Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 07_ Conviction - Aaron Allston [70]
“Humph. Are you being gallant or stupid?”
“Gallant. I’m as worried as you are.”
Finally she smiled. “At last, honesty in politics.”
“A slip of concentration. It won’t happen again.”
CONFERENCE ROOM NEAR THE NINTH HALL OF JUSTICE, CORUSCANT
The elderly Bothan smiled. Tahiri knew it was supposed to be a reassuring smile: she had enough experience with Bothan body language to discern these things. But his words were not reassuring. “I’m sorry to say that they’re not budging about a change of … accommodations … for you.”
Tahiri shook her head. “I don’t want to sound like a whiner. I don’t object to danger—danger with a purpose. But I’m being kept shackled and surrounded by people who’d like to see me turned into fertilizer. And it’s not for anything but the satisfaction of a warden who thinks he’s the ruler of a petty kingdom.”
Eramuth Bwua’tu sighed. “I know, my dear, I know. The problem is, the only evidence that can support your claims of excessive danger is being filtered by that selfsame warden. Naturally, he minimizes the danger. And the prosecuting attorney, who does play by the rules, has to base his arguments and objections on the evidence he has in hand—that same filtered evidence.”
“So what do we do?”
“Short of one of your attackers voluntarily coming forth to testify that he had advance knowledge that you would be delivered to the wrong place at the wrong time so that you might be killed—”
“So not going to happen.”
“—then we continue walking through the mud of the application process to get you transferred to another prison. We also exert under-the-table pressure on all parties concerned, especially the warden.”
Tahiri frowned. “What sort of under-the-table pressure?”
“Suggestions reach the concerned parties’ ears through diverse means they cannot follow back to their sources. For instance, I’ve made it clear to the warden that he is under intense scrutiny now. Every decision involving you is being analyzed. Every credit he drops on a luxury. Every charge on his expense account. Every purchase or service made on behalf of any member of his family. Known associates. It has been hinted to him that someone, he doesn’t know who, recently sentenced to his prison is actually a Galactic Alliance Security agent investigating corruption in the Department of Corrections. Would that it were true … but any efforts on his part to root out the investigator will prove futile, so perhaps he will believe the investigator to be of extraordinary ability. If the warden has any sense, he will at least not resort to a tactic as simple as delivering you into the wrong exercise yard. I hope this will keep you safe. I expect it will, at least for a while.”
“Good. That’s something, anyway.”
“And if I may be frank, the … effectiveness … of your spirited defense against your attackers has indeed convinced many people that you are not to be trifled with. But be wary of such things as sudden malfunctions on the part of your guard droid. It would not be a bad idea to occasionally switch places with other inmates when in line at the mess. All ordinary precautions. And I’ll continue to work via the other means.”
“Thank you, Eramuth.” His words hadn’t offered a lot of comfort, but they’d given her more than she’d had upon entering this conference room.
A tiny chime sounded from within one of Bwua’tu’s many pockets. He drew forth a chrono and glanced at it. “Time to march into the Hall of Justice. Ready?”
“Ready.” She rose.
He stood and smiled again. This time it was not reassuring. It was feral. “Let’s destroy some prosecution witnesses, shall we?”
WILDERNESS NORTHWEST OF HWEG SHUL,
NAM CHORIOS
LATE THAT FIRST NIGHT, ONLY AFTER THEY’D CONCEALED THE SHUTTLE beneath a rocky overhang and further disguised it with large quantities of crystal-and-gray sand poured liberally onto the vehicle from above, they saw Ship.
The Sith meditation sphere cruised high overhead on a straight line