Fingers interlocked, Mace Windu leaned forward in his seat to address Qui-Gon. "We've just met with members of the Judicial Department, regarding the attempted a.s.sa.s.sination of Supreme Chancellor Valorum.

We're trusting that you can shed additional light on what transpired at the Galactic Senate." Qui-Gon nodded. "I trust that I can." Yoda glanced at Windu, then leveled his gaze at Qui-Gon. "How came you to be at the senate, Qui-Gon? Alerted by your source in the Nebula Front, were you?"

"I'll answer that," Adi Gallia said. "I asked Qui-Gon to ac company me to the Senate, to speak personally with Supreme Chancellor Valorum." Windu regarded her with a frown. "For what purpose?" Adi looked briefly to Qui-Gon.

"Qui-Gon has reason to believe that the Supreme Chancellor errs by relying on worlds along the Rimma Trade Route to end terrorism in those sectors."

"Is this so, Qui-Gon?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.

Qui-Gon nodded. "The Nebula Front receives much of its funding from those very worlds."

"Knows much about the situation, Qui-Gon does," Yoda said with false flattery. "Correct he was about Captain Cohl surviving the explosion at Dorvalla." He paused. "Behind the attempted a.s.sa.s.sination attempt, is Cohl?"

"No, Master," Qui-Gon said. "Cohl is on the run. Furthermore, I'm not persuaded that the Nebula Front actually wished to harm the Supreme Chancellor." Yoda's expression hardened. "Shot him, they did. Traced by doc.u.mentation to their secret base in the Senex sector, they were."

"Too easily, Master," Qui-Gon said, holding his ground. "The signs were far too obvious."

"Terrorists they are. Not soldiers." Windu looked at Yoda, then at Qui-Gon. "You've obviously given thought to this.

Continue."

"The a.s.sa.s.sins aimed their bolts at Supreme Chancellor Valorum's guards.

I believe that the bolt that grazed him was inadvertent. The escape was also unconvincing. And since they must have known in advance that there was little chance of all of them getting away, why would they carry doc.u.mentation?"

"Unlike Captain Cohl, eh, Qui-Gon?" Qui-Gon nodded. "He would not have been so careless." Yoda brought his right forefinger to his mouth. "Plan this he did--from afar. Seek out your Bith contact in the Nebula Front, you must." Qui-Gon turned to him. "I'll do that, Master.

Still, why would the Front target the Supreme Chancellor, when he has finally taken a stand against the Trade Federation?"

"Answer your own question," Windu said.

Qui-Gon took a breath and gave his head a quick shake. "I'm not certain, Masters. But I fear that the Nebula Front has something even more treacherous in mind." Hyphens of angry light streaking past her to all sides, the Hawk-Bat fled the surface of a green planet, graced by two small, close-set, and heavily cratered moons.

Her ardent pursuers were a trio of slender-bodied vessels, Coruscant red from stem to stern, with blunt bows, a trio of large, drum-shaped sublight thrusters, and multiple pairs of turbolaser batteries.

In the gunship's cramped bridge, Boiny studied the console's authenticator displays.

"Corellian s.p.a.ce cruisers, Captain!

Gaining fast! Estimated time before they overtake us is--was "I don't want to know," Cohl said from the captain's chair, as an explosion pitched the ship roughly to port. "Blasted Judicial Department!

Don't they have better things to do?"

"Apparently not, Captain," Boiny rejoined.

Cohl swiveled away from the forward viewports to regard Rella, who had the controls. "How soon before we can make the jump to lightspeed?" She shot him an angry look. "The navicomputer is holding out on us." Cohl glanced at Boiny. "Persuade it." The Rodian staggered across the c.o.c.kpit and slammed his hand against the navicomputer.

"That'll do it," Rella said, relieved.

Another bolt rocked the ship.

"Route power to the rear deflectors," Cohl ordered.

"I'm on it, Captain," Boiny said, as he strapped back into his chair.

Rella turned slightly to Cohl. "You know, not everyone thrives on close calls." He laughed theatrically. "This from someone who claims that an escape isn't worthwhile unless it's narrow?"

"That was the old me. The new me has different ideas about what's fun and what isn't."

"Then you'd better stow the new you until we hit clear s.p.a.ce." Stung in the tail, the Hawk-Bat shuddered as she rolled to one side.

"Where are those jump coordinates?" Cohl snapped.

"Coming up now," Rella a.s.sured him. "It's time we put this sector behind us, Cohl. Every one of our hideouts is under surveillance."

"And just where are we supposed to go?"

"I don't care if we go live with the Hutts. I just know it's gotten too hot for us here." Cohl grimaced. "Don't tell me you'd work for those bloated worms."

"Who said anything about working?"

"What about our retiring in high style?"

"Right about now, I'll settle for retiring, plain and simple." Cohl shook his head. "That's not the way I planned it. Besides, I don't like the idea of getting chased out of my own hunting ground."

"Even when it's clear you've become the prey?" Cohl watched Rella for a long moment. "You're serious, aren't you? You're thinking of quitting this tour." She bit her lip and nodded. "Unless you decide to come to your senses, Cohl. We're too old for this. I want to make good on some of the promises we made ourselves, before it's too late." He thought about it, then laughed. "You won't walk.

You know you'd miss me and come looking for me." Rella showed him a sad look. "You're still thinking of the old me, Cohl." He glanced at Boiny.

"Am I right or wrong about her looking for me?" The Rodian ducked his crested head. "Don't get me in the middle of this. I'm only good at following orders." Cohl shook his head at Rella. "Our first fight."

"Wrong, Cohl. Our last." She reached for the throttle. "Making the jump to hypers.p.a.ce." With laser bolts still nipping at her, the Hawk-Bat surged forward. The stars elongated, and the gunship blinked from view.

In the greeting room of his office in the Galactic Senate, Valorum slipped into his veda cloth robe and regarded his image in an elaborately framed mirror. His right arm was almost healed, and instead of the c.u.mbersome tube, a soft case was in place, concealed within the ample sleeve of his overcloak.

A pair of Senate Guards flanked the door, facing into the room, but Valorum ignored them as he prepared for the imminent arrival of Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Yoda.

The Valorum dynasty had long hoped that one of its offspring might be strong in the Force, but, by all accounts, it appeared that the Force just wasn't in Valorum blood. That regrettable absence, however, hadn't stopped Finis Valorum from revering the Jedi. As an ent.i.tled youth on Coruscant and on other Core worlds, he had pa.s.sed countless hours with the family chronicles, devouring accounts of his ancestors' dealings with the order-- often with Jedi Knights and Masters of legendary status. The tales had only firmed a belief developed early on that, even if he couldn't be a Jedi, he could at least model his life after them, behaving as if the Force were his ally, and devoting himself to upholding peace and justice at all times.

But the Republic Valorum had inherited had afforded him few opportunities to foster peace or justice. Weakened by greed and corruption, the senate had become a tool for widening the rift between rich and poor, and bolstering the ambitions of the privileged and influential. Try as he might to remain faithful to his ideals, Valorum had found himself foiled by delegates fattened on bribes or enslaved to self-interest. Why serve the common good when it was more profitable to serve the Commerce Guild, the Techno Union, the Corporate Alliance, or the Trade Federation?

Whether for personal reasons or in exchange for trade favors for their home systems, more than half the senate's delegates answered to the powerful corporations, which, in return, asked only that certain motions be quashed, or others be supported.

Time and again Valorum was made to appear weak by being overruled, and that perceived weakness had made those who should have known better consider him to be ineffectual.

Inept.i.tude, of course, was the unexpressed goal of the corruptors themselves. Where a weak leader would have been replaced, and a strong one counterproductive, one who had simply given up the fight was seen as the best of all possible solutions.

The rueful middle ground had been Valorum's domain for too many years, until recently, when senators like Bail Antilles, Horox Ryyder, Palpatine, and a few others had begun to rally round, pledging their support to help end corruption--or, at the very least, to keep it in check. Many thought that the current crisis involving the Trade Federation would be a testing ground for what lay ahead. Valorum hoped only that he could spend the fi-nal years of his term in office doing right by everyone, in true service to peace and justice.

That was why the Nebula Front had to be contained.

Normally the Jedi were not asked to intervene in trade disputes, but the attempt on Valorum's life had had less to do with trade than with preserving law and order. Because the Jedi answered to the Supreme Chancellor and the Judicial Department, their a.s.sistance could now be solicited, and in that sense, the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt had been a blessing in disguise.

Valorum could not recall an instance where they had refused to serve, in any case. On occasion, though, dealing with them had made Valorum feel as if he were contracting with a power even greater than that enjoyed by the various trade consortiums or the Republic.

Ten thousand strong, their collective strength was such that they could rule the Republic if they so wished--if their dedication to peace was any less demonstrably earnest. Although the Republic government funded the order, at times there seemed to exist an added price for their support--a sense that they might one day come to Valorum and demand that the favors they had rendered be returned tenfold. Although Valorum couldn't imagine what they might ask for that either he or the Republic could provide.

While the Jedi operated in the world, they were at once outside it, living within the Force, as if it were a separate reality.

It sometimes seemed to Valorum that the Jedi behaved as if the Force ruled the ordinary world, and that the role of the Jedi was to behave in such a way that a balance between good and evil, light and dark, was forever preserved--lest the scales tip one way or the other, opening a portal for the dark to come streaming in, or for allowing the light to blind everyone to some greater truth.

Two thousand years earlier, the Jedi had faced a menacing threat to continuing peace, in the form of the Sith Lords and their armies of dark-side apprentices.

Founded by a fallen Jedi, the Sith believed that power disavowed was power squandered. In place of justice for all, they sought single-minded authority. Agitation and conflict were thought to be more crucial to transformation than was gradual understanding.

Fortunately, dark power was not easily harnessed, and over the course of a thousand years, the Sith had ultimately destroyed themselves.

Valorum heard the guards snap to attention as the greeting room opened and Sei Taria entered, followed by the two Jedi Masters.

Dignified in his hooded robe, linen-white tunic, and knee-high brown boots, Mace Windu seemed to fill the room. But it was the slight and enigmatic Yoda, in well-seasoned and less-tailored robes, who took up the most s.p.a.ce.

"Masters Windu and Yoda," Valorum said warmly. "Thank you for coming."

Yoda regarded him for a moment, then smiled lightly. "Restored, you are."

Valorum touched his right forearm beneath the cloak.

"Nearly. If the a.s.sa.s.sin had been a better shot..." Windu and Yoda traded meaningful looks.

"How may the Jedi be of service, Supreme Chancellor?" Windu asked.

Valorum motioned to chairs in the sitting area.

"Won't you be seated?" Windu sat tall and straight, with his feet flat on the floor. Yoda considered sitting, then paced to the center of the room, tapping the floor with his cane.

"Think better in motion, I do." Valorum dismissed Sei Taria and the two guards and sat down opposite Windu, where he could watch Yoda, as well.

"I trust you've heard that the a.s.sa.s.sins have been identified as members of the Nebula Front." Valorum waited for Windu's nod before continuing.

"The few that managed to escape were traced to Asmeru, a world on the edge of the Senex sector." Leaning toward the table that separated him from Windu, Valorum activated a holoprojector. In a cone of translucent blue light, a star map took shape. Valorum indicated a cl.u.s.ter of star systems.

"The Senex is an autonomous sector, ruled by a line of fiercely self-reliant royal houses. The Republic respects the independence of the Senex worlds, and has no interest in meddling in the affairs of those worlds--given especially my recent request that worlds along the nearby Rimma Trade Route unite to curtail terrorism in their sector of s.p.a.ce. However, when affairs there reach across the stars to affect Coruscant, we cannot stand idly by." Valorum switched off the holoprojector.

"I have communicated with the rulers of Houses Vandron and Elegin, who hold sway over Asmeru and other systems in that part of the Senex sector.

They deny granting the Nebula Front safe haven. Rather, they contend that the terrorists seized Asmeru from a scant indigenous population, and have been using the planet as a base of operations for raids against ships plying the Rimma Trade Route and Corellian Trade Spine. Wishing to avoid becoming targets of the Nebula Front, Houses Vandron and Elegin have essentially ignored activities on Asmeru."

"Until now," Windu interjected.

Valorum nodded. "They have agreed to help us in our effort to contain the Nebula Front on Asmeru until the Eriadu trade summit concludes." Yoda frowned. "Breeders of slaves, they are.

No better than those who make up the Nebula Front." Valorum acknowledged it with a fatigued sigh.

"It's true. Slavery is what has prevented the Senex sector from trading openly with the Republic.

The possibility of trade is what prompts their willingness to help us."

Windu's eyebrows beetled. "What help are the Senex Houses offering?"

"Logistical support. Owing to a nearby gravitic sink, as well as to s.p.a.ce mines sown by the Nebula Front, Asmeru is not easily approached. House Vandron has offered to guide us in." Windu considered it. "You wish us to accompany the Judicial Department cruisers."

"Yes," Valorum said flatly. "Should you consent, I will pet.i.tion the senate for authorization. But allow me to explain. This operation is not designed to be a show of force, nor an attempt at retaliation for what happened here. I propose to dispatch two cruisers, carrying thirty judicials, along with as many Jedi as you see fit to include.

"For all we know, those responsible for the attempt on my life could be members of a radical faction.

The rest may know nothing of the a.s.sa.s.sination plot.

Nevertheless, I don't want them disrupting the Eriadu summit. I also wish to learn what they hoped to accomplish by a.s.sa.s.sinating me. If their actions sprang from not being included in the trade summit, then I want them to know that I am willing to meet with them, as soon as they agree to desist in attacking Trade Federation vessels. If they are unwilling to enact a truce, the Trade Federation will likely be given consent to increase their already substantial a.r.s.enal of weapons." Windu glanced at Yoda before replying. "And if our attempt to communicate these things to those in charge is rebuffed?" Valorum frowned. "Then I would ask that the Jedi see to it that no one involved with the Nebula Front leaves Asmeru.

They are to be contained there until further notice." Windu stroked his smooth chin. "You could be sending your judicials into a trap."

"We have to take that risk," Valorum said sternly, then softened his voice to add, "We should at least attempt to negotiate before deciding on desperate measures." He looked from Windu to Yoda, and back again.

Yoda stopped moving to gaze unsympathetically at Valorum. "Want to see this conflict resolved, we do." Windu interlocked his fingers and leaned forward in his chair. "The Trade Federation should not be granted additional weaponry. Defensive or otherwise, weapons are not the way to settle this. Such actions will lead only to further escalation."

"I agree," Valorum said sadly. "And I wish it was that simple. But the Trade Federation is deeply entrenched in Republic politics."

"At war with yourself, you are," Yoda remarked.

"Caught up in your own conflict." Chagrined by the remark, Valorum shook his head from side to side. "These matters require great delicacy, and deals of a sort I am loathe to make." Windu firmed his lips. "We will consider what help we could lend at Asmeru." Valorum was disappointed.

"Thank you, Master Windu. I would also request that you consider providing security at the Eriadu summit. No one, I fear, is safe." Windu nodded, stood up, and walked to the door.

Yoda turned to Valorum before leaving.

"Confer we will, and inform you of our decision." Docking rings linked by a rigid cofferdam, the Hawk-But and a modified CloakShape orbited drab Asmeru in deeply shadowed concert.

"To be honest, I didn't expect you to come back," Havac was telling Captain Cohl in the forward compartment of the gunship.

Cohl sniffed. "To be honest, I didn't expect to come back." Havac's partner, Cindar, made a show of glancing around the compartment. "Where's your first mate, Captain?"

"She walked," Cohl said.

Havac regarded him for a moment. "And you didn't walk with her? Why not?"

"My business," Cohl snapped.

Cindar couldn't suppress a smug grin. "You came back because you couldn't resist the credits, and she could." Cohl gave his head a smart shake.