Star Wars: X-Wing I: Rogue Squadron Read Online Free PDF Page B

his eyes, then immediately thought better of it.
He always said it looked as if I were wincing in pain
.
    The older, heavyset man swung his legs around off the cot and levered himself up into a sitting position. “Kirtan Loor, I thought it would be you.”
    “Did you?” Kirtan injected sarcasm into his voice to cover his own surprise. “How could that be?”
    The old man shrugged his shoulders. “Actually, I rather counted on it.”
    What?
The Intelligence officer snorted. “You mean you thought no one but me would be able to puzzle out your whereabouts.”
    “No, I mean that I thought even
you
could figure out how to find me.”
    Kirtan rocked back slightly from the venom in the prisoner’s voice, bumping the back of his head on the top of the hatchway.
This is not the way this is supposed to be going
. Narrowing his eyes, he stared down at the old man. “You, Gil Bastra, are going to die.”
    “I figured that the moment your TIEs started shooting at me.”
    Kirtan slowly crossed his arms. “No, you don’t understand how desperate is your situation here. You thought you outsmarted me and the Empire. You were cautious, but not insurmountably so. You are dying even now.”
    Bastra’s bushy grey eyebrows met in a frown. “What are you talking about?”
    “When we took the
Starwind
I ordered a medical evaluation for you. You may have forgotten that I always remember what I have seen and heard, and in doing so you have forgotten how you ridiculed me for using
skirtopanol
to interrogate a smuggler working for the Rebellion. You told me then that he died during interrogation because his boss, Billey, had his people dose themselves with
lotiramine
. It metabolizes the interrogation drug and can induce chemical amnesia or, in some cases, death.”
    Kirtan gave Bastra a cold smile. “Your medical scan shows elevated levels of
lotiramine
in your blood.”
    “I guess you’ll just have to kill me the old-fashioned way, then.” Bastra smiled openly, flashing white teeth in a thick, stubble-coated face. “Since Vader was the last Jedi, I guess you’ll even have to get your hands dirty doing it.”
    “Hardly.”
    “You never were one to break a sweat doing any work on Corellia, were you, Loor?” Bastra slumped back against the bulkhead. “I don’t think you would have fit in even if you’d made an effort. You were always your own worst enemy.”
    “I wasn’t meant to fit in. You were Corellian Security, I was Imperial Intelligence attached to your office.” Kirtan forced himself to calm down a bitand unknotted his fists. Lowering his hands to his sides, he tugged on the hem of his black tunic. “And now
you
are your own worst enemy. You have accelerated
blastonecrosis
.”
    “What? You’re lying.”
    “No, no I’m not.” Kirtan let pity slip into his voice. “The
lotiramine
is very effective in masking the tracer enzymes for the disease. Here, on this ship, our medical facilities are far superior to those you would find among Rebels. We were able to pick out the enzymes.”
    Gil Bastra’s shoulders slumped and his grey head bowed. His hands came together around his bulging stomach. “The fatigue, loss of appetite. I thought I was just getting old.”
    “You are.
And
you are dying.” The Intelligence officer idly stroked his sharp chin with a long-fingered hand. “I can do nothing about the former problem, but there
are
ways to cure
blastonecrosis.
”
    “And all I have to do to be cured is turn in my friends?”
    Looking down upon the grey lump of a man across from him, Kirtan felt momentarily embarrassed by memories of having feared Gil Bastra’s judgment of him and his work. Bastra had not been his direct supervisor, but he had been the one to assign officers to work with Intelligence, and Bastra’s lack of respect had been reflected through the personnel sent to work with Kirtan. Every time that Kirtan had felt in control and superior, Bastra had managed to undercut him and shame him.
    Is this