Conviction by Aaron Allston

Author:Aaron Allston [Allston, Aaron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, SciFi, Star Wars, Legacy Era, Fate of the Jedi
ISBN: 9780345509109
Publisher: Del Rey

Fifty meters farther along the line of barricades, a yellow-skinned humanoid female with an omnidirectional mike in her hand stared gaping at what had just transpired. “That was—that was Tuvar, wasn’t it? From Independent Voice News?” She looked back at her holocam operator for confirmation.

That individual, a Gamorrean male in permacrete-gray garments, held a holocam rig smaller and much less elaborate than that of the fallen man. It had a cradle for his shoulder, a diopter for his eye, and a trigger for on and off; everything else was automatic, making it an ideal rig for someone with a Gamorrean’s intellectual shortcomings. In answer to the yellow-skinned female’s question, he gave a porcine grunt of confirmation, but his attention did not waver; his holocam remained focused on his unconscious colleague, who was even now being approached by a security medic.

The female, lovely in a deliberately unthreatening fashion, made up to appear as though she wore no makeup, dressed in all-white to set herself off from most backgrounds when being recorded, turned to stare at the Senate Building. “I’d give a month’s pay to know what’s going on in there right now.”

“The Jedi have stormed the building.” The voice came from immediately to her left, pitched just loud enough to be heard over the crowd noise—from a distance of not more than five centimeters. The woman could feel the speaker’s breath against her ear. Something about the words sent a chill through her, but it wasn’t the speaker’s tone, which was low, neutral.

As if expecting to see a flesh-devouring monster, she turned. But the speaker was a human male wrapped up in traditional robes that could have been Jedi dress. The hood of his cloak was up, shadowing his face.

He drew back a few more centimeters to give her space. He was young, early thirties perhaps, decent-looking. “They haven’t admitted it, of course, the Jedi Masters, to the rank and file, but we know.”

She narrowed her eyes, looking him over. “What exactly do you know—hey, I recognize you, don’t I?”

“Yes.”

“You’re Valin Horn. Jedi Knight. Still being sought by the authorities after being broken out of prison. Along with your sister.”

Valin jerked his head casually to his right. The woman glanced that way. Standing beside Valin was Jysella Horn, her cloak hood also up, her expression dispassionate as she watched the Senate Building.

“I’m Kandra Nilitz, Landing Zone NewsNet.”

Valin bowed. “How do you do?”

“You can confirm that the Jedi have invaded the Senate? Hold on, let us get the holocam set up—”

Valin shook his head. “Not here. But if you can meet our terms, we’ll give you an exclusive. Facts nobody else knows.”

Kandra gave him a suspicious look. “What sort of terms?”

“Not wealth. Can you get hold of a hyperdrive-equipped transport or shuttle? And can you scan us for implanted transmitters? If you can, and if you can get the two of us up to where Fireborn blew up, we’ll give you a story no one else is getting.”

Kandra’s mind raced. “I… can. We have to get back to the studio.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.