'That's what the record says,' Luke nodded. 'You know anything about that?'
'No more than any other Alderaanian,' Winter said. Even with her rigid control some of the pain leaked through to her voice, and Luke found himself wincing in sympathy with it. For Leia, he knew, the destruction of Alderaan and the loss of her family was a heartrending but slowly fading ache in the back corners of her mind. For winter, with her perfect and indelible memory, the pain would probably go on forever. 'The question was whether the line of ascent to Viceroy should go to Bail Organa's father or one of the other family lines,' Winter continued. 'After the third voting deadlock they appealed to the Senate to mediate the issue. C'baoth was one of the delegation they sent, which took less than a month to decide that the Organas had the proper claim.'
'Did you ever see any pictures of C'baoth?' Luke asked. Winter considered. 'There was a group holo in the archives that showed the entire mediation team,' she said after a moment. 'C'baoth was-oh, about average height and build, I suppose. Fairly muscular, too, which I remember thinking seemed rather odd for a Jedi.' She looked at Luke, coloring slightly. 'I'm sorry; I didn't mean that to sound derogatory.'
'No problem,' Luke assured her. It was a common misconception, he'd discovered: with mastery over the Force, people just assumed there was no reason for a Jedi to cultivate physical strength. It had taken Luke himself several years to truly appreciate the subtle ways in which control of the body was linked to control of the mind. 'What else?
'He had graying hair and a short, neatly trimmed beard,' Winter said.
'He was wearing the same brown robe and white undertunic that a lot of Jedi seemed to favor. Other than that, there wasn't anything particularly notable about him.'
Luke rubbed his chin. 'How old did he look?'
'Oh ... I'd say somewhere around forty,' Winter said. 'Plus or minus five years, perhaps. Age is always hard to ascertain from a picture.'
'That would fit with the record here,' Luke agreed, retrieving the data card from the slot. But if the record was right ... 'You said Leia wanted to see me?' he asked, standing up.'
'If it's convenient,' Winter nodded. 'She's in her office.'
'Okay. Let's go.'
They left the library and started down the cross corridor linking the research areas with the Council and Assemblage chambers. 'You know anything about the planet Bortras?' he asked Winter as they walked. 'Specifically, anything about how long its people live?'
She thought a moment. 'I've never read anything that mentioned it one way or another. Why?'
Luke hesitated; but however the Imperials were getting information out of the New Republic's inner sanctum, Winter was certainly far above suspicion. 'The problem is that if this alleged Jedi out on Jomark really is Jorus C'baoth, he has to be over a hundred by now. I know there are some species that live longer than that, but he's supposed to be human.' Winter shrugged. 'There are always exceptions to a race's normal life span,' she pointed out. 'And a Jedi, in particular might have techniques that would help extend that span.'
Luke thought about that. It was possible, he knew. Yoda had certainly had a long life-a good nine hundred years-and as a general rule, smaller species usually had shorter life spans than larger ones. But usually didn't mean always; and after many hours of records searches, Luke still hadn't figured out just what species Yoda had belonged to. Perhaps a better approach might be to try to find out how long the Emperor had lived.
'So you think Jorus C'baoth is alive?' Winter asked into his thoughts.
Luke glanced around. They'd reached the Grand Corridor now, which because of its location was usually fairly brimming with beings of all sorts. But today it was nearly empty, with only a few humans and others standing around in little conversation groups of their own, all of them too far away to eavesdrop. 'I had a brief mental contact with another Jedi while I was on Nidlon,' he said, lowering his voice. 'Afterward, Leia told me that there were rumors C'baoth had been seen on Jomark. I don't know what other conclusion to come to.'
Winter was silent. 'Any comments?' Luke prompted her. She shrugged. 'Anything having to do with Jedi and the Force are out of my personal experience, Commander,' she said. 'I really can't comment one way or another on that. But I'd have to say that the impression I got of C'baoth from Alderaanian history makes me skeptical.'
'Why?'
'It's just an impression, you understand,' Winter emphasized.
'Nothing I would even have mentioned if you hadn't asked. C'baoth struck me as the sort of person who loved being in the middle of things. The sort who, if he couldn't lead, control, or help in a particular situation, would still be there just so he'd be visible.'
They were passing by one of the purple-and-green ch'hala trees lining the Grand Corridor now, close enough for Luke to see the subtle moire like turmoil of color taking place beneath the thin transparent outer bark. 'I suppose that fits with what I read,' he conceded, reaching out to slide a fingertip across the slender tree trunk as they
