Vision of the future

In front of the Falcon, the stars flared into starlines, and Leia slumped a little in her seat. 'Do you think he really meant it?' she asked, turning to look at Elegos.

Elegos gave one of his full-body Caamasi shrugs. 'I believe Admiral Pellaeon himself is sincere,' he said. 'As I presume you know with more certainty than I do. I suspect the question you really wish to ask is whether his sincerity can be trusted.'

'I don't know,' she said. 'You're right, I don't sense any duplicity in Pellaeon himself. But with Thrawn back on the scene...' She shook her head. 'Nothing was ever the way it seemed with him, Elegos. He could maneuver you into doing exactly what he wanted you to do, despite the fact that you knew he was trying to do it. Thrawn may be using this peace initiative of Pellaeon's for some other end entirely.'

'Is that why you didn't tell him that Captain Solo was on Bastion?' Elegos asked. Leia started. 'How did you know about that?' she demanded. 'I didn't tell you Han had gone there.'

Elegos shrugged again. 'You've dropped hints,' he said. 'As have the Noghri. It hasn't been difficult to put the pieces together.' His blue-on-green eyes bored into her face. 'Why didn't you tell Admiral Pellaeon that?'

Leia turned away from that gaze, pretending to study the Falcon's engine monitor. 'We know that Imperials are encouraging at least some of the violence that's been occurring in the New Republic,' she said, fighting through the sudden dryness in her throat. 'That riot on Bothawui, for one—my Noghri guard found evidence that the shots that started it came from a rare Imperial sniper weapon.'

'Interesting,' Elegos murmured. 'You didn't tell Pellaeon about that, either.'

'The problem is we have no real proof of any of it,' Leia said, shaking her head tiredly. 'And even if we did... fighting Thrawn is like fighting a shadow, Elegos. He's never where you think he is, doing what you expect him to do. Everything he does is circles within circles within circles.'

'Yet you cannot allow uncertainty to paralyze you,' Elegos pointed out. 'That path allows him to win by default. At some point, right or wrong, you must take action.' His eyes seemed to bore into hers. 'You must decide who you can trust.'

Leia blinked back sudden tears. 'I can't trust Pellaeon,' she said bluntly. 'Not yet. If Thrawn is orchestrating this whole operation, Han would be a terribly useful hostage or bargaining chip for him. I couldn't take the chance he'd find out from Pellaeon that Han was there.'

'Yet you trusted him enough to allow him to take Ghent into a situation of potentially equal danger,' Elegos pointed out.

'Ghent wanted to go,' she said, knowing even as she spoke that such an argument was dangerously slippery ground. 'Besides, he wouldn't be of any use to Thrawn.'

'You know better than that, Councilor,' Elegos said, the soft reproach in his voice a painful jab in Leia's heart. 'Ghent is highly knowledgeable about New Republic encrypt and decrypt techniques. In a war situation, such knowledge would be of immense value to the Empire.'

'We've already been over this,' Leia reminded him, the first stirrings of anger coloring the guilt rumbling within her. Who was this Caamasi to tell her what was right or not right for her to do?

'There's no way for us to avoid taking risks here.'

'I agree,' Elegos said. 'And I don't suggest that your decisions were necessarily wrong.' Leia frowned, the growing anger turning to suspicious uncertainty. 'What are you suggesting, then?' she demanded.

'That you're worried you used your power and authority to protect your husband more than you did a relative stranger,' Elegos said. 'That you're worried you've betrayed the trust that is yours as a High Councilor, a diplomat, and a Jedi.'

'She does not need to answer to you, Trustant A'kla,' a harsh Noghri voice came from behind them.

Leia turned her head to see Sakhisakh standing in the open cockpit door. 'Trouble?' she asked him.

'No trouble,' the Noghri assured her, stepping forward and taking up a position just behind her.

'I came to report that no one is in pursuit, and that Barkhimkh is shutting down the weapons systems.' He turned his dark eyes on Elegos. 'If she chooses to protect her clan from danger, that is no concern of yours.'

'I agree,' Elegos said calmly. 'As I've already said, I'm not here to pass judgment.'

'Then why do you press her about it?' Sakhisakh demanded.

'Because as I also said, she herself is not convinced she did right,' Elegos said, turning his gaze back to Leia. 'It's important that she think this matter through and come to a conclusion, one way or another. Either to accept her