The Black Fleet Crisis_ Before The Storm Part 33

"Yes! " Jobath said brightly. "Koornacht. "

Leia scowled. "This is too much. You tell Ackbar that I'm tired of being manipulated. "

"Admiral Ackbar? "

"Right. Tell him he can have this job anytime he wants it. All he has to do is say the word. "

"Oh, yes, Ackbar, I know this name, too. He, too, was a great warrior in the Rebellion. But you are mistaken. I have not had the honor of the counsel of the Ackbar, " said Jobath.

"No? "

"I have come here directly from your Eastport, and before that from Galantos, to speak with you in a matter of great urgency. A terrible evil prowls The Mult.i.tude. Many have died already. My people fear for their future. "

As he was speaking, Leia was slowly drawn back to the fence. She curled her fingers around the wrought work and closed them into fists.

"How do you know what's happened? "

"There was a warning sent to us from a s.h.i.+p which came out of The Mult.i.tude, " said Jobath. "A freighter bound for Woqua intercepted the beam of this signal, or we would not have heard the warning for a very long time-if ever. We sent our own vessel out to find this s.h.i.+p. It, too, found the signal, but the s.h.i.+p itself has vanished. "

Leia realized that Plat Mallar, facing unconsciousness, must have used the interceptor's combat comm to transmit his recordings toward his destination. Doing so would make him, and even his s.h.i.+p, expendable, since no force in the galaxy could gather up or destroy his comm signal.

"We have the s.h.i.+p, " she said, resting her forehead against the fence. "And the pilot. "

"I am glad to know this. I would like to offer him refuge on Galantos, and, if he wishes it, citizens.h.i.+p in the Fia. "

"That will have to wait, I'm afraid, " said Leia. "What do you want from me? "

"I've come to ask the protection of the New Republic and the great Princess Leia for my planet and my people, " said Jobath, clasping the fence with long fingered hands just below where Leia clung to it. "I be seech you to accept a pet.i.tion for members.h.i.+p, and fortify us against these murderers. "

Leia pulled her hands back as though fearing contact with Jobath.

"I'll consider your pet.i.tion, " she said uncomfortably, and started to back away.

"Please hurry, " said Jobath. "There is little time. If they who fell on Polneye choose to leave The Mult.i.tude, we could be the next to suffer their predation. Our entire navy has only two patrol corvettes, and the cutter which brought me here. Half a million lives are at risk on Galantos alone. "

**** (diplomatic) hostel. They'll provide you with quarters. I'll send word to you there. "

Then she turned and fled into the house. But the walls did not offer the same sanctuary they had recently promised, and sleep was no longer possible.

Within an hour of Jobath's arrival at the diplomatic hostel, three other worlds with legations quartered there submitted emergency pet.i.tions for members.h.i.+p. Two of the three were located in sectors far from Koornacht, the third in Hatawa, but still many light-years from the trouble.

All three, along with the Fia, received only silence in reply.

For the moment there was silence, too, on the newsgrids. So far the Polneye tragedy had escaped their attention. Coruscant Global Newsgrid was still dissecting the fallout from the explosive Senate session earlier in the week.

But in its midday refresh, Global added a new item to the feature queue-a speculative report that Princess Leia had already resigned as president. According to the rumor (treated as fact), an announcement would be made as soon as the top military leaders and the Senate agreed on a replacement.

Sitting in his Fleet office, Admiral Ackbar viewed that news with mixed contempt and bemus.e.m.e.nt. Even if Leia had resigned, the idea that the Fleet would have any part in selecting a new Chief of State was absurd.

The idea that any such negotiations would take place without him was equally absurd.

But Ackbar pondered long and hard whether he should pick up his comlink and start a rumor of his own. "We ought to get out in front this time, " he said aloud to himself. "Put Plat Mallar's face and story on the grids. Show everyone what happened on Polneye, and bring them over to Leia's side. That's what I would do. If she could just bring herself to admit that the viceroy never was a friend-" He shook his head. It wasn't time yet. He would watch the news from Farlax, where the Fifth Fleet's prowlers were now all on station outside Koornacht Cl.u.s.ter, sweeping hypers.p.a.ce with their sensitive ripple filters, and the news from the Senate and administrative complex, where every a.n.a.lyst and commentator in Imperial City was on duty, sifting the corridor gossip with their hypersensitive news antennae. And he would wait to see which situation changed first.

Absurd or not, the Global report on Leia's resignation ran through the diplomatic hostel like a virulent infection. It puzzled many, and worried Jobath, who began to fear he had brought his appeal to the wrong ears. That fear carried him, in the company of the seneschal of the Marais, to the office of Chairman Behn-kihl-nahm.

Half an hour later they left the office rea.s.sured that Leia still held executive power for the New Republic and that their pet.i.tions were being acted on with all possible dispatch. The moment they were gone, Behn-kihl-nahm tried one more time to reach Princess Leia. But he had no more success than with any of his many previous attempts that morning.

Behn-kihl-nahm was fast losing patience with her-Leia had closed everyone out at exactly the worst time, when they should be planning their strategy and response together. He disliked having to make tactical decisions unilaterally.

Would Leia approve of his tying the withdrawals of the Walalla and the others up in procedural knots, as he had successfully done that morning? Or would she have preferred he simply let them go? Should he offer Peramis and Hodidiji the appointment to negotiate the return of the bodies? He thought it might give both a way to justify a change of heart, but would they conduct themselves with dignity, or simply become an embarra.s.sment?

Even more than making decisions, Behn-kihl-nahm disliked being caught out uninformed. The business with the Polneye, the pilot in the hospital-why should he have had to hear about' that from a couple of amba.s.sadors-without-portfolio? How had one of them been able to meet with Leia while his calls were still going begging? Was she going to resign? If not, what was she going to do about the pet.i.tions for protection?

When his usual sources were unable to satisfy his curiosity, Behn-kihl-nahm called Hiram Drayson. The machinery of governance was frozen, paralyzed in the face of crises that would only grow worse if not attended to. Did Drayson know what had gotten stuck in its gears?

"I couldn't say, Chairman, " Drayson said.

"You can't say, or you don't know? "

"Chairman, my suggestion to you would be to put up the best pretense you can that everything's under control. And that includes letting whoever wants to huff and puff in the well of the Senate do so to his or her heart's content. "

"Admiral, " said Behn-kihl-nahm gravely, "that advice worries me more than any other development of the last week. "

"Admiral Ackbar. "

The man in the doorway wore casual civilian clothing, but he still had the posture of a soldier in uniform.

"Mr. Drayson. Come in. "

"I'm not here to visit this time. Can you get me in to see Leia? "

"I'm afraid I cannot, " said Ackbar. "My key was deactivated this morning. "

"I have to talk to her, " Drayson said simply. "Do you have any suggestions? "

Ackbar grunted. "I'm a little surprised to learn that the Old Ghost of Coruscant has no secret pa.s.sages or secret pa.s.swords available to him. "

"Getting in isn't the problem, " said Drayson. "Getting listened to is. I'm afraid that none of the means at my disposal would be likely to earn me a reasoned hearing. "

"There are many people who want to talk to her, " said Ackbar. "She does not seem to want to talk to US. "

"I'm afraid I can't permit her the luxury of refusing, " said Drayson.

"She is tired of being pushed and poked at, " said Ackbar. "If we give her some time--"

Drayson shook his head so slightly it was almost imperceptible. "There's no more time, " he said.

Blinking slowly, Ackbar sat back in his chair. "Do you know her husband? "

"Not professionally, " Drayson said. "But his loyalty to her is well known. "

Ackbar nodded thoughtfully. "He was here with me for three hours today, " he said. "He was the one who ordered the prowlers to Koornacht-not General A'baht. "

"Interesting. "

"There is more. He brought the Fifth Fleet back, as she ordered-but only as far as the outer marshaling point, and he kept it at combat readiness, with full crews aboard. He understands the stakes. He may be more sympathetic than you expect. But I cannot promise that she will even listen to him. "

"Thank you, Admiral, " said Drayson. "That's useful. If you'll excuse me-"

"Admiral-"

"Yes? "

"I was wondering-could the viceroy have done this to Leia? All those hours he spent alone with he r-we know so little about the Yevetha, " said Ackbar. "Is it possible that something happened in that room? Is it possible that he has done something to her mind? "

"No, " said Drayson. "No, I can tell you that nothing happened in that room. "

The answer did not seem to please Ackbar.

"Thank you, " he said all the same.

The sounds of splas.h.i.+ng and gleeful childish laughter covered any sounds of footsteps on the walk.

But Leia, with her wariness magnified by powerful feelings of isolation, was aware of Admiral Drayson's approach before he had even emerged from the trees.

Jaina, in turn, quickly sensed her mother's dark mood. "Mommy, who's that? Do you want me to make him go away? "

"No-no, " Leia said with a quick smile, and tousled her daughter's wet, stringy hair. "Jacen, Jaina, take Anakin inside. I want you all dry and dressed when I come in. "

For once the children obeyed without argument.

Leia thought it a telling sign that the stress and chaos of the last weeks, of the last few days, was affecting them as well.

Drayson stopped a polite distance away, hands laced together behind his back. "Princess. "

"You know, if security is supposed to keep unwanted people out, the security around the president's residence leaves a great deal to be desired. "

"Your husband admitted me, Princess Leia. "

"Did he, " she said. "Well, my husband leaves a bit to be desired himself lately. What do you want? "

"Five minutes, " said Drayson. He brought his right hand forward and showed her the datacard he had cradled in the palm. "I think this will be useful to you in regard to the decision you're facing. "

"Which one is that? "

"The only one that matters. "

"Five minutes? "

"And then I'll be gone. "

"All right, " she said with a sigh. "Five minutes. "

The datacard contained a brief recording, timestamped less than two hours earlier. The recording showed a pair of Yevethan thrusts.h.i.+ps unloading on a hilly, brush-covered landscape. The kind and volume of material being unloaded and the shape and size of the clearing being made for it dictated one conclusion-it was the first phase of a colonization landing.

"Where is this? "

"The astrographic office knows it as Doornik-319, " Drayson said. "It's part of a system inside the Koornacht Cl.u.s.ter. The Kubaz who lived there till yesterday called it Morning's Bell. "

"What happened yesterday? "

"The same thing that happened to Polneye, " said Drayson. "And it doesn't stop there. The evidence I've seen suggests that every non-Yevethan settlement in Koornacht received the same sort of treatment. "

"What evidence? Where did you get this recording? "

"I'd rather you not ask me that, Princess. "

"I am asking you. "

Drayson nodded. "Princess, is it absolutely necessary that you know the source for you to credit the evidence? If so, then I'll answer. But if you don't need that knowledge to accept what that recording means, then I'd rather not risk those a.s.sets any more than I already have by revealing what they've discovered. The information is what matters. "

Leia stared at him.

"I think my five minutes are up, " he said, with a little bow. "Thank you for seeing me. "

"Stop! " she said sharply. "Who are you, really? "

Drayson turned and looked back at her. "I do what I do under the authority of an executive order issued by Mon Mothma, " he said. "You'll find it in your personal library files as D9020616. "

"Mon Mothma! She never said a word about this-"

"She found the machinery of the New Republic unwieldy when it came to certain aspects of statecraft--getting information into the right hands, projecting policy into ambiguous situations. I try to address those shortcomings. "

"Who do you answer to? "

**** one at our level does, " Drayson said. "I answer to my conscience and my sense of duty. And yes, if either ever fails us, we can do a great deal of harm-and probably hide most of it, too. But that's all there is, isn't it? Conscience or obedience. Leader or follower. Whose orders do you obey? " He pointed at the datacard. "Who will tell you what to do about that? You see? Conscience and duty. " He bowed again. "Good evening, Princess. "

She let him go.

Turning back to her datapad, Leia watched the recording a second time and then a third. The images were sharp and unambiguous. The design of the s.h.i.+ps was distinctive and incriminating. Yevethan colonists were setting up housekeeping on a world which one day earlier had belonged to the Kubaz.

Leia dug her comlink out of the drawer where she had thrown it the night before and selected a familiar channel. "Han, " she said. "You can stop hiding from me now. Where are you? Please-come talk to me. "

"Murderers, " Han muttered as he watched the recording from Doornik-319. He shook his head disbelievingly. "I've been around enough to see some cold moves pulled, but killing a family one day and moving into their house the next is right up there with anything our old buddy Palpatine ever thought up. "

Leia nodded. "I'm beginning to wonder if the greatest indignity that the Empire subjected the Yevetha to wasn't holding them to a higher standard of behavior, " she said.

"Now, that's a picture, isn't it? The Emperor's stormtroopers setting the example for good manners, " Han said. "Like arming protocol droids with blasters. "