Star Wars_ Legacy of the Force 04_ Exile - Aaron Allston [11]
“Well…yes,” Chief Omas conceded. “These are unsettled times, Master Skywalker. Colonel Solo is a hero of the people, someone all members of the Galactic Alliance can look toward for leadership. In giving him command of the Galactic Alliance Guard, the government has displayed tremendous faith in his abilities and loyalty, and he has demonstrated that he deserves that faith and will continue to earn it. Jacen could now also serve as a potent example of cooperation between the secular government and the Jedi order…if only the Jedi would demonstrate similar faith in him.”
Chief Omas’s voice was as controlled as ever, his manner as persuasive, but through the Force, Luke could sense that the man had no personal investment in this argument. Clearly, he had to be making this proposal at the request of others, perhaps repaying some favor owed to another politician, to one of Jacen’s patrons. Luke took a quick look at Admiral Niathal, the highest-placed Galactic Alliance politician who was also a keen supporter of Jacen, but the Mon Cal was under control, offering no emotions for him to detect.
“Well, there’s a problem.” Luke glanced at his fellow Jedi. Mara was stone-faced, offering no expression for the politicians to read, though Luke could feel, through the Force-link that helped bind them together, her irritation with Omas. Kyp was slouched back in his chair, smiling faintly, and Luke thought he could detect that Kyp was enjoying himself hugely. “In my estimation, Jacen still lacks the emotional maturity he needs to be a Master.”
Chief Omas gave him a doubtful look. “Many Jedi, in both the Old Republic and the modern era, became Masters at his age or younger.”
Luke shrugged. “It’s not a question of age.”
“And,” Omas continued, “he has demonstrated that he possesses skills and power that not even most confirmed Masters can match.”
Mara sighed and finally leaned in to join the conversation. “It’s not a matter of power, either. If power were the criterion you think it is, then any eight-year-old with a thermal detonator would be qualified to teach at the university level. Right?”
Opposite her, Admiral Niathal also leaned in, as if positioning herself like a Mon Cal cruiser to counter the Star Destroyer that Mara represented. She spoke in the gravelly tones common to Mon Calamari. “Perhaps power, age, and wisdom are not the only considerations here.” Her bulbous eyes whipped around to focus on Mara and then Luke in turn. “If Jacen is a master of the Guard and a Master among the Jedi, it blurs the lines between those who have sworn to obey the government and those who merely acknowledge a vague duty and responsibility to the government. A distressing loss of personal authority for the Grand Master of the Jedi order. Not so?”
Luke let a little frost creep into his voice. “The duty I’ve acknowledged for forty years is anything but vague.”
Niathal nodded. “Precisely. And so you have nothing to fear.”
“And that’s not the issue.” Luke gave the admiral a small frown—a message that her effort to lead the conversation from the realm of logic into the realm of defensiveness would not succeed. “Jacen is not ready. He’s making too many unfortunate choices. He needs guidance and is refusing to seek it.”
“From you. I find that he is very receptive to my guidance.”
Luke didn’t answer. He let the silence between them stretch into long seconds.
Finally Niathal swiveled to look at Kyp. “Master Durron, I have it on good authority that you advocate elevating Jacen Solo to the rank of Master.”
The purpose for Kyp’s presence finally clicked for Luke. Months before, at a meeting of the Jedi Council, Kyp had proposed elevating Jacen to their rank. Obviously, word of that had somehow leaked out from those Council Chambers and reached the ears and tympanic membranes of Omas and Niathal, and Kyp had been brought in to reinforce their argument.
Kyp appeared startled, but Luke detected no genuine