Dark Tide 1: Onslaught (8 page)

CHAPTER NINE

Leia Organa Solo smiled cautiously at Danni Quee and Jaina. The two of them had arrived at the temporary office she'd been given by the Agamarian Council with enough time to spare so she could inspect their clothes. Leia circled a finger, prompting a sigh from Jaina, but both young women turned around to show off their attire.

Jaina wore a dark brown pilot jumpsuit, but had pulled a lighter tan Jedi cloak over it. She wore no gun or gunbelt, but did have her lightsaber dangling from her side. Her dark hair had been pulled back into a single braid and fastened with a silver ribbon.

Danni, on the other hand, wore a simple dress, functional and somberly colored. The dark green of the vest she wore over the top matched her eyes, while the darker brown of the dress itself contrasted well with her pale skin and blond hair, which Danni wore unbound. She carried no weapons, and while she did not look helpless, she clearly was not a warrior by birth or training.

Leia glanced over at Elegos. “I think they will do.”

The Caamasi glanced back over his shoulder at the two women. “Quite presentable, indeed.”

Leia frowned. “You don't think this will work, do you?”

Elegos shrugged, gathering his hands at the small of his back. He stared out through the balcony doors at the ocean north of Calna Muun, the Agamarian capital. “I think your reading of these people, of their respect for tradition and family, is accurate. We know they contributed much to the effort against the Imperials, and they suffered for it. Keyan Farlander was but one of their sons and daughters that flew from here to wage war against the Empire.”

“But?”

Elegos turned away from the balcony. “Some are capable of shouldering burdens for light-years, and others just kilometers.”

An Agamarian appeared in the doorway to the office. “If you are ready, the council will hear you now.”

“Danni?”

The young woman started for a moment, then looked at Leia. “Yes, I guess I am ready.”

Elegos crossed to her and settled his hands on her shoulders. “Just remember, Danni, what the ExGal Society set out to do, it did. You are a witness to that fact. You are reporting to them what you know. That you can do, easily.”

“Thank you. I know.”

Leia let Elegos lead, with Danni in his wake. She slipped in beside her daughter. Keeping her voice low, she glanced at Jaina. “Something the matter?”

Jaina's head came up a bit. “I've got better control than that.”

“Of the Force, yes, but not the expression on your face.” Leia composed her own expression into one of serene confidence and nodded to various Agamarians lining the high-ceilinged hallways of the Council Center. The open, airy architecture that the Agamarians affected worked well for the warm, dry climate, keeping things cooler than might otherwise have been expected on such a bright, sunny day. Pillars and archways broke the corridor into segments, each featuring its own holographic tableaux of Agamarian history and culture.

Jaina sighed, clearly irritated. “I'm not a diplomat. I'm a pilot and a Jedi Knight. I don't mind teaching Danni some things while we fly, but my talents are being wasted here.”

“I see.” Leia smiled at her daughter, and then looked sharply at Jaina. “Jaina, tell me what's really going on.”

Jaina's voice sank into a whisper. “Mother, you are good at this sort of thing, but if you'd completed your Jedi training, you'd be more effective.”

“I worked hard at developing my skills.”

“Mother . . .” Jaina faltered for a second. “Mother, you don't even wear your lightsaber.”

The disappointment in Jaina's voice drilled through Leia. For years she had wanted to work more at becoming a Jedi. She saw it as a way to get to know her brother, Luke, and to help him with his dream of reversing the evil their father had done by destroying the Jedi. She'd practiced as much as she could, but other demands on her, demands born of her training as a politician and diplomat, always pulled her away.

I told myself I was doing my best by helping to create the government, then to run it. I let Luke train my children so they could reach their full potential, or so I thought. Did I also let them become Jedi to ease my guilt over having failed to realize my potential with the Force?

Jaina reached out with her left hand and settled it on her mother's shoulder. “I didn't mean it to sound the way it did. I . . . I know you didn't get to make some choices . . .”

“The choices I made, Jaina, were choices made to help others. They came first. Your father. You. Your brothers. The New Republic.”

“I know that, and I'm proud of you, Mom, for being who you are.” Jaina shrugged. “It's just that you're not a Jedi, not really, and, you know, it's just, well, weird when you play around with the Force.”

“I see.” Leia caught a flash of horror in her daughter's eyes, and that gratified her.
At least she knows there are boundaries she shouldn't overstep yet.
Then Leia sighed and raised her hand to hug Jaina's hand to her shoulder.

“You may be right, Jaina, that I never completed Jedi training, but I don't play with the Force. I use it, perhaps not as well or fully as you do, but I use it to get done the things I need to do.”

“I know. I'm sorry.”

“We'll discuss this more later, Jaina. Right now I need you with me in this chamber, being silent but strong, projecting confidence and benign power.”

“Being everything that Kyp and the others aren't.”

“Pretty much.” She gave her daughter a wink, then stepped through the doorway into the Agamarian council chamber.

Though Leia had seen holographs of the chamber, they had failed to convey its breathtaking majesty. Wood had been used to finish the floor, panel the walls, and furnish the room; and incredible craftsmanship had gone into the project. An oceanic motif dominated everything—with the rows at which council delegates sat being arrayed like waves. Their desks flowed up and out of the flooring like cresting swells, in fact. At various points wooden streams of water linked leaping fish to the floor, and birds were bound by wing tip to the ceiling or walls.

At the podium, which appeared to be a stone being washed at the base by clashing waves, a tall, slender woman stood and turned toward Leia and her party. She beckoned Leia forward. “I have briefed the council on those things we have discussed over the past couple of days, so they are prepared for your presentation.”

“Thank you, Madam Speaker.” Leia, herself wearing a dark flowing robe whose only decoration was a wave motif embroidered at hem, collar, and cuffs, approached the podium. She nodded solemnly to the men and women seated before her.

“I thank you all for allowing me to address you. Before I begin, I want to identify those people I've brought with me. Elegos A'Kla is a Republic senator conducting a fact-finding mission here in the Outer Rim. Next to him is my daughter, Jaina, who has firsthand knowledge of the problem we face. And last is Danni Quee. She was stationed at ExGal-4, based on Belkadan, when the Yuuzhan Vong invaded and held her captive.”

Leia rested her hands on the podium. “The Agamarian history of service to the New Republic is well known. I have no doubt that if not for the courage of Keyan Farlander, I certainly would not be standing here before you. I know that what I will present to you here, what you will have downloaded into your datapads, will be rather astounding, and yet, because it has been reduced to clinical analysis and data, it will be easy to dismiss. To do that would be the sort of error that will hurt Agamar and the New Republic. Please, hear what Danni has to say, read over the information, and listen to what I would like you to do. I hate to say that, once again, the New Republic is relying upon you, but it is.”

She waved Danni forward, and the scientist coughed into her hand before beginning. “Please forgive me, I don't often address important people. I think that if I took to this sort of thing, I would not have become a scientist. In my work at ExGal, I was involved in looking outside the galaxy, where it was supposed nothing existed. Maybe I looked outside because looking back in meant I would face crowds, and that scares me more than a little.”

A mild bit of good-natured chuckling greeted Danni's overture and seemed to put her more at ease. “What scares me more, now, is a combination of two things. One is the fact that there
is
something from beyond the galaxy. I know the stories you've all heard, the theories that have been taught, that a disturbance in hyperspace makes travel outside the galaxy impossible. That's a wonderful theory, but those who advanced it didn't think scientifically about it. A storm that lasts an hour for us would have been a lifetime of storm for an insect. Just because that disturbance has existed for as long as we've been able to measure it doesn't mean that it always did, or always will.

“And it doesn't mean someone else couldn't find a way through it or past it or around it. And they have.” Danni's chin came up. “They are the Yuuzhan Vong. They are humanoid and capable of mimicking humans well enough that I never penetrated the disguise of Yomin Carr, the Yuuzhan Vong agent who infiltrated our team on Belkadan. I see some of you looking around at your fellows, wondering, perhaps, if they are Yuuzhan Vong. I don't think so. I hope not, but I do know the Yuuzhan Vong will be coming, and when they arrive, you will not like it at all.”

Danni took in a deep breath, then let it go out slowly. “I was taken prisoner by the Yuuzhan Vong. I watched them torture another captive, a Jedi Knight. They sought to break his spirit and mind. I know that if they had subjected me to the same tortures, I would have just . . . fallen apart. Miko Reglia resisted and sacrificed his life so I could escape.”

She pressed her hand to her mouth for a second, then blinked and continued. “The Yuuzhan Vong are a cruel people who employ biological devices the way we use machines. The reports you have will fill you in on the details. Some of it may seem silly, like having starfighters grown out of coral, but the fact remains that these ships had capabilities we've not faced before and have no easy way to counter.

“Perhaps worst of all, we are unclear as to the Yuuzhan Vong motive for invading our galaxy. We don't know if they will listen to reason, if they will negotiate some sort of peace. They showed no evidence of that when I was in their power. They told me I wouldn't be sacrificed, which tells me others were and will be, if they are not stopped.”

Danni looked over at Leia and nodded. Leia approached and ran her hand down Danni's back. Leia glanced at her daughter, and Jaina came forward to direct Danni back to her place next to her. Danni's retreat took place to the accompaniment of murmurs from the council members, though that hubbub tailed off as Leia returned to the podium.

“As you already know, I am not here as a speaker for the New Republic government. In fact, I am certain that you will all find waiting for you messages from the local Republic envoy reminding you of this fact. I have no official standing with the New Republic. I went to Coruscant to ask for help for Dubrillion and other Rim worlds that will bear the brunt of this onslaught. I was sent away, so I have come here, with my daughter and friends, to alert you to the threat and to ask your help in dealing with it.”

Leia frowned. “As I said before, I am well aware of all Agamar has done in the past for causes I espouse. You have always been friends of the New Republic, and now, I am afraid, the New Republic will abrogate its responsibilities to you. The worlds of the Rim must look to themselves to deal with this threat. In being driven away from Coruscant, I am now, like you, a citizen of the Rim. Please remember that as you consider what I am going to say.

“The Rim worlds need to band together and muster their military might to fight against the Yuuzhan Vong. We don't know where they will strike next, but we must all be ready to devote forces to that battle. Every victory we allow them will make them stronger. I know that asking you to do this will cost you greatly, both in money and, potentially, in the blood of your men and women. These are not sacrifices I ask you to make lightly.”

As Leia looked out over the assembly she began to sense growing resistance to her words. This did not surprise her, but it did cut at her spirit. She had hoped that if she could get Agamar to take the lead against the Yuuzhan Vong, other worlds could be convinced to follow their example.
Perhaps Elegos is right—they've carried their burden as far as they can.

She shifted her approach. “Regardless of your ability to contribute forces to any military effort, as a neighbor, I urge you to prepare for what the Yuuzhan Vong invasion will cause. Refugees will likely be coming this way, fleeing in small ships and large. I know the Agamarian people will not turn them away, but the burden of caring for people who have been driven from their homes is not one to be undertaken without preparation. Gather resources, establish plans, do whatever you must to help those who will be helpless.”

Leia hesitated for a moment, then nodded slowly. “I know I am asking a lot of you. I know you will do what you can, and even more than that. In the name of the countless people who share the Rim with you, I thank you. We will be heading deeper into the Rim, back toward Dubrillion, to face the Yuuzhan Vong. Knowing that you, the people of Agamar, are here, supporting us, will brighten the darkest hour and lighten the heaviest load.”

She took a single step back from the podium, then lifted her chin and clasped her hands behind her back. She waited for questions or comments, steeling herself for the sort of snide accusations she'd faced on Coruscant, but none came. Here and there, starting at the back of the room, but quickly moving to the front, council members stood and began to applaud. Currents of sympathy and pride flowed through the chamber, swirling around her, and sweeping past to embrace Danni, as well.