“You can’t die!” He must live, she thought. He must. Only he can tell me who stole my children. “Come back! Come back to me!”
Her aides and the chamberlain hurried out of the forest, trampling the delicate high grass, exclaiming in outrage when the slender blades cut them. Leia’s children had wandered the meadow at liberty, neither leaving footprints nor receiving any harm. The grass parted before them like magic.
Magic, for my magic children, Leia thought. I thought I had protected them, I thought they could never come to any harm.
Hot tears ran down her cheeks.
The courtiers and advisers and guards gathered around her.
“Madam, madam,” said the chamberlain of Munto Codru. Out here in the wild sun and the wind, Mr. Iyon’s face was flushed and he looked uncomfortable.
“Did you bring the doctor?” Leia cried. “Get the doctor!”
“I sent for her, madam.”
Mr. Iyon tried to make her get up, tried to take over staunching the flow of blood from Chewbacca’s wound, but she pushed him away with a sharp word. Chewbacca’s pulse faltered. Leia feared he was failing.
You will not die, she thought. You must not die. I won’t let you die!
She drew on her inadequate knowledge to strengthen him. She bitterly regretted the responsibilities of statecraft that had prevented her from being properly trained in the ways of the Force.
Leia knew that if she allowed Chewbacca’s hot blood to gush past her hands, his life, too, would stream away.
The doctor ran across the field. Her wyrwulf loped behind her, carrying her equipment and supplies. The doctor’s wyrwulf reminded her that Mr. Iyon’s wyrwulf had been playing with her children.
It had disappeared as well.
Dr. Hyos knelt beside Leia. She observed Chewbacca’s wound and Leia’s first aid with a glance. “Ah,” she said briskly. “Good work.”
“Come away, now, Princess,” the chamberlain said.
“Not yet!” Dr. Hyos exclaimed. “I have only four hands, after all. The princess is quite all right where she is.”
The wyrwulf sat on its haunches between Leia and Dr. Hyos. Leia shuddered. The wyrwulf turned its massive head, slowly, gently, staring at her with great limpid liquid blue eyes. Its coat was thick and brown, with long coarse black guard hairs.
The doctor’s wyrwulf panted and slavered, its tongue lolling over its pitted fangs. Its face was grotesque. Its hot bitter breath made Leia flinch.
Dr. Hyos’s four hands, so languid at rest, moved quickly over the panniers strapped to the wyrwulf’s sides.
“Do you see what I am doing, my dear?” she said softly. “The bleeding is most important. Our princess has stopped it.”
The doctor spoke to the wyrwulf, explaining everything she did.
Dr. Hyos drew pressure bandages from one compartment as she chose the proper medicine from another. Always, she told the wyrwulf what she was doing. Her long gold fingers were deft and sure.
Leia allowed herself a moment of hope, even with her hands covered with Chewbacca’s hot blood. He had closed his eyes; he had stopped moving.
“As the bandage seals itself, my princess,” Dr. Hyos said, “move your hand from the wound.”
Leia obeyed. Dr. Hyos pressed the bandage to Chewbacca’s flank. The bandage pressed itself against Leia’s hand, clasped itself to Chewbacca, and wound its connectors through his fur. The wyrwulf watched, its tongue lolling.
Leia sat back on her heels. Her hands were sticky and her robes were smeared and she viewed everything in the clarity of horrified belief.
Dr. Hyos examined Chewbacca, frowning over the drying streaks of blood that had trickled from his nose and ears.
“Pressure bomb …” she said.
Leia remembered, as if from a distant dream, the sound of a single clap of thunder. She had thought—her thoughts had been so slow—that the morning must have turned from fair to rain; she had thought, fondly, that Chewbacca would soon bring the twins and Anakin in from the meadow. She could take a moment from her duties to cuddle them, to admire their newest treasures, to see that they had their lunch.
Now it was mid-afternoon. How could it be so late in the day, when such a short time ago it had not yet been lunchtime?
“Madam—” Chamberlain Iyon said. But he did not try again to make Leia come away.
“Close the port,” Leia said. “Block the roads. Can the page be questioned? Check the port controller—is there any chance the kidnappers have left the planet?”
As she spoke, she feared any measures she might take would be useless, and if not useless, too late.
But if they’ve fled, she thought, I could chase them in Alderaan. I could catch them, my little ship can catch anything—
“Madam, closing the port would not be wise.”
She glared at him, instantly suspicious of a man she had trusted only a moment before.
“They took your—” She hesitated, unsure what to say.
“My wyrwulf, madam,” he said, “Yes.”
“Your wyrwulf. Don’t you care?”
“I care very much, madam. And I understand our traditions, which you—I beg your pardon—do not. Closing the spaceport is unnecessary.”
“The kidnappers will try to escape Munto Codru,” she said.
Mr. Iyon spread his four hands.
“They will not. There are traditions,” he said. “If we follow them, nothing will happen to the children—that too is the tradition.”
Leia knew of Munto Codru’s traditions of abduction and ransom. That was why Chewbacca had been staying so close to the children. That was why extra security surrounded and guarded the ancient castle. For the people of Munto Codru, coup abduction was an important and traditional political sport.
It was a sport in which Leia did not care to participate.
“It’s a most audacious abduction,” the chamberlain said.
“And a cruel one!” Leia said. “Chewbacca is wounded! And the pressure bomb—my children—” She fought for control of her voice and of her fear.
“The coup-counters detonated a pressure bomb only to prove that they could, madam,” Mr. Iyon said.
“But no one is supposed to be injured, during your coup abductions!”
“No one of noble birth, Princess Leia,” he said.
“My title is ‘Chief of State,’ sir,” she said angrily. “Not ‘Princess.’ Not any longer. The world where I was a princess is long destroyed. We live in a Republic, now.”
“I know it, madam. Please forgive our old-fashioned ways.”
“They must know they haven’t a hope,” Leia said. “Of receiving a ransom, of escape. And if they should …” She could not bring herself to say the word harm.
“Please allow me to advise you in this matter,” the chamberlain said. He leaned toward her, intense. “If you apply the rules of the Republic, disaster—tragedy—will be the result.”
“The ransomers,” Dr. Hyos said, with every evidence of approval, “must be very brave. But young and inexperienced as well. The family … which would it be?” She glanced at Mr. Iyon. “The Sibiu, perhaps?”
“They have insufficient resources,” the chamberlain said.
Whoever it was, Leia thought, needed only the resources of the Force. The dark side of the Force.
Mr. Iyon gestured to the broken ground, to Chewbacca. “This required a skiff, a tractor beam. Connections with arms smugglers, to obtain the pressure bomb.”
“Ah. The Temebiu, then.”
“It could be,” the chamberlain said. “They are ambitious.”
“I’ll show them ambition,” Leia muttered.
“Madam, please. Your children will not be harmed—cannot be harmed, for the ransomers to achieve their goals. They may look upon the event as a great adventure—”
“Our friend Chewbacca has been wounded nearly to death!” Leia cried. “My children will not find that amusing. Nor do I!”
“It is a shame,” the chamberlain
said. “Perhaps he did not comprehend the information on our traditions? He was meant to surrender.”
“Close the port,” Leia said again, her voice tight. She was too angry to respond to the chamberlain’s comment. “I won’t take any chances that they’ll leave Munto Codru.”
“Very well,” Mr. Iyon said. “It is possible … but we must do it carefully. We must do it … in a way to amuse rather than offend.… ” His voice trailed off thoughtfully.
Dr. Hyos checked Chewbacca’s pulse at the large vein the wound had come so close to piercing. “Stable. There. Good. To the surgery with you.”
Chewbacca, barely conscious, gazed at Leia with uncomprehending eyes.
“Battlefield medicine,” Dr. Hyos said. “Haven’t done any in a long time. Didn’t think I’d ever have to see a battlefield again.”
“Neither did I,” Leia said.
The wyrwulf howled.
Leia had seldom worried about the safety of Jaina and Jacen and Anakin.
Thought about it, made arrangements for it, certainly; talked about it, with the children’s nanny, Winter, and with Han and Luke and with the supreme worrier, See-Threepio. But Leia herself had seldom worried. She would be aware of any danger. Her lack of training would not hamper her perception of her children. Besides, if she somehow did not know of the danger, Luke surely would. Winter would protect the children with her life. And when Chewbacca accompanied Leia’s family, as he so often did, he spent much of his time with the young ones. Who better to ensure their safety?
And Han, Leia’s dear Han, had helped orchestrate the spreading peace. All children, not just the children of the people who brought down the Empire, should be safe.
Or so Leia had thought.
Leia followed Dr. Hyos’s assistants as they carried Chewbacca back to the surgery in the ancient Munto Codru castle.
She felt very alone. Han and Luke had left on an adventure, with her blessing. Winter had taken the opportunity of this peaceful tour to attend a conference on runaway children. She too was worlds away.
The coincidence did not amuse Leia.
She waited outside the surgery, where Dr. Hyos and her assistants worked to heal Chewbacca’s wounds. Courtiers and aides hovered until Leia, with careful courtesy, sent them away.
The wyrwulf sprawled before the surgery doors. Dr. Hyos had spoken to it, told it that it could not enter the surgery until it was older, and left it on guard. It dozed, and its head tipped forward until it balanced on the tips of its awful fangs.
Chamberlain Iyon hurried into the stark stone waiting room.
“There’s no sign,” he said. “No sign. They are very bold, very clever. Madam, we must wait for them to communicate.”
“Wait?” Leia exclaimed. “That seems … unwise … to me.” When she was younger she would have chosen a more intemperate description: Stupid. Ill-advised. Idiotic.
“The ransom demand will come in the morning,” the chamberlain said, trying to reassure her.
“Morning! By morning the kidnappers could escape!”
“They cannot escape, madam. The port is closed. And furthermore, they will not escape. They have no reason to.”
“But it’s been two hours,” Leia said. “The people who stole my children also stole two hours!”
Mr. Iyon frowned. “How, stole? Madam, you worked through the noon hour. The chronos are correct, the sun is in its proper place …” He let his voice trail off, aware that his feeble joke had failed to lighten the mood.
“They stole two hours,” Leia said again. “These were no ordinary kidnappers! Ordinary kidnappers could never get through our defenses, they couldn’t get past Chewbacca, they couldn’t steal time from us!”
“But, madam, as I explained—Munto Codru produces kidnappers of rare quality.” He looked at her sadly.
He thinks I’m reacting from fear and grief, Leia thought. If I tell him I suspect a follower of the dark side is responsible for this outrage, he’ll believe I’ve lost my mind.
The doors of the surgery opened; Dr. Hyos patted the wyrwulf’s heavy head, came to Leia, and took her hands. The doctor held each of Leia’s hands pressed between two of her own.
“Chewbacca,” she said. “He’ll be fine. His hearing will take time to recover from the effects of the pressure bomb. He’ll be weak while he builds up his blood.”
“Did he tell you—”
“He’s not in any shape to tell anyone anything. Leia, my princess, he must sleep or he’ll be in danger.”
“Did you send my message to Han and Luke?” Leia asked the chamberlain.
“Yes, madam, but I regret—they are too close to Crseih Station. The star system is most violent. The black hole, its quantum crystal companion—their influence blocks communication.”
“Then we must send a ship out after them.”
“Madam, the port is closed.”
“I closed the port! I can order a ship to leave the planet!”
Concerned and gentle, he touched her hand in comfort.
“We must maintain an illusion,” he said. “The port is closed because of a malfunction in the tracking equipment. If a ship leaves, if the emergency is revealed publicly to be a sham, we will have offered the ransomers a mortal insult.”
“But you said they’d know—”
“The kidnappers,” Dr. Hyos said. “They know, and we know. Everyone else may guess. No matter. Perception, that’s what matters. Not reality.”
“Dr. Hyos is correct, madam,” the chamberlain said. “I beg you, madam, carry on with your afternoon’s appointments as if nothing had happened. Call on the bravery for which we all honor you. For the sake of the children.”
Leia struggled to hide her trembling, struggled to think clearly.
By the time a ship could reach Han, she thought, whatever happens will have happened. I gain nothing by sending for him.
“I’ll go back to the receiving room,” she said. “I’ll finish my appointments. If we haven’t heard from—if we haven’t heard anything by sundown—”
“By morning, please, madam.” The chamberlain’s face was anxious. “By morning, I assure you, we’ll have instructions.”
“I’ll finish my appointments.” Leia left the waiting room.
“Leia—” Dr. Hyos said.
“Madam—” the chamberlain said.
“What!” She faced them both, glaring.
Mr. Iyon gestured, unhappily, wordlessly, at her bloody hands, her muddy skirt.
I’ve met ambassadors and heads of state in worse clothes than this, Leia thought. Worse clothes, and dirtier.
THE OLD REPUBLIC
(5,000–33 YEARS BEFORE STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE)
Long—long—ago in a galaxy far, far away … some twenty-five thousand years before Luke Skywalker destroyed the first Death Star at the Battle of Yavin in Star Wars: A New Hope … a large number of star systems and species in the center of the galaxy came together to form the Galactic Republic, governed by a Chancellor and a Senate from the capital city-world of Coruscant. As the Republic expanded via the hyperspace lanes, it absorbed new member worlds from newly discovered star systems; it also expanded its military to deal with the hostile civilizations, slavers, pirates, and gangster-species such as the slug-like Hutts that were encountered in the outward exploration. But the most vital defenders of the Republic were the Jedi Knights. Originally a reclusive order dedicated to studying the mysteries of the life energy known as the Force, the Jedi became the Republic’s guardians, charged by the Senate with keeping the peace—with wise words if possible; with lightsabers if not.
But the Jedi weren’t the only Force-users in the galaxy. An ancient civil war had pitted those Jedi who used the Force selflessly against those who allowed themselves to be ruled by their ambitions—which the Jedi warned led to the dark side of the Force. Defeated in that long-ago war, the dark siders fled beyond the galactic frontier, where they built a civilization of their own: the Sith Empire.
The first great c
onflict between the Republic and the Sith Empire occurred when two hyperspace explorers stumbled on the Sith worlds, giving the Sith Lord Naga Sadow and his dark side warriors a direct invasion route into the Republic’s central worlds. This war resulted in the first destruction of the Sith Empire—but it was hardly the last. For the next four thousand years, skirmishes between the Republic and Sith grew into wars, with the scales always tilting toward one or the other, and peace never lasting. The galaxy was a place of almost constant strife: Sith armies against Republic armies; Force-using Sith Lords against Jedi Masters and Jedi Knights; and the dreaded nomadic mercenaries called Mandalorians bringing muscle and firepower wherever they stood to gain.
Then, a thousand years before A New Hope and the Battle of Yavin, the Jedi defeated the Sith at the Battle of Ruusan, decimating the so-called Brotherhood of Darkness that was the heart of the Sith Empire—and most of its power.
One Sith Lord survived—Darth Bane—and his vision for the Sith differed from that of his predecessors. He instituted a new doctrine: No longer would the followers of the dark side build empires or amass great armies of Force-users. There would be only two Sith at a time: a Master and an apprentice. From that time on, the Sith remained in hiding, biding their time and plotting their revenge, while the rest of the galaxy enjoyed an unprecedented era of peace, so long and strong that the Republic eventually dismantled its standing armies.
But while the Republic seemed strong, its institutions had begun to rot. Greedy corporations sought profits above all else and a corrupt Senate did nothing to stop them, until the corporations reduced many planets to raw materials for factories and entire species became subjects for exploitation. Individual Jedi continued to defend the Republic’s citizens and obey the will of the Force, but the Jedi Order to which they answered grew increasingly out of touch. And a new Sith mastermind, Darth Sidious, at last saw a way to restore Sith domination over the galaxy and its inhabitants, and quietly worked to set in motion the revenge of the Sith …
If you’re a reader new to the Old Republic era, here are three great starting points:
• The Old Republic: Deceived, by Paul S. Kemp: Kemp tells the tale of the Republic’s betrayal by the Sith Empire, and features Darth Malgus, an intriguing, complicated villain.
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