[Hand Of Thrawn] - 01(150)
“He doesn’t have to,” Leia told him. “The Diamala and Mon Calamari have announced they’re sending ships to defend Bothawui against any further aggression.”
Han whistled under his breath. “You’re kidding. What kind of ships?” &mdash
“Big ones,” Leia said. “Star Cruisers from the Mon Cals, some Nebula and Endurance-class warships from the Diamala. They say they’re protecting the rights of the innocent. Others are saying they’re just the latest victims of Bothan manipulation.”
“That would be my vote,” Han said. “Has Bel Iblis proved yet the Bothans were behind that phony Di’tai’ni mediation request?”
“No actual proof, but he personally has no doubts the whole thing was a ruse to keep him and the task force within easy striking distance of Bothawui,” Leia said, grimacing. “Between that and the Leresai sabotage of Rogue Squadron’s lasers-“
“What, they’ve admitted it?”
“Not only admitted it, they were proud of it,” Leia said. “They consider it the height of honor to keep outsiders from getting hurt in one of their quarrels.”
Han snorted. “I’ll bet Wedge was real pleased about that.”
“He and Garm are about ready to spit blaster bolts,” Leia said. “Garm told Gavrisom flat-out that the New Republic is not going to play the lowest piece in anyone else’s political games.”
“That sounds like a direct quote,” Han said. “Here, turn around a little.” Pulling his arm from behind her neck, he started massaging her shoulders.
“It was,” Leia said, feeling her taut muscles softening reluctantly under the pressure of Han’s fingertips. “That feels good.”
“Good-it’s supposed to,” Han said with a touch of forced humor. “You know, messing with someone like Bel Iblis wasn’t a smart thing for the Bothans to do.”
“I’m sure they know that,” Leia agreed. “It shows how desperate they’re getting.”
She sensed the sideways movement as Han shook his bead. “This is crazy, Leia. Don’t any of them even care that Thrawn’s back?”
“Of course not,” Leia said. “Half of them don’t believe a word of it-they think the Diamala cooked the whole thing up to scare everyone into letting the Bothans off the hook, The other half concede it may be true, but don’t see any way the Empire could possibly be a threat to them anymore.”
“Then they’re all fools,” Han growled. “Thrawn’s got something up his sleeve. I’ll bet the Falcon he does.”
“I agree,” Leia said with a sigh. “On the other hand, at this point he almost doesn’t have to do anything at all. The New Republic’s rapidly degenerating into a hundred different armed camps, all polarized around the Caamas issue.”
“Can’t the Caamasi do anything to stop it?” Han asked. “They can’t want this.”
“Of course they don’t,” Leia said. “But you have to understand that Caamas has become more an excuse than it is a genuine issue. Everyone says they have the interests of Caamas and justice at heart, but a lot of them are just using that as a battle cry while they settle old scores.”
“Yeah,” Han said sourly. “So what do we do?”
“Only one thing we can do,” Leia said. “We have to take the excuse away from them; and that means getting the names of the actual Bothans that were involved and putting them on trial.”
There was a subtle change in Han’s emotions. “Yeah,” he said. “Well … Karrde’s trying.”
Leia frowned. “Did you speak to him today? I thought he’d already left Coruscant.”
“Far as I know he has,” Han said. “No, I just put out the word with a few smuggling people I know that I want to talk to Mazzic.”
“What about?”
“I just wanted to find out whether this Shada D’ukal really worked for him,” Han told her. “And why exactly she left.”
Leia smiled. “You wouldn’t be worried about Karrde, would you?”
“No,” Han protested. “Course not. He can take care of himself.”
“It’s all right, dear,” she soothed him, patting his leg again. “I like him, too.”
“I don’t exactly like him,” Han said, still protesting. “I mean, he can be a real pain in the neck sometimes.”
“So could you, dear,” Leia reminded him. “Still can, for that matter. You know, I sometimes think Karrde is sort of what you would have been if you hadn’t joined the Rebellion.”