The Krytos Trap Read Online Free PDF

military justice. Until there is a conviction, and punishment is decidedupon, there is nothing the Council can do, and even at that point it is an open question whether or not we can interfere.”
    “But there has to be a chance to appeal a conviction.…” Wedge hesitated, then nodded. “Councilor Beruss’s comment about a lack of a Judiciary … that was meant to forestall this argument, yes?”
    Leia nodded. “In simple terms, yes, but we haven’t yet had time to make decisions concerning the structure of such a body, much less its jurisdiction and duties. For example, would an appeal go to the New Republic courts first, or would it be sent to the courts on the defendant’s homeworld, or the victim’s homeworld? Putting together a government is not easy, and the process is not pretty or without pain. There are casualties all over the place.”
    “And Tycho will be one of them.”
    “Unfortunately, yes, he may be.” Leia’s shoulders slumped with fatigue. “You may not realize how fragile the New Republic is right now. With her Krytos virus Ysanne Isard has succeeded in driving a wedge between the human and non-human members of the New Republic. There have been accusations that some of us knew the virus was here and encouraged people to return to their native worlds specifically to spread the disease and kill off whole planetary populations. There are others who accuse us of not doing enough to get bacta to those who need it. If we do try to get as much as possible here to save as many people as possible, we drain the military of their supply. If Isard hits back, or Warlord Zsinj decides to strike at us, we can be devastated. Trying to buy up supplies of bacta has driven the price higher than ever before, and to make matters worse, the Ashern rebels on Thyferra have managed to damage production, limiting the supply at a time when the demand couldn’t be higher.”
    She looked up at him. “It’s a good thing we don’t have a Treasury Ministry in place, because they’d tell us we’re bankrupt.”
    When Wedge realized his mouth was hanging open he clicked it shut. “I had no idea.…”
    “Of course not. Nor does anyone else outside the Council.Things are so dire that I’ll be heading off to try to open relations with Hapes and ask them for help—and that’s something that’s so secret I’ll deny even knowing you if it gets out.”
    Wedge nodded. “Already forgotten.”
    Leia mustered a weak smile. “Frankly speaking, there is a remote possibility that we can secure enough bacta to save many of the people who are afflicted by Krytos, but not all. Even if we cure 95 percent of the cases, those we don’t cure will amount to millions of fatalities—non -human fatalities. The resentment against the government will rise until the Alliance falls apart. When that happens, someone like Warlord Zsinj or Ysanne Isard or who knows who else is lurking out there can come in and sweep up the pieces.”
    She shrugged her shoulders. “That shouldn’t have anything to do with Tycho, but it does because Tycho is a human , accused of a heinous crime against a fellow Rebel and a man who is now a hero. If we do not bring him to trial quickly and let the trial take its course, we will be accused of favoring a human. People will suggest that were Tycho a Gotal or Quarren, we’d have tried, convicted, and executed him inside of a day. That charge is baseless, but it’s critical we avoid any appearance of favoritism.”
    “So Tycho gets offered up as a sacrifice to keep the Alliance together?”
    “I would have preferred being able to put Ysanne Isard on trial for having the Krytos virus created and spread, but she got away—how, I don’t know, but she did. We probably could scoop up a double-handful of Imperial bureaucrats and put them on trial for past activities, but then the entire Imperial bureaucracy would go into hiding and any chance we had of trying to govern the galaxy would go away.”
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