Dark Apprentice

by Kevin J. Anderson

  Thrawn, and she still maintained a loose alliance, even though some of the

  worst offenders--such as Moruth Doole on Kessel--refused to have anything to

  do with the New Republic and the smuggler's alliance.

  "What brings you back to Coruscant, Mara?" Han said. Lando returned

  bearing another one of his fruity drinks for her and a new one for himself.

  She looked at it, pointedly ignored it, and continued talking to Han.

  "I'm bringing a message. You can pass it on to the appropriate people.

  Your Imperial friend Admiral Daala has been sending out feelers, trying to

  hire smugglers as spies and saboteurs. A few have taken the offer, but I

  don't

  expect many of them to trust Daala after what she did to the forces of

  Kessel.

  Even though Moruth Doole wasn't part of our alliance, he was still a

  smuggler,

  and smugglers tend to stick together--especially against Imperials."

  "Yes," Han said, "we got the message that she had attacked one of the

  supply ships and destroyed it before it could get to Dantooine."

  Mara looked at him, and her gaze became hard again. "Haven't you heard

  what happened to your colony on Dantooine? Daala's already been there, you

  know."

  "What?" Han said, and Lando echoed his surprise.

  "A small group of New Republic engineers is setting up a communications

  base there," Han said, "but we haven't contacted them in the last week or

  two.

  "

  "Well, there's no need to," Mara said. "Dantooine has been leveled. Every

  person in your colony and all of your New Repub lic engineers are dead, as

  of

  two days ago. Daala attacked with her three Star Destroyers and vanished

  again

  to wherever her hiding place is."

  "And so you came here just to give us this information?" Han said, trying

  to recover from his shock.

  Mara took a long, slow drink of the cloying concoction that Lando seemed

  to be enjoying so much. She shrugged. "I have an agreement with the New

  Republic, and I keep my agreements."

  As Han felt anger and shock starting to boil inside him at what Daala had

  done, Lando changed the subject.

  "So where are you off to now, Miss Jade?" he said. Leaning forward on the

  table, he seemed to be trying to melt her with his big brown eyes. Han

  rolled

  his.

  "You're welcome to stay here for a while," Lando said. "I'd be happy to

  show you some of the sights of the city. There's some beautiful views on top

  of the Grand Towers." Mara looked at him as if considering how much effort

  it

  was worth for her to answer his question.

  "I'll be leaving immediately," she said. "I'm going to spend some time at

  Skywalker's Jedi training center. It makes good business sense to learn how

  to

  use my Jedi abilities, if only for self-protection."

  Han sat up in surprise. "You're going to learn from Luke? I thought you

  still hated Luke! You've tried to kill him often enough."

  Mara's eyes stared back as if ready to blaze through him; then she

  softened and even smiled. "We've... reconciled our differences. You might

  say

  we negotiated a truce." She looked down at her drink but did not touch it.

  "For now, at least," she added, and then smiled even more. She stood up to

  leave. "Thanks for your time, Solo." She ignored Lando completely and walked

  out of the lounge.

  Lando watched Mara leave, admiring the slick satiny gray fabric of her

  slacks and tight padded flightshirt. "She sure has gotten beautiful."

  "Yeah, I hear that happens to most assassins once they retire," Han

  answered.

  Lando didn't seem to hear him. "How could I have missed her in Jabba the

  Hutt's throne room? She was there, and I was there, but I didn't notice her

  at

  all."

  "I was there too," Han said, "and I didn't see her. Of course, I was

  frozen in a block of carbonite at the time."

  "I think she likes me," Lando said. "Maybe I'll volunteer to take the

  next delivery of supplies to Yavin 4, just so I can see her."

  Han shook his head. "Lando, she wanted you to disappear. She didn't even

  acknowledge your presence."

  Lando shrugged. "Sometimes it just takes my charm a little longer to

  work." He flashed one of his best lady-killer smiles. "But when it does...."

  "Oh, brother," Han said. He finished his drink and left Lando sitting

  there, daydreaming as his own drink sat unnoticed beside him.

  The next night Leia had just sat down to cherish a relaxing meal with her

  husband and her children when the summons from Mon Mothma arrived.

  As usual, she had been wrapped up in governmental proceedings all day.

  After the disaster on Vortex, she had been allowed no respite, and the

  pressure had increased as Mon Mothma withdrew further from her

  responsibilities, begging off the unimportant receptions and meetings and

  sending Leia as her proxy.

  Living on the peaceful world of Alderaan as the daughter of the powerful

  Senator Bail Organa, Leia had grown up surrounded by politics. She was used

  to

  the constant demands, the communiqu@es arriving at all hours, the sudden

  emergencies, the whispered negotiations, and the forced smiles. She had

  chosen

  to follow in Senator Organa's footsteps, knowing full well the demands that

  would be made of her.

  But she treasured the scant quiet times she managed to steal with Han and

  the twins. It seemed ages since she had been able to visit baby Anakin,

  though

  Han himself had accompanied Winter twice in the last two months.

  Tonight Leia had come home late, flustered and harried, but Han was there

  waiting with Jacen and Jaina. They had held dinner for her, which Threepio

  had

  prepared as a test of his new and dubious gourmet programming at the food

  synthesizers.

  They sat down in the dining area, where illumination strips bathed the

  room in soft pink and peach colors. Han played the relaxing music of one of

  her favorite Alderaani composers, and they sat down to eat off fine Imperial

  china taken from the late Emperor's private stock.

  It was not intended to be a romantic dinner with two-and-a-half-year-old

  twins banging their silverware and demanding constant attention--but Leia

  didn't mind. Han had done his best to commemorate dinner as a family.

  Leia smiled as Threepio delivered their meal, a very passable-looking

  grazer roulade accompanied by skewers of spiced tubers and sweet

  marble-berry

  fritters. "I believe you will be quite impressed, Mistress Leia," the droid

  said, gently bowing and setting smaller plates in front of Jacen and Jaina.

  "Yuck," Jacen said.

  Jaina looked at her brother for confirmation, then said, "I don't like

  this."

  Threepio straightened in indignation. "Children, you have not even tasted

  the food. I insist that you sample your dinners."

  Leia and Han looked at each other and smiled. Jacen and Jaina both had

  bright eyes and well-defined features below thick dark-brown hair--just like

  their parents. The twins were extremely
precocious, speaking in short but

  complete sentences and amazing their parents with the concepts they had

  already managed to grasp and communicate.

  Jacen and Jaina seemed to share a kind of psychic link, speaking in half

  sentences to each other or somehow communicating in complete silence. This

  didn't surprise Leia--as Luke had told her, the Force was strong in their

  family.

  Han claimed that the two kids knew how to use their powers more than they

  admitted. He had found cabinet doors mysteriously unlocked after he had

  fastened them securely, and sometimes shiny baubles left on high shelves

  were

  suddenly found underfoot as if they had been played with. The food

  synthesizers, far out of reach, had once been reprogrammed to add a double

  portion of sweetening to all recipes, even the soup.

  Perplexed with the mysterious occurrences, Threepio had dug through

  diverse and obscure data records, insisting that the best explanation could

  be

  found in an ancient superstition of poltergeists--but Leia suspected it had

  more to do with small Jedi children.

  She took a bite of her thinly sliced, herb-crusted grazer. It smelled

  wonderfully nutty as the aroma curled up to her nose. It was tender and

  perfectly seasoned to counteract the pungent unpleasant aftertaste often

  found

  in imported grazer filet. She considered complimenting Threepio, but decided

  that it would probably make the protocol droid alt too pleased with himself.

  "Look what Jaina's doing!" Jacen said.

  Leia stared in astonishment as the little girl balanced her delicate

  skewer of spiced tubers impossibly on its tip and used the Force to twirl it

  around like a top.

  "Mistress Jaina, please stop playing with your food," Threepio said.

  Leia and Han met each other's gaze in amazement. She was glad that Luke

  had formed his Jedi academy, so these children would learn to understand the

  powerful and beautiful gift they had been given.

  The door chime sounded like a tubular bell through their living quarters.

  The noise startled Jaina, and her delicately balanced skewer toppled over--

  which made her begin to cry.

  Han sighed, and Leia got up with a scowl. "I didn't think we could sit

  through an entire meal uninterrupted."

  She opened the door, and the ornate plasteel plate hummed aside to reveal

  a hovering messenger droid that bobbed up and down in the corridor, blinking

  its lights in a swirl.

  "Minister Leia Organa Solo, Chief of State Mon Mothma requests your

  presence immediately in her private quarters for an important consultation.

  Please follow me."

  Back at the table Han rolled his eyes and glowered at no one in

  particular as Leia was taken from him again. Jaina continued crying, and now

  Jacen added his own squalls to the racket. Threepio tried to calm the two

  children down, completely without effect.

  Leia looked imploringly at Han, but he gave a short wave of dismissal.

  "Go on, Mon Mothma needs you."

  She bit her lower lip, sensing the bitterness he tried to cover. "I'll

  cut it short," she said. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

  Han nodded and turned to his eating as if he didn't believe her. Leia

  felt her stomach knot as she hurried after the hovering droid through the

  arched, well-lit corridors. She felt a simmering annoyance and stubborn

  resistance build within her, and she walked with purposeful steps.

  She agreed to too many things. She bowed her head and trotted anywhere

  Mon Mothma asked her to go. Well, Leia had her own life, and she had to

  spend

  more time with her family. Her career was important too--crucial, in

  fact--and

  she vowed to do both. But she had to reestablish some priorities and ground

  rules.

  As she followed the messenger droid into a turbolift that took her to

  secluded portions of the old Imperial Palace, Leia was actually glad that

  Mon

  Mothma had summoned her. She had a few things to say to the Chief of State,

  and the two of them would have to work out some sort of compromise.

  But when the droid transmitted the special unlocking code that caused Mon

  Mothma's armored door to grind aside, Leia felt a cold fingernail twist in

  her

  chest. Mon Mothma's quarters were too dark, lit only by soft green ish

  glowing

  lamps designed to be soothing, restful... healing. She breathed the sweet

  tang

  of odd medicines, and the clinging aftertaste of sickness caught in her

  throat.

  Leia stepped forward into the chambers and saw that they had been filled

  with bright nova lilies and nebula orchids that showered heady perfumes into

  the air, masking the unpleasant medicinal smell.

  "Mon Mothma?" she said. Her voice sounded small in the enclosed space.

  Motion off to her right made her turn her head to see a bullet-headed

  Too-Onebee medical droid. Mon Mothma looked gaunt and skeletal as she lay on

  a

  broad bed surrounded by diagnostic equipment. Another smaller droid

  monitored

  the readouts. Everything hung in silence except for the faint hum of

  machinery.

  Leia also saw--feeling foolish for noticing such a small thing--that Mon

  Mothma kept an array of makeup jars and synthetic skin-coloring agents on

  her

  dressing table in a desperate attempt to make herself look presentable in

  public.

  "Ah, Leia," Mon Mothma said. Her voice sounded pathetically weak, a

  rustle of dry leaves. "Thank you for coming. I can't keep my secret any

  longer. I must tell you everything."

  Leia swallowed. All her indignant arguments evaporated like mist under a

  red giant sun. She sat down in the small padded chair next to Mon Mothma and

  listened.

  Han had not had time to put the twins to bed before Leia returned. He had

  felt angry and distracted during the rest of dinner, listless at having her

  gone again. He had played with the twins, seeking solace in their company.

  Threepio was just finishing the kids' evening ripple bath when Leia came

  quietly through the doors. Han had been sitting in their main living area,

  looking at the sentimental "Remembrances of Alderaan" framed images he had

  given her as a gift. Displayed prominently on a small pedestal sat the

  ridiculous Corellian fast-food mascot statue Leia had bought for him,

  thinking

  it a gaudy but important piece of sculpture from Han's homeworld.

  When Leia entered, he sat up quickly, brushing his hair with his fingers.

  But she turned her back to him and worked the door controls, saying nothing.

  Leia seemed smaller and drawn into herf. She moved with extreme slowness and

  caution, as if everything might break at any sudden motion.

  Han said, "I didn't expect you back until late. Did Mon Mothma let you

  off the hook?"

  When she turned to him, he saw that her eyes shimmered with bright flecks

  of light from restrained tears. The skin around her eyes looked puffy, and

  her

  mouth was drawn.

  "What is it?" Han said. "What does Mon Mothma want you to do this time?

 
; If it's too much, I'll go tell her off myself. You should--was

  "She's dying," Leia said.

  Han stopped short, feeling his arguments pop like fragile soap bubbles.

  His mind whirled. Before he could ask again, Leia began to spill her story.

  "She has some sort of mysterious wasting disease. The medic droids can't

  pinpoint it. They've never seen anything like it, and it's pulling her down

  fast. It's almost as if something is taking her apart genetically from the

  inside.

  "Remember the four days when she supposedly went to a secret conference

  on Cloud City? She didn't go anywhere. There was no conference. She spent

  the

  time in a bacta tank in a last-ditch effort to be healed--but even though

  the

  bacta tank completely purged her system, it could do nothing to help. Her

  body

  is falling apart. At the rate the disease is taking over, she could be...

  she

  could be dead in less than a month."

  Han swallowed, thinking of the strong woman who had founded the New

  Republic, led the political side of the Rebel Alliance. "So that's why she's

  been delegating so many of her responsibilities," Han said. "Why you've had

  to

  take over more and more."

  "Yes, she's trying to keep up appearances in public--but you should see

  her, Han! She looks like she can barely stand. She can't keep up the charade

  much longer."

  "So..." Han began, not knowing what else to suggest or what he could say.

  "What does this mean? What do you have to do?"

  Leia bit her lip and seemed to dredge up strength inside herself. She

  came forward and hugged him. He held her close.

  "With Mon Mothma weakening," she said, "and Admiral Ackbar in exile, the

  moderate side of the Council will be gone. I can't let the New Republic turn

  into an aggressor government. We have already suffered too much. Now is the

  time for us to strengthen our ties, to make the New Republic firm through

  political alliances, with planetary systems joining with us--not to go

  blasting leftover Imperial strongholds in this sector of the galaxy."

  "Let me guess who wants to do that," Han said, thinking of a number of

  the old generals who had reveled in their days of glory during the major

  battles of the Rebellion.

  "I have to bring Ackbar back," she said, looking up to meet Han's eyes.

  Her face was pale and as beautiful as he had ever seen it. He remembered her