Light of the Jedi(37)
She gestured at Kronara and Avar Kriss.
“Next time we might not have Jedi and Republic heroes nearby to save the day.”
Secretary Lorillia gave a tight nod, pulling himself together.
“Of course, Chancellor. You can rely on me. I will make it work.”
Lina took a moment to consider the reports she had received, then turned to the members of the Jedi Council standing nearby, listening intently but volunteering nothing.
“Anything from your side of things?” Lina asked.
“We can say that these events do not seem to be the result of direct action by Force users,” Yarael Poof said, the Quermian’s head weaving back and forth on his elongated neck like a flower in a breeze. “We are not all-knowing, but as of now we have no evidence along those lines.”
“I was at Hetzal,” Jora Malli added, a petite woman in the white-and-gold tunic of the Jedi Temple. She seemed a little frustrated; she kept tapping a finger against one of the beautifully striped head-tails that draped down across her chest. Togrutas had a certain regality as a species, with their montrals arcing out from their heads like crowns and the head-tails like natural robes across their bodies. Even their coloration contributed to the effect; in this case the bright orange skin and striking white facial markings suggesting a masked ball. Lina knew these characteristics were no more than the result of evolution, camouflage coloration, but they combined to give Togrutas a certain natural authority when interacting with most of the galaxy’s sentient beings. Jora Malli used that to full effect, whether consciously or not.
Lina had only dealt with the woman a few times in the past, but she had gotten the sense that Jora had a tinge of un-Jedi-like impatience. She liked to push problems until answers revealed themselves, trying many things until something worked rather than considering all angles and taking one decisive action. She preferred, in a word, to be busy.
That was why, Lina presumed, the Jedi Council had given Jora Malli the job of running the Order’s section of the new Starlight Beacon station in the Outer Rim. The station would be the first responder for virtually every Republic-or Jedi-related issue in that massive expanse of space. She would hold equal command with an RDC admiral and a Republic territorial administrator, with all significant decisions made by a majority vote. One problem to solve after another, endless negotiations and tinkering, and a thousand things to do at once. It was the perfect assignment for her.
“While Sskeer and I arrived after the Legacy Run tragedy had already begun,” Jora Malli went on, “if the Force has been used to cause it, I think either I or one of the other Jedi in the system would have sensed that. Master Kriss in particular was closely connected to the Force from almost the very start of the events.”
Sskeer hissed his agreement.
Senator Noor stepped toward Lina, inserting himself into her line of sight, a mildly aggressive act that caused Matari and Voru to flatten their ears. The senator seemed not to notice—the idea that mere beasts would dare to violate his person not even crossing his mind.
“Chancellor, I must ask again,” Noor said, “how long are you planning to keep the hyperspace lanes closed? Not every Outer Rim world is self-sufficient. Billions of people depend on those lanes for food and other essentials.”
“Obviously I won’t let people starve, Senator,” Lina said, a little exasperated. “I’ve already got one crisis—I won’t start a second one trying to solve it. I just want to decrease the odds of another disaster at least until we understand what we’re dealing with. If need be, I’ll authorize limited shipping of essential goods through the lanes.”
She turned to Kronara.
“I’ll ask you to enforce the ban, Admiral. Can you coordinate with the other RDC commanders to station cruisers at the applicable hyperspace beacons? I don’t want anyone reactivating portions of the navigation network. No navigational updates will keep these lanes from being used.”
“It’ll be a larger mobilization than anything we’ve done for some time, Madame Chancellor, but certainly.”
“Thank you,” Lina said.
She took two steps forward, until she was directly before the map of the Outer Rim Territories hovering in midair.
“We all want this over as soon as possible. Besides the immediate goal of preventing further death and destruction, you know I have plans for this part of the galaxy. The Starlight Beacon station will make the Republic more than just a distant ideal making brief appearances in the Outer Rim when our starships fly through, or we attempt to collect taxes. We will be there, with them, helping, from Bunduki to Bastion.”
Chancellor Soh tapped her index finger on the map, and a single glowing starlike dot appeared, more or less in the center of the region interdicted by the ongoing hyperspace disaster.
The Starlight Beacon. Finally finished after a lengthy, challenging construction process, the huge waystation was built to serve many purposes: a Republic embassy that could also serve as a fortress if necessary; a projection of security presence to discourage raider and marauder activity. A Jedi outpost containing the largest single contingent outside the Coruscant Temple itself, where they would research and teach and listen for the guidance of the Force. Cultural spaces showcasing the beauty of the many worlds making up the sector. A communications relay that would boost transmission times in the region by a factor of ten. The most state-of-the-art medical facilities in the Outer Rim—even now, survivors of the disasters in the Hetzal and Ab Dalis systems were being treated on Starlight despite the station not being formally open just yet.