PART 3: PRISONER

CHAPTER 10: Movement

"Prisoner transfer from cell block 1138." —Luke Skywalker, A New Hope

****

When Vader began to hear disturbing reports of increased Rebel activity, he wanted to curse the Rebels' timing. He wanted to spend more time with his son, and those wretched insurgents just had to pop up their insufferable heads once more. He would have to start making plans regarding what to do with them, but first he wanted one more chance to talk to Luke.

This time when he saw his son, the boy was looking a lot better. He was now fully clothed, and a thin layer of fuzz graced the top of his head. He also had a very thick layer of facial hair—which was decidedly not a good look for the boy. He made a mental note to request that his son be given a laser razor.

He'd had Mara Jade move the boy to nicer quarters. It didn't even resemble a cell any more (and in fact, wasn't actually a cell like the hidden room near Palpatine's private throne room had been), though there'd been a lock placed on the door so Luke couldn't escape. Perhaps one day that would not be needed—he hoped so, at least—but for now it was. He couldn't have the boy wandering around in the Imperial Palace.

The boy's quarters possessed a kitchenette (devoid of sharp utensils, of course), a refresher, a bedroom, a dining area, and a living area. It was well furnished—there were plenty of lights and small tables, and there was even a holovision set with a limited number of channels. The quarters weren't up to the standards Luke had lived with at Arelis Antilles' house, but they were not exactly painful to look at. Several datacards (many of them on Sith teachings) had been placed in the room for Luke to read, and he was presently on the couch perusing one of them. There was a sober look on his face, as if he were considering the tragedies of the universe (and perhaps he was, the Sith Lord reflected). At Vader's entrance, the young man looked up and set his datapad aside.

Luke hesitated for several seconds before finally greeting: "Father." The word made his throat feel tight, and it tried to chip away at some of his black hatred for the man, but he fought against it. The Sith Lord was a monster, even if he was Luke's flesh and blood...Even if there could still be a shred of decency left in him.

"So, you have finally accepted the truth," Vader rumbled, the noise almost a purr.

"I have accepted the truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father," the young man replied easily.

This time, Vader's voice was a definite growl. "That name no longer has any meaning for me."

"I once thought the name Luke Skywalker no longer held any meaning for me. I was wrong, and perhaps you are, too."

"I fear your upbringing on Alderaan has made you overly optimistic."

Luke shrugged. "I like to think of myself as a realist. Realistically, there must be some part of Anakin Skywalker within you, or you would not have treated me as kindly as you have." He made an expansive gesture toward his surroundings. Mostly, he was trying to get under the Sith Lord's skin—but the words did make sense, and he found himself frowning as he considered them.

"Perhaps I just desire a new apprentice," Vader suggested.

"Oh, I don't doubt that," the boy said quietly. "But you could've just kept me back in the cell I was in if you'd wanted that. There was no reason to move me to a place this nice; by the same token, if you'd wanted to impress me, you would have given me quarters far better than these."

"You do a lot of thinking for someone who comes from Tatooine," Vader observed darkly. The boy was as sharp as his mother had been. The unexpected thought brought a rush of sadness that the Sith Lord quickly buried.

"I lived on Alderaan for about half my life," the young man returned. "Alderaan is known for its thinkers."

"I trust Jade has been treating you well?" the Sith Lord queried, changing the subject.

"As well as her nature allows, I suppose. She seems to have been hit pretty hard by the Emperor's death." At the next words Luke spoke, he gave a small smile, though it didn't meet his eyes. "You, I've noticed, don't seem upset at all."

"Mara Jade was intimately connected to Palpatine," Vader said, ignoring his son's dig at him. "She could hear his voice in her mind from anywhere in the galaxy."

The young man nodded thoughtfully. "Was she well-trained in the Force?"

"Palpatine trained her enough to be useful but not enough that she would serve as a threat," Vader told him. "She is an interesting blend of Light and Dark—she is neither Sith nor Jedi nor Dark Jedi. She is merely a partially trained Force user."

"And now she serves you," Luke stated flatly.

"She is trying to determine where her loyalties will lie, but, yes, I suspect that they will soon lie with me. Certainly, she will never turn against me." Vader was certain of that.

"Are you having a lot of trouble with the people seeking Palpatine's throne?"

The boy was quick indeed. "There have been some problems," Vader admitted, "but nothing I have been unable to deal with. I trust they will accept my authority soon."

"Or be killed, I presume." Luke sighed. "Perhaps it's best I never did get the chance to really enter the political world."

Vader felt a glimmer of amusement. He knew how his son felt. "Oh, that joy might still be available to you. But unfortunately, I do not have much time to discuss that right now. I will leave Jade here to keep you company. You'll understand, of course, that until I learn where more people's loyalties lie, I cannot provide you with more amiable companionship. I will, however, have someone give your droid to you. Its information banks have been thoroughly studied, and I have no further use for it."

"Thank you," Luke said softly. He was genuinely glad to get the droid back, but it felt weird to feel a little indebted to his enemy.

"I will have the droid brought to you shortly," the Sith Lord noted. And then he was disappearing out the door with a whisk of his black cape, leaving his son alone.

Luke brought his eyes down to his datapad, feeling a bit confused. Had he just...enjoyed that conversation?

The man wasn't a complete monster—he had to begrudgingly give him that. He certainly wasn't like Palpatine. Luke felt a chill pass down his spine. That man had been a genuine beast. He had never known that evil could be personified so completely in one person.

But the contrast between Palpatine and Vader gave him a strange glimmer of hope—perhaps there was still good in his father. Perhaps he could form a real relationship with the man.

He recalled how he'd had Vader unceremoniously tied to the floor of that cave and had felt darkly amused by it...One thing was for sure: Vader was certainly treating him a lot better than Luke had treated him. The young man flushed a little. He was glad the Sith Lord hadn't really brought up that particular incident. Luke and his mother hadn't thought that one through very well—their energy had been focused on capturing the man. Actually holding and hiding him had been details they hadn't really considered, perhaps because they were still dubious as to whether they would actually be able to get their hands on him. Darth Vader was obviously better prepared on the 'holding' front. Of course, it was a lot easier for him since he was one of the galaxy's rulers, but that was beside the point.

He sighed, returning his attention to the datacard he was reading. It was about some of Alderaan's fauna. He'd always liked Alderaan's animals, but he had always been too busy to actually get a pet. Still, it was nice to read about them from time to time. Thoughtful of Vader, really, to put some cards with information on Alderaan in his room. He only prayed that Alderaan wouldn't be destroyed. It was all he really had left to hold on to, especially now that his mother—he shut that thought down. He wanted to mourn her, but he wasn't quite sure how. Could a person ever truly get over their grief at the death of a loved one? Or would that grief fade as memories faded?

Luke considered trying to call the Sith Lord back and plead for the continued survival of the beautiful world, that world his mother had loved so much. But he was sure Vader already knew his stance on the planet-destroying issue, and wasting the man's time wouldn't really help Luke's situation. So, all he could really do was sit back and hope that Vader had a bit of a heart.

Nothing like wanting the impossible, right?

****

There was a giant statue with a round white base near the middle of Aldera. Resting on the base was a beautifully crafted rendition of the native Alderaanian woolly moth. The moth was done in a realistic mix of pastel yellows, greens, and purples. Beneath the woolly moth were a magnificently colored marble cocoon and an armored caterpillar, the earlier forms of the woolly moth before its transformation into a flying creature. The statue stood proudly as a symbol of metamorphosis and beauty.

The artist who had made the statue had considered creating the ensemble out of plain marble, but then he had decided that color was an absolute necessity, and he'd crafted the Alderaanian insects out of the expensive but beautiful Merducian marble. While somewhat fragile compared to most marbles, Merducian marble had a special property: with the addition of certain temperatures of fire, the marble could be turned different colors. And so, the artist had been able to make the statue as lifelike as possible. In fact, were it not for the bigger-than-life size of the woolly moth, one might almost expect it to fly away from the round base and flit around in the sunlight.

It was at this statue that the Royal Houses of Alderaan housed a secret. By touching a certain part of the base of the statue in a particular pattern, a secret compartment could be revealed. When a prominent member of one of the Houses died, the most prominent member of all the Houses was to visit the compartment and remove the deceased's articles. The system worked on honor—it was honor that dictated that the spot would not be vandalized or revealed to the public and that any wills contained within were to be honestly revealed. So far, the system had never failed. Alderaan was full of noble people, and its nobles were just as ethically inclined as most of the planet's citizens.

The night of the announcement of Arelis Antilles' death, Bail Organa went to visit the secret compartment. He was known to take the occasional night-walk, so his presence outside would be seen as nothing unusual.

He walked idly around, touching and studying various statues near the middle of Aldera, and at last he came to the woolly moth statue. His fingers brushed the base with memorized assurance, and soon the secret compartment was opening. Bail looked in briefly before removing a hand-crafted wooden box with Arelis Antilles' name carved on it. He slipped the box into his clothes, closed the secret compartment, and returned home in a roundabout fashion, visiting a few other statues along the way.

It was a tragedy, he reflected as he walked, that there would not be a public memorial for Arelis Antilles. She'd been a kind woman, if a bit too shrewd for her own good. There would be a private ceremony, of course, but he knew there were many civilians who would be mourning her death despite her status as traitor to the Empire...Some of which are probably mourning her death because of that status, he thought with mild dark humor. Arelis had been the richest person on Alderaan, having made some offworld investments in her younger days that had paid off spectacularly, and she was known for her generosity, having donated a lot of money to several worthy causes.

When he was finally standing inside the front doors of his home, he warmly greeted one of the housekeepers and then went into his study and locked the doors. The room was regularly swept for spy devices, so he knew it was safe to open the box. After gently brushing his fingers across the name carved into the box, he lifted the lid. Inside, he found two datacards and a small box. Curious, he opened the box, noting with surprise that there was a ring with a beautiful and rare glowing fire opal on it.

He set the box aside and looked at the datacards. One of them, he noted with a smile, was labeled An Old Lady's Last Will and Testament, while the other was labeled For Bail Organa's Eyes Only. Though the existence of the latter datacard intrigued him more (why had she left a datacard specifically for him?), Bail first put the card with her will on it into his reader, quickly perusing the datacard's contents.

Perhaps the most significant item on the datacard was the allocation of her many funds. If Luke were still alive, half of her money was to go to him. The other half was to go to Bail Organa; if Luke was dead, his half was also to be given to Bail.

The Alderaanian had to read his name five times before he was certain there had not been a mistake. Why was some of her money to go to him rather than her brother, Bail Antilles? Surely, she would have wanted the money—and thus the power—to stay within the House of Antilles. The man's brow furrowed. Perhaps just as puzzling as that was the fact that she had planned for what would happen if both she and Luke were dead—had they been tempting the Empire on purpose?

He read the rest of the card, noting that the ring had belonged to Arelis's mother and was to be given to Luke, and then set it aside. Perhaps the card that was meant for him would have more answers.

The information on the datacard was vaguely worded at parts, perhaps in case someone stumbled across it, but Bail believed he understood it all:

Bail,

If you're reading this, I'm dead. That's sort of an odd statement to make, but there it is. The old bird has finally peeped her last. Don't laugh too hard at that, now.

But—seriously—I want to apologize to you, Bail. We've never really been forthcoming with you. Perhaps we should have—or perhaps not. Just know that what we've done, we've done in hopes that it was the best thing for us to do. It's not been an issue of trust. I would have trusted you to the grave—that is, if, you know, I hadn't already been dead.

I've updated this card several times since placing it beneath the big bug, trying to figure out what exactly I wanted to say to you. If you're reading this, something has probably gone awry, so I figure it can't hurt to reveal everything. Maybe things will turn out all right anyway; maybe not. But hopefully.

We've known of your position a while, and we also helped ensure you got what you were planning for. We did what we did to spur you and everyone else on, Bail. Perhaps we were endangering everyone, but by holding Vader hostage beneath Crevasse City (a map to the cave is included at the end of this message, just in case you need to know where to find him), we hoped we would be saving everyone while you encouraged people to do what they should already have done. I hope it's destroyed soon, Bail. That thing should never have been built.

I've hidden some ysalamiri—perhaps I should have told you about them before—they're creatures from the planet Myrkr which can block the Force in a limited radius—on the other side of the planet specifically for your use, should you ever need them. A map for their location will be included at the end of this message as well.

Stars, Bail, I hope Luke isn't dead when you're reading this. That's been a possibility—perhaps even an inevitability—in our plan all along, but I've never liked to think about it. If he's alive, Bail, and there's anything you can do for him, please, do it. That boy has suffered more than he ever should have. I've never told anyone this—and he would probably kill me for doing so, if I weren't already dead—but before I adopted him, he was a slave on Tatooine. He had been living with his aunt and uncle until that Hutt slimeball Jabba killed them and enslaved him. Luke never told me their names, but he did eventually tell me his name—Skywalker. Luke Skywalker. It has a sort of a nice ring, doesn't it? If anyone could walk the skies, it was him.

If he is dead, and I know it's certainly possible, could you reveal his real name at his funeral? I think it was sort of special to him—a bit of the parents he never knew. But he never used it for fear that Jabba would send his goons after him; the Hutt never did like being made a fool of, that's for sure.

He's a good boy, Bail. He never meant your daughter any harm. If it hadn't been for our scheming, I think they would have been good friends. Please tell Leia it was never personal. And, Bail, please help him—if you can. If it's not too late.

After you memorize the maps (you're not too old to do that, are you?), destroy this card. I may still believe the House of Antilles should rightfully be the ruling house, but I don't want you to be taken down. Call me sentimental, if you will, but you're a tough old bat like me, and I like that. It'd be a pity for anything to happen to you because you left a card lying around for someone to find.

After reading the card, Bail felt moisture begin building up in his eyes. "Oh, Arelis," he whispered. The woman hadn't been foolish in her political meddling like he'd thought—she'd just been over-calculating. And she'd just revealed to him some very important but very disturbing news—the son of Skywalker was alive...and in Vader's clutches.

He knew in his gut that was what happened—if the boy had been killed, his death would have been announced as Arelis's had. Vader must have discovered their relationship or at least Luke's Force powers (for Obi-Wan had told him that both of Anakin's children had a high midi-chlorian count), and he was likely planning to convert the boy. Failing that, the Sith Lord would probably destroy him. Regardless of Vader's plans for Luke, Bail knew that time was suddenly very important.

Bail Organa had been wanting to leave Alderaan to help the Rebellion make plans concerning the Death Star, but he was remaining on-planet so as not to draw suspicion. He had—most fortunately—been able to use the example of Alderaan—which was growing increasingly dissatisfied with the Empire, what with Arelis Antilles's death and the message Luke had spread—to convince the Rebellion to take action against the Death Star, just as Arelis and Luke had intended for him to do. Whereas before he had found himself cursing them for their foolishness, now he found himself praising them for their ingenuity. He had been a pawn in their game, yes, but their game had led to the intended outcome. At least, it was possible—there was still a chance that Alderaan would be obliterated if the Death Star wasn't destroyed soon. Darth Vader would only be distracted by power struggles for so long.

The Alderaanian wondered what exactly had happened in regard to holding Vader hostage but suspected he would never know the full truth—Arelis and Luke had been hiding Vader in a place that was a virtual maze. It should have been a long time before Vader was actually discovered. Had one of the two cracked under interrogation techniques? Had Luke been broken by Palpatine already? If he had, the galaxy was in a lot of trouble, as that would mean there were once again two Sith at the Empire's helm. Still, perhaps the cave where Vader had been held would hold an answer for him. He resolved to go there immediately after taking care of a more pressing issue.

The problem was that he couldn't leave Alderaan to go to Coruscant and attempt a rescue mission. What with Arelis's assassination of the Emperor, Alderaan's prominent members were being rather carefully watched. Such was why he made sure to make a public appearance every day, showing that he had not left the planet. Fortunately, he knew someone who could help (for a hefty sum, of course)—his daughter's not-so-secret secret boyfriend—that smuggler who had been making several dangerous runs for the Alliance and had even (unfortunately) transported his daughter a few times. The man and his Wookiee copilot couldn't do it alone, however, but that was where someone else he knew could come in.