12
Vader entered the bridge, refocusing his thoughts on his command. He had come up with a plausible reason for his lengthy visit to Alderaan; at least he hoped that it would be plausible. The emperor was not an easy person to fool, even for Vader. He would have to be very careful when speaking with him from now on. Vader had not decided what he was going to tell him about the twins and Padmé; and this troubled him. He had never had any problem confiding in his master, and had never held anything back from him before. But now he was faced with a difficult dilemma; do I tell him now? Or do I train the twins and over throw him one day with them at my side?
"Lord Vader, we are ready to make the jump into light speed," Ozzel informed him.
"Do so at once," Vader replied.
"My lord, the emperor has sent several messages requesting you contact him," Ozzel told him.
Vader turned to him. "Why wasn't I informed of this sooner?" he demanded.
"My lord, you left instructions with me that you were not to be disturbed while on Alderaan," Ozzel replied nervously. "I was not sure if I ought to disregard your orders sir," he added.
Vader had to fight the impulse not to throw the hapless captain across the bridge for his incompetence. "The emperor's orders supersede all others, Captain Ozzel," he reminded him hotly. "I would think any competent officer on board this ship would know that."
"I…apologize, my lord," Ozzel groveled, expecting to feel the air choked out of him at any moment. Lord Vader, however, was too preoccupied with the emperor's messages to bother killing him, and left the bridge without another word. Ozzel watched him go, breathing a sigh of relief as the enormous vessel jumped into hyperspace.
Vader made his way to the audience chamber, a great feeling of trepidation filling him. He knew that he needed to proceed very cautiously where Palpatine was concerned, and prepared himself mentally as he strode through the corridors. Slamming his mental shields firmly in place, he entered the audience chamber and walked over to communications panel, signaling the imperial palace on Coruscant. He then knelt on the large pad embedded in the floor and waited for his master's image to appear. He did not have to wait long.
"Well, Lord Vader, how kind of you to finally respond to my messages," the emperor began sourly.
"My apologies, my master," Vader replied, bowing low before the Sith. "I was detained on Alderaan; it could not be helped."
"I see," Palpatine replied. "And tell me, Lord Vader, what pressing matters did you have to attend to that would excuse ignoring my commands?"
"I was investigating allegations that came to my attention," Vader replied calmly, "as you know, I have been trying to pin charges on the Viceroy for many years now and…"
"And you judged that your personal crusade was more important than my orders?" Palpatine challenged.
"No, my master," Vader replied. "Of course not. I simply meant that…"
"Silence!" Palpatine screamed, punctuating his shriek of fury with a blast of Sith lightning.
Vader felt the energy bolt as clearly as though he were actually standing in the emperor's presence, a skill that Palpatine had perfected over the past fourteen years. It took all of his strength not to collapse to the floor.
"I…I apologize, my master," Vader gasped. "I was wrong not to…"
"Wrong? WRONG?" Palpatine shrieked, blasting his servant again. "You were defiant, disrespectful and disobedient!" he hissed. "How many times must we go through this, Lord Vader, before you learn your place?"
Vader felt another blast, this one sending him to his hands and knees. He said nothing, knowing that no matter what he said at this point would only result in more punishment. When the emperor was in a foul mood, all Vader could do was weather the storm and hope he survived it.
"I want you to go to Kamino," Palpatine said at last as Vader struggled to regain his dignity. "Check on the progress of the new clones I have requisitioned."
"Yes my master," Vader said dutifully. "I will proceed there at once."
Palpatine watched his servant, smiling to himself that he had managed to humiliate him yet again. "See that you do, Lord Vader," he snapped, and then ended the transmission.
Vader drew himself slowly to his feet, the pain still throbbing in virtually every part of his body that was still organic. He took a moment to pause before leaving, bracing his hand against the bulkhead to gather his strength. He could not allow anyone to see him in his weakened state. He suspected that the men knew the emperor inflicted corporal punishment upon him; but them knowing and them seeing evidence of it were two different things. He was their commander; he could not appear anything less than invincible in their eyes. The words of his wife jumped to his mind unheeded as he fought to regain his strength: He didn't want your injuries to be repaired…he wanted you to remain in this suit for the rest of your life…
At the time he had dismissed her comment, for there were more pressing matters at hand. But now, in light of the blatant lie Palpatine had told him, in light of the obvious enjoyment he took in Vader's pain, it seemed more than likely that she was right. There was one person who would know, and that person had been hiding something from him for fourteen years: Dr. Thek. I will have to have a chat with the doctor very soon, Vader thought as he made this way through the corridors of the ship, fighting against the pain that still throbbed in his veins. Reaching the turbo lift, he stepped inside, grateful to be alone for the moment.
The lift stopped, and Vader stepped off, heading for the quarters where his family was now residing. The corridor seemed longer than it ever had as he made his way to his family's residence, the residual effects of the Sith lighting still lingering in his body, making the still new incision in his side throb more with every step. He reached the door and activated it, stepping inside.
Leia and Luke were sitting in the common room when he entered, and they both looked up to see him. Both could sense that there was something terribly wrong with their father, but neither were close enough to prevent it when he collapsed to the floor.
Padmé was in the kitchen preparing lunch for her children when she heard Leia call out for help. Padmé dropped what she was doing at once and ran out into the common area, stopping dead in her tracks when she saw the twins kneeling beside the unconscious bulk of their father.
"What happened?" she cried as she ran to join them.
"We don't know," Luke replied. "He just walked in and collapsed."
"Leia, get the medidroid," Padmé ordered, knowing that there was no way the three of them alone could possibly move him. Leia rushed off to Luke's room to activate the resting droid and soon appeared with it hot on her heels.
"How may I be of service?" the droid asked.
"Lord Vader has collapsed," Padmé said, standing up to give the droid room to work. "We don't know what has caused it."
The droid attempted to lift Vader, but was unable to.
"Need some help?" Leia asked.
"Yes," the droid replied. Padmé and Leia each took one of Vader's feet, Luke assisted the droid at Vader's shoulders, and between the four of them they managed to get him onto one of the large sofas that were strewn about in the common area.
"Maybe we ought to contact Dr. Thek," Luke suggested.
Leia and Padmé exchanged a look, neither of them liking the woman but knowing that she was more than likely the best possible person to help at this point. "Yes Luke," Padmé said. "Do so at once."
Luke hurried to the comm. and, after studying the device for a moment or two, contacted the ship's medical bay.
"Is it his heart?" Padmé asked the droid.
"I would estimate so," the droid replied. "His heartbeat is quite weak."
Leia looked up at her mother, sensing that she was every bit as worried as Leia herself was.
"She's on her way," Luke reported when he rejoined his mother and sister. "Has he come around?"
"No," Padmé told him. "It's his heart," she added.
Luke looked up at his mother. "His heart?" he asked.
Leia and Padmé looked at one another, realizing that Luke knew nothing of Vader's heart condition.
"What's wrong? What aren't you telling me?" Luke asked, looking from his mother to his sister.
"Luke, your father has a very serious heart condition," Padmé told him.
"How serious?" Luke asked.
"Serious enough that if he doesn't have it repaired he won't live another five years," Padmé replied.
Luke's eyes widened, the realization of just how great the sacrifice his father had made for him hitting home. "Did…does he know? Did he know when he agreed to donate a kidney to me?"
"Yes he did," Padme replied, looking down at the still unconscious Vader. "He knew the risks, and insisted on the surgery anyway."
Luke looked down at his father, the gratitude filling him. "I can't believe he did that for me," he said softly.
Just then the door chime sounded, and Leia ran to answer it. It was Dr. Thek.
"What happened?" she asked as she hurried over to the sofa where Vader lay.
"He just walked in the door and collapsed," Leia told her, as she and Luke stood back to let the physician get closer.
"The patient's heart rate has been quite sluggish," the droid put in, handing her the datapad with the reading of Vader's vitals on it. Thek studied it briefly, and then turned to her assistant.
"What is it?" Padmé asked. "What has happened?"
"Judging by Lord Vader's vitals, it looks to me like he's had a syncopal episode," she replied as the assistant prepared a shot.
"What is that?" Leia asked.
"Put simply, it's a sudden loss of consciousness because of a lack of sufficient blood and oxygen in the brain," Thek explained.
"What would cause such a thing?" Padmé asked
"A severe shock to his system, more than likely," Thek replied as she found the opening in the Dark Lord's leather suit and injected the contents of the syringe into his shoulder. "Has he been in contact with the emperor?"
"Why do you ask that?" Luke demanded.
Thek sighed as she watched her patient for signs of him coming around. "Perhaps he ought to explain that to you, Luke," she said. "He's coming around now."
Vader opened his eyes slowly, disoriented for a moment. He was startled to see not only his doctor, but also his wife and children staring down at him.
"What…what's going on?" he asked as he sat up, assisted by the medidroid.
"You walked in here and collapsed," Luke told him. "Your doctor said you had a ... syncopal episode."
Vader turned to the doctor. "A what?"
"Have you been in contact with the emperor?" Thek asked him, knowing the occasional result of such communications.
"Yes," Vader replied. "He was…not pleased with me."
Padmé frowned. "What does that mean?" she demanded.
"It means he punished him," Thek replied. "I'm right, aren't I?" she asked Vader.
Vader merely nodded.
"How? What did he do to you?" Leia demanded angrily.
"Sith lightning," Vader told her. "A rather large dose of it. He was very angry with me for not returning his messages for the past few days."
"Does he do this often?" Luke asked, sharing his sister's anger.
"Often enough," Vader replied.
Padmé looked up at him, the thought of Palpatine inflicting pain on him angering her tremendously. She had so much she wanted to say, but with the doctor present, she felt as though she could not speak freely. "Thank you doctor," she said at last. "I get the impression that you have dealt with this sort of thing before."
Thek stood up. "The emperor does have a sadistic side," she said, looking at Vader. "You were lucky he didn't kill you this time, Lord Vader. With your bad heart, it's a distinct possibility, as I've told you time and time again."
"Yes, I know, doctor," Vader replied, standing up rather slowly. He walked across the room, feeling uneasy with all the attention and fussing over him. "The doctors on Alderaan seem to think that the injuries I suffered on Mustafar should have been repaired years ago," he said with his back to the doctor. "Is that true?" he asked. "And know that I can tell when you are lying, Doctor."
Thek looked uneasily at the family of Vader, both his children watching her intently. "Yes," she said at last. "It's true."
Both Luke and Leia could feel the surge of anger growing in their father. He turned back to the physician. "And yet all this time you never thought it important enough to tell me?" he demanded angrily.
"I had to swear never to tell you," Thek replied nervously. "Upon punishment of death, my lord."
"The emperor made you swear to never tell him, didn't he?" Padmé demanded.
Thek nodded, her eyes cast downward. "Yes, many years ago," she replied. "When Lord Vader was first assigned to my care, I was ordered never to tell him the truth about the nature of his injuries. One does not disobey the orders of the Emperor, Milady; not without dire consequences."
"Yes, so I see," Padmé said, looking back at Vader.
"But you will help him now, right?" Leia asked. "You have to help him now!"
Thek did not know what to say. It had always bothered her that she was withholding this significant information from her patient; and yet the fear she had for the emperor was tremendous. She had seen first hand what he did with those who disobeyed him.
"Dr. Thek obviously places her own needs above those of the oath she swore as a physician," Vader remarked sardonically. He turned around to look at her. "An oath she takes great delight in flaunting whenever the occasion merits."
Thek's face colored in humiliation and shame and she averted her eyes from him. "I have no excuse to offer for my …cowardice," she said quietly. "Know, however, that I truly take my oath seriously. That is why I have urged you…"
"Enough!" Vader roared, cutting her off. "I don't want to hear it! Nothing can excuse you from what you have done! Prescribing pills and injections when you should have been doing everything you could to repair the very injuries you pretended to care for! You are a hypocrite, Doctor Thek, a charlatan!"
"Lord Vader, please," the pathetic woman groveled. "I do care, my lord! If I didn't care I would not have spent the past fourteen years doing everything that I could to make your existence tolerable!"
"Not quite everything," Vader replied. "Now get out," he said, turning away from her again. "The sight of you sickens me now."
Thek looked from Vader to Padmé, as though pleading with the Dark Lord's wife silently for help.
"Please leave, Doctor," Padmé said calmly. "This isn't the best time to discuss things in a rational manner."
Thek nodded, brushing an errant tear from her face. She turned and left the room, leaving a tension filled silence in her wake.
"Children, please go into the kitchen and have lunch," Padmé said, watching Vader as he seethed in silence.
Luke and Leia realized that their mother meant business, and left at once, Leia casting a backwards glance in her father's direction before disappearing into the kitchen.
Padmé sat down on the sofa, waiting for the storm to pass before speaking to Vader.
"Seems you were right," Vader said at last, his back still to his wife. "It seems my master has lied to me once again."
Padmé looked down at her hands folded in her lap. Being right had been a playful competition between them at one point; there was nothing playful about it now. "I'm sorry," she said, not knowing what else to say.
"You have nothing to be sorry for," he said. "It was not you who told me my injuries were beyond repair. It was not you who told me that I killed my own wife."
Padmé's head snapped up at this. "What did you say?" she asked.
Vader said nothing for a moment, as he struggled to master the fury within him. "He told me that I had killed you," he said finally. "Until the other day I believed him, I believed that I had killed you and our unborn child."
"I don't know what to say," Padmé admitted quietly. "I had no idea he had done that. But knowing what a monster he is, it doesn't surprise me. You see that now, don't you? What a monster he is?"
Vader made no reply, her words only serving to add to his fury and frustration for the simple fact that she was right.
"You have to have this surgery," she said at last. "The doctors on Alderaan said you won't live to see forty if you don't. Now that we know it's possible, then there is nothing to stop you."
Vader turned to her at last.
"No, I cannot," he replied. "Not now. Fourteen years ago, even one year ago perhaps, but now – it's simply too risky."
Padmé stood up to face him, a frown on her face. "The risk of not doing it is even greater," she replied. "Do you really think it's fair to Luke and Leia if you don't do it?"
"Don't you see?" he asked walking towards her. "If I suddenly have my injuries repaired, it will raise too many questions. The emperor is not a fool, Padmé; he will know that something is going on."
"You mean he will know about Luke and Leia," she said.
Vader nodded.
Padmé tried hard not to take hope from this, tried not to read more into it than there was; but she had to ask.
"Does that mean you are not going to tell him about the twins?" she asked.
Vader remained silent; a habit Padmé had decided was most annoying. She used to be able to read his thoughts and feelings through his eyes; but with the mask she could not discern a thing.
"I have not made any decisions," he told her at last.
"I don't see how there's a decision to be made," she retorted. "Are you really considering handing those two precious children to that fiend? After everything he has done to you? To us??"
Vader did not reply again, the conflict within him growing with every word she said. "I am needed elsewhere," he said, walking past her towards the door.
Padmé turned and watched him as he strode to the door. "You can only hide from the truth for so long, Anakin," she called after him.
Vader stopped in his tracks. "I have told you not to call me that," he said without looking at her. "I would appreciate it if you remembered that next time." And with that he left.
Padmé sat down heavily on the sofa, her face in her hands. Are you in there at all, Anakin? Or am I only fooling myself?
