Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 05_ Allies - Christie Golden [102]
The words wouldn’t come. Tahiri swallowed hard, knowing that Dekkon would see the gesture, that the judge and the jury would see it, that Eramuth would see it.
“The court is waiting, Miss Veila.” Again, the congenial smile. The smile of a sand panther about to strike.
She squared her shoulders and looked him fully in the eye. “He did not give a formal order as such.”
Dekkon blinked. “He did not?”
“No.”
Tahiri waited for the objection. It didn’t come. To her surprise, Eramuth didn’t even appear interested. He was leaning forward, one hand on his cane, the other thumbing through a datapad. She returned her attention to the Chagrian.
“So you were never issued an order to kill Admiral Pellaeon.”
“No. He—”
“So—I just want to be absolutely clear on this—you wouldn’t even have violated a formal order had you not lifted a blaster and fired point-blank at an unarmed ninety-two-year-old man.”
“Objection.” Eramuth didn’t even lift his eyes from the datapad.
“With respect, your honor, every one of those words is a fact.”
And sickly Tahiri realized they were. Phrased as bluntly as Dekkon had said, they were horrible, vile words, and she saw several members of the jury cringe slightly. One or two of them narrowed their eyes in disapproval.
“Overruled,” the judge said. “The witness may answer the question.”
“No,” and Tahiri was surprised at how calm her voice sounded. “I did not violate a formal order. But—”
Dekkon whirled. “I would like my question and the accused’s response read back for the jury.”
The droid stepped forward dispassionately, lacking the enjoyment C-3PO seemed to get out of performing his programmed tasks. In his precise voice, he said, “‘So—I just want to be absolutely clear on this—you wouldn’t even have violated a formal order had you not lifted a blaster and fired point-blank at an unarmed ninety-two-year-old man.’ ‘No. I did not violate a formal order. But—’”
Dekkon turned to the jury and lifted his hands, almost as if in apology. “That is all I needed to hear, Miss Veila. Counsel—your witness.”
“Hm? Done already? Oh, thank you, Prosecutor Dekkon.” Eramuth took a sip of water and got to his feet. He did not use his cane as he moved forward toward Tahiri, smiling gently at her. She badly wanted to sense him in the Force, to get some idea of what was going on, but she could not without breaking her vow. And jeopardizing the outcome of her trial by doing so was definitely not what she wanted.
“Miss Veila,” said Eramuth, his mellifluous voice carrying clearly and seemingly without effort into every corner of the room. “Surely, by this point in Jacen Solo’s career, he had truly become Darth Caedus.” Eramuth put just enough, but not too much, emphasis on the last two words. “And you were aware of the nature of your superior officer.”
Tahiri nodded her blond head. “Yes,” she said. “He made no secret of it to me toward the end.”
“Now … everyone here is familiar with the events of two years past. We’ve seen the newsvids. But I still don’t really think that what it means to those around you to be a Dark Lord of the Sith has really quite sunk in to this court. Perhaps you could, in your own words, tell us a little bit about how you felt about Jacen Solo, and how it was you came to be working with him.”
She didn’t have to read him in the Force to know that beneath the words were the unspoken ones, trust me. She could see it in his eyes. And she did trust him. She had to—there was no other choice.
She glanced over at the droid performing the service as court reporter. “May I please have some more water? This might take some time.”
It did. She began at the beginning. Tahiri knew it would be hard, but was surprised at how hard it actually was. She spoke of the flow-walking journeys Jacen Solo had taken her on—back in time to undo something she had been regretting for almost twenty years.
“Flow-walking