Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 04_ Backlash - Aaron Allston [22]
“Well, perhaps some other lesson can be taught in the meantime. I’m thinking of a criminal who would be subject to military, not civilian, law.”
“Who?”
“Cha Niathal.”
Daala blinked, honestly surprised. Admiral Niathal, a naval lifer from Mon Calamari, had been in Daala’s own position, sharing Chief of State duties with Colonel Jacen Solo—or, as he later chose to be called, Darth Caedus. As Caedus had become more and more destructive, Niathal had sought to curb his excesses, eventually turning on him. She now lived in retirement on Mon Calamari. “Merratt, you may not have looked at the records of her actions as closely as I have. It’s hard to accuse her of anything but a mistake, the mistake of trusting Jacen Solo.”
“The very same mistake Luke Skywalker made, and was convicted for.”
“But Cha Niathal is one of us.”
“I agree, and I would not want to see her come to harm. Even to interrupt her well-deserved retirement.” Finally he stepped up to the firing lane. “Go.”
The droid lurched into motion. Jaxton let it get three steps into its run before raising his blaster and shooting it in the head. He lowered the weapon. “But the thing is, in reviewing her actions and deciding to head off a legal case against her, you’ve opened yourself up to charges of tampering. Of, in a sense, pardoning someone in your exact position in the hope of setting a precedent—in case you mess up. Thus the loss of faith. The muttering.”
Annoyed, Daala shook her head. “So I should arrange to prosecute Niathal just to shut up whiners?”
“You’d be surprised at how many and how powerful those ‘whiners’ are. And the idea is to prosecute, not persecute. Find three military judges who are impartial, not swayed by public opinion, and well respected by the armed forces. Have them sit on the court-martial. They’ll acquit, Niathal will go home, the masses will stop muttering.”
“I don’t like it.” Daala thought about shooting the droid a few more times to rid herself of her annoyance, then decided against it. “Reset. Exit simulation.”
“Of course you don’t. But like it or not, you’re waging a campaign against the Jedi. Until it’s resolved, any other action you take becomes one front of a two-front war. That’s not good, especially when the second front is your own people.”
DATHOMIRI RAIN FOREST
THE SOLO EXPEDITION SET OUT AGAIN JUST AFTER DAWN. SHA LED THE way on foot, following and interpreting the scant signs of travel left behind by Luke, Ben, and the mystery woman who was pacing them. Han’s and Yliri’s speeders followed sedately, some two hundred meters back, using Sha’s comm signals for navigation.
Only a few minutes into their travel, Leia sat up in her seat. “I feel Luke.”
“All of a sudden?”
“He’s … he’s …” Leia frowned, concentrating. “He’s submerging himself in the Force. Looking for something. I think he’s been concealing himself from the Force. Ben, too.” She closed her eyes and tilted her head. “Now he can feel me. Now he knows I’m here. He’s calm. No danger at the moment.”
“That’s something, then.”
Leia looked off slightly to starboard of their current direction. “Let’s pick up Sha and head toward Luke at speed. I think, if I can maintain contact with him, we can save a lot of time.”
“Whatever you say.”
DATHOMIR SPACEPORT
Morning sun streamed in through the viewports of the Millennium Falcon, but in the engineering compartment, the only available light was from ceiling glow rods.
It was there that Allana found C-3PO sitting behind the curved shell of the hyperspace module. She hopped out from the shadows like a monster from a children’s tale and stood over the golden droid, her hands on her hips. “Where’s Artoo?”
“I’m sure I don’t know, mistress.” His hiding place discovered, C-3PO rose awkwardly to his feet. “Around, I assume.”
“Around where?”
“Around … here. I assume.”
She scowled up at him. “You’re lying again, Threepio. Anji and I have looked all over the Falcon. He’s not here. If he was, Anji would have found him. And you’ve been hiding from me.”
“I would never do that, Mistress