Jedi Search
Page 33
Statistics, populations, resources--cold data that she had to absorb and
assess to make her decision. She rejected most of the worlds out of hand;
others she marked as possibilities. So far nothing had jumped out at her as
the perfect place for Luke to establish his Jedi academy.
It hadn't seemed like such a difficult request, since the New Republic
encompassed so many possible planets. She had found Dantooine as a new home
for the survivors from Eol Sha--why was an academy site causing her so much
trouble?
After meeting Luke's first two trainees and seeing how unusual they were,
Leia suspected the Jedi studies would require complete isolation. She had
spoken again to Gantoris and Streen in the past day and was discouraged to
find both of them feeling miserable and abandoned. If only Luke would come
back soon--with Han!
As she thought of other places, Leia pondered how Yoda had trained Luke on
the swampy planet of Dagobah, a place completely devoid of other intelligent
life. Her brother would want someplace similar for his own trainees.
Okay, what about Dagobah itself? she thought, putting a fingertip on her
lower lip. The swamps had hidden Yoda for centuries, and it was certainly
isolated from the mainstream of galactic traffic ... but Dagobah had no
appropriate facilities either. They would have to erect an academy from
scratch. Mobilizing the New Republic construction forces, Leia could get the
job done in short order--but she wasn't sure that was the right answer.
Somehow she felt the right site would jump out at her. Because the
restoration of the Jedi Knights meant so much, Luke would be very selective
about the proper site. She just hadn't found it yet.
The message center buzzed. Again. Though it was barely midmorning, she had
already lost count of the interruptions. With a sigh Leia answered it,
seeing the image of another minor functionary take shape in the central
focus.
"Minister Organa Solo," the functionary said, "I'm sorry to call you at
home, but we need you to decide on a meal selection for the Bimmini banquet.
The deadline is today. The choices are grazer fillets with tart sauce, nerf
medallions with sweet fungi, broiled dewback--'
"I'll take the nerf medallions. Thank you!" She switched off the receiver,
then calmed herself before returning to the images of the planets.
In the bedchambers Jacen burst into loud sobs, joined in a moment by his
sister. Threepio cooed sounds of consolation, then began another one of his
lullabies, which set them to crying louder. Part of Leia wanted to hurry
into the children's room to see what was the matter, while another part of
her just wanted to seal their door so she could have a little more quiet.
On the morning after the reception at the Skydome Botanical Gardens, both
children had come down with a cold. Slight fever, congestion, and general
crankiness--the type of frequent minor illness the twins would no doubt
suffer for another few years--but Leia didn't want to just abandon them to
the care of Threepio.
After some refresher programming, the protocol droid had proved himself
capable of caring for the two-year-olds. But Leia felt a defensiveness in
herself. She was their mother; while it was a new set of responsibilities
for her, Leia did not want a droid to watch them all the time, no matter how
competent his programming. The children had already spent so much of their
lives with Winter that Leia wanted to make up for lost time--if her
political duties would only give her the chance!
Before she could call up the file on another planet to consider, the message
center buzzed again. "What is it?" she said, mustering every scrap of
civility she still possessed. She did not recognize the alien administrator
in the image.
"Ah, Minister Organa Solo, I am calling from the office of the deputy
assistant minister of industry. I was told you might be able to offer a
suggestion about a type of music that would be appropriate to play during
the arrival of the Ishi Tib delegate?"
For a moment Leia reconsidered her time as a prisoner of Jabba the Hutt. At
least the slug-like crime lord had not required her to do anything more than
sit there and look beautiful....
Before she finished signing off, a message came in from Admiral Ackbar.
Though she liked the Calamarian admiral, she found it difficult to keep her
temper from boiling. How was she supposed to get anything done with all
these interruptions?
"Hello, Admiral--can I help you quickly? I'm in the middle of a rather large
project right now."
Ackbar nodded graciously, swiveling his big fish eyes to the front in a
gesture of courtesy. "Of course, Leia. I apologize for the interruption, but
I'd like to solicit your comments on the speech I have just written. As you
remember, I am giving it before the Cabinet tomorrow, and you agreed to
provide me with data on the rezoning of embassy sectors in the devastated
areas of Imperial City. I did write the speech without your input, but I
need to have the information before tomorrow. I've marked clearly where you
need to add your thoughts. Would it be possible--'
"Of course, Admiral. I'm sorry I haven't been more attentive. Please send it
to my personal network address, and I'll get to it right away. I promise."
Ackbar nodded his salmon-colored head. "Thank you, and I apologize again for
the interruption. I'll let you get back to work."
When he signed off, Leia could do no more than sit with her eyes closed,
hoping for a few moments of silence. In quiet times, though, she began to
worry too much about Han....
The door chime sounded. Leia almost screamed.
Mon Mothma stood at the doorway in her flowing white robes. "Hello, Leia. Do
you mind if I come in?"
Leia stuttered, trying to regain her composure. "Uh, please!" Mon Mothma had
never come visiting, never shown the slightest inclination to make any sort
of social call. Though calm and quietly charismatic, the Chief of State had
always distanced herself from anyone else.
During the early days of the Rebellion, Mon Mothma had sparred with Leia's
father Bail Organa on the floor of the Senate. Mon Mothma was a new senator
then, a firebrand insisting on rapid and sweeping changes that dismayed the
seasoned and cynical Bail Organa. Eventually, though, they joined forces to
oppose Senator Palpatine in his quest to become President; when they failed
and Palpatine proclaimed himself 'Emperor." Mon Mothma began to speak of
open rebellion. A horrified Bail Organa had not seen the need until after
the Ghorman Massacre, when he finally realized that the Republic he had
served for so long was truly dead.
The death of Bail Organa and the destruction of Alderaan had affected Mon
Mothma deeply. But she had never hinted that she wished to become friends
with the daughter of her old rival. "What can I do for you, Mon Mothma?"
Leia asked.
Mon Mothma looked around the private quarters, fixing her gaze on the
sweeping landscapes of Alderaan mounted on the walls, the grasslands, the
sheen of tears seemed to film her eyes.
"I learned that your children are sick, and I wanted to offer my
consolations." She fixed a sharp gaze on Leia. "And I have also learned that
Han and Chewbacca never returned from their Kessel mission. I wish you
hadn't tried to hide that from me. Is there anything I can do?"
Leia looked down. "No. Lando Calrissian and my brother Luke have already
gone to see what they can find. I hope they bring back news soon."
Mon Mothma nodded. "And I also wanted to commend you on the job you are
doing. Or perhaps console you is the better word."
Leia could not hide her surprise. "The reception for Ambassador Furgan was a
disaster!"
Mon Mothma shrugged. "And do you think anyone could have performed better
than you did? You did a perfectly adequate job with the Caridans. Some
battles simply cannot be won. Given the Caridans' potential for galactic
mayhem, I think getting a drink thrown in my face is a relatively minor
debacle."
With a faint smile Leia had to admit that the Chief of State was right.
"Now, if only I could find a place to house Luke's Jedi academy, I'd feel
like I'm making some progress through this whole morass."
Mon Mothma smiled. "I've been thinking about that too, ever since Luke made
his speech. I believe I have a suggestion."
Leia's dark eyes widened in surprise. "Please!"
Mon Mothma indicated the data terminal in Leia's living chamber. "May I?"
Leia gestured for her to use the system. Though a life-long politician, Mon
Mothma set to work on the database; she was obviously no stranger to doing
her own research.
When images of the new planet crystallized in the projection zone, Leia felt
the tingle of excitement creep through her. The confident feeling that this
was the right place grew in her heart. She wondered how she had overlooked
something so obvious.
"Consider," Mon Mothma said, smiling. "It has everything he could possibly
need--privacy, good climate, facilities already in place."
"It's perfect! I don't know why I didn't think of it myself."
The message center buzzed again.
"What?" Leia barked at the caller. She realized she should have been more
restrained, but she had reached the end of her fuse. Mon Mothma remained at
the data terminal, watching from outside the field of view.
The caller also dispensed with tact. "We need your report right now,
Minister Organa Solo. The orbital debris committee is deliberating on the
disposition of wreckage around Coruscant. You were supposed to attend our
discussions this morning--'
Leia recognized the functionary as Andur, the vice-chairman of the
committee. "My aide has already canceled my appointments for today. I'm
sorry I was unable to attend."
"We received your cancellation, but we didn't receive your report. You
agreed to write a summary and distribute it to us at this session. It's past
due! Sick children do not make the New Republic stop functioning."
Seeing red, Leia remembered standing in Jabba's palace, holding the pulsing
thermal detonator in her hand, waiting for it to explode and kill them all.
Five, four, three, two...
Somehow she restrained herself. Perhaps spending a day with Ambassador
Furgan had toughened her calluses. "I may be the Minister of State, Mr.
Andur, but I am also a mother. I have to do both jobs--I can't sacrifice one
for the sake of the other. My children need me now. The committee can wait."
Miffed, the vice-chairman raised his voice. "It would have been much easier
to complete our deliberations if you had been here rather than home playing
nurse--couldn't you hire a medical droid to take care of your kids' runny
noses? This is an important issue we're dealing with, affecting the fate of
all space traffic approaching and leaving Coruscant!"
Leia stiffened. "This is an important issue I'm dealing with here, too! How
can you expect me to care about the whole galaxy if I don't even care for my
own family? If you wanted mindless devotion to duty without caring about
people, then you should have stayed with the old Empire!" She reached for
the controls. "My report will be issued to you in due time, Mr. Andur." She
switched him off before he could say another word.
At the end of her outburst, Leia slumped into her self-conforming chair,
suddenly remembering her guest. Her face turned scarlet with embarrassment.
"That committee meets weekly, and there's no reason why they couldn't have
waited until next time," she said in a simmering, defensive voice. "I'm
really not going to let any important negotiations go down the drain. I know
my duty."
Mon Mothma nodded, sharing one of her placid, heart-felt smiles. "Of course
you won't, Leia. I understand. Don't worry about it." The Chief of State
looked at Leia with what seemed to be a new and surprising respect.
Leia sighed and stared at the planetary image on the data terminal. "Maybe I
should go off and spend a few months at the Jedi academy myself as soon as
Luke gets it under way--though I know that'll never happen. Taking a
vacation from Imperial City is about as easy as walking away from a black
hole. Affairs of state swallow up my entire day."
She caught herself complaining and quickly added, "But of course restoring
the order of the Jedi Knights is very important. I have the potential to use
the Force and so do the twins. But thorough training will take a lot of time
and concentration--two commodities I don't seem to have."
Mon Mothma looked at her gravely, then squeezed Leia's shoulder. "Don't
worry too much. You have other important things in store for you."
Han rolled over with a groan in the detention cell. The hard ridges on the
surface of his bunk--Han thought of them as "discomfort stripes"--made sleep
itself a nightmare.
He awoke from a dream about Leia, perhaps the only enjoyment he had
experienced in three weeks. The dim reddish light filtered down, hurting his
eyes without providing useful illumination.
He blinked his eyes open, hearing people move outside his cell door, the
clank of stormtrooper boots on the floor gratings, muffled voices. The
cyberlock clicked as someone activated the password code.
He sat up, suddenly alert. His body ached, his mind still buzzed from the
interrogation drugs, but he tensed as the door opened. He had no idea what
this was, but he felt certain he wouldn't like it.
Corridor light flooded in, and Qwi Xux stood beside an armed stormtrooper.
She looked battered and abused by her own thoughts, which gave Han a smug
grin. He hoped she had lost a lot of sleep after learning of the devastating
use to which her inventions had been put. She might be able to fool herself,
but she couldn't fool him.
"What, have you come back to discuss a few more moral issues, Doc? Am I
supposed to be your conscience?"
Qwi crossed her pale-bluish arms over her chest. "Admiral Daala has given me
permission to interrogate you again," she said coldly, though her body
languag
e did not match her tone. She turned to the guard, her pearlescent
hair sparkling in the dim corridor. "Would you accompany me inside for the
interrogation, Lieutenant? I'm afraid the prisoner might not cooperate."
"Yes, Dr. Xux," the guard said, following her into the cell. He slid the
door partially closed behind him.
While his back was turned, Qwi withdrew a blaster from the utility pocket on
her smock, pointed it at the guard, and fired a stun blast. Rippling arcs of
blue fire surrounded him, then faded as he crumpled to the floor.
Han leaped to his feet. "What are you doing!"
Qwi stepped over the fallen stormtrooper. The previous day she had seemed
more fragile; the Imperial-issue heavy blaster pistol looked huge in her
delicate hand. "Admiral Daala is mobilizing this entire fleet in less than a
day. She plans to take the Sun Crusher and her four Star Destroyers to wipe
out the New Republic. Your friend Kyp Durron is also scheduled for
termination this afternoon." She raised her feathery eyebrows. "Does that
add up to enough of an excuse to escape as soon as we can?"
Han's mind reeled. At the moment all he could think of was seeing Kyp and
Chewbacca again, then getting back to Coruscant so he could be reunited with
Leia and the twins. "I don't have any appointments I couldn't be persuaded
to cancel."
"Good," Qwi said. "Any questions?"
Han smirked as he began to pull on his disguise of stormtrooper armor. "No,