Enemy Lines II_ Rebel Stand - Aaron Allston [43]
Addath had known her face for years. It belonged to one of the preeminent investigative holojournalists on the world of Vannix, and she stared at Addath without mercy. “Hello, Senator.”
Leia said, “Fasald, perhaps you could give us a few moments alone.”
“Of course.” The broadcaster gave Addath a perfunctory nod, then turned away.
Addath opened her mouth wide and drew in a deep breath of air, but Leia placed a finger over Addath’s lips. “Don’t do it, Addath. Don’t call for your guards. Fasald has already broadcast that entire recording to an editing station. You’d inconvenience her, you’d inconvenience me, but you wouldn’t prevent your arrest.”
Addath sighed out nearly the entire lungful. “Leia, why did you do this?”
“Don’t play innocent with me. It’s because I’m certain that your way of dealing with the Yuuzhan Vong will result in more deaths, more tragedy than my way. So I’ve stopped you.”
“You have a ruthless streak I never appreciated in you.”
“It came out when circumstances started killing my children.”
“So. What options do you leave me with?”
“You have two options. You can stay on Vannix, and within the next three hours Fasald will broadcast her report. Dealing with subsequent arrest and mobs is up to you. Or you can flee the residence and find yourself passage offworld by dawn. In which case Fasald will give you a full day to get to freedom, then broadcast her report. Either way, she broadcasts. I couldn’t persuade her otherwise.” Leia plucked the data card from Addath’s fingers. “I’ll get this back to the admiral.”
Addath felt her smile grow bitter. “So you and your husband sold your services to the admiral for, what was it, two squadrons and a light carrier?”
A frown creased Leia’s brow. “No. We were going to help her from the moment we arrived. The only thing she promised us was some antiquated sea navy equipment, decomissioned vessels.”
“Then what—”
“Oh, the squadrons were what General Antilles promised Han if he’d come back now and accept a military commission. Han had a holocomm conversation with Wedge while he was running errands this afternoon. The whole conversation is recorded. I can let you watch it.”
Addath nodded glumly. “I see.”
“But I now suspect that Han will decline the commission. He likes being a civilian. A scoundrel.”
“Of course. Quite an extensive setup.” Wearily, Addath turned away. “I’ll be leaving. Perhaps the former Presider would like some additional company.”
“There’s a guest at the front gates of the residence. A member of Fasald’s staff. She’ll be accompanying you until you board your ship offworld. Helping you keep track of details.”
“I appreciate your thoroughness, Leia. You think of everything.”
Left alone on the porch, Leia watched Addath walk away and took stock of her feelings.
She almost felt bad for Addath. Watching a person’s whole store of hopes and dreams go up in flames wasn’t pleasant.
But Addath was no fool. She could analyze the Yuuzhan Vong’s relationship with “allied” worlds as well as anyone else. Addath simply could not give up the reins of power, and would hold them in clenched hands, whatever the cost. Since a military opposition to the Yuuzhan Vong meant handing too much power to others, she was willing to steer this world into eventual oblivion … just so long as she was in control until that final moment.
Whether it was by denying the truth even to herself or by cold-bloodedly selling the population of an entire world into slavery and death, Addath had made the wrong choice, and her influence had to be eliminated.
Leia decided that she felt neither sadness nor joy—just satisfaction with a job well done. She turned to rejoin her husband, who would understand.
Coruscant
It took only a few hours for Luke and his companions to search the remainder of the scientific station, for Kell and Elassar to locate the other end of the massive being’s escape path and weld a heavy metal sheet across it, for Bhindi to get some of the computers operating and extract information from them.
Bhindi gathered them in an open