“And perhaps ours should end here,” Kyp said. He sat at Leia’s left, looking across to where Luke sat at one tip of the conference table’s largest inlaid stars. “Jedi don’t answer to politicians.”
“What?” This from Corran, who sat on the other side of Kyp. “Then who do we answer to? Ourselves?”
“Of course,” Jacen replied calmly. “Who else can we trust to wield our power? We must follow our own consciences.”
“That’s very arrogant,” Kenth Hamner said. He placed his hands on the table and leaned forward, looking Jacen directly in the eye. “It concerns me to hear any Jedi say such a thing… but you, Jacen?”
“It is sound public policy to place powerful factions like the Jedi under the control of a civil authority.” Leia kept her voice reasonable and conciliatory. Whether Jacen knew it or not, he was digging at an old wound among the Masters, and she did not want the meeting to descend into another of the shouting matches that Luke had described over the Jedi’s proper relationship to the government. “Even in those with the best of intentions, power corrupts.”
“And so we place the burden of remaining pure on lesser shoulders?” Jacen pressed. “Mother, you’ve watched two governments collapse under the weight of their own corruption and inefficiency, and the third is sagging. Do you really believe Jedi should be the tools of such frail institutions?”
Leia was at a loss to respond. Jacen’s question was almost rhetorical. He had been there when she declared that she was done with politics forever, and he knew better than anyone - probably
even
Han-how disheartened she had been by the ineptitude of the New Republic government. In truth, she almost agreed with what he was saying… and probably would have done so openly, had she known of a better way to run a galactic republic.
When Leia failed to answer, Jacen turned to Omas, who was flushing in speechless anger, and said, “I’m sorry if this offends you-“
“It offends me,” Corran said. “The Jedi exist to serve the Galactic Alliance.”
“Our duty is to the Force.” Kyp’s voice was calmer than Corran’s, but harder. “Our only duty.”
Kenth Hamner held his hand out toward Kyp, fingers forward in a conciliatory fashion. “I think what Corran is saying is that it’s our duty to serve the Galactic Alliance, because serving the Alliance serves the Force.”
“That so?” Han asked. He usually avoided ethics debates like the black holes they were, but this time even he could not restrain himself. “Because Corran made it pretty clear he thought the Jedi were just a bunch of Reconstruction Authority cops who ought to take their orders from Chief Omas like everyone else.”
He winked at Jacen-which was exactly the wrong thing to do at that moment.
Corran glared blaster bolts at Han. “I think we are answerable to Galactic Alliance authority, yes.”
“Even if it means war in another part of the galaxy?” Mara retorted. “Because Jacen’s right about this. The Force extends beyond the Galactic Alliance-and so does our responsibility.”
“Then let the rest of the galaxy pay your bills,” Omas snapped. “Until that happens, I expect the Jedi to put Galactic Alliance interests first.”
A sudden silence fell over the conference table, with Corran and Kenth casting accusatory glances at Kyp and Mara, and Kyp and Mara studying Omas with knowing sneers.
After a moment, Luke said, “When the Alliance offered its support, it was with the explicit understanding that there were no conditions.”
“In an ideal galaxy, that would still be true,” Omas said. He met Luke’s gaze without flinching-and with no regret or embarrassment for breaking his pledge. “But Galactic Alliance finances are stretched thin as it is. If we must suddenly replace the Chiss security patrols, the only way to afford the cost would be to slash the Jedi budget.”
Kyp planted his elbows on a wedge of black tabletop and ran his gaze around the circle of Masters. “Well, at least the question is out in the open now. Are we mercenaries, or are we Jedi?”
Corran’s eyes bulged, and the debate deteriorated into an open quarrel, with Corran and Kenth still arguing fiercely that the order’s first obligation was to the Galactic Alliance, and Kyp and Mara stubbornly contending that Jedi should strive to bring justice and peace wherever the Force summoned them. Cringing at what the Ithorians must think of such a contentious display, Leia glanced over at the foyer area and found them standing there in polite silence, as overlooked and forgotten by the Jedi as they had been by the Galactic Alliance government for the last five years… and that was when a terrible thought struck her.