The Emperor's Plague

2

The New Republic Senate chambers were full to overflowing. Jaina looked uncertainly through the door into the immense, crowded room and then back at her mother.

The Chief of State shrugged.

“We had a vote coming up on several major issues, so I requested full attendance today. I haven’t seen some of those senators and delegates in months.”

Tenel Ka said, “Perhaps they heard of our intention to discuss the Diversity Alliance.”

“More than likely,” Leia admitted. “I know you all understand how much is at stake here.”

“If you want, I could loosen up the crowd with a joke.”

Jacen waggled his eyebrows. Leia turned toward him with a startled look, but Jacen held up his hands in a placating gesture.

“Hey, I was just kidding!”

Beside him, Lowie and his sister Sirra both rumbled deep in their Wookiee throats.

“Okay—bad timing, I admit,” Jacen said. “It’s just that we all seem so tight and edgy.”

“You’re right,” Jaina said, drawing a slow deep breath and letting the Force flow through her. A wave of calm clarity washed the worry from her mind. Around her, the other companions also used Jedi relaxation techniques, with varying degrees of success. Her father and Chewbacca, along with her uncle Luke, the Jedi historian Tionne, and Kur, the Twi’lek politician rescued from exile on Ryloth, had already taken their seats toward the front of the Senate chambers.

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Jaina asked.

Much later, an hour after they had finished telling of their adventures and delivered their alarming news, it still wasn’t over. Jaina grew defensive as yet another representative stood up to take the floor. She could sense her brother’s bafflement at the response with which the Senate had greeted their announcement. Tenel Ka, as usual, was stolid and alert, probably scanning the crowd for any signs of trouble. Only Chief of State Leia Organa Solo seemed perfectly calm, as if she had expected the reactions of the senators and delegates. She looked around the room with a practiced ease, seeing everything, listening to everyone, gauging the reactions of her audience.

Jaina bit her lower lip, willing herself to be more like her mother, ordering herself to listen with an open mind to the squeaking Chadra Fan senator.

“And so, it is not the members of the Diversity Alliance who should be censured—rather, these willful human children need to be taught respect for legal governments,” Senator Trubor concluded, triumphantly swiveling his triangular batlike ears.

Alarmed, Jaina looked over at Luke Skywalker, hoping the Jedi Master would react to these accusations. But already it seemed as if too many humans had spoken out. Luke met Jaina’s gaze, giving her his silent support.

Without comment, Leia nodded and announced the name of the next speaker.

“Senator J’mesk Iman.”

The small cherub-faced Tamran steepled his fingers at chest level and bowed slightly. J’mesk Iman’s expressive brows rose as he spoke. “Forgive me if I have misunderstood the situation, but it is not the habit of the New Republic to meddle in the affairs of local governments, is it?” J’mesk Iman spread his hands in a traditional gesture his people used when offering peace. “Perhaps this could all be viewed as a cultural misunderstanding. From an objective point of view, what these young Jedi did might be described as well-intentioned but ill-advised. There should be no need to consider it an act of outright espionage.”

Jaina shifted uncomfortably at the ambassador’s benign condemnation. Her brother flinched, and she sensed rather than heard a growl forming deep in Lowie’s throat. The black streak of fur over his eye bristled.

“Since the children’s arrival was neither announced nor authorized—since it was, in fact, covert,” Iman continued, “the government of Ryloth had ample reason to view it as an act of aggression.”

“But we explained what we were doing there,” Jacen objected. “The Diversity Alliance was holding Lowie against his will. And they still threw us into their spice mines.”

Iman fixed them all with a serious look and cocked his head to one side. When he answered, though, his voice was not unkind. “Yet had any of you requested their government’s permission to enter its headquarters?”

“No,” Jaina answered truthfully. “But we never intended any harm. We just wanted to get our friend back.”

“Even so, since your mission was not a diplomatic one, and not sanctioned by any government, you placed yourselves under the jurisdiction of local laws by trespassing as you did. I do not believe even the New Republic could allow such an intrusion without punishing the perpetrators. It is only natural that any government should want to deter others from doing what you did.”

Jaina bit her lower lip. She knew there was no way to refute the ambassador’s logic…

“But what about the spice mines?” Raynar asked. “We were taken prisoner, turned into slaves.”

“Very well, then. How long did you spend in the spice mines?” Iman asked.

Jaina answered, “We didn’t have chronometers with us.”

“Very well, a few days, then? A harsh punishment perhaps for highborn youngsters such as yourselves, but not outside the realm of reason. Were you denied food or water or sleep?”

Jaina grimaced at the memory of the fungus they had been expected to eat and the foul-tasting water they had been offered, but she shook her head. Raynar took a sudden interest in studying the floor near his feet and said nothing.

“But they never released us,” Jaina pointed out. “Lowie had to help us escape.”

The ambassador steepled his fingers at his chin and smiled. “And yet here you all are, alive and well. So allow me to summarize. You broke into the headquarters of a well-respected political movement. The legal planetary government sentenced you to a short term of unpleasant yet not unjustifiable punishment-long enough for you to learn a valuable lesson, we can hope. Then, before you had served your complete term, your friends, who at the time were working for the Diversity Alliance”—at this, Iman’s brows rose expressively—“released you from captivity and assisted you in departing from Ryloth without further punishment. And during all that time, the only true injuries you sustained were as a result of the ill-advised paths you chose when leaving.”

Jaina drew in a deep breath and held it for a long moment before releasing it. It wasn’t fair when the story was presented that way. At this point Lowie spoke up in a series of rumbles, barks, and growls. Em Teedee made a throat-clearing sound to be sure he had the attention of the entire assembly and then provided a translation.

“Master Lowbacca does not choose to dispute your interpretation of the events surrounding his associates’ arrival and departure from Ryloth. He does, however, wish to clarify two facts. First: the current government on Ryloth does not necessarily represent the Twi’lek people”—at this point, the overthrown leader Kur stepped forward and nodded his confirmation—“And second: during the time they were held by the Diversity Alliance, Master Lowbacca, his sister Mistress Sirrakuk, and the centaur girl Mistress Lusa all noted a distinct antihuman sentiment that had the potential for expressing itself with some violence.”

A salmon-colored Mon Calamarian female with glossy blue-silver robes approached the floor, her large round eyes swiveling to study the audience. J’mesk Iman yielded his position, and Leia announced the new speaker with a sense of relief.

“Ambassador Cilghal, please speak.”

Cilghal, one of Luke Skywalker’s first Jedi students, nodded to Leia and stood tall.

“I do not believe any government is sacred. It may well be, as my colleague has said, that nothing more happened on Ryloth than a juvenile infraction of local laws and the punishment of that infraction.”

A murmur of approval ran through the Senate.

“However,” she continued, “if the government of Ryloth and the Diversity Alliance are peaceful and do no more than work in the interests of their members, then they should have no objection to a visit by diplomatic inspectors. This would, of course, be prearranged and approved through appropriate channels with their government. Some of the charges against the Diversity Alliance are indeed troubling and warrant our attention. Therefore, I propose a simple fact-finding mission. The delegation should consist of a representative mixture of species and include a few members familiar with the government of Ryloth”—Cilghal nodded to the Twi’lek Kur—“and the Diversity Alliance.”

Here she gestured with a broad flipper—hand toward the Wookiees and Lusa.

“If we find no evidence of wrongdoing, as some of my colleagues expect, then this inspection will be the simplest method of putting the matter to rest.”

From the corner of her eye Jaina saw her mother relax considerably. Taking a cue from her, Jaina ordered her muscles to unknot themselves. The Chadra Fan senator Trubor approached the floor again, but from the small smile of triumph on Leia’s face, Jaina knew there was no longer any doubt of the outcome: a team of investigators would soon be on its way to Ryloth. Then they would find undeniable proof of Nolaa Tarkona’s schemes.