The Crystal Star (23 page)

and a package of silver, mixed them together, and tossed them at Chewbacca.

He blew out his breath in surprise, reached up as if to brush them off, then looked at them curiously.

The color-crawlers picked their way over and across and through his fur, leaving intermittent trails of

black and silver behind them. Chewbacca plucked one up, delicately, let it crawl along his finger, and

watched it streak a patch of chestnut hair with silver. The hair on his chest had already begun to mottle

with silver and black.

Amused, the Wookiee let the color-crawlers have their way with his fur.

"Soon you'll just be one more brindled Wookiee," Leia said. "Now. What about me?" Chewbacca chose

several different greens and handed them to her.

"I look terrible in green," Leia said.

"I can't imagine why I bought those." She chose, instead, several shades of ordinary brown and let them

loose in her hair.

I can't imagine why I bought these colors, either, she thought. I gave Chewbacca the best shades. Oh,

well.

She chose one package of very dark green and opened it into her hair.

Chewbacca whuffled with approval.

I'm going to look so boring, Leia thought.

But I want to be invisible, Leia reminded herself. There's no way to make Chewbacca invisible. I only

have to make him n-Chewbacca.

And I have to make sure no one notices me.

She was glad Artoo-Detoo was a common sort of droid, so she did not have to disguise him, too.

She envied Han his beard. Such an easy way to hide one's face. She considered disguising herself as a

man, but only for a moment.

In stories, she said to herself, princesses always disguise themselves as princes. But princesses in stories

never have any hips. They never have any breasts. No. I'd look like a woman in disguise; I'd only draw

more attention.

Better to be invisible.

Chewbacca gazed at his changing fur with every evidence of fascination. But then he sighed, deeply,

woefully. His sigh echoed in the empty space in Leia's heart where she could not find any perception of

her children.

"We can't be Leia and Chewbacca anymore," she said.

Chewbacca raised his head slowly. His eyes were dark and sad and questioning.

"We have to be Lelila and Geyyahab--we have to be Lelila and somebody, if you don't want to be

Geyyahab you can choose another name." Chewbacca--Geyyahab--indicated that he accepted her

choice of names, but did not understand the necessity.

"Whoever stole the children meant it as a strike against me," Leia said. "And against you and Han and

Luke. The kidnappers will expect us to come after them. They'll be watching for us. Setting a trap.

I think the only way we'll defeat them is with surprise." Chewbacca whined at her quizzically.

"No," Leia said, in despair. "I don't know who they are. Or where they went." But they must be remnants

of the fallen Empire, she thought. Who else could hate me enough to attack me through my children?

She grabbed the most lurid vial of eye-paint from the clutter on her bed. She wrenched the vial open and

slashed the purple paint across her eyelids, under her eyes, like the kohl of desert fighters. She highlighted

her forehead and her cheeks with gold.

"I'll find out," she said. "Maybe Rillao knows who--who hurt her. But if she doesn't, I'll wake up every

passenger on every freighter, if I have to. Someone must know who they are and what they plan. And

where to look for them." She looked in the mirror. Her hair hung around her face, half hiding her. Her

eyes peered out, intense and dark and wild with purple.

The paint's gold and ruby enhancers glittered and shifted. She looked less like a desert fighter than a

saloon dancer.

It doesn't matter, she said to herself. All that matters is, I don't look like Leia anymore. From now on, I'm

Lelila.

Artoo-Detoo buzzed fast over the threshold, hesitated, and hooted as its sensors took in the changes in

its biological companions. As soon as the droid recognized them, it reversed and vanished again.

Lelila the bounty hunter jumped up and ran after the droid. Behind her, Geyyahab her client followed

along, the change in his fur nearly complete.

Han had to admit that as far as he could tell, the game had been honest. Of course, as far as he could tell,

Waru was legit, too, and he did not believe Waru either.

He plodded down the street toward the lodge, reeking of six kinds of smoke, his head aching.

He wished he had drunk another glass of local ale; he might feel better. He thought the stuff had magical

healing powers.

"Just like Waru," he muttered.

He reached the lodge. The proprietor popped up and greeted him in a friendly manner.

Threepio must have paid our bill, Han thought.

Wonder what our cordial host will say tomorrow when we ask for an extension... and don't pay for it?

He climbed the steps, tripping only once, and counted doors carefully till he came to his own. It opened

for him. The eerie glow of Luke's lightsaber flowed over his feet and across the carpet.

Han quickly straightened his shirt, combed his hair and his beard with his fingers, and strolled casually

inside. The blade of the saber hummed and disappeared. Luke sat in the corner, exactly as he had the

night before.

"Hi, Luke," Han said, pretending to be much more cheerful than he felt.

"We have to talk," Luke said. "Xaverri and I, we went back to the--the ceremony. Han, there's no

mistaking what we saw--what you saw." Unable to maintain his pose, Han flung himself on his bed and

covered his face with the pillow. His head ached fiercely.

"Master Hanffwas Threepio's feet clattered metallically on the floor tiles.

"I paid our bills. Thank you very much! I will have other expenses to pay, in the morning, perhaps before

you arise, and I wondered--" "I'll give it to you tomorrow," Han said.

"But I had thought to go shopping early. [ I to lay in some provisions, that would save my human

companions from the expense of eating in restaurants--" "We're on vacation! Half the fun of being on

vacation is eating in restaurants!" Han tried to remember when the last time was that he had eaten. Have I

been subsisting on local ale? he thought. The stuff is even better than I thought. his--and it would allow

me to serve you breakfast in bed." "Can we talk about it tomorrow?" Han said. "I really need some

sleep." "Did you lose all the money?" Luke asked.

Han flung himself up. The pillow fell off his face and flopped onto the floor.

"No." He shrugged, and grinned. "Not all of it." "Oh, Master Han," Threepio said. "How am I to go

shopping in the morning, if you lost all our money?" "I didn't lose all of it," Han said.

"I can get more. I just had a bad evening.

Relax. Now can I get some sleep?" "No," Luke said. "Dammit, Han, wake up!" "How can I wake up

when you haven't given me a chance to go to sleep yet?" The blade of Luke's lightsaber shivered into

being. The ghostly green light filled the room.

It brightened, oddly, to pure white; its low hum rose to a shriek. Han shouted in protest.

Luke quickly turned off the lightsaber and slipped the handle beneath his robe.

"What was that?" Han asked. He was wide awake.

"I don't--nothing. It's all right." He sounded uncharacteristically startled. "Han, this Waru... if we could

persuade this being to come back with us, we could make a tremendous difference in the Republic. The

Jedi--and your legions, of course--protect the peace. Waru could directly improve people's lives." "Waru

isn't a Jedi--for certain?" "No. I mean... I'm not getting any of the perceptions I ought to feel." He leaned

forward, intent. "When your kids were born, I knew, right away, that they belonged among us. Especially

Anakin. When I first saw him, and he looked straight at me--" Luke exhaled loudly.

"If Waru were Jedi, I don't think I'd make a mistake." He interlaced his fingers, opened his hands, stared

at his palms. "But maybe Waru is connected to the Force, by some means we aren't aware of. Some

means I'm not aware of." He pulled his hands apart and clenched them into fists.

"I just don't know! And I've got to find out." "Okay, okay, take it easy." Han rubbed his face. He was so

sleepy he could hardly keep his attention on what Luke was saying, despite Luke's urgency.

"Xaverri said she thought Waru was dangerous.

A danger to the Republic, she said. And now you want to take him--it--the being--back to the heart of

our government?" "Waru has attracted a lot of followers here. They could form a powerful faction.

Wouldn't it be best to cooperate, right from the beginning?" Han chuckled. "You don't usually sound like

a politician." Han doubted that Luke cared one way or the other if Waru's followers formed an

opposition to Leia's government. But the young Jedi was fascinated with what he percvd as remarkable

abilities; he obviously wanted Waru where he could keep an eye on the being, and perhaps even learn

from him.

Han still had no idea why Xaverri thought Waru was dangerous.

Han produced one of his last coins, as if he had brought it out of thin air.

Luke smiled slightly. "Not bad." "I told you, more where this came from." Han made it disappear again.

Threepio approached. "How were you able to do that?" Han produced the coin from Threepio's mouth.

Threepio's eyes changed. "Do that again, if you please, Master Han." Han complied.

"Ah," Threepio said. "Exceedingly dexterous." "What'd you do?" Han asked. "Slow it down?" "Indeed I

did, Master Han." "Did you watch Waru that way?" "I regret that I did not, sir," Threepio replied to Han.

"I was so intrigued by what Mistress Xaverri had brought us to see, it did not occur to me." "Where is

Xaverri, anyway?" Han asked. "Did she go home?" "She stayed back at the compound," Luke said.

"She wanted to--" "You left her there?" "Sure." Han grabbed his boots from the floor where he had just

thrown them and wrestled them back on.

"She's lived here for years," Luke said reasonably. "She's been attending Waru's meetings since they

began. She knows how to take care of herself." "You said yourself, something weird is going on--" "And

you said it was a fraud!" "Just because something's a fraud doesn't mean it isn't dangerous. You saw how

Xaverri reacted yesterday." He hunted around for his jacket, then realized he had never taken it off.

Han Solo ran out the door.

Rillao lay very still beneath the shroud of medical equipment. Only her eyes moved. Her gaze flicked over

everything in the room, searching for weaknesses, searching for escape. A moaning growl shuddered

deep in her throat.

Lelila stood in the doorway, regarding the Firrerreo dispassionately.

Compassion was wasted on the nameless Firrerreo, Lelila thought. Besides, I can't afford compassion.

She waited till Rillao's gaze found her.

Lelila moved forward deliberately, and stopped a pace away from Rillao's bedside.

Rillao glared at her.

"I saved you," Lelila said.

"Who asked you to?" Rillao's voice was hoarse and rough.

"I saved you from torture, Rillao," Lelila said. She adopted the speech habits of the unnamed Firrerreo

who used names to gain power. "I freed you from the web, I took you from the passenger freighter, I

brought you to my ship, and I healed you. Rillao." Rillao's expression changed. Apprehension replaced

some of the arrogance.

"You own my name," she said. "Do you also own my body?" "Perhaps I did, for a moment," Lelila said.

"But I give it back to you." "Magnanimous of you," Rillao said. She glanced around the cabin, with its

understated elegance and its up-to-date medical equipment. "You are too rich, I suppose, to worry about

the profit." "Profit?" Lelila said.

Rillao stared at her, disbelieving. She pushed herself up on her elbows, shrugging away the medical

equipment's sensors. Her striped hair snarled in sweaty tangles. The medical equipment, noting her

recovery, pulled up to the ceiling to protect itself.

"The freighter was taken from its route," Rillao said. "It was hidden, far off trade routes. If you aren't a

slaver, how did you find it? What are you doing here?" Lelila's knees went weak. She locked them, or

she would have fallen. She felt herself go cold and pale, and she was glad her hair nearly hid her face.

She wished she had put on even more makeup. Behind her, Geyyahab roared in surprise and fury. Lelila

reached back, grabbed his hand, and silenced him with a squeeze of warning.

Slavery had existed under the Empire. But the Republic ended the practice. The government she served

had sought out the people bound by the ugly Imperial laws. They were free. The Empire no longer

existed to sell political prisoners into slavery, to steal their children and sell them.

There.were no slavers to steal Anakin and Jaina and Jacen!

"How long have you been here?" Lelila asked suddenly. "How long did you sleep?" "I never slept," Rillao

whispered. "I was not one of the freighter's original passengers." "But did you know the Empire--" "I was

brought here five years ago," Rillao said. his--is defeated? Oh. You must. But the Republic stopped the

slave trade!" "Some exist who are content to allow that belief.

It suits their purposes, to steal people in secret." Chewbacca--Geyyahab! Leia reminded herself,

Geyyahab and Lelilaff--wrapped his huge hand around her upper arm. She leaned gratefully against his

strength. But he, too, trembled.