didn't you have to reconsider Captain Celchu's position in
regard to what Horn thought about him?"
Wedge shook his head. "To be honest, Commander,
there was so much happening at the time Thyne was revealed
to be a traitor, that I could only consider one thing getting
my mission done. We had just received word that we had to
bring the shields down so our fleet could invade. Mind you,
Tycho passed that message to me. If he were an Imperial
plant, he could have withheld that information and set a trap
for our fleet."
"So then, Commander Antilles, you are not of the opin-
ion that the Empire gave us this world, infected as it is with
the Krytos virus, to destroy us?"
"I have no idea, Commander Ettyk, what was in the
mind of Ysanne Isard at the time we took Coruscant."
"I see." Halla Ettyk took a datadisk from leila Wessiri
and exchanged it for one in her datapad. "But you do not
discount that possibility, correct?" "I cannot discount it."
"And you cannot discount the possibility that Captain
Celchu was working for the Empire in helping give Corus-
cant to the New Republic."
"Yes I can." Wedge nodded solemnly. "I know Tycho. !
know he's not a spy. I trust him."
"And you trusted Zekka Thyne until proved wrong
about him, didn't you, Commander?" "No, that's not the way it was."
"Perhaps not to you, Commander, but it was to one
man." Halla Ettyk shrugged casually. "Corran Horn. And
now he's dead."
Outside the courtroom, Wedge slumped against the cold
stone wall. Nawara tried to rehabilitate me as a witness, but
the damage was done. I wanted to be in there and help
Tycbo, but I didn't. He hammered a fist against the wall.
"Sithspawn!"
He straightened up immediately as a woman closed to
within inches of him. She held up a comlink and nodded to a
holocam-carrying lthorian. "This is Zaree Lolvanci, Kuati
First Holo-News, and I'm standing here with Alliance hero,
Commander Wedge Antilles. How does it feel, Commander,
to know that your testimony is what will convict Captain
Celchu?"
Before Wedge could gather his wits enough to answer, a
body sliced between the holojournalist and him. Wedge felt a
strong grip on his upper arm and heard a firm voice reply to
the question in his place. "Commander Antilles's only inter-
est in this matter is seeing justice done. He has every confi-
dence that his faith in Captain Celchu will be vindicated
when the defense presents its case. Until then, any specula-
tion on the outcome would be premature and possibly preju-
dicial. And he has no further comment."
Wedge let Diric Wessiri guide him past the Ithorian and
on through a security checkpoint, where two guards stopped
the reporter and her holographer. Diric steered him to a
bench and sat beside him. "Odious people, the holoshills,
aren't they, Commander Antilles?"
"They don't make a very good first impression . . ."
"No, but it tends to last." The older man smiled at him.
"How are you holding up?"
Wedge nodded. "I think I will be able to recover. Just
need some time." He regarded the slender man closely.
Though his flesh still seemed a bit ashen, spirit and fortitude
shone in his eyes. "Thank you for saving me."
"! am glad I was able to help." Diric gave him a smile
that appeared artificial only in that it looked as if Diric had
to consciously work at remembering how to smile. "Iella was
afraid something like that would happen. She sent me after
you."
"I'd have thought she was happy with the turn of events.
Commander Ettyk ate me alive."
"No, she wasn't happy." Diric patted a tunic pocket. "I
have a pass that can take us up to the secure parking area.
We can get in my airspeeder and leave here. Iella said she
would be willing to join us later for dinner, if you wish."
"I doubt I would be very good company." Wedge
glanced back toward the courtroom. "I wanted to end
Tycho's persecution with my testimony, and all I did was
leave the impression that even I think he was a spy."
"Not at all." Diric tapped Wedge's thigh with a finger.
"First of all, the Tribunal judges know you and know how
difficult that was for you. All Commander Ettyk really did
was establish that Tycho was on Coruscant at your request
and that the possibility of betrayal was in your mind."
"Sure, but she also made it sound like I wouldn't know
who was a spy and who wasn't."
"Why would you?"
"What?"
Diric opened his hands. "As you said, ferreting out spies
is not what you do. No one expects you to have been able to
spot him as a spy if he was, and you certainly couldn't if he
wasn't. And, between you and me, I don't think he is a spy."
"Thanks."
"None necessary. I've had a number of conversations
with Captain Celchu in jail and I find him thoroughly lik-
able. If he's a spy, well, then all of us are suspects." Diric
held a hand up. "I would also like to point out that I have
attended many trials in my time, and you did no worse on
the stand than many people I have seen. You see your perfor-
mance as hideous because you were hoping to put the state's
case away with one telling shot. Unfortunately the case
against Tycho isn't a Death Star. It isn't going to go away
that easily. Nawara Ven knows what he's doing, though, and
he'll do a good job."
Wedge stared down at his hands. "I'd like to believe you,
but I feel the way I did at Yavin, when Luke told me to pull
up out of the trench on the Death Star. Luke was right, there
wasn't anything else I could do, but to abandon the effort at
that point, it just didn't feel right."
"I understand that, but Luke Skywalker was correct and
the Death Star was destroyed."
"Yes, but Biggs Darklighter died. If I'd stayed in there,
maybe--"
"Maybe he would have lived and you would have
died?" Diric shook his head ruefully. "And you probably
think that if you had been flying the night Coruscant was
taken, Corran would still live?"
I hadn't thought about it, but, yes, that notion has been
bouncing around in the back of my mind. "It's not that I
have a death wish, you know."
"I know that very well, Wedge. I have seen this survi-
vor's guilt in Iella, in Corran and his father, and in others."
He pressed a hand to his own chest. "Even I have known it.
We all have friends and acquaintances who meet with what
we see as an untimely death. With me, because I do nothing,
I wonder why it wasn't me who died. I wonder what I have
done to survive. With you and others who actively oppose
evil, you wonder what it is that you could have done to
prevent another person's death. Those questions have no an-
swers-at least none outside the philosophical realm. For me
they are a point of departure for
thought, but for you and my
wife they are just sources of frustration and regret.
"This is why, of course, my wife is working so hard to
uncover who caused Corran's death. That's the only way she
will be able to defeat the frustration and assuage her feelings
of guilt. She hated what you were put through on the stand,
because you are her friend, but her loyalty to Corran de-
manded she sit through it and help Commander Ettyk, if
need be." Diric shook his head. "Fortunately she did not
have to help. You two are enough alike that I imagine you
can see how much that would have hurt her."
"Yeah, I can see it." Wedge rubbed at his temples with
both hands. "And I can understand the frustration. I have to
wonder if there was a way to prevent Corran's death."
"Undoubtedly there was, Wedge, but it was not open to
you. If Captain Celchu was a spy, then General Cracken and
Winter and leila all missed the signs of it." "But Corran didn't."
Diric's smile returned more naturally. "As much as I
valued Corran as a friend, he was not always right." "So Whistler has indicated."
"And no one knew him better." Diric patted him on the
leg. "Maintain your faith in your friend. He deserves it."
"Again, thank you."
"No thanks are necessary. So, would you like me to take
you somewhere? We can eat or drink and leila can join us."
Wedge thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"There should be another two hours of testimony today,
shouldn't there?"
"Yes. Winter was called after you were."
Watching Winter testify has got to be hard on leila. They
were even closer than leila and I became, and with Winter
and Tycho being together . . ."Iella will need you there,
because Winter's testimony is going to be tougher on her
than mine."
"But you shouldn't be alone right now."
"I won't be." Wedge jerked a thumb toward the east.
"I'm going to go down a level, then over to the Galactic
Museum via the walkway. I'll spend some time in the Crimi-
nal Gallery, visiting old friends, then I'll come back here
when court is adjourned for the day and take you up on your
offer. I have a feeling that when today is over, Iella isn't
going to want to be alone either. No matter how this turns
out, I do consider her a friend, and I want to make sure she
has no reason to doubt that at all."
19
Gavin shifted his shoulders uneasily and tugged at the cuffs
of his dress jacket. I feel about as comfortable here as Com-
mander Antilles did on the witness stand.
Asyr slipped her arm through his as the tether-lift
stopped and the doors opened. "It's not going to be that bad,
Gavin. Liska Dan'kre, our hostess, is an old friend of mine.
We schooled together before I went off to the Academy."
"If she's hiring a skyhook for this party, she must be
filthy rich."
Asyr purred contentedly. "Rich, yes, but you'll find
nothing filthy about her." She led Gavin from the lift box
onto the entry platform which overlooked the whole of the
skyhook's disk. "Impressive, isn't it?"
"Yeah." The circular skyhook actually formed a bowl
with several pathways spiraling down through forested
depths to a central courtyard. A kilometer in diameter, the
floating garden flew high over the mountain district of Co-
ruscant. Off to the northeast, beyond the Manarai Moun-
tains, Gavin saw the top of the Imperial Palace. "I can't
believe I'm here."
Asyr looked up at him, puzzlement riding openly on her
face. "What's wrong?"
Where to begin? "Nothing, really, I suppose. It's just
that, well, on Tatooine we had no skyhooks. They weren't
deemed safe enough--one good dust storm blows up out of
the nastier regions and it would pull one of these skyhooks
from the sky."
The Bothan patted his hand. "The repulsorlift genera-
tors are more than sufficient for keeping this skyhook aloft.
Don't worry about that."
"Then there's the jungle." He gave her a weak smile.
"You weren't with us on one of our duty stations, but it
looked a lot like this. I got shot there. My stomach is already
acting up because of it."
Asyr rubbed her hand over the faint trace of a scar on
his belly. "I've seen what the bacta left you for a souvenir,
remember, love?"
Gavin blushed. "Yeah."
"And I think you're not nervous about that as much as
you're nervous about being here among my people." She
raised a finger and pressed it to his lips to forestall a com-
ment. "I know you're not bigoted--if you were you'd not be
here--but you've even said yourself that most of your life has
been spent among humans. It's not unusual to be anxious
when outnumbered--I feel it whenever we go to places
where humans predominate."
Gavin's shoulders sagged a centimeter or two. "I should
have realized . . . I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Asyr smiled broadly. "Come on, let's make
an impression on my friends."
Gavin brought his head up and smiled. "As you wish,
Asyr, so shall it be."
Together they descended from the entry platform and
started off on a path that took a long, 1ooping spiral down to
the central courtyard. The guests at the party were mostly
past. Gavin knew that had to be because of the high-necked,
sleeveless gown Asyr wore. Woven of iridescent blue and
purple thread, the color shifted and shimmered with her ev-
ery movement. The garment clung tight to her slender body,
but the fact that the skirts had been slit from ankle to high on
her thigh meant she was not hampered while walking. She'd
loosely draped a simple blue stole, woven from the metallic
thread used in her dress, across her back and through her
elbows, completing the outfit.
Other Bothan females wore similar gowns, but none so
well. Though he was not wholly adept at reading Bothan
body language and facial expressions, the rippling of fur on
necks and shoulders of those they passed by told him that
Asyr's gown was making quite an impression indeed. Gavin
thought he looked pretty sharp in his Rogue Squadron uni-
form, but he was a black hole compared with a supernova,
and quite content with that role.
As they reached the courtyard, a lithe female Bothan
with black and tan markings excused herself from a circle of
individuals who were listening to Borsk Fey'lya holding forth
on something. She wore a gown similar in design to Asyr's,
though it had been made of cloth of gold and had been
accented with jet beadwork in the form of stripes. She
beamed broadly as she approached them. "Asyr Sei'lar, you
are a vision!"
Asyr gave her friend a big hug. "Thank you for the invi-
tation, Liska."
Liska pulled back and looked up at Gavin. "And you are
Asyr's friend."
Gavin
executed a semiformal bow. "Gavin Darklighter
of Rogue Squadron, pleased to make your acquaintance."
He took her hand in his and shook it gently.
Liska sighed contentedly, then smiled at Asyr. "So man-
nerly, no wonder you find him so attractive. How did you
meet him?"
Asyr hesitated for a moment. "I was part of an opera-
tion in Invisec before the liberation. We met then."
Gavin smiled. "She was trying to get me executed as an
example to the Imps."
"You always did play a little rough, Asyr."
Asyr shrugged. "Luckily he had Nawara Ven defending
him, so the execution was delayed. Imps showed up, Gavin
saved my life and I his in the ensuing firefight. Not much
more to tell than that."
"Quite the first date, Asyr. It's a wonder he dared go out
with you again." Liska linked her arm through Asyr's. "You
never seemed to get into this sort of trouble when I've been
there to keep you safe." "True enough."
Liska looked up at Gavin. "I'm going to steal her away
for a moment or two, just to get caught up. You don't mind,
do you?"
Gavin gave her a big smile and shook his head. "Not at
all--seeing you again is all she's talked about since the invi-
tation came. I'll just find myself something to drink."
Asyr reached out and gave his right hand a squeeze.
"Won't be but a minute."
"Have fun." Gavin watched Liska lead her away, then
looked around, surveying his surroundings. Knots of individ-
uals-almost exclusively Bothans---dominated the land-
scape. About the only place they were not predominant was
at one bar where a couple of humans, two Ithorians, and a
handful of other non-Bothan individuals seemed to have
taken up residence. Gavin drifted off in that direction, keep-
ing his strides even and his head up even though something
in his belly made him want to hurry over there.
He looked at the bartender. "Lominale, please."
A short, balding man smiled over at him. "You should
drink the expensive stuff--the Bothans are paying for it."
"Perhaps, but I like lomin-ale." Gavin accepted the
frothy green glass of ale, sipped, then licked the foam off his
upper lip. The ale was good, though not nearly cold enough
for his tastes. Bothans don't seem to like particularly cold