Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order_ Dark Tide 02_ Ruin - Michael A. Stackpole [21]
Leia reached forward between the seats and patted Danni on the shoulder. “It’s not going to be a disaster, Danni.”
“Thank you.” The younger woman covered Leia’s hand with her own. “Every time I start feeling sorry for myself, I just remember where Senator A’Kla is going, and I know I have the easy course.”
“I’m afraid you’re right.” Leia sat back in her seat. She remembered back to seeing Elegos off on his solo mission to Dubrillion. She’d been surprised that she caught no fear from him despite the risks he would be taking. She commented on that fact, eliciting a smile from the gold-furred alien.
“The truth is that I feel no fear.” He blinked his big eyes. “I know this mission could end in death for me, but that seems a small concern weighed against a war that will kill many. And, I must confess, I have an immense curiosity concerning the Yuuzhan Vong. I would assume they have a similar curiosity about us, which means we have a currency of exchange between us. This will make negotiation possible and, I hope, fruitful.”
Leia had hugged him and relished feeling his strong arms around her. “You don’t have to go, Elegos. There are other ways.”
He’d held her out at arm’s length. “Are there, Leia? The Yuuzhan Vong hate machines, so sending any sort of droid or mechanical device to convey our best wishes to them would be an insult. Based on Anakin’s experience on Dantooine, we know they respect boldness, hence this mission. If I return, perhaps more bloodshed can be forestalled.”
“And if you do not?”
“Then your knowledge of the Yuuzhan Vong will be that much greater.” He gave her a simple smile. “I know the danger I am in, but for me to live in peace without taking this chance is impossible. You could no more abandon your acceptance of responsibility than I can. You just make wiser choices in exercising it than I do.”
Leia had agreed then, but as the screen in the front of the cabin showed the Chimaera looming larger, and Bastion’s customs station yet larger, she had second thoughts. She’d last seen the ship when the peace between the Remnant and New Republic had been signed. Her focus on New Republic internal affairs and her subsequent retirement from government had insulated her from contacts between the Remnant and the New Republic. She found herself lacking a sense of the Remnant, which meant she didn’t know how difficult it would be for Admiral Pellaeon to offer help.
Even the briefing documents she’d studied on the way out had not given her as complete a feel for the politics of the region as she might have liked. While a number of unreconstructed Imperials had fled to the Remnant, taking a vast amount of wealth with them, economic development of the region had gone slowly. Only a few pockets had the amenities of Coruscant available, and there were portions of worlds where people lived in grinding poverty. The availability of cheaper goods from the New Republic had crippled several industries, and outbreaks of rioting connected with imports had been reported.
On the diplomatic front, things had remained cordial between the two nations. Leia put a lot of that down to the efforts of Talon Karrde. At the time of the peace he had proposed and created an agency that facilitated the exchange of intelligence data between the two realms. This bled off much of the paranoia by hard-liners in each nation, though limited suspicions did remain. According to the files Leia had been given, little or none of the data about the Yuuzhan Vong had been released to Karrde and the Remnant, so while they might know something was going on, they wouldn’t have details.
If that has spiked their paranoia, this mission might be doomed before it starts.
The pilot’s voice echoed through the cabin. “We have permission to set down in