The question took Leia completely by surprise. “What do you mean?” she asked, trying to stall for time.
“You know what I mean,” Dx’ono snarled. “Tell us where you stand, Councilor Organa Solo. Do you believe that full reparations and justice should be demanded of the Bothans? Or do you, like the Diamalan Senator, prefer to allow their horrific crime to go unpunished? Perhaps even enough to create a situation that would force this chamber to that decision?”
“We know where she stands,” another angry voice called out. “Did not her bondedmate Han Solo fire on a peaceable protest at the Clans Building on Bothawui?”
“That has not been proved, Senator Shibatthi,” Gavrisom broke in sternly, coming to Leia’s rescue. “And your accusations are likewise uncalled for, Senator Dx’ono. As I’ve already said, this is not the time nor the place for yet another debate on the Caamas issue. Both of you be seated, please.”
But the damage had already been done, Leia realized as she sat down again. In a single masterful stroke, Dx’ono bad not only cast serious doubt on Miatamia’s story but also managed to undermine her own credibility as well. From now on, any attempt she made to defend either Lando or the Diamalan Senator would merely feed into the suspicions he had just planted.
Infighting, suspicions, divisiveness. Yes, it was indeed Thrawn’s style.
“This seems a good time to move on to the Admiralty’s report on the overall military situation in the New Republic,” Gavrisom continued. “Admiral Drayson?”
The admiral stepped to the podium beside Gavrisom; and as be did, a discreet flicker of light caught Leia’s eye. The small green comm indicator on her chair arm was flashing.
“She frowned, throwing a surreptitious glance around the chamber. No one but her family and closest aides were supposed to have this comm frequency, and they all had strict instructions that it was to be used only in an emergency. But in that case they were also supposed to key the indicator to a three-flash pattern, and at the moment it was merely blinking steadily.
Stifling a flash of annoyance, she activated her chair’s privacy field. Drayson’s voice dropped to a tenth of its normal volume as she swiveled the comm display up from its storage position along the side of her armrest. If this was Anakin asking if he could open a new package of cookies, she promised herself darkly as she touched the switch, he was going to be grounded for a week. “Leia Organa Solo.”
But it wasn’t Anakin. “Hello, Leia,” Talon Karrde said, nodding politely. “I hope I’m not calling at too inconvenient a moment.”
Reflexively, Leia pulled the display as close to her as she could. Of all the awkward times for him to call&mdash
“As a matter of fact, it is inconvenient,” she told him shortly. “I’m in the middle of a Senate meeting.”
“Then I’ll make it short,” he said, his eyes narrowing slightly. He was too smart, and knew her too well, not to know there was more to it than just that. “I have a personal message to deliver to you, one which I’d rather not put on even an encrypted channel. Unfortunately, one of the line directors at Coruscant Space Control feels that I shouldn’t be permitted to land.”
Leia frowned, Dx’ono’s accusations echoing through her mind. But how could word have gotten out so fast? “Do you have his name?”
“Just his bureaucratic operating number: KTR-44875,” Karrde said. “He wouldn’t even give me that, incidentally; I had to pull it off his ID plate. He’s an Ishori, if that helps any.”
Leia grimaced. That explained how the word had gotten out so fast. “It does,” she told Karrde. “The Ishori Senator has just finished accusing you and Lando of conspiring with the Diamala to get the Bothans off the hook on the Caamas matter. He tried to rope me in on it, too, just for good measure.”
“I see,” Karrde said, pursing his lips. “And so of course here I am, calling on you for help. My apologies for the bad timing.”
“It’s not your fault,” Leia said, glaring over the top of the display at the chamber and its hundreds of human and alien faces staring down in her direction. She was not going to let them dictate who her friends and associates could be. “You tell this Ishori line director that I’m giving you permission to land-I’ll transmit the order as soon as you’re off the comm. You’re in the Wild Karrde?”
“Yes,” Karrde said. “But I could come down in a shuttle if you think that would be more politic.”
Leia snorted. “Ruffled feelings are the least of my worries at the moment. Do you know where the West Championne landing field is? It’s about two hundred kilometers south of the Imperial Palace, near the Manarai Mountains.”