Part 9 (2/2)

He had chosen this sacrifice. It was probably a futile one, since all he'd done was buy the Rebels a bit more time.

But sometimes more time was all you needed.

The torpedo slammed into his s.h.i.+p and blew off his stabilizer fin. The s.h.i.+p spiraled out of control, spinning wildly in a cyclone of debris.

”Div!” Luke shouted through the comm.

”Make this count, Luke,” Div said, but he suspected his communications system had failed, like the rest of them. Alarms were blaring through the s.h.i.+p as he plunged toward the moon's atmosphere.

There was nothing to do now but wait.

”Div!” Luke shouted again, but there was still no answer. The Firespray was bleeding exhaust and fuel as it dropped toward the moon. Within moments, it had slipped into the atmosphere. It sliced through the clouds, a red-hot ember growing dimmer and dimmer.

And then it was gone. ”We have to go after him,” Luke cried.

”He's gone, kid,” Han said. ”But he bought us some time. Be grateful for that.”

Luke knew he was right. The Rebels needed them up here, not down there, scouring the surface for wreckage.

And surely that's all there would be, wreckage. Even if Div had managed to eject before his s.h.i.+p burned up in the atmosphere, he could be stranded anywhere on the moon.

That was millions of kilometers of ground to search-there was no way they could do that before the supernova. One way or another, Div was gone.

The fighting continued without him, but Han was right: Div had bought them some time. A good chunk of the fleet had managed to escape. Of course, that meant the ones that remained were more outnumbered than ever. Div wouldn't be the last to fall.

But Luke couldn't think about what might happen. He couldn't think about how narrow their chances were. He could only think about surviving each moment, and the next. The next TIE fighter, the next missile, the next laserbolt, the next explosion. The moments blurted and the battle seemed to stretch on forever, until Luke felt he'd been in this c.o.c.kpit his entire life. He fired and fired again, and yet there were always new s.h.i.+ps emerging from the wreckage. The Imperials would never give up.

And then the sky lit up with a bright, blinding flare.

First he thought another squadron had been taken out, but this was brighter than a simple explosion, brighter than anything he'd ever seen. It seared his vision, and for a few seconds, he saw nothing but a glowing black.

He blinked hard, and gradually, the world came back. But it was a changed world: There was a roiling storm of fire where the dim sun had been. The resonance torpedoes had ignited their chain reaction-the sun began its collapse. The shock wave traveled at a small fraction of the speed of light, which meant they had a little time before it hit. About forty minutes, the droids had calculated-after that, the explosion would consume them all.

”This is Gold Leader,” the voice came over the comm link. ”The Imperials are fleeing.

Repeat, the Imperials are fleeing. All s.h.i.+ps return to base.”

It was true. The firing had stopped, as understanding spread through both fleets. Star Destroyers and Rebel freighters alike were winking into hypers.p.a.ce, desperate to flee the dying sun.

But Leia was still below, helping evacuate the moon. Which meant Luke wasn't going anywhere but down.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

”You'll be fine,” Ferus a.s.sured the stooped old woman, a streak of dried blood smeared across her face.

”Just activate the hyperdrive as soon as you're clear of the gravitational field,” Leia instructed the pilot, as he climbed aboard the s.h.i.+p that Soresh had taken hostage one month before.

”Be brave for your mother,” Ferus said, resting his hand on a young boy's scruffy brown hair. ”She needs you.”

One by one, the shaken settlers climbed aboard their s.h.i.+p. They had been trapped on the moon for weeks; locked inside dank cells with fading hope of escape. It seemed no one could believe that they were actually being given a s.h.i.+p and a means to escape. But, weeping or smiling, they all climbed on board.

”That should be the last of them,” Leia said.

Among the guards, confusion had proved contagious. Without Soresh around to give them orders, they were easily swayed. With the help of the guards Luke had freed, Leia and Ferus had herded them all onto s.h.i.+ps of their own. The moon was evacuated and the sun would explode in thirty-eight minutes-which meant it was time for them to go.

After making one final sweep of the main base installation, Ferus and Leia retreated to the hangar, where the final s.h.i.+p of hostages was waiting for them.

It was the first time they'd really been alone together since Ferus had arrived on the moon. ”I was very relieved to discover you were safe, Princess,” Ferus told her. Leia would never know how how relieved, just as she would never know that he had sworn his life to protect her. There was so much he hadn't told her-and so many lies that he had. relieved, just as she would never know that he had sworn his life to protect her. There was so much he hadn't told her-and so many lies that he had.

”I wasn't the one in real danger,” Leia said, as they rushed toward the s.h.i.+p. ”Luke was the one who risked everything. Sometimes I wonder...” She drifted off.

”Leia?” Ferus prompted her. It wasn't like the princess not to say exactly what was on her mind.

”I wonder what I would have done in his place,” she admitted. ”Whether I would have been strong enough to hold out against Soresh.”

”Of course you would have!” Ferus a.s.sured her. ”Princess, you're the strongest person I know.”

But Leia shook her head. ”But it isn't just strength, is it? Luke has something else...a certainty, a belief in his destiny. Even when everything else is stripped away, he still has...”

”The Force?” Ferus guessed.

Leia reddened, and a small laugh bubbled out of her. ”I don't even know why I'm telling you this,” she said. ”It's ridiculous, I know. There's nothing Luke can do with his lightsaber that I can't do with my blaster. It's just sometimes I wonder how much more I could do for the Rebels if I had his gifts. I wonder if I could have saved-” She stopped, abruptly.

But Ferus knew what she was thinking. ”What happened to Alderaan is not your fault, Princess. You couldn't have stopped it.”

”You're right,” Leia said, looking away. ” I I couldn't.” couldn't.”

Ferus was quiet for a moment. He listened to the sound of their pounding footsteps.

Then he made a decision. ”Leia, stop,” he said, and grabbed her arm.

”We've got less than half an hour,” Leia said. ”That doesn't leave much time for sightseeing.”

”Just a second,” Ferus said. ”Indulge an old man.”

She stopped running, and gave him an impatient stare. ”Well, what is it?”

She took his breath away, this fierce, brave woman she had become. When he looked at her, he still saw the inquisitive toddler, the willful child, the rebellious teenager-he saw her entire life, and understood it had all led up to this moment. She was ready.

Ready to know the truth-ready to know her destiny.

No longer would he allow her to live in ignorance. No longer would he let her feel powerless or less than less than. No longer could he stand hearing her question her own strength.

No longer would he listen as she doubted herself.

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