Star Wars - Black Fleet Crisis - Shield Of Lies

by Michael P. Kube-Mcdowell

  Republic's armed forces--not one! The societor has forbidden it."

  "And I hope that will be an example to other rulers," Nil Spaar said.

  "But there is a great fleet poised to invade our territory, and they do

  not seem to have been left wanting by your absence."

  "Oh, that fleet is nothing but bluster," Ourn said dismissively. "The

  Princess hasn't the will to use it, or the support to do so."

  "I find her a strong and canny dictator," Nil Spaar said. "I cannot

  believe that she would make empty threats."

  "If you could hear the speakers denouncing her daily in the Senate, you

  would know how weak she is.

  There has been a challenge to her right to lead the New Republic. Why,

  there is even talk that she will be recalled."

  "I am more concerned whether the fleet that threatens us will be

  recalled," said Nil Spaar. "You will understand that I can't look past

  that."

  "But what about your promise? What about the favors I have done

  you?"

  "We have a debt to the Paqwepori, it is true--but others in my

  government question whether we can trust an ally of Leia Organa Solo--"

  "I would have denounced her myself, if the chairman would only have let

  me--" "--and still others believe that we must keep Queen of the

  Valkyries for ourselves, to help us in our defense against the fleets

  and armies Leia is raising against us.

  Truly, I do not see how we can deliver the ship to you in such

  circumstances."

  The consul's face had fallen farther with every word. "This is

  horrendous--unthinkable!" he sputtered.

  "Is there nothing you can do?"

  Nil Spaar flicked his cheek in the Paqwepori gesture of resignation.

  "Perhaps it would be possible--but no. I am embarrassed to ask for

  more when a debt already exists."

  "Ask! Please, ask! Is there some way I can help resolve this?"

  "I thought only that if you could give me the means to persuade the

  others--if I could give them sufficient reason to trust you--to know

  that you are as honorable as I know you to be--" "Yes, of course--but

  what will do that? Are you asking me to leave Coruscant? Are you

  asking us to leave the New Republic?"

  "No, no---by no means. Just continue to be a friend to us there," Nil

  Spaar said. "Keep your eyes and ears open to the machinations of she

  who afflicts us. Provide us with an unbiased report of her actions.

  Give us the information we need to keep this confrontation from

  spinning out of control. That's the only way we can keep our promise

  to you. That will be all the proof they need of your loyalty."

  "Of course," Ourn said. "Of course! I would have done so anyway. In

  fact, my first reason for contacting you was to tell you about Leia's

  newest abuse of her power. Even her friends are shocked by this--she

  came back from holiday and granted membership to more than twenty new

  systems, completely bypassing the established protocols--" "No," Leia

  said emphatically, brushing past Nanaod Engh as though he were a street

  beggar. "I don't want to call a cabinet meeting. I have nothing to

  tell them yet. The Defense Council hasn't met yet. The viceroy hasn't

  shown his hand yet."

  Engh appealed to Behn-kihl-nahm with his eyes.

  "Will you talk to her, Chairman?"

  "Leia--you don't have to have answers for them yet," Behn-kihl-nahm

  said. "Just let them see you. Just let them see you taking command.

  A government is an organism--and this one has taken two shocks

  substantial enough to disrupt its systems."

  "I'm sorry, but all that can't depend on me. There's a reason for

  having a cabinet, and the reason is so I don't have to concern myself

  with all those 'systems." So let the ministers deal with their

  responsibilities, and I'll deal with the things that only the chief of

  state can."

  "But you need to tell them that, and show them that you're present,

  aware, and active," said Behn-kihl-nahm.

  "You need to refocus their attention, or you'll have nine little

  kingdoms before you know it, all looking to their councils over in the

  Senate instead of to you. To a degree, that's already happened."

  "There's a great deal of governing which has nothing to do with

  Koornacht, the Defense Council, black fleets, and matters of state,"

  Engh said. "Perhaps the ministers and their staffs should not need

  reassuring, but they do."

  "And I don't need to be hung by my heels and questioned for four

  hours."

  "That won't happen," Engh said. "It will be your meeting, not

  theirs.

  Thank them for the work they've been doing. Call for their reports.

  Acknowledge the difficult times ahead. Ask them to remain diligent in

  discharging their responsibilities. Promise to tell them more when you

  can. Let them know that they are making it possible for you to do your

  job."

  "They should know all that without being told," Leia protested. "Why

  does it require a pep talk from me?

  My stars, during the Rebellion, our pilots got in their fighters

  knowing they were outnumbered five to one and worse with less

  hand-holding than this."

  "That was a different place and a different time," Behn-kihl-nahm said

  simply. "Leia--you have never served anywhere in government except at

  the top. Please trust those of us who are better acquainted with the

  view from the bottom to advise you in this."

  Sighing, Leia looked to the first administrator.

  "When do you suggest we do this, then? This afternoon?"

  "Oh, no--that would put the stamp of an emergency on it, which is the

  last thing you want. No, all you need do this afternoon is give the

  usual three-day notice. That will start sending the message you want

  heard. For the rest, three days from now is soon enough."

  "All right. Three days, then," Leia said grudgingly.

  "Will one of you tell Alole on your way out?"

  The first full cabinet meeting of the new era went surprisingly

  smoothly. Minister of State Mokka Falanthas showed signs--noticeable

  but not overt--of still being disgruntled over Leia's violation of his

  turf, but he kept those feelings out of his words when he reported on

  the work of the diplomatic corps. But the rest of them, Leia was

  forced to admit, did seem to relish the return to normalcy.

  Even better, Leia was able to hold the meeting down to two hours,

  giving her a chance to get some real work done before meeting Han for

  lunch. But she didn't quite manage to escape cleanly--Nanaod E ngh

  followed her out of the council hall and down the corridor toward the

  turbolifts.

  "Do you have some time now, Princess?" Engh asked. "There's something

  I'd like to bring up that wasn't appropriate for that venue."

  "I was planning on taking a slow second look at some new material that

  came in from General A'baht overnight," Leia said. "I'm going before

  the Defense Council on the first, you know."

  "Yes, I do."

  "Well, you have from here to my office door to convince me that

  whatever this is is more important than that."

  "I think perhaps this is pa
rt of that, Princess," said Engh. "Has

  Alole been showing you any of the traffic from the ministry

  channels?"

  "I don't understand. She screens it all and shows me the dispatches

  and inquiries I need to handle. You know that."

  "I'm sorry--I meant the public lines. The tallies from the

  message-handling droids that handle the unad-dressed comments, the

  abstracts from the general call logs--that sort of thing? Or perhaps

  you've taken a peek in there yourself."

  "No," Leia said, calling for the lift. "Why would I?"

  "Well--to get an idea how this all is being taken on the outside, off

  Coruscant, away from the government.

  To see how people are reacting to the news."

  "Go on," Leia said as the lift arrived.

  "This matter of the new members, for example--perfectly within your

  powers under the Charter," Engh said, following her into the car.

  "Everyone here knows the new members had to agree to observe the

  Charter like any other member, and that what was done was done not only

  for a legitimate reason, but a noble one."

  "I'd like to think that none of that needs explaining," said Leia as

  the doors knifed closed. "Except perhaps to Minister Falanthas."

  "That's a matter of professional turf and personal style, which I'm

  sure you two will work out in time," Engh said. "But out in the

  capitals, there's a great deal of concern about recent events--talk of

  your having exceeded your authority, of special privileges being

  granted, and of your acting on a whim, even rashly."

  "Are you talking about the home governments?"

  "The home governments themselves in some cases, the technocrats in

  others. And not only the techno-crats-this reaches nearly every

  quarter. Much of what's coming in from individual citizens on the

  public lines is critical--often crudely and ignorantly, but there it

  is."

  "And you think I should be reading this?" Leia said wryly. "Look,

  Nanaod--I don't understand why you're calling my attention to this.

  I'm unhappy with the situation, so why would I be surprised if others

  are? What's there to do about it?"

  "Well, we've been talking about this downstairs for several days now,"

  Engh said. "The emerging consensus is that all of that mess is the

  result of our not having prepared the New Republic for what was coming,

  and not moving fast enough to educate them after the fact.

  I'd like to put a couple of staff members on the problem full-time,

  preferably in consultation with someone in your office--I was thinking

  that Tarrick would be the best suited."

  The turbolift eased to a stop, and the doors flashed open on fifteen.

  "What do you propose to have them doing?"

  "Why, to plan a program to buff up your public image a bit. I like to

  think that it's mostly a matter of getting the word out--informing

  rather than influencing.

  We might want to think about making you a bit more available to the

  grids, not only the big ones based here, but the regional and local

  nets--" "Now you want me to give interviews? What next?

  Preside over spaceport openings? Endorse a line of little Leia

  dolls?

  Let myself be recorded dancing for Han in a Huttese slave-girl

  costume?"

  "Now, Leia, no one is suggesting--" "You'd get there, eventually. And

  that's not what I'm here to do," Leia said firmly. "What's more, I'd

  be deeply discouraged to discover that you can take someone who's shown

  terrible judgment and get people to support her just because she has a

  nice smile. I earned whatever criticism's aimed at me right now, and

  I'm going to try to earn back the respect I've lost--not replace it

  with something false."

  "That's not what we're talking about, Leia," Engh said. "We're talking

  about taking your case not just to the Senate, but to the people the

  senators represent.

  We're talking about combating misinformation and mis-impressions before

  they take hold firmly enough to be mistaken for the truth. Leia, this

  can only strengthen your hand."

  They were closing in on the presidential suite. "Am I supposed to do

  the right thing, Nanaod, or the popular thing? Where's the line

  between wanting to be understood and wanting to be liked?" She stopped

  and faced him, blocking him from coming further. "How does it help me

  provide the leadership everyone expects from me if there's a little man

  standing behind me whispering that the people aren't ready yet to go

  where I know we have to? Don't make it any harder than it is,

  Nanaod.

  Because I have to tell you, it's hard enough already."

  "All I want is to give you all the tools you need to be successful,"

  Engh said. "Your public image is one of them."

  "Except it needs rehabilitation."

  "In some circles--where you haven't been well served by gossip, rumor,

  and the news. This isn't about fogging the air with lies, Leia--it's

  about clearing away the fog that others create."

  "Mon Mothma never had to resort to image strategists, and she led us

  through harder times than these," Leia said. "No. I'm not

  interested."

  "Will you think about it? Perhaps if you sampled what's coming in,

  you'd understand why we're concerned---" "I understand," Leia said. "I

  just don't want that kind of help. And I have work to do now."

  Engh did not press the point further, but Leia had trouble leaving the

  conversation behind when she entered her office. Hours later, still

  burning over it, she repeated much of the exchange to Han when he

  joined her with the children for lunch at the indoor waterfall

  cascade.

  She expected his sympathy, but Han's face acquired an uncomfortable

  expression as she talked.

  "What? What is it?"

  "Nothing. It's nothing--go on, I'm listening."

  "No, I know that look," Leia insisted. "It's your 'I'm not going to

  say this because it'll just make things worse'

  trying-to-bite-your-tongue look. Except you always have to let me see

  how hard you're working to be nice. I don't know how you ever won a

  single hand of sabacc with that face."

  "Just like I know that speech," Han said, his mouth twisting into a

  wry, crooked grin. "That's your 'I'm going to poke at him until he's

  just mad enough to blurt out what he's thinking' speech. And it

  doesn't work anymore."

  "So why don't you just tell me, before we're both worn out from

  wrestling?"

  "It really doesn't mean anything--" "Why don't you skip the

  cushioning-the-blow part this time, too?"

  "Women," Han sniffed in mock indignation. "They always want you to

  tell them what you're thinking, but whatever you say is wrong."

  "As long as you understand the ground rules."

  "Oh, yeah. What's scary is watching Jaina figure them out, too." Han

  sighed. "A couple of days ago I heard from an old smuggling buddy

  who's settled down to the straight life out on Fokask. Haven't had any

  contact with him in years."

  "So why now?"

  "He sent me a copy of a commentary and half a dozen letters from The

  Fokask Ba
nner, which I guess is what passes for a newsgrid out there.

  The title on the commentary was something like 'Does Princess Crave

  Lost Crown?"" "Mmm. What did it have to say?"

  "Aw, I didn't read it that closely--why would I want to?" Her eyes

  prodded him gently. "Something about how they'd always thought of you

  as a steward of the best Old Republic values, but now you were starting

  to look like a fan of an even older idea, the divine right of

  monarchs--whatever that means. I probably got it at least partly

  wrong. You can read it yourself, if you really want."

  "And what did your friend have to say?"

  Han pursed his lips and avoided her eyes, clearly looking for a way to

  not answer.

  "Just tell me."

  "Well--he didn't have much to say, actually. After the last of the

  letters from the Banner, he just added a short note. 'Is there

  something in the water there on Coruscant?

  She seemed like such a nice girl."" Han shrugged. "It doesn't mean

  anything, except that now I have to kill him."

  "No, you don't."

  He nodded, deadpan. "Do. Insulted my girl. Have to kill all of