She turned and looked him straight in that nightmare face. “I will come alone. Will you?”
He faced her stare without flinching. “If I come,” he said, “I will come alone.”
She held his gaze a moment longer, then nodded. “I hope to see you there. Farewell.”
“Farewell … Lady Vader.”
He was still staring at her as the door opened and she left.
The tiny ship shot upward through the clouds, vanishing quickly from the Rwookrrorro air-control visual monitor. Beside Leia, Chewbacca growled angrily. “I can’t say I’m really happy with it, either,” she confessed. “But we can’t dodge them forever. If we have even a chance of getting them out from under Imperial control …” She shook her head.
Chewbacca growled again. “I know,” she said softly, some of his pain finding its way into her own heart. “I wasn’t as close to Salporin as you were, but he was still my friend.”
The Wookiee turned away from the monitors and stomped across the room. Leia watched him, wishing there was something she could do to help. But there wasn’t. Caught between conflicting demands of honor, he would have to work this out in the privacy of his own mind.
Behind her, someone stirred. [It is time,] Ralrra said. [The memorial period has begun. We must join the otherrs.]
Chewbacca growled an acknowledgment and went over to join him. Leia looked at Ralrra- [This period is forr Wookiees only,] he rumbled. [Laterr, you will be permitted to join us.]
“I understand,” Leia said. “If you need me, I’ll be on the landing platform, getting the Lady Luck ready to fly.”
[If you truly feel it is safe to leave,] Ralrra said, still sounding doubtful.
“It is,” Leia told him. And even if it wasn’t, she added silently to herself, she would still have no choice. She had a species name now-Noghri-and it was vital that she return to Coruscant and get another records search underway.
[Very well. The mourning period will begin in two hourrs.]
Leia nodded, blinking back tears. “I’ll be there,” she promised.
And wondered if this war would ever truly be over.
Chapter 26
The mass of vines hung twisted around and between half a dozen trees, looking like the web of a giant spider gone berserk. Fingering Skywalker’s lightsaber, Mara studied the tangle, trying to figure out the fastest way to clear the path.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Skywalker fidgeting. “Just keep your shirt on,” she told him. “This’ll only take a minute.”
“You really don’t have to go for finesse, you know,” he offered. “It’s not like the lightsaber’s running low on power.”
“Yes, but we’re running low on forest,” she retorted. “You have any idea how far the hum of a lightsaber can carry in woods like this?”
“Not really.”
“Me, neither. I’d like to keep it that way.” She shifted her blaster to her left hand, ignited the lightsaber with her right, and made three quick cuts. The tangle of vines dropped to the ground as she closed the weapon down. “That wasn’t so hard, now, was it?” she said, turning to face Skywalker and hooking the lightsaber back onto her belt. She started to turn away-The droid’s warning squeal came a fraction of a second before the sudden rustle of leaves. She whirled back, flipping her blaster into her right hand as the vornskr leaped toward Skywalker from a branch three trees away.
Even after two long days of travel, Skywalker’s reflexes were still adequate to the task. He let go the handles of the travois and dropped to the ground just ahead of the vornskr’s trajectory. Four sets of claws and a whip tail took a concerted swipe at him as the predator shot by overhead. Mara waited until it had landed, and as it spun back around toward its intended prey, she shot it.
Cautiously, Skywalker got back to his feet and looked warily around. “I wish you’d change your mind about giving me back my lightsaber,” he commented as he bent down to pick up the travois handles again. “You must be getting tired of shooting vornskrs off me.”
“What, you afraid I’m going to miss?” she retorted, stepping over to prod the vornskr with her foot. It was dead, all right.
“You’re an excellent shot,” he conceded, dragging the travois toward the tangle of vines she’d just cleared out. “But you’ve also gone two nights without any sleep. That’s going to catch up with you eventually.”
“You just worry about yourself,” she snapped. “Come on, get moving-we need to find someplace clear enough to send up the sonde balloon.”
Skywalker headed off, the droid strapped to the travois behind him beeping softly to itself. Mara brought up the rear, watching to make sure the travois wasn’t leaving too clear a trail and scowling hard at the back of Skywalker’s head.