[Black Fleet Crisis(111)

The sounds of splashing 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 thrustships 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 Cluster. 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 assets 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 ships 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. “