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When she was gone, the courtroom erupted into conversation, shouts, pleas from the members of the press for Luke to spare them a few words.

He kept his back to that portion of the chamber. Security troopers admitted members of the Jedi and Luke's family into the area of the chamber reserved for advocates and their clients, and suddenly Luke was being embraced by Leia, Han, Ben, and Jaina, while other Jedi positioned themselves as a living wall between Luke and the audience.

“Ten years,” Ben said. He looked as though he'd been hit in the head by a speeder bike.

“We'll fight this,” Leia told him.

“Kenth Hamner?” That was Han, looking confounded. “Was he chosen because he's the dullest Jedi ever? He says two sentences and it puts Kowakian monkey-lizards to sleep.”

Luke addressed his sister's comment first. “We won't fight this. I negotiated it. I agreed to it.”

“Without benefit of counsel.” That was Nawara Ven, speaking under his breath, just loud enough for the Jedi to hear.

“And it won't be the full ten years,” Luke told Ben. “You heard the conditions for commutation at the end.”

Han shook his head. “Buddy boy, Daala gets to appoint your tribunal. If they were still alive, she'd pick Palpatine, Lumiya, and Shimrra Jamaane to be your judges.”

Luke waved the objection away.

Captain Savar approached. He was in the GA Security dress uniform, his expression somber, perhaps even sad. “Judge Zudan left word that you could leave the courtroom by her door and the back corridors if you'd like to avoid the press.”

Luke nodded. “Please.”

“This way.”

That evening, Luke called a conference of the Jedi Masters' Council.

“I'll keep this brief,” he told them, “as I have a lot of preparations to make before tomorrow night, and in the interest of not drawing out an unpleasant event.

“First, I withdraw from my duties as Grand Master of the Jedi Order until such time as my sentence has been served, commuted, or struck down in the court. This is effective as of my departure from Coruscant.”

Kyp Durron smiled. “For the first time in this whole mess, you've given me some hope.”

Luke looked at him, curious. “How so?”

“You didn't resign as Grand Master. Clearly, you plan to come back and resume your position.”

“I do. I hope to. So while I'm gone, there will be no wild parties in the Masters’ Chamber.” It felt good to be able to make a joke, even a stale one. “Second, I appoint Master Kenth Hamner as governing Master of the Order.”

Hamner, a tall, fair-haired man with features that spoke of generations of family wealth and rule, his posture military-perfect, offered Luke a wan smile. “And I did not even have the opportunity to negotiate before sentence was passed on me.”

“Chief of State Daala and the military have faith in you.” Luke gave him a sympathetic look. “Your own fault for leading a lifetime of military experience.”

“I will serve as best I can, Grand Master.”

Master Octa Ramis, recovered from the minor injuries she had sustained during Valin's rampage, asked, “What are you going to do while you're gone, Master Skywalker?”

“I plan to do what I negotiated with the Chief of State. To understand what brought Jacen to the dark side, and then set up protocols to anticipate the same thing happening in other Jedi. If we're lucky, this may also have some bearing on what has happened to Valin and Seff. I'll start by retracing, as much as I can, the travels Jacen undertook prior to the Killik crisis. I'm hoping that the answer lies somewhere along his journey.”

Master Hamner placed his hands together and peered over them at Luke. “Since that is distinctly to the Jedi Order's benefit—even though you can't advise us in any significant way until your sentence is concluded—and since the terms of your sentence do not come into effect for another day, I feel no guilt in offering you whatever resources you need to accomplish your mission. We just have to get them all transferred within a day.”

“I'll be using Mara's