'I agree,' Leia said. 'Is this opinion shared by others in the Empire?' A muscle in Pellaeon's cheek twitched. 'I'm sure the average Imperial citizen has recognized that truth for quite some time,' he said. 'It's merely been the leadership who have clung to the hope that the inevitable could somehow be prevented.'
'And does that leadership now agree with the two of us and the average Imperial citizen?'
'Yes,' Pellaeon said. 'Reluctantly, but yes. I've been authorized by the eight remaining Moffs to open peace negotiations with the New Republic.'
Leia felt her throat tighten. She had heard Vermel's message; had come aboard and seen Pellaeon waiting alone for her... but only now did it suddenly seem truly real.
Peace. With the Empire.
'Yet as you have already said, the Empire has lost,' Elegos spoke into the silence. 'What then remains to be negotiated?'
Leia resettled her shoulders, sending a silent word of thanks in Elegos's direction for his subtle reminder of her duty here. She was representing the New Republic, and could not allow the emotional lure of peace to blind her to the hard intellectual realities of the situation. 'Trustant A'kla makes a good point,' she said. 'What you would gain from a peace treaty is obvious. What would we gain?'
'Perhaps what we would gain is not as obvious as you think,' Pellaeon said. 'The New Republic is after all struggling with internal turmoil, with every indication that matters are getting worse.' He looked pointedly at Elegos. 'Several of the Moffs, in fact, believe you're on the verge of collapsing into total civil war over this Caamasi issue. In the midst of such anarchy, the remnants of the Empire could easily be overlooked. Why then should we bother with the humiliation of a treaty at all?' Leia's mouth felt dry. It was an all too reasonable question. 'If you really believed we were about to destroy ourselves, you wouldn't be here,' she pointed out.
'Perhaps,' Pellaeon said. 'Perhaps I merely don't believe the more virulent haters of the Empire would forget about us.' He paused. 'Or perhaps I may be able to keep that civil war from happening.'
Leia frowned. 'How?'
'Let me first state what the Empire would want included in any treaty between us,' Pellaeon said.
'We would want our current borders confirmed and accepted by Coruscant, with guarantees of free travel and trade between our worlds and those of the New Republic. No harassment; no border skirmishes; no propaganda pressure against us.'
'What about the nonhumans living under Imperial rule?' Sakhisakh demanded. 'Are we to merely accept their slavery?'
Pellaeon shook his head. 'The Empire which once enslaved and exploited thinking beings is dead,' he told the Noghri. 'The human domination of Palpatine long ago became full cooperation between all the beings within our borders.'
'Do all your subjects agree that they're now equals?' Leia asked.
'Probably not,' Pellaeon conceded. 'But once we had the security of a peace treaty, any Imperial system wishing to join the New Republic would be offered the chance to do so.' He lifted his eyebrows. 'By the same token, we would expect systems within your borders who wish to rejoin the Empire to also be allowed to make that choice, with the same security and free trade guarantees extended to them.'
Sakhisakh bit out a Noghri curse. 'What people would be so foolish as to give you their freedom?' he demanded contemptuously.
'You might be surprised,' Pellaeon said. 'Freedom, after all, is a highly relative and subjective thing. And as I say, we're not the Empire you knew.'
The Noghri rumbled under his breath again but remained silent. 'Of course, all guarantees of safety would work the other direction as well,' Pellaeon said, turning back to Leia. 'No attacks by Imperial forces; no provocation; no hired privateers.' His face twitched in an almost-smile. 'And, of course, if we should happen to stumble across another superweapon Palpatine had hidden away, we would work with you to dismantle it.'
Leia braced herself. 'And what about the superweapon you're already using?' Pellaeon frowned. 'What superweapon?'
'The one that nearly defeated us once before,' Leia said. 'Grand Admiral Thrawn.' Pellaeon's lips compressed briefly, and Leia could sense the wave of uncertainty and quiet fear washing through him. 'I don't know, Councilor. I have no idea at all what's going on there.' Leia threw a glance at Elegos. 'What do you mean?'
'Exactly what I said,' Pellaeon told her. 'I've been here at Pesitiin waiting for General Bel Iblis for the past two weeks, and was running under a communications blackout for several days before that. I didn't even know Thrawn had been reported alive until a week ago.'
