Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 05_ Allies - Christie Golden [21]
“Ma’am, if I may … I understand that Gilad Pellaeon was a personal friend of yours. And I cannot help but observe that Admiral Niathal’s suicide has caused you some distress. But you should not let this become, or at the very least not let it be perceived as, a personal vendetta.”
Her patience with him seemed to have reached its limit, for Daala snapped, “Niathal paid the price for aiding Jacen Solo and she didn’t even pull the trigger. Veila should, too. Murdered is murdered. It doesn’t matter if Pellaeon was an old friend, an old enemy, or someone I’d never met.”
Unruffled, Dorvan nodded his brown head. She had him on the last point. Daala folded her arms, thinking.
“If I did this,” she said, “the Jedi would think of it as a concession.”
“Perhaps,” Dorvan said. “One for which they might be very grateful.”
“Or one that might make them smug and think they’d scored a point.”
“Pardon me, ma’am, I had thought we were trying to do what was best for the Galactic Alliance and its people, not participating in a game of sabacc.”
To his surprise, Daala smiled slightly. “Politics is always a game, Dorvan. You’ll need to learn that one of these days.”
“I hope not, ma’am. I’ve a dreadful sabacc face.” He said this with his usual deadpan voice, and that actually got a chuckle out of the Chief of State.
“Let’s say you’re right,” she continued. “Let’s say they’re grateful. Perhaps they might be willing to give me something in exchange. Say … Sothais Saar.”
Sothais Saar was the latest “Jedi crazy,” as the press sometimes liked to call them. He was a Chev, tall, powerful, and, like all the “Jedi crazies,” extremely dangerous. And he was currently in the Jedi Temple, and nothing that Daala had been able to say or do had persuaded Master Kenth Hamner to release him.
“It’s possible,” Dorvan said. “It would certainly put you in a stronger negotiating position. And ma’am?”
She glanced at him. “Yes?”
“Quite frankly, it’s the right thing to do, and you truly lose nothing.”
She sighed. “I will think about it. Anything else?” The clipped, cool tone of her voice told him she hoped there wouldn’t be.
He would have to disappoint her. “Well, this is probably nothing of import but …”
“Then you wouldn’t mention it,” Daala said. “I know you too well.”
“Well, ma’am, that much is true. It seems that there have been some uprisings and protests on various worlds.”
“Uprisings and protests? Against the GA?” Daala sat up straighter, her brilliant emerald eyes narrowed to slits, her body as still and taut as a predator on the alert.
“No, ma’am. All localized incidents. Suppression of religion, unfair representation, a history of slavery that the suppressed populace has decided is outdated. That sort of thing.”
She extended a well-manicured hand for the datapad and he gave it to her. “Mostly backwater worlds,” she said after perusing it quickly.
“Hence my initial hesitation in bringing this to your attention. However …”
“Such things can be like wildfires,” Daala agreed. “If one revolution is successful, another world might take heart and try their own.”
“Precisely. And as the Galactic Alliance denounces slavery, I felt it was the right thing to do to mention the situation.”
She looked over the list again. “Vinsoth? Really? That’s unusual. As far as slavery goes, they’re positively civilized about it. The Chevs are treated better by the Chevins than many so called ‘free people’ on other worlds.”
“Perhaps it does not quite seem so to the Chevs,” Dorvan said mildly.
“Perhaps the Chevs might do a little research,” Daala said, irritation creeping into her husky voice. She handed the pad back to Dorvan, sighed, and rubbed her temples. “You know, one day I’d like to make it to noon with no bad news.”
“I’ll have Desha deliver the morning briefing in the future, then.”
Daala smiled a little, but it did not reach her eyes. “Anything else?”
There was. Dorvan ran down the list. Rumors of discontent among the Moffs—nothing new. The Senate was locked in debate over extending certain treaties. Species pride