The bolt whizzed past Rella's head, hitting Cohl in the chest.
A second bolt struck the wall behind Cohl and glanced off into the room.
Twisting to one side, Cohl threw himself at the two men by the door, dropping both with a body block.
At the same instant, Rella bent her right leg, raising her foot into Havac's groin. He stumbled backwards, gasping for breath, but managed to hold on to the blaster. Boiny hurled himself at Rella, intent on driving her to the floor, but Havac began to fire wildly, catching Rella in the neck and Boiny in the side of the head.
Wrestling with the two men he had knocked down, Cohl heard the blaster bolts and saw Rella collapse in a heap. Sudden rage rushed to his aid in ripping a blaster from one of the men and killing him with a shot to the face.
The other man rolled and came to his feet in a crouch, loosing a volley of bolts at Cohl.
Cohl felt intense heat sear his thigh, abdomen, and forehead. He flew back against the wall and slid slowly to the floor, the blaster slipping from his grip.
Across the room a groan escaped Boiny, and he turned over onto his back, blood oozing from his head.
Through half-closed eyes Cohl stared at Rella.
A single tear moved in fits and starts down her right cheek to her jawline. Cohl extended his right hand toward her, only to have it fall to his side, like dead weight.
'Havac,' he said weakly, before his head fell to his chest.
His back pressed to the wall, a quaking Havac dropped Rella's blaster, as if he had just realized he was holding it. He gazed wide-eyed at his comrade.
'Is-is she dead?' Keeping his blaster ready, the human went first to Rella, then to Boiny, and finally to Cohl. 'Yes — comand these two are well on the way. What should we do with them?' Havac swallowed audibly. 'The authorities are hunting for Captain Cohl,' he stammered.
'Perhaps we should let them find him.' 'And the others-the ones Cohl brought?' Havac considered it briefly. Then he retrieved the scarf he had thrown to the floor and began to wind it around his lower face.
'They know me only as Havac,' he said, and moved for the door.
A uniformed detachment of Eriadu security guards escorted Qui-Gon, Obi- Wan, and Adi Gallia to the heavily guarded door of the Supreme Chancellor's temporary quarters in the majestic home of Lieutenant Governor Tarkin.
Sei Taria led them the rest of the way.
'I never got to thank you personally for your actions at the Senate,'
Valorum said to Qui-Gon.
'If it wasn't for you and Master Gallia, I might not be standing here today.' Qui-Gon nodded in respect and acknowledgment.
'The Force was with you that day, Supreme Chancellor.
But we're not satisfied that the threat has been removed. There is reason to believe that the assault in the plaza was contrived to lure Republic law enforcement to the Senex sector, and thus distract us from a similar plan the Nebula Front hopes to execute on Eriadu.' Valorum beetled his thick brows. 'A strike against me here would undermine what little support the Nebula Front currently enjoys in the Outer Rim.' 'The Nebula Front has no more faith in the Republic than it does in the coalition of outlying worlds,' Qui-Gon replied calmly but firmly.
'By attacking you here, the Front may be hoping to induce the Republic to forsake any interest in the free trade zones, and lay the ground work for a separatist movement in the Outer Rim.' He compressed his lips. 'I know that it defies all reason, Supreme Chancellor, but the Nebula Front appears to have abandoned reason.' Valorum paced away from Qui-Gon, then whirled around. 'Then it's up to me to convince the delegates of the outlying sectors to loosen the yoke the Nebula Front and Trade Federation have thrown about them.' 'Supreme Chancellor,' Adi interjected, 'will you at least consider postponing your opening remarks until we've had a chance to uncover the Nebula Front's plan?
It's possible that assassins have already managed to penetrate Eriadu security.' Valorum shook his head. 'I won't hear of it.
At this late stage, any change to the proceedings would be interpreted as weakness or hesitancy.' He glanced at the three Jedi. 'I'm sorry. I realize that you have my best interests in mind. But for the sake of the Republic, I can't allow you to interfere.' Adi bowed her head. 'We will honor your wishes, Supreme Chancellor.' The three Jedi turned and exited the room.
No sooner did the door close behind them than Qui-Gon said, 'We must go directly to the site of the summit and see what we can learn.' If the attack on Valorum didn't make him the focus of this summit, Asmeru certainly did,'
Senator Bor Gracus of Sluis Van was telling Palpatine as they moved in step with the slow flow of other delegates toward Eriadu Spaceport's immigration scanners.
Human or alien, almost everyone was draped in robes and capes of the finest cloth, including Palpatine and his temporary companion in the snaking line, who were dressed alike in richly adorned cloaks with roomy sleeves and high double collars.
Sate Pestage and Kinman Doriana, also dressed alike in black cloaks, followed closely behind Palpatine.
'Gossip to which I've been privy suggests many of the Core and Inner Rim delegates are whispering that the Supreme Chancellor's actions at Asmeru were a bald attempt to curry favor with the Trade Federation.' Gracus was a stout human with protruding eyes and a putty nose. His homeworld boasted a small but flourishing shipyard.
As with other worlds along and in close proximity to the Rimma Trade Route, Sluis Van viewed its future import as preordained.
'Gossip is valuable only if it is accurate, Senator,' Palpatine said after a moment.
