Star Wars_ Rebel Force 2_ Hostage - Alex Wheeler [5]
"No demand for goods," Leia finished for him.
"And no need for factories or workers to produce them," General Rieekan added, as they drove past a sidewalk crowded with humans and aliens. Leia spotted a Rodian, a Besalisk, three Bothans, and a cluster of white-tufted Ryn. They waited in a line that stretched around the block. "These stragglers came from all over the galaxy, looking for work. Now they have to rely on the government to feed and clothe them—or find another planet."
"Is it like this all over?" Leia asked. The General had spent much of the last couple weeks in other parts of Delaya, visiting refugees across the globe.
He nodded. "Alderaan's tragedy is borne by Delaya as well."
"All the more reason to be grateful to them for taking in the refugees," Leia said.
General Rieekan didn't respond.
"General?" she asked. He was a man who chose his words carefully, but when he did speak, it was always worth hearing.
"I don't want to influence you."
She smiled. "I can assure you, General, no one has ever accused me of being easily influenced."
The general sighed. "There are those here who feel their planet's resources should be reserved for Delayans. Prime Minister Manaa and his deputy, Var Lyonn, have sworn their willingness to help the refugees," he said.
"But?" she prompted him.
"It's just a bad feeling I have," he admitted. "Manaa's men follow me everywhere, and my interactions with the refugees are carefully supervised." He glanced out the window, nodding at a silver landspeeder off to their right. "Even now, they're following us. I've been told it's for security purposes."
"You suspect otherwise."
The general pulled up in front of a tall gray building and brought the landspeeder to a stop. The sign read Delayan Whisperpines Hotel, though there were no whisperpines—or any other tree—in sight. Leia would have preferred more modest accommodations, but the Delayan government had insisted on giving her the royal treatment. It seemed ungrateful to object. Especially since she was counting on them to keep this visit a secret from the Empire.
"I do," he said. "Perhaps I should have spent less time traveling. If I had looked deeper into the situation in Leilani…"
"You've done all you can and more," she assured him. "And on behalf of the people of Alderaan, I thank you for your efforts.
"My efforts." He shook his head and pressed his fingers to his temples. "Your Highness, when the Death Star approached, I heard the distress cries from the transmission station—and I did nothing."
"There was nothing you could have done," Leia assured him. "There would have been no time to evacuate the planet, and if you had acted, you could have revealed Alderaan's connections to the Alliance. You had no way of knowing what the Empire was about to do."
Unlike me, she thought. I knew exactly what was going to happen. I just couldn't stop it.
" You are not to blame," she said firmly. "For any of this."
He inclined his head toward her slightly, acknowledging her words, if not agreeing with them.
As they climbed out of the landspeeder, a young man approached, running his hands nervously through his spiky black hair. The General smiled and waved him over. "Leia, meet Kiro Chen," he said. "He's been an invaluable help to the cause these last few weeks."
Leia looked warily at the stranger. "When you say 'the cause,' you mean..."
"He knows your true purpose here," General Rieekan explained. "He came to me as a representative of the survivors, hoping for a way to serve the Alliance."
Kiro gave Leia a firm handshake. "It doesn't make sense to talk about 'survivors' as a single group," he explained. "There are too many of us. Though it's only been a short time, different groups have formed communities, really. Each with their own unofficial leaders."
"Like you?" Leia asked.
Kiro chuckled. "I'm no leader. I just pay attention. I know things. Like the fact that the Rebel Alliance is our greatest hope. If we want to stop another Alderaan…"
Leia winced. "It pains me that our planet's very name has