Star Wars_ Millennium Falcon - James Luceno [86]
“Because a single Jedi behaves recklessly?”
“A young Jedi who reminds Allana of Jacen.”
Leia was lost for words. “Luke, Allana is a child.”
“Is it true that Seff disarmed half a dozen soldiers?”
“It was the way he did it that concerned me.”
Luke nodded. “I was certain that ability was the sole province of Jacen, taught to him by Force-users he visited during his travels.”
“Could Jacen have instructed some of the Jedi?”
“I don't see how he could have done that. Not without one of the Masters knowing.” Luke shook his head. “This is something new.”
“And Daala thinks what?” Leia said. “That Jacen was the beginning of a trend? That all of us are going to the dark side?”
“I think she'd like to be persuaded that was the case—as frightening as it would be.”
“I don't care what she thinks. Do you believe there's some connection between Jacen's turn and Seff's actions?” Leia paused to let Luke think it over. “Has Seff contacted you?”
“Seff is at large. Galactic Alliance Intelligence has several groups of Mandalorian troops looking for him.”
“Luke,” Leia said.
“I know. In the meantime, I'm recalling everyone.”
“Including Jaina?”
“Yes.”
“How is she?”
Luke was silent for a long moment. “If you'd had a chance to kill our father, would you have done it?”
“I don't understand what you're asking me.”
“Our father stood by while Alderaan was destroyed. If he had done that knowing that you were his daughter, would you have killed him if you'd had a chance?”
“I might have tried, yes.”
“Imagine if you had been a Jedi at that point. Would you have tried to kill him?”
“How can I know? I might have made the same choice you made at Endor.”
“It's long been rumored that the Jedi Masters who went to arrest Supreme Chancellor Palpatine at the end of Clone Wars were intent on killing him if he didn't surrender. They were convinced that he was too dangerous to be allowed to live.”
“That was Palpatine's claim,” Leia countered. “We don't know what the Jedi were intending to do.” After a long moment, she said, “Han has set a course for the Core. We'll join you on Coruscant.”
“No, not yet,” Luke said sharply. “Not until I've spoken with Daala. She needs to be persuaded that using Mandalorians to hunt down Seff is a mistake. And she needs to be reassured that the Jedi police themselves.”
“Are you certain we can't help?”
“I want to assess the situation before drawing you into it.”
Leia nodded in a resigned way. “We'll wait to hear from you.”
She was still sitting at the engineering station when Allana hurried into the hold from the cockpit connector.
“Grandma, we found him! Threepio found him!”
Leia caught her in her arms. “Slow down, sweetie. Threepio found who?”
“The circus owner.”
“Dax Doogun,” Han said as he and C-3PO entered the hold. “Apparently he lives on Agora.”
“Naturally, Orto was first on the list of the worlds I searched,” C-3PO said. “But in my haste I neglected to consider that he might reside on a neighboring world in the Sluis sector.”
“You did great, Threepio,” Allana said.
Han nodded in agreement. “Good job, Goldenrod. I'm bringing us out of hyperspace so we can send him a message.”
“The case of Colla-Arphocc Automata verses the Galactic Alliance is dismissed,” the chief justice of Holess proclaimed. His gavel struck the bench with resounding finality. “The court rules that the plaintiff is responsible for all costs incurred …”
Lestra Oxic all but put his fingers in his ears. The gavel blow might as well have been the sound of a stake being driven through his heart. The Colicoids had paid well for his services from the start, but a decision in their favor would have netted him five times what he had already earned. More important, the Colicoids had promised to reward him with something special if he won the case: a tall, impressionistic statue that had once graced Senate Plaza on Coruscant. Just how the insectoids had come by the prime piece of Republicana was anyone's guess. And now Oxic would have to purchase the statue from them, at what would surely be an exorbitant price.
On learning of the abduction