[Short Stories] - Dark Emperor 4(15)

“I’m sick of dwelling on death,” Mara said, looking up sadly. “I want to talk about him, about what he meant to us, while he was alive. I need to mourn him in a healthier way than this.”

“Yes, we can do that. He was very important to both of us. You know, there are really very few people in the galaxy who really knew him, who would mourn him at all. We may be the only two. It is very hard to love someone who is really above humanity…who is so much a part of his power, when that power is so very great. It is too easy to give in to things like awe and fear. But somehow, we two managed not to. There are very good reasons why that is so, I think.”

“He seemed like a father to me, I suppose,” Mara replied, hugging her knees. “When both of my parents died in an accident, he saw that I had caretakers on Coruscant. He came to see me, teaching me things as I grew up. I came to admire him, and he showed me that I could do amazing things. He gave me pride in myself.”

Sate Pestage nodded, encouraging her to go on.

“One day, ” she said, smiling, “he made me his special agent. It felt great to be trusted with so many secrets. To have that special ability to hear his call from anywhere, instantly. On my first mission, to capture a Jedi named Ashka Boda, I almost failed him. I realized that failing him would mean disaster for me. So I never did it again. His demand of perfection made me strong. It gave me an identity. The Emperor’s Hand.” She stopped for a moment, lost in memories.

Pestage had been with Palpatine for a long time, and he remembered the real story of how his Master had found Mara Jade. Palpatine had learned from his books that some people were born with the ability to instantly receive thoughts across vast distances—powerful receptive telepaths. He had cast out mentally for such a person, and found the tiny child, Mara Jade, on a distant world. He had had her parents “eliminated” and her brought to Coruscant to be raised. Her ability had served Palpatine very well indeed, and Pestage strongly suspected that it had served him one final time when he escaped from the second Death Star.

Pestage decided that it would do much more harm than good for her to know these things. She had been used, yes, but also repaid with many gifts. And most importantly, she had been happy. For both Mara and himself, that said it all.

“So you see,” Pestage said, “a good reason. You thought of him as a father.” Pestage paused. He decided to tell her a secret. She had been deceived so much lately, and maybe she just deserved to hear some truth. “As for me,” he said, “I believe I was his father.” Mara’s mouth fell open, but Pestage maintained a placid expression. He realized as he spoke that Palpatine may somehow be able to hear him. Somehow, that was all right. “I never told him, of course, and he never guessed. He never treated me as a father, and I never treated him as a son. But perhaps my long service to him will now be easier for you to understand.”

Mara stammered, “That’s incredible! But what do you mean, you ‘believe’ you were his father?”

Pestage told her the story of Gemsaa, and his stolen son, Espaa. “Many years passed, after I lost my son, during which I was alone. Then, I heard of the rise of Senator Palpatine to the Presidency. I was in the same place as him by chance, and he had come to make a speech. I watched him, and a strong feeling, a suspicion came over me. I felt a connection. I managed to get to see him, and I offered my services as his personal servant. He must have felt something, too, for he accepted at once. Over the years, I tried to find out for sure if he was my son, but I never could. He spoke of the Sith, however, the one word by which my son’s captors identified themselves. In any case, I believe it is true, and so, to serve the great being my son became was enough to fill my life with meaning.”

“Why did you never tell him?” pressed Mara, who was spellbound.

“To do so would have changed our relationship. He had to be the Master. The Emperor. The one ruler of the galaxy and the greatest Master of the Force. There could be no one above him that he could see. And so, I was content to serve him, to be close to him, and to share in his glory.”

“I think I understand,” said Mara. “He mastered both of us, but we wanted it that way.”

They sat in silence for a while, then Pestage stirred. “You should get more sleep, Mara Jade,” he said, and went back to his own sleeping spot in the shuttle. Eventually, Mara did go back to sleep. Pestage, who needed little sleep, listened to her breathing for a long time. She seemed to be having a dreamless rest. Perhaps Palpatine had been given something else to think about.