"Michael Stackpole "Rogue Squadron"" - читать интересную книгу автора

Shistavanen, Shiel. I think they'll work well together." He opened his hands.
"Gavin's all alone and looking for a new home. Let me put him in Rogue
Squadron."
Ackbar looked at Salm. "Aside from this nebu-lous age problem, you do not
disagree with this selection?"
Salm looked at Wedge and bowed his head. "In this case-if Darklighter does well
in his Redemp-tion trial-I see no problem with letting Com-mander Antilles have
his way."
Which means my choice for XO gets opposed fully-not that I expected less. "You
are most kind, General."
Ackbar's mouth opened in the Mon Calamari imitation of a smile. "Spoken with
General Solo's degree of sarcasm, I believe."
"I'm sorry, sir." Wedge smiled, then clasped his hands at the small of his back.
"I would also hope the General would see his way clear to letting me choose my
own Executive Officer."
The Admiral looked at his starfighter com-mander. "Who is presently in that
position?"
"Rogue Squadron's XO is Captain Aril Nunb. She is the sister of Nien Nunb, one
of the other he-roes of Endor. She is every bit as skilled a pilot as her
brother and worked extensively with him during his smuggling days. Sullust is
providing us aid and having her in Rogue Squadron would definitely in-crease
support from the SoroSuub government."
"Commander, do you quarrel with this assess-ment?"
Wedge shook his head. "No, sir, not at all."
"Then the problem is .. . ?"
"She's a wonderful pilot, Admiral, and I'd love to have her in my squadron, but
not as my XO. In that position I need someone who can help train my pilots. What
Aril does, what her brother does, is in-tuitive to them. They can't teach it to
others. As my XO she'd be frustrated, my pilots would be frus-trated, and I'd
have chaos to deal with."
"And yon have another candidate in mind?"
"Yes, at" Wedge looked at General Salm and braced for his reaction. "I want
Tycho Celchu."
i
"Absolutely not!" The explosion Wedge had ex-pected from Salm did not disappoint
him. "Admiral Ackbar, under no circumstances will I allow Celchu to be anywhere
near an active duty squadron. Just because he isn't in prison is no reason for
me to want him in my command."
"Prison!" Wedge's jaw shot open. "The man hasn't done anything that warrants
confinement."
"He cannot be trusted."
"I believe he can."
"Come on, Antilles, you know what he's been through."
"What I know, General, is this: Tycho Celchu is a hero-much more of a hero than
I am. On Hoth he fought as fiercely as anyone and at Endor he pi-loted an A-wing
that led a bunch of TIE fighters on a merry chase through the Death Star. He
took them off our backs while Lando and I went in and blew the installation's
reactor. He fought at Bakura and went on subsequent missions with the squadron,
then volunteered, General, volunteered to fly a cap-tured TIE fighter on a
covert mission to Coruscant. He got captured. He escaped. That's it."