Chapter Seven: Corellia

"Where are we?" Leia asked, looking around the large house suspiciously.

"Family friend's place," Jix replied as he hunted for the light switch. "Where, where, where – Ah ha! I found it!"

"Does this person know we're here?" Leia shot back coldly, watching him move around the room. Luke stepped close to her and placed a hand on the small of her back, encouraging her to calm down.

"Of course," Jix said easily. "She'll be here later to meet you and make sure we've got everything we need. She said she'd do any running we need, too, so that we don't have to go out in public and, you know, draw attention to ourselves or whatever."

"When did I agree to that?" a woman's voice asked from the doorway.

All three of them turned. "Rebba!" Jix pounced on the newcomer, grabbing her in a bear hug.

"Back off, you bantha. You've got some explaining to do. Oh, don't look at me like that!" she snarled as his eyes grew wide and his lower lip began to tremble.

Jix looked back at Luke and Leia. "Rebba, these are my guests, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. They – OW!"

Rebba grabbed Jix by the ear and twisted it. "You're coming with me. Now. Excuse us," she said sweetly to Luke and Leia as she marched Jix into one of the rooms down the long hallway as the large Corellian whimpered in her grip.

Leia's lips compressed. "Why do I get the feeling that we're not as welcome as Jix said we were?"

"What the hell, Jixton?" Rebba hissed at her friend. "Are you trying to get me killed?!"

"You won't be killed, Rebba," Jix told her sulkily, rubbing his sore ear.

"The hell I won't be! If the Empire finds out I've been harbouring rebels – fugitives from the law --"

"Relax. It's taken care of."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?!"

Jix sighed. "Just trust me."

"No! I want to know what's going on, and I want to know now!"

Jix sighed. This hadn't been in the plan, telling Rebba everything, but he should have known it would be unavoidable. She'd always insisted on being in the loop.

"I – I really should get permission first," he mumbled.

She blinked at him. "What?" she snapped.

"This is highly classified information, Rebba," he retorted sharply. "I can't just go around telling it to every person who asks me to. That's the most efficient way to get in trouble with my boss."

Rebba gritted her teeth. "Fine. I'll be back in five minutes." She stalked out the door, closing it behind her.

Jix almost laughed when he heard the lock click. As if a lock could keep him contained. Vader didn't employ him for nothing.

Rebba stormed away from the room only to nearly run over the Rebels as she turned a corner. They looked nearly as surprised as she felt.

"Sorry," she muttered.

The man spoke up. "Look, if it's too much of a bother, I'm sure Jix won't mind moving."

She looked him fully in the face. Blond hair, blue eyes, rather handsome. "Skywalker, right?"

He nodded.

She sighed. "We'll see what Jix has to say first. I trusted him as a kid; I'll give him the benefit of the doubt now."

She fixed them both with a steely look. "But just because I'm putting you up does not mean I have any inclination to join your Rebellion, alright? While you're here, we're going to pretend it doesn't exist, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," they both muttered.

"Hey, Uncle D," Jix said softly. "Look, I'm in a bit of a situation."

A metallic sigh came out of the black mask. "What have you done now, Jixton?"

"Nothing! It's just, the girl I called to put us up, my friend Rebba, well . . . she wants to know. Everything. And I'm not sure how I can get out of not telling her."

"Do you trust her?"

"Yes."

"Then tell her. But insist she stay at the house with you when she doesn't have to work or run any errands. No socializing. I'll judge the situation when I get there."

"'Kay. Thanks, Uncle D. How long will you be?"

"Five days. Four, if I can convince Piett to take a shortcut. But you know what the Academy teaches about shortcuts."

Jix grinned. "I'm sure you'll find a way to inspire him, Uncle D. You're just that kind of guy."

"Well?" Rebba demanded.

Jix frowned at her, eyes flat. Rebba shivered. She'd never seen him look so . . . commanding. Or frightening.

"Sit," he ordered. She sat, hardly conscious of what she was doing.

"I've been given permission to tell you this under the condition that you stay here when not at work or running errands. You won't be allowed to go out to parties, on dates, anything like that."

She nodded instantly. "Alright."

Jix took a breath. "You've heard about the escape of Torrin Gledn? The serial rapist?"

She nodded.

"He's after Leia Organa. My boss is trying to catch him, but he's an Imperialist and she's a Rebel, so I'm acting as a go-between – not that they realize that, of course. But my boss will be showing up here in about four days, and hopefully Gledn will find us soon after that so Uncle D can, uh, take care of him."

"Uncle D?"

"My boss."

"That's helpful, Jix,"she said sarcastically.

"You'd know him as Darth Vader."

Jix thought Rebba was going to faint. She had gone white and her eyes were fixed on his face, unmoving.

"Rebba?"

She blinked, and her eyes seemed to grow even wider than they had been before she'd moved.

"Darth Vader?" she whispered. "Coming here?"

"Yes."

She shook her head slowly, as if to clear it of the shock. "No wonder you said I didn't have to worry about harbouring Rebels," she said slowly. "If Vader knows – if Vader allows it --"

"Hell, he may even thank you for it," Jix replied. "Here's another little secret – that's his kid in there. Skywalker."

Rebba's jaw dropped. "You're lying."

"I am not, I swear. Kid's still in denial, of course – thinks it's the worst possible thing to ever happen to anybody. If it was me, though, I think I'd still be celebrating."

"You like Vader?" Rebba's tone was disbelieving.

"Love him. Man's a genius. My freaking hero."

Rebba shook her head again. "I need to go to bed."

Jix just laughed.

"So are we staying?" Luke asked Jix as he emerged from his talk with Rebba.

Jix grinned triumphantly at him. "We're staying!"

Vader paced the bridge as he waited for Piett to appear. He hoped the admiral would be reasonable and understand the urgency that consumed this mission. Vader knew he was right to take the shortcut, no matter how close it was to a black hole (and this one wasn't even that close, really); Piett would have to realize that. One way or another.

Vader sighed. He didn't really want to do anything too damaging to Piett, if it came to that. He was intelligent, resourceful, and he was willing to hear Vader out on some of his more wild battle plans and work with the Sith to evolve them into something one could expect from the largely incompetent forces under his command. It wasn't every day he found an officer like that.

But still, this was of utmost importance, and Imperial cadets were told that never, ever, under any circumstances, were they to take shortcuts. Vader personally disagreed with that. If the cadets couldn't handle flying near a black hole, then it wasn't much of a loss.

Piett came onto the bridge, saw Vader and headed for him. "My lord?" he asked.

Vader looked at him, wondering what kind of intuition he possessed to know that Vader wanted to talk to him. "Admiral, I wish you to take of shortcut."

Piett didn't even blink. "Of course, my lord. What are the coordinates?"

Vader stared at him for a second. What --?

Then he understood. Unlike his other admirals – unlike most of his other crewmen – Piett trusted him. Trusted him to get them to their destination safely, trusted him to look after them, trusted him to know what he was doing.

It was a strange sensation for the Sith Lord, to be trusted, but he had to admit that it wasn't an unpleasant one.

He gave Piett the coordinates, thinking all the while that he had underestimated his admiral.

Torrin Gledn wasn't sure he liked Corellia.

It was too . . . uncivilized. There were too many bar fights, too much cheating at card games. Too many smugglers and bounty hunters had come from Corellia – they were an ambitious lot, and obviously considered themselves above the law. No, he didn't like it here at all.

And to make matters worse, he hadn't seen hide nor hair of the Princess or her friends. He needed to find her. He needed her.

"Leia?" Luke called.

She rolled over. "It's open," she replied.

He cracked the door open. "Still in bed at this hour? Leia, it's nearly noon."

"I'll have to know I was never a morning person, Flyboy," she informed him with a yawn. "But when you're part of the Rebellion, well, you don't really have a choice."

"Well, you may want to get up. Jix says we're going to have company soon."

She sat up. "Company? What does he mean, company?" she demanded, getting ready to panic.

Luke's eyes widened. "Relax. It's just his Uncle D."

She let herself fall back to the pillows. "Ah, so we finally get to meet the famous Uncle D," she said sarcastically. "I hope he's as impressive as Jix has made him out to be, or I will be severely disappointed."

Luke laughed. "I agree completely. So are you going to get up?"

She sighed. "I suppose I had better, huh?"

Luke nodded solemnly. "It would probably be a good idea – unless you want this guy to see you in your pajamas . . ."

She threw a pillow at him, hitting him square in the face. "I don't think I like what you're implying, Skywalker."

Luke wrinkled his nose at her. "Honestly, I don't think I like it either."

She took the pillow from him only to throw it at him again. Prepared this time, he caught it and tossed it back at her. The battle continued until Jix came to get them with the information that Uncle D would be there within the hour.

Vader paced the bridge as he watched Corellia through the large window. Jix had just transmitted the coordinates of his location, and the Executor had settled into orbit to wait until they were close enough to the site to take a shuttle down to the planet. Which would be in about five minutes, if Vader had judged it right.

"My lord, your shuttle has been prepared and is ready for take-off," a captain informed him.

"Very good," he said. "Gather half a squadron of stormtroopers from the 501st. They will come planetside with me and the admiral."

"Yes, my lord." The captain hurried off.

"Ready, admiral?" Vader asked Piett.

"When you are, my lord," Piett replied.

"Good. By the time we board the shuttle, it should be time to take off. Let's go."

The half-squadron of stormtroopers were already there and settled on board. Vader slid into the pilot's seat, Piett acting as co-pilot beside him, and they lifted off.

"How do you think this is going to go over, my lord?" Piett asked. "I mean . . . they are Rebels."

"That's the fun part," Vader replied.

Vader knocked on the door.

It didn't open. He knocked again, preparing to blast it off its hinges with the Force.

"I'm coming!" a feminine voice shouted.

The door opened and a tall woman stood staring at them. "Oh," she said, her voice small. "I mean – come in, Lord Vader."

Vader was about to reply when another voice called out, "Who is it, Rebba?"

Vader nearly laughed at the look on Rebba's face as two figures rounded the corner, then stopped dead at the sight of him.

"Vader," the Princess hissed, her shoulders tense.

"Your Highness; Skywalker," Vader greeted them. "We meet again."

Luke and Leia stood transfixed, unable to move as the Dark Lord swept in to the room.

At that moment, Jix entered the room with a handful of cookies. Luke looked over at the Corellian, trying to mentally urge him to run.

But Jix's reaction took both Luke and Leia completely by surprise.

"Hey, Uncle D!" he greeted Vader cheerfully. "Want a cookie?"