The Last Command (13 page)

He held his breath as, behind him, Artoo moaned softly. If the Noghri took him up on his offer, it was questionable as to whether they’d be able to get anywhere else on the power they had left.

Apparently, the Noghri pilot was thinking along the same lines. “The Lady Vader has already risked much on behalf of the Noghri,” he said. “We cannot permit you to endanger your life. Follow me, son of Vader. I will bring you to what safety the Noghri can offer.”

According to Leia, there was only a single small area on Honoghr that had been made capable of supporting any plant life other than the Empire’s bioengineered
kholm-
grass. Khabarakh and the maitrakh of the clan Kihm’bar had kept her, Chewbacca, and Threepio in one of the villages there, managing with skill and more than a little luck to hide her from prying Imperial eyes. Leia had included the location of the Clean Land along with the coordinates of the system itself… and as Luke followed the patrol ship down toward the surface of the planet, it quickly became apparent that they weren’t going there.

“Where are we headed?” he asked the Noghri pilot as they dipped beneath a layer of clouds.

“To the future of our world,” the alien said.

“Ah,” Luke murmured under his breath. A double line of jagged cliffs could be seen ahead, looking a little like stylized dorsal ridges from a pair of Tatooine krayt dragons. “Is your future in those mountains?” he suggested.

There was another soft hiss from the comm. “As the Lady Vader, and the Lord Vader before her,” the Noghri said. “You also read the souls of the Noghri.”

Luke shrugged. It hadn’t been much more than a lucky guess, actually. “Where do we go?”

“Others will show you,” the pilot said. “For here I must leave you. Farewell, son of Vader. My family will long cherish the honor of this day.” The patrol ship cut sharply upward, heading back toward space—

And in perfect synchronization, two combat-equipped cloudcars rose from seemingly nowhere to settle into flanking positions. “We greet you, son of Vader,” a new voice said from the comm. “We are honored to guide you. Follow.”

One of the cloudcars moved ahead to take the point, the other dropping back to rearguard position. Luke stayed with the formation, trying to see just where they might be headed. As far as he could tell, the cliffs were as barren as the rest of the planet.

Artoo chirped, and a message scrolled across Luke’s display. “A river?” Luke asked, peering out his canopy. “Where—oh, there it is. Emptying out from between the two cliff lines, right?”

The droid beeped an affirmative. It looked to be a pretty fast-moving river, too, Luke decided as they flew closer and he could see the numerous lines of white water indicating submerged rocks. Probably explained why the gorge between the two cliff lines was so sharp and deep.

They reached the end of the cliff lines a few minutes later. The lead cloudcar turned to portside, lifting smoothly over a set of foothills and disappearing around the side of one of the higher crags. Luke followed, smiling tightly as an old memory came to mind.
You’re required to maneuver straight down this trench….
Guiding the X-wing around the foothills, he flew into the shadow of the cliffs themselves.

And into an entirely different world. Along the narrow banks of the river the ground was a solid mass of brilliant green.

Artoo whistled in startled amazement. “They’re plants,” Luke said, realizing only after the words were out of his mouth how ridiculous they sounded. Of course they were plants; but to find plants on Honoghr—

“It is the future of our world,” one of his escort said, and there was no mistaking the grim pride in his voice. “The future which the Lady Vader gave us. Continue to follow, son of Vader. The landing area is still ahead.”

The landing area turned out to be a large, flat-topped boulder jutting partway into the swift-moving river about two kilometers along the gorge. With a cautious eye on the racing water beneath him, Luke eased the X-wing down. Fortunately, it was larger than it had looked from fifty meters up. The cloudcars waited until he had touched down, then swung around and headed back down the gorge. Shutting the X-wing’s systems back to standby, Luke looked around.

The greenery, he saw now, was not as monochromatic as he’d first thought. There were at least four slightly different shades represented, intermingled in a pattern that was too consistent to be accidental. A pipe could be seen angling down into the river at one point, its other end disappearing up into the plant growth. Utilizing the pressure of the current, he decided, to bring water up over the bank for irrigation. A few meters downstream from the boulder, hidden from view by a rock overhang, he could see a small hutlike building. Two Noghri stood just outside its door: one with steely-gray skin, the other a much darker gray. Even as he watched, they started toward him.

“Looks like the reception committee,” Luke commented to Artoo, hitting the switch to pop his canopy. “You stay put here. And I mean
stay put.
You fall in the water like you did that first trip to Dagobah and you’ll be lucky if we can even find all the pieces.”

There was no need to give the order twice. Artoo warbled a nervous acknowledgment, then an equally nervous question. “Yes, I’m sure they’re friendly,” Luke assured him, pulling off his flight helmet and getting to his feet. “Don’t worry, I won’t be going far.” Vaulting over the X-wing’s side, he headed toward his hosts.

The two Noghri were already at the edge of the landing boulder, standing silently watching him. Luke grimaced to himself as he walked toward them, stretching out with the Force and wishing he were skilled enough to get some reading—any reading—on this species. “In the name of the New Republic, I bring you greetings,” he said when he was close enough to be heard over the roar of the river. “I’m Luke Skywalker. Son of the Lord Darth Vader, brother of Leia Organa Solo.” He held out his left hand, palm upward, as Leia had instructed him to do.

The older Noghri stepped forward and touched his snout to Luke’s palm. The nostrils flattened themselves against his skin, and Luke had to fight to keep from twitching away from the tickling sensation. “I greet you, son of Vader,” the alien said, releasing Luke’s hand. In unison, both Noghri dropped to their knees, hands splaying out to the sides in the deference gesture Leia had described. “I am Ovkhevam clan Bakh’tor. I serve the Noghri people here at the future of our world. You honor us with your presence.”

“I am honored by your hospitality,” Luke said as both aliens rose again to their feet. “And your companion is…?”

“I am Khabarakh clan Kihm’bar,” the younger Noghri said. “The clan of Vader has now doubly honored me.”

“Khabarakh clan Kihm’bar,” Luke repeated, eyeing the young alien with new appreciation. So this was the young Noghri commando who had risked everything, first in bringing Leia to his people, then in protecting her from Grand Admiral Thrawn. “For your service to my sister Leia I thank you. My family and I are in your debt.”

“The debt is not yours, son of Vader,” Ovkhevam said. “The debt rather belongs to the Noghri people. The actions of Khabarakh clan Kihm’bar were only the first line of repayment.”

Luke nodded, not really sure of what to say to that. “You called this place the future of your world?” he asked, hoping to change the subject.

“It is the future given to the Noghri people by the Lady Vader,” Ovkhevam said, waving his hands in a circular gesture that took in the entire valley. “Here with her gift we cleansed the land of the Empire’s poisoned plants. Here will someday be enough food to provide for all.”

“It’s impressive,” Luke said, and meant it. Out in the open, all that greenery would have stood out against the background
kholm-
grass like a bantha at a Jawa family gathering. But here, with the twin cliff lines blocking the view from everywhere except more or less straight up, there was a good chance incoming Imperial ships would never even suspect its existence. The river supplied ample water, the lower latitude implied a slightly longer growing season than that at the Clean Land itself; and if worse came to worst, a number of properly placed explosives could dam the river or bring down part of the cliffs themselves, burying the evidence of their quiet rebellion against the Empire.

And the Noghri had had barely a month to plan, design, and build it all. No wonder Thrawn and Vader before him had found the Noghri to be such useful servants.

“It was the Lady Vader who made it possible,” Ovkhevam said. “We have little to offer in the way of hospitality, son of Vader. But what we have is yours.”

“Thank you,” Luke nodded. “But as your patrol ship pilot pointed out, my presence on Honoghr is a danger to you. If you can provide my ship with replacement power cells, I’ll be on my way as quickly as I can. I would pay, of course.”

“We could accept no payment from the son of Vader,” Ovkhevam said, looking shocked at the very idea. “It would be merely a single line of the debt owed by the Noghri people.”

“I understand,” Luke said, stifling a sigh. They meant well, certainly, but all this guilt about their service to the Empire was going to have to stop. Races and beings far more sophisticated than they were had been equally taken in by the Emperor’s deceits. “I suppose the first step is to find out whether you have spares that’ll fit my ship. How do we go about doing that?”

“It is already done,” Khabarakh said. “The cloudcars will carry word of your need to the spaceport at Nystao. The power cells and technicians to install them will be here by nightfall.”

“Meanwhile, we offer you our hospitality,” Ovkhevam added, throwing a sideways look at Khabarakh. Perhaps feeling the younger Noghri should let his elder do the talking.

“I’d be honored,” Luke said. “Lead the way.”

The hut under the cliff overhang was as small as it had looked from the landing boulder. Most of the available space was taken up by two narrow cots, a low table, and what appeared to be the food storage/preparation module from a small spaceship. But at least it was quieter than outside.

“This will be your home while you are on Honoghr,” Ovkhevam told him. “Khabarakh and I will stand guard outside. To protect you with our lives.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Luke assured them, looking around the room. Clearly, it had been set up for long-term occupancy. “What do you two do here, if I may ask?”

“I am caretaker to this place,” Ovkhevam said. “I walk the land, to see that the plants are growing properly. Khabarakh clan Kihm’bar—” He looked at the younger alien, and Luke got the distinct impression of a grim humor in the glance. “Khabarakh clan Kihm’bar is a fugitive from the Noghri people. Even now we have many ships searching for him.”

“Of course,” Luke said dryly. With Grand Admiral Thrawn threatening to subject Khabarakh to a complete Imperial interrogation, it had been vital that the young commando “escape” from custody and drop out of sight. It was equally vital that knowledge of the Empire’s betrayal be passed on to the Noghri commando teams scattered around the galaxy. The two objectives dovetailed rather nicely.

“Do you require food?” Ovkhevam asked. “Or rest?”

“I’m fine, thank you,” Luke said. “I think the best thing would probably be for me to go back to my ship and start pulling those power cells out.”

“May I assist?” Khabarakh asked.

“I’d appreciate that, yes,” Luke said. He didn’t need any help, but the sooner the Noghri worked out this supposed debt of theirs, the better. “Come on—tool kit’s in the ship.”

“There is further word from Nystao,” Khabarakh said, moving invisibly through the darkness to where Luke sat with his back against the X-wing’s landing skid. “The captain of the Imperial ship has decided to complete minor repairs here. He expects the work to take two days.” He hesitated. “To you, son of Vader, the dynasts express their apologies.”

“No apology necessary,” Luke assured him, looking up past the shadow of the starfighter’s wing at the thin band of stars shining down amid the otherwise total blackness. So that was that. He was stuck here for two more days. “I knew when I came here that this might happen. I’m just sorry I have to impose further on you.”

“Your presence is not an imposition.”

“I appreciate the hospitality.” Luke nodded toward the stars overhead. “I take it there’s still no indication they might have spotted my ship?”

“Would the son of Vader not know if that happened?” Khabarakh countered.

Luke smiled in the darkness. “Even Jedi have limitations, Khabarakh. Distant danger is very hard to detect.”

And yet, he reminded himself silently, the Force was obviously still with him. That Strike Cruiser up there could easily have turned up at a far more awkward time—say, while the Noghri tech team had been in transit to or from the valley, or even while Luke himself was heading out to space. An alert captain could have picked up on either, and brought the whole thing crashing down right there.

There was a whisper of movement, felt rather than heard over the sound of the river, as Khabarakh sat down beside him. “It is not enough, is it?” the Noghri asked quietly. “This place. The dynasts call it our future. But it is not.”

Luke shook his head. “No,” he had to admit. “You’ve done a tremendous job with this place, and it’ll certainly help you feed your people. But the future of Honoghr itself… I’m not an expert, Khabarakh. But from what I’ve seen here, I don’t think Honoghr can be saved.”

The Noghri hissed between his needle teeth, the sound barely audible over the racing water below. “You speak the thought of many of the Noghri people,” he said. “Perhaps none really believe otherwise.”

“We can help you find a new home,” Luke promised. “There are many worlds in the galaxy. We’ll find you a place where you can begin again.”

Khabarakh hissed again. “But it will not be Honoghr.”

Luke swallowed hard. “No.”

For a minute neither spoke. Luke listened to the sounds of the river, his heart aching with sympathy for the Noghri. But what had been done to Honoghr was far beyond his power to change. The Jedi, indeed, had their limitations.

There was another ripple of air as Khabarakh climbed back to his feet. “Are you hungry?” he asked Luke. “If so, I can bring food.”