The Krytos Trap (4 page)

Primarily because I’m actually here
. Wedge knew his petition was doomed to fail—Borsk Fey’lya had said as much
at the memorial ceremony, and various other councilors had repeated the warning in the two days since then, including Admiral Ackbar and Princess Leia Organa. In fact, Wedge knew, the only reason he was being given a chance to address the Council was because of his status as a liberator of Coruscant.

The Council had arranged three long tables in a half-hexagonal formation, with Mon Mothma in the middle, flanked by Princess Leia and Corellia’s Doman Beruss. Ackbar and Fey’lya anchored the far ends of the two angled tables. This left Wedge to stand in the open area before the Council, as if he were on trial.
This is exactly what Tycho will face if I do not succeed here today; therefore, I
must
succeed
.

Mon Mothma inclined her head toward him. “I need not introduce to you a man who has appeared before this Council previously and who has been so instrumental in the New Republic’s success. Because Commander Antilles may end up discussing highly sensitive material, this will be an executive session of the Provisional Council. Everything said here is confidential, and reporting of it will result in possible criminal charges.”

Doman Beruss smiled. “Ah, to have cases before we have a Judiciary, now that is civilization!”

Even Mon Mothma smiled at the remark, then set her face again into a mask of solemnity. “Please, Commander, speak your mind.”

Wedge took a deep breath, then began. “I have come here today to ask you to prevent a gross injustice from being enacted. Captain Tycho Celchu has been arrested and will be tried on murder and treason charges. The evidence against him—what little of it I know about—is circumstantial and weaker than the defenses Ysanne Isard left behind here. Tycho is a hero of the Rebellion. If not for his efforts, we would not be here right now, and I would be dead. The man he’s accused of killing is someone whose life Tycho saved on numerous occasions—Corran would have long since been dead if Tycho wanted him dead. Tycho is innocent, and to
put him through this trial after all he has endured would be cruelty on a truly Imperial scale.”

Mon Mothma nodded slowly. “I appreciate your frankness, Commander, and have no doubt you believe everything you’ve told us. Before we can make any sort of decision, it would be useful for us to have a better grasp of the facts surrounding the situation.” She pointed to a green-eyed man whose hair had shifted from its original red to mostly white. “If you would, General Cracken, please bring the Council up to date with what you have learned concerning Captain Celchu.”

Cracken walked over to stand next to Wedge. “I hope Commander Antilles will forgive my contradicting him on a couple of points. Some of this information has been developed recently, and because the circumstances surrounding the investigation are tricky, I have not had a chance to brief him on them.”

Wedge dropped his voice to a whisper. “Nice ambush.”

“That’s the last thing I want to do, Commander.” Cracken cleared his throat. “Tycho Celchu is a native of Alderaan who graduated from the Imperial Naval Academy and was made a TIE fighter pilot. Subsequent to the destruction of his homeworld—which he had the misfortune of witnessing via holonet communications with his family—he defected from Imperial service and joined the Rebellion. He joined us just after the evacuation of Yavin 4, served with distinction at Hoth, and accompanied Commander Antilles on the assault on the Death Star at Endor. He is one of a handful of pilots who entered and escaped the Death Star.

“Slightly less than two years ago Celchu volunteered for a covert scouting mission to Coruscant. On the way back out, he was captured and sent to Ysanne Isard’s Lusankya facility. Little is known about this prison, except that people who have come from it have routinely been brainwashed into becoming Imperial agents who commit acts of murder and mayhem when bidden to do so by Isard. Tycho is unique among those who have been to Lusankya in that he retains some memories of having been there. Prior to his appearance, former inmates revealed their connection to this place
only after they had been activated, done their damage, and were captured by our forces.”

Wedge shook his head. “I’m sure General Cracken will not mind my pointing out that Tycho did not escape from Lusankya. Isard transferred him to the penal colony at Akrit’tar, and he escaped from there to return to us.”

“Thank you, Commander, I was just getting to that.” Cracken’s expression betrayed neither amusement nor irritation, which somehow made Wedge think things were not going to go well for Tycho. “Upon his return, Captain Celchu was debriefed, and his debriefing, in fact, indicated he recalled almost nothing of his time at Lusankya. We could find no indication he had been brainwashed by Isard. However, we had never detected brainwashing in any of her other little bio-weapons. We were left in the unenviable position of having to assume the worst about Captain Celchu. Commander Antilles, believing then as he does now in his friend’s innocence, struck a bargain with his superiors to get Celchu assigned as his executive officer. Security was maintained, for the most part, and the incidents where it was not betrayed no Imperial leanings on the part of Captain Celchu.”

Cracken frowned. “Unfortunately we have developed evidence that suggests Celchu has betrayed Rogue Squadron and the New Republic. In the case of Corran Horn, Tycho Celchu had access to the command code for the Headhunter Horn was flying at the time of his death,
and
Celchu had gone over the fighter, without supervision, just prior to Horn’s flight. Horn confronted Celchu before they headed out; Horn threatened to uncover his treason, so Celchu had him killed. He waited until after the shields had been brought down, but we have pretty well determined Isard wanted us to take the planet and inherit the virus, so killing Horn
after
her goal was accomplished only makes sense.

“The Horn case is not the only death to which we can link Captain Celchu.”

Wedge’s jaw dropped in surprise. “What? You can’t mean Bror Jace?”

“Indeed I do.”

“Nonsense. The Empire killed him.”

Cracken nodded. “Agreed, but the way they got him was unusual. Previously we believed he happened to have been trapped by an Interdictor Cruiser out looking for smugglers. However, we have been forced to amend that view following the defection of the Imperial Interdictor Cruiser
Black Asp
. Captain Iillor indicated in her debriefing that the
Black Asp
was directed to go to specific coordinates to intercept Bror Jace as he headed back to Thyferra. He was a bit late in arriving, but showed up exactly where he was expected to. They tried to capture him, but his ship exploded during the fight. The arrangements for Jace’s journey home, including the plotting of his course, were made by Captain Tycho Celchu.”

“By my order.”

“Yes, Commander, by your order—which does not mean Isard could not have warped Celchu enough to make him betray your people.”

“But, again, that’s circumstantial.”

“We have more.” The Alliance Intelligence chief shrugged. “Horn told you, Commander, that he’d seen Celchu here on Coruscant talking with a known Imperial operative, Kirtan Loor. Horn had worked with Loor for years on Corellia, so the chance of a mistake in his identification are minimal. In backtracking Celchu’s time here on Coruscant—granting that you ordered him to come here, Commander—we have periods of time for which we cannot account. Moreover, we have uncovered a number of banking accounts in which large numbers of credits have been accumulated. These accounts add up to approximately fifteen million credits, which means Celchu was being paid by the Empire.”

“What?” Wedge couldn’t believe what he was hearing. There was no way, just no way Tycho was an agent in the pay of the Empire. “If he was one of Isard’s sleeper agents, why would she be paying him?”

“Commander, for years I’ve been trying to fathom her mind, and I have been unable to do so. If I had to guess, however, I would say that creating those accounts was a precaution to let us uncover Tycho at some point or, as it
stands now, a means to guarantee he will be tried for his crimes.”

“But she has no interest in seeing justice done, which underscores how ludicrous all these charges against Tycho are.” Wedge brought his head up. “If Isard wants a trial, you know conducting it will be to her benefit, which is yet one more reason not to go ahead with it.”

Borsk Fey’lya tapped a talon against the tabletop. “Or is she providing more evidence than we need to convict so we will be convinced Celchu is being framed? If we
are
convinced he is innocent, we could exonerate him, raise him into a position of trust, and find ourselves again fodder for her schemes.”

Wedge winced. He hated Fey’lya’s wheels-within-wheels reasoning because it came down to a core problem with Tycho’s case: either he was innocent and being made to look guilty, or he was guilty and being made to look innocent through a clumsy frame. The evidence served both explanations well, and sorting good data from bad was a task that could easily defy completion. Everyone could agree something was not right in the whole situation, but assigning blame and assessing truth was not going to be easy.

And no matter what happened, Tycho would end up being stigmatized, reviled, and ostracized. He would be destroyed by it all, and that was something he did not deserve.

For Wedge it was simple to separate fact from fiction, but he knew that was because he was starting from a deep belief in Tycho’s innocence. Wedge didn’t have a Jedi’s insight through the Force—he just knew Tycho. They’d fought side by side through some of the most harrowing battles the galaxy had ever seen. They’d shared hardships that others could not have even imagined, and they shared good times that others could only envy. Wedge knew Tycho could no more betray the Rebellion than he himself could, but looking around at the Council, he realized that even
his
conduct might not be seen as above reproach.

“I still do not believe the evidence General Cracken’s people have gathered is anything more than circumstantial.” Wedge studied the members of the Council. “For any trial to
go forward, especially as quickly as this trial is being pushed, is reckless and negligent. I know we all want swift justice if Tycho is guilty, but trying him on these charges right now can only hurt him and, ultimately, the New Republic.”

Doman Beruss, her light eyes glinting coldly in the dimness, opened her hands. “Your opinion, Commander Antilles, is respected but not universally held. The evidence is sufficient in any jurisdiction of the galaxy to call for a trial.”

Wedge’s eyes narrowed as he sensed a transparisteel barrier descending between his argument and the Council’s willingness to act. He knew he had to do something to get them to open their eyes, so he decided to take a chance. “This evidence may demand a trial, but at least delay it until there is time to scrape things down another layer or two and find out what’s really going on. I think it is the minimum courtesy you owe someone like Tycho Celchu, and that’s an opinion I do not need to keep private.”

Borsk Fey’lya’s head came up and his fur rippled like a storm-wracked ocean. “Are you threatening to use your status as hero to oppose
us
?”

Ackbar answered for Wedge. “He was doing nothing of the kind. Because Captain Celchu is facing a court martial, the trial and everything surrounding it is a military matter, and Commander Antilles knows unauthorized discussions of same violate regulations and oaths he took when he became an officer.”

“Begging the Admiral’s pardon,” Wedge growled, “I
was
threatening to go public with my feelings about the trial. I still am. And if expressing my opinion about an injustice is not allowed in the Alliance military, I can always resign my commission.”

That
bombshell certainly had an effect, but not entirely the one he expected. While Ackbar looked disappointed, Borsk Fey’lya smiled victoriously. The other councilors reacted with horror or a grim acknowledgment of his bold stroke. If they had thought his speaking out against Tycho’s treatment would attract attention, his resignation because of it would undoubtedly be an action with a much higher profile.

Leia leaned forward. “Chief Councilor, I suggest we recess for an hour. I would like a chance to speak with Commander Antilles, if I might.”

“Please.” Mon Mothma stood and gave Wedge a look that combined pride with frustration, anger with sympathy. Wedge felt not exactly pitied, but as if there was more going on than he had access to. He knew that was true, of course—he was just the leader of a fighter squadron, and these were the leaders of a new nation. But he hated to think their perspective could somehow justify what they were going to do to Tycho.

General Cracken left the room last and closed the doors behind himself, leaving Wedge alone with Princess Leia. In all the time he’d known her, she’d never looked so saddened. “If you want to convince me to save my career, I appreciate the effort, but I’ll stand by what I said just now. You can’t talk me out of it.”

She remained seated and slowly shook her head. “I know that, so I’m not going to try. It’s important to me that you know I think Tycho is innocent, too. I’ve known Winter for as long as I can remember, and she’s terribly fond of Tycho. If she can remember nothing that’s the least bit ambiguous about him, then I can’t imagine there’s anything sinister to uncover. You and I both know that the trial will be rough on Tycho, and unfair.”

“Then help me convince them to stop it or delay it.”

“I would if I could, but I can’t.” A deep frown creased her brow as she plucked at the fabric of her pale green gown. “The reason I asked for the recess is so I can tell you what’s going to happen after someone here decides that we have been suitably courteous in listening to you and that we need to move on to new business.”

Leia chewed on her lower lip for a second. “Mon Mothma will thank you for coming to us, but she will point out that Tycho is being tried in a military court. The Provisional Council has no authority to interfere with the way the military deals with violations of the code of military justice. Until there is a conviction, and punishment is decided
upon, there is nothing the Council can do, and even at that point it is an open question whether or not we can interfere.”