Jedi Trial by David Sherman Read Free Book Online Page B

each other. “Well,” the pilot said at last, lowering his blaster, “am I ever glad to see you!”
    Odie helped him out of his harness and they crouched on the ground in the lee of the fighter. “Do you have any water?” he asked. “I came off in such a hurry my ground crew didn’t have time to load my hydration system.”
    She unfastened the two-liter canteen strapped to her speeder and passed it to him. He drank sparingly and passed it back with thanks. As he did so, he studied his new companion. She was small, and he judged she might be pretty by what he could see of her chin and lips beneath her helmet. Likewise, Odie scrutinized him. A fighter jock! Fighter pilots were the only other people in the army with whom reconnaissance troopers felt any bond. Like the recon troopers, fighter pilots operated on their own, out in front of everyone else, surviving on their guts and skill.
    At the same instant each realized what the other was thinking, and they both laughed.
    “Well,” the pilot said, “I guess whatever we’re going to do, we’ll be doing it together. I’m Erk H’Arman. Who’re you?” He reached out with one hand.
    Odie was surprised that an officer would speak to her so casually—he hadn’t even identified himself as an officer—but quickly recovered. “Trooper Odie Subu,reconnaissance platoon, sir.” She took his hand and shook it.
    “Reconnaissance? That’s good, very good. You can get me back to base, and I can get back into the fight.”
    Odie liked the sound of his voice. He had sustained a gash on his forehead in the crash, but the blood that had trickled down one side of his face had dried. His short black hair and striking blue eyes offset by a ruddy complexion made him look like an athletic outdoorsman just come in from a long hike.
    The wind had diminished significantly by now. Odie stood. “Sir, follow me!” she said, extending her hand to help him up.
    At that instant the world around them exploded.

6
    T he fight for the Intergalactic Communications Center was fierce but short-lived, and the outcome was never in doubt. The valiant Commander Llanmore and the mixed human and Sluissi soldiers in his battalion knew that the rest of their army, even if it was still fighting and hadn’t already been destroyed, wasn’t able to come to their aid. They knew that now their mission was to delay the capture of the center long enough for Reija Momen and her technicians to destroy the communications equipment. They were only partially successful.
    “Stop!” Reija ordered her technicians as the first battle droids burst into the control room. “Don’t resist them. I don’t want any of you killed.” But she couldn’t save them all. Three technicians didn’t hear her command and continued destroying equipment. They died when droids blasted them.
    “I think, Mistress, that we are about to become prisoners,” Slith Skael muttered. He stepped in front of Reija to protect her from the advancing droids, while everyone else was raising his or her hands in surrender. With blows and shoving, the droids forced the techniciansinto the center of the control room and surrounded them, weapons leveled.
    Cleaning droids scurried about the bodies of the three technicians, scrubbing at the mess on the floor. One of them, programmed to haul away small amounts of trash, vainly tried to move one of the bodies. Frustrated, it emitted a whirring noise but wouldn’t give up trying. If the situation hadn’t been so desperate, Reija would have found the droid’s attempts highly amusing.
    “What next?” someone asked.
    “Si-lence!”
one of the droids commanded.
    “I demand to speak with your commander!” Reija said in a voice of authority. A droid darted around Slith and jabbed the muzzle of its blaster into Reija’s midsection, knocking the wind out of her. Slith spun about and grabbed her in time to keep her from falling. He raised his caudal appendage protectively between Reija and the droid as