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“Of course.” Zudan turned to Bwua’tu. “You may enter the datachip as Exhibit Omega.”

Sardon returned to her seat looking more worried than ever, obviously wary of Dekkon’s easily capitulation. Bwua’tu merely passed the datachip—Exhibit Omega—to the court’s media officer, along with a flimsiplast containing the passcode and a list of files. A wall panel began to glow with backlighting, and the image of a corridor aboard the Bloodfin appeared. A moment later, Tahiri and Caedus entered, approaching from the top of the image, where the narrowness of the corridor suggested a respectable distance.

They were tiny figures moving down a long durasteel tunnel, but the image was clear enough to see that they were talking as they walked. Tahiri had already seen the vid fifty times, gone over it with Sardon and Bwua’tu until she had recalled every word they said during the short stroll. Yet watching it still made her feel cold and hollow, reminded her of how thoroughly she had been under his power, and of all the things she had done in Caedus’s name.

Killing Pellaeon had not even been the worst of those acts. When she allowed her mind to drift back to those days, she wondered if she was doing the right thing by even offering a defense for her actions. Sometimes only the unflagging support of the Solos—and Leia’s stubborn insistence that criminals could not judge themselves—kept her from offering to save the GA the trouble of a trial. Han and Leia had come to regard her as a link to their lost sons, and had she simply given up, she knew they would have been devastated.

The images on the vid panel grew larger as they continued down the corridor, and soon Tahiri’s voice became audible. “… value can I bring that a remote holocam can’t?”

“If Pellaeon interferes with my plan in any way …”

Caedus flicked a finger, and both the audio and image disintegrated into static.

“Unfortunately, the surveillance equipment seemed to suffer a glitch at that point,” Bwua’tu explained. He turned back Pagorski. “But you—or, rather, your friend—heard the entire conversation. Is that not correct?”

“I’ve already said it is,” Pagorski replied.

“And what would you say if I informed you that we had the conversation digitally reconstructed. And that the rest of the exchange is as follows:

“Colonel Solo says, ‘then you stop him … Do you understand what I’m asking you to do?’

“Tahiri replies, ‘I think so.’

“Then Colonel Solo continues, ‘Some deaths … some sacrifices are necessary, however callous they may appear.’ ”

Pagorski considered her reply for a moment, no doubt weighing whether such a reconstruction actually existed. It did not, of course—but Pagorski could not be certain of that. Finally, she answered, “I would say that your expert is probably mistaken. And even if he were correct, it doesn’t change anything I heard directly.”

“You’re referring to the communications intercept you described during your previous testimony, I assume?” Bwua’tu asked. “The intercept in which Colonel Solo allegedly orders Lieutenant Veila not to kill Admiral Pellaeon. Wasn’t that your testimony?”

“Yes. In that intercept, I did hear Colonel Solo specifically order the defendant not to kill the admiral,” Pagorski replied. “That was—that is—my testimony.”

“Of course.” Bwua’tu’s long lip curled into a hungry sneer, and he turned to face the jury. “The intercept in which you did hear the defendant and Colonel Solo discussing whether to kill the admiral.”

Sardon propped her elbows on the table and leaned forward, clearly relishing the way Bwua’tu was leading Pagorski into the trap.

“Very well, Lieutenant. Would you tell the court what you did next?” Bwua’tu asked, still looking at the jury.

Pagorski frowned. “Next?”

“Yes. After you heard the defendant discussing whether to assassinate your admiral,” Bwua’tu replied. “What did you do? Did you alert the admiral? Report the conversation to FinSec? Mention it to your superior?”

“Oh.” Pagorsk settled back into her seat. “Yes, of course.”

“Of course what?” Bwua’tu pressed. “Which of those actions did you take?”

Pagorski