Bloodline (Star Wars)

by Claudia Gray

  “Then, by all means, let’s talk.”

  Leia’s purpose in accepting the shady “invitation” that had led her here was twofold. First, she intended to learn more about Rinnrivin Di, to determine for herself how he operated. If she was to understand the full extent of the risks he presented, she needed to better understand the man. She knew how to learn the true measure of an individual: Watch what he does to someone he believes is at his mercy.

  Second, she intended to put Rinnrivin in jail. Attempted kidnapping of a senator was only the latest and slightest of his crimes, but it would do for now. Even a brief period of incarceration would give the New Republic time to go after his cartel. So Leia needed to speak with her captor at length, both to discover his true nature and to stall long enough for the Bastatha security forces to arrive.

  The interior of Rinnrivin’s headquarters put the Bastatha casinos to shame. The table tiled in a subtle mosaic of white and gold, the opalescent shell inlays within the domed ceiling, the beautiful holographic seascape rolling gently in its frame—this wasn’t gaudy mimicry of elegance, but the real thing. Leia settled herself onto an ornately carved, amply cushioned chair across the table from the place she instinctively understood would be Rinnrivin’s; it was the one spot from which nobody would be able to approach him from behind.

  “Let me offer you a drink.” Rinnrivin gestured for a droid to roll forward with a bottle of wine, apparently chilled. Leia was about to refuse when Rinnrivin continued, “Toniray, an excellent vintage. A wonderful year. Sadly, one of the last.”

  Toniray had been an Alderaanian wine. Leia’s eyes widened as she took in the teal color, the characteristic shape of the bottle. It couldn’t be real, could it? All the offworld bottles had to have been consumed long ago.

  But when the droid poured it into the correct slim flute, Leia recognized the scent. Suddenly she was back at a royal banquet, seated at her father’s right hand, taking care to slowly nurse the one glass she had been given. Ignoring Rinnrivin’s avid interest in her reaction, she took a sip. Yes. It was Toniray, true Toniray. The first moment the cool wine touched her tongue, she closed her eyes to better savor the sensation.

  Leia could imagine the valley where the fruit would have been grown, see the deep-green leaves of the vines—for one instant, she could taste the very soil of Alderaan again.

  Home.

  The intense wave of emotion she felt never altered her expression. Leia let it happen, then let it go.

  When she opened her eyes again, she saw Rinnrivin studying her, though he didn’t seem to be fishing for a sign of weakness. Instead he looked like any other host hopeful to have pleased his guest.

  “Thank you.” Leia could say this much to Rinnrivin with total sincerity. “It’s been a long time since anyone gave me such a gift.”

  “Took a while to find the vintage. Collectors prize the few remaining casks, as I’m sure you can imagine. But when I heard you would be visiting Bastatha, I realized I had to find an appropriate way to welcome you. I so wanted to get our relationship off to a good start.” Rinnrivin sat back in his luxurious chair; he seemed more at home in his finely appointed hideout than he would have in the usual rough haunts of the Niktos. “In fact, let me put you more at ease right away.” With that he spoke to the guards massed at the door. “We have no further need of you. Senator Organa and I are having a civilized conversation. Go on about your business; we require only a driver to take her back to her ship when we’re done.”

  The Nikto guards clearly hadn’t anticipated this. Some shuffling and muttered debate followed before all but one of them took off on the hoversleds. The only guard left went and sat in the hovercraft, arms crossed sullenly across his chest. When Rinnrivin Di turned back to Leia, she bowed her head and smiled. “Your courtesy is much appreciated, Rinnrivin.” And you obviously don’t think a lone woman in her late forties could represent much of a threat.

  “I meant what I said.” Rinnrivin settled back into his chair. He took none of the Toniray himself, leaving it all for her. “My unorthodox introduction may have caused some confusion, but I genuinely would like for us to have a mutually beneficial relationship. You see, I’ve been an admirer of yours for some time. Nor am I the only one. Many among the Niktos revere you, and not for the reasons the rest of the galaxy does. Oh, of course, your work during the Rebellion was important, Senator, as your political efforts are now, but I personally find some of your other accomplishments far more impressive.”

  Leia took another sip of the precious Toniray. “I’m not sure I follow.”

  “I’m about to give you another gift. One far more valuable to me than the wine. In fact, this has been one of my prize possessions for many years, one I’ve always kept with me. But when you see it, and know what it has meant to me and to so many of the Niktos, at last you will understand.” Rinnrivin pulled a small holocube from his pocket; its sides shone dully in the limited light. “My people have their reasons for hating the Hutts. Jabba the Hutt we hated most of all. So when the Hutts went through the wreckage of Jabba’s sail barge on Tatooine, looking for evidence regarding the exact nature of his death—to settle one of their endless debates over the will, you know how they are—well. What emerged was a bit of footage traded in only the most exclusive circles.”

  The holocube flickered, and projected around it was the image of Jabba reclining on his platform, Leia herself in dancing-girl costume shackled to his side. They were on the sail barge, and these were the last moments of Jabba the Hutt’s life. Leia remembered the heat, the stench, the grit of sand against her skin, and the terrible, nauseating fear she’d felt for both Han and Luke. The risks they’d taken…Had they lost their minds? No. They’d only been young and courageous. Sure of their own invincibility.

  It had been a long time since Leia felt that untouchable.

  Jabba ordered Luke thrown into the Great Pit of Carkoon. Moments later, chaos broke out. With a kind of awe, Leia watched herself sling the heavy chains around Jabba’s neck. The sheer strength it took to compress a Hutt’s neck to the point of asphyxiation—she had summoned that from somewhere deep inside, remembered doing so, but found it almost unbelievable to witness. Pure hatred had fueled her. Her arms seemed to ache with remembered strain.

  Of course she had been unable to see Jabba’s face as he died. Leia watched him now, taking in each detail: the bulging of his heavy-lidded eyes, the protrusion of his slimy tongue. She felt neither revulsion nor triumph, only the echo of her own desperation. His death had been fulfilling to her back then, but now it was irrelevant. Only an ugly thing that had had to be done. When Jabba grunted his last, the hologram flickered out.

  “Huttslayer,” Rinnrivin breathed in genuine reverence. “This is what we call you among ourselves, and it is a far greater title than either senator or princess could ever be. The Niktos know you for the warrior you are, Huttslayer, and you will always have friends among us.”

  Leia took the holocube, slipping it into the pocket of her cloak. Footage of her committing a murder…well, it was either the strangest diplomatic gift she’d ever been given or very close. “There are other records of this around?”

  “Only a handful. The Hutts hunted down most of the copies and vendors. They didn’t want proof of their own vulnerability to circulate. As you can see, however, I have ways of getting what I want.”

  “No doubt,” Leia said drily. Yet Rinnrivin was not the usual criminal boss, interested in the fastest, most brutish power. This was an individual who considered himself cultivated. Intellectual. He didn’t only want riches; he wanted respectability.

  If Rinnrivin had been born human in the age of the Empire, he could have turned into a figure a great deal like Grand Moff Tarkin. And had Tarkin been born a Nikto, he would have been exactly like Rinnrivin.

  He’s no thug, Leia decided. He’s much more dangerous than that. And his goals will be broader than any mere spice cartel.

  Rinnrivin leaned forward, his elbows on the table, h
ands clasped together as though he were beseeching her. “We honor you, Huttslayer. We will always honor you for ridding the galaxy of Jabba the Hutt. I ask only that you honor us in return.”

  Finally, he was getting to it. “What form do you expect this ‘honor’ to take?”

  “We only want the same opportunities other peoples enjoy, to trade freely and grow toward greater prosperity and influence throughout the galaxy.”

  Leia raised an eyebrow. Throughout the galaxy. Either Rinnrivin Di’s ambition was great…or his cartel was already even larger than they’d feared. “The New Republic doesn’t allow the free trade of most forms of spice,” she said. The weak stuff that could be mined or grown on numerous planets—nobody worried about that. And, of course, there wasn’t that much money in it. Cartels went for the stronger varieties. “And coercing debtors through violence, demanding protection money…that’s not allowed no matter what you’re selling.”

  She expected Rinnrivin Di to deny these allegations, but he surprised her. “Rules set on Hosnian Prime often fail to reach the other worlds of the New Republic. Besides, Huttslayer—as you obviously know, sometimes violence is necessary. You didn’t call Mos Eisley security to deal with Jabba, did you? No.” He grinned with evident relish. “You trusted your own two hands. As do I.”

  “I once fought lawlessness with lawlessness, it’s true,” she said. “But I believe in the rule of law and have spent most of my life trying to restore it to the galaxy. In other words, Rinnrivin, I’ve made it this far without taking bribes. I don’t intend to start now.”

  Rinnrivin shook his head and chuckled, like she’d told a good joke. “A fine speech for the Senate floor. But you can’t be as rigid as you claim. Otherwise, you could never have married a smuggler. Spicerunning, collaboration with the Hutts, high-stakes gambling? Han Solo’s record rivals mine.”

  “That was a long time ago,” Leia said, caught off guard. No one had ever thrown Han’s past in her face so bluntly before. “Before he joined the Rebellion.”

  “Do you believe being a part of the Rebel Alliance washed away all sins?” Rinnrivin shook his head, rueful and amused. “Trust me on this, Huttslayer. Once a pirate, always a pirate.”

  There had been a time when Leia would have agreed with Rinnrivin—and this, more than anything, sparked her temper. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t I?”

  Whatever else Rinnrivin would’ve said was cut off by the sound of a blaster bolt.

  Leia wheeled around, alarmed. Surely Bastatha security wouldn’t blindly start firing into a hostage situation. Behind her, she heard Rinnrivin hiss a Nikto curse as they both saw what was happening just outside…

  …which was Ransolm Casterfo facing off with the guard.

  Leia gasped as the guard swung one of his many-pointed blades at Casterfo; they grappled too close for blasters. Swift and agile, Casterfo dodged the blow, then spun around to bring the heel of his hand up under the Nikto’s chin. The guard’s head snapped back, and as he stumbled to the side in a daze, Casterfo kneed him hard in the gut, shoving the stunned Nikto guard backward into the hovercraft.

  Then Casterfo rushed toward the door, and Leia barely had time to scramble out of the way before he dashed in.

  “Princess Leia!” he shouted, leveling his blaster at Rinnrivin. “Come with me, now!”

  What is he doing, WHAT IS HE DOING—but Leia couldn’t argue, not without giving away the sting she’d planned in the first place. She could only stand there in equal parts astonishment and anger as Casterfo grabbed her hand.

  Rinnrivin looked completely bemused. He had planned a meeting on his own mannerly terms, and perhaps had some backup that could be quickly summoned in case of a full-fledged assault, but didn’t know what to do with one wild-eyed, armed senator. He never rose from his elegant, high-backed chair, and he said only, “Until we speak again, Huttslayer.”

  Casterfo didn’t give Leia a chance to reply. He simply dragged her out of the dome and toward a hoversled. As they ran toward it, Leia yelled, “How did you get here?”

  “I put a tracker on your cloak, just in case you deviated from the scheduled flight path!” Casterfo sounded triumphant as he leapt onto the two-meter-long hoversled and grasped the handlebars on the tall steering console. “When you went off course, I knew what had happened. I told you there would be trouble.”

  “I knew there would be trouble! I had my own tracker on me the whole time. Bastatha security would’ve been here within minutes!” Leia jumped onto the hoversled, too; her plan was ruined, so she might as well escape with Casterfo. “Did you honestly think I was stupid enough to walk into an obvious setup without guards or a plan?”

  “A plan? This was part of a plan?” Casterfo’s smug smile faded into bewilderment. “Why didn’t you tell me there was a plan?”

  “Because I don’t trust you!”

  “I just risked my life to save you from a dangerous situation that turns out to be nothing but a lie, one you set up, and you don’t trust me?”

  That was…not a bad point. Leia swore under her breath. “We can discuss this back at the ship. For now we’ve got to get out of here.” Already she could hear the Nikto guard stirring in the hovercraft.

  Casterfo put his hands on the controls, thumb sliding along the bar that brought the engine glowing back to full power. As he did so, though, Leia heard the hum of other engines, almost lost in the gale winds of the Bastatha caverns but growing louder by the moment.

  “We’re about to have company,” she said, just as a dozen or more of Rinnrivin’s men flew out of the shadows and swooped in like carrion birds ready to pounce. “Go.”

  When Ransolm Casterfo had realized Leia Organa was in danger, he had not hesitated before rushing to her rescue. Yes, she had insulted him, been difficult at every turn, proved touchy and defensive—but she was his partner in the delegation and a member of the Senate. She required help. That was all there was to it.

  He’d been studying some of the new construction via hoversled when his monitor had informed him that the signal he was tracking had deviated sharply from the supposed itinerary for the “businessmen.” Casterfo had paused only long enough to send word back to the Mirrorbright that things had gone horribly wrong. He hadn’t asked for backup, because the caverns down here were far too narrow for either of their ships to safely navigate. He had only meant to leave word of the danger they were in so the authorities could be informed, and people would know what had become of him and Princess Leia if they did not survive. Then he steered the hoversled downward, straight into danger.

  Ransolm felt he’d been brave. Decisive. Possibly even heroic.

  His reward? Finding out he’d just ruined a sting operation nobody had bothered to tell him about. Wonderful.

  As the mobster’s thugs swooped in, Ransolm gunned the engines of the sled and took off. The sudden rush of speed made Princess Leia gasp, and he shouted, “Hold on to me!”

  One of her arms went around his waist. With the other, she grabbed the blaster from his belt. As she clung to him, she shouted over the roar of wind, “Here they come!”

  Ransolm couldn’t afford to look too closely at the approaching attackers. He needed to lose them. Losing them meant flying fast through caverns the others wouldn’t want to enter. That meant he needed to keep his eyes straight ahead.

  Green blaster bolts sliced through the air directly in front of them, and Ransolm braced himself for a direct hit on the sled—but Princess Leia fired upward, and the caverns lit up with the brilliant flash of an explosion. When she fired again, another of the pursuing sleds slammed into a wall; Ransolm saw the blaze from the corner of his eye.

  I’ll give her this, he thought, she doesn’t lose her nerve.

  Opportunity presented itself in the form of a narrow passageway studded with stalactites. Ransolm pointed the sled straight at it and accelerated to maximum speed. He half expected the princess to cry out in alarm. Instead, she merely tighten
ed her grip around his waist and started firing behind them.

  The stalactites carved the space of the cavern into a maze he had to weave through, one where a single mistake meant death. Dull red jagged rock had swallowed them like jaws of stone. Ransolm forgot about the risks—let them go, completely. If he considered anything farther away than the controls of this sled, he’d crash within instants.

  Bank left, rise, bank left again, hard right, up then down, hard! He only thought about the very next move, the very next second. Piloting a sled meant tilting your body along with the machine, feeling as if you were one with it. The stalactites zoomed into his field of vision moments before collision, over and over, and each time he bent and swerved just in time. Ransolm felt a rush of pure exhilaration that took him beyond any fear.

  “They’re getting too close!” Leia shouted. She fired behind them, a series of short, staccato blasts—and the stone rumbled. Had she caused a cave-in? Ransolm’s momentary fear changed to satisfaction as he realized Leia had targeted some of the stalactites, ensuring they’d topple in front of their pursuers. Explosions behind them lit up the crags ahead, and the dark maw that promised an end to this cavern.

  “We’re heading up.” He gripped the controls even tighter. “Brace yourself!”

  They emerged from the crevasse into a larger pit, and Ransolm turned the sled sharply vertical. Their momentum allowed them to keep their footing—barely.

  “We’ve still got two on our tail.” Leia swore again. “See any other places we could lose them?”

  “Not yet.” Would they be shot down despite everything?

  Ransolm heard the engines before he saw the blasterfire from above covering them. He gaped as he realized what was flying in overhead—an X-wing fighter darting through caverns hardly wider than the ship itself. It lanced through a narrow opening in the rock and spiraled over them, energy bolts streaking down toward their Nikto pursuers. At the last moment before the X-wing would’ve collided with stone, it looped up again, swiftly tilting sideways and pulling in its foils to slip between stalactites.