Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 07_ Conviction - Aaron Allston [101]
Leia considered that. “So you think there’s a player on the board, unidentified, who wanted to remove the piece representing security. An unknown player with an unknown motive.”
Javon nodded. “But chiefly, I’m always suspicious of loose ends, and the poisoning is a loose end.”
“Do any of your friends in security have opinions? And what about the news media?”
Javon shook his head. “The charges against Seha were dropped, so everyone is assuming that it was part of the Jedi plot. The denial issued by the Jedi sounds like every other denial issued by every other defendant since time began, so no one’s convinced.”
“If you have any more thoughts on this, I’d like to hear them.”
“Thank you.” Realizing that the interview was at an end, Javon stood. “I’ll brief the rest of the security detail.”
* * *
They came out of hyperspace not long after, outside the interfering range of Klatooine’s gravity well. The planet, a mostly tan sphere, unlovely, appeared on monitors all over the frigate.
In the cockpit of the Falcon, Han glanced at the same image on his own monitor as he went through his preflight checklist. “Looks like Tatooine.”
Leia settled into the copilot’s seat. “You sound cheerful about that.”
“I have good memories of Tatooine. Met a nice guy there. Got a wife out of the deal a few years later.” He paused. “Maybe there’s another wife waiting for me here.”
Leia gave him a mock glower. “Be careful what you wish for.”
There was a little-girl chuckle from the passenger seat behind Leia. She turned to look. Allana, all fresh-scrubbed and deceptive innocence, sat there listening to the exchange, her nexu, Anji, sitting contentedly by her side.
Han craned his neck to give Allana a glance. “What’s funny, kiddo?”
“You. You don’t want two wives.”
“Why not?”
“ ’Cause I don’t need two grandmas, and you don’t need two ladies telling you what to do.”
Han gave Leia a look of profound hurt and turned back to his checklist. “Yes, she’s definitely inherited that Organa mouth.”
Leia smiled at her granddaughter—smirked, rather. “Well done, Allana. Now, since I’ll be doing negotiations with the freedom fighters and your grandfather will be out hunting for a new wife, you’ll have Artoo and Threepio to keep you company.”
“Oh.” This time Allana’s tone was decidedly less enthusiastic. “Threepio’s so fussy.”
Leia’s smile broadened. “Even fussier than Grandpa?”
“A little.”
“Well, learning to deal with fussy people is a big part of what we do. Solos and Jedi and …” Leia glanced around to make sure C-3PO was not in hearing range. “And your mother’s family. So you might as well get used to it.”
“I guess.”
On the monitor, Klatooine grew steadily larger and better-defined.
Han checked the chron update at the bottom of the monitor display. “Five minutes to launch.”
They came down in tight formation, three vehicles: the Falcon, famous and iconic and just a little dilapidated; a large military shuttle holding a squadron of Galactic Alliance Security officers and troopers; and a small Lambda-class shuttle carrying a detachment of civilian security experts, including Javon, designated as additional security for Amelia Solo.
The formation circled over and around its destination before landing. In the heart of a desert, it was a temporary outpost of civilization—a sprawling camp made up of scores of tents, some of them enormous. There were small spacecraft at the edges and sometimes at landing zones in among the tents; they included shuttles, small transports and cargo vessels, and small gunships. There were also speeders of all sorts, as well as crawler vehicles suited to the desert climate, many of them painted in sandy colors or desert camouflage. Around the periphery of the camp rested mobile shield generators and tracked laser batteries.
At one edge