And then the bar from which she hung gave out. As it snapped free of the scaffolding, she reached desperately for the edge of the catwalk. She caught herself just in time, hanging by her fingertips. But the bar tumbled to the floor, crashing into a pile of durasteel girders with an echoing clang that seemed to shake the building.
She heard a shout, then footsteps, running toward her.
With the last of her strength, Leia swung herself up onto the catwalk. But it was too late. By the time she'd regained her footing, Halle's men had arrived. Three of them, blasters aimed.
"Get her down from there," Halle ordered her men. "Then bring her back with us so we can keep an eye on her. Just in case she's stupid enough to try this again."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
"Sorry about all this," Kiro murmured, as he fastened her restraints. Leia pretended not to hear.
Halle Dray stood before her, clapping slowly. "Impressive," she jeered. "Not what I would have expected from a coddled member of the royal family."
Leia glared at her captor. "My father never coddled me," she said in an even voice.
"He showed me how to stand on my own. To fight fight."
Halle perched on the edge of a durasteel girder, bringing her face level with Leia's.
"Yes, your father knew plenty about fighting, didn't he? Alderaan was a peace-loving planet, but that wasn't good enough for him, was it? He needed the glory of battle. Even if it meant turning his planet into an enemy of the Empire. Even if it meant destroying us all."
Enough. Let them accuse her all they wanted-but there was no way Leia would let them attack her father. Let them accuse her all they wanted-but there was no way Leia would let them attack her father.
"My father loved loved Alderaan," she snarled. Alderaan," she snarled.
Halle shook her head. "No. He loved the glory of war."
It was Leia who had first urged her father to join the Rebellion. Leia who had fought for Alderaan to take up arms after so many years of peace. Will you be the one to bring Will you be the one to bring war to us? war to us? he had once asked. he had once asked.
But in the end, he had agreed.
"The people of Alderaan believed in my father," Leia insisted.
"'The people,' taken as a whole, are almost always reckless and stupid," Halle snapped.
"You and your father preyed on their foolishness. You re-armed a planet that had turned its back on violence. You linked it with the Rebel Alliance. And you-yes, you you, Princess Leia-you gave the Emperor the final excuse he needed."
Leia heard Grand Moff Tarkin's voice, as she heard it in her nightmares. In a way, you In a way, you have determined the choice of the planet that will be destroyed first. have determined the choice of the planet that will be destroyed first.
"No!" she shouted. Halle could blather on as much as she wanted. But Leia needed to silence the voice in her head. "I'm proud of everything I've done. Can you-any of you- say the same?"
Kiro and Nahj both looked away, shame tingeing their expressions. But Halle was uncowed. "I've done only what I need to do. Sacrifices are always necessary for the greater good."
"No good can come of cooperating with the Empire," Leia protested. She turned her gaze toward Kiro. He'd been working on behalf of the Alliance for weeks-yes, it had all been an act, but he seemed so apologetic now. Wasn't there a chance that some small part of him believed in her? If she could persuade him... "The Empire is evil evil, you must see that after what they've done. There can be no good in the galaxy until the Empire is destroyed.
This is why we fight. Why we must must fight." fight."
Kiro cleared his throat. "Halle, maybe..."
"Kiro, get my medpac and find something to tend to the prisoner's wounds," Halle ordered. "I'm sure Vader's men expect to find her in good condition."
"But-"
"Kiro, now!" Halle snapped. Then she drew in a slow breath, calming herself. She stood up, grasping his wrists and bringing her face close to his. "You know this is right,"
she said in a low voice. "I need you to believe in me."
Kiro hesitated, his eyes darting to Leia. Then he gave Halle a soft kiss on the forehead.
"Always," he promised her.
There was a storage area off to Leia's right. Halle waited for Kiro to disappear through the door before she spoke again.
"Don't you dare dare try to use him against me," Halle warned Leia. "He'll never betray me." try to use him against me," Halle warned Leia. "He'll never betray me."
Ignoring the pain, Leia drew her bloodied lips back in the approximation of a smile.
"Some people will do whatever's necessary for the greater good."
"Halle, they're here!" J'er Nahj cried, before she could respond. Four Imperial stormtroopers clomped toward them, their heavy boots slapping the floor in lockstep.
Behind them appeared a slim, gray-haired man.
Halle flipped open her comlink. "Driscoll, you were supposed to alert me if the Imperials arrived. Driscoll? Trey? Hello?" No response.
"I'm afraid your friends have other things to worry about," the man said. "You'd best worry about yourself. Halle Dray, I assume?"
She nodded. "How did you find us?"
"That's my job," the officer said. "No one can hide from the Empire."
Halle didn't flinch. "Have you brought the plans for the New Alderaan resettlement?"
The Imperial officer shook his head.
"The terms of our agreement were that you would get the prisoner only once the Empire begins relocating the refugees."
"The terms have been changed." He signaled the stormtroopers. As one, they raised their blasters and fired.
The laserbolts struck Halle Dray and J'er Nahj at the same moment. Both were direct hits.
It seemed like their bodies collapsed to the floor in slow motion. Leia forced herself not to look away. Remember this Remember this, she ordered herself, staring hard at their limp, pale limbs, at the scorch marks across their chests. At their sightless eyes, wide open, gazing blankly into the void. Remember every life the Empire has taken. Remember every life the Empire has taken.
Halle and Nahj had been her captors. But they had also been her people.
Remember-then avenge.
"There's supposed to be a third," the Imperial said, kicking each of the bodies to make sure they were dead. " Find Find him." him."
Leia glanced toward the storage area, and saw Kiro's eyes peering out of the darkness.
He was at her mercy.
"The third one ran off shortly before you arrived," she told the Imperial. "The sniveling coward couldn't take the pressure."
He raised his eyebrows. "Your help in the matter is rather unexpected, Princess."
"You and I may be on opposite sides," Leia said, trying to sound as cold and unfeeling as him. "But we certainly agree that this scum deserves to die."
The Imperial nodded to the stormtroopers. "TB-278, TB-137, see if you can track him down. TB-31 and TB-2954, take her back to the temporary base and see she's prepared for interrogation. I'll alert Lord Vader of our progress." He swept his eyes across her body, staring so intently it was almost like he could see inside of her. She forced herself not to cringe. "I doubt I'll be seeing you again, Your Highness. Not alive, at least."
He spun on his heel and walked away.
As the stormtroopers carried her from the room, she arched her head back, and saw Kiro poke his head out of the shadows. He took a step toward her, a question on his face.
Leia gave her head a slight shake. Run Run, she mouthed.
He hesitated, his eyes wide and anguished. Run! Run! she urged him again. she urged him again.
He couldn't save her. But he could save himself. And no matter what he'd done, he was still one of her subjects. Which meant he was her responsibility.
Kiro nodded, once, then slipped back into the shadows. As the stormtroopers carried her away, she felt a faint whisper of relief.
At least one of us will escape.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
"There's no one here," Luke said, once they'd conducted a cursory search of the hollowed-out school building. Its rust red paint was peeling off the walls, and crushed transparisteel glittered on the floor. A few tattered drawings still fluttered on the wall, leftovers from an unimaginable past. It had taken them far too long to track down the building. And now, after all that wasted time, there was nothing. "Let's go-maybe Han found something in the other wing."
He's too impatient, Ferus thought. So eager to move onto the next thing that he misses So eager to move onto the next thing that he misses what's right in front of him. what's right in front of him. It wasn't untypical for a Padawan, but then, Luke wasn't a Padawan. He had no Master to show him a better way. It wasn't untypical for a Padawan, but then, Luke wasn't a Padawan. He had no Master to show him a better way.
He could have me.
"Wait," Ferus said, stretching out with the Force. They were not alone.
"Wait for what? what? " Luke asked, annoyed. "You stay if you want. I'm leaving." " Luke asked, annoyed. "You stay if you want. I'm leaving."
That's when Ferus heard it. A distant, muffled moaning. "Come on." Ferus hurried toward the source of the sound, without bothering to see if Luke would follow. He crept into one of the empty classrooms, crossing to a desk in the back of the room. Kiro Chen lay curled up underneath, hugging his arms to his chest. Weeping.
Ferus touched the man's shoulder. He didn't react. "Kiro."
Kiro looked up at him with blank, wild eyes. "They killed her! They killed her, and I didn't know where else to go. It wasn't supposed to be this way."
Surely I would know if she was dead, Ferus assured himself. I would sense it I would sense it.
"Leia?" Luke said, his voice cracking on the name. "They killed Leia?"
Kiro shuddered, and buried his face in his hands. "I loved her. It wasn't supposed to be this way. It wasn't."
"Halle?" Ferus guessed softly. Regret mixed with relief.
Kiro groaned. "Dead."
Ferus took Kiro by the shoulders and, gently, pulled him out from under the desk. Kiro didn't resist as Ferus guided him to a chair.
"Tell us where they are," Luke urged him. "Where did you take Leia?"
Tears streamed down Kiro's face. "I lost everyone. Everything. And then I found her-and they took her from me, too."
Ferus nodded. "It is a tragic loss, Kiro, and I'm sorry-"
" Sorry? Sorry? " Luke repeated incredulously. "He kidnapped Leia. And now he's the only one who knows where to find her." He grabbed Kiro by the shoulders, shaking him roughly. " Luke repeated incredulously. "He kidnapped Leia. And now he's the only one who knows where to find her." He grabbed Kiro by the shoulders, shaking him roughly.
"Where is she? Where? Where? " "
Kiro choked on his sobs, sucking in air like he couldn't get enough to breathe.
"Answer me!" Luke shouted.
There's so much anger in him, Ferus thought.
Luke's hand strayed toward his lightsaber.
Enough, Ferus thought in alarm. He grabbed Luke's wrist. "No," he said firmly. "This is not the way."
Rage filled Luke's eyes and, for a moment, Ferus feared he was about to strike. But instead, he dropped his arm back to his side. "I wasn't going to hurt him."
"I know," Ferus assured him.
This was a lie.
"He knows where she is," Luke said desperately. "He knows, and he won't tell us."
"Because he can't tell us. Not like this." Ferus knelt by Kiro's side, placing a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. Kiro shuddered beneath his touch. "Anger is never the answer," he told Luke. "Whatever you gain from it never makes up for what you lose."
Luke nodded.