Out of the Shadows 15

Coruscant

Han kissed Leia, his lips lingering softly upon hers, the repulsorlift jets lightly rocking their speeder adding to the sweetness of the moment. He sighed and drew away from her saying gently, “As usual, I think we’ve got company, sweetheart.”

“I guess we do.” Leia carefully climbed from the speeder and glanced towards the direction Han was indicating. Two of Mon Mothma’s personal security guards walked towards them. Their air was relaxed but Han and Leia were certain that their hands wouldn’t be far from their weapons at all times even though Han’s speeder was cleared to fly in the restricted zone. “We can be alone later.”

“That’s for certain, sweetheart, and it’s a thought I’ll keep with me.”

Han’s voice lowered seductively and Leia felt a delicious shiver run through her body. She tilted her chin into the familiar defiant angle that had led her through the Rebellion. “Let’s get this over with. I may as well tell her now.”

“We’ll tell her now,” he said finding her hand and squeezing it reassuringly. “I’m your back-up, remember? We’re in this together. The news you have to tell is good news. Remember that, too.”

The look she sent to him was a grateful one. “Han, I over-reacted with Karrde and Mara, didn’t I?”

“It’s understandable, sweetheart. A secret this big can’t be easy to spill, even if you’re the one that’s decided to do the telling.  But yes, I did think you were being somewhat dramatic over the whole issue. It’s not really your style.”

Leia’s smile was wry. “I do pick my moments.”

“I think it is the right time to say something. Karrde and Jade only know about you and Luke right now. They’ve no idea about the…other.”

“Thank the Force,” Leia muttered and then shook her head, laughing softly.

Han grinned. “Let the more pressing information out now and the…other might not seem so bad later on.”

“Unlikely, but you never know.”

“It won’t be so bad being able to admit that you and the Kid are related. I envy you. I would love to have a brother.”

“You do…” Leia looked up at him, her brown eyes holding a message. “You have Luke.”

Han’s heart flipped inside his chest at her words. She was right. The Kid was as close as a brother to him and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. “I do, don’t I? Never could get rid of him after I picked him up in Mos Eisley.”

“You also have Chewie.”

“Yeah, but the family resemblance isn’t quite so strong. For a start, he’s a lot taller than both you and Luke. Plus, he’s got considerably more hair than the Kid has. Actually, he’s got more hair than the rest of us put together.” He winked at her. “Come on.” Han smiled at the guards. “Hey! Guys.”

“General Solo…Princess Leia.”

“We’re just hoping to catch the President before she leaves for the evening Senate session.”

“Of course. Follow us.”

“Thanks, Jerroth.” Han remembered the guard’s name and was rewarded with a smile. It was a pity he couldn’t remember the other one. He was still trying to do just that when he and Leia were ushered into Mon Mothma’s private quarters.

“Mon Mothma will see you in a moment,” her secretary said with a welcoming smile. “She’s just freshening up before she leaves for the Senate. However, she only has an hour at most.”

“We won’t take long,” Leia said quietly.

“Please have a seat,” the woman said before withdrawing from the room, leaving them alone.

“Thank you.” Leia sat down on a comfortable-looking nerf-hide divan. “Han, the Vader thing will come out eventually.”

“Yes, it will but you can decide when that happens. You could tell Mon Mothma now but...”

“About Vader?”

“If you feel ready…” Han could see Leia shaking her head, her whole attitude one of negativity. “If not…just tell her about Luke. Vader can wait but you being a Skywalker cannot. I don’t think Jade and Karrde will say anything yet but it would be better if that part of the family secret was revealed. The Kid would be happy about it too.”

“Yes.” Leia could see Luke’s contented face in her mind’s eye. It would please him. “For the moment I would rather leave it that way,” she said slowly. “I think when I mention our parentage I would rather my brother was with me.”

“He will be and soon,” Han reassured her. “Karrde will find him.”

“I’m not so sure. I have an idea where he might be but I don’t know exactly where it is. I believe that Mara Jade will be the one to find Luke. I almost didn’t believe her when she said that she’d seen him but how I wanted to.”

“Neither did I but I don’t think lying is her style.”

“No, I think evading the truth might be more Mara Jade. She’s a strange one. Why did she see him and not you or me?”

“Because we wouldn’t let him go, perhaps?”

“Perhaps.” Leia sat up and turned her attention to Mon Mothma’s study.

It was that Force stuff again, Han decided, as the door Leia’s attention was focused upon, slid open and Mon Mothma glided forward, her pale cream simple robe brushing lightly across the blue carpet.

“Madam President,” Leia said formally and then stopped unable to continue.

“Han…Leia…” She searched their faces, noting the seriousness of their expressions. “A problem?”

Leia shook her head. “Not in the usual sense but you need to know this.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Karrde marched into his office, his back stiff with anger. His second-in-command had overstepped the boundaries he’d given her and it wasn’t really her fault. Normally such an infraction might have found him terminating her employment, if he hadn’t considered part of the mistake to be his. He had trusted her to do something that went against her entire upbringing. She’d been taught to hate Luke Skywalker ever since she’d first heard his name and did so with a passion Karrde hadn’t seen in Mara before. It was the first time her clinical detachment for the general vagaries of life had disintegrated, leaving behind a confused young woman. That didn’t make her less dangerous; in fact, it made her more so. She still came with a very powerful blaster, several vibroshivs hidden about her person and, when pushed, a couple of thermal detonators.

He’d been unfair. He’d wanted her to show her loyalty by undertaking a task he knew she’d fail. “Sit down, Mara.” Yes, he was angry but part of that anger had to be aimed in his own direction. Still, he had to make her see that she was wrong. Karrde had spent most of the Rebellion keeping out of the way of both camps but secretly sympathising with the Rebels rather than the Empire. He felt so hypocritical.

The red haired woman stayed standing. “I’m sorry, Karrde – really sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, Mara.” He knew she was sorry but a spark of defiance still lingered in her green eyes. “There are many things in this life that we would all like to do but cannot. While you are in my employ, Luke Skywalker stays alive.”

“Why?” she demanded. “You know how I feel about him. I have my reasons. What are yours?”

“I don’t know why. I guess I think the galaxy needs someone like him – someone neutral.”

“Skywalker is hardly neutral,” Mara scoffed. “He fought against the Empire.”

“Yes, but Solo and Leia told me that he left the Alliance to learn more about the Jedi – to distance himself from the new government.”

“Run by his sister and her friends?” Mara was obdurate.

Karrde clenched his fists. He wasn’t getting very far. Mara was adept at turning a conversation the way she wanted it to go. “You were specifically told to leave Organa out of the loop by Solo until he decided what to do. I’m pretty sure Han would have filled in the princess very quickly but you went ahead and included her, countermanding my orders. In fact, you went to her before you told either me or Solo.”

Mara squared her shoulders mulishly. “It got me the information I required. Ghent had given me the data but I needed the gut reaction and I got it from Her Royal Highness. Shock tactics work on these people. She’s good, I admit that, but she reacted to my questions exactly the way I wanted her to.” Mara subsided into the chair opposite Karrde’s. “It was her right to know just as much as Solo’s. She is Skywalker’s sister and I still think she knows where he is or she has, at least, some idea.”

“But she was shocked at the news of you encountering him on Druckenwell. Solo and Organa genuinely haven’t heard from Skywalker in over three years.”

“So there are things they don’t know. Encountering the blue-eyed boy was a surprise for me too – not my idea of a pleasure jaunt. All I knew up until then was that he was Organa’s brother and I had told you that part. He’s…”

“He’s what?”

“Not what I expected,” she mumbled. “Not at all. He looked…ordinary.”

“What did you expect? Two heads and breathing flames?”

“You must admit, Karrde, that Druckenwell is a peculiar place for a Jedi.”

“There’s no place marked ‘Jedi meeting place’ on any of my star charts,” Karrde snapped irritably. “The more unlikely the place…”

“Do you want to hear my theory, Karrde?” Mara murmured silkily.

“Go on.”

“Organa thinks she knows where he is but can’t find it or it’s too dangerous for her to go there. It could be both. She has looked for him – as much as she is able to.”

“Interesting theory.” Karrde leaned forward, his pale eyes piercing. “Don’t go against my wishes again, Mara, or I’ll have to find another employee which would be a pity as you’re one of the best I’ve ever had.”

Mara swallowed, an unaccustomed feeling of shame filling her. She had let him down. Again she’d let her emotions override her rationality. The Emperor would have had her killed or worse. She looked up at him, her clear green eyes bright. “You have my word.”

“Good.”

She was changing into a different being. Mara knew that as surely as the sun rose and set on most worlds, sometimes even twice. She looked the same and sounded the same but inside she felt different. She wasn’t even the same woman that had stepped onto Coruscant’s dusty ferrocrete a mere couple of weeks ago. A memory of a hard body pressed against hers as she was rolled away to safety crossed her mind for the thousandth time since it had happened and she knew who was responsible for the changes. “When do you leave for Myrkr?” Mara asked quietly.

“In two days. We’ll be based there for the next six months. I find Coruscant unpleasant for a long period of time – too many people.”

Mara’s face took on a strange expression as she recalled the museum displays that the New Republic had set up in the heart of what had once been Imperial Centre. It wasn’t home any more - she wondered if it ever had been. “I’m beginning to agree with you. It’s not what it once was.” She pulled out a data reader and slotted in a card. “I’ll see if Organa will meet me at the gym tomorrow. Perhaps I can learn something more. She may be willing to talk to me properly.”

“Let me know this time, hmm?”

Mara nodded. “Yes, I will. Talon, if she has any more information, it could mean that I may have to follow up some leads.”

“Then you follow them but let me know where you are going.”

“So you still don’t trust me, Karrde?”

“I ought not to but I do. I want you to remember that trust once lost, is extremely hard to regain.”

“I know.”

“However, finding Luke Skywalker is proving to be more interesting than I thought and you are the person I depend on to do it. My wanting to know where you are is a concern for your safety.”

“I can take care of myself, Talon.”

“I know you can. But I look after my people and you are one of those.”

He stood up, a powerful figure in his own right. Mara wondered if it was fate that drew her to these types of men. She’d revered the Emperor, would have given her life for him but liked the freedom of working for Karrde more. Mara squashed her feelings of guilt. It was still the young Jedi Knight that fascinated her the most and she would complete her mission. One day he would die.

‘You will kill Luke Skywalker,’ rang once more inside her head but the voice wasn’t the all-powerful tirade she once remembered. It seemed to be the spiteful ranting of an old man who childishly wanted to ruin the lives of others because he hadn’t got his way.

Mara bit her lip as she stood waiting for the turbolift to descend. It was getting harder and harder to hold onto her hate.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An hour after they’d gone in to see Mon Mothma, Leia and Han wandered wearily towards the skyhook’s landing strip to see if their speeder was in the place where they had left it. It was. Jerroth stood guard over it like a rancor pup waiting for its first bone.

“Your Highness, General Solo.”

“Thanks Jerroth.” Han helped Leia into the speeder and they headed towards Leia’s apartment. The traffic lanes weren’t any less busy than they’d been earlier.

Han was content to pilot the small craft in a restrained fashion, Leia curved sweetly against him, craving his warmth. “See, sweetheart, Mon Mothma didn’t even blink when you told her.”

“Yes, it was as if she’d been expecting something like this.”

“You mean she knew?” Han’s voice rose.

“No, she didn’t know…couldn’t have known. But she wasn’t at all concerned. I was expecting something more.”

“Shock, horror…the works?” Han suggested helpfully. “It wasn’t a new warlord or a galaxy destroying weapon we were announcing…for once.”

Leia frowned at him. “Not quite. I just thought her reaction would be bigger but she took it very calmly. She seemed to be genuinely happy.”

“Why shouldn’t she be happy?” Han asked. “She was a little surprised, that was all.”

“You must admit Luke and I are very different. I don’t think anyone would guess that we are related.”

“I don’t know. Yes, your colouring is different but sometimes when you both smile…” He shrugged. “I guess you would have to know that the relationship exists to spot the similarities. It’s not an obvious resemblance.”

“That’s a good thing if we were supposed to have been hidden from Vader and the Emperor. No one was to know our true identity.”

Han shrugged. “You’re both very stubborn.”

“Takes one to know one,” Leia said with a smile. “Luke’s not stubborn.”

Han gave a bark of laughter. “The Kid…not stubborn! Leia, Luke’s worse than anyone I’ve ever met - even me. He’s so stubborn you don’t always see it and that’s very shrewd of him.” He eased in behind a luxury enclosed shuttle. “Could you talk him out of leaving?”

Leia shook her head. “No.”

“Neither could I, Wedge, Admiral Ackbar or Mon Mothma. He’d made up his mind and there was no shaking him from it.”

“Yes, I guess there wasn’t.”

“You don’t have to keep this a secret any longer and that’s a good thing. There have been too many secrets in your life.”

Leia nodded. “I agree but it was for the best at the time. I can understand that.” She could see her apartment block ahead. It would be good to sleep in her own bed tonight with Han holding her. She felt so tired that her very bones ached.

Han flew the vehicle into their private hangar. “Hey,” he murmured, as she blinked large dark sleepy eyes in his direction.

“Sorry, Han. It’s been a long and exciting day.” She smiled lovingly at him. “I never expected to get engaged either.”

Han’s mouth opened as if to say something, closed it and looked appalled at himself. “Kessel,” he muttered, rubbing his hand over his chin. “What was I thinking about?”

“Han?” Leia’s voice showed her bewilderment. “You didn’t want to get engaged?”

“Of course I did,” he snapped back immediately. “I’ve wanted that for years. It’s just…” He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small box. “It’s not as flashy as the Duke would manage but I love you and that has to count for something. Here.”

Leia took the box and gasped as a simple ring was revealed, the stone gleaming with a pearlescent glow. “A durindfire gem,” she breathed.

“It’s not very big,” Han muttered, his face flushing a little.

“It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen a stone of such purity.”

“Reminded me of you,” Han said roughly and cleared his throat. “May I?” he asked.

“Please,” Leia said tremulously, as Han slid the ring onto her finger. A tear ran down her face and she threw herself into his arms. This was right for Han and for her and they should have done it years earlier. “I love you.”

“I know.” He lowered his head and kissed her. They drew apart and strolled into the building together, their hands clasped.

“Mon Mothma seemed to be genuinely pleased for us,” Han said.

“She was,” Leia said. “I could feel it.”

Han pulled her into his strong arms as they waited for the turbolift to take them up to the top storey of the building. “I didn’t think you’d say yes.” His voice held awe.

“Why would you think that?” Leia asked. “I love you.”

“You know…” He shrugged. “A princess and a guy like me.”

“As I said, nerf-herder, I love you. No one else will do for me - not now…not ever.”

“So where is he?” Han asked as they entered Leia’s lounge.

“Where is who?” Leia said pulling off her wrap and laying it over the back of a chair.

“Your brother.”

Leia’s lips pressed tightly together and then she expelled a large sigh. “I’m telling the truth when I say that I don’t really know.”

“I know.”

“You do?” Leia was surprised.

“If you did, you’d have gone to see him nearly three years ago. You’d have people keeping watch over him, maybe even cajoling him into the odd little excursion on behalf of the New Republic .”

“You make me sound…interfering,” Leia whispered. “Bothering with the galaxy’s problems and not giving him a chance to sort out his own first.”

“Whatever he does, the galaxy’s problems will be his.”

“He wanted to learn how to solve them the best that he could. I understood and yet I didn’t.”

“It’s because you love him and I appreciate that fact but even I can now see why he went away. That’s in the past though; he should be home with his family. It’s been too long.”

“Yes, I want my brother home with me.”

“Where do you actually think he is?” asked Han, moving to the drinks cabinet and pouring them both a large Corellian whisky.

Leia took a thankful sip of the spirit and closed her eyes as she felt its warmth trickle down her throat. “He once mentioned a place – it’s where he went before when…”

“When I was a carbonite wall ornament.”

She nodded. “It’s a planet called Dagobah.”

Han tilted his head to one side. He’d heard that name before. “Dagobah,” he said, rolling the word around on his tongue. “Dagobah! I’ve heard…where did I hear?” Han’s brow furrowed. “I know… he mentioned that name on Hoth but he was delirious. We’d just picked him up. He’d been lying face down in the snow just after the wampa attacked him.”

“I remember.” Leia gave a shiver. “I thought I’d lost both of you.” They’d all been lucky to survive Hoth.

“I thought he was dead at first but then Luke began rambling, calling for Obi-Wan and he mentioned Yoda and Dagobah,” Han recalled. “It meant nothing to me then. I was more concerned with getting Luke and myself to shelter otherwise we would not have lasted the night. It’s not an experience I want to repeat.” He took a gulp of the whisky and coughed. “Where actually is Dagobah? I’ve been a lot of places and, apart from Luke mentioning it on Hoth, I’ve never even heard about it from another pilot.”

“That’s the problem.”

“Problem?”

“Go and pull up the New Republic star charts.”

Mystified, Han went to the com centre and did so. “Got them.”

Leia’s smile held strain. “Okay…find Dagobah.”

Han typed in the name of the planet and waited while the machine whirred. “Nothing,” he said. “It either isn’t on the chart or it doesn’t exist.”

“I think it’s the former and I have looked. If Yoda was hiding from the Emperor he would not want to be easily discovered.”

“So he hides on an uncharted world waiting for a Jedi strong in the light side of the Force to drop in for a visit.”

“That’s about it. I have to believe that he’s safe.”

“The galaxy’s a big place. He could be anywhere.”

“I know,” Leia whispered, dejection written all over her pretty face. Her expression brightened a little. “But Mara Jade saw him on Druckenwell.”

Han crossed to her and took her in his arms. “There are other star charts. Older ones from a time before you were born. Surely you can access Imperial files.”

“I’ve never tried but you could be right. We have dozens of programmers down in the crypt still working on old Imperial codes and files.” Leia spoke of a room in the Imperial palace. “I’ll get in touch with them first thing tomorrow. See if they have anything.”

A light began blinking on the console.

“Seems you have a caller, sweetheart,” Han commented, downing the last of his drink and immediately pouring another.

“Yes, said Leia flicking a switch and watching Talon Karrde’s face materialise in front of her. “Talon,” she said.

“I called to apologise,” the smuggler chief said, his face grave.

Leia shook her head. “There’s no need.”

“Yes, there was a need. Mara can be…” He sighed.

Leia tried to search his face for clues but he was skilled in keeping his thoughts and emotions to himself. She smiled ruefully. “Very thorough.”

Karrde relaxed, the tension eased from his shoulders. The Princess was not going to make things difficult, although she had every right to do so. “Mara is an unknown entity in many respects, but I do trust her with the general running of my group’s operations. She’s a good worker but it doesn’t excuse her for what she did. She knows this and is genuinely sorry. She has a lot of issues left over from her past. The main one of them being your brother, Princess.”

“Did you know…?”

Karrde knew what she was asking. “I heard a rumour but discounted it. Mara went one step further and checked it out and had sources even I didn’t know that she had.”

“Luke Skywalker is my brother and I’m glad about it.”

“Then why hide it?”

“I didn’t grow up with Luke. I didn’t know he even existed until he walked into my cell on the first Death Star and proceeded to rescue me. We only found out about the relationship years later, during the battle of Endor. It was a surprise to us both and has still left us with many questions, most of which will never be answered.”

“I can imagine that.”

She gave the smuggler chief a direct stare. “I cannot let Mara kill my brother.”

“No, I suppose you can’t. But I’m not sure that she really wants to kill him. I did tell her he was better off alive.”

“My brother is very stubborn and not an easy man to slay. Remember, the Emperor and several notorious bounty hunters tried and failed.”

“Darth Vader too?”

Leia’s eyes became cold. “Vader didn’t want to kill Luke. He wanted to turn him to the Dark Side, to join him so that together they could defeat Palpatine and rule the galaxy. Vader wanted Luke’s strength. He could not defeat Palpatine alone.”

Karrde was surprised but then remembered that Mara had insinuated something similar.

Han pulled up a chair and sat beside Leia, his hand on her shoulder offering his support. “It’s all about power,” he said. “Two against one, greater strength in numbers, the bigger the bantha…Do you want me to continue?”

Karrde’s lips thinned. “No, I think I get the holo. Do still want my organisation to continue the search for your friend, Solo?”

Han looked at Leia and raised his eyebrows in an unspoken query.

Her lips tightened but she nodded. “Yes. Find Luke and let Jade help you. She is Force strong after all which should interest Luke. He’s going to need plenty of recruits if the Jedi are to rise again.”

“Mara….a Jedi?” This time, Karrde couldn’t keep the astonishment from his voice. “She hates the Jedi. She may not kill Skywalker now but she fully intends to one of these days.”

“My brother is not without his own defences if she tries anything. As I said, Palpatine tried and failed.”

“Besides,” Han chuckled. “We quite like her.” Leia grinned, and Han saw again the elusive Skywalker likeness.

“Tell Mara that I’ll be at the gym tomorrow…usual time…and that I’ve got information for her.”

“She thought you might have. You could tell me,” Karrde said.

“No, I’ll only tell Mara…for now.” 

“She will probably tell me,” Karrde said with a smile. “I know for a fact that she’s planning to be in the gym at her usual time tomorrow.”

“Convenient,” Han drawled cynically.

“Planning,” Karrde drawled back dryly. “I’m heading back to my base on Myrkr at the end of this week and won’t be back on Coruscant for at least the next six months. It’s not my favourite place.”

Han agreed. “Good to have met you again, Karrde, and keep in touch.”

“Will do. Mara will see you tomorrow, Princess Leia. I can’t guarantee any further problems but I’ve had words with her.”

“Thank you, Talon,” Leia said. “I’m looking forward to it.” She closed the connection. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Han beckoning her, a glass of something celebratory in his hand.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Dagobah

Returning from his run, Luke approached the clearing where he and Yoda had made their home. The two structures sat side by side, so different, yet providing the same function – shelter. He frowned, as a shiver ran through him. He could feel something ominous looming at the edge of his consciousness and sinking into the Force, he knew what it was.

Snapping open eyes he hadn’t realised that he’d closed, Luke began sprinting towards his Master’s hut, fear suffusing his whole being. No! This couldn’t be happening – not now. “Master Yoda,” he shouted. “Master Yoda!”

His heart was pounding, his breath coming in gasps as he burst through the door. Yoda lay on the floor where he’d fallen, his breathing shallow, his little clawed hand clutched at his chest.

Luke dropped to his knees and felt for the fragile pulse. He was still alive. “Master,” Luke gasped.

“Nothing can you do,” the old creature whispered faintly.

“No, I have to do something…please.” Luke offered him a little of his own strength. “I have to…help you.”

“No pain I suffer,” Yoda’s voice was a thread of sound. “Sinking I am. Inevitable this is and soon.”

“Rest,” Luke urged and lifted him into his bed, covering the old creature with a simple homespun blanket. 

His Master was dying.