The Black Fleet Crisis_ Before The Storm Part 32

Chapter 15.

The first early-morning rays from Coruscant's sun were throwing long shadows down the east-west streets of Imperial City when Admiral Ackbar reached the family entrance to the presidential residence.

"Good morning, " said the security droid. "This entrance is closed. The family is not receiving visitors at this time. Please come back another time, or call the scheduling center for further information. "

Ackbar c.o.c.ked his head and blinked in surprise. "I am Admiral Ackbar. "

"Good morning, Admiral Ackbar. This entrance is closed. Please move back to the sidewalk. "

"It's all right, " Ackbar said. "I have a key. " He squeezed his eyes shut while he concentrated. "Aleph-lamed-zayin-s.h.i.+n. Yes, I think that's it. "

"Good morning, Admiral Ackbar, " the droid said. "You may enter. "

The grounds were quiet, except for the tiny cowlpups grazing on the lawns. When Ackbar pa.s.sed too close to one, it growled at him with a ferociousness all out of proportion to its size.

"Go back to your breakfast, " Ackbar said, amused. "I'm not here for you. "

None of the early rays reached the well-shaded main house, and there were no lights on inside, except in the kitchen, where a butler droid was completing its nightly maintenance. There was no sound from the direction of the children's rooms, which was a relief-he was not ready to deal with their eager energy. Ackbar supposed that, with Han's return, the whole family had been up late.

Sleep in as long as you like, children, he thought with a melancholy tenderness. Sleep in while you can.

Ackbar followed memory and the floorboard glow strips through the darkened halls to Leia and Han's bedroom. Out of consideration for the children, the door was closed but not secured. He hoped his friends were not busy mating.

"Open, " Ackbar told the housecomm. "Lights. "

When the bedroom was suddenly flooded with light, Han reflexively spun over on his back and sat bolt upright. Squinting, he sighed away the rush of adrenaline when he recognized Ackbar. "You, " Han said gruffly. "It's a lucky thing for you I don't sleep with a blaster anymore. "

"Not luck, " the Calamari said. "You told me, after the time you and Jaina scared each other half to death. "

Han's sudden movements had shaken the bed enough to bring Leia up from her deeper sleep. Now she rose on her elbows.

"Admiral Ackbar, " she said, a quizzical expression on her face. "When I invited you to come talk me out of resigning, I thought you might at least wait until I was awake. "

"Good morning, Princess. "

"Don't try to disarm me with politeness, " Leia said. "What are you doing here at this hour? "

"Getting you out of bed, " Ackbar said. "I'll wait outside while you get dressed. "

"Oh, you will? Then what? "

"Then there's somewhere we have to go. I have a speeder waiting. "

"Slow down a second. I'm not on call, " said Leia. "Not for state business. Especially not at this hour-what time is it, anyway? " She glanced sideways at the bedroom chrono. "Oh, heaven-I'm sorry I looked. "

"I understand how you feel, " said Ackbar. "I would rather have stayed in the water myself. Still, there's somewhere we have to go. "

"Why don't you tell me a little more and let me make that decision? "

"I'm afraid I can't do that, " said Ackbar, holding out her robe. "Your head isn't clear yet. You'll have to trust me-if you do trust me. "

Leia frowned as she studied him. Finally she sat up and took the robe from his hand.

"Thank you, Princess. " His gaze moved to Han.

"General Solo, I think you should come, too. "

"What is this, divide and conquer? "

"Please. This involves you as well. "

"Let me find my pants, " Han said resignedly.

"Leia, tell me again why we gave the fishhead a key to the front door-" Leia peered through the viewpane of the Fleet infirmary's Intensive Care Unit Number 5 at the pale-faced young man who had just been transferred from a medical coc.o.o.n to the bacta tank. A Fleet doctor and two MD-7 medical droids hovered over the biomonitors.

"Who is he? "

"He is Grannan by stock, Polneye by allegiance, " Ackbar said. "His name is Plat Mallar. He's suffering from severe metabolic disruption due to breathing his own wastes. He may not live. I thought you should see him now, just in case. "

"Why? " asked Leia. "I'm sorry for him, of course, but... " She left the sentence unfinished.

"Polneye? I never heard of it, " Han said. "What happened to him? "

"According to the prowler that found him, he was trying to make an interstellar run in a TIE interceptor-"

"Why would anyone do a fool thing like that? " Han asked dismissively. "It's suicide. "

"Or self-sacrifice, " said Ackbar. "Sometimes they are hard to tell apart. "

"What are you talking about? "

"It appears that Plat Mallar was trying to get a message out of Koornacht Cl.u.s.ter-apparently the only way he could. "

Leia's eyes flashed. "What message? "

"I will show you, " Ackbar said. "But let us stay here awhile longer. I do not know why it is, but the Fleet casualty officer tells me that patients with family and friends to wish them health are strengthened by it. And I am afraid this young pilot needs every edge right now. "

In the privacy of Admiral Ackbar's offices at Fleet Headquarters, in grim silence, Han and Leia watched the holo-recordings taken from Plat Mallar's TIE interceptor.

It was unsettling to see the familiar, forbidding shapes of wars.h.i.+ps once again at the business of dealing out destruction, and profoundly dismaying to see the cities of Polneye reduced to smoking scorch marks on the planer's barren plains. But Mallar's deathly ill face gave the greatest power to his words.

"-Please help us. Please-if any are still alive-try to save them. Whoever sees this-you must find these monsters and punish them. It's wrong. It's terribly wrong. I beg-I beg for justice for the dead. For my parents. For my friends. For me. "

When it was over, Leia pushed back from the table without a word, turning her back on Han and the admiral. Hugging herself, she stood before the galactic holomap that covered nearly one whole wall of Ackbar's office, staring up into it with haunted eyes.

"Did you orchestrate all this to humiliate me, Ackbar? " she said finally, still facing the map.

"No, Leia, " Ackbar protested, surprised. "I do not understand. "

"That makes two of us, " Han said, standing.

"What are you talking about, hon? This doesn't have anything to do with you. "

She whirled around to face them. "Doesn't it? Look at him-he's just sitting there waiting for me to draw the same conclusion he has. If you wanted to convince me to resign, Admiral, you couldn't have picked any better way. "

"I'm missing something here, " Han said, looking to Ackbar for help.

"Princess, you are wrong, " said Ackbar. "You could not be more wrong. You are the Chief of State of the New Republic. I would not have anyone else sit in that chair. We need your strength and dedication-and more now than we did yesterday, to answer this challenge. "

Ackbar's praise deflected off Leia's defensiveness, leaving her untouched. "Whose s.h.i.+ps were those? " she asked, pointing at the monitor.

"You know as well as I."

"Imperial design. Imperial fighters. What does that prove? "

"Plat Mallar got close enough to the first s.h.i.+p to interrogate it with his targeting system. It answered as the Imperial Star DestroyerValorous. "

"Are you arguing with me? "

"Valorouswas one of the Black Sword s.h.i.+ps on Nylykerka's list. "

"I know that, " she said. "And if it was at Polneye under Yevethan command, then you're looking at the biggest fool in the whole Republic. But we don't know that, do we? "

"Does it matter? "

"Isn't that why you brought me in here? Your subtle way of telling me I was wrong? "

Ackbar shook his head slowly. "I thought that before you made your decision about giving up your work, you needed to know that there's still more for us to do. Whoever sent those s.h.i.+ps to Polneye is the enemy of the peace you've tried so hard to build. "

"Isn't there something in the apocrypha about wisdom beginning with knowing your limitations? Peace was a goal, not a guarantee. Besides-I was naive. Which would make a fine summation of my short career, " she added acerbically.

"Admiral Ackbar's right, " Han said, shaking his head. "All this other stuff who burned the toast, who borrowed whose s.h.i.+rt, who left the light on-none of that matters. What matters is, what are we going to do now? "

"What can I do? " Leia asked plaintively. "Nothing. Polneye wasn't a member of the New Republic. They weren't even applicants. "

"You're talking about obligations, " said Han. "I'm talking about the right thing to do. "

"But that's the trick, isn't it? You can't get three people to agree on the right thing to do, " Leia said. "Peace is impossible. No matter what, it seems like there's always someone who wants to kill someone else. You can't give them enough reasons not to. At least, I can't. "

"Leia-"

"I'm sorry about the Polneye, I truly am. But it's too late to help them. Besides, if I were to send forces anywhere near Koornacht, I wouldn't have to resign-the Senate would hang me first and impeach me later. "

Leia shook her head. "I hope Mallar lives-though I'm not sure that's not being cruel, if it turns out he's the only survivor. Who else knows about him? Who else has seen the recording? "

"A very short list, " Ackbar said.

"See that it stays that way, " she said, and moved toward the door. "I'm going home, Han. Are you coming? "

Han was looking at her as though she were a stranger. "I think I'll stay awhile, " he said.

Leia shrugged. "Suit yourself. "

As soon as the door closed behind her, Han c.o.c.ked his head to one side and shot Ackbar a quizzical look. "I have just one question-who was that person, and what have you done with Leia? "

"She is hurting, " said Ackbar. "She is questioning herself, and her ideals. "

"Tell me something I don't know, " Han said. "What in the world happened while I was away? "

"I will tell you what I can, " said Ackbar. "But I am afraid some of the answers will have to come from her. "

A stranger was sitting cross-legged in the street outside the family entrance, facing the house, when Leia reached it in a borrowed Fleet skimmer. He was dressed in a long robe the color of saffron, which spilled out around him in a circle on the pavement. She recognized neither his profile nor his species, and slowed only so that she could hop the fence at a speed that wouldn't alarm the house defenses.

But after she had disembarked and sent the speeder heading back, curiosity got the better of her.

She walked out to the fence and, with the security droid hovering protectively nearby, called out to him.

"You-who are you? "

"Jobath, the councillor of the Fia, of Galantos, " he said, and then his face brightened. "But I know you. You are Princess Leia, the warrior queen who rallied the oppressed to rise up against the Emperor. You saved my people from slavery. "

"Well-you're welcome. But that was a long time ago, " she said. "And I don't know whose version of history you've been listening to, anyway. I don't remember ever being a queen or a warrior. "

"Oh, yes, I know all the stories. You are a great woman. It is an honor to meet you. "

"What are you doing out there? "

"I am waiting for you, " the Fian said. "Your metal servant said that you were not receiving visitors, but my need is urgent. And now I see you have re turned. May I rise and approach without alarming your loyal protector? "

"What? Oh, the droid. No, he doesn't like people loitering around the entrances. What was your name again? "

"Jobath, of the Fia. "

"Did we have an appointment, Jobath of the Fia? "

"No, Princess. "

"All right. I was afraid for a moment I'd forgotten, " she said. "Here's the way it is, Jobath of the Fia-I intend to go inside and sleep for about three days. If I'm still president when I get up, you can make an appointment with the scheduling center, in the protocol office. " She turned away from the fence and started toward the house.

"Princess! Please, wait! I've come about what's happening in The Mult.i.tude. You must talk to me now! "

"Must I? " said Leia, looking back. "The Mult.i.tude-what's that? "

"The Great Mult.i.tude of the Circle of the Heavens, " Jobath said earnestly. "There is another name, an ugly name-"

"Are you talking about Koornacht? "