Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 01_ Outcast - Aaron Allston [13]
Luke felt the air go out of his lungs. He sat down. “You're not serious.”
“As serious as death.” Nawara frowned, deepening the shadow cast by his brow. “I'm certain they're holding back a related charge of treason as a negotiating point. The maximum possible sentence for that is, of course, death.”
Luke drew in and then let out a deep breath of hurt. He had to acknowledge that some part of the accusation was valid—he should have consciously recognized Jacen's excesses long before he had. That he had not, that almost no one in his immediate circle had done so, was a tribute to the power of self-deception and denial.
Of course, others had recognized Jacen's fall earlier. Ben, whom Luke had not listened to. Luke's wife, Mara, who had kept her own counsel … and had died in doing so. If there was any death Luke bore partial blame for due to his refusal to accept reality, it was hers. While his grief had receded from everyday life, the pain still arose at unexpected moments to stab him in the heart. It was almost a physical pain, like a punch to the gut. He took another deep breath.
Nawara dragged the other piece of furniture, a skeletal metal chair, forward and sat backward on it, resting his arms atop the back. “We can beat this charge, too. It will be harder than the fight we were anticipating. It will require a considerable amount of mud slinging. Everyone associated with Jacen bears the same responsibility, meaning a lot of people in the wartime government, yet they're not being charged. We can demonstrate that you're being singled out because you're a Jedi. Because you're the face of the Jedi Order.”
“Is that the truth? Is that why I'm being charged?”
“As far as I can tell from the hints I've picked up since your arrest, from the favors I called in while waiting to see you, it is.”
“Explain that.”
Nawara considered his words. “You must understand, I appreciate the Jedi. What you do, what you risk, what you accomplish. But not everybody does. You're unpredictable. From a military point of view, which I also understand, you're conceivably the most irritating force in the galaxy.”
That brought a brief smile to Luke's face. “True.” He nodded, unrepentant. “We have a sort of loose alliance with chains of command and legal precedent. Following orders is not as important as achieving goals.”
“The Alliance's military and ex-military leaders intensely dislike a resource they know they can't control completely.”
“So is the military behind this, or Daala?”
“The Chief of State, but many in the military support her.” Nawara paused as if reluctant to continue. “They can actually win this legal war even if we stomp them to pieces in some of the battles. If we mount a successful legal defense, so much dirt gets spread around that the Jedi lose a lot of public and government support—compared with what you get if the Jedi and the government suddenly decide to work hand in hand again. Or perhaps they have a case that's too strong for us. On the one hand, they might offer you a bargain: go free and manage the Jedi under their terms. On the other hand, they might just convict. Then you go to prison … or do what they'd prefer you to, run off into hiding and prove your unreliability and criminal nature.”
Luke leaned back against the bars behind his cot and whistled. “Today just keeps getting better and better.”
“They've been putting this together for a while. Some of my sources suggest that the order to make this case came down possibly as long ago as a year, maybe longer.”
Luke thought about that. “Then why issue the warrant now? Did it take them all this time to assemble the case?”
“No. The timing, your arrest taking place in a public venue on the first day of the Unification Summit, is obviously no coincidence. It constitutes sending a message.”
“To the parties