“He could destroy us,” said Palpatine. Vader tried to hide his surprise. His Master must feel that his son was a threat indeed! Vader had, for three years, cherished hidden plans deep inside him, plans for his son. He knew he must downplay the boy’s importance.
“He’s just a boy. Obi-Wan can no longer help him.”
But the Emperor was adamant. “The Force is strong with him. The son of Skywalker must not become a Jedi.”
Vader knew this meant death for his son. The son of Skywalker. His Master would not even acknowledge the boy as Vader’s own, believing that when Anakin had “died,” every last vestige of the man was gone from Darth Vader. But something did remain, something he himself did not fully understand. He wanted his son to live, and rejoin him. Now Vader played his hand. “If he could be turned, he would become a powerful ally.”
To his surprise, the Emperor agreed. “Yes. Yes. He would be a great asset. Can it be done?”
“He will join us, or die, my Master.” Vader felt relief as the hologram faded. He did not understand why the Emperor suddenly feared that his son might become a Jedi. Could the boy have found a Master? It did not matter. He would be the boy’s Master. He would show his son the true nature of the Force. He stood and moved to the doorway. There was much to be done.
After he finished his audience with Prince Xizor, Palpatine sat in his throne, pensive. He wondered what the outcome of their new course would be. He had agreed to Vader’s suggestion because there had been a third vision in his trance: he had seen Luke Skywalker kneel before him, pledging servitude. My father’s destiny is my own, Skywalker had said in the vision. Vader had been absent in the vision, but perhaps that was for the best. Vader had become…uncertain, of late. It may be time to replace him, with another Skywalker. Perhaps this new possible future, in which Skywalker knelt to him, would negate the other one, in which the boy was responsible for his death. The strange feeling was that he did not know. It excited him, this uncertainty. He had a new enemy, for the first time in years. He looked forward to their meeting. There was much to be made ready for that meeting. Much to be done. Thinking upon it, the Emperor laughed.
Š Text copyright 1997 Brendon J.Wahlberg.