by James Luceno
A sudden hail of blasterfire from the truck turned the situation on its ear. Holed by bolts, two of the patrol speeders slewed to opposite sides and plummeted to the ground, leaking smoke and fire as they screeched along the street, then plowed through two fences, furrowed an area of lawn, and splashed into the river.
The containment sphere prevented Jadak from seeing behind him, but the abrupt disappearance of the other SoroSuubs suggested that they were now chasing the speeder truck. Accelerating, the T-11 streaked out over the river, twenty meters above the choppy water, banking into morning sun and on course for the spaceport.
* * *
The freighter that was to have accepted delivery of the sphere from the speeder truck was warming in a docking bay. As Jadak lowered the Incom alongside, several humanoids and two Gamorreans hurried to roll the containment sphere out of the Incom and up the freighter's boarding ramp.
Eyeing their clothes, the ship's captain asked: “What are you two dressed for?”
Poste smiled without amusement. “We have parts in the school play.”
“What happened to the truck?”
“The pilots dropped the ball,” Poste said.
“Last we saw,” Jadak added, “police units were after them.”
The captain nodded once. “That's their problem.” He cocked his head toward the freighter. “The Colicoid's got an appointment on a world a long way from anywhere.” He began to ascend the ramp, then stopped and turned around. “Can we drop you two somewhere?”
“Yeah,” Jadak said, tapping Poste into motion. “But the where's going to depend on whether Rej Taunt honors his part of our arrangement.”
“He will. Find yourselves a couple of bunks in the common cabin.”
They went directly there. After testing all the bunks, Poste set his knapsack on one and began pulling items from it while singing to himself, exactly as Jadak had seen him do on Nar Shaddaa in his hole-in-the-wall crypt the day before they left.
“What's with the song?”
“It's to make sure I have everything.” Poste pointed to items while he sang. “Socks and shirts and pants and comb, and boots and hat, and—”
“All right, I get it,” Jadak interrupted.
“I was taught to do it by one of the old-timers who lived in the canyon my tribe haunted. In the beginning I only owned a few things, but every one of them was important to me, and it hurt went something went missing, either through theft or my own carelessness. I was only five or six at the time. But as I got more things I was able to add more lines to the song, and on the day I added a second verse I decided I was rich.”
Jadak nodded and smiled. “If things work out, kid, that song of yours is going to take a week to sing.”
Poste grinned. “The old-timer who taught it to me called it a mnemonic.”
“Your code phrase is ‘Restore Republic honor to the galaxy.’ Our ally is expecting you. The phrase we've provided you is a mnemonic aid she will need to carry out her part of the mission. The Envoy will handle the rest of it.”
Jadak extended his trembling hands to Poste. “You have a datapad in there?”
“I'LL MAKE A DEAL WITH YOU,” LEIA SAID. “YOU AND MUZZLE CAN stay in here for the entire trip to Coruscant. But you have to promise that when we get there you won't shut yourself inside your room.”
“Muzzle, too?” Allana said, holding the simian hand puppet up to her shoulder.
Leia nodded. “Muzzle also has to promise.”
Allana frowned and turned aside to confer quietly with the toy.
The Millennium Falcon was in hyperspace, and Allana was in low spirits. She had been distant ever since Taris, sitting on her bunk in the principal cabin with the puppet, perhaps telling Muzzle all she wouldn't say to Leia or Han.
Leia eased into the cabin and sat down opposite her, putting an arm around Allana's shoulders. “What do you say?”
“Muzzle says he doesn't want to stay in here for the whole trip.”
“What about you?”
“I don't want to, either.”
Leia smiled. “That's good, because Grandpa and I miss having your company.” She took a moment. “You seem a little sad. Is anything wrong?”
Allana shook her head.
“We still haven't talked about what happened during the pet show.”
She averted Leia's gaze. “It's not that.”
“What, then?”
“I'm just sad our adventure is over.”
“You mean because we haven't learned who owned the Falcon before Vistal Purn?”
Allana nodded. “Grandpa said it's a dead end.”
“He said that he was pretty sure we'd be able to learn something from the Ortolan who owned the circus—Dax Doogun.”
Allana looked at her. “That's what he told me. But I heard him tell you it was a dead end.”
Leia kept a straight face. Han had said as much. It concerned her that Allana would eavesdrop on a private conversation, but she decided not to make an issue of it.
“It's been a great adventure so far, hasn't it?”
“Sort of.”
“You haven't had any fun?”
“I guess.”
Leia moved closer to her. “Allana, can we talk a little bit about what happened on Taris? If you don't feel like talking now we can do it some other time, but I think it would help if we discussed it.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Well, let's start with those beings who tricked you into following the squall.”
“I hate them.”
Leia fell silent for a moment. “They tricked you and took you because they wanted to force Grandpa to do something.”
“What?”
“They wanted him to make Uncle Lando send them some war droids.”
“Why?”
“I guess they had some bad plans.”
Allana's brows beetled and she lowered her chin.
“Do you remember what you said when you ran away from Seff?” When Allana didn't respond, Leia said: “You said ‘Jacen.’”
“I know what I said.”
“Why do think you said your father's name?”
Allana gave her head a firm shake.
Leia thought for a moment. Could she get to the bottom of this without leading her too much? Should she drop the matter for the time being?
I can't, she told herself.
“When those bad beings took you, did it make you think of when Jacen took you from your mom?”
“No,” she snapped. “Seff made me think of Jacen.”
Leia had already guessed as much. Still, she said: “Jacen didn't look like Seff, or even sound like him.”
“Not like that, Grandma. I felt him in the Force like I felt Jacen.”
Leia recalled the storm she felt in the Force before she spied Seff. It troubled her that Allana had picked up on Seff's raw power.
“Jacen made me afraid,” Allana said suddenly. “And then Seff made me afraid in the same way.”
Leia took hold of Allana's hands. “In what way, honey?”
“That he was going to hurt me.”
Leia blinked in consternation. “Jacen would never have hurt you, Allana. He loved you so very much. He would have changed the galaxy for you if he could.”
“Why?”
“To protect you from harm—from any evil.”
Allana seemed to consider it.
“Do you miss him, Allana?”
Allana looked away again. “A little. Sometimes.” She turned to face Leia. “Do you wish he was still alive, Grandma?”
A lump formed in Leia's throat. “I'm sorry he had to die.”
So very sorry.
“Was he sick?”
Leia nodded. “He was sick. But not like when your stomach hurts. He was … he had a kind of sickness in the Force.” Someday Allana would have to be told the full story, in all its gruesome and tragic details, but now wasn't the time.
“Can the Force get sick?”
“No. But beings can use the Force in a way that endangers others.”
“Is that the dark side?”
“Perhaps. And one path to the dark side is anger. Another is hate. That's why I scolded you when you ran from the room and you wanted to hurl the Force at Seff.”
Allana fidgeted. “Was Jacen angry?”
“Jacen was very angry.”
“What was he mad at?”
“He was mad at not being able to have his way.”
“I get mad sometimes when you tell me to stop doing something,” Allana said quietly.
“We all get mad sometimes,” Leia said. “But getting mad in that way, getting frustrated or feeling like you should be able to do something, is not the same as filling yourself up with anger and hatred and letting those emotions take control of your thoughts and actions.”
“It makes you see red,” Allana said, brightening somewhat.
“When anger fills you up enough, you can see red, and that's not good for you or for the Force.”
Allana linked her arms about Leia's neck. “I'm not mad now. Just a little sad. That's what I was telling Muzzle when you came in.”
“What did Muzzle say back?”
“That being sad is stupid.”
Leia hugged her. “Muzzle is wrong. It's not stupid. Sometimes we can't help feeling sad.”
Han rapped on the jam of the open hatch. “Okay to come in?”
Leia whispered: “Is it okay?”
“Come in, Grandpa,” Allana said.
He stepped into the cabin. “I've reached Luke.”
Leia let go of Allana and stood up in a rush. She started for the doorway, then stopped. “Do you want to speak to Uncle Luke after I finish speaking with him?”
“Uh-uh.”
Han grinned at Allana. “I sure could use some help piloting the ship.”
Allana smiled and jumped up.
“What should I do, Captain Solo?” C-3PO asked from the ring corridor.
“I want you to keep searching the comlink nets for Dax Doogun.”
“The odds of my locating him—”
“Threepio—please?” Allana said.
“We'll even let you connect to the cockpit comm suite,” Han said.
C-3PO straightened. “In that case, I'll continue the search.”
Holding hands, Allana and the droid set off for the main hold.
“How does Luke seem?” Leia said when Allana was out of earshot.
“Melancholy.”
“When are you two going to break down and install a holoprojector aboard the Falcon?” Luke asked when Leia had settled herself at the engineering console in the main hold.
“We don't have enough problems with the ship already?”
“Point taken,” Luke said.
To Leia's eyes he looked not just melancholy but haunted. The comm showed him to be communicating from Coruscant.
“Han says that the search has been interesting.”
Small talk, Leia thought, but what was the harm?
“We traced the Falcon to two men who owned it before Lando,” she told him. “But we may have reached a dead end.”
“You're returning to the Core?”
“Assuming something doesn't come up.”
Luke stirred. “You wanted to let me know about Seff.”
Leia smiled faintly. “You can read my mind from that distance?”
“If you wanted me to. But there was no need. Galactic Alliance Intelligence gave me the full story.”
“Luke, Allana told me that Seff reminded her of Jacen. She couldn't articulate the reason. But she felt that he posed a danger to her.”
Luke withdrew for a moment. Leia could almost feel him absorbing the news. Did his face pale, or was it simply the comm connection?
“Seff has given Daala another reason to distrust us,” Luke said.
“Because a single Jedi behaves recklessly?”
“A young Jedi who reminds Allana of Jacen.”
Leia was lost for words. “Luke, Allana is a child.”
“Is it true that Seff disarmed half a dozen soldiers?”
“It was the way he did it that concerned me.”
Luke nodded. “I was certain that ability was the sole province of Jacen, taught to him by Force-users he visited during his travels.”
“Could Jacen have instructed some of the Jedi?”
“I don't see how he could have done that. Not without one of the Masters knowing.” Luke shook his head. “This is something new.”
“And Daala thinks what?” Leia said. “That Jacen was the beginning of a trend? That all of us are going to the dark side?”
“I think she'd like to be persuaded that was the case—as frightening as it would be.”
“I don't care what she thinks. Do you believe there's some connection between Jacen's turn and Seff's actions?” Leia paused to let Luke think it over. “Has Seff contacted you?”
“Seff is at large. Galactic Alliance Intelligence has several groups of Mandalorian troops looking for him.”
“Luke,” Leia said.
“I know. In the meantime, I'm recalling everyone.”
“Including Jaina?”
“Yes.”
“How is she?”
Luke was silent for a long moment. “If you'd had a chance to kill our father, would you have done it?”
“I don't understand what you're asking me.”
“Our father stood by while Alderaan was destroyed. If he had done that knowing that you were his daughter, would you have killed him if you'd had a chance?”
“I might have tried, yes.”
“Imagine if you had been a Jedi at that point. Would you have tried to kill him?”
“How can I know? I might have made the same choice you made at Endor.”
“It's long been rumored that the Jedi Masters who went to arrest Supreme Chancellor Palpatine at the end of Clone Wars were intent on killing him if he didn't surrender. They were convinced that he was too dangerous to be allowed to live.”
“That was Palpatine's claim,” Leia countered. “We don't know what the Jedi were intending to do.” After a long moment, she said, “Han has set a course for the Core. We'll join you on Coruscant.”
“No, not yet,” Luke said sharply. “Not until I've spoken with Daala. She needs to be persuaded that using Mandalorians to hunt down Seff is a mistake. And she needs to be reassured that the Jedi police themselves.”
“Are you certain we can't help?”
“I want to assess the situation before drawing you into it.”
Leia nodded in a resigned way. “We'll wait to hear from you.”
She was still sitting at the engineering station when Allana hurried into the hold from the cockpit connector.
“Grandma, we found him! Threepio found him!”
Leia caught her in her arms. “Slow down, sweetie. Threepio found who?”
“The circus owner.”
“Dax Doogun,” Han said as he and C-3PO entered the hold. “Apparently he lives on Agora.”
“Naturally, Orto was first on the list of the worlds I searched,” C-3PO said. “But in my haste I neglected to consider that he might reside on a neighboring world in the Sluis sector.”
“You did great, Threepio,” Allana said.
Han nodded in agreement. “Good job, Goldenrod. I'm bringing us out of hyperspace so we can send him a message.”
“The case of Colla-Arphocc Automata verses the Galactic Alliance is dismissed,” the chief justice of Holess proclaimed. His gavel struck the bench with resounding finality. “The court rules that the plaintiff is responsible for all costs incurred …”
Lestra Oxic all but put his fingers in his ears. The gavel blow might as well have been the sound of a stake being driven through his heart. The Colicoids had paid well for his services from the start, but a decision in their favor would have netted him five times what he had already earned. More important, the Colicoids had promised to reward him with someth
ing special if he won the case: a tall, impressionistic statue that had once graced Senate Plaza on Coruscant. Just how the insectoids had come by the prime piece of Republicana was anyone's guess. And now Oxic would have to purchase the statue from them, at what would surely be an exorbitant price.
On learning of the abduction of his star witness, he had asked for and been granted a stay of one local day. But he doubted that even a local year would have been sufficient to locate the witness. Not if his suspicions were accurate, and the Galactic Alliance itself had been responsible for the holoscreen image of the hueche and the subsequent disappearance of the Colicoid witness. Chief of State Daala's anti-Colicoid stance was a matter of public record, and it must have become clear to her that the ruling of the Holess court was going to favor the insectoids. While the justices accepted that an act of subterfuge had been perpetrated, Oxic was compelled to make his appeal before a criminal court. But Holess's prosecutors were already grumbling about the absence of evidence of Galactic Alliance involvement.
Nothing to do but take the criminal complaint to Coruscant, he told himself.
Across the face of Holess, bells were tolling the decision to dismiss and spectators were exiting the courtroom as if a bomb threat had been announced. The judges, members of the jury, and the trio of lawyers representing the Galactic Alliance were preparing to meet the media. Ignored by all but his assistant litigators and aides, Oxic was locking the last of the document cases when he spied Koi Quire moving against the tide in an effort to reach him. Rarely ruffled, she seemed agitated as she maneuvered between the rows of seats. Perhaps she feared she would be held accountable for the Colicoid's abduction, when in fact she had only been an escort.
“Am I right?” Oxic said when she was still a few meters away.
She shook her head. “Dead wrong.”
Oxic locked the final case.
“The pilots of the speeder truck were captured and identified as associates of Rej Taunt.”
Oxic knew the name well. Convicted of mass murder sixty or so years earlier, Taunt was serving a life sentence on Carcel. But Taunt's criminal past was of little interest. What mattered was that the former crime boss was a noted collector of Republicana and had outbid Oxic on several occasions for noteworthy pieces. The Bith agent at the recent auction on Epica was now known to have been in Taunt's employ.