“And they could easily capture us or shoot us down, depending on their mood, which is no doubt poor,” finished Pestage. “Don’t worry—I said this ship could get us away from here and it will. The Emperor has given us a little insurance.”
Mara finished her preparations. “All right, Grand Vizier, here goes nothing. You’d better know what you’re talking about.”
The shuttle rose up, wings unfolding into a triangular configuration, and shot out of the bay into the night sky of Coruscant. The city spread out below them like a glittering tapestry. Mara pushed the shuttle for all the speed she could coax out of it, and, as she had guessed, nothing rose up to intercept them. Driving towards the upper atmosphere, Mara powered up the weapons systems. Her scanners registered no less than twelve Imperial Star Destroyers directly above her. Her skin prickled as she pictured their hundreds of turbolasers locking onto the tiny craft. Sate Pestage was completely calm. He touched a switch with his long, thin finger, and sat back in his seat, smiling slightly.
The shuttle continued to climb, leaving the atmosphere behind. The stars became sharp pinpoints of light as they came within visual range of the enormous wedge shaped cruisers. Mara fought the urge to turn and flee. The seconds passed excruciatingly slowly, as the Star Destroyers seemed to grow until they blocked out the stars. Finally, they hurtled past the fleet, at a distance of less than ten kilometers from the closest Destroyer.
Then the Imperial ships with their hot white engines were dwindling behind them, and they were in the clear. Mara let out a whoop of relief and called up the coordinates for the hyperspace journey to Byss.
“You see,” said Pestage, “this ship broadcasts a code that tells the computers of any other Imperial ships not to fire, and not to lock on a tractor beam. Palpatine never wanted to be in danger of becoming the victim of a quick and easy coup by an ambitious admiral while he was traveling in such a tiny vessel as this. So, they may have tried, but they couldn’t shoot at this shuttle. We were perfectly safe.”
Mara stared at Pestage as the stars out of the viewport flared into starlines. “I’ve got to hand it to you,” she said with admiration, “this is some rescue.”
Sate Pestage awoke in his tiny makeshift bunk on the shuttle to the sound of Mara Jade’s screams. She was clearly in the grip of her nightmares. Pestage was hesitant to approach her, recalling what had happened to Dangor. Why do you torment her so, my Master, he wondered silently, looking sorrowfully at the restless form of the young woman. She tossed and turned, seeming to grapple with the air. She struck at nothing, and slumped down into a dreamless sleep once more.
Pestage waited a few minutes, then, judging it to be safe, he gently prodded her awake. Groggily, she looked at him, grimacing in pain. She still had her headache. “Are you all right, Mara?” Pestage asked her.
“Not really,” she said, “I can’t say I’m in any way right.” Her eyes had a haunted look. “I may never be all right again. I can’t shake this headache, I feel so empty, cut off from the Force. And the nightmares…I can remember that last one. The Emperor was dead, and Skywalker had his head on a sort of pike. I come in, and he doesn’t seem to think of me as a real threat. He just sort of laughs. And this time I have this really wicked knife. I throw it, and it hits Skywalker in the eye. But he isn’t dead. He comes at me, and we struggle hand to hand. Then I’m able to punch the knife hilt, and drive the blade all the way in. Of course, he dies then. And the dream ends with my putting his head on the pike. I don’t know what’s happening to me. When I kill, it’s clean, fast, as efficient as possible, as painless as possible. You don’t make it as an assassin by putting on some kind of scene from a horror holovid. I don’t understand where these ideas, this hate, comes from.”
Pestage thought he knew very well, but he had his orders not to let Mara Jade know about her role. Still, he pitied her. Palpatine was using her; when she would have obeyed him on her own, he was driving her to obey. And why was Palpatine taking that approach? Pestage thought he knew that, too. He had come to believe that it had been Vader who most likely would have, or could have, killed the Emperor. The young Jedi didn’t seem powerful enough, and from what Pestage knew, the boy wouldn’t have joined Vader in an evil act, either. No, Vader must have done it, and died in the process, while Skywalker survived. It would be entirely like Palpatine to hate Skywalker and want him dead, just for not surrendering and not dying. And so, he had to twist the truth for Mara Jade to carry out his “revenge”. Still, Pestage would not defy his Master. He would have to hope that all this would work out for the best, somehow.