[Legacy Of The Force] - 08(95)
But what do you do with a Sith? What do you do to restrain a man who has powers like Luke Skywalker, but no rules, no moral limits? It was hard to see him as simply someone who believed in benign dictatorship but whose law-and-order policy sometimes got out of hand. His otherness disturbed her. She could barely remember Palpatine’s reign, just his image everywhere, and Vader at parades on the holonews-occasionally. But she hadn’t known they were Sith. She didn’t even know then that Jedi existed. When she studied history at school, she learned about the Sith-Jedi wars by rote, but now that she could actually put it in a personal context of individuals she worked with, it had taken on a whole new meaning. She was a little alarmed by both sides. The mind influence was the most corrosive realization she’d had; how much of what she’d done was purely of her own volition? Luke could even deceive Jacen into fighting a fleet that wasn’t there.
No excuses. You knew what that leak to Luke would do. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t examine every urge you get to see if it’s really your own.
“Ma’am, Admiral Pellaeon for you.” The signals officer patched through the comm. “Visual, too.” “Gil, you missed the warm-up act, “she said. Pellaeon filled the holoscreen, all immaculately trimmed white mustache and charcoal-gray tunic. She saw the positive reaction of the crew; he exuded reliability. “So I hear, Cha. It’s all rather quiet down there, isn’t it?” “I won’t say it…”
“If they have a surprise for us, we might have to find one for them.”
“Have you had a chance to peruse my new battle plan?” “I have, “Pellaeon said. “Will it survive contact with Colonel Solo?”
Pellaeon could always lighten the mood if he put his mind to it. “Shall we see if he’s recovered sufficiently to meet us?” Niathal asked.
“Your flagship, or mine? Or even his?” “I’ll tell him Bloodfin. He wants to keep you happy.” “Half an hour. I’m very conscious of the lack of even a Fondorian patrol.”
A great deal was said in front of the more junior ranks, and in most cases it wasn’t politic to hint at disagreement with other commanders, but Niathal was putting distance between herself and Jacen, and she needed them to know it. If Luke had warned her that he was going to attempt a snatch, she might even have been able to help him, but he seemed reluctant to involve her. She wondered when he might next reappear. If he didn’t, she would have to go ahead with a hasty plan that had crystallized on the in-bound jump. She would relieve Jacen of command, and order the Anakin back to base; the exact timing would de-pend on the progress of the operation, but it would be be-fore the withdrawal to Coruscant. With Pellaeon, she had enough firepower to enforce it if she had to. A third of the ship’s commanders in her task force were likely to support her, and few of the others would actively oppose her.
It was still a major risk in the middle of a war, but waiting until the war was over wasn’t an option.
Tahiri Veila now appeared to be the gatekeeper for comms to Jacen, at least when he was off the bridge. “Lieutenant, is Colonel Solo well enough to transfer to Bloodfin for a senior staff session at twenty-two hundred?”
“He’s well, Admiral.” Tahiri paused and the link went quiet as if she was consulting him. “We’ll be there.”
We. She’d fallen into a flag lieutenant role, then. The more scurrilous members of the crew assumed she was a new romantic interest, but Niathal had watched the dynamics of how Jacen behaved with Ben Skywalker, and it was much more a relationship of gang boss and junior henchman. Tahiri would be his fixer, messenger, and possibly even spy. Possibly? Definitely. Jacen knew how to lead troops instinctively, but his true calling was political gamesmaster.
“What’s the estimate on the StealthX?” Niathal asked. “We’re a little short of them until Incom deliver. You might have to slum it with X-wings.”
“Operational in forty-eight hours. The workshop’s re-mounting cannons now.”
“Cannibalizing, no doubt. Are you going to be flying combat?”
“No, I have orders to liaise with the Imperial Remnant.”
Ah, spy. I was right. “Later, then, Lieutenant.”
Niathal would have consulted Jacen on contact with the Fondorian President-Shas Vadde-but time was short, and that was the excuse she would give him. She kept an eye on the chrono while contact was made with Vadde’s office, realizing for the first time that being Supreme Commander as well as joint Chief of State was an awkward mix when making diplomatic contact. Being asked to rejoin the GA could never be called exploratory talks when the request came from the senior commander of a task force on war footing.