Chapter 13: Shattered

When Luke stepped out of the guard headquarters, Lev looked as pleased to see him as Luke did to see Lev.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Sure," Luke said, walking on ahead.

Lev followed. "What happened? Did some of the other students harass you?"

"Nothing like that." Luke knew the questions were expected, but he couldn't help but wish Lev would just leave it alone.

"Two days ago you were all upset at having to stay home. Now you're deliberately missing school ... I know I'm not your father, but if something is troubling you, then maybe I can help."

"Speaking of him ... where is he?" Luke asked. "Please say he's left for Mustafar."

"He's over at ISB."

"He doesn't know about this, does he?"

"Of course he knows. I told him myself. Having his son lost on Coruscant is fairly high-priority news."

"I wasn't lost," Luke said. They walked past a refresher, and it alerted Luke to a sudden need. "Wait a moment, I need to go."

As Luke passed through the doors, he wasn't surprised to see the refresher was decorated just as lavishly as every other millimeter of the palace. He didn't think anything of it, until he approached the central fountain to wash his hands.

Down below, the base of the fountain was covered in sparkling jewels. Quickly, he reached into the water and scooped up a handful of them. They felt slightly heavy, and the surface was hard. They were probably expensive.

His backpack was the only thing he had to carry them in, so he set it down and began filling it to capacity. The jewels were slightly wet, but the bag was waterproof. When it was full, he bent down to slide his arms through the straps. It certainly weighed enough. He started for the door and found himself looking at two further sources of potential credits. Glittering brightly on either side of the door were two crystal statues, identical to those he'd seen in the corridors of the guard headquarters.

They looked heavy. This was confirmed when he picked up the one on the right. He'd only be able to take one but hopefully it would be worth enough. Getting it out of here was another problem. In the end, he pulled off his outer tunic and wrapped it up in that. If he carried it in the right way, no one would be able to see that there was something inside it.

Lev seemed impatient by the time he returned to the corridor and didn't waste any time staring at him.

"Come on, let's get moving."

They took the stairs up to the ground level, and there was an anxious moment when they walked past the royal guards at the top, but they didn't react. Luke still had a funny feeling they were watching him. Maybe wondering why he appeared so nervous ... he was trying not to be nervous, but it wasn't working. But no one said anything as he passed by, and he sighed in relief.

"So," Luke said, feeling a little more convinced he might actually pull this thing off. "When is my father coming back from ISB? Later on tonight?"

"I'm not sure," Lev said, tapping away on his wrist comlink. "There's been a new development with the Spectrum case, so it could be a while."

Please let it be later, Luke thought. If his plan worked out, he could be gone within ten minutes, without having to see his father ever again. All he needed to do was pick up a few belongings from his bedroom. Taking a few extra blankets couldn't hurt, either. If he had time, he'd like to say goodbye to Artoo and Threepio as well. He glanced up at Lev, hoping he wasn't planning to stay with him. "I know my way up to my room," Luke tried. "You're busy with more important things. You don't need to come with me."

"Luke, right now, you're the most important thing I'm busy with," Lev said. "A couple of stormtroopers have been assigned to guard you. They're waiting outside your room and I need to hand you off to them."

"What?!" Luke stopped, turning to Lev in anger. "Why?"

"I don't question orders."

They were nearly at the elevator hub, and Luke quickly turned around, intending to run in the direction of the nearest exit. But it was hard to move quickly with the heavy bag and statue, and Lev easily held him back with one hand on his upper arm.

"Luke, please! Don't make this difficult."

Luke frowned, wrenching his arm away.

"What's wrong?" Lev asked, his voice full of concern.

Luke didn't reply. Lev wouldn't understand. Even worse, he'd probably tell Vader. But he couldn't just leave without saying anything ... he owed Lev more than that. He turned back, meeting his gaze.

"I don't want to talk to my father. He'll be angry. He was probably angry when he found out I wasn't at school, right?"

"Is that a trick question?" Lev asked.

"You know what I mean," Luke said. "Angri-er."

"Um ..." Lev suddenly looked nervous. "Maybe you'll have to ask him yourself."

"Why?"

Lev gestured ahead. Luke turned around, only to find the resident Dark Lord of the Sith had returned from ISB and was walking towards them.

Luke tried to turn around again, deciding that leaving now had become urgent. Lev hastily grabbed him by his backpack, though.

"Luke ... what have you got in this thing? It weighs a ton!"

Luke shifted away and rearranged his grip on the tunic-covered statue. This thing was starting to hurt his arms. He certainly wouldn't be running anywhere fast with the statue weighing him down, so maybe it was better just to ride this one out. He doubted his father would be as unobservant as Lev and the guards, though. This would take some careful words.

Lev straightened to attention as Vader approached. "Sir, I have just retrieved Luke from the guard—"

"Leave us," he said.

Lev disappeared before Luke could open his mouth to protest. He could have done with the moral support, but Vader obviously didn't agree. He stared at him silently for a moment, and Luke struggled not to flinch under his gaze.

"Come with me," he said, finally.

"I was just on my way to drop my things in my room. I'll come and talk to you afterwards," Luke mumbled, trying to sound braver than he felt. Attempted bravery had little effect on his father, though.

"You can go to your room when I say so."

He gestured for Luke to enter a newly arrived elevator. Luke hesitated, and was then given a push with an invisible force for his trouble.

"Where are we going?" Luke asked, hoping he'd say the ship hangar. There were a lot of escape routes there.

"Somewhere private. The guards do not need to hear of our personal differences."

"I'm not going if you're going to yell at me!" Luke said, reaching out to run his hand up all the floor buttons, causing them all to light up at once. The elevator came to a sudden halt and he turned sideways to slip out the gap in the door, clutching the statue tight to his chest. Unfortunately his escape lasted all of three steps before an invisible lasso had ensnared him, pulling him back. With both his hands occupied with holding the heavy statue, and his backpack weighing him down, Luke had no traction to resist. The only thing he could do was simmer with anger. He had no right to use his powers to drag him around!

"You will be fortunate if that is all I do."

The voice behind him caused a sudden chill in Luke's heart. He turned around, planning to try bolting for the stairwell, but his father stood between him and the doors, and he wasn't the kind of person you could easily edge around.

"Walk," he said, gesturing down the corridor.

Luke's anger only increased when he recognized the nearby room where his father was pointing. The dueling room.

"I'm not going in there," Luke said, desperately.

"It is only a room," Vader said, pushing him through the doors. "I am not wasting time finding another room where we will not be disturbed."

He closed the door and released Luke from the remote grip. Luke looked around desperately, feeling his heart pounding. He hated this room. None of the terrifying droids were in sight at the moment, but it didn't help his emotions, which were teetering on the verge of panic.

"What are you carrying?" Vader asked, moving towards him.

Luke was surprised. "Uh ..." he glanced down at the bundle in his arms. "Just my tunic! It was hot, so I took it off." He needed a distraction and fast. "Don't you want to know where I was today?"

"I know where you were. Roaming in the lower levels where I specifically ordered you not to go. What else are you carrying, besides your tunic?"

"Nothing!"

Luke stepped backwards, but the statue was dragged out of his arms by the same invisible powers that had taken hold of him earlier. The tunic fell to the floor, and Vader caught the statue. He held it up to inspect it, managing to support it with only one hand.

"Where did you get this?"

"Why do you care?" Luke said, angry. He needed that statue. "Give it back to me!"

"Are you trying to steal it?!"

Luke didn't reply. That appeared to be the final straw for his father, because he tossed the statue aside. It shattered on the floor with a splintering sound that hurt Luke's ears. Frightened, he tried to run for the door, but all his limbs were frozen. His father extended a hand, and he was lifted up and pinned against the wall, so they were on eye level.

For a horrible moment, Luke thought he was actually going to hit him. Instead, he felt a crushing presence in his mind. It forced him to think back ... back to the guard office. He was walking with Lev, carrying the statue ... he was walking past the guards ... he was leaving the refresher ... he was wrapping the statue in his tunic ... he was seeing it for the first time ...

"Stop it!" Luke struggled with every last piece of his mind to think of something else ... anything else. An image entered his mind, of the old man in his dreams, standing in front of a double-sunset on Tatooine. He mentally jumped on it and focused on those suns obsessively.

There was a brief struggle, and then his father released him, causing Luke to tumble back to the ground

"The senator told me you were prone to delinquency," he said, as Luke struggled back to his feet. "Is this why you went to the lower levels? To find a buyer?"

"It's not fair!" Luke heard his voice break on the words. "It's not right that there are crystal statues decorating refreshers when people down there struggle to find food and shelter!"

"I suppose you picked up these corrupt morals on Tatooine," Vader continued. "Did your aunt and uncle teach you to steal like this?"

Luke was so angry, any hope of a coherent reply died in his mouth. He ran through all the horrible words he knew that he could call Vader but none of them came close to doing him justice.

"You shut up about them!" Luke yelled, pointing at his father. "They were better people than you! You're a killer and I don't want to be your son! I hate you! When I'm near you, I feel like I'm going to die from the hate!"

"You are an ungrateful, insolent child!" Vader said, finally sounding rattled. "Do you have any concept of what I have sacrificed for you? You have all but destroyed my life from the moment I learned of your existence."

"Then why didn't you leave me alone?" Luke said, feeling hot, angry tears welling up in his eyes. "All you care about is your stupid Empire and your stupid Sith religion! You only wanted me because of my Force powers ... yeah, I know about them! I could drop dead and you wouldn't even notice! You wouldn't even tell me one single thing about my own mother! I know why. You didn't care about her, either!"

"If you say one more word about her, I will make you regret it for the rest of your life!" Vader said, looming over him.

"Leave me alone!" Luke raised his hands in fear, anticipating their fight was about to turn physical. But then they were both distracted by the sound of the doors sliding open. Artoo zoomed in, beeping and screeching in terror. When his dome spun around in their direction, he immediately fell silent, and then made a single questioning whistle.

Luke immediately rushed for the door, never feeling so grateful for a droid in his life.

It was a long time before Vader could bring himself to move. He stood silently while Artoo babbled on about detecting Luke's presence in the dueling room via the palace security system and didn't reply to his questions about what they'd been arguing about. Threepio soon appeared and insisted Artoo come with him, something Vader might have felt grateful for if he'd been capable of such an emotion at this moment.

Finally, he turned around in a single, fluid movement and walked in a straight line towards the newly secured compartment where he kept the dueling droids. The remains of the statue crunched under his boots, but he didn't bother to step around it.

He went through one, two ... five dueling droids in as many minutes. Before an hour had passed, every last droid in the room had been reduced to shrapnel, even the half-completed prototypes he'd been working on upgrading. He then occupied himself with slicing the shrapnel into smaller pieces.

Nothing helped, though. He'd received yet another deep and permanent wound. But this wasn't an injury that could be patched up with some prosthetics and a life-support suit.

His own son hated him. He said it himself, that being around him was killing him. His master had been right. He was always so maddeningly right.

It was time to admit he had failed. This whole idea of being a father had been one huge mistake, right from the start. His master had tried to warn him ... but his pride and ego had deafened him to his sound advice. It was time he tossed in the towel and made other arrangements for Luke. An assistant could locate Padmé's family on Naboo in the morning. The boy could be packed and on his way there by evening tomorrow, hopefully before his master had any other ideas about where he should live.

Luke hadn't stopped running since he'd left the dueling room, and, as a result, he arrived at the airbus terminal only to find he had no credits. There was a strong wind blowing and he was only wearing a thin shirt ... his outer tunic was still lying where it had fallen in the dueling room. He was just starting to think he was going to have to take one more ride on the back, when an elderly Nikto noticed him digging frantically in his pockets.

"Have you lost your bus fare?" she asked, smiling warmly. "I've got some spare change."

She passed him a credit note, and Luke accepted it, gratefully.

"Thank you," he said, reaching up to wipe his nose.

"Is everything okay, deary? You look upset."

"I'll be all right," Luke mumbled.

At least, he would if these jewels in his backpack turned out to be worth anything on the street. If not ... he didn't want to think about it. He had to get away from here as soon as possible. He had no doubt that Vader had many ways of finding him out here.

It was rush hour, and so there was standing room only on the airbus. Luke crushed himself into a corner and buried his head in his arms. As much as he tried not to, he couldn't help but think back on the argument.

You have all but destroyed my life from the moment I learned of your existence.

Luke shook his head, trying to shake away the memory. It still hurt, though. More than anything, that had hurt.

He looked up, seeing they were coming up to his stop. Disembarking turned into a real mission, as he had to squeeze his way past people standing in the aisles. Once he stepped out onto the landing pad, he shivered with the sudden blast of cold air. The sun was a few minutes away from disappearing over the horizon, and the twilight temperature was becoming steadily cooler.

The lower levels appeared even creepier in the semi-darkness. The crowds had thinned out, leaving discarded bottles and bags littering every corner. There was only a single lamp lighting the entire street. The only other light source came from the glowing hologame parlor sign. Several of the letters had burned out, though, turning it into an 'oogame arlor'.

As soon as he stepped through the doors, he heard excited shouts.

"Luke! Luke—over here!"

He turned and saw his friends sitting at a table with an older, tentacled man.

"I'm so glad to see you!" Luke said, grinning as he walked forward. "I thought ... I don't know what I thought, but I was worried ... and ... "

"Luke, you're babbling," Val said, pulling him down beside them.

"I brought things for you, Crix," Luke said, shifting his backpack in front of him.

"Don't worry about that now," Crix said. "Luke, this is Harl. He's agreed to take us off Coruscant."

"What happened to—?"

"Harl said he'll take us for free. Their crew is short, and they need the help."

"When do we leave?" Luke said, excited.

"Right now, if you're ready," Harl said, smiling at Luke. "Sun-Shipping docking bay 151."

Luke stood up immediately. Val smiled at him in amusement.

"Come on, what are we waiting for?" Luke said, thinking this was better than he'd ever hoped. Not only were they leaving straight away, but they'd have lots of spare credits. Maybe they could sell all these jewels at a spaceport and get enough for their own ship. He knew so much about ships, he was sure he could learn to fly one. They could fly all over the galaxy and—

"Give us half an hour," Crix said. "We need to get packed up, and then we'll meet you there."

"I have my own speeder. I can wait for you."

"It's all right," Crix said, firmly. "We can find our own way."

He stood up and pulled Luke away. Val followed behind.

"I want to leave as soon as possible," Luke said, as they emerged outside. "Why can't we go in his speeder?"

"Because I want to talk about it first," Crix said, quietly. "Did you say you had some things for me?"

Luke opened his backpack, and Crix and Val leaned forward.

"Wow! Are these from the Imperial Palace?"

Luke nodded. "Every one."

"If we could sell these, we could get enough to go with the other guy," Crix said. "The one who needs us to pay off his debt."

"Why would we do that, when we can leave with Harl right now?" Luke sighed. "Listen, I need to get away as soon as possible!"

Right on cue, a screeching noise filled the air, and an astromech droid rolled out of the crowd, skidding to a halt by Luke's feet.

"Artoo!" Luke said, baffled by the droid's presence. "How did you get down here? How did you find me?"

He beeped out a long babble of whistles and chirps and then nudged at Luke.

"I'm not going back!" Luke said. "I can't." He looked up at his friends. "If you won't come, then I'll have to go with Harl by myself."

Val was staring at Artoo in surprise. Crix just looked resigned.

"All right, Luke. But keep your eyes open. I trust the other guy ... I checked around with a few of my business acquaintances, and they all said he is honest. The fact that he's staying here and working off his debt, instead of running, says a lot. I don't know anything about Harl, or the captain of his ship. He says they're in the starship repair business, but who knows?"

"I know a lot about starship repair," Luke said. "Sounds good. And if we go with Harl, we can sell these jewels at a spaceport. Maybe we can get together enough to buy our own ship. We could be our own crew! Isn't that what you always wanted? Freedom?"

"He has a point," Val agreed.

Crix nodded. "Okay. Let's do it. And bring that droid, Luke. It looks a bit beat up but it will be worth something too."

Artoo made a rude noise in response, but he remained at Luke's side. Luke reached out to put a hand on his dome.

"It will work out," he said. "I promise."

Vader had tried withdrawing to his meditation chamber, hoping to get some much needed rest. Unfortunately, all he could do was stew over his failure with Luke, replaying their argument endlessly in his mind. Eventually, he resorted to pacing.

His anger was subsiding now, replaced with the familiar self-recrimination. Luke had stolen something, yes, but it was unfair to condemn the boy without knowing the full story. His confused talk about wealth and poverty indicated there was more to this than he knew. If they'd discussed it calmly, perhaps he could have provided some guidance. Instead, he'd lost his temper and unfairly insulted the boy's aunt and uncle.

Even worse, claiming that the boy had destroyed his life was a touch too melodramatic, even for him. Luke may be reckless and exerted a gravitational pull on trouble ... but hadn't Anakin been just the same at Luke's age?

Still, none of this changed the fact that he was incapable of being a father to Luke. The boy hated him. A fact he could well understand. Anyone would be a better parent than him.

Perhaps it was time he went and discussed the situation with Luke. Doubtless the boy would be relieved at the suggestion of him moving out. If Padmé's family weren't able to care for him, perhaps Luke would know of any relatives of Owen and Beru who might be willing to take him in. He would be better off away from Coruscant.

As soon as he left his room, he nearly bumped into a frantic Threepio, who had been about to press the door-comm.

"Oh! Lord Vader!"

"What is it, Threepio?"

"It wasn't my fault, sir! I told him not to go! But he said it was his mission. He said to tell you if he wasn't back in an hour."

"Who has gone where?" Vader said, having a horrible feeling.

"Artoo, sir. He went after Master Luke. But they haven't come back and I'm afraid they are both in danger."

Vader stretched out with the Force, seeking to locate Luke's glowing presence. It usually took a few seconds. This time, there was nothing. A vast, barren nothingness that chilled him right to the core.

Vader swiftly turned, getting a horrible premonition. He took out his comlink, and keyed in the frequency for an assistant.

"Contact security," he said, as soon as they answered. "I need to know what time Luke left the palace and by what exit."

"Yes, sir."

Vader paced up and down in front of Threepio, trying to formulate the best plan of action. If Luke had run, he could be anywhere by now. But where would he likely have gone? His friends were the obvious answer. Perhaps he had gone to the home of this 'Ben' person he'd been hearing so much about.

"Sir, is there anything I might do to help?"

Vader studied the droid, but was interrupted by his comlink before he could reply. The assistant re-appeared.

"Sir, he left via the south-west corridor exit into Fountain Square. The guards say he was heading south."

"Have two squads of stormtroopers meet me at the south exit," Vader said. "And send a message to the street patrol headquarters. Tell them my son is missing somewhere in the vicinity. He must be found."

"I will do so immediately, sir."

Hopefully immediately wasn't too late for Luke.

"Wait here, Threepio," Vader said, as he walked past the droid. "Contact me immediately if Luke or Artoo should return."

"Yes, sir."

Artoo had protested the entire journey to the docking bay. Luke had little idea what the droid was actually saying, but he could understand the general meaning.

"Relax, will you?" he said quietly. "It'll be all right."

"The ship looks pretty rundown," Crix mumbled, as they crossed the platform. "If they're really in the ship repair business, they should maintain their own better."

"Sometimes looks can be deceiving," Luke mumbled. He had to admit that it appeared to have gained its spaceworthy certificate through bribery.

As they came closer, Harl emerged at the top of the boarding ramp, and waved at them.

"Come on up. We're just going through pre-flight warm-up."

Luke took the lead, feeling excited at the thought of a trip into space. The novelty of that would never wear off. Inside, the ship didn't look much better. There were loose and frayed wires trapped between pieces of mechanical tape, bleeding out of the walls like the ship was on its deathbed. Artoo made a disgusted noise.

"Well, maybe you can do repairs while we're here," Luke said.

"Come and meet the captain," Harl said, beckoning them into a side room. Luke poked his head around the corner, and saw a human woman playing sabacc with a Toydarian, on a couple of upturned packing crates.

"These are the kids I told you about," Harl said, loudly.

The woman looked up.

"Hi," Luke mumbled. Crix and Val didn't say anything.

"Welcome aboard," she said, standing up. "Let's get underway. Yerta—you get our customs clearance ready. Harl, why don't you show our new crew members to the passenger lounge."

"Right away," he said.

Luke was curious to see the cockpit, but he didn't feel comfortable asking questions just yet. Maybe he could see it after they were in hyperspace.

"Settle down and strap yourselves in," Harl said, leading them to a room on the other side of the ship.

"Where is our first stop?" Crix asked, dumping his pack on the floor.

"I'll ask the captain for you," Harl said, smiling at them. He then reversed out and shut the door. Artoo whistled in concern.

"Come here, Artoo. There's a recharging station," Luke said, gesturing. He sat down on the seat beside it and gratefully took off his heavy backpack. "Has anyone got any food?" he asked. "I'm starving."

"Ask Harl when he comes back," Val said, already strapped into her own seat beside Crix.

Within a minute, Luke heard the rumble of the engines starting up. He leaned close to the viewport and watched as they lifted into the air. Soon, the buildings below had faded into a vast carpet of towers and crevices.

"You guys have to see this," Luke said. "We're leaving Coruscant!"

"Just tell me when we're in space," Val said, sleepily.

"Yeah," Crix said, yawning. "Tell me ... hyperspace."

"How can you guys be tired?" Luke said, pressing his face against the viewport. "Hey, there's a luxury yacht! I can almost see the passengers." Luke noticed the atmosphere was quickly thinning out. "I think we're in the exosphere now!"

"The what?" Val mumbled. "Can you be quiet for a while? I'm trying to sleep here."

"Okay," Luke mumbled. Come to think of it, he was feeling pretty tired himself. But he really wanted to see the jump into hyperspace. It couldn't be more than a few minutes away.

Artoo appeared in front of him then, beeping and whistling and rocking back and forth.

"What's wrong?" Luke said, stifling a yawn. "You should be happy for me."

He closed his eyes, resting his head against the window. Maybe a short nap wouldn't hurt. There was a funny sound in the ceiling, like an air-conditioning vent had been opened. Maybe ... maybe it was part of the flight ... operations ...

The last thing he thought about before drifting off was how strange it felt to finally be free.