“I’m not comfortable with taking a hard-line approach,” said Omas. “And it might not be my decision to make.”
G’Sil gestured over his shoulder to the city beyond the room-width windows. “Take a look out there. We have a trillion people on this world. A few thousand-a tiny percentage-have been hurt directly by terrorism. The rest, though, think it’s about to happen to them, and that’s what we’re dealing with here. Perception. Public confidence.”
Omas raised one eyebrow. “Spin.”
“Reassurance.”
Jacen had seen enough to add G’Sil to his list of allies along with Niathal.
“Fear breeds its own problems,” said Jacen. “We have to limit that.”
There was a moment’s silence. Omas’s shoulders dropped, and his presence in the Force was like a small piece of ice melting into nothing. His reluctance was tangible.
“Mara Skywalker isn’t willing to take on a security role,” he said. “You, however, seem equally able and a great deal more willing to do a thankless task.”
“Define the task,” said Jacen.
“Fill the gap between the army and the Coruscant Security Force.”
“Why are you talking directly to me and bypassing the Jedi council?” Jacen asked. “I’m not even in the military.”
“Because we’re not asking you as a Jedi,” said G’Sil. “We’re asking you as Jacen Solo, and you’ll be a given a commission and a rank. As colonel. I’d bet the council doesn’t want to be tainted by messy stuff like this.”
“They won’t like it.”
“Let’s cut the PR-speak. As a democracy, we’ve never been very adept at running secret police. You know, the kind of shock troops that Vader had when …” G’Sil trailed off. “Sorry, Jacen. No offense.”
“It’s all right.” Jacen meant it. He had come to terms with walking in his grandfather’s footsteps, although he would not follow the entire path. “I’m not ashamed of Anakin Skywalker. And there are positive things I can learn from his example.”
The office was suddenly and totally silent, as if both G’Sil and Omas were holding their breath until Jacen said it was okay to exhale.
“Do we take that as a yes?” G’Sil asked.
Stang, I walk in here a civilian and I’ll leave as a colonel. Jaina won’t like that at all. Jacen swallowed. “I’ll need a security force to deal with it.”
Omas looked to G’Sil and then back at Jacen. “CSF’s Anti-Terrorist Unit is yours to command.”
“No, I need my own team from the military and a few other sources, a team that’s visibly separate from CSF. If civilian police are seen raiding homes and rounding up residents, it’s going to make ordinary policing hard. Politically, it has to be separate-a Galactic Alliance special guard, if you like.”
G’Sil nodded. “I agree. You have to keep the secret police separate from the nice, polite officers who police the street. Sends a message that ordinary law-abiding Coruscanti have nothing to fear, while demonstrating maximum force to the enemy.”
Omas was sitting on the edge of his seat, elbows braced on the desk, one fist clasping the other as he stared down in defocus. “You said rounding up.”
“Internment,” said G’Sil. “And that’s not just spin. Corellians got at the water supply pretty easily. One relatively small bomb shut ten skylanes for half a day. It takes very few people to cause a lot of disruption on a crowded planet like this, and let me remind you that this is also a nervous planet not long recovered from another war. Makes folks paranoid.”
Jacen could see the path ahead of him, the path laid down specifically for him, the inevitability of his destiny that Lumiya had shown him. Events were falling into place, and he was part of them with no option now but to accept his responsibility. “And we need to show any other world that might want to support Corellia that the Galactic Alliance isn’t a pushover,” he said.
Jacen noted the inclusion. Who is this we? I’m not elected. I’m not a member of the Jedi council. I’m not even a Master.
“Internment is going to take a Security and Intelligence Council vote.” Omas seemed resigned but still salving his own conscience by doing things democratically. He gave Jacen an odd look, a faint bemused frown, as if remembering something, and looked a little past him. Then he appeared to focus again. “I’ll need your lobby’s backing.”
“Assume you have it,” said G’Sil.
Jacen was more concerned over whom he would need to carry out the task. His instinct was to seek loyal, dependable foot soldiers. “I’d like to recruit Captain Shevu and a team of his choosing,” he said. He liked Shevu. The captain was uncompromisingly honest and had the feel in the Force of a man who wouldn’t shy away from dirty work. “I’d also like a company of special forces troops. And I need access to Alliance Intelligence data.” Jacen felt for a moment that he was standing outside his own body: How did I slip into this so easily?