Soh reached up, grabbing his hand in hers. “Stellan, please. I’ve seen you on the holonet, after the attack. Everyone has. Holding me when …” Her voice caught for a second. “When it looked as though it was too late. The entire galaxy has seen the compassion in your eyes. Seen the resolve. That wasn’t the face of a general or a politician. It was the face of a man who is better than those who would do us harm. A man who will protect us. A man who will be just. We need the Jedi, now more than ever. We need the light.”

Stellan felt the eyes of everyone in the room upon him. Of Reza. Of Rhil. Of Buck and Elzar. Lina Soh didn’t know what she was asking. There were so many who were better suited to the task. Avar. Most of the Council. Yoda, if anyone knew where he was. Stellan had been caught out like everyone else. Had he paid the price? He’d been wounded, yes, humiliated even at the hands of a lone Twi’lek. Stellan who had been so proud to show off his lightsaber prowess on the Coruscant Dawn. But what of the countless millions who would never recover from the Nihil attack, those who had lost their lives on Valo and those who now grieved, living in fear, constantly checking the skies for the sudden appearance of a war-cloud. Could he be a symbol to them? Should he even try?

“Council Member?” Soh asked, looking for an answer he struggled to provide.

Thankfully he didn’t have to, not yet. Larep Reza’s datapad bleeped, and the vice chancellor looked up at his superior with alarm.

“Larep?”

“It’s Shili, Madam Chancellor. A secure channel.”

“The Togruta military?”

The Kalleran ran his fingers across the ’pad, checking the data stream. “Not as far as I can tell. It seems to be coming from the royal court.”

Soh sat up in her bed, adjusting her medical gown. “Ms. Dairo, if you could stop recording, please?”

The reporter nodded. “Of course. Would you like us to leave?”

“I think you of all people deserve to see this. Thank you, Larep.”

Reza pressed a control and a large hologram appeared on the wall, Elarec Yovet’s face close to the cam.

“Regasa,” Soh acknowledged, with a slight bow.

“It is good to see you awake, Chancellor,” the Togruta replied. “I must admit, I feared the worst.”

“Elarec, I am so sorry …”

The Supreme Huntress shook her head. “It was not your fault, Lina. None of it.”

“You were my guest.”

“And I came freely, despite the concerns of my security council. I for one am glad I was there.”

“I don’t think Captain Maramis would agree with you, Regasa,” Stellan said.