Chapter Nine: Life And Times
It took me a week, but after we got settled on Arbra I made a point to look up Vader's history, in a last attempt to understand exactly what I was dealing with. Unfortunately, the only time the computer lab was empty was at three in the morning, and my own wouldn't be set up for at least another three weeks.
I rubbed at my eyes, irritable.The search was not going well. We had virtually nothing of any use on Vader – it was all battles he'd been in and the atrocities he'd committed over the years.
I did learn that Vader had suddenly appeared one day, out of the blue, as a fully grown being (it was impossible to tell if her was a man or merely man-shaped)and with a ridiculously high status in the Empire for a nobody from nowhere. He had defied the Emperor a grand total of one time, when he had been ordered to Naboo for the King's coronation when the Emperor formally turned the planet's government from a democratic monarchy to an absolute one. Vader hadn't shown up, and had disappeared from sight for two weeks afterward. I always thought he had just hidden away, like a dog afraid of being beaten, but now that I knew the Emperor was a Sith, it was much more likely that said beating had put him out of commission.
The archives also claimed Vader had a secret castle somewhere, but no one knew where.
There were plenty of theories about what kind of being he was. Many believed he was an alien who couldn't breathe oxygen. Some said he was humanoid, but he wore the suit to be more terrifying. A select few – doctors, I noticed – claimed that the suit was life-support. I almost dismissed that one as utterly ridiculous, but a small part of my mind told me not to be so judgmental.
I sat back. Life-support. The idea was truly horrible. If that was true, he should very likely be dead. There are very few things that bacta and surgery can't cure.
The more I thought about it, the more gruesome sense it made. Vader seemed to simply appear out of nowhere because he hadn't worn the suit before he was Vader . . . wait a minute. So if Vader only became Vader when he went into the suit, then who was the man before Vader?
A Jedi, maybe? My father had told me various horror stories about Jedi who couldn't take the stress of the Clone Wars and turned their backs on the Jedi way, to what Father called the "Dark Side." He said that these fallen Jedi became insane, crazed beyond control, and that often their former comrades had been forced to kill them. Could Vader be one of those, who had managed to hide from the Jedi? He didn't act crazy, but then, he was an Imperial.
The rumour was that Vader had led the attack on the Jedi Temple at the beginning of the Empire, but no one could recall seeing him around there. But if he had been a Jedi, then no one would have suspected . . .
It made perfect sense. But now the question was, which Jedi was he?
That would be nearly impossible to find out. There had been thousands of Jedi. It would be like searching for single ship in the galaxy. You'd have to be extremely lucky to find the one you were looking for before you died of old age.
I groaned in frustration and lay my head on the desk beside the computer. I didn't really have to find out who Vader was . . . even if it would help . . .
I woke with a start, my head and neck sore and stiff. I turned to see what had woken me up; Luke had just entered the lab, smiling hugely at the sight of me. I turned back to my computer; my search for Vader was still displayed. I closed it quickly.
"Leia!" Luke said as he drew close. "What are you doing in here?"
"Nothing in particular," I murmured, stifling a yawn.
He gave me an odd look, as if he knew normal people didn't do to computer labs at all hours of the night for nothing in particular, but he didn't voice any objections to my answer. Which was good, because if he wanted normal, he should have stayed on Tatooine. That, and I wasn't in any mood to be civil.
"Mon Mothma's called a meeting," Luke told me. "She wants you there."
I nodded and logged out. "Fine. Where is she?"
"Conference room number four."
"Okay. Thanks, Luke."
He paused. "I have to come, too."
I gave him a look. He didn't seem to be lying, but it made no sense for Mon to want a mere pilot at one of our meetings, even if he was the man who had destroyed the Death Star. I shrugged; if he was mistaken, Mon would tell him that quickly enough. "Lead the way, then."
We moved down the hall, the deafening sounds of construction keeping us from talking. The base was situated in an abandoned warehouse, and although the main structure was still here, we needed rooms built in the open storage spaces.
Conference room four was located at the far end of the building, as far away from the construction as possible. That was likely why Mon chose it, because it was also the smallest and would be crowded with the entire Council and Luke crammed into it.
The table had been cleared from the room, opening up some space. Chairs were lines all along the walls for the Council members. Mon sat directly across from the door; there was one empty seat beside her. I took it, leaving Luke to stand forlornly in the middle of the room, looking for a seat of his own.
Mon got straight to business, for which my curiosity was grateful. "Skywalker, are you aware of the bounty that has been placed on your head by Darth Vader?"
My eyes widened, any trace of sleepiness gone. It was all I could do not to jump up and demand more information of Mon – precisely, what in the hells did Vader think he was doing?!
Luke merely blinked at her. "Uh, no . . ."
Mon pulled a formal looking document out of the folder on her lap. "This is the warrant for your arrest, Skywalker," she said, and I craned my neck over her shoulder in an attempt to read it. Unfortunately, she flipped it around so Luke could see it, so I was left starng at the white back of the page.
"Vader has ordered for you to be taken alive and unharmed, Skywalker – this is odd behaviour from him, as you can imagine. I've seen alive on a warrant from Vader before – it usually means he wants to make sure the victim suffers greatly – but it's the first time I've ever seen unharmed." Mon paused. "Not only that, but he specifically states that should you be in any other condition when he recieves you, there will be dire consequences for whoever turns you in."
Luke looked confused and a little worried. I didn't blame him, the poor boy. Going from being a respectable farmer to a wanted man in less than three weeks was bound to be overwhelming. Most likely, he didn't realize just how odd this warrant really was.
Less than three weeks – was it really such a short time since I had made my deal with Vader? It felt like a lifetime.
"And the bounty," Mon continued, a strangled note in her voice, that made me give her a sidelong look, "is one and a half billion credits."
The room burst into chaos.
I nearly fainted. Most of us had bounties on our heads, especially those of us on the Council. Mon's was the highest of us all.
And Luke, this little farmer/pilot from Tatooine, had just trumped her by half a billion credits.
It took a few minutes, but Mon finally managed to get everyone calmed down again. Luke looked ready to die from embarrassment.
"Skywalker," she asked evenly, "Do you have any idea why Vader wants you so badly?"
Luke shook his head, blue eyes wide.
Mon sighed, and I interrupted. "Luke, you were with Obi-Wan Kenobi when I first met you; could Vader have connected the two of you?"
His shoulders lifted helplessly. "I don't know."
He was stressing out. I caught his eyes and held them, trying to make him relax. Calm down, Luke. It will be okay.
He gave a funny little jerk, as if he actually heard me, and I saw him narrow his world until it included only him and me. "Think about what you know of Vader, Luke. He's evil, he's a monster, he's power-hungry, and he always listens to the Emperor. He is, unfortunately, the best pilot in the galaxy. He's rich, he's infamous. He's feared. Think about him." I gave him a moment. "Now, what about you would be attractive to a being like that?"
Luke frowned. "I can use the Force," he said slowly. "Does that count?"
I smiled widely. That little piece of information was exactly what I had been aiming for. "Yes, Luke. That definitely counts."
"You're Force-sensitive?" Dodonna demanded. "Why didn't you think to tell us this earlier?"
"I didn't think it was relevant," Luke replied sheepishly.
"Not relevant?" Rieekan said, shocked. "We have -- you are a Jedi, and you didn't think it was relevant?"
"Generals," I said sharply. "Luke has grown up on Tatooine, in a time when Jedi are not only extinct, but forgotten. It is not surprising he chose to keep this from us; all it does is point out the fact that he is different from us. And that wasn't what you wanted, was it, Luke?"
He shook his head, thankful I understood. "I just wanted to fit in."
I sat back. "You see?"
"And I'm not a Jedi," Luke added. "Ben barely had time to teach me anything before . . ." He looked away.
"That's not good," Mon murmured. "An untrained sensitive is susceptible to the Dark Side."
"Like Vader," Luke supplied. "That's what Ben said."
Mon nodded. "You must take care, Skywalker, not to fall into Darkness as Vader did. Can you train yourself?"
Luke frowned. "I'll try . . ."
"Would General Kenobi have anything that could help you among his possessions?" Dodonna asked.
Lukes' eyes widened. "Probably. That's brilliant! I'll have to go to Tatooine to look, though."
Mon nodded. "You have permission to go."
Luke made a beeline for the door.
"Wait a moment," Mon called out. Luke's shoulders slumped.
"Yes?" he asked in a small voice as he turned back to face us.
"I think it would be best if you went into a protective guise, Skywalker – an attempt to keep Vader from finding you. You would undergo surgery to change your appearance, and you would change you name."
"Absolutely not," Luke replied immediately. It was the firmest thing I had ever heard him say.
Mon leaned forward, trying to persuade him. "Skywalker, this could very well keep you out of Vader's clutches while you do your training. It would keep bounty hunters off your trail. It's safer for everyone."
"I'm not afraid of Vader," Luke said calmly.
Mon looked at him for a long minute, her expression unreadable. "You should be," she said at last, and dismissed him.
I followed Luke back to his room, which he shared with another pilot, who wasn't around at the moment. My old Artoo unit greeted us.
"He seems to have taken a great liking to you," I commented.
Luke looked around at me. "Oh, yeah! I keep forgetting to give them back to you."
I smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'll come borrow Threepio when I need him, and you'll need Artoo here more than I do."
Artoo . . .
He had been in my dream! The one where I had been Queen of Naboo, on Tatooine . . .
That reminded me exactly what I was here for. "Luke," I asked, turning to him, "can I ask you something?"
