Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 01_ Outcast - Aaron Allston [64]
Luke nodded. “Me, too.”
“You seemed to take it well enough. Making me promise to kill you.”
“Only under certain circumstances. Not just because I insist you eat your vegetables.”
Ben snorted, his humor partly restored. “If you start to feel evil, tell me as soon as possible. Don't wait and cut my hand off first.”
“Did you notice that she was lying?”
Ben frowned at the sudden change of subject. “The Mistress? About what?”
“I'm not sure. It wasn't as though I had a little spike of perception saying, Ah, she's just lied about her name. It was a conviction that grew throughout the conversation, like she was hiding some fact, sitting on it and smothering it so we wouldn't notice it.”
“Sort of like trying to not think about the pink bantha in the corner.”
“Exactly.”
“Nah, you're imagining things. Masters of ancient orders who study the Force never have secrets. Never have shameful events in their families …”
“Ben, I think your words alone might turn me evil.”
JEDI TEMPLE, CORUSCANT
“THE PROBLEM WITH VENOMOUS REPTILES,” MASTER CILGHAL SAID, “is that when you use them to harm others, you stand a chance of being bitten yourself.”
Surrounded by many other Jedi in the eating hall of the Temple, she thought she was speaking to herself, and that her words were being drowned out by the words blaring from the news monitor mounted on swing-out armatures on one wall. Master Durron had rushed in and gestured at the monitor; it had come to life, showing the soaring exterior of the Galactic Courts of Justice Building. Though it was generally against the rules to have broadcasts running during meals, teaching sessions, or anytime the Jedi and students needed peace of mind, nobody argued with a Master who had something to show.
And so there on the monitor screen, framed by the Courts of Justice Building in the background and bracketed by small boxes of scrolling data on either side, had stood Wolam Tser, who had been well respected as a newscaster and documentarian before anyone in the Temple had been born, offering news about them: “… rush to accelerate all legal issues concerning the Jedi Order seems to have worked against the intent of the Chief of State's office. Today, in a landmark nine-to-three decision, the highest court in the Galactic Alliance has overturned the so-called Guilty by Association rider to the recent executive order limiting the powers of the Jedi Order. Though the restrictions remain in place on the Jedi, former members and Alliance citizens with training in Jedi-like arts remain free of those limitations. Chief Justice Uved Pledesin of Lorrd, in the majority-opinion document, states unequivocally that possession of a skill or specific knowledge cannot in and of itself be sufficient to curtail an individual's rights. Legal analysts point out, however, that individuals in possession of sensitive information can still be declared a danger to the Alliance, a measure that allows for person-by-person imposition of limitations such as those recently levied against the Jedi.
“Alvida Suar is standing by with the instigators of this case. Alvida?”
As the monitor picture shifted to that of an attractive woman with a yellowish tint to her skin, the very well-dressed Nawara Ven and Tahiri Veila behind her, the Jedi in the dining hall applauded and raised their voices in discussion of the decision.
But Cilghal had a feeling of foreboding about it. She did not think the Force was speaking to her; it was simply experience with galactic politics … and the sentient tendency to exact revenge for offenses both great and small, real and imagined.
“Master?” The voice was soft and high, immature, and Cilghal looked down to see, sitting below her peripheral vision, a Jedi youngling, a platter of food before her. The human girl, who could scarcely have been eight, looked confused.
“Yes, child?”
“I don't understand what you meant by poisonous reptile.”
Cilghal