Star Wars_ Cloak of Deception - James Luceno [55]
Fingers interlocked, Mace Windu leaned forward in his seat to address Qui-Gon. “We’ve just met with members of the Judicial Department, regarding the attempted assassination of Supreme Chancellor Valorum. We’re trusting that you can shed additional light on what transpired at the Galactic Senate.”
Qui-Gon nodded. “I trust that I can.”
Yoda glanced at Windu, then leveled his gaze at Qui-Gon. “How came you to be at the senate, Qui-Gon? Alerted by your source in the Nebula Front, were you?”
“I’ll answer that,” Adi Gallia said. “I asked Qui-Gon to accompany me to the Senate, to speak personally with Supreme Chancellor Valorum.”
Windu regarded her with a frown. “For what purpose?”
Adi looked briefly to Qui-Gon. “Qui-Gon has reason to believe that the Supreme Chancellor errs by relying on worlds along the Rimma Trade Route to end terrorism in those sectors.”
“Is this so, Qui-Gon?” Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.
Qui-Gon nodded. “The Nebula Front receives much of its funding from those very worlds.”
“Knows much about the situation, Qui-Gon does,” Yoda said with false flattery. “Correct he was about Captain Cohl surviving the explosion at Dorvalla.” He paused. “Behind the attempted assassination attempt, is Cohl?”
“No, Master,” Qui-Gon said. “Cohl is on the run. Furthermore, I’m not persuaded that the Nebula Front actually wished to harm the Supreme Chancellor.”
Yoda’s expression hardened. “Shot him, they did. Traced by documentation to their secret base in the Senex sector, they were.”
“Too easily, Master,” Qui-Gon said, holding his ground. “The signs were far too obvious.”
“Terrorists they are. Not soldiers.”
Windu looked at Yoda, then at Qui-Gon. “You’ve obviously given thought to this. Continue.”
“The assassins aimed their bolts at Supreme Chancellor Valorum’s guards. I believe that the bolt that grazed him was inadvertent. The escape was also unconvincing. And since they must have known in advance that there was little chance of all of them getting away, why would they carry documentation?”
“Unlike Captain Cohl, eh, Qui-Gon?”
Qui-Gon nodded. “He would not have been so careless.”
Yoda brought his right forefinger to his mouth. “Plan this he did—from afar. Seek out your Bith contact in the Nebula Front, you must.”
Qui-Gon turned to him. “I’ll do that, Master. Still, why would the Front target the Supreme Chancellor, when he has finally taken a stand against the Trade Federation?”
“Answer your own question,” Windu said.
Qui-Gon took a breath and gave his head a quick shake. “I’m not certain, Masters. But I fear that the Nebula Front has something even more treacherous in mind.”
Hyphens of angry light streaking past her to all sides, the Hawk-Bat fled the surface of a green planet, graced by two small, close-set, and heavily cratered moons. Her ardent pursuers were a trio of slender-bodied vessels, Coruscant red from stem to stern, with blunt bows, a trio of large, drum-shaped sublight thrusters, and multiple pairs of turbolaser batteries.
In the gunship’s cramped bridge, Boiny studied the console’s authenticator displays. “Corellian space cruisers, Captain! Gaining fast! Estimated time before they overtake us is—”
“I don’t want to know,” Cohl said from the captain’s chair, as an explosion pitched the ship roughly to port. “Blasted Judicial Department! Don’t they have better things