Star Wars_ The Black Fleet Crisis 02_ Shield of Lies - Michael P. Kube-McDowell [57]
“And there is the New Republic.”
Luke turned toward her. “What?”
“The New Republic stands now where the Empire stood—as the single great power in the galaxy,” said Akanah. “They have the most to lose if their power is successfully challenged. And their power is the greatest threat to those who choose to stand apart, who take a different view.”
“You can’t think that the New Republic is hunting the Fallanassi.”
“Why not?” she asked calmly. “It was you who decided those men on Lucazec were Imperial agents. How do you know they weren’t from Coruscant? How do you know they weren’t from your NRI?”
The suggestion was absurd, laughable—but it silenced Luke all the same. He looked back to the controls, trying to sort out his thoughts. For some reason, he couldn’t now remember why it was he had been so sure the men at Ialtra were Imperial sleepers. And Akanah’s suggestion offered an explanation for something he had no explanation for—the Elomin were so principled that the prospect of one’s working for an Imperial spy network was beyond imagining. But the NRI—
Out of Touch, RN40-844033, owner Tok-Foge Pokresh, registry Bothawui—
“They would have to have been tipped off by me,” Luke said finally, then shook his head. “But I only spoke to Leia and Han that night. And Leia didn’t even give me a chance to tell her what little I knew. No one knew I was going away, or why.”
Akanah touched his shoulder. “Please don’t think that I suspected you,” she said. “The men at Ialtra were not expecting you—and if the NRI could count on your assistance, they would have no need to shadow us.”
“I don’t know that anyone is shadowing us,” Luke said. “I just want to make sure that no one tries—and if they do try, that they don’t succeed. We can jump out of here at any time if we need to. And before we make our final jump, I’m going to go over this ship from bow to baffles and make sure we didn’t acquire a tracking device while we were parked on Teyr.”
“I trust you to take the right precautions. I know you have as much at stake as I do,” she said. “Do you mind if I go lie down? I did not sleep well on the Skyrail.”
Adela, RN32-000439, owner Refka Trell, registry Elom—
“Sure,” Luke said. “Go ahead. I’ll call you if anything unexpected shows up.”
Akanah squeezed his shoulder. “Thank you,” she said, and started to turn away.
“Akanah?”
“What?”
“How much do you know about our destination?”
“I know it’s a Free Trader world—not much more.”
“I didn’t even know that much,” Luke said, turning toward her. “I’d like to query the Ministry of State atlas on Coruscant and request a diplomatic backgrounder.”
“You can do that?”
“I think so,” Luke said. “I’d be using a point-to-point channel, not broadcasting, so no one else will be listening in.”
“But they’ll be listening in on Coruscant,” Akanah said. “You might as well be announcing where we’re going.”
Luke shook his head. “I know what you just said, but I can’t treat those people as the enemy,” he said. “But I could make a series of queries, so the one for Atzerri is just one in the crowd. Would that make you feel any more at ease?”
“Do what you think is necessary,” she said with a small, quick smile. “There are risks in ignorance, too. Balance them against the risks of showing our hand. If you think the weight falls in favor of making the query, and you’ll wait until we’ve jumped out from Teyr to do so, I won’t question your decision.”
Shortly after the reorganization of the government, Nanaod Engh had given Luke keys to most of the real treasures of the New Republic—the central data libraries maintained by various branches of the General Ministry. Thanks to Admiral Ackbar’s intervention, Luke also carried the highest-grade security clearance held by any civilian.
Between the two, Luke had—potentially—a great deal of information at his fingertips. But the access he had been granted was a courtesy, not a necessity.