“Guards. As soon as I am gone, kill him.” Gemillian gave a small bow, and strutted out of sight.
Still Sate Pestage did not stand, or even turn away. He had accepted his own death already. There was nothing left in life for him. He looked steadily at the troopers, as they fingered their blasters. Suddenly there was an electric hum, and a bright blue bar of light flashed among the soldiers. They screamed and fell, revealing a young woman with red-gold hair. Her green eyes glittered in the sharp glare of an ignited lightsaber, held ready for further combat. But no other troops appeared, and she relaxed a fraction.
“Grand Vizier Pestage,” she said, “I’ve come to escort you to freedom.”
He stared in wonderment at the vision of redemption before him. Joy flared within him, burning as brightly as the Jedi weapon held by the young woman. “I would be pleased to accept your kind offer, Mara Jade, Emperor’s Hand,” he said tremulously, “but there is the small matter of my confinement.” He gestured at the bars.
Mara looked steadily at him for a moment, her eyes shining. Then, with two sweeping strokes of her lightsaber, she severed the bars, top and bottom. They fell with a clatter to the floor, and Pestage gingerly stepped over them and into the hall.
“What did that man have against you, anyway?” asked Mara.
Pestage frowned. “A few years ago, on his homeworld, the Rebel Alliance was making great progress in winning over the sympathies of the planetary government. Had the Emperor known, he would have punished Hadden Four with a fleet of Star Destroyers, but Gemillian didn’t want to lose his vast land holdings. So he hid the information from the Emperor. I merely informed the Emperor of the truth. Gemillian never truly had the ear of the Emperor again, having been shown to be a liar.”
“Why keep him on at all?” Mara wanted to know.
“The Emperor liked there to be rivalry and scheming among his advisors. Gemillian was very good for that. So why waste good talent?” Pestage said simply.
Mara let the matter drop, and led Pestage to a secret door at the far end of the cell block. “Sometimes the Emperor would use this door to come here to interrogate his prisoners privately,” Mara explained.
“Yes, I know,” said Pestage. “It was very thoughtful of him to have planned for our escape like this.”
Together, they vanished into the dimly lit corridor, sealing it invisibly behind them.
Mara Jade and Sate Pestage descended into the tunnels far below the Palace. Imperial City had been built up like rock strata upon the structures of days gone by, so that going down was like going back in time. Soon, they passed beyond the gleaming, modern corridors with artificial light, and entered halls of stone where the only light was the glare of Mara’s lightsaber. Now and then, they saw creatures in the shadows that resembled Womp rats the size of Nerfs, but these were evidently scared of the light and quickly vanished into their hiding places. Mara hurried along, followed by a puffing Sate Pestage, who was pushing his scarecrow like body as fast as it would go.
“What…what are we rushing for?” Sate Pestage breathed heavily, “surely we would never face pursuit down here!”
She turned, realizing for the first time how he was struggling to keep up. “I’m sorry, Grand Vizier,” she said, “we can rest a moment. I’m not worried about being followed. I’m worried about them closing the starports to…to keep me from escaping.” She paused, looking pained.
“Tarn Gemillian told me that you killed Ars Dangor. Is this true?” Sate Pestage asked softly.
“Yes, it’s true. But I don’t know how it happened. I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t even know I was doing it…but then he changed, and he was dead, and—I think I’d better start from the beginning, huh?” Mara put a hand to her temple, and, not facing Pestage, told him the story. “It started for me yesterday, when I saw the Emperor die.” Pestage peered at her in surprise. “I was in Manarai hall when I saw it in a vision. Lord Vader and Skywalker turned on him and killed him. It was awful. He looked at me, and he looked so betrayed. He told me I had to kill Skywalker. I blacked out, and had nightmare after nightmare of doing just that, in so many ways…so many ways. As for Vader, I think he’s already dead. He was dead in all my nightmares…that must mean something. When I woke up, I had a splitting headache, and my ability to sense the Force, to use it in any way, was gone. I’ve had to deal with that loss, the loss of the Emperor, and on top of all that, I can’t help but feel that it was all my fault.” She started to weep softly. Pestage put a wrinkled hand on her shoulder. She turned to him, and said, “I had the chance to kill Skywalker on Tatooine. I was sent there to do it, and I failed. I failed. And now he’s dead.”