Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 09_ Edge of Victory 02_ Rebirth - J. Gregory Keyes [28]
“And these Jedi—they would fight with my people against the Yuuzhan Vong?” Bana asked.
Leia and Jacen exchanged glances. Jacen cleared his throat. “Aggression, as such, is not the Jedi way. We would help, yes.”
“Yes? You will run weapons to us? Supplies?”
“The network could be used for that, too,” Han said. “As I see it, anyway.”
“I should hope so,” Bana replied. “The fortunes of our family are not what they once were. When we spend money, we want a return.”
Numa spoke again, dismissing the Hutt with a flick of her lekku. “I have heard, Jacen Solo, that you yourself attacked and humiliated the warmaster. Is this not aggression? Does not Kyp Durron even now take the fight to the enemy?”
“He did it to save my life,” Leia said.
Jacen squared up his shoulders. “I don’t agree with Kyp’s tactics, nor does Master Skywalker.”
“Then you would not agree with mine,” Numa said. “Perhaps it was a mistake for me to come here.”
Jacen studied her for a moment. “Your Master must have warned you of the dark side.”
“Fear of the dark side is a luxury the people of New Plympto cannot afford. Will you help us or not?”
Anakin would agree with her, Jacen thought glumly.
“We will do what we can,” he told her. “We will bring medical aid and food, help evacuate those who must leave. We will not come in as guerrillas. And avoiding the dark side is not a luxury. It is a necessity.”
She did not reply to that, but in the Force Jacen felt her unrepentant.
“Mors?”
The woman stared at the table for a moment, then her gaze found Han’s. “Personally, I would like to help,” she said. “But my superiors—well. We could supply troops and ships, of course, of the sort experienced at the kind of activity you’re planning, but—”
“But we’ll have to pay,” Leia said.
“Something, yes.”
“Look,” Han said. “The New Republic isn’t in on this. They won’t fund it.”
“You built this station.”
“Out of our own pockets,” Lando said. “Even the Hutts contributed.”
“Ah, but they stand to gain. Whatever our friend there may say, he knows your Jedi network is one of the slim hopes his people have for survival.”
“You’re in the same escape pod,” Leia snapped. “You think the Yuuzhan Vong will tolerate your business when they’ve conquered the entire galaxy?”
Mors shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. That’s why I have been authorized to offer you the loan of one ship, at no charge. We’ll consider it an investment.”
Han nodded. “Well, that’s something.” He glanced around the table. “Why don’t we see if we can find some more common ground?”
Han slouched into the kneading chair in the quarters Lando had provided. Though not as opulent as Lando’s, they were more than comfortable.
“This isn’t going to work,” he muttered.
“Don’t be defeatist,” Leia said.
“I’m not. I’m being realistic. Somebody has to be, because your brother sure isn’t.”
“Don’t start in on Luke again.”
“Look, I’m glad he finally decided to do something,” Han said, “but he could have chosen something doable. ‘Make me a great river, Han, a stream to carry the endangered, the wounded, the weary to safety.’ Very poetic. But how do we pay for it? Everyone in the room wants to take and take, but they don’t want to give.”
Leia’s expression softened and she stroked her fingers on his cheek. He closed them in his own hand and kissed them.
He started to embrace her, but before he could complete it, she drew back from him a little, though gently.
“We will find the money, Han.” And her eyes held a fire brighter even than that day on the Death Star when they first met. It burned through him like a blaster bolt. He nodded, and tugged her again, and this time she did not resist.
TEN
Nen Yim contemplated the mass of cells through an external maa’it, at a magnification of several hundred times their actual size, and for the first time in many cycles felt a minute amount of hope. She could not be certain, but she thought there were signs of regeneration; the mass had