Jedi Temple- Monday afternoon
Jaina didn't know what had changed with the way her parents were responding to her, but she was glad it had. It had started with a call from Leia only, and then a while later Han seemed to come around, too. Jaina chose not to question it, and to just be happy about it.
This was also a good thing, since Jaina still got called to deal with Jedi things, as did her parents. For instance now she'd been waiting in a chair in a conference room, waiting for them to show, since they'd had some stuff to take care of before their meeting and had left Allana in her care for a while. There'd been an incident where Allana's new pet Anji, a cub of a nexu Leia had had to kill during the chaos at the livestock expo, had gotten injured defending her, and so there'd been a lot of time down in Medical so far. When her parents did arrive, led by an apprentice who showed them in and left immediately, she stood, and even got hugs from them both, which felt great.
"Nice of Hamner not to be here on time," Han said. "How's Amelia?"
Jaina rolled her eyes. "Telling tall tales out of Dathomir. About rescuing Artoo-Detoo and fighting a one-eyed giant. She has Cilghal and the medical staff enrapt. Here, sit. Eat."
"Our daughter thinks I'm a trained nek. Sit, eat, roll over," Han said, but sat anyway. "How about Anji?"
"Cilghal thinks she'll be fine," Jaina said. "It was just a concussion."
"And Jag?" Leia asked. "Seeing much of him?"
Jaina waited until Leia sat, too, then resumed her chair. "Not so much in the last few days. Between the attempt on his life and all the other reasons for him to be under scrutiny, he's having a hard time getting away from his duties. Though he's volunteered to support your negotiations."
Leia smiled. "So we can call him in."
"That's right." She was trying really hard not to be bitter about how Jag got shunned for trying to do his job but when others needed a favor…
When the door slid open, Kenth Hamner came in alone, gesturing for them to remain in their seats. "Sorry to be late. Many issues are making demands on our time. Jedi Solo… You can stay if you wish."
"Thank you, sir," Jaina said, as she was planning to anyway.
Kenth sat, and set a datapad on the table in front of him. "So. What do you have from your meeting with Daala?"
Han and Leia exchanged a glance, then Han said, "I'm supposed to be objective about this, so I'll be polite about it and just say not much."
"But maybe a start," Leia said. "She wants us to turn over Sothais Saar."
Kenth stared. "She made a production out of meeting you at the Senate Building so you could bring that to the Council?"
"She promises not to put him in carbonite," Han said with a roll of his eyes.
"And hold him how?" Jaina demanded. "You know that's a hollow promise."
"Do we?" Kenth asked.
"Yes, we do. He has the Force, and he's trained to escape from places like MaxSec Eight. How are a bunch of GAS goons going to hold him?"
"The same way we do," he replied. "With ysalamiri."
"Hadn't thought of that," Han admitted. "But even if you give them some ysalamiri, Jedi are tough prisoners to keep."
"So are Bothan commandos," Kenth replied. "And Yaka assassins. GAS manages to hold them just fine."
"And if they don't?" Jaina asked. "You'll be putting Sothais's life at risk."
"Jedi Solo, I put the lives of Jedi Knights at risk every time I send them out on a mission. This would be no different, and it would be no less for the greater good," Kenth told her sternly. "Whether you wish to admit it or not, it would be good for the Order and the entire Alliance for us to reestablish a functional relationship with the government."
"So you're going to do it? You're sure?" Han asked, sounding a little more okay with that than Jaina would like.
Kenth thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm willing to consider it. But she'll have to give us something in return. The Masters will never go for it, otherwise- and I couldn't ask them to."
There was a moment of silence, and Jaina asked, "What about the Horns?"
"That would be nice," Leia said, "but I don't see her releasing them."
"Not releasing, necessarily," Jaina said. "But if we could get her to thaw them out."
"Yeah," Han said, interested. "That's fair. If Daala thinks GAS can hold one crazy Jedi, why not three?"
"And she would have to stipulate that they're not prisoners," Leia added. "That they're patients- and, as such, deserve the benefit of medical care- the Alliance's finest medical care."
"They already have the Alliance's finest medical care," Jaina said. "There isn't anyone out there better than Master Cilghal."
"But Master Cilghal and her staff have limits that the entire medical establishment of Coruscant does not. This might even prove advantageous to the Jedi-provided, of course, that we retain access to the patients," Kenth pointed out.
"Yeah," Han said, nodding. "That seems fair."
Another brief silence as they all considered that, and Jaina crossed her arms and sat back in her chair. "It might start out fine. Then Daala will renege. She'll refreeze them all, she'll deny their data to us, and she'll be holding all the cards. We'll have no recourse."
"And if that happens, what have we lost? One Jedi," Kenth shrugged. "But we will have no doubts left about her lack of good will."
Han was incredulous. "You have doubts now?"
"Han," Leia muttered. "Objective, remember?"
Jaina frowned at them. "What's going on, you two?"
"Nothing," Han said. "I just sort of promised Daala I wouldn't torpedo this deal…well, at least not if it didn't deserve it."
Jaina rolled her eyes. "Dad, you can't trust her."
"We don't know that for sure. She might be trying to do the right thing. What do I know? I taught you to mistrust all politicians except Leia, and now that's coming back to bite me." He jerked a thumb toward Leia. "Talk to your mother."
"Since Daala became Chief of State, we haven't put her word to the test. This would seem to be the perfect time to do that," Leia said thoughtfully. "Then we'll know for sure."
Kenth nodded in agreement. "It's about finding a way to work together when we don't trust each other" He turned a stony glare on Jaina. "Even the Sword of the Jedi should remember that much about negotiation."
Jaina, thirty-four years old, rolled her eyes and sighed like a teenager who wasn't getting her way.
"I'm skeptical, too, Jedi Solo," he continued. "But we've got to start somewhere." He turned to Han and Leia. "Take this to Daala and see how she reacts. That will tell us something about how sincere she is."
Leia nodded, but did not rise. "Think we can spend a little time with our daughters first?"
"Of course," he said, standing. "Take all the time you wish. It's not like the situation is going to resolve itself without you."
[Ah, the "That complication in the last book sucked, let's ignore it" fix. NFB, NFI, OOC okay. Taken from Backlash by Aaron Allston.]
This was also a good thing, since Jaina still got called to deal with Jedi things, as did her parents. For instance now she'd been waiting in a chair in a conference room, waiting for them to show, since they'd had some stuff to take care of before their meeting and had left Allana in her care for a while. There'd been an incident where Allana's new pet Anji, a cub of a nexu Leia had had to kill during the chaos at the livestock expo, had gotten injured defending her, and so there'd been a lot of time down in Medical so far. When her parents did arrive, led by an apprentice who showed them in and left immediately, she stood, and even got hugs from them both, which felt great.
"Nice of Hamner not to be here on time," Han said. "How's Amelia?"
Jaina rolled her eyes. "Telling tall tales out of Dathomir. About rescuing Artoo-Detoo and fighting a one-eyed giant. She has Cilghal and the medical staff enrapt. Here, sit. Eat."
"Our daughter thinks I'm a trained nek. Sit, eat, roll over," Han said, but sat anyway. "How about Anji?"
"Cilghal thinks she'll be fine," Jaina said. "It was just a concussion."
"And Jag?" Leia asked. "Seeing much of him?"
Jaina waited until Leia sat, too, then resumed her chair. "Not so much in the last few days. Between the attempt on his life and all the other reasons for him to be under scrutiny, he's having a hard time getting away from his duties. Though he's volunteered to support your negotiations."
Leia smiled. "So we can call him in."
"That's right." She was trying really hard not to be bitter about how Jag got shunned for trying to do his job but when others needed a favor…
When the door slid open, Kenth Hamner came in alone, gesturing for them to remain in their seats. "Sorry to be late. Many issues are making demands on our time. Jedi Solo… You can stay if you wish."
"Thank you, sir," Jaina said, as she was planning to anyway.
Kenth sat, and set a datapad on the table in front of him. "So. What do you have from your meeting with Daala?"
Han and Leia exchanged a glance, then Han said, "I'm supposed to be objective about this, so I'll be polite about it and just say not much."
"But maybe a start," Leia said. "She wants us to turn over Sothais Saar."
Kenth stared. "She made a production out of meeting you at the Senate Building so you could bring that to the Council?"
"She promises not to put him in carbonite," Han said with a roll of his eyes.
"And hold him how?" Jaina demanded. "You know that's a hollow promise."
"Do we?" Kenth asked.
"Yes, we do. He has the Force, and he's trained to escape from places like MaxSec Eight. How are a bunch of GAS goons going to hold him?"
"The same way we do," he replied. "With ysalamiri."
"Hadn't thought of that," Han admitted. "But even if you give them some ysalamiri, Jedi are tough prisoners to keep."
"So are Bothan commandos," Kenth replied. "And Yaka assassins. GAS manages to hold them just fine."
"And if they don't?" Jaina asked. "You'll be putting Sothais's life at risk."
"Jedi Solo, I put the lives of Jedi Knights at risk every time I send them out on a mission. This would be no different, and it would be no less for the greater good," Kenth told her sternly. "Whether you wish to admit it or not, it would be good for the Order and the entire Alliance for us to reestablish a functional relationship with the government."
"So you're going to do it? You're sure?" Han asked, sounding a little more okay with that than Jaina would like.
Kenth thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm willing to consider it. But she'll have to give us something in return. The Masters will never go for it, otherwise- and I couldn't ask them to."
There was a moment of silence, and Jaina asked, "What about the Horns?"
"That would be nice," Leia said, "but I don't see her releasing them."
"Not releasing, necessarily," Jaina said. "But if we could get her to thaw them out."
"Yeah," Han said, interested. "That's fair. If Daala thinks GAS can hold one crazy Jedi, why not three?"
"And she would have to stipulate that they're not prisoners," Leia added. "That they're patients- and, as such, deserve the benefit of medical care- the Alliance's finest medical care."
"They already have the Alliance's finest medical care," Jaina said. "There isn't anyone out there better than Master Cilghal."
"But Master Cilghal and her staff have limits that the entire medical establishment of Coruscant does not. This might even prove advantageous to the Jedi-provided, of course, that we retain access to the patients," Kenth pointed out.
"Yeah," Han said, nodding. "That seems fair."
Another brief silence as they all considered that, and Jaina crossed her arms and sat back in her chair. "It might start out fine. Then Daala will renege. She'll refreeze them all, she'll deny their data to us, and she'll be holding all the cards. We'll have no recourse."
"And if that happens, what have we lost? One Jedi," Kenth shrugged. "But we will have no doubts left about her lack of good will."
Han was incredulous. "You have doubts now?"
"Han," Leia muttered. "Objective, remember?"
Jaina frowned at them. "What's going on, you two?"
"Nothing," Han said. "I just sort of promised Daala I wouldn't torpedo this deal…well, at least not if it didn't deserve it."
Jaina rolled her eyes. "Dad, you can't trust her."
"We don't know that for sure. She might be trying to do the right thing. What do I know? I taught you to mistrust all politicians except Leia, and now that's coming back to bite me." He jerked a thumb toward Leia. "Talk to your mother."
"Since Daala became Chief of State, we haven't put her word to the test. This would seem to be the perfect time to do that," Leia said thoughtfully. "Then we'll know for sure."
Kenth nodded in agreement. "It's about finding a way to work together when we don't trust each other" He turned a stony glare on Jaina. "Even the Sword of the Jedi should remember that much about negotiation."
Jaina, thirty-four years old, rolled her eyes and sighed like a teenager who wasn't getting her way.
"I'm skeptical, too, Jedi Solo," he continued. "But we've got to start somewhere." He turned to Han and Leia. "Take this to Daala and see how she reacts. That will tell us something about how sincere she is."
Leia nodded, but did not rise. "Think we can spend a little time with our daughters first?"
"Of course," he said, standing. "Take all the time you wish. It's not like the situation is going to resolve itself without you."
[Ah, the "That complication in the last book sucked, let's ignore it" fix. NFB, NFI, OOC okay. Taken from Backlash by Aaron Allston.]