Star Wars_ Shadows Of The Empire Part 12

"Greedo was Avaro's nephew."

"You think he'll hold that against us?" Leia asked.

"Maybe. Maybe not. All I know about Rodian customs is that they are big on hunting. If somebody had shot my nephew, I might be unhappy with them."

"We didn't shoot him, Han did."

Lando grinned. "Well, yes, that's true. But we are his friends."

Leia leaned back in her seat. Always more obstacles. Then again, maybe this wasn't really a problem. No way to tell until they got there.

Around them, hypers.p.a.ce flowed as the Falcon car-ried them to whatever awaited.

Vader knelt on one knee as the Emperor stared through his viewer plate at the spires of the city. Abruptly he turned. "Do get up, Lord Vader."

Vader obeyed.

"So our agents have verified this report?"

"They have, my master."

"A hundred Rebel s.h.i.+ps? Plus, no doubt, their pilots and officers."

"Likely, yes."

"That's Grand Moff Kintaro's sector, is it not? He has been lax in allowing such a base to become established. We will speak to him."

Vader said nothing. Grand Moff Kintaro would likely be out of a job soon and also likely out of breath - permanently.

"Well. You must take part of the fleet and go there immediately. Destroy the base. The loss of s.h.i.+ps and troops will be most damaging to the Rebels."

"I thought perhaps Admiral Okins might command the expedition."

The Emperor smiled. "Did you?"

Vader felt his hope evaporate. "But if it is your wish, I shall lead the attack."

"It is my wish. You may take Okins if you like, but you are to personally ensure the a.s.sault."

Vader bowed. "Yes, my master."

As he left the Emperor's most private chamber, Vader fumed. The base was there, just as Xizor had said. It would be a powerful victory for the Empire and relatively easy-s.h.i.+ps under repair would not be able to lift to defend themselves, and it would be like shooting game birds at roost, but he did not trust the Dark Prince, and he knew the man did nothing for free.

What was in this for Xizor? What did he hope to gain?

Vader brooded as he walked. At least he had not conveyed to the Emperor who had given the Rebel base's location. He'd had the recordings from the skyhook's holocams erased and his own recordings locked away. A small victory, but any such triumph over Xizor was better than none.

Vader was met at the exit of the Imperial Palace by Admiral Okins.

"Prepare your s.h.i.+ps, Admiral. I shall be carrying the flag on my Destroyer."

Okins bowed. "At once, Lord Vader." Vader looked up into the night skies over Imperial Center. The darkness was held at bay by the millions of lights on the surface, and up where the glow dimmed, the tiny dots of s.p.a.cecraft arriving and leaving looked like a swarm of Belvarian firegnats, reds and greens and blinking white ventral landing beacons. He would take his s.h.i.+ps and crush the Rebel s.h.i.+pyard, smash it flat, and then he would hurry back here. Xizor was up to something, and it would be best if he found out what quickly.

12.

Luke took a deep breath. He stood outside Ben's house, the first stars of evening aglimmer, the moon still on the rise. The air was warm but not as scorchingly hot as it had been. He held the completed lightsaber in his right hand. He had a.s.sembled it according to the old book's direction; everything should work.

Should work. But he'd come outside to test it. That way, if it blew up, at least it wouldn't take Ben's house with it.

Artoo stood nearby, watching. Luke could have had the droid try it without any risk to himself, but what kind of Jedi would do that?

"Go back inside," he told Artoo. Artoo was not happy with that and said so, ending in an air-forced-through-rubbery-lips noise. "Go on. If something happens, I need you to tell Leia."

Yeah. Tell her Luke, the galaxy's biggest idiot, flash flamed himself into a black crisp because he couldn'tfollow an elementary circuit diagram.

Artoo left, whistling his protest as he went.

Luke let his breath out. He waited until Artoo was out of sight, then took another deep breath, held it, and pushed the control b.u.t.ton-The lightsaber glowed; the blade extruded to full length, just under a meter, and began to hum with power. It gave off a green gleam that was quite bright in the early night.

Luke grinned and let his indrawn breath escape.

Whew. Well, it wasn't like he really thought it was going to explode.

He waved the lightsaber experimentally. It had a good balance, maybe even better than his first one. He drew himself up into a ready stance, slid forward, and swung through a series of downward cuts, alternating from left to right and back.

Yes!

There was a thin spire of rock jutting up from the dry ground a few meters away. He moved to it, c.o.c.ked the lightsaber, and whipped it down at a forty-five-degree angle. The humming blade crackled, sheared through a wrist-thick chunk of rock, left a smooth cut.

He nodded and relaxed his fighting stance. He held his left hand near the blade. No sensation of heat; that was good; it meant the superconductors were working.

Behind him, Artoo chirped and rolled to a stop.

Luke shut the lightsaber's power off. Saw the droid and shook his head.

He had a mind of his own, Artoo did.

"Hey, it works great," Luke said. "I knew it would, you know." Did Artoo's whistled agreement have a sarcastic tone? Luke chuckled. Well. No matter. He had built the elegant weapon, and it worked. That was something.

Maybe he would learn how to be a Jedi Master after all. He looked up at the stars. He hoped Leia and the others were doing okay.

Leia, Chewie, and Lando sat in Avaro's private office, facing him across a large desk made of some kind of carved yellowish bone.

Avaro's skin had faded to a dull green; he was much fatter than most of the Rodians Leia had seen, and he spoke Basic with a lispy accent.

"I thee no prowblemth," he said. "Gweedo thouldn't have twied to take Tholo alone. He wath not vewwy bwight, my nephew. Tholo ith fwothen, Ken.o.bi ith dead, yowah money ith ath good ath anybodyth."

Well. So much for family ties. Made things easier, though she wished Avaro would speak some language in which he was more proficient. She didn't know what, given that her Rodian was elementary. Oh, well. She could understand him with a little work, and that was all that was necessary.

"So you will put us in touch with the proper people?"

Avaro nodded. "Yeth. It will take a few dayth. Local contakth won't do you any good, you need an offplanet wepwethentative."

"Fine."

"Meanwhile, feel fwee to enjoy owah cathino. Woomth will be made available fowah you."

Leia nodded. "Thanks."

If Mos Eisley was bad, this place was worse, Leia thought, as they left Avaro's office and moved toward the hotel section. There were electronic gambling devices, card games, wheels of fortune and the like, with players and dealers and operators busy at them, but the floor was worn and dirty, the air filled with smoke and an odor of spice that indicated some of the patrons might be chemically enhanced-or chemically debilitated, depending on how you viewed such things. Large armed guards stood at regular intervals, looking, she thought, for somebody to shoot.

It all looked seedy and unkempt.

Lando glanced around with a critical eye.

"See anything you like?" Leia said.

"Couple of the card games look as if they might be honest. Place like this in a complex with so many other casinos pretty much has to be on the up-and-up. House percentage ensures a good profit, and if there aren't a few big winners now and then, the customers go elsewhere. Better stay away from the credit disk machines and the wheels, though. Those'll be rigged."

"Don't worry, I don't gamble."

Lando grinned.

"Something funny?"

"Princess, you're the biggest gambler I've ever met. But you don't risk money, you risk your neck."

Leia also had to grin a little at that. He had a point.

Threepio waited at the entrance, and he did not seem happy to be there.

He did seem relieved to see them return. "I hope your meeting went well,"

he said.

"Yeah, it did," Lando answered. "Though I think we might take you to translate for us next time. Avaro has a slight problem with Basic."

"Happy to be of service," Threepio said. "I'd much rather stay with you than out here alone. Some of the patrons seem quite unsavory."

Leia smiled again. There was an understatement.

"We'd better get checked in," Lando said. "Then we can come down and see just how honest this operation is."

It was nearly a standard week after his meeting with the Emperor, and Darth Vader now stood on the bridge of his Super-cla.s.s Star Destroyer, about to leave hypers.p.a.ce. They had entered the Baji Sector and would soon be in the Lybeya System. In formation with him were two Victory-cla.s.s and one Imperial-cla.s.s Star De-stroyers, more than sufficient firepower to destroy a single s.h.i.+pyard.

Better too much than too little, the Emperor had said.

Vader took no particular joy in this kind of mission, it was so impersonal; but it was a necessary part of the war. The enemy could not fight without equipment, and depriving him of it was much better in the long run than waiting to meet in battle, no matter what Vader's personal preferences might be.

"We are dropping to sublight, Lord Vader."

He turned and saw a junior officer standing there. He had heard that the officers drew lots when it came time to deliver messages to him, and the loser had to go. It was good that they feared him. Fear was a better weapon than a blaster or a lightsaber.

Vader was silent, allowing the man to worry for a moment. "Very well," he finally said. "Set a course for the Vergesso Asteroids, using the coordinates for the s.h.i.+pyard. I will be in my chambers. Call me when we get there."

"Yes, Lord Vader."

After the frightened officer hurried away, Vader stood there staring after the man. He would much rather be hunting Luke Skywalker than playing figurehead on a mission any line officer with half a working brain could manage. True, he had his agents in the field - some volunteers, some conscripted-many of whom were quite adept, but it was not the same as doing it himself.

He blew out a particularly labored breath. Unfortunately, he had not been given a choice. The Emperor did not ask for opinions when he issued a command.

The best Vader could do was to hurry and finish as quickly as possible.

He headed toward his chambers.

Lando sat at a table with five other cardplayers, engaged in a game Leia didn't recognize. Each player was given seven thin electronic rectangles by the dealer droid, allowed to discard up to four of them, then to draw replacements. The game seemed to involve sorting these card plates into colors and numbers, then betting that the resulting combinations would either total more points than the other players' or come closer to some ideal. Leia wasn't quite sure about that part yet. Apparently each player was given the same number of points on a counter to begin with, and the winner was the one with the highest total when the session ended.

Lando seemed to be doing well at the game. The electronic counter in front of him showed a positive balance higher than all but one of the others.

"The bet is fifteen," the droid said. "The sum is minimum and the color is open."

"Match," the bald man next to the dealer said. "In green."

"Match, in blue," a young Rodian female next to him said.

"Double," Lando said. "In red."

The other players groaned.

Lando smiled.

Threepio stood nearby, watching, as did Chewie. Threepio kept his voice quiet and said, "I don't understand how he keeps winning. He isn't playing correctly. The odds on the match he just offered are eight hundred and six to one. It would be very difficult to achieve that combination."

"He's bluffing," Leia whispered.

Threepio turned to look at her. "That doesn't seem very wise."

Three of the players tossed their cards into the retrieval tray.

"Sure it is," Leia said. "He's winning and they are intimidated. Rather than risk losing more, they prefer to drop out."

"But what if one of the other players has a superior hand and doesn't drop out?"