[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Terpfen couldn't tell if she could focus on them standing outside, or if she merely sensed their presence.She moved her head, and the thick air hose drifted with her.Bubbles pummeled her body, forcing invigorating solutions through her pores.Mon Mothma released her grip on the stabilizers within the tank and floated up.The droids assisted her in getting out.She stood sagging, dripping as her lightweight robes dribbled solution into drainage grates on the floor.Even the thin wet robes seemed as heavy as a leaden shroud to her.Her auburn hair clung like a skullcap.Her eyes were sunken, her face chiseled with deep canyons of pain and weakness.She filled her lungs and exhaled, resting the flat of her hand against the medical droid's green shoulders.She raised her head with obvious effort and acknowledged her visitors."The treatments give me strength for only about an hour.Their effectiveness decreases every day," she said."Soon it will be useless, I'm afraid, and I will no longer be able to perform my functions as Chief of State.The only question is whether I resign before the Council removes me." She turned to Terpfen."Don't worry, I know why you are here."Terpfen blinked his glassy eyes."I don't believe — "She raised a hand to cut off his objections."Ackbar has spoken to me at great length.He has considered your case thoroughly, and I agree with his conclusions.You were not acting of your own free will, but were merely a victim.You have redeemed yourself.The New Republic can't afford to throw away defenders who are willing to continue the fight.I have already issued a full pardon for you." She wavered, on the verge of slumping backward.The two medical droids moved to help her to a chair."I wanted to make sure that got done before."Ackbar made a grumbling noise as he cleared his throat."I am also here to tell you, Mon Mothma, that I have decided to stay.I will request that my rank be reinstated, now that it is clear the crash on Vortex was not solely dueto my error, as I had originally thought.The people of Calamari are resilient, and they are strong — but if the New Republic is not also strong, my work at home will be fruitless, because we will face a galaxy full of shadows and fear."Mon Mothma smiled at Ackbar, a sincere expression of relief."Ackbar, knowing that you will be here makes me feel stronger than any of these treatments ever did." Then she showed a deeper misery and let her chin sink into her hands, a moment of weakness she would never have displayed in front of the Council."Why did this disease haveto strike me now? I'm mortal just like everyone else.but why now?" Terpfen walked across the slippery floor, feeling the cold, polished surface on the soles of his broad feet.He bowed his scar — traced head.At the doorway the two New Republic guards stiffened at seeing the known traitor so close to their Chief of State, but Mon Mothma showed no alarm.Terpfen looked down at her."That is what I have come to discuss with you, Mon Mothma.I must tell you what has happened to you."Mon Mothma blinked, waiting for him to continue.Terpfen searched for the right words.His mind seemed so empty now that the implanted biological circuits had been neutralized.He had hated the insistent compulsions from Carida, but now he was left alone with his own thoughts — noto one else inside his skull to taunt him, or to guide him."You are suffering from no disease, Mon Mothma.You have been poisoned." She jerked in sudden shock but did not interrupt him."It is a slow, debilitating poison targeted specifically to your genetic structure.""But how was I exposed to this poison?" She looked hard at him, not accusing, but insisting on answers."Did you do it, Terpfen? Was this another of your programmed actions?""No!" He reeled backward."I have done many things — but this is not one of them.You were poisoned by Ambassador Furgan himself, as dozens of people watched.During the diplomatic reception at the Skydome Botanical Gardens.Furgan carried his own refreshment because he claimed you might try to poison him.He had two flasks, one on each side of his hip.In one flask he carried his true beverage, in the other he carried a poison specifically developed for you.He pretended to propose a toast and then tossed a glassful of the poison into your face.It seeped into your pores and has been multiplying and attacking your cells ever since."Both Ackbar and Mon Mothma stared at him in astonishment."Of course!" she said."But it's been months.Why did they choose such a slow — acting." Terpfen closed his eyes, and the words came to him as if he were reciting a script."They wanted a long, debilitating decline for you because of the damage it would do to the New Republic's morale.If you were simply killed, you could become a martyour.Your death might have galvanized support from otherwise neutral systems.But with a slow, progressive weakening, it could be seen as the decay of the Rebellion.""I see," Mon Mothma said."Very shrewd," Ackbar said."But what are we to do with this information? What else do you know of the poison, Terpfen? How can we treat it?"Terpfen heard the silence in his head like a scream."This is not a true poison.It is a self — replicating swarm of nano — destroyers: microscopic, artificially created viruses dismantling Mon Mothma's cells one nucleus at a time.They will not stop until her life ceases.""Then what do we do?" Ackbar persisted.Finally the helplessness and all the pain within Terpfen built until it spilled out of him like a star finally reaching its flash point."We can do nothing!" he shouted."Even knowing about this poison does not help us, because there is no cure!"The battered Star Destroyer Gorgon barely survived its passage through the gravitational whirlpool into the Maw cluster.Admiral Daala strapped herself to a command chair on the bridge as the Star Destroyer was buffeted by tidal forces that would rip the ship apart if their trajectory deviated from its charted path [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]