Vision of the future

Under other circumstances, she knew, she would probably have considered herself honor-bound to make him sweat, just a little. But with the water still rising below them, such games seemed rather pointless. Besides, there was no reason for old defensive patterns to come into play. Not now. Not with him. 'Yes,' she said. 'I will.'

CHAPTER

40

A blast of turbolaser fire shot past, burning a scorch line in the Predominance's bridge canopy. It was like an omen, Leia thought darkly as she stepped past the outer monitor ring and into the central control cluster: an omen of her own impending downfall. What she was about to do, she knew, would most likely be the end of her political career. It could possibly send her to a penal colony. It could even cost her her life.

But Han's own life was hanging in the balance. Against that, nothing else mattered. She stopped behind the Ishori at the helm station and looked over his shoulder at his control board. The indicators and controls were labeled in Ishori, of course, but the board itself was a straight Kuat Drive Yards design and she knew the layout. Taking a deep breath, she stretched out to the Force and keyed the sublight drive lever.

The helmsman himself was the first to notice something was wrong. Rumbling something under his breath, he pulled the lever back to its original position. Leia pushed it forward again, this time also laying in a new ship's vector toward the comet blazing in the distance. The helmsman rumbled again, louder this time, and again grabbed the lever.

Except that this time it didn't move. Leia held it firm against his struggles; and as he paused, confused, she took the opportunity to push it still farther forward. The helmsman swiveled in his seat to look at Captain Av'muru—

And out of the corner of his eye he spotted Leia standing behind him.

'What do you do here?' he shouted, swiveling farther around to glare up at her. 'Guards!' Leia turned. Two guards were striding toward her, blasters in hand. Stretching out again to the Force, she plucked the blasters away from them and slammed the weapons straight down to the deck with shattering force.

'Councilor!' Av'muru shouted, jumping up from his seat. 'What are you doing?' Leia didn't answer, but reached again for the speed control. 'No!' the helmsman screamed, leaping out of his chair with his hands reaching for her throat.

The clutching fingers never got there. Leia caught him in midair in a Force grip, redirecting the direction of his leap to send him soaring instead over the monitor ring to land in a confused heap at the back of the bridge.

'Guards!' Av'muru shouted. 'All guards!'

Leia turned back to the helm, again increasing the ship's speed. Her senses flared with warning, and she snatched up her lightsaber just as two other guards on the far side of the room brought their blasters up. They fired, their stun bolts scattering uselessly from her glowing blade. Again she snatched the weapons away, this time bringing them flying across the bridge toward her and slicing them neatly in half with her lightsaber.

'You will stop this at once,' Av'muru snarled, stalking with an even, deliberate pace toward her.

'Otherwise, I will declare a state of war to exist between the Ishori Confederene and the New Republic.'

'This entire system is in deadly danger,' Leia said in a loud voice. 'You've refused to take steps to oppose this danger. I have therefore done so in your place.'

'You risk war between Isht and Coruscant,' Av'muru shouted, still coming toward her. 'You have until I reach you to cease this action and return this vessel to my command.' Out of the corner of her eye, Leia saw Gavrisom trotting over toward Av'muru's side... and there was now exactly one card left for her to play. 'There is no need or reason to involve the New Republic,' she told the Ishori. 'I hearby resign from the High Council, and the Senate, and the Presidency. I am no longer anything but a private citizen.'

'Then you also renounce all diplomatic privileges,' Av'muru snapped. Gavrisom had reached his side now, pulling slightly ahead of the Ishori as the two of them continued toward Leia. From Gavrisom's gait, Leia could tell he was trying to reach her first. Probably hoping to stop her himself, with an eye toward minimizing the political damage to the New Republic that she had just caused. But it was too late for that, and Gavrisom surely knew it. 'You are aboard an Ishori war vessel,' Av'muru continued. 'The penalty for mutiny aboard such a vessel is death.' Leia felt her throat tighten. And that, she realized bleakly, was that. The captain had spoken the word 'mutiny,' automatically invoking the highest level of Ishori war-law. If she didn't back down before Av'muru reached her, he would have no choice but to bring the entire might of his warship to bear against her.

Could they stop her? Probably not. Certainly not before they reached the comet. But at what cost? Though she could hold them back, she could almost certainly not do so without the eventual shedding of blood. And if her actions led to death, even deaths from ricochet shots from their own weapons, her fate would be sealed. The strict code of Ishori war-justice would demand her death in return.

And for the sake of unity within the New Republic, she would have to submit. Av'muru and Gavrisom were nearly to her now...

And then, to Leia's amazement, Gavrisom turned sideways and abruptly stopped, his long flank stretching across the aisle between two consoles, blocking Av'muru's way. 'I think not, Captain,' he said calmly. 'I am declaring this