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Chapter 2

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Hobbie sat down at the desk in his living room and logged on to the New Republic's restricted database. Because of his position in Rogue Squadron he had access to information that the general population didn't have – not that he needed it for this. All he was interested in – at this point, at least – was Ralltiir's governmental structure, and that was public knowledge. Bringing up his planet's profile, he went to the page that listed the makeup of the current Secretariat. Scanning down the list of names, he saw several that he recognized, most because they'd been politicians even when he'd last been on the planet. Of all of the names, though, there were only three that he really felt a need to pay close attention to.

The current President, Karl Desaten had been a minor politician back when he'd left Ralltiir. Desaten had been ambitious and an avid public supporter of the Empire, but in fact he'd gone to great lengths to aid the Rebel cells in their efforts. Hobbie had seen his name pop up here and there over the years and wasn't surprised to see that he'd attained such high office. He was surprised, however, that he wasn't cooperating with the New Republic on whatever was going on. He made a mental note to see what he could find out about him once they reached Ralltiir.

The next was the Minister of Galactic Affairs – a fancy title for the Ambassador to the New Republic, it seemed. Ana Janik had been a friend of his older sister. He remembered taking her to the spaceport after the fever epidemic. She'd hated the Empire after that; she was convinced that they could have saved more lives had they taken a more active role in combating the outbreak. At seventeen, he hadn't been sure what more they could have done. But now, having lived through most of the war, having seen planets raised and half of Coruscant suffering from the Krytos Virus, he knew better. He wasn't surprised to see her in such a position, either, even though it meant she'd returned to a world she'd never wanted to see again.

The name that meant the most to him, however, belonged to the Minister of Domestic Affairs. Alek Cesra had been a good friend of his growing up – their parents had been friends even before the two boys were born. When the fever had claimed his parents and sister, and Alek's older brother – his guardian at the time – they'd supported each other through it. He'd lost track of the other man after he left for the Academy and had regretted it, but had never had the opportunity to repair the damage.

That Alek was now so highly placed surprised him, and he opened the file on his old friend. From the looks of it, he'd started his climb right after Yavin, helping out in the efforts to rebuild the planet once it had been liberated and was receiving aid from the New Republic. He wondered idly what had caused his friend to choose such a direction for his life. Maybe, like Ana, he'd blamed the Empire for the thousands of lives the fever had claimed.

Hobbie pushed the datapad aside and rubbed at his eyes. He felt strange doing this research. Normally, he'd have just sat back and gone along with whatever he was told. But this wasn't a normal mission. This was about his planet, and he'd been told to stay out of it.

So, naturally, that was the last thing he wanted to do.

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Wedge punched the button on the comm unit. That woman was infuriating!

Lana Tierney had called to inform him that the Rogues' cover identities were changing. Hobbie was supposed to have been paired with Karin, Rogue 4, and the two were going to pose as newlyweds on holiday. However, Tierney had just decided that she was going to go in Karin's place, and Karin would now be with Janson and Corran.

She had made it clear that she viewed Hobbie as a threat to this mission, and no amount of arguing on his part would change her mind. It unnerved him that she felt the need to watch over Hobbie like this. Sure, the man had asked a lot of questions. That was natural – they were about to go to his home world. But asking questions in briefing, as stubborn as he'd been in doing it, was a far cry from endangering himself or anyone else on a mission.

He called Tycho into the office. The Alderaanian was fairly levelheaded. Maybe he could make this all seem better than it actually was.

Wedge shook his head. Who was he kidding? This mission had disaster written all over it.

"What do you need?" Tycho asked as he walked into the office.

"To do this over," he replied. "I shouldn't have agreed to it." He was regretting not talking to Tycho before accepting the mission. And even after accepting it, when he'd discussed the pilots' cover identities with his XO, he hadn't said much else – not that he knew a whole lot, but still….

Tycho sat down and leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. "Why did you?"

"Because Leia asked me to herself. I don't even know what this is really all about. I just know she thinks it's important."

"Why did you come down so hard on Hobbie?" Tycho asked.

"Because I'd rather not see him get himself killed," Wedge replied tiredly, and Tycho's eyes went wide.

"What?" He straightened up slightly.

"All I really know," Wedge said, leaning forward and resting an elbow on the desk, "is that they think this is important enough that they won't let anyone find out what's going on. Part of that woman's job is, as she just so politely told me, to make sure no one asks too many questions – through whatever means necessary."

Tycho looked concerned. "You don't think she'd…"

Wedge sighed. "I don't know. I'd rather not find out, though."

"Hobbie's not going to back off," Tycho pointed out.

"He's not going to have a choice," Wedge replied, his frown deepening. "I just spoke to Tierney. She's changing the covers – she's going with Hobbie."

"He's gonna be thrilled. When you telling him?"

"When he gets here."

Tycho got a faraway look in his eyes that concerned Wedge. "Hobbie really thinks that there's something going on that he should know about, doesn't he?"

"I can't say I blame him," Wedge admitted, nodding. He thought back to the conversation they'd had yesterday. "I'd feel the same way if it were Corellia. But he needs to play by NRI's rules."

"And if he's right?" Tycho asked.

Wedge shook his head. "I don' t know."

Tycho fell silent again for a moment, eyes focused on the floor. "And if this turns into another Adumar?" he asked.

Wedge drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. "You mean with Intel stabbing us in the back?" He didn't see Ralltiir disintegrating into civil war. It was, he supposed, possible that the Ralltiiri government might see fit to come after them if they learned of their activities though.

"Yeah."

The truth was, he hadn't thought about that. He didn't really want to, either. "I'm going to make sure everyone has a way to contact the others. They don't have to know their covers, but they need to be able to reach each other if necessary."

"Tierney won't agree to that," Tycho pointed out.

Wedge shrugged. "She doesn't have to know."

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Hobbie kept his face carefully blank as he walked into Wedge's office. "What did you need?"

"Close the door."

Uh-oh. Hobbie did as he asked and then sat down in the chair nearest the door. "What's going on?"

"You'll be briefed on your cover identity later, but I wanted to let you know something in advance. For this assignment, you're actually going to be partnered with Tierney."

Yeah, uh-oh had been an appropriate reaction. "Why?" he asked, even though he knew the answer.

"She thinks you're a danger to the mission. She's afraid you're going to ask the wrong questions and get yourself caught."

Hobbie bristled. "I'm not stupid, Wedge. I asked questions in briefing – that's what we're supposed to do!"

Wedge gave a long-suffering sigh. "I know, Hobbie. But…like I said, there's a lot that you don't know here. There's a lot that I don't know. But Leia is the one who came to me with this. She's the reason I agreed, and I trust her more than just about anyone. Try to go along with it."

"Wedge—"

"We don't have a choice in this, Hobbie. NRI is making the rules, and if you don't follow them, you're going to get yourself killed."

"The last time we followed NRI's rules we almost got killed anyway," Hobbie shot back.

"Listen to me!" Wedge exclaimed. "Tierney has been authorized to use whatever methods necessary to keep this mission from being exposed. That includes a blaster bolt to the back of your head if you get out of line."

Hobbie froze. Wedge couldn't be serious…could he? Surely they wouldn't… He shook his head. "Fine. I'll be careful."

"Just do your job, Hobbie," his CO said warningly. "Don't ask questions; don't try to find out what's going on. Do your job, and nothing more."

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Lana sat in front of her computer, studying the list of files that Klivian had accessed the previous night. She noted at least seven names he should have recognized, and saw with interest that he'd reviewed the files of the three who were most important to this mission. Maybe she'd underestimated him.

Yes, she decided. She had underestimated him. Mentally, she upgraded him from the potential problem she'd categorized him as yesterday to a definite threat. She needed to watch him closely.

She stood and walked over to the bed, where her suitcase lay open. She removed the clothes she'd packed so far, and then walked to the chest of drawers against the opposite wall. Kneeling down, she opened the bottom drawer and drew out a small box. She opened it and examined the contents to make sure it had everything she needed.

Four small tracking devices, each the size of a button and with built in microphones. She expected she'd need more than just these four, but she could get more from her agents on Ralltiir. Bugs for each of the rooms, in case the Rogues managed to find the ones that her people had installed in preparation for their arrival. The receiver that would enable her to review any conversations the pilots had over their comlinks.

Yes, everything was there.

She stood and returned to the bed, setting the communications kit next to her suitcase, and opened the case's false bottom. Then she slipped the equipment inside and closed the compartment. Replacing the clothing she'd removed a few minutes ago, she let her mind wander back to Hobbie.

Lana shook her head. Klivian. Not Hobbie. That would be a mistake. She couldn't let herself think of him on a first name basis.

It would make it far more difficult to deal with him if the need arose.

She amended that thought. It was already looking more like "when" than "if."