Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 05_ Allies - Christie Golden [119]
On the flight to Klatooine, she recorded a brief essay to transmit to Coruscant. It would be played on the next Perre Needmo Newshour.
“To watch this … rebirth, almost, into who he now is—it is a privilege,” she said, looking right into the cam. “It is humbling and frightening and exciting. And to think that his story, from slave to freed being, could be reenacted literally billions of times over—well, in this reporter’s opinion, the galaxy is unprepared for the outpouring of emotions and contributions liberty and freedom could bring it. Governments stand to gain more than they lose. A freed being contributes so much more to a society than a slave. I’m excited to be living at such a monumental time in our history. This is Madhi Vaandt, reporting aboard the Shooting Star.”
Tyl usually gave her a smile and some kind of word of approval, or else requested to do another take if he wasn’t satisfied with the quality of her work, sound recording, or lighting. But this time, he said nothing, and Madhi was instantly alert.
“What is it, Tyl?”
“Remmik says you’ve got an incoming message,” he said. “I didn’t want to interrupt the filming, but he says he hasn’t been able to identify or trace it.”
“What did it say?” Madhi had few secrets from her crew, and they were all free to listen to any incoming messages. They were part of a team, with the same goal.
“It’s scrambled,” Tyl said. “Requires you to give a voice sample in order to play.”
Madhi frowned. “That’s very—” Her eyes flew open wide. “I wonder … Come on!”
She raced from the room that served as the set while traveling toward the cockpit, her small crew following her and crowding into the cramped space. Remmik glanced up as she entered.
“Tyl told me,” Madhi said. Remmik nodded and rose, giving her the controls. She sat down and thumbed a button. “This is Madhi Vaandt, activating voice recognition. Please decode the message.”
She was trembling as she waited, and then a voice began to speak.
“Greetings, Madhi Vaandt. I know that you are in receipt of our last letter. Thank you for staying silent on the nature of the Freedom Flight. While we are proud of what we do, and while rumors certainly abound, we would have you reveal more about us at a time of our own choosing.”
Everyone was grinning nervously. Madhi couldn’t have wiped the smile off her face if she had tried.
“Detour to the coordinates you are about to receive. I will meet you there. Come alone, and I will tell you more about our mission, and give you some information that you will find to be to your benefit.”
“Alone? Mist-Madhi,” Shohta said, stopping himself from using the phrase that, to him, denoted that Madhi owned him, “I don’t like the sound of that. This could be a trap. I am sure you have amassed many enemies doing these reports.”
“I’m sure, too,” she said, “but the message referenced the letter.”
“Which could also have been written by someone trying to entrap you,” the Chev said. “Think about it. You were cautioned not to speak. Not to talk about the Flight until such time as this mysterious unknown being chose to speak with you.”
Madhi, seated at the helm, glanced up at him. His history made him mistrusting. She imagined he had seen a lot of lies and betrayal in the service of Guumak. And the honest truth was, his argument made sense. She didn’t discount that her pieces might be responsible for instigating protests on some worlds or that more than a few beings might be delighted to see her dead.
“There’s something called a journalist’s instinct,” she said. “Some people call it a nose for news. My instincts are saying that this contact doesn’t mean me any harm. I’ve been in worse situations than this, Shohta. Really, I have. Thank you for your concern, though.” She turned to Remmik.
“Let’s make