Specter of the Past by Timothy Zahn (English) Mass Market Paperback Book

Description: Specter of the Past by Timothy Zahn Hugo Award-winning author Timothy Zahn makes his triumphant return to the Star Wars(r) universe in this first of an epic new two-volume series in which the New Republic must face its most dangerous enemy yet—a dead Imperial warlord.The Empire stands at the brink of total collapse. But they have saved their most heinous plan for last. First a plot is hatched that could destroy the New Republic in a bloodbath of genocide and civil war. Then comes the shocking news that Grand Admiral Thrawn—the most cunning and ruthless warlord in history—has apparently returned from the dead to lead the Empire to a long-prophesied victory. Facing incredible odds, Han and Leia begin a desperate race against time to prevent the New Republic from unraveling in the face of two inexplicable threats—one from within and one from without. Meanwhile, Luke teams up with Mara Jade, using the Force to track down a mysterious pirate ship with a crew of clones. Yet, perhaps most dangerous of all, are those who lurk in the shadows, orchestrating a dark plan that will turn the New Republic and the Empire into their playthings. FORMAT Mass Market Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description From author Timothy Zahn, whose trilogy continued the saga of George Lucas films, comes "Specter of the Past." Now Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo must battle to safeguard the fledgling New Republic from a dead Imperial warlord - and from itself. Back Cover The Empire stands at the brink of total collapse. But they have saved their most heinous plan for last. First a plot is hatched that could destroy the New Republic in a bloodbath of genocide and civil war. Then comes the shocking news that Grand Admiral Thrawn-the most cunning and ruthless warlord in history-has apparently returned from the dead to lead the Empire to a long-prophesied victory. Facing incredible odds, Han and Leia begin a desperate race against time to prevent the New Republic from unraveling in the face of two inexplicable threats-one from within and one from without. Meanwhile, Luke teams up with Mara Jade, using the Force to track down a mysterious pirate ship with a crew of clones. Yet, perhaps most dangerous of all, are those who lurk in the shadows, orchestrating a dark plan that will turn the New Republic and the Empire into their playthings. Author Biography Timothy Zahn is a Hugo Award-winner, and author of the"New York Times" best seller "Heir to the Empire". Born in -->Chicago-->, he earned a B.S. in physics from -->Michigan-->-->State-->-->University--> and an M.S. in physics from the -->-->University--> of -->Illinois-->-->. He sold his first story to"Analog" in 1978, and immediately attracted attention as a new writer of science fiction based on real, cutting-edge science. Baen recently published his popular Cobra trilogy in one volume. His other popular series include the ?Conqueror? and ?Dragonback? novels. Zahn has written over twenty nov Review "Zahn turns in his usual high-caliber performance."--Library Journal "Longtime fans should get considerable pleasure from this addition to the saga."--Publishers Weekly Review Quote "Zahn turns in his usual high-caliber performance."--Library Journal "Longtime fans should get considerable pleasure from this addition to the saga."--Publishers Weekly Excerpt from Book Slowly, silently, its lights a faint glitter of life amid the darkness, the Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera glided through space. Empty space. Oppressively dark space. Long, lonely light-years from the nearest of the tiny islands that were the star systems of the galaxy, drifting at the edge of the boundary between the Outer Rim worlds and the vast regions of territory known as Unknown Space. At the very edge of the Empire. Or rather, at the edge of the pitiful scraps of what had once been the Empire. Standing beside one of the Chimaera s side viewports, Admiral Pellaeon, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet, gazed out at the emptiness, the weight of all too many years pressing heavily across his shoulders. Too many years, too many battles, too many defeats. Perhaps the Chimaera s bridge crew was feeling the weight, too. Certainly the sounds of activity going on behind him seemed more muted than usual today. But perhaps it was merely the effect of being out here, so far from anywhere at all. No, of course that had to be it. The men of the Chimaera were the finest the Fleet had to offer. They were Imperial officers and crewers, and Imperials didnt give up. Ever. There was a tentative footstep at his side. "Admiral?" Captain Ardiff said quietly. "Were ready to begin, sir." For a moment Pellaeons mind flashed back ten years, to another very similar moment. Then, it had been Pellaeon and Grand Admiral Thrawn whod been here on the Chimaera s bridge, watching the final test of the prototype cloaking shield Thrawn had recovered from among the Emperors trophies inside Mount Tantiss. Pellaeon could remember the excitement hed felt then, despite his misgivings about the insane Jedi clone Joruus Cbaoth, as he watched Thrawn single-handedly breathing new life and vigor back into the Empire. But Mount Tantiss was gone, destroyed by agents of the New Republic and Cbaoths own madness and treason. And Grand Admiral Thrawn was dead. And the Empire was dying. With an effort, Pellaeon shook the shadows of the past away. He was an Imperial officer, and Imperials didnt give up. "Thank you," he said to Ardiff. "At your convenience, Captain." "Yes, sir." Ardiff half turned, gestured to the fighter coordinator in the portside crew pit. "Signal the attack," he ordered. The officer acknowledged and gestured in turn to one of his crewers. Pellaeon turned his attention back to the viewport-- Just in time to see eight SoroSuub Preybird -class starfighters in tight formation roar in from behind them. Cutting tight to the Chimaera s command superstructure, they passed over the forward ridgeline, raking it with low-power blaster fire, then split smoothly out in eight different directions. Corkscrewing out and forward, they kept up their fire until they were out of the Star Destroyers primary attack zone. Then, curving smoothly around, they swung around and regrouped. "Admiral?" Ardiff prompted. "Lets give them one more pass, Captain," Pellaeon said. "The more flight data the Predictor has to work with, the better it should function." He caught the eye of one of the crew pit officers. "Damage report?" "Minor damage to the forward ridgeline, sir," the officer reported. "One sensor array knocked out, leaving five turbolasers without ranging data." "Acknowledged." All theoretical damage, of course, calculated under the assumption that the Preybirds were using full-power capital-ship turbolasers. Pellaeon had always loved war games when he was younger; had relished the chance to play with technique and tactics without the risks of true combat. Somewhere in all those years, the excitement had faded away. "Helm, bring us around twenty degrees to starboard," he ordered. "Starboard turbolasers will lay down dispersion fire as they make their next pass." The Preybirds were back in tight formation now, once again approaching their target. The Chimaera s turbolasers opened up as they came, their low-level fire splattering across the Preybirds overlapping deflector shields. For a few seconds the opponents traded fire; then, the Preybirds broke formation again, splitting apart like the fingertips of an opening hand. Twisting over and under the Chimaera, they shot past, scrambling for the safety of distance. "Damage report?" Pellaeon called. "Three starboard turbolaser batteries knocked out," the officer called back. "Weve also lost one tractor beam projector and two ion cannon." "Enemy damage?" "One attacker appears to have lost its deflector shields, and two others are reading diminished turbolaser capability." "Hardly counts as damage," Ardiff murmured. "Of course, the situation here isnt exactly fair. Ships that small and maneuverable would never have the kind of shields or firepower were crediting them with." "If you want fairness, organize a shockball tournament," Pellaeon said acidly. "Dont look for it in warfare." Ardiffs cheek twitched. "Im sorry, sir." Pellaeon sighed. The finest the Imperial Fleet had to offer..." Stand by the cloaking shield, Captain," he ordered, watching the faint drive glows as the Preybirds regrouped again in the distance. "Activate on my command." "Yes, Admiral." There was a sudden flare of drive glow, partially eclipsed by the Preybirds themselves, as the enemy kicked into high acceleration. "Here they come," Pellaeon said, watching as the single glowing dot rapidly resolved itself into eight close-formation ships. "Lock Predictor into fire control. Stand by cloaking shield." "Predictor and cloaking shield standing by," Ardiff confirmed. Pellaeon nodded, his full attention on the Preybirds. Nearly to the point where theyd broken formation last time... "Cloaking shield: now. " And with a brief flicker of bridge lighting, the stars and incoming Preybirds vanished as the cloaking shield plunged the Chimaera into total darkness. "Cloaking shield activated and stabilized," Ardiff said. "Helm, come around portside: thirty degrees by eight," Pellaeon ordered. "Ahead acceleration point one. Turbolasers: fire." "Acknowledged," an officer called. "Turbolasers are firing." Pellaeon took a step closer to the viewport and looked down along the Chimaera s sides. The faint blasts of low-level fire were visible, lancing a short distance out from the Star Destroyer and then disappearing as they penetrated the spherical edge of the Star Destroyers cloaking shield. Blinded by the very device that was now shielding it from its opponents view, the Chimaera was firing wildly in an attempt to destroy those opponents. Or perhaps not quite so wildly. If the Predictor worked as well as its designers hoped, perhaps the Empire still had a chance in this war. It was a long time before the Chimaera s turbolasers finally ceased fire. Far too long. "Is that it?" he asked Ardiff. "Yes, sir," the other said. "Five hundred shots, as preprogrammed." Pellaeon nodded. "Deactivate cloaking shield. Lets see how well we did." There was another flicker from the lights, and the stars were back. Mentally crossing his fingers, Pellaeon peered out the viewport. For a moment there was nothing. Then, from starboard, he spotted the approaching drive glows. Seven of them. "Signal from Adversary Commander, Admiral," the comm officer called. "Target Three reports receiving a disabling hit and has gone dormant; all other targets have sustained only minimal damage. Requesting orders." Pellaeon grimaced. One. Out of eight targets, the Chimaera had been able to hit exactly one. And that great feat had required five hundred shots to achieve. So that was that. The wonderful Computerized Combat Predictor, touted by its creators and sponsors as the best approach to practical use of the cloaking shield, had been put to the test. And to be fair, it had probably done better than simple random shooting. But it hadnt done enough better. Not nearly enough. "Inform Adversary Commander that the exercise is over," Pellaeon told the comm officer. "Target Three may reactivate its systems; all ships are to return to the Chimaera. I want their reports filed within the next two hours." "Yes, sir." "Im sure theyll be able to improve it, Admiral," Ardiff said at Pellaeons side. "This was just the first field test. Surely theyll be able to improve it." "How?" Pellaeon retorted. "Train the Predictor to be omniscient? Or simply te Details ISBN0553298046 Author Timothy Zahn Short Title SW HAND THRAWN V01 SPECTER OF Pages 416 Publisher Spectra Books Series Star Wars: Hand of Thrawn (Paperback) Language English ISBN-10 0553298046 ISBN-13 9780553298048 Media Book Format Mass Market Paperback DEWEY FIC Series Number 01 Year 1999 Publication Date 1999-01-31 Audience Age 10 Imprint Bantam USA Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Residence OR, US Subtitle Specter Of The Past DOI 10.1604/9780553298048 Audience General/Trade UK Release Date 1998-09-01 AU Release Date 1998-09-01 NZ Release Date 1998-09-01 US Release Date 1998-09-01 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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