CHAPTER EIGHT
The falcon waited in the darkness. The frozen white world in which they existed reflected the orange light of the moon, casting an orange blush across the horizon. It was silent and cold. Ice crystals floated quietly and settled on Worf and Chewbacca as they approached the black outline of the ship. The dark hulk loomed above them as they made there way up the lowered ramp. Closing it behind them, Chewbacca let his pack fall to the floor and made his way to the cockpit and fired the auxiliary thrusters to melt the ice off the landing gear.
Worf warmed his hands over one of the many vents that distributed the air through out the ship. The floor vibrated as the thrusters melted through the thick ice sending a groan and a creak through the hull. Chewbacca returned from the cockpit and extended his hands to the vent.
"We're half done." Chewbacca said.
"The easy half is done." Worf replied.
Chewbacca grunted an agreement and nodded to the cockpit.
"When we go we must be careful leaving orbit. It's imperative we make the jump to lightspeed undetected. If we can do that we stand a good chance not being stopped again by the Imperial blockade. I don't think they will let us off so easy next time"
"What about the bounty hunter?" Worf asked.
"I don't know. He may be waiting. To be on the safe side we must assume so."
"Agreed." Worf said
"It is time." Chewie said.
Getting one last blast of warm air from the vent they headed to the cockpit and readied the Falcon for take off. Chewie fired the primary thrusters and the ship lifted with a shudder as the landing gear pulled loose from the frozen surface. Chewie turned the Falcon skyward and ignited the main engines. A minute later the sky turned from the burnt orange of the frozen scape of Iium to the darkness and light of the Almakar system.
Chewie moved easily through the pre lightspeed calculations while Worf stored the Dilitheum crystal and strapped his Phaser to his belt. Returning to the cockpit, Worf took his seat and waited as Chewie finished preparing for the jump to light speed. Suddenly a warning buzzer sounded and the Falcon rocked as a tie fighter buzzed passed and let go a burst of laser fire! Narrowly missing the Falcon, the Fighter turned and sped passed once more and disappeared into the darkness.
"We must go now!" Chewie yelled.
"What was that!" Worf asked as he hurriedly punched the last missile command, bringing them on line.
"A tie fighter here can only mean a destroyer is near by. Boba Fett must have alerted the Imperials. He knows he can still get something if our capture is based on information given to them by him."
Chewie turned the ship to the correct coordinates and entered the calculations. The warning buzzer screamed again as the cockpit window filled with a squadron of tie fighters! Igniting the main engines, Chewie pulled back on the throttle and the Falcon roared to life slamming its occupants back in to their seats. The window filled with stars as the ship leaped forward and disappeared in to the eternal night.
"Sir. We have lost communication with The Feral. It is presumed destroyed." The young officer finished his report and swallowed hard. Vader did not take the last report well and his mood hadn't improved. "Where was it's last known position, Lieutenant?" "The Yaesue system, sir." Vader turned his back to him and motioned him to return to his station. That made seven Vader thought to himself. And they were no where near a solution as to how to deal with these things. He must approach the Emperor. If he did not do something soon then it would be too late. How could one ship be so powerful? So elusive? Until now the Empire's Star Destroyers were the most feared in the galaxy, and now the most feared were the most vulnerable. He turned on his heel and left the bridge. It could wait no longer he must tell the Emperor of his plan, it was the only way.
Deep in his chamber, Vader stared at the holographic image of the withered old figure, fading in and out on the holopad.. The signal was not strong, so the meeting would be brief. The Emperor already knew of the seven ships. For the first time Vader sensed a nervousness in his voice he had never heard before. Until they could be certain of the whereabouts of the alien vessel reinforcements were on standby.
"I sense a reluctance in you, Vader. You have something to speak?" The Emperor asked.
"It is about the aliens."
"You wish to form an alliance with the Enterprise against the soulless ones?"
Vader took a breath and let it go slowly. It was very hard, even for him, to hide anything from the Emperor.
"We have learned that the soulless ones come from the same universe as the Enterprise. Their experience and information could prove to be invaluable."
The Emperor, his face eternally cloaked by the shadow of his hood, smiled.
"Yes, Vader I do believe it is an idea we can entertain. If we were to use these ones to destroy the cube, form an alliance with them, and when they have served their purpose, Crush them!"
Vader waited without speaking.
"You see, Lord Vader, it is their technology that interests me. In our hands the rebellion would not last a month!"
"Yes. As you wish." Vader said.
Four hours later the Falcon came out of lightspeed on the dark side of DX-394, a dismal moon that had been stripped long ago during the clone wars of all the mineral riches that had once made it a red jewel in the night sky. The falcon rested in darkness and silence on its rocky surface as the Borg cube passed over head in orbit. They had decided it would be best to avoid the busy commercial lanes of Coruscant and take a lesser known route back to Markaz. Now in the shadow of the passing cube they wondered if the decision had been an ill fated one. Coming out of lightspeed, the falcon narrowly missed detection because of the moon's heavy gravitational pull that caused the Borg sensors to misread their hyperdrive signature as a derelict satellite drifting in space.
Worf and Chewie looked quietly up at the cube as it passed. It seemed as though you could reach out and touch it. Worf remembered the warning of Kahless; that the soulless ones would be waiting. He wondered if they would get so close to getting back to the Enterprise just to be discovered now.
"How long?" Worf asked.
"A few minutes more. The moon will mask our signature for awhile longer. By then they will be gone."
As the seconds passed like hours they stared at the cube as it grew smaller and disappeared over the moons horizon. Instantly Chewie brought the engines back on line and fired the Keel thrusters lifting the Falcon off the surface in a cloud of dust.
"We must waste no time. If they are in orbit of the moon we have about sixteen minutes before they pass again." Chewie said.
The Falcons engines strained against the moon's gravity, lugging hard as they neared the outer reaches of the thin hydronite atmosphere. With a sudden jerk the Falcon leaped forward breaking free of the moon. Chewie ignited the main engines and the Falcon left the dull, graying moon behind.
"Any news about the probe, Commander?" Picard asked as he sat down in the command chair. Riker picked up the last report he had received and looked over it; "Not since our first contact with it. The search is ongoing. The Alliance says it may have crashed landed on Markaz or headed back to whoever sent it." Picard did not ask about Worf, he knew if there had been any news he would have heard it by now.
"Captain." Geordi's voice came over the com.
"Go ahead Geordi."
"All repairs are complete, with the exception of the dilitheum."
"Thank you Geordi."
"Number one." Picard continued, " Alert the crew that mandatory double shifts are suspended for now."
"Gladly." Riker said with a relieved smile.
"Sir, we have an incoming message from the surface, priority." Data reported.
"In my ready room, Number one you have the bridge." Picard said.
Inside, Picard seated himself and swung the small view screen around and turned it on. Princess Leila's face appeared, tired and worried, and forced a smile at Picards warm greeting.
"Captain I have received a communication, believe it or not, from Vader himself. We received it on an all frequency feed. He doesn't know exactly how to contact us, for obvious reasons, so I would assume he had hoped he could reach us by sending out a message on frequencies he knew we would monitor."
"What were the contents of the message?" Picard asked.
"Actually Captain, the message was for you."
"Lord Vader?" The nervous voice sounded in the darkness. Vader, his outline dark against the window did not turn around. "What is it Captain?" "We just received a report from a scout ship, it was relaying a message from the Feral. It seems they had launched a probe before they were destroyed. The Captain paused for a moment. "And." Vader snapped impatiently. "The probe brought back the coordinates of the Rebel base, Sir" Vader lifted his head. "Where." He said loudly. "Our Intel was correct Sir, they are in the Yaesue system, on the third moon in orbit around Markaz."
"Captain, set a course for the Yaesue system." Vader ordered.