[Black Fleet Crisis(39)

One last time, he thought. Then maybe they’ll let me give it back.

“Open the canopy, Artee, ” he said, and directed his concentration at the hangar’s front wall. Seams appeared in the unbroken expanse of silicon and quartz crystal, and the wall opened on hinges that had not existed just moments before. Bitter air filled the hangar as the wind screamed past the opening.

In the absence of a boarding ladder, Luke leaped lightly to the edge of the open cockpit and clambered in. As the canopy closed over him, he pictured in his mind the E-wing hovering a few hands above the hangar door and gliding silently out into the

night. As he pictured it,

it happened-except that the silence was broken by Artee’s insistent squawking. There was no explaining to the rigid-minded astromech that hovering with no engines did not necessarily represent an emergency.

“Power up engines, ” Luke said.

Artee cooed in relief and complied.

Luke climbed out from the hermitage in a widening spiral, scanning the ground for further clues about his visitor. As he passed over the cliff for the second time, he spotted her ship-an elderly Verpine Adventurer—resting a hundred meters back from the precipice.

I can’t believe I didn’t hear that clunker coming, he thought. Pre-Empire, lifting body design, hoverjets for atmospheric mode—Memories stirred, crossed, linked. He heard Leia’s impudent voice saying, “You came here in that thing? You’re braver than I thought. ” That had been aboard the Death Star, the first time they’d met-when he’d seen himself rescuing a princess, not a long-lost sister.

A long time ago.

Luke pulled the stick hard over, and the E-wing wheeled nimbly toward Imperial City. With a thought directed ahead of him, he let Leia know he was coming.

For now, he kept the reason to himself.

He did not see Akanah watching from the tower, her hopeful gaze following the track of the engine exhausts as the E-wing disappeared into the night.

Without warning Leia sat bolt upright in her bed, breaking Han’s embrace.

“What is it now? ” he asked plaintively.

“He’s coming here tonight. “

“Who is? “

“Luke. ” She threw back the soft coppery sheet and climbed out of bed. “He’s coming to see us. “

“How do you know? “

“I heard his voice. You know, what you fondly refer to as that semi-mystical twin thing? “

“Well-he’s not ringing the doorbell yet, ” Han said hopefully. “It’ll take him a while to get here. “

Leia seemed not to hear him. “It’s about time. All I have to do is tell him about the way the kids were today-that’ll give him the whole catalog of problems. “

“Are you sure that’s why he’s coming? “

“He said he needed to talk to me about family matters. “

“I dunno, Leia-the kids aren’t the only family you two have, ” he said, trying to dislodge her from her certainty without revealing where Luke was living. “Isn’t it more likely to be something about your father? “

“Why do you say that? “

“I kind of got the impression he’s still having trouble with some of that. “

“What? No, that’s silly, ” Leia said dismissively. “Why should he feel guilty about what Father did under the control of the Emperor and the dark side? Luke forgave Father at Endor. You were there-you saw. “

Han frowned. “Well-maybe it didn’t turn out to be that simple for Luke. After all, a few billion people around the galaxy are still pretty unhappy with dear old Dad. “

“You don’t have to remind me about that, ” said Leia, shrugging into a white robe and tying the sash in a bow. “But I’m the one who has to deal with it, not Luke. I’m the one who gets accused and screamed at and threatened, not Luke. And I’m handling it. “

As she was speaking, she moved toward the bedroom door. When she reached it, she stopped and turned back toward Han, still sitting bare-chested on the bed in a jumble of sheets. “No, I’m sure you’re wrong. That’s not why Luke’s coming here. He seemed—excited. Almost happy. “

Han surrendered. “All right. Whatever you say. Where are you going? “

“I’ve been keeping notes on the children. I want to bring them up to date before Luke arrives. ” She threw him a quick smile and disappeared through the doorway.

“I guess we’re done here, then, ” he said to himself.

Sighing, he climbed out of bed. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Oh, yes, I do. “

Even in the middle of the night, it wasn’t possible for Luke Skywalker to make a quiet visit to the Chief of State of the New Republic. The entire area surrounding the president’s residence was secured airspace and protected by its own local shield generator. That ruled out a convenient landing right on the grounds, or even close by.