Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 01_ Outcast - Aaron Allston [27]
Captain Savar gave her a not entirely hopeful look. “Please.”
“Mon Mothma Memorial Medical Center is pretty close to equidistant between the Temple and the Senate Building. That makes it a sort of halfway point for respective jurisdictions. Let's take Jedi Horn there. It's a secure facility and an enclosed space, so we can limit the number of people with access to the situation—say, six Jedi and six security agents.”
Han nodded. “And no bounty hunters or press. None living, anyway.”
Savar considered, took a look at the growing number of press and onlookers arriving, and nodded. He looked back over his shoulder. “Carn! Commandeer a civilian vehicle suitable for carrying fifteen or more. With a civilian driver. We need it here, now.”
“Yes, sir!” A broad-shouldered male trooper pushed his way through the ranks of security troopers and onlookers, then set off at a dead run.
It was almost a re-creation of the previous day's events in the Temple medical center, but with a bigger and more diverse cast. Jedi, troopers, and the Horns waited for the doctors' reports while Valin lay unconscious. News of the rampage spread like a tenement fire through the newsnets. And the Jedi had little to do but watch the news coverage for the first several hours.
It wasn't good. Amateur recordings showed Valin's dressing-robe paranoia outside the hostel the previous morning. Commentators asked why the Jedi had not surrendered him to the authorities then, which would have prevented today's outrage. Luke's arrest was briefly covered, with many angles on the Jedi, lightsabers lit, looking menacing. There were security recordings of Valin performing overrides on the X-wing and shuttle security, followed by gloriously detailed scenes of the shuttle smashing out of the Senate Building and crashing nearby.
And then Valin's final rampage, covered in exacting detail by high-quality holorecorders and far too many members of the press.
Analysts cast the Jedi Order in the guise of ungoverned, unprincipled superhumans content to gratify themselves whatever the cost might be to the common population—every Jedi a potential Jacen Solo. No such stigma was attached to Luke Skywalker; his benevolence was too well known, too ingrained in the public consciousness. Instead, he was cast as an out-of-touch autocrat, kindly but dangerously clueless, dedicated to a culture of entitlement that was decades behind the times.
After the ninth news cycle, Leia heaved a sigh. “I can feel the public turning against us from here. Minds are slamming shut like malfunctioning turbolift doors.”
Luke gave her a glum look of agreement. “Any recommendations?”
“Daala's masters of reinterpretation already have the public half convinced that the only way to save civilization is to muzzle the Jedi. You need to prepare yourself for a fight.”
The civilian doctors studying Valin reported just what Cilghal had: high stress levels, no physical abnormalities, no evidence of poisoning or drugs, no way to test his neurological functions—Jacen's scanner-scrambling technique stayed in effect even as Valin remained under heavy sedation. By the next day, Luke and Captain Savar had agreed on a reduced number of observers from each camp, the Horns not to count against the Jedi total. Luke returned to his duties.
The government prepared a case against Valin Horn and cleared dockets to advance Luke's first hearing. Nawara Ven confirmed that the prosecutors were exploiting Valin's actions for all they were worth. The situation was very, very bad for Luke's case.
As Nawara explained it, “The public is still hurting from a war where everybody suffered and nobody gained—a war worsened by a Jedi. They're pretty worked up. They want someone to take responsibility for Jacen Solo. They want a change they can point to, a change that means problems like Jacen Solo and Valin Horn will never happen again. You can tell them all you want that muzzling the Jedi won't fix things.