by Timothy Zahn
Jedi Sky Walker?
Luke looked up. Fluttering to a landing on a boulder above them were a dozen dark shapes. And the tone and mind of one of them seemed very familiar. "Yes," he said. "Is that you, Hunter Of Winds?"
It is I, the Qom Qae confirmed. My son, Child Of Winds, informed all nearby nestings of your deeds this night. We have been watching for your return.
"Thank you," Luke said. "We very much appreciate your efforts. Can you show us to a place of shelter nearby? We need to hide from those in the High Tower until we can make our way back to our ship."
Hunter Of Winds ruffled his wings. No need for shelter, Jedi Sky Walker, he said. We will carry you to your flying machine, as my son and his companions did earlier this night. Luke frowned. After Hunter Of Winds's quick and cavalier dismissal of him and his mission when he and Artoo first landed, such magnanimity seemed suspiciously out of character. "You're very kind," he said carefully. "May I ask why you're willing to take such risks for us?" Hunter Of Winds ruffled his wings. I have spoken to the Bargainer for this nesting of the Qom Jha, he said. Eater Of Fire Creepers has agreed to release you from your promise to help us against the Threateners, provided you leave our world at once.
Luke felt his face warming. "In other words, our presence here has become a liability to you?" Child Of Winds has said the Threateners will not harm us if we do not bother them, Hunter Of Winds said gruffly. It is to that end that we wish you to leave.
"Nothing like being appreciated, is there?" Mara muttered.
"It's all right," Luke said, touching her hand and her mind soothingly. Reminding her that, embarrassment and even veiled insult aside, this was in fact the result she herself had said she wanted. Parck and the Chiss would now be left alone, unharassed by the Qom Jha and Qom Qae, and free to focus their full energies on their work in the Unknown Regions.
"Fine," she said, and Luke could feel her grudging acceptance. "But he's not Child Of Winds anymore. After what he's been through, he deserves to have a name of his own." Really, Hunter Of Winds said, giving her a long, thoughtful look. And what name do you suggest for him?
"The one he's earned," she said softly. " 'Friend Of Jedi.' " Hunter Of Winds ruffled his wings again. I will consider it. But now, let us depart. The night grows old, and you will wish to be gone before the sunrise.
* * *
"I'll look forward to it," Flim was saying as Karrde rounded the archway onto the Relentless's bridge.
"Yes," Pellaeon said. "So will I."
The Admiral turned as Karrde stepped up beside him. "You're late," Pellaeon said mildly.
"I was watching the turbolift," Karrde explained. "I thought Flim and his associates might try to bring a squad of stormtroopers in on their side of the dispute."
"They might have, at that," Pellaeon said. "Thank you."
"No problem," Karrde assured him, looking around the bridge. The Major Tierce clone was lying unmoving on the deck, Shada was across with the other two Mistryl, the con man Flim was waiting with studied unconcern just back of the command walkway, and Moff Disra was a little off to one side, standing as aloof and cold and dignified as a man facing his own destruction could manage.
"Besides, it doesn't look like my presence was really needed."
"Not for this part, no," Pellaeon agreed. "Your friend Shada is quite impressive. I don't suppose she'd be interested in a job."
"Well, she is looking for a higher cause to serve," Karrde told him. "However, to be perfectly honest, I don't think the Empire is it."
Pellaeon nodded. "Perhaps we can change that."
"Admiral Pellaeon?" a voice called from the crew pits. "I have General Bel Iblis for you now."
"Thank you." Pellaeon looked to Karrde. "Don't run off—I'll want to speak with you later."
"Certainly."
The Admiral headed down the command walkway, passing Flim without a second glance. Throwing one last look at Disra, Karrde crossed to where Shada and the other young Mistryl were helping the older woman to a sitting position. "How is she?" he asked.
"Not as bad as we thought," Shada said, probing gingerly into the scorched tunic. "She was able to twist almost out of the way of the shot."
"Well-honed reflexes." Karrde nodded. "Once a Mistryl, always a Mistryl, I suppose." The older woman eyed him balefully. "You're very well informed," she growled.
"About a great many things," Karrde agreed calmly. "Among them the fact that Shada seems to have earned your displeasure somehow."
"And what, you think this makes up for it?" the woman snapped contemptuously.
"Doesn't it?" Karrde countered. "If she hadn't stopped Tierce when she did, you two would have been the next to die after Pellaeon. You were the most immediate threats to him." She snorted. "I'm a Mistryl, Talon Karrde. My life is gladly given in the service of my people."
"Really." Karrde looked at the younger woman. "Do you also consider your life not worth a little gratitude?"
"Leave Karoly out of this," the older woman bit out. "She has nothing to say on the matter."
"Ah," Karrde said. "Soldiers with no voice or opinion. Remarkably similar to the philosophy of the Imperial stormtroopers."
"Karoly allowed Shada to escape once before," the woman said, glowering at her. "She's fortunate she wasn't punished herself for that."
"Oh, yes," Karrde murmured. "How very lucky for her." The woman's eyes flashed. "If you've quite finished—"
"I haven't," Karrde said. "Clearly, you don't consider Mistryl lives worth anything. What about Mistryl reputations?"
Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
Karrde waved toward Flim. "You were about to make an alliance with these people. You were about to be taken in by nothing more than slick talk, whipped air, and a dirt-level fringe con man. And don't bother denying it; a member of the Eleven doesn't travel off Emberlene just for the exercise." The woman's eyes drifted away from his gaze. "The issue was still under discussion," she muttered.
"Glad to hear it," Karrde said. "Because if even your reputation doesn't matter to you, consider what binding the Mistryl to a vengeful man like Moff Disra would have meant. How long do you think it would have been before you became his private Death Commandos?"
"That would never have happened," Karoly put in emphatically. "We would never sink that low, not even under a treaty."
Shada stirred. "What was it you tried to stop me from doing on the Resinem Complex roof?" she asked quietly.
"That was different," Karoly protested.
Shada shook her head. "No. Condoning and cooperating with murder is no different from committing it yourself."
"She's right," Karrde said. "And once you started down that road, it would have meant the end of the Mistryl. You'd have burned your sky-arches behind you with every other potential client; and when Flim's soap bubble collapsed, as it inevitably would have, there would have been nothing left out there anymore for you.
"And with the end of the Mistryl would have come a final end to Emberlene." He crossed his arms and waited... and after a few seconds the older woman grimaced. "What is it you want?"
"I want the Mistryl hunter teams called off Shada," he said. "Whatever her alleged crime against you, it's to be forgiven and the death mark lifted."
The woman's mouth twisted. "You ask much."
"We've given much," Karrde reminded her. "Is it a deal?" She hesitated, then nodded reluctantly. "Very well. But she will not be reinstated into the Mistryl; not now, not ever. And Emberlene will forever be closed to her."
She turned burning eyes up at Shada. "From now on she is a woman without a home." Karrde looked at Shada. Her face was tight, her lips pressed tightly together. But she returned his look steadily and nodded. "Fine," he said. "We'll just have to see about finding her a new home."
"With you?" The woman snorted. "With a smuggler and seller of information? Tell me again how low a Mistryl can sink."
There was no answer to that. But fortunately, Karrde didn't have to come up
with one. There was a sudden bustling at his side, and then he was gently but firmly shouldered away by the medical team as they gathered around the injured woman. He stepped back out of their way, shifting his attention to the security team that had arrived at the same time. With professional efficiency they scanned Flim and Disra for hidden weapons, put restraints on them both, and escorted them back to the aft bridge turbolift.
Another group, following behind them, was carrying Tierce's body.
"Karrde?"
He turned to see Pellaeon walking back along the command walkway toward him. "I have to go across to the Errant Venture and speak with General Bel Iblis," the Admiral said as he reached him.
"But before I go, I wanted to discuss the price for the Flim and Tierce information you brought me." Karrde shrugged. "For once in my life, Admiral, I'm not sure what to say," he admitted. "The datacard was a gift to me. It seems a bit dishonest to turn around and charge you for it."
"Ah." Pellaeon eyed him speculatively. "A gift from those aliens whose ship scared the stuffing out of my sensor officers at Bastion?"
"From an associate of theirs," Karrde said. "I'm really not at liberty to discuss the details."
"I understand," Pellaeon said. "Still, your ethics apart—which I find laudable, incidentally—I'd like to find a way to thank you with something more concrete than just words."
"I'll see what I can come up with." Karrde gestured toward the Star Destroyer visible out the viewport. "In the meantime, may I ask what you're going over to discuss with General Bel Iblis?" Pellaeon's eyes narrowed slightly. But then he shrugged. "It's still highly confidential, of course," he said. "But knowing you, you'll probably know about it soon enough, anyway. I'm proposing a peace treaty between the Empire and the New Republic. It's time for this long war to finally end." Karrde shook his head. "The things that happen when I'm out of touch at the edges of known space," he said philosophically. "For whatever it's worth, Admiral, I agree wholeheartedly with your goal. And I wish you luck."
"Thank you," Pellaeon said. "Feel free to leave whenever you wish, or allow your crew to take advantage of any of the Relentless's facilities if they'd like. And again, thank you." He headed off toward the turbolift. Karrde watched him go, then looked back at Shada. The medical team had finished their preliminary work and were helping the injured woman onto a stretcher. Shada was watching them from a few paces away, an expression of private pain on her face. Like someone watching the last member of her family leaving home.
And then, unbidden, an idea drifted into Karrde's mind. Something larger than herself, she'd told Car'das. Something she could hold on to and serve and believe in. Something more honorable and noble than the life of a fringe smuggler.
Something that would make a difference...
"Admiral Pellaeon?" he called, hurrying back to the aft bridge. "Admiral?" Pellaeon had paused at the open door of the turbolift. "Yes?"
"Let me ride over with you to the Errant Venture, if I may," Karrde said, stepping to his side. "I have a modest proposal I'd like to make to you."
* * *
Luke's final fear was that the Hand of Thrawn's weapons towers would spot them as they lifted their borrowed ship out of its hiding place, forcing their departure from the Nirauan surface to be yet another mad race against death. But the Chiss were apparently still dealing with the aftermath of the hangar destruction, with no attention left to turn outward.
And so they lifted out into space without challenge; and with Mara's touch on the hyperdrive lever the stars became starlines and faded into the mottling of hyperspace.
And at long last, they were on their way home.
"Next stop, Coruscant," Luke said with a sigh, leaning back tiredly in the copilot's seat.
"Next stop, the nearest New Republic base or one of Karrde's outposts," Mara corrected. "I don't know about you, but I want a shower, some clean clothes, and something besides ration bars to eat."
"Point taken," Luke said. "You always were the practical one, weren't you?"
"And you always were the idealistic one," she said. "Must be why we work so well together. Speaking of practical, remember back in the cloning chamber when Artoo went all squeaky?"
"You mean just before the sentinel droids showed up?"
"Right. We never did find out what was tying him in knots that way."
"Well, let's find out now," Luke said, levering himself out of his seat and making his way back to the droid alcove where they'd plugged Artoo into the ship's computer. "Okay, Artoo, you heard the lady. What was it about the Unknown Regions data that got you all excited?" Artoo warbled, his words appearing on the computer display. "He says it didn't have anything to do with the Unknown Regions," Luke reported. "Which he says he didn't get more than a general overview of, by the way."
"I didn't think he'd gotten very much," Mara said regretfully. "He wasn't connected to the computer nearly long enough to download everything."
"Well, we're sure not going to go back and get the rest now," Luke said, skimming down the scrolling words. "But there was something he stumbled across in one of the other records..." Mara must have picked up his sudden shock. "What is it?" she asked sharply.
"I don't believe it," he murmured, still reading. "Mara, he found it. He found it."
"Wonderful. Found what?"
"What else?" Luke looked up at her. "Thrawn's copy of the Caamas Document."
CHAPTER
43
Fifteen days later, in the secondary command room of the Imperial Star Destroyer Chimaera, the peace accords between the Empire and New Republic were signed.
"I still say you should have been the one over there," Han groused as he and Leia watched from the back of the room while Pellaeon and Gavrisom performed the ceremony amid the crowd of assembled dignitaries. "You did way more on this than he did."
"It's all right, Han," Leia said, surreptitiously wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. Peace. After all the years, after all the sacrifice and destruction and death. Finally, they had peace.
"Yeah?" Han countered suspiciously. "Then how come you're crying?" She smiled at him. "Memories," she said. "Just memories." He found her hand, took it comfortingly. "Alderaan?" he asked quietly.
"Alderaan, the Death Stars—" She squeezed his hand. "You."
"Nice to know I'm in the top three, anyway," he said, looking around the room. "Speaking of old memories, where's Lando? I thought he was going to be here."
"He changed his mind," Leia said. "I guess Tendra wasn't very happy with him heading out to Bastion with you without at least telling her about it. He's taken her art shopping on Celanon to make it up to her."
Han shook his head. "Strong women," he said, mock sadly. "They'll get you every time."
"Watch that," Leia warned, digging her elbow into his side. "You've always liked strong women. Admit it."
"Well, not always," Han said. "Ow—okay, okay. I like strong women."
"What's this about strong women?" Karrde's voice asked from Han's other side.
"Just a friendly family discussion," Han assured him. "Good to see you again, Karrde. How come you're not over there with the rest of the high-class people?"
"Probably the same reason you're not," Karrde said. "I don't exactly fit in with that sort of group."
"That'll change soon," Leia assured him. "Particularly now that you're respectable and all. How in the worlds did you talk Gavrisom and Bel Iblis into this joint Intelligence service idea?"
"The same way I talked Pellaeon into it, actually," Karrde said. "I simply pointed out that the key to a stable and calm peace is both sides knowing the other isn't plotting some kind of move against them. Bastion doesn't trust your Intelligence network, and Coruscant definitely doesn't trust theirs." He shrugged. "Enter a neutral third party—us—who straddle both regimes and are already equipped to gather and assemble information. We'll simply now be supplying it to your two governments instead of to private buyers."
"It could work, I suppose," H
an agreed cautiously. "The Bureau of Ships and Services has been operating independently for years without going political, either under the Empire or the New Republic. You might be able to pull it off."
"I like the fact we'll be getting the same information about our own systems that you'll be giving Bastion," Leia said. "It'll supplement the data the Observers are sending us and help us keep track of what the various system and sector governments are up to. That should help us spot problems before they get too big to deal with."
"Yeah," Han said darkly. "Just because the Caamas Document Luke and Mara brought back slowed down a lot of the brush wars doesn't mean they won't start up again."
"Still, I suspect that seeing how easily their old rivalries were manipulated by Disra and Flim has made them more cautious," Leia pointed out. "I know of at least eight conflicts where the participants have now petitioned Coruscant for mediation."
"It may also depend somewhat on how the trial goes," Karrde said. "I was a bit surprised so many of the culprits are still alive."
"Bothans tend to be long-lived," Leia said. "I'm sure that group is regretting that fact." Across the room, Leia could see Bel Iblis and Ghent talking with Pellaeon now, Ghent looking extremely uncomfortable at his inclusion into such—to his mind—exalted company. A little ways behind them, Chewbacca was riding patient herd on Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin as the children chattered excitedly away to Barkhimkh and two other Noghri about their adventures on this latest visit to Kashyyyk. "Did Luke tell you where he found that copy of the document, by the way?" Karrde asked. "I couldn't get anything out of Mara."
"No, he and Mara have both been very quiet about it," Leia said. "Luke said they have some thinking to do before they give us any details. It most certainly has to do with that odd spaceship they came back in."
"I imagine there's an interesting story behind it all," Karrde suggested. Leia nodded. "I'm sure we'll hear it eventually."
Han cleared his throat. "Speaking of Luke," he said, "and speaking of strong women," he added, throwing Leia a grin, "how's your organization going to manage without Mara?"
"We'll have some problems," Karrde conceded. "She was running a good deal of the organization, after all. But we'll adjust."
