[Black Fleet Crisis(13)

The last task was to inspect his retreat from the perspective of any outsiders whose gaze might fall upon it. All was as he had planned.

From the sky, it appeared as part of the beach. From the sea, as part of the cliffs. From the beach, as part of the sky. From the cliffs, as part of the sea. It was not a trick of camouflage, but a simple matter of allowing the essences of its substance to be seen. The retreat was of the sea, and the rock, and the sand, and the sky, in harmony with them rather than imposed on them.

The last test was to climb the tower and inspect the view. But when he looked to the east, he found his view blocked by the lowering clouds.

So he waited, shrugging off time as easily as he shrugged off the cold.

He waited until the wind finally blew the storm away, until he could see the snow-capped Menarai Mountains ruling over the jewel of the Core, outlined against the sky by the light from the yellow-faced inner moon.

“May this sight remind me always that the few stones I’ve gathered will not last, ” he said softly. “And may the memory of Anakin Skywalker remind me always that surrender is more powerful than will. “

Then he descended at last into his retreat, sealing the opening behind him.

Leia sat bolt upright in the darkness. “He’s here. “

“What? ” Han said sleepily.

“He’s here-on Coruscant. “

“Who’s here? “

“Luke. I felt his mind touch mine. “

“Great. Invite him to dinner, ” Han said with a yawn.

“You don’t understand, ” she said impatiently. “I was sleeping, or thought I was. I was dreaming that Luke was looking down at me. Then I realized I was awake. We looked at each other for a moment, and then he disappeared-as though he’d drawn a curtain. “

“Sounds like dreaming to me. “

“No, ” she said, shaking her head. “You were right, Han-he’s hiding. He doesn’t want to be found. “

Han pulled a pillow over his head. “Let him hide, then. I could sleep at night. “

“I just want to know why. I don’t understand what’s happening. “And I need to know that he is there if I need him, she thought.

“He’ll tell us when he’s ready, ” Han said, drawing Leia down into the comforting circle of his arms.

“Sleep, my princess. Mornings always come too soon. “





Chapter 3


The broad, curving viewpanes of the staff conference room, high in the restored remnant of the Imperial Palace, looked out toward the oldest and busiest of the three spaceports serving Imperial City.

For safety and security reasons, neither the landing nor the launch patterns brought ships anywhere near the rebuilt administrative complex. But it was still possible to watch their comings and goings, and-for the sharp-eyed-to identify familiar types and even individual vessels. On more than one occasion Leia had come to the conference room to watch the Millennium Falcon leave on a mission or watch impatiently for its return.

Rarely, though, did any of the activity at Eastport actually demand the attention of those in the staff conference room. Only the largest ships, the occasional crash landing and explosion, or a full-power launch abort could be heard through the transparisteel. So when the viewpanes began to hum in sympathy with the sound bearing on them from outside, both Leia and Ackbar glanced up from their work to see why.

They saw a bright spherical shape three times the size of an ordinary transport descending toward the spaceport. Three much smaller escorts circled it like planets around a star. At the bottom of the spherical vessel, waves of atmospheric distortion rolled out of scalloped depressions in its hull.

“I believe that ship is using Aradian pulse-lifters, undampered, ” said Ackbar. “Remarkable. Look how slow and steady the descent is. I shall have to have a closer look at that vessel. “

“It appears the Duskhan delegation is finally here, ” Leia said. “I guess they don’t put their spaceports in family neighborhoods over in the Koornacht Cluster. “

“Are you not going to go greet Ambassador Spaar? “

“First Administrator Engh is there, with a protocol droid, ” Leia said.

“I see, ” said Ackbar. “Sending a message? “

“Only that they have to understand that President isn’t a ceremonial title, ” Leia said. “But I’m not singling them out. I’m slighting everyone from now on. There are just too many ambassadorial missions arriving each week. I was spending half my day waiting in arrival lounges. ” Her face wrinkled with annoyance. “Especially when someone postpones his landing three times, and always at the last minute. “