, then blinked his rheumy eyes in amazement at seeing Qwi. “Ah, Qwi Xux—fancy meeting you here! Are you working for these people now? What a coincidence!”
Her pale blue skin flushed darker. Wedge had never seen Qwi exhibit such anger and agitation before. He realized that the sight of her former engineering partner must be gurgling up old memories that had been scaled away during her forced amnesia.
“You deceived me, Lemelisk,” she said, her voice high and sharp. “You lied to me! While we were working in Maw Installation you never told me our weapons would be used for such death and destruction. You claimed they all had legitimate, peaceful purposes.”
Lemelisk blinked at her again and frowned in disbelief. “Qwi, you were always so brilliant—but in other ways you managed to be incredibly dense.”
She looked as if she had just been slapped, and Wedge grew angry. “You were aboard that Hutt superweapon?”
“Aboard the Darksaber?” Lemelisk said. “I helped them build the thing! I designed it. Oh, did they get away after all?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“No, the weapon was destroyed in the asteroid field.”
“Ah,” Lemelisk said. “A pity. Not that I’m surprised, though. I doubted it would work.”
“What about our New Republic commando team?” Wedge asked. “Did you see them?”
Lemelisk nodded. “Ah yes, the Rebel saboteur. We killed one of their team when they tried to sabotage our engine systems. The other—I believe his name was Madine—was brought before Lord Durga and summarily executed. He died bravely, of course.”
Wedge felt anger simmering around him, and he gestured to the armed guards. “Take the prisoner and lock him up. We’ll bring him back to Coruscant and put him on trial.” He lowered his voice in a threat. “But I have no doubt we’ve got sufficient evidence to order your execution as a threat to galactic peace.”
“Ah, well.” Surprisingly, Bevel Lemelisk reacted with resignation instead of fear. “If you’re going to execute me,” he said, “just make sure you do it right this time.”