"You'll know." Mara gave him her best I-know-what-I'm-doing grin.
"And who better to go after a former Emperor's Hand than another one?"
"You did that before . . ."
"And that was before I had a son to worry about." The grin faded.
"I'm much more dangerous now I have a cub to protect."
Luke had no doubt about that. But it was the first time in his life that he regretted not killing someone when he'd had the chance.
chapter four
To: Chief of Defense Logistics
From: Supreme Commander, Galactic Alliance Defense Force CC: Chief of State; OC GAG; Head of Defense Procurement Re: Fleet supply and procurement concerns
The shortfall in supplies in theater and the failure of equipment to meet standards are intolerable. You are to give Colonel Solo, OC GAG, every cooperation in resolving this situation as rapidly as possible.
This is to be your top priority, and Colonel Solo is authorized to use any means necessary to achieve it.
Admiral Cha Niathal, SC GADF
DEFENSE PROCUREMENT AND SUPPLY AGENCY, CORUSCANT
"Are you sure?" Jacen had no reason to disbelieve a legal-analyst droid. Metal lawyers were even more meticulous than flesh-and-blood ones.
HM-3 clunked along beside him as they ambled up the apparently interminable corridor to the offices of the head of procurement, explaining the hurriedly assembled data as they went. Jacen believed in understanding the enemy, and that meant grinding through the tedium of small print. He was set on taking a lightsaber to a planet-sized ball of red tape.
"Yes, sir, this is routine." HM-3 reminded him a little of C-3PO—humanoid in shape, with a necessarily pedantic personality—but he was a sober dark gray and had a reassuring air of solid professional authority.
"A piece of legislation that's overdue for reform. Would you like the full explanation, or a simplified lay-being's version?"
"Consider me as lay as they come."
"As the legislation stands, it takes the agreement of the Defense Council to change the regulations on procurement. It's designed to stop civil servants from bending the rules to line their pockets. Or to stop anyone from commissioning an entire army and its accompanying fleet and weapons without the Senate's knowledge, which I do believe happened not so long ago . . . you might want to look back at the final years of the Republic, sir."
Jacen mulled that over and tried to strip it down to basics. "So Senators have to vote on what flimsi to purchase and what flavor dry rations to serve to the troops. Monumental waste of time and expense, if you ask me."
"I admit it involves top-level decision makers in very low-level decisions, sir. But it's the law. Every time you want to change something about supplies, or any other minor administrative issue, you need Chief Omas or Admiral Niathal or someone else equally senior to rubber-stamp it. It's the same for other departments—health, education, all of them."
HM-3 seemed apologetic. Jacen had little patience with people who found comfort in impenetrable rules and rituaclass="underline" He wanted things done.
"I don't want to take every complaint about hydrospanners and fuel inductors through committees." How did I ever become the procurement go-to guy? Is Niathal sidelining me? Never mind. I'll learn a lot. "Is there a way around this?"
"Actually, there is."
"Go on."
"It's a simple matter of giving appropriate officers of the GA—in the most general sense—the power to change regulations. To remove the requirement for every cough and spit to be dealt with by Senators."
"How do we do that?"
"By removing the requirement for approval by Defense Council members. Shall I draft an amendment, sir?"
"How does that work?"
"I draft a request for a change in the existing law to relieve regulatory burdens, so that order-making powers can be devolved to appropriate persons such as senior military officers and ministers of state without the need to refer the issue to committees, councils, or even the full Senate." HM-3 shuddered. It was a very human touch. "Give them something to debate, and the more trivial it is, the more hours they'll spend on it, because they can grasp the small concepts better, you see."
"Yes, but what happens to the amendment? And how long is that going to take?"
"If I table it today, then it goes before the weekly Policy and Resources Council in two days' time, and, as an appropriate person who already has the Chief of State's sanction, you can start changing what you need the next day."
Jacen clasped his hands behind his back and thought about it. This was making a new law to allow him to change laws.
Bizarre.
"I wonder how much the Defense Department spends on carpeting," HM-3 said peevishly, scanning the floor. Droids preferred smooth surfaces.
"Here's one area where they could economize."
As he walked, Jacen was calculating how many simple decisions were mired in approvals, but he had the sensation of someone trying to get his attention. It was wholly in his head: he wondered if it was the voice again, and then realized it was his common sense screaming to be heard.
You're changing laws about changing laws. Think about that.
Jacen only had a vague idea about what use he might make of that beyond getting supplies moving, but it struck him as a promising area to address.
"What would I be limited to?" he asked.
"Well, there has to be a fail-safe in the wording or you'll never get P and R to agree to it, but if I were to cap the scope of this, say that the existing budget can't be exceeded, then that would satisfy them."
Legislation was terminally boring. No, it should have been. But something in it was forming a hard ball of an idea in Jacen's mind.
"Would it be possible to word it so that if I come across any more stupid red tape in the process, I can change that, too? Even if I don't know where I'm likely to find it? I don't want some jobsworth holding up vital supplies because I didn't specify the right subsection of some obscure regulation."
"That would make it somewhat . . . open-ended."
"But it's just administration. It's not the constitution or a common charter."
HM-3 ground his gears quietly. "I'll word it genetically so that you can change any administrative procedure you need to. The other fail-safe is that only authorized individuals can make use of this, and that can be limited to whomever the Chief of State decides. So there'll be no spending sprees on secret armies, and only a few very visible, accountable people can make use of it. That will reassure the P and R
members." HM-3 went silent for a moment, consulting his agenda link. "I do believe the day after tomorrow is a very, very busy day for P and R, sir. I think the amendment will get through rather more quickly than usual."
It was a good day to bury the Legislative and Regulations Statute Amendment. Jacen smiled.
"You'll have to tell me more about how this fits in with the emergency measures legislation that Chief Omas already enacted."
"Full explanation, or—"
"—the lay-being's executive summary, please."
"The three of you can do anything you need to for the duration of the war. With Admiral Niathal, you are effectively a triumvirate. I have yet to hear Senator G'vli G'Sil take note of that, despite his position as head of the Security Council. The Defense Council is simply nodding everything through—when it actually meets, of course."
The thought took Jacen aback. He had his own plans for upending the galaxy, but they were large-scale, strategic, and focused on order, justice, and the benign application of military might. The petty minutiae of bureaucracy had never crossed his mind as a weapon in the battle for order.