Star Wars_ Coruscant Nights III_ Patterns of Force - Michael Reaves [74]
“Please.” Yimmon held out his hands toward Jax, palms-up, as if to receive the questions.
“First,” Jax said. “Has Laranth spoken to you about the young adept we’ve taken in—Kajin Savaros?”
The Cerean nodded. “Yes. An extraordinary young man, by all accounts.”
“And a dangerous one,” Laranth added.
“And in a dangerous position,” said Jax. “The Inquisitors have been rabid to bring him down since he killed one of them. And unfortunately, his Force projections have drawn their notice.”
“They’ve had to relocate,” Laranth added. “Vader has ordered the police prefect of the Zi-Kree Sector to investigate the case.”
Thi Xon Yimmon nodded. “Pol Haus.”
“You know of him?”
“He’s served the constabulary well for decades. He’s a force to be reckoned with, though I know he doesn’t seem it at first blush.”
“He’s suggested to us that we should find Kaj and turn him in.”
“I think you should.”
Jax was caught off-balance. “Excuse me?”
Yimmon’s eyes glittered with sudden mirth. “Pol asked me if I would be willing to expose our connection. I told him that if he’d be willing, I could do no less. Pol Haus was one of the original Whiplash operatives, Jax. One of the very first. Can you trust him? Yes. You can trust him to do what is best for the Whiplash and the people it serves.”
“Then if Kaj’s continued existence seemed not to be best for the Whiplash …”
Yimmon shook his head. “Perhaps you look for layers of meaning where there are none. The Whiplash, like the Jedi Order, is built on the conviction that people must be trustworthy in their dealings with one another. He’s told me that he means no harm to the adept, and I believe him.”
“Why didn’t he say as much to us?” Jax asked. “He said nothing about protecting Kaj.”
“Not surprising. He’s an old hand at giving potential listeners nothing to hear. Meet with him where you can speak freely and plainly and ask your questions there. Even if I’m wrong about him, I think you’d know if he told an outright lie.”
If you’re wrong? An unsettling thought. “Could you be wrong about him?”
The Cerean shrugged. “Anyone can be wrong about anything. But, while I have known Pol Haus to lie, I have never known him to be dishonest.”
Jax blinked at the seeming paradox, but realized he understood what Yimmon was saying. There were lies told with the intent to actively deceive and lies told merely to deflect or protect.
“And that,” Jax said, “brings me to my second question—Tuden Sal.”
“Also a trusted operative.”
“Has he told you about his plan?”
Laranth and Yimmon exchanged glances. Then Yimmon said, “We had spoken of him putting together a special cell that would undertake especially dangerous missions.”
Jax knew no other way to say it than straight out. “He wants I-Five to assassinate Emperor Palpatine.”
Laranth turned a deeper shade of green, and Yimmon’s eyes widened. Neither said anything, but waited for him to continue.
“The rationale is that a droid’s thoughts would not be readable by the Force, so his intentions would be masked and his presence unnoted. He’d be disguised, of course, to look like a threepio or some other similar protocol droid. And since he has no programming to prevent him from doing an organic harm …”
Thi Xon Yimmon was nodding, his eyes veiled. “Yes, of course. The logic is impeccable.”
“But what do you think of the plan?”
“What do you think of it?”
“I’m of two minds—almost literally. First, understand that Sal has been less than trustworthy in … well, I can’t talk about my experience, but certainly as regards my father and I-Five.”
Yimmon looked genuinely saddened. “Yes, Tuden Sal told me quite openly of his betrayal. He feels compelled to ‘set things straight,’ as he put it.”
“He has very personal reasons for wanting the Emperor dead,” Jax said. “His family was torn apart over it. He had to send his wife and children away to save their lives—or so he says. And he lost pretty much everything, all in the course of an afternoon