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

"The most prudent course, Commander-if you cared to protect the rest of the
trainees here, not just your own-would have been to keep Captain Celchu out of
the simulator facility entirely!" Salm crossed his arms over his chest. "You may
be a hero of the New Republic, but that doesn't give you any authorization to
jeopardize our security."
Perhaps having Tycho fly today was a bit pre-mature. Wedge glanced down
penitently. "I stand corrected, sir."
Ackbar broke the uneasy silence following Wedge's admission. "What is done is
done. Now us-ing Captain Celchu in the scenario would have made it that much
more difficult, would it not?"
A smile creeping back on his face, Wedge nod-ded. "Yes, sir-which is what I
wanted. Horn is good, very good, and the trio of pilots flying on his side in
the exercise are not bad, either. Overall, Horn or Bror Jace, the Thyferran, are
the best pilots in the whole group. Jace is arrogant, which gets under Horn's
skin and keeps him working hard. Horn, on the other hand, is impatient. That'll
get him killed and the only way to make that apparent to him is by having
someone shoot him up in exer-cises. Tycho can do that."
The door to Ackbar's office opened and a female Rebel officer led a pilot in a
black flight suit into the room. "Admiral, this is Captain Celchu."
Tycho snapped to attention. "Reporting as ordered, sir."
"At ease, Mr. Celchu."
Wedge gave the slightly taller man a reassuring smile.
The Admiral eased himself out of his chair. "You may leave us, Lieutenant." The
Mon Calamari waited for the door to close behind his aide, then he nodded toward
Wedge. "Captain Celchu, Com-mander Antilles has told me that you have agreed to
a remarkable number of restrictions on yourself and your activities. Is this
true?"
Tycho nodded. "Yes, sir, it is."
"You realize you will be flying a defenseless bomb, you will have no privacy and
no freedom."
"I do, sir."
The Mon Calamari closed his mouth for a mo-ment and stared silently at the
blue-eyed pilot. "You will be treated no better than I was when I served as a
slave to Grand Moff Tarkin. You will be treated worse, m fact, because General
Salm here believes you are a ducat to the New Republic. Why do you agree to such
treatment?''
Tycho shrugged. "It's my duty, sir. I chose to join the Rebellion. I willingly
froze on Hoth. I fol-lowed orders and assaulted a Death Star. I volun-teered for
the mission that got me in all this trouble. I did all those things because
that's what I agreed to do when I joined the Rebels." He glanced down. "Besides,
even the worst you can do to me will still be better than Imperial captivity."
Sweat gleaming from his bald head, Salm pointed at Tycho. "This is all noble,
Admiral, but would we expect anything less from someone in his position?"
"No, General, nor would we expect anything less of a noble son of Alderaan." The
Mon Calamari picked up a datapad from his desk. "I am signing orders to make
Captain Celchu the Executive Offi-cer for Rogue Squadron, and to put this Gavin
Darklighter in the squadron as well."
Wedge saw Salm's expression sour, so he sup-pressed his own smile. Even so he
winked at Tycho. Two flights, two kills.
Ackbar glanced at the datapad's screen, then looked up again. "Commander