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“Yeah, I did. But frankly, all we have are the reports, and what the Sith and Tooga tell us. You should try one of these blue things, they’re pretty good.”

“Not hungry, thanks.”

“More for me then.” He snagged another one. Jaina felt a flash of irritation, quickly dampened. Lando was who he was. He had his own ways of handling things.

“So this Faal person seems to think you’re siding with her, right? Because you had come to help Luke, and Luke had allied with them?”

“Right. But I can’t let the fact that they’re bringing a frigate and more warm bodies to the fight sway me, and neither can you.”

“I know,” Jaina said, and flopped back in the chair. “I just need to do the right thing.”

The problem was, when all options made you feel like you needed to take a sanisteam, what was the right thing?

They emerged within a half hour, moving quietly toward the dais and standing in front of their chairs. They had entered their comments on a datapad, and Darima cleared his throat and began to read from it.

“We, Lando Calrissian and Jaina Solo, affirm that we have given this matter due thought and care. We act solely from a point of what we perceive as justice, with no influence one way or the other.

“We perceive that there are two issues before us: Whether or not the Fountain was violated, and if so who was at fault, and whether the Hutts acted appropriately in defense of the Fountain. As to the first, it is clear to us from all accounts, even from the accused, that the Starstalker, at the very least, did deliberately and knowingly violate the one-kilometer technology-free zone. Captain Leeha Faal has agreed to turn over the entire crew of the Starstalker for justice under Klatooinian law.”

Slight murmurings and nods of approval from the Elders. From the Sith, two very different reactions. Captain Holpur stiffened, then sagged slightly. The color left his face, then rushed back in. Captain Faal did not smirk, smile, or otherwise express pleasure. Indeed, she had a fine sabacc face. But her eyes flashed, once, with triumph. Jaina knew that violation of the Fountain meant death. Part of her was sorry that it had to come to that, but these Sith knew perfectly well what they were doing, orders or not. It was the law of this world, and she couldn’t find them to be anything other than guilty.

“Secondly, as to the actions of Tooga Jalliissi Gral, we find that he did not obey the exact words of the Treaty of Vontor, but he did obey its spirit. The Hutt people have suffered, and their ability to protect the Fountain from such a completely unexpected and overt attack, something that has never occurred in twenty-five thousand years, should not be considered a dereliction of duty. The Fountain was violated, but not due to anything the Hutts in charge of its protection could reasonably be expected to have foreseen.”

Tooga closed his eyes in relief, but the Elders looked surprised by the verdict, though almost immediately Jaina sensed that some of them understood exactly why the decision had been made and agreed with it.

“Thus ends this emergency session,” said Darima. He pounded the dais with his staff three times, then turned to Lando and Jaina. “Thank you for your help. You may go now.”

His presence in the Force was resigned and unhappy. “You don’t agree with our decision,” Jaina said.

Darima gave her a sad look. “It’s not that I disagree, Jedi Solo. Actually, I would say given the circumstances, you rendered a remarkably well-thought-out verdict. The problem is, it doesn’t matter. Whatever verdict was reached, it would not have mattered.”

“What do you mean?” Lando asked.

“It is too late,” Darima said. “There are riots occurring all over Klatooine. Hutts, even decent shop owners who have lived here for years, are being attacked. We are getting reports of uprisings throughout the galaxy. Lando, my people have been loyal to the treaty for twenty-five thousand years. Many chafe underneath it, and this incident … I do not honestly think that even if the Hutts had intervened in time, had prevented