official use. How quickly could you get to the roof port?"
Could this be a trap? Did it have anything to do with the dream warning?
He jumped out of the warm, comfortable bed. At least he felt rested, and his
aches had left him. "I'm on my way."
He dressed hastily and decided to wake Chewbacca and take him along.
Chewie wouldn't need to waste time getting dressed, and he'd be extra eyes,
brain, and especially muscle. Han had to stay with Leia, though. She'd said
something about a breakfast appointment with Gaeriel's uncle.
A disturbance. He couldn't imagine Rebel troops making trouble--
Well, yes. He could. He clipped on his lightsaber.
He dashed out his bedroom door and around the corner into Chewie's, then
stepped back from th e bed. He didn't want to tangle with a suddenly roused
Wookiee. "Chewie," he whispered, "wake up. We've got trouble."
"Slow down, Chewie."
Chewbacca steered the landspeeder around the spaceport's outer-arc access
road. Luke peered ahead and to the right. Pad 12, the temporary Alliance
ground base, lay just beyond the next radial road outward from the control
tower. Spaceport lights gleamed on this side of the radial, but on the other
side, dark night was lit only by occasional flashes that looked like blaster
fire. Either someone had shot out Pad 12's lights, or someone had shut them
down. Where was Spaceport Security?
They swooped left, past Pad 12, then onto its access road through an open
gate in its high metal-chain fence. Unguarded, Luke observed. Maybe the guards
had gone in to settle the disturbance. He pulled down the hitched-up back of
his parka. Out here in the night, between two rivers, damp air wasn't so
pleasant.
Four multiship launchingstlanding pads lay in a cluster between these
radial roads and the spaceport boundary, and in the middle of that cluster sat
a small, unattractive cantina that looked like two bungalows joined at right
angles. Someone standing next to it waved them down.
Chewie grounded the speeder in the angle between bungalows. With the
repulsor engine shut down, eerie silence rang for about ten seconds. Then
another whizz of blaster fire brought up the hair on the back of Luke's neck
and lit the silhouette of a tall repair gantry. The dark-haired person
sprinted toward them. "Manchisco!" Luke exclaimed. "What's happening?"
The Flurry's captain shook her black braids. "Our allies--right over
there--insist they've got a pair of Ssi-ruuk trapped behind one of our ships.
I can't get in close enough to confirm it. They're shooting everything that
moves."
"Nobody has any macrobinoculars?" Han had a pair on the Falcon, a quarter
of a kilometer away.
Manchisco shook her head.
"Well, can'mon. You too, Chewieffwas Luke ran toward the gantry,
unhooking his saber.
Before they reached it, a voice shouted, "You! Get down! Get back, if
you're unarmed--the aliens have landed! They've killed two of us!"
Manchisco ducked into the pitiful cover of an Artoo-size recharge unit.
Chewie edged closer to the gantry.
"Ssi-ruuk wouldn't kill people," Luke muttered. "They'd take prisoners.
Chewie, cover me." If the Ssi-ruuk were here, he'd rather deal with them
himself--despite that eerie warning.
But he had an unsettling hunch. He drew and ignited his lightsaber. By
its glimmer, he spotted Chewbacca aiming his bowcaster into the darkness.
"Stay there," Luke said softly. "That's close enough."
Eerie silence had fallen again. "Everybody hold your fire," Luke shouted.
Step by step he advanced, holding the saber upright in front of him. Although
its light was dim compared with the spaceport beacons, it was all the light in
Pad 12.
He rounded an Alliance gunship. Two human bodies lay sprawled on that
odd, rough glassy surface. He paced past them, listening hard for hostile
intent. All he felt was panicked fright.
Geometric forms sparkled ahead, metallic surfaces of another repair
gantry reflecting the light of his saber. "Who's there?" Luke shouted. "Show
yourselves!"
A domed Calamarian head appeared behind the gantry. Then another.
Luke groaned and sprinted toward them. "What are you doing down here?" he
demanded.
round collar.
"Authorized?" Luke asked. Surely their commanding officer had more sense
than to--
The Calamarian waved a finny hand. "Of course, Commander. Our rotation
came up. We're as tired as anyone else. But these strangers spotted us."
"So you killed two of them?"
"Commander, they were charging us! Ten of them! They fired first,
Commander."
Luke wanted to go back to Endor. "One of you come with me."
"Sir?" The Calamarian backstepped, clenching his blaster.
"That's an order," Luke said quietly. "Follow close, so I can cover you."
Slowly the tall alien wormed out of his hiding spot in the gantry. A
blaster bolt zinged in from across the way. Luke whirled and deflected it,
then shouted, "Hold your fire! Chewie, beat their heads together if you have
to!"
A Wookiee roar echoed across the empty area between ship and gantry.
"All right," said Luke. "Come on."
Walking a little more slowly, this time--the Calamarian wouldn't move any
faster--Luke retraced his steps toward the gunship. He avoided the spot where
the bodies lay. "Chewie, where are you?"
Another burst of blaster fire flashed in, then another. Luke leaped and
spun, parrying without thought.
Just as suddenly, the firing stopped. A weird creaking groan came from
the gantry ahead... and the unmistakable roar of a furious Wookiee. Luke held
up his saber to get a better look. The metal tower rocked violently. High
overhead, several dark forms clung to struts in the black night. Blasters
clattered to the ground.
"Good work, Chewie," Luke called. He adjusted his grip on the saber.
"Okay," he shouted, "everybody down. Get a good look. This is a Mon Calamari.
Not a Ssi-ruu. Look at him!" He heard scuffling noises, but no faces appeared
in the green-lit circle. "Come on," he called, losing patience.
After three seconds of silence, he heard Chewbacca whuffle.
Then out they came, ten humans--eight males and two females--dressed in
an assortment of loose, bulky coats and warm hats. None appeared to be armed,
now. One male, shorter and thinner than the others, pointed at the Calamarian.
"He's right--it's not a Flutie," he said. Luke recognized the voice. This was
the man who'd tried to warn him away.
A larger man pushed forward, squinting. Green light flattered nobody, but
Luke guessed this character wore dark circles under his bulging eyes in any
light. "Quiet, Vane."
The thin man shut his mouth but shuffled closer to Luke and the
Calamarian. Tessa Manchisco stepped into the circle of light. Her eyes
reflected green anger.
"This pad is blocked off for the use of Alliance crews," Luke said
sternly. "Why are you here?"
Dark-circles crossed his beefy arms. "T
his is our planet, sword boy.
We'll thank you to keep critters like that fish--and that hairy one--off of
it."
Chewbacca edged toward that side of the gang.
Luke needed information, and he needed it quickly. Had these ruffians
been sent in by the Empire, or were they acting alone? The thin Bakuran stood
close enough for Luke to attempt probing his mind, briefly. Luke felt certain
his motives were good enough that he didn't risk drifting toward the dark
side.
Still, he hesitated before focusing his attention tightly toward the thin
man, opening himself to listen for the man's feelings (ccfusion, fear,
embarrassment, suspicion...). He thrust past them into memory.
He didn't have to search very deeply. "A little something, direct from
the governor's office," had been promised if they hung out close to Pad 12 and
made certain the Ssi-ruuk didn't infiltrate Bakura by way of that closed-off
Alliance landing area.
Luke broke off the contact and lowered his lightsaber. "Go home." He
hoped his voice sounded as disgusted as he felt. "Tell Governor Nereus that
we'll police Pad Twelve ourselves."
No one moved.
A deep, throaty rumble started from Chewbacca's direction. Picking up the
cue, Luke added, "Go on. You still haven't seen a Wookiee get really mad."
The thin man slunk out of the green-lit circle toward the bodies. One by
one, the others followed. Soon a bedraggled little group shambled toward Pad
12's main gate, carrying their comrades.
No sooner had they passed through the gate than the main bank of lights
lit up again.
Someone must be watching from the Imperial garrison, only a few
kilometers south. And Spaceport Security was unquestionably busy at Pad 2, or
6, or 9. On Imperial business.
He exhaled hard. "Let's go make sure the Falcon's okay, Chewie."
When Threepio wakened Leia early, she found a message from Luke He'd
taken Chewbacca to the spaceport to oversee ship repairs. She dressed
hurriedly in the bathroom and braided up her hair. Scurrying back out, she
caught sight of a tall human standing against the mural wall. She gasped and
stopped in midstep. By dim room light, he glimmered faintly and washed out the
real-time image of a sparkling city.
Luke had said he sometimes saw Ben Kenobi like this. Backing away, she
squinted. This man didn't look like the old general, nor anyone else she'd met
before.
Whoever he was, he didn't belong in her apartment. She eyed her blaster,
just out of reach on the repulsor bed. It probably lacked a certain threat
against apparitions, if this was one. "Who are you?" she demanded. "State your
business."
"Do not fear me," the figure said softly. "Tell Luke to remember that
fear is of the dark side."
Who was this person, bringing messages for Luke into her allegedly
private quarters? A Bakuran? An Imperial? "Who are you?"
The stranger stepped sideways into a darker spot, where his glow
brightened. He was tall, with a broad pleasant face and dark hair. "I am your
father, Leia."
Vader. A chill started at her feet and shivered its way to her scalp. His
very presence stirred every dark emotion she owned fear, hatred--
"Leia," the figure repeated, "do not fear me. I am f orgiven, but I have
much that I wish to atone for. I must clear your heart and your mind of anger.
Anger is the dark side, too."
Her blaster definitely wouldn't help. Even when he'd lived, he'd
deflected blaster bolts bare-handed. She'd seen him do it at Cloud City. "I
want you to leave." The dark chill froze her voice. "Disincorporate. Fade out,
or whatever you do."
"Wait." He did not move away from the wall. If anything, he seemed to
shrink in size and proximity. "I am no longer the man that you feared. Can you
not see me as a stranger, not an old enemy?"
She'd lived too long with the fear of Darth Vader. "You can't restore
Alderaan. You can't bring back the people you murdered, or comfort their
widows and orphans. You can't undo what you did to the Alliance." Old pain
jabbed her like a fresh wound.
"I strengthened the Alliance, although that was not my intent." He
extended a glimmering arm. The mellow voice sounded wrong. The mild, naked
face didn't look as if it'd hidden for decades behind a black breath mask.
"Leia, things are changing. I may never be able to return to you."
She glanced away. Maybe she couldn't harm him with her blaster, but it
would feel good in her hands. If she stretched, she could almost reach it.
"Good."
"There is no justifying... my actions. Yet your brother saved me from
darkness. You must believe me."
"I heard Luke." She crossed her arms and clenched her hands around her
elbows. "But I'm not Luke. Or your teacher. Or your confessor. I'm only your
daughter by a cruel trick of fate."
"Of the Force," he insisted. "Even that served a purpose. I am proud of
your strengths. I do not ask for absolution. Only your forgiveness."
She set her chin and kept her arms crossed. "How about what you did to
Han? Are you going to beg him for his forgiveness?"
"Only through you. My time here is short."
She swallowed. Her throat felt dry. "I can almost forgive you torturing
me." He bowed his head. "And the evils you did to other people--because those
drove so many worlds into the Alliance. But cruelty to Han... no. If you want
to go through me, you won't get his forgiveness. Never."
The figure shrank farther away. "ationever is too large a ^w, my child."
Darth Vader, lecturing her about virtue and eternity? "I will never
forgive you. Dematerialize. Go away."
"Leia, I may not speak to you again, but I'll hear if you call me. If you
change your mind, I will be watching."
She stared. How dare he, after all his cruelties and perversities? Let
Luke deal with him. She would not.
How did Luke stand knowing this was their father?
She rushed out of the bedroom. Morning light streamed through the main
room's long window, lighting yellow walls and dark flooring. Han pushed up out
of the closest corner lounge. "You're going to be late, Highness-ness."
Threepio waddled toward her. "Are you ready, Mistress L--?"
She had seized up the Owner and shut off Threepio. Now she turned to
watch the bedroom door. No one emerged. "He can't do this to me," she
muttered. "To my life. He can't do it!"
Han glanced at the comically frozen droid, then crinkled his mouth. "He
who? Did you get a call from that captain guy?"
Flinging out her arms, she paced past the windows. "Oh, fine. That's all
you can think of, your petty"--she grabbed a couch pillow--?lousy"--she
twisted it between her hands--?jealousy! Vader's been here, and all you can
think of is... acch!"
"Whoa, Princess." He showed her his palms. "Vader's dead. Luke burned
him. I took a speeder bike out and saw the ash pile."
Leia's stomach hurt. "You saw his body. I just saw the... rest of him."
"You're seeing things too, now?" He stood hip-hitched, hands in his
pockets, eyebrows raised. "Either
you're getting stronger in this Force stuff
or Luke's a bad influence."
"Maybe both," she said bitterly. "If I had to see ghosts, I could've put
up with that Yoda of his. I would've enjoyed talking to General Kenobi. Who do
I get?" Dropping the pillow, she struck the yellow wall with a fist.
"Easy," he murmured. "It's not my fault."
"I know it isn't." Now her knuckles hurt, too. Frustrated, she pivoted to
lean against the wall. She glared back across the lounge pit's blue and green
cushions toward her bedroom.
"What did he want?"
"You're gonna love this. To apologize."
Han gave a short, disbelieving laugh and ran a hand over his eyes.
"Yeah," she said. "My sentiments exactly."
"You know, you've been jumping at everything that reminded you of him.
Now you've faced him down. Maybe the worst is over."
"It's not." She let her shoulders sink. "Han, he's still here. I'm..."
Unable to finish the sentence, she shut her eyes.
"So what?" Han stepped closer and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Hey,
nobody gets to be as big a deal with the Empire as he was without a lot of
strengths and abilities. You got 'em. You're just using 'em differently."
How could he be so insensitive? "Thanks a lot, Han." She considered
taking a swing at him.
"Leia?" He spread his arms. "I'm sorry too. I guess. Sorry I made a stink
about that Alderaanian guy, anyway."
She drew a long, slow breath and stayed against the wall. "Go away."
"All right," Han exclaimed abruptly, "okay! I can take a hint." Glaring,
he stalked around the lounge pit.
"Han, wait!" What had she done, venting her anger on the one person she
shouldn't hurt? He passed Threepio, then the darkened comm station, almost
reaching the main door. "Han, it's... it's the Vader in me. I can't help what
I am."
As the impact of what she'd said flooded through her, Han stopped beside
the black console. He turned slowly. "No," he said. "It's the Skywalker in
you."
That name--Luke's name--didn't raise her hackles the same way. A fleeting
thought flashed through her mind What had Vader been like... before he was
Vader?
"I'll tell you one thing." Han walked up to the edge of the lounge pit.
"Governments need each other. Yeah. Planets do, species do. But so do people."
Governments. She was going to be late for breakfast with the prime