Star Wars: X-Wing I: Rogue Squadron by Michael A. Stackpole Page B

taken before he joined the Rebel cause. Becoming a Rebel was like starting over—the datascreen was wiped and the past forgotten.
Yet I still have reservations about Han Solo. Even so, I don’t want to murder him, so he doesn’t need protection
.
    He realized he was attempting to rationalize why Tycho was being escorted by armed guards, and the most simple answer was because Tycho presented a threat to the Alliance in some way. The obvious ludicrousness of that idea shone like a supernova because if Tycho was a threat of any sort, no one would trust him to be teaching pilots how to fly.
Then again, he
is
assigned a Headhunter Trainer
.
    “There you are.”
    Corran’s head came up at the sound of the woman’s voice. Just a bit taller than he was, butslender and walking on very shapely long legs, she entered the hangar from the corridor and stared right at him. Corran turned and looked behind himself to see who she was addressing, but when he looked back at her, she had stopped right in front of him. “I was wondering where you were.”
    “Me?” Corran raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you were looking for me, Erisi?”
    She nodded confidently. Sympathy played through her big blue eyes. “I was sent to find you. The rest of us are in DownTime, going over what happened out there.”
    “Not enough laughs, so you wanted me to join you?” He shook his head. “Thanks anyway, some other time.”
    “No, now.” Erisi took firm hold of his left elbow. “We
do
want you there. So we can apologize.”
    Corran hesitated, covering his surprise. She sounded sincere, but she was from Thyferra and almost always in Bror Jace’s company. He tried to figure out if she was setting him up, but the gentle way her short black hair lay against the nape of her long neck distracted him. “I’m not sure I’d be good company.”
    “You
must
come.” She tugged him gently toward the corridor. “Look, we all used your data because Commander Antilles told us our exercise involved doing just that. It wasn’t until we made our runs that he told each of us what had happened—what he had done to you. He ordered us to say nothing to you except to report our scores. None of us felt good about what happened and we want to make it up to you.”
    He nodded and started walking with her. “So how did you get the job of coming after me? You pick the sabacc card with the lowest value?”
    Erisi smiled at him, her eyes dominating a delicatelysculpted face with high cheekbones and a strong jawline. “I volunteered. Nawara Ven and Rhysati Ynr are trying to talk some sense into Bror and I had to walk away.”
    “You’d abandon a fellow Thyferran to a conversation with a Twi’lek lawyer?”
    Her laughter echoed faintly through the dim corridor. Strip illumination ran along the edges of the tunnel where the floor met the walls and gave them enough light to travel by, but most of the people in front of them were shadowed silhouettes.
    “Bror Jace is from a family that owns a significant portion of stock in Zaltin. His people are known for being rather haughty and obstreperous.”
    “I hadn’t noticed.”
    “I would have thought you a keener observer than that.” She gave his arm a squeeze. “Besides, Bror has noticed you. He sees you as his chief rival for supremacy in this squadron.”
    “He’s forgetting the Commander and Captain Celchu.”
    She shook her head. “No, he’s not, he’s just ignoring them. As Commander Antilles said, those who have served with Rogue Squadron before are legends, and Bror doesn’t think it’s possible to defeat a legend. Become one, yes, but best one, never.”
    “Erisi, I appreciate your candor, but I’d hardly expect you to be speaking of a friend in such uncomplimentary terms.”
    “What gave you the impression we were friends?”
    “Perhaps the fact that you spend a lot of time with him.”
    “Oh, that?” Erisi chuckled politely. “Better the Moff you know than the Emperor’s new Envoy. I could