• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

"And so, it is not the members of the Diversity Alliance who should be censured-rather, these willful human children need to be taught respect for legal governments," Senator Trubor concluded, triumphantly swiveling his triangular batlike ears.

Alarmed, Jaina looked over at Luke Skywalker, hoping the Jedi Master would react to these accusations. But already it seemed as if too many humans had spoken out. Luke met Jaina's gaze, giving her his silent support.

Without comment, Leia nodded and announced the name of the next speaker.

"Senator J'mesk Iman."

The small cherub-faced Tamran steepled his fingers at chest level and bowed slightly. J'mesk Iman's expressive brows rose as he spoke.

"Forgive me if I have misunderstood the situation, but it is not the habit of the New Republic to meddle in the affairs of local governments, is it?" Fmesk Iman spread his hands in a traditional gesture his people used when offering peace. "Perhaps this could all be viewed as a cultural misunderstanding. From an objective point of view, what these young Jedi did might be described as well-intentioned but ill - advised. There should be no need to consider it an act of outright espionage."

Jaina shifted uncomfortably at the ambassador's benign condemnation. Her brother flinched, and she sensed rather than heard a growl forming deep in Lowie's throat. The black streak of fur over his eye bristled.

"Since the children's arrival was neither announced nor authorized-since it was, in fact, covert," Iman continued, "the government of Ryloth had ample reason to view it as an act of aggression."

"But we explained what we were doing there," Jacen objected. "The Diversity Alliance was holding Lowie against his will. And they still threw us into their spice mines."

Iman fixed them all with a serious look and cocked his head to one side.

When he answered, though, his voice was not unkind.

"Yet had any of you requested their government's permission to enter its headquarters?"

"No," Jaina answered truthfully. "But we never intended any harm. We just wanted to get our friend back."

"Even so, since your mission was not a diplomatic one, and not sanctioned by any government, you placed yourselves under the jurisdiction of local laws by trespassing as you did. I do not believe even the New Republic could allow such an intrusion without punishing the perpetrators. It is only natural that any government should want to deter others from doing what you did."

Jaina bit her lower lip. She knew there was no way to refute the ambassador's logic...

"But what about the spice mines?" Raynar asked. "We were taken prisoner, turned into slaves."

"Very well, then. How long did you spend in the spice mines?" Iman asked.

Jaina answered, "We didn't have chronometers with us."

"Very well, a few days, then? A harsh punishment perhaps for highborn youngsters such as yourselves, but not outside the realm of reason. Were you denied food or water or sleep?"

Jaina grimaced at the memory of the fungus they had been expected to eat and the foul-tasting water they had been offered, but she shook her head.

Raynar took a sudden interest in studying the floor near his feet and said nothing.

"But they never released us," Jaina pointed out. "Lowie had to help us escape."

The ambassador steepled his fingers at his chin and smiled. "And yet here you all are, alive and well. So allow me to summarize. You broke into the headquarters of a well-respected political movement. The legal planetary government sentenced you to a short term of unpleasant yet not unjustifiable punishment-long enough for you to learn a valuable lesson, we can hope. Then, before you had served your complete term, your friends, who at the time were working for the Diversity Alliance"-at this, Iman's brows rose expressively-"released you from captivity and assisted you in departing from Ryloth without further punishment. And during all that time, the only true injuries you sustained were as a result