"Michael Stackpole "The Krytos Trap"" - читать интересную книгу автора

might have been insulated from the misery of others--but at
what cost? The security you thought you had froze into an




icy lump of fear in your gut whenever you saw stormtroopers
walking in your direction. With the liberation of Coruscant
that fear can melt, but if you forget it once existed and decide
things were not so bad under the Emperor, you'll be well on
your way to inviting it back."
He opened his hands to take in all those assembled at the
monument. "You must do what Corran did: fight anything
and everything that would give the Empire comfort or secu-
rity or a chance to reassert itself. If you trade vigilance for
complacency, freedom for security, a future without fear for
comfort; you will be responsible for shaping the galaxy once
again into a place that demands people like Corran fight,
always fight and, eventually, fall victim to evil.
"The choice, ultimately, devolves to you. Corran Horn
will not rest easy in his grave until there is no more fighting
to be done. He has done everything he could to fight the
Empire; now it is up to you to continue his fight. If he is ever
to know peace, it will only be when we all know peace. And
that is a goal every one of us knows is well worth fighting
for."
Wedge stepped back from the podium and steeled him-
self against the polite applause. Deep down he would have
hoped his words had been inspiring, but those gathered
around the memorial were dignitaries and officials from
worlds throughout the New Republic. They were politicians
whose goal was to help shape the future others of their num-
ber spoke about. They wanted stability and order as a foun-
dation for their constructions. His words, reminding
everyone that fights were yet to be waged, undercut their
efforts. They had to applaud because of the situation and
who he was, but Wedge had no doubt most of them thought
him a politically naive warrior best suited to being a hero
who was feted and used in holograph opportunities to sup-
port this program or that.
He could only hope that others listening to what he had
to say would take his message to heart. The politicians re-
quired stability, and the way they acquired stability was to
ignore instability or patch it over with some quick fix. The
citizens of the New Republic would find their politicians as

distant as the Imperial politicians before them. With their
new-won freedom, the people would be able to let their lead-
ers know what they thought, and might be tempted to pro-
test if things did not move swiftly enough in the direction the