Part 7 (1/2)
”Hey, hold on a minute there,” Han said, rising. ”Everyone knows that Jaina gets her stubborn streak from me.” me.”
Kenth shot him a look that could have frozen a wampa. ”You're not helping matters, Captain Solo. Quite the opposite.”
Han's eyes grew hard, and Leia knew she was perilously close to having two two angry men on her hands. She slipped over to Han's side and touched his arm, then nodded toward the control booth. angry men on her hands. She slipped over to Han's side and touched his arm, then nodded toward the control booth.
”Han, why don't you see if you can find a stool or something to stick between Bazel's teeth?” she asked. ”With those tusks of his, he's got to be chewing the inside of his mouth to ribbons.”
Han glanced at her briefly, then s.h.i.+fted his stare back to Kenth. ”Okay,” he said. ”But if this guy keeps talking to you like you're some sort of-”
”Han!” Leia turned him toward the control booth. ”Please go. I have this.” Leia turned him toward the control booth. ”Please go. I have this.”
Han reluctantly allowed her to push him away, but continued to scowl back over his shoulder. Leia returned her attention to Kenth and waited in silence. She had learned a long time ago never to apologize for Han ...especially when he wasn't the one at fault. Besides, maybe a few sharp words from a hothead smuggler were just what Kenth needed to help him regain control of his temper.
But it wasn't to be so. When Kenth finally spoke, his voice was as sharp as ever. ”Jedi Solo, are you trying trying to get the Order disbanded?” to get the Order disbanded?”
Leia c.o.c.ked her brow, then calmly said, ”I'm sure you know better than that, Master Hamner.”
”Then why the kriff kriff would you ignore a GAS arrest warrant, and do it on a live holocam?” He was nearly shouting. ”Daala herself has been on the comm telling me that she can't allow this kind of public defiance, and I'm starting to agree with her. You know how bad our image is right now, and live feeds of you and Han ignoring a valid warrant only add to our problems.” would you ignore a GAS arrest warrant, and do it on a live holocam?” He was nearly shouting. ”Daala herself has been on the comm telling me that she can't allow this kind of public defiance, and I'm starting to agree with her. You know how bad our image is right now, and live feeds of you and Han ignoring a valid warrant only add to our problems.”
Leia remained silent until she was certain he had finished, then allowed a little durasteel to come to her own voice. ”And what would you have preferred we do? Serve Bazel and Yaqeel up to be frozen in carbonite?”
”Yes, if that's what the law demands,” Kenth retorted. ”The Jedi aren't going to survive, not if we keep trying to hold ourselves above the government-and above the beings beings-that we claim to serve.”
Leia shook her head sadly, wondering how such a principled man could be so blind to what was right. ”Kenth, I know you're in a tough spot, but think about what you're saying. Law isn't isn't justice. We can't start turning young Jedi Knights over to Daala just because they've fallen ill-especially not when her solution is to freeze them in carbonite.” justice. We can't start turning young Jedi Knights over to Daala just because they've fallen ill-especially not when her solution is to freeze them in carbonite.”
The flash of pain in Kenth's eyes suggested that Leia had hit a nerve, but he was not ready to yield. ”That ”That, Jedi Solo, is not a Jedi Knight's decision to make.” He pointed up the access tunnel, then said, ”If we're lucky, Captain Atar and his squad are still-”
Leia was saved by the ding-swoosh ding-swoosh of the arriving turbolift, and this time it of the arriving turbolift, and this time it was was Master Cilghal and Tekli who stepped out. The Mon Calamari took one look at Bazel's shuddering form and gave a medication order to her a.s.sistant, then came over to stand with Leia and Kenth. Master Cilghal and Tekli who stepped out. The Mon Calamari took one look at Bazel's shuddering form and gave a medication order to her a.s.sistant, then came over to stand with Leia and Kenth.
”I came as soon as I heard,” she said to Leia. ”Both ”Both of them?” of them?”
Leia took a calming breath, then nodded. ”I'm afraid so.”
Cilghal raised a finned hand. ”No, don't be afraid,” she said. ”Now we have learned something.”
”Learned what?” what?” Han asked, returning with the stool Leia had requested. ”You know what's wrong with them?” Han asked, returning with the stool Leia had requested. ”You know what's wrong with them?”
”Not yet.” Cilghal waved a hand vaguely toward Bazel, who already had Tekli's medication dart protruding from his throat. ”But with Bazel and Yaqeel both ill, we can begin to draw some conclusions.”
”Such as?” Kenth asked. While not sounding relieved, he at least sounded hopeful. ”The Jedi could really use some good news about now.”
”I said begin begin, Master Hamner.” Cilghal turned to Han and Leia. ”Captain Solo, if you'll a.s.sist Tekli with Yaqeel, Jedi Solo and I can handle Bazel.”
Han looked to Kenth, indicating that the acting Grand Master had other ideas about how to handle the situation.
Cilghal rolled a huge eye toward Kenth. ”Do you have an objection?”
”As a matter of fact, yes,” Kenth said. ”There's a GAS squad outside with a warrant for their arrest.”
Cilghal dropped her gaze, and a sense of guilt began to fill the Force. ”I see.” She turned to Leia. ”How many did they hurt?”
It was Han who answered. ”Hurt? ”Hurt? No one. We tranqed 'em right outside. GAS is only after them because the commotion got caught on holocam.” No one. We tranqed 'em right outside. GAS is only after them because the commotion got caught on holocam.”
Cilghal's mouth fell open. ”Then why would GAS want to arrest them?”
”Public endangerment,” Leia supplied. ”And even that is overstating it. We had them inside in two minutes.”
Cilghal turned back to Kenth, her expression changing from guilty to confused to upset. ”And you want to turn them over?”
”We were served a warrant, and we're required to submit to it,” Kenth insisted. Judging by the color rising into his cheeks, Leia guessed that Daala had not bothered to tell him the charge when she commed to complain about the Solos' defiance. ”But this might even work to our advantage. When the circ.u.mstances are reviewed in open court, I'm sure Nawara ven can make the public see that the charges are completely unjustified.”
”No,” Cilghal said. ”We will not allow Daala to freeze my patients in carbonite so you can try to score a public relations point.”
Kenth's face grew stormy. ”Master Cilghal, the decision isn't yours-”
”Nor is it yours alone. It is the Council's. And if you want to honor a frivolous warrant simply out of expediency, I will insist that you seek approval.” Cilghal motioned the Solos toward the patients, then continued, ”Until you have that that, Master Hamner, I will be keeping the patients in the Asylum Block.”
Not wanting to give Kenth a chance to countermand the order, Leia immediately pointed Han toward Yaqeel and turned to deal with Bazel herself. Tekli's medication dart had already put a stop to the convulsions, so she used the Force to lift the big Ramoan from between the wrecked speeders.
Leia had heard many times that ”size matters not” when levitating an object, and perhaps that was true ... for whoever had said it. But for her, it was all she could do to start Bazel floating toward the turbolift, and she was already beginning to tire when Han's voice cried out behind her.
”Hey, I think we just lost another two!”
Leia's concentration failed almost instantly, and Bazel hit the floor so hard it shook. Hoping a few more bruises would not make a difference to him, she spun toward the control booth and saw Han standing over Yaqeel's unconscious form.
The Bothan was still slumped against the control booth, but her hands had been resecured to the collision bar by a new pair of wrist restraints. To Leia's dismay, the only signs of Reeqo and Melari were a pair of gray apprentice robes lying on the floor next to Yaqeel, each neatly folded with a lightsaber on top.
”What happened?” Kenth asked, stepping over to the booth. To Leia's relief-and maybe her surprise-there was no accusation or anger in his voice, only weariness and sorrow. ”Did you see?”
Han shook his head. ”Sorry. I was busy watching the, uh, discussion discussion over Barv.” He gestured at the robes and lightsabers. ”I didn't even notice Reeqo and Mel were gone until I saw this stuff.” over Barv.” He gestured at the robes and lightsabers. ”I didn't even notice Reeqo and Mel were gone until I saw this stuff.”
”Well, they can't have made it far.” Kenth pulled his comlink and started into the access tunnel. ”Maybe we have time to stop them before they hurt someone.”
”That isn't necessary, Master Hamner,” Cilghal said. She extended a flipper-hand toward Kenth, using the Force to prevent him from breaking into a run. ”Those two aren't a danger to anyone.”
Kenth spun on her, frowning. ”Cilghal, if you want to take the warrants to the full Council, fine. But we can't have any more crazy Jedi running loose on Coruscant.”
”They're not not crazy, even in the way you use the term, Master Hamner,” Cilghal said. ”At least, I'm ninety-eight percent sure they aren't.” crazy, even in the way you use the term, Master Hamner,” Cilghal said. ”At least, I'm ninety-eight percent sure they aren't.”
Kenth's brow shot up. ”Because?”
”Because they were never at Shelter,” Tekli answered. ”They're too young.”
”And all the other patients were,” were,” Leia said, recalling their conversation when she and Han went to visit Seff h.e.l.lin. ”Are you saying you've established a definite correlation?” Leia said, recalling their conversation when she and Han went to visit Seff h.e.l.lin. ”Are you saying you've established a definite correlation?”
”A definite statistical statistical correlation,” Cilghal corrected. ”Not cause-and-effect, but when we factor in Bazel and Yaqeel, the margin of error falls to less than two percent. Only Jedi who were hidden in the Maw during the war with the Yuuzhan Vong are in danger of falling ill.” correlation,” Cilghal corrected. ”Not cause-and-effect, but when we factor in Bazel and Yaqeel, the margin of error falls to less than two percent. Only Jedi who were hidden in the Maw during the war with the Yuuzhan Vong are in danger of falling ill.”
Han's brow arched in alarm, and Leia knew what he was thinking even before he asked, ”What if they weren't exactly hiding?” hiding?”