• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

“You know I am. Can I sit up?”

“You’re under arrest.”

“Can I sit up anyway?”

The Falleen paused as if nonplussed by Javon’s casual reply. “Don’t you want to know why?”

“You’re just the kind of clown who feels rewarded seeing people’s expressions when you choose to tell them why. We have them like you in GA Security, too. Can I sit up?”

“The charge is conspiracy to commit murder.”

“The sentence for which is not being able to sit up?”

The Falleen appeared to swell, and his color went from a faint green to a ruddy red. He held a datapad beside Javon’s face. “Do you know this woman?”

Javon looked at the screen. It was a shot taken from a ceiling-mounted holocam, of himself talking with Sela Dorn almost the minute he’d met her, just before the fire-retardant foam had descended on both of them.

He glanced back up at the Falleen. “Do you know who my lawyer is?”

“No.”

“Neither do I. But I bet he’s going to tell me not to talk to you until I’ve talked to him first. What do you bet?”

“Yes, sit up.”

“Can I get dressed?”

Two hours later, arriving at the Senate Building for their daily confrontation with Chief of State Daala, Han and Leia cleared the security check, recently made more strenuous, and then were escorted, not to Daala’s antiseptic office, but to a larger conference room. It was already full when they arrived. Daala had the head chair, flanked by Wynn Dorvan and his Twi’lek assistant. Also present were officers of Galactic Alliance Security, Starfighter Command, and the navy. Leia recognized General Jaxton and Admiral Parova. Jaxton sweated excessively for the current air temperature, and his skin color seemed off, just a touch gray. The security officers looked unhappy, too, a despairing sort of unhappiness in contrast with Jaxton’s brooding anger.

As the doors hissed closed behind the Solos, Daala pointed at two empty chairs directly opposite her. “Sit.”

They did.

Han smiled. Leia knew it was a mask for irritation, knew he didn’t care to be ordered around like a nek. He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. “Lot of protesters out there today.”

“Not relevant.” Clearly, it meant something to Daala; her face was as stiff as that of a duraplast doll.

“The holocasts estimate they’re in the millions. That’s a lot of protest.”

“I’m not going to waste your time as you’ve been wasting mine.” Daala was even more abrupt than during their previous visit. “Where is Jedi Knight Seha Dorvald?”

Leia and Han exchanged a baffled look. Bafflement was good. They genuinely didn’t know where Seha was, and their ignorance on that point, and on how Daala might have rooted out Seha’s involvement so soon, helped cover any telltale sign constituting admission that they knew what Daala was talking about.

Leia shook her head. “I have no idea.”

Han mimicked her motion. “And what Leia doesn’t know, I doubly don’t know. That’s the secret to a happy marriage, actually.”

That got the faintest of grins from Wynn Dorvan. No one else appeared to notice his amusement.

“Have you contacted the Jedi Temple to inquire about her?” Leia tapped the pocket that normally held her comlink. “My communications have been taken away by building security, but I can put the call in for you.”

“Don’t play stupid.” Daala sounded as though she could crack nuts with her voice alone. “We know she masqueraded as a shuttle pilot from the transport Dust Dancer. She poisoned General Jaxton and Moff Lecersen.”

“What?” Leia couldn’t keep the surprise out of her voice. Han slowly sat up straight and brought his hands forward, gripping the tabletop.

“She contrived to remain in the Senate Building for an entire day. We’re now scouring the locations in the building she might have reached and are searching for more poison or other signs of sabotage. She is clearly another mad Jedi. You had best not be protecting her.”

“I don’t believe it.” Leia didn’t have to force a note of incredulity into her voice; her surprise was real. “General, are you all right?”

Jaxton made a sour face. “It was a slow-acting cardioparalytic.