Part 16 (2/2)
Den walked out the door, which slid shut behind him with the sound of a forlorn sigh.
The room was comfortable without being opulent, the colors were rich and warm, the furniture was handcrafted. Jax, who had never been here before, was suitably impressed by the room as Laranth led him in-and even more imprevsed by its sole occupant.
Seated at the narrow end of a large oval table was the leader of the Whiplash, Thi Xon Yimmon. A Cerean, he was an imposing figure, well over two meters tall, his height accentuated by the tall, tapered cranium common to his kind, which housed a binary brain. It was this singular feature, along with a preternaturally calm temperament, that made him the ideal leader for a multifaceted organization such as the Whiplash. Those twin brains, able to work semi-independently, effectively allowed Yimmon to concentrate on multiple subjects simultaneously. Jax had met the man once before and had been impressed to the point of wondering if Yimmon didn't have some latent Force abilities. He was known to live by Jedi principles, at least to some extent. It didn't surprise Jax that Laranth found Yimmon's leaders.h.i.+p appealing in the extreme.
The Whiplash leader rose, smiling gently, and held out a large hand to Jax. The thick fringe of gleaming blue-black hair that grew from the back and sides of the Cerean's head was worn long and in ornate braids.
”Sit down,” Yimmon said, his voice a deep warm baritone. ”Laranth tells me you have some questions.”
”For both of you, actually,” Jax said. His glance caught Laranth just as she turned to leave. She froze, giving him an impenetrable look. At Yimmon's gesture she moved to the table and sat down next to the Jedi.
”Please.” Yimmon held out his hands toward Jax, palms-up, as if to receive the questions.
”First,” Jax said. ”Has Laranth spoken to you about the young adept we've taken in-Kajin Savaros?”
The Cerean nodded. ”Yes. An extraordinary young man, by all accounts.”
”And a dangerous one,” Laranth added.
”And in a dangerous position,” said Jax. ”The Inquisitors have been rabid to bring him down since he killed one of them. And unfortunately, his Force projections have drawn their notice.”
”They've had to relocate,” Laranth added. ”Vader has ordered the police prefect of the Zi-Kree Sector to investigate the case.” Thi Xon Yimmon nodded. ”Pol Haus.”
”You know of him?”
”He's served the constabulary well for decades. He's a force to be reckoned with, though I know he doesn't seem it at first blush.”
”He's suggested to us that we should find Kaj and turn him in.”
”I think you should.”
Jax was caught off-balance. ”Excuse me?”
Yimmon's eyes glittered with sudden mirth. ”Pol asked me if I would be willing to expose our connection. I told him that if he'd be willing, I could do no less. Pol Haus was one of the original Whiplash operatives, Jax. One of the very first. Can you trust him? Yes. You can trust him to do what is best for the Whiplash and the people it serves.”
”Then if Kaj's continued existence seemed not to be best for the Whiplash ...”
Yimmon shook his head. ”Perhaps you look for layers of meaning where there are none. The Whiplash, like the Jedi Order, is built on the conviction that people must be trustworthy in their dealings with one another. He's told me that he means no harm to the adept, and I believe him.”
”Why didn't he say as much to us?” Jax asked. ”He said nothing about protecting Kaj.”
”Not surprising. He's an old hand at giving potential listeners nothing to hear. Meet with him where you can speak freely and plainly and ask your questions there. Even if I'm wrong about him, I think you'd know if he told an outright lie.”
If you're wrong? An unsettling thought. ”Could you be wrong about him?”
The Cerean shrugged. ”Anyone can be wrong about anything. But, while I have known Pol Haus to lie, I have never known him to be dishonest.”
Jax blinked at the seeming paradox, but realized he understood what Yimmon was saying. There were lies told with the intent to actively deceive and lies told merely to deflect or protect.
”And that,” Jax said, ”brings me to my second question-Tuden Sal.”
”Also a trusted operative.”
”Has he told you about his plan?”
Laranth and Yimmon exchanged glances. Then Yimmon said, ”We had spoken of him putting together a special cell that would undertake especially dangerous missions.”
Jax knew no other way to say it than straight out. ”He wants I-Five to a.s.sa.s.sinate Emperor Palpatine.”
Laranth turned a deeper shade of green, and Yimmon's eyes widened. Neither said anything, bur waited for him to continue.
”The rationale is that a droid's thoughts would not be readable by the Force, so his intentions would be masked and his presence unnoted. He'd be disguised, of course, to look like a threepio or some other similar protocol droid. And since he has no programming to prevent him from doing an organic harm ..
Thi Xon Yimmon was nodding, his eyes veiled. ”Yes, of course. The logic is impeccable.”
”But what do you think of the plan?”
”What do you think of it?”
”I'm of two minds-almost literally. First, understand that Sal has been less than trustworthy in . . . well, I can't talk about my experience, bur certainly as regards my father and I-Five.”
Yimmon looked genuinely saddened. ”Yes, Tuden Sal told me quite openly of his betrayal. Fie feels compelled to 'set things straight,” as he put it.”
”He has very personal reasons for wanting the Emperor dead,” Jax said. ”His family was torn apart over it. He had to send his wife and children away to save their lives-or so he says. And he lost pretty much everything, all in the course of an afternoon- the same afternoon he sold I-Five into service. In the end he didn't even have the credits from that deal to sustain him. He blames the Emperor and Black Sun in equal parts, and since the Empire allows Black Sun to flourish ...” He shrugged.
Thi Xon Yimmon nodded. ”And to you these don't seem like good reasons to put your friends in harm's way?”
”To feed another man's vengeance? No. But he's also made some points about what the continued existence of the Emperor means to the Whiplash, to the Jedi, to the people who live under the Empire's rule. Those are things I can't ignore.”
”And those would be your reasons to allow I-Five to undertake what would almost certainly be a suicide mission?”
”He's agreed to abide by my decision. I'm just not sure...”
”Are those your reasons, Jax?” laranth asked, suddenly bristling with intensity.
”I .. . I'm not sure I know what you mean.”
”You said Tuden Sal was a man bent on vengeance. What about you? Are you bent on vengeance as well?”
He stared at her, feeling as if she'd looked down into his soul and read his deepest fears. He felt Thi Xon Yimmon's gaze on him, too, and resisted the impulse to s.h.i.+eld himself from them both. Instead, he gave himself up for their scrutiny. Casting open his mind, holding Laranth's gaze, he said, ”You tell me. Please. That's why this decision has been so difficult for me. I'm . . . I'm afraid that my reasons for seeking Palpatine's death might be closer to Sal's real reasons than I know. I've come to understand in recent rimes that I'm not always honest with myself about things.”
He didn't mention that by recent he meant less than an hour earlier at Sil's Place.
”I'm a Jedi, Laranth. If I want to stay a Jedi, I can't be a man bent on vengeance. I don't think that's what I am, but I can't tell I-Five to do this thing unless I'm sure. Or at least more sure than I am now. He's ready to turn himself into a weapon and put the use of that weapon in my hands.”
Laranth held his gaze a moment longer, then lowered her eyes. ” There are many reasons why Palpatine should die. He's a blight on the galaxy-he and the Sith. Yes, I know the theories about cosmic balance and the philosophies about the duality of the Force...” She flicked a glance aside at Yimmon as if this was an ongoing discussion. ”But I don't believe them. Evil is as evil does.”
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