Part 14 (1/2)
”No, but I never truly trusted him.”
”Your opinion of him and his treacherous nature was based on what?”
”His history and . . .” Wedge caught himself.
”And?”
”His demeanor when ! saw him.”
Halla Ettyk opened her hands. ”Were there no other factors in your forming your opinion of Thyne?”
Ven stood. ”Objection, relevancy, your Honor.”
Admiral Ackbar looked down at the prosecutor. ”Corn-mander, this does seem a bit far afield from where you started.”
”It is relevant, your Honor. I'm closing in on my point.”
”Proceed, but be aware I will strike this line of inquiry if you don't bring us to that point quickly.”
”Yes, sir.”
”The objection is overruled.”
Ettyk nodded toward Wedge. ”Commander, were there no other factors in your forming your opinion of Thyne?”
”Not really.”
”Lieutenant Horn's opinion of Thyne was not important to you?”
”It was, and it was a factor, though Thyne's hostility to Corran was more indicative of trouble than anything else.”
”But you felt your observations of Thyne justified Horn's opinion of the man?”
”Yes.”
”So, when Thyne turned out to be an Imperial plant you had not detected, but whom Horn had warned you about, didn't you have to reconsider Captain Celchu's position in regard to what Horn thought about him?”
Wedge shook his head. ”To be honest, Commander, there was so much happening at the time Thyne was revealed to be a traitor, that I could only consider one thing: getting my mission done. We had just received word that we had to bring the s.h.i.+elds down so our fleet could invade.
Mind you, Tycho pa.s.sed that message to me. If he were an Imperial plant, he could have withheld that information and set a trap for our fleet.”
”So then, Commander Antilles, you are not of the opin-ion that the Empire gave us this world, infected as it is with the Krytos virus, to destroy us?”
”I have no idea, Commander Ettyk, what was in the mind of Ysanne Isard at the time we took Coruscant.”
”I see.” Halla Ettyk took a datadisk from leila Wessiri and exchanged it for one in her datapad. ”But you do not discount that possibility, correct?”
”I cannot discount it.”
”And you cannot discount the possibility that Captain Celchu was working for the Empire in helping give Corus-cant to the New Republic.”
”Yes I can.” Wedge nodded solemnly. ”I know Tycho. ! know he's not a spy.
I trust him.”
”And you trusted Zekka Thyne until proved wrong about him, didn't you, Commander?”
”No, that's not the way it was.”
”Perhaps not to you, Commander, but it was to one man.” Halla Ettyk shrugged casually. ”Corran Horn. And now he's dead.”
Outside the courtroom, Wedge slumped against the cold stone wall. Nawara tried to rehabilitate me as a witness, but the damage was done. I wanted to be in there and help Tycbo, but I didn't. He hammered a fist against the wall. ”Sithsp.a.w.n!”
He straightened up immediately as a woman closed to within inches of him.
She held up a comlink and nodded to a holocam-carrying lthorian. ”This is Zaree Lolvanci, Kuati First Holo-News, and I'm standing here with Alliance hero, Commander Wedge Antilles. How does it feel, Commander, to know that your testimony is what will convict Captain Celchu?”
Before Wedge could gather his wits enough to answer, a body sliced between the holojournalist and him. Wedge felt a strong grip on his upper arm and heard a firm voice reply to the question in his place. ”Commander Antilles's only inter-est in this matter is seeing justice done. He has every confi-dence that his faith in Captain Celchu will be vindicated when the defense presents its case. Until then, any specula-tion on the outcome would be premature and possibly preju-dicial. And he has no further comment.”
Wedge let Diric Wessiri guide him past the Ithorian and on through a security checkpoint, where two guards stopped the reporter and her holographer. Diric steered him to a bench and sat beside him. ”Odious people, the holos.h.i.+lls, aren't they, Commander Antilles?”
”They don't make a very good first impression . . .”
”No, but it tends to last.” The older man smiled at him. ”How are you holding up?”
Wedge nodded. ”I think I will be able to recover. Just need some time.”
He regarded the slender man closely. Though his flesh still seemed a bit ashen, spirit and fort.i.tude shone in his eyes. ”Thank you for saving me.”
”! am glad I was able to help.” Diric gave him a smile that appeared artificial only in that it looked as if Diric had to consciously work at remembering how to smile. ”Iella was afraid something like that would happen. She sent me after you.”
”I'd have thought she was happy with the turn of events. Commander Ettyk ate me alive.”
”No, she wasn't happy.” Diric patted a tunic pocket. ”I have a pa.s.s that can take us up to the secure parking area. We can get in my airspeeder and leave here. Iella said she would be willing to join us later for dinner, if you wish.”
”I doubt I would be very good company.” Wedge glanced back toward the courtroom. ”I wanted to end Tycho's persecution with my testimony, and all I did was leave the impression that even I think he was a spy.”
”Not at all.” Diric tapped Wedge's thigh with a finger. ”First of all, the Tribunal judges know you and know how difficult that was for you. All Commander Ettyk really did was establish that Tycho was on Coruscant at your request and that the possibility of betrayal was in your mind.”
”Sure, but she also made it sound like I wouldn't know who was a spy and who wasn't.”
”Why would you?”
”What?”
Diric opened his hands. ”As you said, ferreting out spies is not what you do. No one expects you to have been able to spot him as a spy if he was, and you certainly couldn't if he wasn't. And, between you and me, I don't think he is a spy.”