NOTHING STAYS THE SAME
CHAPTER TEN
"What?" Leia cried. "Smuggling weapons for the Empire? Never! My brother was a hero of the Rebellion, he –"
"I didn't mean that, Princess," Corran interrupted her. "Calm down." He wished that the NRI hadn't spread the ysalimiri all around the complex. Even though he had only recently discovered the Force, being cut off like this was eerie, to say the least. "Luke had been looking into that group for the past four months. He'd heard that Mara was involved, but he asked her and she said she wasn't. Since this benefited the Empire, he decided to go and find out who was running the show. He had a lot of information on it. Whenever he could, he'd search for possible leads. He has a copy of his findings somewhere."
"Do you know where?" Iella asked. So this was the new source of weaponry for the Empire, she mused. Though she hadn't admitted it to the smuggler chief, she had indeed heard of this group, but she had too little information for even that knowledge to be of use. That, however, had also been one of the NRI's main reasons for suspecting Mara Jade—had Luke Skywalker been sniffing too closely to her invisible organization? But Luke hadn't even been off Yavin 4 much, so where would he have received this information? The Advisory Council even said they'd had little contact with the only Jedi Master.
"No," Corran admitted. "But…"
"But Mara would," Leia finished.
"Look," Talon interjected. "I can tell something big happened. What was so important that Corran told you?"
Corran glanced at Leia, as if to ask her permission. Leia closed her eyes again and nodded slightly.
The pilot gave a much shorter version of his earlier telling. Iella found herself admiring her not-so-legal counterpart for his control. Except for a nearly invisible lifting of his eyebrows, he showed no reaction at all. Too bad we don't pay enough for him to work for us, she thought. We could use someone like him.
Even without the Force, Mara knew something had happened when Talon walked in less than an hour after he'd left. He had a different look on his face. He was trying to hide some emotion. Most of the rest of his expressions were much better hidden: his anger, fear at what would happen to her, the sadness, the sympathy, and the worry. And then Corran Horn followed her employer.
"You told him," she said softly. "You son of a bitch…you told him. I said not to tell anyone, Horn!" Her voice rose in strength and anger. She stood up, anger blazing in her eyes.
"Don't even start, Mara. I had no choice," Corran said, tiredly.
"Yes, you did. Didn't you tell him, Karrde? I said 'No,' damn it, not 'Go ahead'!"
"He told me," the Rogue pilot answered. Though he didn't raise his voice, there was steel behind it. "But I made a promise, Mara, and I keep them."
"To who?" she demanded.
"To Luke."
"What for?"
"Luke knew that he was risking his life to break apart that Imperial ring. He knew it. But he didn't want anything hanging over both of you when you were married."
"So it is my fault. Is that what you're saying?"
"You are not even listening to him," Talon said. "Luke went after a weapon smuggling group that was using you as a front person."
"I'll say this for the last time: I have never smuggled weapons to Imperials!"
"Luke went after them to stop that idea before it affected your reputation."
"He let himself be killed for my reputation?" What the hell was Horn talking about?
"Mara," Corran said, walking towards her. She took a step back. "Luke found out about this group a few months ago. I looked into it, and I put some of the info together and gave it to Luke. He's been searching for the source of all this for months, and he finally found the planet and city this went back to. He told me that much, but he didn't tell me where this was. Now I know another reason why he did this: your imposter. We need your help piecing the rest together."
"What can I do?" she whispered.
"Do you know where Luke kept this information?"
"There are several places. Some on Yavin 4, one in his apartment here."
"Where exactly, Mara?"
Mara hesitated. Where would Luke keep this information? On Yavin. He must have been using the miniature vault on Yavin 4. "Yavin 4. In our—in his quarters. Look under the bed—there will be a flap of fabric that has been cut. Up in that hole is a box with data disks."
"Encrypted?"
"Of course. Not impossible to slice, but just one mistake wipes the disk." A faint smile grew on her face. "I was teaching him to do that. The information in there is not secret; he just put public information together for a conclusion."
"So what's the encryption?"
"Bring it to me with a data reader and I'll decode them."
Karrde nodded. "I'll get the disks myself."
"Don't try to copy them, Talon, or they'll erase. And don't put them near the engine, hyperdrive, nav computer, or atmospheric control. Or any kind of powerful computer, like a slicing one Ghent would have."
"Or they'll erase?"
"How did you guess?"
"Just a hunch."
"I told him to be thorough." Her smile faded. "So now you know," she said.
Talon knew what she was referring to. He didn't even need to ask.
"Yeah."
So what do you think? she asked him silently. After a few moments of awkward silence, she looked at his eyes. She didn't see any judgment in them. He wasn't going to treat her as an outsider, although she wouldn't ever be impartial to the New Republic. But, then again, not even Karrde was impartial. With friends, well, close acquaintances in the hierarchy of the Republic; he couldn't be, no matter how hard he tried.
"I'm glad you found someone, Mara," Talon said seriously. "Though I must admit, it has been kind of obvious to the rest of us. You and Skywalker are perfect for each other." Hang on, Mara. We'll get you out of here, and with Luke. You deserve happiness, not the shitty life you've had.
It was after dark when Leia returned to the apartment. Han was sitting in front of the Holovid, some newscaster trying to look important, babbling at the viewers. He glanced up at her as she walked into the brightly lit sitting room.
"How was your day?" It was usually Leia's greeting, but she just stood near the Holo projector for a few minutes.
"You won't believe it, Han. I don't."
"What are you talking about?"
"Luke…"
"What about Luke? Leia, what are you talking about?" It was unusual for his wife to react like this. Well, not all that unusual since Luke's funeral. But before that she'd always been cool and in control.
"How well do you know Corran Horn?"
"The Rogue pilot? I've met him a few times. Definite good guy. Didn't he help out with Isard? He was at the Academy and helped take Exar Kun out."
"Was he close to Luke?"
"I'm not really sure. Corran would be the one to ask."
"He told the Intelligence Director and me this morning that they'd been close. That Luke confided in him."
"Could be. The kid needed someone to unload on, and another Jedi would have been perfect." Han had quit asking "Why." When Leia was ready, she'd answer that question.
"Do you really think that Luke would get married behind my back?"
"I think he'd have been too afraid to, honestly. I know I would."
Leia glared at him. "Well that's for obvious reasons. But…Luke and Mara…"
"What?" Han's eyes widened. "You're not really trying to say that Luke was that crazy—I mean, I knew he was mentally unbalanced, after all, he was a Jedi, but Mara Jade…You're right, sweetheart. I don't believe it." Hand's mind was running at lightspeed now. But that would explain several things…why they spend so much time together…why they always seem to be on planet at the same time…why Luke had been so relaxed, even after Callista…I thought he'd never snap out of that. He remembered his thinking about Mara Jade from times past. He'd always had mixed feelings about the beautiful trader. At times it seemed he'd been in her place only a short time before a smuggler, skating on thin legal ice. He knew what it was like to have one event completely change his life. With Mara it had been the Emperor's death. With him it had been agreeing to transport a crazy old man and farmboy off of Tatooine. He knew how important a second chance was.
And then there were times he was certain he could never truly trust her. It always seemed that she could easily turn on Luke, and fulfill her Master's last command.
She swore to kill Luke. She saved his family. She hated the Jedi. She risked her life to destroy C'Boath. Who was this woman? Could they trust her?
"Han? Are you paying any attention to me?"
Han snapped out of his musings. "Sorry, sweetheart. What were you saying?"
"I asked whether or not you believed we could trust Mara."
He knew how important a second chance was. "I think it's worth a try." If Luke trusted her…
The petite woman led Talon towards Luke's rooms on Yavin 4. Even the Force blind trader could feel the difference in the Academy. Everything was somber. Tionne, the silver-haired musician, looked like she'd been crying. Her husband, Kam Solusar, didn't look much better. Both were tired. Kam had been instructing a class of Jedi students when the Wild Karrde landed.
"We haven't been in Master Skywalker's quarters. We locked them and left them that way." She punched in the code. "Do you really think Master Skywalker left anything behind to pinpoint the murderer?"
"That's what I'm here to check. Tell me, Tionne, has Mara Jade studied here recently?" he asked.
"Occasionally. She'll spend about a day or so and then we wouldn't see her for weeks. Such an abrupt woman. She rarely talked to the others, just Master Skywalker." The door slid soundlessly open.
As soon as Talon walked into the room, he looked around. He'd never been in the Jedi Master's rooms, and he wasn't quite sure what to expect. Very Spartan, with just a bed, a chest for clothes, and a small refresher. Talon walked around before he went to the bed. Walking into the 'fresher, he noticed something that he doubted was Luke's. Since when did Luke wear a catsuit?
Talon grinned as an image of the blond farmboy in the tight leather suit. He saw other items that he doubted Luke would wear or use. Kazrisp fruit shampoo? He knew that was the scent that Mara always had around her—spicy, and not sweet like so many women preferred. And he doubted that Luke used stylish combs to hold his hair up and away from his face. And a robe of purple asquzybe silk? Purple didn't seem to be Luke's color. The small bag of makeup didn't seem to be Luke's style, either.
Laughing at the pictures running through his mind of Luke with rouged lips and in the catsuit, Talon reached under the bed for the hole Mara mentioned. The box was right where she said it would be, but she didn't mention the shock switch that had been turned on. His right arm went numb, and he cursed as he wrapped a section of the blanket around his hand as he grabbed the box with his left hand. He felt the tingling of energy, but it didn't numb the arm. He didn't see any noticeable switch to turn off the stun setting. Damn her. He was certain it was just an accident that she forgot to mention it to him. Yeah, right.
