Star Wars_ X-Wing 03_ The Krytos Trap - Michael A. Stackpole [47]
“What?”
“We have come here to Coruscant because we know you cannot jeopardize your people by taking up our cause. As verachen we have ways and means to mix up more than just bacta, or to make bacta more effective. We are here to learn of this Krytos virus and to stop it.”
“But this virus could kill you.”
Qlaern shrugged. “Great risk is necessary to defeat great evil. You know this.”
Wedge slowly smiled. “That I do. Your offer impresses me, but I cannot act alone in this. I have people to whom I must speak.”
Mirax raised an eyebrow. “Not the Council, right?”
“No, not the Council, not right off. I only really have one choice: General Cracken. If word of Qlaern’s presence gets out, or Erisi catches wind of the Vratix working with us, Thyferra will hear about it quickly and we’ll be stuck. Cracken can provide security and whatever resources Qlaern will need to do the job.”
Mirax smiled. “And it might distract him from persecuting Tycho.”
“It might do that, indeed.”
The Vratix hissed sharply. “It is a beneficent balm that soothes more than one wound.”
“Agreed.” Wedge stood and clapped the Vratix on both shoulders. “I’m glad you’re here, Qlaern Hirf, because there’re plenty of wounds to be found, and decidedly little soothing going on. If you can do anything—anything more than you’ve already done—to stop the Krytos virus, I’ll gladly represent you before the Council and, if need be, even take your case to Thyferra itself.”
13
A jolt ran through Nawara Ven and traveled out to the tips of his lekku, making them twitch. He immediately blushed, bluing the shadows on his grey cheeks and beneath his eyes. If I do not have more control than this, Tycho is lost. He pulled his braintails back so they dangled beneath the level of the defense table. No reason to let the opposition read involuntary motion as a sign of my nervousness.
His nervousness would not be denied, however. The trial was being held—staged was the term he preferred to use—in the old Imperial Justice Court. High vaulted ceilings had been covered with polished black marble panels streaked with white, giving the whole room the feeling of actually being on a high promontory and open to the night sky. The black marble had also been used to build up the High Bench at which the Tribunal would sit, rather ominously; it reminded Nawara of the Imperial Palace’s towering edifice.
Below the ceiling level, stainless steel, molded ferrocrete, and duraplast castings completed the court’s design. While the forms meshed perfectly with the stone shapes, the rest of the room seemed artificial and not a little sterile. This room does not seem conducive to compassion. Nawara looked around at the upper gallery and the seats in the court, which were packed with individuals slavering for justice.
Justice, in this case, means they want my client shot into the sun. Admiral Ackbar had acquiesced to Nawara’s request that the trial not be sent out in real-time holo. While it could have been argued that news of the trial had already done as much damage to Tycho’s reputation as it would be possible to do, broadcasting the trial could easily serve to further inflame public sentiment and cause trouble. Nawara had already been questioned about defending a human, and that sort of thing would only get worse if everyone in the galaxy was able to watch the trial unfold.
The discussion about broadcasting the trial had been the subject of an executive session of the Provisional Council. Borsk Fey’lya had tried to argue that justice conducted in the shadows was just a continuation of Imperial policy. Nawara had countered that a publicly broadcast trial abandoned any pretense of justice and became a sporting event where a man’s life hung in the balance. He argued that how the Republic conducted the trial was as important as the outcome, because any perception of injustice, no matter how slight, would get magnified and form the core for discontent