4
The prison uniform Tycho Celchu had been given looked enough like a flightsuit that Wedge Antilles could almost imagine his friend being free again. The black jumpsuit had red sleeves and leggings that started at elbow and knee respectively. They also ended well shy of wrist and ankle so the fabric would not interfere with the operation of the binders Tycho wore.
Wedge shuddered with anger and embarrassment. I will see you free again, my friend.
Tycho looked up and smiled. A bit taller than Wedge, but with the same lithe build, Tycho was a handsome man whose blue eyes appeared brighter than Wedge would have thought possible. Tycho held his hands up in greeting to Wedge and Nawara Ven, and almost made it seem as if the binders were not hampering him. He waited patiently as a guard in a control room opened the transparisteel barrier separating him from the visitation center, then shuffled in past his escort.
Wedge rose and started across the sparsely furnished white room, but Tycho’s guard brandished a Stokhli Spray Stick. “Keep away from the prisoner, Commander.”
Wedge felt a hand on his left elbow and turned back to face the Twi’lek who had accompanied him to the detention center. “Commander, we’re not allowed physical contact with Tycho—no one is allowed to touch prisoners. It’s security.”
Wedge frowned. “Right.”
Nawara Ven skewered the guard with a pink-eyed stare. “You’ve done your duty here, now I require you to leave us alone with my client and my droid here.”
The heavyset guard’s eyes narrowed, then he tapped the Stokhli Spray Stick against the palm of his other hand. “I’m going to be right out there. Anything funny happens, and you’ll be spending a lot of time with this traitor.” He turned and headed back out to the far side of the transparisteel barrier.
Wedge dropped into one of the four chairs around the table in the middle of the room. “How are you doing? Is that guard causing you trouble? Because if he is, I’ll do something about it.”
Tycho sat across from him and shrugged. “Voleyy isn’t so bad, he just doesn’t like things to get odd on his watch. Other guards are worse, and if I weren’t in solitary confinement, I think the general population would have already tried and executed me.”
“What?” Tycho’s comment caught Wedge by surprise. “What do you mean by that?”
“I thought it was rather self-explanatory.” Tycho shook his head, then smiled up at his friends. “You have to remember, I’ve been charged with murder and treason. There are guards here who are just waiting for an excuse to show the New Republic how deep their patriotism runs. Some of the prisoners think they could win a pardon by saving the Republic the cost of a trial. I shouldn’t think that would come as a surprise to you, Wedge.”
“No, I guess it doesn’t, but your reaction to it does. If I were in your boots, I’d be angry and outraged.”
“That’s because you’ve never been a guest in the Empire’s correctional system.” Tycho sighed and Wedge read weariness in the way his shoulders sagged. “All the anger and outrage I can muster won’t get me out of here any faster, and it could get me in trouble.”
“But aren’t you angry about being imprisoned for something you didn’t do?”
“Yes.”
Wedge opened his hands. “Then why don’t you show it? You can’t keep it bottled up inside. It’ll tear you apart.”
Tycho took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “Wedge, you’ve always been my friend and you’ve supported me with no questions asked, but what I’m enduring now is really no different than what I endured while being under house arrest. Sure, I can’t go flying, can’t head out to Borleias with Mirax to save Corran’s tail, and I’m not free to walk the streets of Coruscant as your hole card, but nothing has really changed. Since my capture by the Empire right here on Coruscant I’ve been their prisoner. I’ve never really escaped the Empire because they managed to make others suspicious of me. I was outraged then and have been since, but protesting wouldn’t do me any good. The only way I can be free, truly free, is for the Empire to be destroyed. I know, as it falls apart, someone somewhere will have the information that will set me free.”
“And if they don’t?”
Tycho cracked a smile. “You figured out a plan to take Coruscant away from the Empire. Springing a friend from prison shouldn’t be that hard for you to manage.”
Nawara Ven cleared his throat. “Let’s not be adding conspiracy to the charges against you.”
Tycho nodded. “As you wish, Counselor. How’s my defense going?”
“Good and bad.” Nawara Ven sat at the end of the table and a little green and white R2 unit rolled up beside him. “The best thing we have going for us right now is that Whistler here has joined our defense team.”
“But I’m accused of killing Corran Horn. He and Corran were partners. Why would he want to help defend me?”
The droid keened a reply.
Wedge smiled. “Ah, he did know Corran well.”
The Twi’lek nodded. “Well enough to decide Horn was wrong about you, Captain Celchu. If Horn was wrong about your being a traitor, that means someone else killed him. Since you’ve been framed for the murder, if Whistler does nothing to help you, he’s ensuring that his friend’s murderer is getting away. Having Whistler on the team is unbelievably useful because of the specialized circuitry and programming he has. It allows him to wade through a lot of law enforcement data, including Imperial files.”
Tycho shifted around in his chair, making his binders click against the edge of the table. “I hope the bad news doesn’t obliterate the good.”
Nawara’s braintails twitched lethargically. “Corran had reported to Commander Antilles that he saw you in the Headquarters talking to Kirtan Loor. You said you were speaking with,” Nawara glanced at his datapad, “a Duros Captain Lai Nootka.”
Tycho nodded. “Right. He flew a freighter called Star’s Delight. I was negotiating with him for spare parts for the Z-95 Headhunters I’d bought.”
“Well, no one can seem to find him or his ship. The prosecution can introduce ample evidence that Kirtan Loor was here on Coruscant, that Corran would have recognized him, and that knowing you were exposed, you had to take steps to cover yourself.”
Wedge frowned. “If the only way out of that trap is to find Nootka, we’ll find him.”
Whistler tooted a dour message.
Rogue Squadron’s commander rubbed his eyes for a moment to ease their burning. “Fine, fine, there are 247 unidentified bodies of Duros here on Coruscant, and the possibility exists that the Imps caught him, killed him, and dumped him so we’ll never find him. We can still try to find the ship. The log might have an entry in it about the meeting.”
Tycho gave Wedge a smile. “You’re more nervous than I am, Wedge.”
“That’s because I don’t think you understand what’s at stake here, Tycho.” Wedge got up and began to pace. “Your trial is going to go forward and go forward quickly. It’s going to be used to show that the New Republic can be just as hard on humans as the Empire was on non-humans. I have to tell you, if Nawara here weren’t already a lawyer, I’d be looking for the best non-human counsel I could find for you. The judges here are going to feel pressure to convict to seem fair; I want the fact that your defender is non-human to make them worry about how your being found guilty will look.”
“Captain, you might want to look into more competent counsel than me.”
Tycho shook his head. “No, Nawara, I want you. I’ve read your file and I know you. This is going to be hard enough without having a lawyer who wants the case for the notoriety.”
“Tycho’s right, we need you. The squadron is behind Tycho, and having you represent him means the rest of us don’t feel entirely impotent.” Wedge’s dark eyes narrowed. “Do you see a problem with defending him?”
The Twi’lek hesitated for a moment, then answered. “I’ve defended a lot of people in criminal cases, but the stakes have not been this high before, nor the opposition so tough. Emtrey knows all the regulations, so having him in court with me means I’ll have a good grasp on the differences between military law and civil law, but it would be better for you to have someone who doesn’t have to rely on a droid for that stuff. The fact that I was down with the first stages of Krytos during the alleged murder means I can’t be called as a witness of fact in the case—at least, I’d not call me, but the prosecution might have other ideas.”
He tapped a button on his datapad. “The prosecutor is Commander Halla Ettyk. She’s 34 years old and from Alderaan. She had gained quite a reputation as a prosecutor there and happened to be off Alderaan to depose a witness in a case when Alderaan was destroyed. She joined the Rebellion and was part of General Cracken’s counterintelligence staff. She may not have prosecuted any cases over the last seven years, but that’s not going to dull her skills. Captain, you don’t happen to know her or have a family vendetta with her family or anything that could let me suggest she has a conflict of interest, do you?”
“What about the tribunal?” Wedge stopped pacing, crossed his arms, and looked down at the Twi’lek. “The subpoena I was served with yesterday indicated General Salm, Admiral Ackbar, and General Crix Madine were going to serve as judges. Salm has never liked Tycho. Can’t you get him removed?”
“Trying to get him replaced is tricky. If he does not recuse himself, he clearly thinks he has no conflict of interest. If we suggest he does and we fail to remove him, we’ve poisoned him. The other thing to keep in mind is that Salm was present at the first battle of Borleias and saw Tycho flying an unarmed shuttle and rescuing pilots, including me. He’s got to weigh what he remembers against the evidence he hears, and we’ll be sure to remind him of Borleias.”
Tycho nodded. “I’m willing to take my chances with Salm. What do you think of the other two?”
The Twi’lek shrugged. “Ackbar agreed to have you serve as Rogue Squadron’s executive officer and has remained neutral regarding this prosecution. Crix Madine came over from the Imperial side around the same time you did, Captain. Given his work planning covert missions for the Empire, I would have to guess he has met Iceheart and is aware of the work she has done. He knows of your reputation and, being a Corellian like Commander Antilles, has an appreciation of bravery and audacity.”
“You’re forgetting, Counselor Ven, that Corran Horn was Corellian, too.”
“No, Commander, I’ve not forgotten that fact. I’m counting on it to motivate General Madine to seek the people truly responsible for Corran’s death.”
Wedge nodded. “So that’s the line of defense: Tycho’s been framed?”
“The truth always is the best defense. Their evidence is all circumstantial, so we can slip someone or several someones in to raise doubt about who actually committed the crime.” Nawara Ven pressed his hands flat on the table. “This trial will be played as much to public opinion as to the judges. It’s going to do no good if the people think Captain Celchu is guilty while the court lets him off. Everyone knows how twisted and full of plots the Empire was. The mention of Kirtan Loor and Lusankya allows us to bring up Ysanne Isard. I can show that Captain Celchu’s pattern of activity is all wrong by showing what Isard does do with her people. I can even point to the bombing as likely residue of her evil. If we have public opinion looking at Captain Celchu as the last victim of Imperial intrigue, a Rebellion hero being destroyed by a bitter and vengeful Empire, we have a lot of maneuvering room in the aftermath of the trial.”
Nawara Ven’s explanation made sense to Wedge, but he didn’t like all it entailed. Fighting enemies who were shooting back was one thing. Winning a court case was quite another—one akin to politics, and Wedge knew he’d utterly failed in that arena at the Council meeting. Waging a public relations war to win the hearts and minds of a planet for a man who was already being entered into the pantheon of evil with Darth Vader, Prince Xizor, Ysanne Isard, and the Emperor himself—well, that was a battle no one could consider easy.
Wedge nodded toward the lawyer. “What happens if Tycho is found guilty?”
“Hard to say. There’s no clear appeals system set up. Unless the judges reverse their decision, he’ll be stuck.”
Tycho raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by stuck?”
“This is treason, Captain, and murder.” Nawara Ven shook his head as Whistler moaned. “Given the mood of the people and the nature of your crime, if we lose, the New Republic will put you to death.”