The Last Command (33 page)

“Great,” Han muttered, crouching down beside the dead garral at his feet. “What do we look for, a collar?”

“Probably,” Mara said. “Check around the legs, too.”

It took a few anxious minutes, but in the end they confirmed that none of the dead predators had been tagged.

“Must be descendants of the group they brought in to protect the mountain,” Lando said.

“Or else this is where they came from originally,” Mara said. “I never saw their home planet listed.”

“It’s trouble either way,” Han said, shoving the last carcass off the
Falcon
‘s ramp to crunch into the leaf cover below. “If we can’t use the speeder bikes, it means we’re walking.”

From up above came a low electronic whistle. “Pardon me, sir,” Threepio asked. “Does that also apply to Artoo and me?”

“Unless you’ve learned how to fly,” Han said.

“Well—sir—it occurs to me that Artoo in particular isn’t really equipped for this sort of forest travel,” Threepio pointed out primly. “If the cargo plat can’t be used, perhaps other arrangements can be made.”

“The arrangement is that you walk like the rest of us,” Han said shortly. Getting into a long discussion with Threepio wasn’t how he’d been planning to spend his day. “You did it on Endor; you can do it here.”

“We didn’t have nearly as far to go on Endor,” Luke reminded him quietly. “We must be about two weeks’ walk from the mountain here.”

“It’s not that bad,” Han said, doing a quick estimate. It wasn’t that bad, but it was bad enough. “Eight or nine days, tops. Maybe a couple more if we run into trouble.”

“Oh, we’ll run into trouble, all right,” Mara said sourly, sitting down on the ramp and dropping her blaster into her lap. “Trust me on that one.”

“You don’t expect the natives to be hospitable?” Lando asked.

“I expect them to welcome us with open crossbows,” Mara retorted. “There are two different native species here, the Psadans and the Myneyrshi. Neither of them had any great love of humans even before the Empire moved in on Mount Tantiss.”

“Well, at least they won’t be on the Empire’s side,” Lando said.

“That’s not likely to be a lot of comfort,” Mara growled. “And whatever trouble they don’t give us, the usual range of predators will. We’ll be lucky to make it in twelve or thirteen days, not eight or nine.”

Han looked out at the forest, and as he did, something caught his eye. Something more than a little disturbing… “So we’ll figure on twelve,” he said. Suddenly it was critical that they make tracks away from here. “Let’s get to it. Lando, Mara, you get the equipment packs sorted out for carrying. Chewie, go pull all the ration boxes out of the survival packs—that ought to do us for extra food. Luke, you and the droids head that way”— he pointed —”and see what you can find in the way of a path. Maybe a dry creek bed—we ought to be close enough to the mountain to have some of those around.”

“Certainly, sir,” Threepio said brightly, starting down the ramp. “Come, Artoo.”

There was a muttering of acknowledgment and the others headed into the ship. Han started toward the ramp; stopped as Luke put a hand on his arm. “What’s wrong?” he asked quietly.

Han jerked his head back toward the forest. “Those garrals that were watching us? They’re gone.”

Luke looked back. “Did they all leave together?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t see them go.”

Luke fingered his lightsaber. “You think it’s an Imperial patrol?”

“Or else a flock of those prey animals Mara mentioned. You getting anything?”

Luke took a deep breath, held it a moment, then slowly let it out. “I don’t sense anyone else nearby,” he said. “But they could just be out of range. You think we should abort the mission?”

Han shook his head. “If we do, well lose our best shot at the place. Once they know we’ve found their clone factory, there won’t be any point in pretending they’re just some overlooked backwoods system anymore. By the time we got back with a strike force, they’d have a couple of Star Destroyer fleets waiting for us.”

Luke grimaced. “I suppose so. And you’re right—if they tracked the
Falcon
in, the sooner we get away from it the better. Are you going to send the coordinates back to Coruscant before we go?”

“I don’t know.” Han looked up at the
Falcon
looming above him, trying not to think about the Imperials getting their grubby little hands on it again. “If that’s a patrol out there, we’ll never get the transmitter tuned tight enough to slide a message past them. Not the way it’s been acting up lately.”

Luke glanced up, too. “Sounds risky,” he said. “If we get into trouble, they won’t have any idea where to send a follow-up strike force.”

“Yeah, well, if we transmit through an Imperial patrol, I can guarantee that trouble,” Han growled. “I’m open to suggestions.”

“How about if I stay behind for a few hours?” Luke suggested. “If no patrols have shown up by then, it should be safe to transmit.”

“Forget it,” Han shook his head. “You’d have to travel alone, and there’s a better-than-even chance you wouldn’t even be able to find us.”

“I’m willing to risk it.”

“I’m not,” Han said bluntly. “And besides, every time you go off alone you wind up getting me in trouble.”

Luke smiled ruefully. “It does seem that way sometimes.”

“Bet on it,” Han told him. “Come on, we’re wasting time. Get out there and find us a path.”

“All right,” Luke said with a sigh. But he didn’t sound all that upset. Maybe he’d known all along that it wasn’t a very smart idea. “Come on, Threepio, Artoo. Let’s go.”

The first hour was the hardest. The vague, pathlike trail Artoo had found dead-ended into a mass of thornbushes after less than a hundred meters, forcing them to push a path of their own through the dense undergrowth. In the process they disturbed more than plant life, and wound up spending several tense minutes shooting at a nest of six-legged, half-meter-long creatures that swarmed out biting and clawing at them. Fortunately, the claws and teeth were designed for much smaller game, and aside from a nicely matched set of tooth dents in Threepio’s left leg, no one suffered any damage before they could be driven away. Threepio moaned more about that than either the incident or the damage really deserved, the noise possibly attracting the brown-scaled animal that attacked a few minutes later. Han’s quick blaster shot failed to stop the animal, and Luke had to use his lightsaber to cut it off Threepio’s arm. The droid was even more inclined to moan after that; and Han was threatening to shut him down and leave him for the scavengers when they unexpectedly hit one of the dry creek beds they’d been hoping to find. With the easier terrain, and with no further animal attacks to slow them down, they made much better speed, and by the time the leaf canopy overhead began to darken with nightfall they’d made nearly ten kilometers.

“Brings back such wonderful memories, doesn’t it?” Mara commented sarcastically as she got out of her backpack and dropped it beside one of the small bushes lining the creek bed.

“Just like back on Myrkr,” Luke agreed, using his lightsaber to cut away another of the thornbushes they’d become all too familiar with in the past few hours. “You know, I never did find out what happened after we left.”

“About what you’d expect,” Mara told him. “We cleared out about two steps ahead of Thrawn’s AT-ATs. And then nearly got caught anyway when Karrde insisted on hanging around to watch.”

“Is that why you’re helping us?” he asked her. “Because Thrawn’s put a death mark on Karrde?”

“Let’s get one thing clear right now, Skywalker,” she growled. “I work for Karrde, and Karrde has already said that we’re staying neutral in this war of yours. The only reason I’m here is because I know a little about the Clone Wars era and don’t want to see a bunch of cold-faced duplicates trying to overrun the galaxy again. The only reason
you’re
here is that I can’t shut the place down by myself.”

“I understand,” Luke said, cutting a second thornbush and closing down his lightsaber. Reaching out with the Force, he lifted the two bushes off the ground and lowered them into the creek bed. “Well, it won’t stop anything that’s really determined to get at us,” he decided, studying the makeshift barrier. “But it should at least slow them down.”

“For whatever that’s worth,” Mara said, pulling out a ration bar and stripping off the wrapping. “Let’s just hope this isn’t one of those lucky places where all the really big predators come out at night.”

“Hopefully, Artoo’s sensors can spot them before they get too close,” Luke told her. Igniting his lightsaber again, he cut two more thornbushes for good measure.

And he was preparing to shut it down when he caught the subtle change in Mara’s sense. He turned, to find her staring at his lightsaber, ration bar forgotten in her hand, a strangely haunted expression on her face. “Mara?” he asked. “You all right?”

Her gaze shifted almost guiltily away from him. “Sure,” she muttered. “I’m fine.” Throwing him a quick glare, she bit viciously into her ration bar.

“Okay.” Closing down the lightsaber, Luke used the Force to move the newly cut thornbushes into place on top of the others. Still not much of a barrier, he decided. Maybe if he stretched a few of those vines between the trees…

“Skywalker.”

He turned. “Yes?”

Mara was looking up at him. “I have to ask,” she said quietly. “You’re the only one who knows. How did the Emperor die?”

For a moment Luke studied her face. Even in the fading light he could see the ache in her eyes; the bitter memories of the luxuriant life and glittering future that had been snatched away from her at Endor. But alongside the ache was an equally strong determination. However badly this might hurt, she truly did want to hear it. “The Emperor was trying to turn me to the dark side,” he told her, longburied memories of his own surging painfully back again. It had nearly been him, not the Emperor, who’d died that day. “He almost succeeded. I’d taken one swing at him, and wound up fighting with Vader instead. I guess he thought that if I killed Vader in anger, I’d be opened to him through the dark side.”

“And so instead you ganged up on him,” she accused, her eyes flashing with sudden anger. “You turned on him—both of you—”

“Wait a minute,” Luke protested. “I didn’t attack him. Not after that first swing.”

“What are you talking about?” she demanded. “I saw you do it. Both of you moved in against him with your lightsabers. I saw you do it.”

Luke stared at her… and suddenly he understood. Mara Jade, the Emperor’s Hand, who could hear his voice from anywhere in the galaxy. She’d been in contact with her master at the moment of his death, and had seen it all.

Except that, somehow, she’d gotten it wrong.

“I didn’t move against him, Mara,” he told her. “He was about to kill me when Vader picked him up and threw him down an open shaft. I couldn’t have done anything even if I’d wanted to—I was still half paralyzed from the lightning bolts he’d hit me with.”

“What do you mean, if you’d wanted to?” Mara said scornfully. “That was the whole reason you went aboard the Death Star in the first place, wasn’t it?”

Luke shook his head. “No. I went there to try and turn Vader away from the dark side.”

Mara turned away, and Luke could sense the turmoil within her. “Why should I believe you?” she demanded at last.

“Why should I lie?” he countered. “It doesn’t change the fact that if I hadn’t been there Vader wouldn’t have turned on him. In that sense, I’m probably still responsible for his death.”

“That’s right, you are,” Mara agreed harshly. But there was a moment of hesitation before she said it. “And I won’t forget it.”

Luke nodded silently, and waited for her to say more. But she didn’t, and after a minute he turned back to the thornbushes. “I’d go easy on those things if I were you,” Mara said from behind him, her voice cool and under control again. “You don’t want to trap us in an area this size if something big comes over the bushes.”

“Good point,” Luke said, understanding both the words and the meaning beneath them. There was a job to do, and until that job was finished, she still needed Luke alive.

At which point, she would have to face the destiny that had been prepared for her. Or would have to choose a new one.

Closing down his lightsaber, he stepped past Mara to where the others were busy setting up camp. Time to check on the droids.

The door to the Assemblage chamber slid open and a small flood of beings and droids began pouring out into the Grand Corridor, chattering among themselves in the usual spectrum of different languages. Glancing at Winter as the two of them walked toward the crowd, Leia nodded.

It was show time.

“Anything else come in that I should know about?” she asked as they passed along the edge of the flow.

“There was an unusual follow-up to the Pantolomin report,” Winter said, her eyes flicking casually around the crowd. “A bounty hunter there claims to have penetrated the Imperial shipyards at Ord Trasi and is offering to sell us information about their new building program.”

“I’ve dealt with my share of bounty hunters,” Leia said, trying not to look around the crowd as they passed through it. Winter was watching, and with her perfect memory she would remember everyone who was close enough to overhear their conversation. “What makes Colonel Derlin think we can trust him?”

“He’s not sure we can,” Winter said. “The smuggler offered what he said was a free sample: the information that there are three Imperial Star Destroyers within a month of completion out there. Colonel Derlin said Wing Commander Harleys is drawing up a plan to confirm that.”

They were out of the Grand Corridor now, following along with the handful of beings who hadn’t yet split off toward offices or other conference rooms. “Sounds dangerous,” Leia said, dutifully running their prepared script out to the end. “I hope he’s not just going to do a fly-by.”

“The report didn’t give any details,” Winter said. “But there was an addendum asking about the possibility of borrowing a freighter from someone who does business with the Empire.”

The last of the officials turned off into a cross corridor, leaving them alone in the hallway with an assortment of techs, assistants, admin personnel, and other low-ranking members of the New Republic government. Leia threw a quick glance at each, decided there was no point in going through another script for their benefit. Looking at Winter, she nodded again, and together the two women headed toward the turbolifts.