Leia sighed. “You have to understand the Mon Calamari ethos, Han. They were never a warlike species at all until the Empire started enslaving them and ravaging their world. Those wonderful Star Cruisers of theirs were originally passenger liners, you know, that we helped them convert into warships. Maybe it’s not so much anger at you for quitting as it is some sort of residual guilt at himself and his people for taking up warfare in the first place.”
“Even if they were forced into it?”
Leia shrugged uncomfortably. “I don’t think anyone ever goes into a war without the nagging feeling that there might have been,some other way. Even when every other way has already been tried and hasn’t worked. I know I felt it when I first joined the Rebellion-and believe me, people like Mon Mothma and Bail Organa had tried everything. For an inherently peaceful race like the Mon Calamari, the feeling must be even worse.
“Well:maybe,” Han conceded grudgingly. “I just wish they’d work it through for themselves and leave the rest of us out of it.
“They are,” Leia assured him. “We’ve just got to give them time.”
He looked down at her. “You haven’t told me yet why you and Chewie left Kashyyyk and came back here.”
Leia squeezed thumb and forefinger together. Eventually, she knew, she would have to tell Han about the deal she’d made with the Noghri commando Khabarakh. But walking down a public corridor of the Imperial Palace wasn’t the place for that kind of discussion. “There didn’t seem any point in staying,” she told him. “There was another attack-“
“There what?”
“Relax, we fought it off” she soothed him. “And I’ve made arrangements that should keep me safe, at least for the next couple of weeks. I’ll tell you about it later, when we’re someplace more secure.
She could feel his eyes boring into her; could sense the suspicion in his mind that there was something she wasn’t telling him. But he recognized as well as she did the danger of speaking secrets out in the open. “All right,” he muttered. “I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
Leia shivered, focusing on the sense of the twins she carried within her. So potentially strong in the : Force and yet so utterly helpless. “So do I,” she whispered.
Chapter 4 JORUS C’BAOTH. HUMAN. BORN IN REITECAS, ON BORTRAS, ON 4\3\112. PRE-EMPIRE DATE.
Luke made a face as he watched the words scroll up the Old Senate Library computer screen. What was it about new regimes, he wondered, that one of their first official acts always seemed to be the creation of a new dating system, which they then went and applied to all existing historical records? The Galactic Empire had done that, as had the Old Republic before it. He could only hope that the New Republic wouldn’t follow suit. History was hard enough to keep track of as it was. ATTENDED MIRNIC UNIVERSITY 6\4\95 TO 4\32\90 PE. ATTENDED JEDI TRAINING CENTER ON KAMPARAS 2\15\90 TO 8\33\8 PE. PRIVATE JEDI TRAINING BEGUN 9\88 PE; INSTRUCTOR UNKNOWN. GRANTED TITLE OF JEDI KNIGHT 3\6\86 PE. OFFICIALLY ASSUMED TITLE OF JEDI MASTER 4\3\74 PE. SUMMARY ENDS FURTHER DETAILS OF SCHOOLING AND TRAINING?
“No,” Luke said, frowning. C’baoth had assumed the title of Jedi Master? He’d always been under the impression that that title, like the rank of Jedi Knight itself, was something that was granted by the rest of the Jedi community and not simply self-proclaimed. “Give me the highlights of his record as a Jedi.” MEMBER OF ANDO DEMILITARIZATION OBSERVATION GROUP 8\82 TO 7\81 PE. MEMBER OF SENATE INTERSPECIES ADVISORY COMMITTEE 9\81 TO 6\79 PE. PERSONAL JEDI ADVISER TO SENATOR PALPATINE 6\79 TO’s\77-
“Stop,” Luke ordered, a sudden shiver running up his back. Jedi adviser to Senator Palpatine? “Detail C’baoth’s service to Senator Palpatine.”
The computer seemed to consider the request. UNAVAILABLE, the answer came at last.
“Unavailable, or just classified?” Luke countered.
UNAVAILABLE, the computer repeated.
Luke grimaced. But there was little he could do about it for the moment. “Continue.” MEMBER OF JEDI FORCE ASSEMBLED TO OPPOSE THE DARK JEDI INSURRECTION ON BPFASSH 7\77 TO 1\74 PE. ASSISTED IN RESOLVING ALDERAAN ASCENDANCY CONTENTION 11\7O PE. ASSISTED JEDI MASTER TRA’S M’INS IN MEDIATION OF DUINUOGWUIN-GOTAL CONFLICT l\68 TO 4\66 PE. NAMED AMBASSADOR AT LARGE TO XAPPYH SECTOR 8\21\62 PE BY SENATE. HIGHLY INSTRUMENTAL IN CONVINCING SENATE TO AUTHORIZE AND FUND OUTBOUND FLIGHT PROJECT. ONE OF SIX JEDI MASTERS ATTACHED TO PROJECT 7\7\65 PE. NO RECORD EXISTS AFTER PROJECT DEPARTURE FROM YAGA MINOR, 4\1\64. HIGHLIGHTS SUMMARY ENDS. FURTHER INFORMATION?