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“Consistently. Three, the phrase former Chief of State is removed from the description of Leia Solo, replaced by Jedi Knight. Four, Han Solo—”

“Did you actually use the phrase wildly popular scoundrel for him?”

“Of course. Part of the agreement. But it appears as a quote from the subminister for trade with Corellia. ‘Most people know Han Solo as a wildly popular scoundrel, but he’s actually a savvy, tough negotiator.’ As I was about to say, though, that paragraph gets dropped from the story, replaced by a summary of Solo’s exploits in combating evil political leaders such as Palpatine. Five, while we didn’t make any reference to the Solos’ relationship with Jacen Solo, we knew we didn’t have to, that the press would add that detail. But they haven’t.”

“So. Solos anti-government, Solos Jedi, Solos good. Daala hapless, Daala evil, Daala bad.”

Dorvan nodded. “That’s it. You translate gibberish to Basic very well.”

“Then let me be sure my translation is correct. You’re saying that the forces that shape public opinion are biased against me.”

“Biased in a way they’re not biased against anyone else, at least as far as I’ve detected. Luke Skywalker gets praised or excoriated depending on the political outlook of the news source doing the reporting. So do specific planetary leaders, trade union leaders, major military figures. Not you. Daala bad. Oh, by the way, a former Imperial Navy lieutenant you had court-martialed is about to release a memoir. Into the Maw: Black Holes, Egos, and Other Forces That Devour Lives. Guess who it’s about.”

“What would it take to engineer this?”

“Well, it could be a natural reaction. All of these prejudicial changes are within limits experienced by other political and military leaders. Meaning that if it’s a conspiracy, they’re being careful not to exceed effects that other leaders have experienced. But it would take software modification at the three or four sources of news-parsing programs starting years ago. It would take analysis of public opinion and the forces driving it going back at least as long.”

“I’ve only been Chief of State for two years!”

“So, if this is a conspiracy, it was set up a long time ago for an eventual goal, not for the specific goal of hindering or ruining you in particular.”

“Wonderful. I just happen to be the person in the sights when the Death Star’s main weapon is first brought online.”

“Correct.” Dorvan lowered the hand he’d been counting on and raised the other one. “Want to hear my analysis of polls that have just been put out for the public to respond to?”

“No, I want you to fix this.”

He smiled. “Ah, good. I’ll need eight years and at least half a billion credits.”

Daala shook her head. She was beginning to feel numb. “If I had that kind of money—never mind. What can we do?”

“The more people you enlist to help, the more likely it is that your enemies, if there are actually conspirators arrayed against you, will learn that you’re on to them. I’d find one investigator who has all the skills you need, pay in large capital ships or small planets, and see if he or she can root out your enemies. In the meantime, make it harder and harder for them to cut your legs out from under you. Become a nicer and nicer figure in the public eye. Make the public like you.”

She thought about it, then shook her head. Her voice sounded miserable, even to herself. “I can’t do that. I can’t be Wynssa Starflare.”

“Who?”

“Before your time, child. A holodrama actress. Beautiful, perky, blond, shiny. I have to stick by my laser batteries and keep firing.”

“All right.”

“You want out?”

His smile showed teeth for a moment. “You may think I’m soft, but I stick to my laser batteries, too.”

“I don’t think you’re soft. Just irredeemably civilian.” She brushed her hair back from her face. “All right. Call in more favors, do what you can. I’ll see what kind of revenue stream I can come up with for a top-notch investigator. And in the meantime, if the public is determined to think of me as a monster, I might have to give them a monster to remember.”

Dorvan