Skywalker's Legacy, page 125
Chapter Eighteen
Luke jumped down from Han's shoulders, where he'd climbed to test the integrity of the ceiling, after testing every inch of the walls and floor. "Nothing," he announced needlessly. "Not even a chink in the shielding."
"So what do we do now?" Han asked.
Luke drew in a deep breath. "We wait."
"Wait for what?"
"I don't know."
The passageway was dark. Brenna felt the fear clawing its way from her stomach to her throat. She was alone. There was no guarantee she'd ever see her father again, or even Rupert. This was the whole purpose behind bringing them onto the Star Destroyer, to get her alone. She knew it. She remembered the krail pit, and was ashamed. She remembered her father's 'attacks,' and was terrified. Was the same thing now going to happen to her? To her father? To the others?
Further down the passageway, another section of wall lifted. There was a light beyond. She was being directed to go there, she knew, and for that reason, she didn't want to go. But there was light there, and none where she was.
And what choice did she really have?
Shaking, she made her way towards the brightness of the end of the passageway. She was a prisoner, as surely as if she were manacled. Her captor was invisible, but nonetheless real.
The passageway terminated into a large chamber, what had once been the bridge of the Star Destroyer, now transformed into some kind of theatre. As soon as Brenna had passed through the entrance, the wall came down again, cutting her off from even the dark corridor. Brenna tried lifting the wall, but it wouldn't budge. There was, of course, no control to re-open the sealed wall.
The bridge had been stripped, and modified. The navigation and com-stations had been removed. In front of the central star-portal, a vid-screen had been set up, and there was a dais with a chair in it up towards the front of the room. Any other access ways, except for the one through which she was now entering, appeared to be sealed off.
Brenna moved to the walls and examined the areas where it appeared other access ways had once been. They, too, were sealed closed.
Not that she expected anything else.
"Hello, Brenna."
The amplified voice booming around the chamber made her spin around. At the front of the bridge, the screen was glowing to life. It showed the face of someone she'd never met but instantly knew. "Etan Lippa," she whispered.
The image on the screen belonged to a man about her father's age, perhaps slightly younger. There was a vague resemblance between him and the images she had seen of Palpatine in her history books. However, whatever disease had distorted and corrupted the Emperor's features had not yet taken hold of Etan Lippa, and the emperor's son was still reasonably attractive in appearance.
"I'm glad to see I'm not completely unknown to you. Please, won't you sit down and make yourself more comfortable?"
An overhead light came on, illuminating the chair on the dais, facing the screen.
Brenna hesitated, glancing back at the closed door. Like a moth, like a krail, she was drawn to the light, but in this case, light and safety were not the same thing.
"Come, you're perfectly safe. You're much too precious for me to risk injuring you in any way, despite whatever stories your father may have told you. Your comfort is my sole concern, I assure you."
Heart pounding, Brenna stepped slowly towards the dais, stepped onto the platform, and carefully eased herself into the chair.
She had half-expected manacles to appear and bind her to the chair, but it was just a very soft, very comfortable chair, and nothing more.
"There, that's better," Etan Lippa purred. "Now, can I offer you anything? A sandwich? Something to drink, perhaps?"
A serving 'droid appeared out of nowhere, laden with platters containing plates full of delicacies or glasses of various shapes and sizes filled with different colored liquids. "If you don't see something you'd like, just ask. The kitchen and the bar are fully stocked."
Brenna glanced at the 'droid, then looked back up at the screen. "No, thank you."
"Are you sure? The Reeshard squid is excellent."
"No. Thank you."
The serving 'droid rolled away. A panel in the wall opened up and it was swallowed inside. Brenna noted the panel as a possible exit, if she could figure out how to get it open again. On the other hand, it was dark on the other side. Then she turned her attention back to the screen. "Do you offer a last meal to all your victims, or just me?"
Etan Lippa laughed. "I assure you, my dear, you are my guest, not my victim."
"Like the Jedi Knights were your 'guests'?"
"No, not like that at all. The Jedi were prisoners of war. I am perfectly serious about your being my guest. Your comfort is of the utmost importance to me. The others in your party are intruders. You are the only one I invited. I merely...tolerate the others for your sake. And for your sake, I will refrain from dealing with them as I ordinarily would."
"That's big of you."
"I thought so. Now, since we are finally alone together---at least on vid-screen---let me have a good look at you."
Brenna forced herself not to move as a seeker-camera appeared and hovered around her, viewing her from all sides and from all angles, like she was a statue in a gallery.
Or a slave being put up for auction.
"My dear, you are lovely. More lovely than I had hoped. I am now more anxious than ever to meet you in person."
"Wish I could say the same," Brenna replied.
The image on the screen laughed. "You are indeed your father's daughter. But I did not expect that you would come to accept me immediately. I am certain your father has told you stories. Lies, no doubt. However, it may surprise you to know that before too long, you and I will become lovers."
That last statement did come as a surprise, totally out of the blue as it was. Lovers? She hated him. Everything she learned about him caused her to hate him more. But she tried to keep up her front, and not let her surprise show, like she tried not to let her fear of the dark show. She didn't want Etan Lippa to see more of her than he already had. "Oh, really?"
"Really. You will come to me. Willingly, I might add. It is our destiny. You may fight it now, but you will not fight it forever."
"Oh, I dunno. Dad says I can be as stubborn as a limmick when I set my mind to it."
"You do not yet know me."
"I know that you're old enough to be my father."
"Age matters very little in circumstances like ours. All that matters is that we please each other. I assure you, my dear, you please me very much, and I will do my utmost to please you. Let me show you how much I will appreciate you."
"I get it," Brenna said sarcastically. "You show me yours, then I show you mine. No thanks. I'm not interested."
"My dear, I shall enjoy your wit immensely. No, I was thinking more of a token of my good faith."
"What, like 'going steady' pin?"
The image on the screen leaned forward in his chair. "What is it you want?" Lippa said. "Ask. If it is within my power to give, I will not refuse you."
"I doubt it."
"Would you like to test me? Ask. Whatever you want."
Brenna considered for a moment. "All right," she said. "I'd like the senators."
"Such a paltry thing. But if that is your wish, then it is granted."
"Alive."
"Alive," Lippa assured her. "You will find them in hibernation, but alive. The corridors will lead you to them."
"And I'd like to get out of here safely. All of us, including the senators."
"Did you think I would harm you? Have you experienced any danger since you boarded my ship? But I will not prevent your departure. The senators are no longer of any value to me. I needed them only to find you. They are a well-intentioned but misguided lot. You may take them with you, if that is your desire. I warn you, though, that anyone who returns here without you, I shall deal with as I see fit. But come, what is it you truly wish?"
Brenna leaned back in her chair, still not trusting Etan Lippa, but feeling a little more comfortable than when she first entered the room. She wondered just what sort of game it was he was playing, and decided to play one of her own. "I'd like the Jedi Knights back. Alive."
"My dear, if it were within my power, and if it were what you truly wished, I would do it. I can lay the galaxy at your feet, and shall. I can show them to you, but that is all. The Jedi, as I said earlier, were prisoners of war. Unlike your father, I will keep no secrets from you. However, you may not be ready for such a sight. I did...what was necessary to extract certain information. In the end, this information will save lives---many lives! Isn't it better that a few should suffer so that the masses don't have to? It requires an adult to understand that. I will show you the Jedi, if you insist, but---"
"I insist," Brenna said.
"But it is not a sight for the faint-hearted."
"I insist," Brenna repeated.
"Very well. I will lead you to what remains of them. But remember that I warned you first. And remember, too, that what I did was necessary, for the good of the many. You see, I will refuse you nothing. But seeing the Jedi Knights is not what you truly desire, is it?"
Brenna regarded the image on the screen. "Since you seem to know so much about me, why don't you tell me what you think it is I truly desire."
"You want to learn the ways of the Force."
Brenna started. Then she leaned forward in her chair, listening.
"I can teach you."
Brenna felt her heart pounding again. It was what she had truly desired. How had Etan Lippa known that? Then she shook her head. But her words, when she spoke, had a subtle change in tone, as if she were speaking to a confidant rather than to an enemy. "My father would never allow it."
"Of course he wouldn't. But as an adult, you can make your own decisions."
"I haven't even reached my majority yet."
"Ah. I see that your father has lied to you in that, as well. And really, my dear, you must learn to overcome this preoccupation you have with age. Aside from the legal definition of 'adult,' which status you attained some standard weeks ago, adulthood is merely a state of mind. You can act as an adult, or you can act as a child. The choice is yours."
Brenna stared at the screen. "You're saying I'm already of age? My birthday is six months away."
"And who told you that? Your father?"
Brenna looked away from the screen. Her father had lied to her even about that? Or was Etan Lippa just trying to pull her strings.
Hell, hadn't her father lied to her on matters far more important than a birthdate?
"Perhaps, my dear, you are not as grown up as I thought. I may need to re-think my offer to show you the remains of the Jedi. It is not something a child would understand. And if you cannot make your own decisions, then you are still a child."
"I can make my own decisions," Brenna murmured. She looked back at the screen, lips pressed together firmly. Whatever her birthdate was, it didn't change her mind about Etan Lippa. "But I can't make any decisions as a prisoner. If you're going to let me make my own decisions, then I'd like to return to my group now."
"Soon, Brenna. I will not keep you here against your will. I will wait for you to come to me. But I ask your indulgence for just a few more minutes. I have a gift for you."
"Oh, so I do get a going steady pin!"
Etan Lippa laughed. "Not quite. More of a...birthday present."
The serving 'droid came out from its wall panel again. This time, it carried a polished silver platter containing a paper envelope.
"Ooooh," Brenna said. She stood up, took the envelope, what Lippa obviously intended for her to take, and laid it on the chair, then picked up the platter and pretended to be fascinated by her reflection. "I've been wanting one of these. I've had such a hard time putting my makeup on without one, ever since your troopers destroyed my home."
"You may find those documents of interest, too." Lippa said in some amusement.
"Oh?" Brenna set the platter aside, opened the envelope, and glanced at the contents. "Love poems?"
"In a sense. Your father was once my teacher. Do you know who was his teacher?"
"No," Brenna said truthfully.
"A non-human named Yoda. He wrote the prophecy that is on those sheets. Read it. Then search your feelings for the truth within it. You will come to me, Brenna. You will bear my children. And our progeny will become legend."
Brenna stared at the screen in disbelief. "I'm not...going to let you---or a piece of paper---dictate my life."
"Yet you let your father. I am a patient man, Brenna. But I will not wait forever. As for letting me---or a piece of paper---dictate your life, take a look at your life as it is now. Ask yourself if the life you have is truly the life you want. Ask yourself whether you are living your life, or the life your father wants you to live. I think you already know the answer to that. Then ask yourself if what is written on those papers is so awful in comparison."
The screen went blank. Brenna considered leaving the envelope on the chair, its contents unread, but she knew that Etan Lippa was monitoring every inch of the ship, and wouldn't let her leave the bridge unless she had read the documents in the envelope. Besides, she was curious about what it said. Not that she believed anything that Lippa said. More likely he had twisted something around to suit his own purposes.
She stood up, and didn't move. The right thing to do, of course, was to give the envelope to her father immediately. But then, she'd never know what the paper said. She'd read it first. She might even, as Lippa had suggested, use the Force to check their authenticity. It would only be breaking her promise a little, and she was pretty certain she could do that much without even her father catching her. Not that there was any point in keeping the promise any more, if the sole purpose was to prevent Etan Lippa from finding her. He had already found her. And...he was letting her go.
Was he letting her go? For an instant, she panicked in the worry that he wouldn't. But then there was a click and a whoosh! And the door that had led Brenna to the bridge opened again, and Rupert rushed in. The door closed behind Rupert.
"Brenna! Are you all right?"
"Fine," she replied, a little annoyed at his apparent attitude that she needed a man to protect her, and forgetting her fear of just a second ago. She could take care of herself. She stuffed the envelope into an interior pocket of the jacket she was wearing, borrowed from Lucy.
"What's that?" Rupert asked.
"Nothing," Brenna said.
"What happened to you?"
She looked at him. "Nothing. Shall we go?"
"Go where?"
As if in answer, a different door leading off the bridge opened up.
"There," Brenna said.
They had all long since seated themselves on the hard metal floor, to wait. Wait for what, they didn't know. Maybe to die of thirst. Who knew what Etan Lippa had in mind?
They waited because there was nothing else to do.
Han had finally managed to get Poul's crying calmed to quiet sniffles when they heard a dull clang!
Lucy rose to her feet instantly. "What was that?"
Han shrugged. There was no way of knowing. But whatever it was, he had the feeling their wait was about to be over.
There was silence again. Lucy had just started to slide back down the wall to a sitting position again, when one of the "Y" doors lifted.
Han handed Poul to Luke, who was already on his feet, then accepted a hand up from Lucy. He reached over to retrieve Poul, who was really too old to be carried, but this was an unusual circumstance.
"Do we go?" Lucy asked, eyeing the door dubiously.
Han shrugged and shifted Poul's weight. "No use staying."
"Wait a minute," Luke said, looking down the dark hallway and holding his palm out behind him to keep the others back. He stepped through the doorway, stopped, and waited for a moment, but nothing happened.
He dropped his hand. "Never mind. Come on."
Lucy crossed through the threshold apprehensively, looking up as if she thought the door would come crashing down on top of her. Han, carrying Poul, was last.
"What was that about?" Han asked Luke quietly.
"Nothing, really," Luke replied. "I just thought if Lippa wanted to get me alone, to cut me off from the rest of you, it would be safer for you if I just let him do it."
"Apparently he doesn't want to cut you off, then," Han said.
"Apparently not."
"Now what?" Han asked, looking ahead at the end of the passageway, which was closed off.
Further down the corridor, another doorway opened up.
"There's your answer," Luke said.
Rupert followed Brenna somewhat nervously. He didn't like the idea of being led through a maze like rats in an experiment, but Brenna seemed unworried. Whenever there was a hesitation in a door opening, she tapped her foot or let out an impatient sigh until the next one lifted.
Finally, they seemed to arrive at a dead-end. They stood there for some seconds, and still the next door did not open. The seconds became a minute. "You're slowing down!" Brenna yelled up to the ceiling.
Then the door slid open, slowly, indicating that this door was leading somewhere different. When it slid open enough to where they could see inside, it revealed an enormous chamber, filled with human-size tanks. Each tank was made of clear plexi-steel, and filled with a blue-ish liquid. And submerged inside each was a naked body, either a man's or a woman's, twisted into a grotesque position, each mouth open in a permanent silent scream.
When Rupert could finally speak, his voice was barely a whisper and was filled with fear and horror. "What in Hell is that?"
Brenna's answering voice was in a normal volume, and with neither fear nor horror. "The missing Jedi Knights," she said.
The door was still open when Luke, Han, and the others arrived. Han had set Poul down on his own two feet some time earlier.
Han stared in horror for a second, then turned Poul's head into his side and shielded the boy's eyes with his body.
"Sweet Deities!" Lucy said.
"Wahrrraaanggh!" Chewbacca exclaimed.
"I don't want to go in there, either," Han replied. "But we don't exactly have a choice."
They went in slowly, Han sheltering his youngest son from the morbid sights in the tanks, with help from Chewbacca whose bulk blocked what Han could not. Artoo whistled softly. Threepio, whose protocol data banks contained no information on proper etiquette for a situation like this, was silent except for the sound of his servo-joints as they moved.
"It's like...a museum," Han said grimly, staring briefly at each body.
"No," Luke corrected, equally grim. "It's a trophy room."
"Mom!" Lucy said suddenly. "Mom could be in here!"
Before Luke could reassure her that she wasn't, Lucy began running to each tank containing a female body to look at the contorted face submerged in the blue liquid. It was the sense of unreality that gave strength to her purpose. Luke couldn't look. He was trying to look past the bodies, the remains of his friends, to find the exit. If he looked, he knew he would display something that he didn't want Etan Lippa to see. He wanted to pay tribute to each of his friends, but not if it meant paying tribute to Lippa, as well. He couldn't help seeing the bodies, but he kept his eyes from their faces, from identifying each victim.
Poul tried to turn his head to look, but Han kept him firmly turned away and covered.
A voice that Han was very relieved to hear replied, "Mom's not here," and Rupert stepped out from behind a line of tanks. "I already looked."
Lucy breathed a sigh of relief, and Han murmured something encouraging to his youngest son.
"Brenna?" Luke asked, blue eyes piercing into the younger man. "Is she here with you?"
"Right here." Brenna came out from a different row of tanks. Unlike her father, she had taken a good long look into each tank. The faces were strangers to her, like anonymous castings in a wax museum.
"Bren!" Luke practically shouted in relief. He ran up to her, but she moved away before he could hug her.
Han looked up at his eldest son. "Did you find Corran?"
"Back there," Rupert replied, nodding with his head down a row of tanks. Han transferred Poul to Chewbacca, but Rupert stopped his father by the arm before he could leave. "Trust me, Dad, you don't want to see."
Han saw the expression in Rupert's eyes, and decided that the boy was right. He nodded.
"There's one empty tank, too, right in the center."
Luke had been avoiding looking into the tanks, but he suddenly realized that he had to. There was one thing he had to do, after all. Now that he knew Brenna was safe at least for the moment there was someone he had to find. He held up a staying hand. "Han, keep the kids here. That includes you, Bren."
"I've already seen everything," she pointed out.
"Just stay here!" Luke said, a raw edge to his voice.
"Where you going?" Han asked.
Luke fought to get his voice back under control. "Leia may not be here, but---" He had to swallow to steady his voice before he could go on. "But Briande might be. I have to know..."
When Luke returned, his eyes were red, but his voice was steady. "She's not here."
Brenna looked at the group. "Anyone else?" she asked. No one answered. She looked up at the ceiling and raised her voice. "I'd like the senators now, please."
Luke, Han, and Lucy stared at her, wondering just what, exactly, had happened during their separation. But by now, Rupert was almost expecting it.
As if responding to her verbal command, a door opened at the far end of the row where Rupert had indicated Corran was, and all eyes turned to look at the open door. Only Luke's gaze returned to Brenna.
She met her father's eyes without flinching. "Do you want to stay here, or not?" she asked, and moved to the door without waiting for a response.
They had to go by the empty tank to get to the door. They also had to go by Corran. Lucy was horrified when she saw him. "We can't just leave him here!" she protested.
"There's nothing we can do for him," her father said, as much to himself as to Lucy. But his voice had cracked as he said it.
Despite himself, Luke felt the lump choke his throat and tears clogging his eyes again. He hurried past the tank before anyone could see, wiped his eyes, and got himself back under control.
Once out of the trophy room, Brenna took the lead, and set a power-walk pace that the others were hard-put to keep up with. When Poul couldn't keep up, Chewbacca picked him up to carry him. Han hung back to talk with Luke, who was in the rear.
"You okay?" Han asked Luke.
"I will be," Luke replied.
"You look like Hell."
"They were my friends, Han. Some of what they happened to them, I also felt. But that was nothing, compared to what they must have gone through."
"Deities, Luke. I'm sorry..."
"Yeah, me too... I just want to make sure the same thing doesn't happen to Brenna."
"Or Rupert," Han added grimly.
Luke looked at him, understanding, but unable to promise anything. Then he hurried to catch up with Brenna. "Do you know where we're going?" he asked his daughter.
"Specifically? No."
"In general, then."
"In general, we're going to rescue the senators."
"Etan Lippa is just going to let us?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
She looked up at him. "Because I asked him."
That made no sense to Luke. "He's going to let us rescue the senators just because you asked him?"
"He asked me what I wanted, and I told him I wanted the senators." She glanced at her father. "Don't worry. They're alive, but in hibernation. Not like your friends back there."
"Why did he offer you the senators? There must have been a reason."
"He said he didn't need them any more." She didn't add what Lippa had told her about his reason for kidnapping them, to get Brenna here to his Star Destroyer.
"Did you make some sort of deal with him?"
Brenna stopped short and looked at him, causing Lucy to plow into her. Ignoring Lucy's murmured apologies, Brenna said, "Are you accusing me of something? Because if you are, I'd like to know what it is. Just come out and say it."
Luke hoped her anger was an after-effect of the gruesome trophy room, and not of something else. He kept his voice level. "No, I'm not accusing you of anything. I'd just like to know what happened, to make sure you're all right."
"I'm fine," she said shortly, and resumed her swift walking pace down the corridor.
Luke caught up with her. "Sweetheart, I'm just concerned about you. I want to know what happened. Did he threaten you? Do anything to you? Say something to upset you?"
"He didn't threaten me, or 'do' anything to me. In fact, he was very gracious."
Luke stared at her for a few paces. Etan Lippa, gracious? "Brenna, don't trust him. I'm not sure what his motives are for letting us live this long, but you saw what he did to the Jedi."
"I saw," Brenna replied. "But you're not exactly the best person to be talking to me about 'trust.'"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Nothing."
"What did he tell you about me?"
"Nothing I didn't already know." She stopped again. This time, Lucy managed to keep from running into her again. "Are you going to keep giving me the third degree? Or can we just get your damn senators and get the Hell out of here?"
On another ship, a few parsecs away, Etan Lippa smiled to himself as he watched his screen. It was going well. Father and daughter were already arguing, and he hadn't done anything at all to encourage it. Well, hardly anything. And although Brenna wasn't converted yet by any means, she was beginning to see Lippa as something other than what her father had described to her, and to see her father as unworthy of her trust.
Yes, things were starting to develop nicely. It was even worth letting those miserable senators go.
After they left, he'd jump the star destroyer into hyperspace, bring it to his location, and take another stroll through his trophies. It would be that much more enjoyable, knowing that Brenna had walked there. Knowing that her father had walked there. Knowing that he had seen the empty tank waiting there, just for him.
But what Skywalker didn't know was that Etan Lippa was reserving the pleasure of putting Skywalker into the tank to his daughter. It would be that much more delicious for Brenna to put him there herself.
The fool hadn't even the slightest inkling of the prophecy concerning Brenna's destiny. Without knowing it, the Jedi was even helping it along. Everything he did drove Brenna further away from him, and that much closer to Etan Lippa.