The Crystal Star (38 page)

for?" "What's got into you?" Incensed, Han grabbed Luke's robe and pulled him to his feet.

Glaring furiously, Luke pulled away and flung up his hand, palm outward. Han felt the touch of the Force

in the center of his chest. He jumped backward, thinking, I can't move fast enough--I'm dead!

The touch vanished and Luke crumpled to the ground. Han hurried to his side and knelt beside him.

"I'm sorry," Luke said. "I'm sorry, I don't know--" "I loved Xaverri," Han said. "I loved her. I won't deny

it. I can't. If she hadn't left me--I don't know. It doesn't matter, Luke. Can't you see that? I promise you,

brother--what Xaverri and I were to each other years ago has nothing to do with what Leia and I are to

each other now." Luke broke his own gaze, looking away, looking down. "I'm sorry," he said. "I had no

cause to say what I said to you. To refuse to listen to you. It's just that yesterday--" "I saw a child die!"

Han shouted. "And it was like I could see my own kids in that thing's power!" "You needed somebody to

talk to," Luke said.

"I understand that. But I could have--" "You can't understand how I felt." Han doubted he could make

Luke understand what he was trying to tell him. "I'm sorry, Luke, but you couldn't. Xaverri could. Her

children--the Empire murdered them." Han jumped to his feet and strode away a few steps, fighting to

control himself. "We've got to get out of here." Luke remained silent.

Han returned to him and helped him to his feet. His friend did not resist him.

"Where's Threepio?" Han asked.

Luke shrugged. He was shaking. Han looked at him with concern, thinking, He really is sick.

I've got to get him away from here.

"It beats the hell out of me where he could have gone," Han said. "He isn't at the lodge." He glanced

toward the secret path, not looking forward to the trek through the mutant forest.

Xaverri ducked out of the concealed entrance. She walked toward him.

"Xaverri!" She raised one hand to acknowledge his greeting.

Her expression remained neutral. He had almost forgotten the way their last conversation ended.

Helping Luke along, Han went to meet her. When he stepped out of the shade, the light hit him like a

wave of hot water. He stopped before her, hoping she would take his hand. She simply gazed at him, in

silence.

"We're leaving," he said. "You're right about Waru. About the danger. We're taking the information back

with us. To decide what to do." "I am glad to hear it," she said in a neutral tone.

I'll find the Ithorian family, Han thought. They're New Republic citizens--I'll try to persuade them to

press charges in a New Republic court. Then I can have Waru arrested, and tried--even if the Ithorian

family won't agree, there must be some victim of this monster who's come out of its spell.

"Come with us." Her lips twitched in a quick smile.

"Xaverri, in the center of government? The center of law? I could never fit there, Solo.

I could never survive." Han grinned. "You might be surprised." "Perhaps. But I think I will not risk it." She

glanced at Luke, who stood gazing at the ground with his hood pulled far forward.

"Skywalker," Xaverri said. "Why are you so melancholy?" He raised his head, but the starlight shone in

his eyes. He flinched and ducked down again.

Xaverri frowned and leaned against a rock spur edging the trail. She gazed at Waru's retreat.

At the far end of the dome, a group of people entered from the main connecting path. They strode

toward Waru's compound. First came a marching phalanx of youths in blue uniforms. Their chests shone

with medals, their shoulders with bright epaulets. They led the way for a tall man in a shimmering white

robe. Older youths in long white vests flanked the tall man. A more unruly crowd of richly dressed

people brought up the rear.

Han leaned on the rock beside her to watch.

The blue-uniformed cadre stood guard on either side of the filigreed archway. The white-robed man

walked alone into Waru's compound.

Xaverri's whole body tensed. Han glanced at her.

"What--?" "I know him," she whispered. "It is the Procurator of Justice." Han snapped around, following

Xaverri's gaze. The other followers were entering the compound.

Then Han saw, at the back of the crowd, a human youth, or one of the smaller species of sentient beings.

He held the hand of an even smaller person, a child by the way he walked. They vanished between the

two lines of guards.

Han froze.

"Luke," he said.

Beside him, Xaverri turned toward him, startled by the tone of his voice.

Han's heart crashed against his ribs.

"Xaverri..." "What's wrong, Solo?" "That's Anakin," he whispered.

He vaulted over the rock and onto the steep slope. Ignoring the path, ignoring the prickly mutant plants

that ripped at his clothes, he stumbled and slid down the hillside. Pebbles rolled and clattered,

avalanching beside and around him, making so much noise, raising so much dust, that he had no idea if

Luke or Xaverri were following him.

Anakin vanished into Waru's retreat.

For a moment, just a moment, Leia could imagine she was taking a quiet walk with Jaina and Jacen. They

held her hands, trusting. Then the emptiness of Anakin's loss drained her again, leaving a cold and hollow

spot in her heart.

"Can you catch any hint of Tigris?" Leia asked. "If Anakin is there..." She sought desperately for a sense

of her child. She felt as if she were shouting as loud as she could, in a canyon so large she could not even

hear the echoes. "If they're here--then what?" I've spent years bringing back the rule of law, Leia thought.

Putting the rule of justice in place of the rule of terror. But there is no law here. No justice.

"I'm not completely without resources," Rillao said. She strode onward without looking at Leia.

"But we aren't armed. And you said... you told me..." Leia hesitated, reluctant to bring up a subject that

caused Rillao pain.

"Wait, please." Jaina and Jacen could not keep up, so Leia picked up Jacen and Chewbacca carried

Jaina.

"I told you he overcame me, five years ago. Yes." "All his guards are with him. And he must be armed!"

"He is. With his lightsaber... and mine." "Then--" "Lelila, you must have noticed! It's as your boy said."

She glanced at Jacen, and brushed his tangled curls from his forehead. "Everything is weird here." Leia

nodded.

"The Force is disturbed, disarranged. I open myself to it, and it will not touch me. I cannot heal--s Hethrir

cannot destroy. Our worlds have turned to chaos." They exited the airlink and came out at the top of a

long slow slope, above a graceful building.

"I could not use my lightsaber if I had it," Rillao said. "But neither can Hethrir." Leia frowned, confused.

"Why not?" "Because Hethrir's lightsaber can only be empowered by the Force," Rillao said.

"Mine is built to the same design." They walked through an airlink and came upon a peaceful vista, a wide

valley spreading below them.

Rillao stood on the hill above a graceful building surrounded by archways and gardens. One by one,

youths in pale blue uniforms passed through one of the arches, crossed a courtyard, and vanished into the

building.

"We have found him," Rillao said softly.

"His guards, anyway," Leia said.

"They'd be easier to recognize with mud on their uniforms." Leia put Jacen down and turned to

Chewbacca. He growled in refusal before she even spoke.

"It's important!" Leia said. "I expected Artoo to stay with the children, but he's disappeared! Please,

Chewie! Someone's got to keep watch out here. In case... in case we fail." Jacen clutched Leia's leg.

"Mama, don't go away again!" She knelt beside him. "I have to, sweetheart. I have to go get Anakin. I'll

be back soon." She steadied her voice. "I promise." Chewbacca sat on his heels, hugging Jaina in one

arm, and gathered Jacen to him.

"Hurry, Lelila," Rillao said as Leia rose. Below them, the last of Hethrir's Proctors disappeared inside

Waru's building.

Rillao and Leia hurried down the hillside path.

Leia heard a scattering of gravel, the scuff of boots on steep ground. She turned.

Partway around the dome, Han plunged down the slope, heedless of the trail. Luke and another person

followed close behind.

"Han!" Leia ran to meet him. She pushed her hair back from her face; it flew behind her in the wind of her

speed. Han slid to a stop in a small avalanche of gravel and dust. Astonished, he enfolded her in his arms.

"Leia--what--?" He touched her hair, her painted eyebrow, her cheek.

"I found Jaina and Jacen," she said.

"They're all right." She pointed up the hill, where Chewbacca stood with the twins, watching unhappily

but stoically. "But Anakin--we think Hethrir brought him here!" "Anakin is here," Luke said. He glanced

at Rillao, then looked at her more closely.

She met his gaze coolly.

"He's inside," Han said. "We saw him --What happened?" Leia grabbed his hand and ran toward Waru's

building.

The crowd swept Tigris into its excitement.

Hethrir's guests gathered around the stage, below the great gold altar of Waru's form. Their lord faced it;

the Proctors fanned out on either side of the entryway, standing along the back wall, watching and alert.

"Hello, Ally Hethrir." Tigris surreptitiously watched the new Proctor, amused by his surprise: The altar

spoke! It moved! Its gold scales rippled and surged.

In Tigris's arms, Anakin watched, wide-eyed and silent.

"Hello, Ally Waru." "What have you brought me, my friend?" the golden being asked. Its form changed

and expanded. Scarlet flesh swelled between the shining scales.

"What you required," Lord Hethrir said.

"I will give you a gift. And you will keep your promise to me. You will open me to the limits of the

Force." "What have you brought me?" the being asked again, its voice soft and wondering. "I have

waited a long time. I am tired. I am lonely." Hethrir's guests pressed forward, whispering, "My lord, take

mine, take mine." The children at their sides drew back fearfully, but the guests held them tight. One of

the guests struggled to keep the red-gold centaur child from scrambling away and fleeing. The child's

hooves clattered and scrabbled on the smooth stone floor.

Lord Hethrir gazed over their heads. He gestured to Tigris.

Tigris edged through the crowd. At first they resisted him--he was only Tigris, in his grubby robe,

nursemaid, figure of ridicule. He wished Anakin's ugly pet would lead the way, instead of tagging along at

his heels. Lord Hethrir's followers surely would move aside for those dripping fangs.

Then Lord Hethrir gestured again, and the followers noticed that he wanted Tigris.

They parted, making a path for Tigris and Anakin.

They knelt on the stone floor. Tigris was thrilled.

If only Lord Hethrir would purify me, Tigris thought. I know I could serve him better. I could truly aid the

cause of the Empire Reborn.

He stopped before Lord Hethrir, his vision blurry with tears of hope and desire.

"Give the child Anakin to me," Hethrir said.

"I will present him." Anakin clutched at Tigris's neck, hiding his face. Tigris took a moment to soothe him.

"Do not hesitate when I give you an order," Hethrir said softly, andforthe first time in all the years Tigris

had known his lord, and honored him, he heard fury in his voice.

Anakin held tight.

"Let go, Anakin." He tried to disentangle the little boy's hands from his neck, from his striped hair. "This

will be wonderful, I promise you.

You're such a lucky little boy." Anakin trembled, trying to exert his unschooled abilities. But even his light

had faded. Lord Hethrir must have him completely in his power.

Tigris managed to pry Anakin's hands loose.

Tigris wished the Lord's control extended to making Anakin do what he was told.

Anakin looked into Tigris's face, and put one hand on Tigris's cheek. "Tigis crying," he said.

Embarrassed, Tigris ducked his head, trying to wipe his face on the sleeve of his robe. But with Anakin in

his arms, it was too awkward. He put Anakin down and wiped away the humiliating tears. Then, holding

Anakin's hand, he took the little boy to Hethrir.

"No, Tigis," Anakin said. "No.

Please?" Hethrir took Anakin's hand and led him toward Waru. Anakin hung back, straining toward

Tigris with his free hand.

Anakin's creature tried to follow, but Tigris grabbed it by the collar and held it back. It strained forward,

whining softly.

All the followers of Hethrir watched, envious that Anakin was to be purified, while the children they had

brought were overlooked.

Anakin plopped to the floor, sitting down hard, refusing to move.

"Get up, child," Hethrir said. "Approach your fate with honor." Lord Hethrir dragged him a little way.

Anakin kicked, and screamed, and his face turned scarlet. Hethrir scowled, picked him up, held his feet

from kicking, and approached Waru.

Lord Hethrir placed Anakin, still screaming, on the gold scales of Waru's base.

"I have brought you what you wished," Lord Hethrir said. "The most powerful child." He paused.

"I have brought you the grandchild of Darth Vader." Tigris watched, his feelings a strange mixture of

jealousy, regret, dread, and horror. No wonder this gathering differed from all the others. No wonder

Lord Hethrir did not make Anakin go through the training required of helpers, and Proctors, and Empire