Part 9 (1/2)
Leaving the detention cell, he went to report to Grand Moff Tarkin in the Death Star control room. Vader said, ”Her resistance to the mind probe is considerable. It will be some time before we can extract any information from her.”
Just then, Admiral Motti approached Tarkin and informed him that the Death Star was finally fully operational. Tarkin looked to Vader and said, ”Perhaps she would respond to an alternative form of persuasion.”
”What do you mean?” asked Vader. ”I think it's time we demonstrated the full power of this station,” Tarkin said. Turning to Motti, he commanded, ”Set your course for Alderaan.”
”With pleasure,” Motti replied with an evil smile. Realizing what Tarkin intended, Vader surveyed the man with new respect. The Dark Lord had done many horrendous and unpardonable things, but it seemed that Tarkin - at least in this situation - was even more diabolically inventive. However, Vader had one concern with Tarkin's scheme. ”Alderaan is one of the foremost of the inner systems,” Vader said. ”The Emperor should be consulted.”
”Do not think to challenge her!” Tarkin snapped. ”You are not confronting Tagge or Motti now! The Emperor has placed me in charge of this affair with a free hand, and the decision is mine! And you will have your information that much sooner.”
Vader had long suspected that Grand Moff Tarkin was insane, but it was not until Tarkin had addressed him just then, without a trace of fear, that Vader was left without a doubt. Vader said, ”If your plan serves our purpose, it will justify itself.”
”The stability of the Empire is at stake,” Tarkin said. ”A planet is a small price to pay.”
Released from her cell and brought to Grand Moff Tarkin in the Death Star control room, Princess Leia stood against Darth Vader's chest with her eyes fixed on a wide viewscreen that displayed the planet Alderaan. After Tarkin threatened to destroy her homeworld unless she revealed the location of the Rebel base, she told them that the Rebels were on Dantooine. However, Tarkin was determined to prove that the Empire was prepared to use the Death Star without the slightest provocation.
There were billions of people on Alderaan, including Bail Organa, and they were all about to die. As the battle station's superlaser powered up, Vader felt the Princess quivering with fear.
You brought this upon yourself, he thought.
The green-beamed superlaser fired at Alderaan, blowing the entire world to oblivion.
CHAPTER 16.
After the Princess was returned to her cell, Vader met with Tarkin in the Death Star conference room. Tarkin said, ”What of the search for the plans?”
”I am convinced that the Princess sent them down to the planet Tatooine with a pair of droids. A short time ago, a stars.h.i.+p made a highly illegal blastoff from the Mos Eisley s.p.a.ceport on Tatooine after her crew exchanged fire with a squad of stormtroopers. The s.h.i.+p then entered hypers.p.a.ce, evading pursuit. The droids in question were thought to be aboard her.”
Tarkin grimaced. ”And our stormtroopers were outfought, our Starfleet evaded? How is this possible? Whose s.h.i.+p was it?”
”That is difficult to say,” Vader said. ”She had false identification markings and a forged registration. Moreover, she was an extremely fast and elusive vessel, probably one of the smugglers who congregate in that region.”
An Imperial officer entered the conference room and reported that scout s.h.i.+ps had traveled to Dantooine but discovered only the remains of a Rebel base that had been deserted for some time. After the officer left, Tarkin exploded with rage.
”She lied!” Tarkin snarled. ”She lied to us!”
As much as Vader respected Tarkin's indifference to ma.s.s murder, the Grand Moff s rattled outburst indicated that Princess Leia had clearly won this particular battle of wills. Unable to resist driving a splinter into Tarkin's demented psyche, Vader said, ”I told you she would never consciously betray the Rebellion.”
Tarkin scowled at Vader. ”Terminate her ... immediately!”
Vader moved across the conference room to a communications console. With his helmet facing the comlink, he said, ”Detention Area Security. Schedule the prisoner in cell 3187 for execution in one standard hour.”
”Yes, Lord Vader,” answered a voice from the comlink.
Glaring at Vader's back, Tarkin said, ”I said immediately, Lord Vader.”
Vader was about to respond when a comlink buzzed on the table in front of Tarkin. He pushed a b.u.t.ton and said, ”Yes?”
From the comlink, an Imperial officer announced, ”We've captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system. Its markings match those of a s.h.i.+p that blasted out of Mos Eisley.”
Processing the information, Vader hypothesized, ”They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the Princess. She may yet be of some use to us.”
Vader proceeded to Death Star Docking Bay 327, where a tractor beam had deposited the captured s.h.i.+p. Entering the large hangar, Vader recognized the battered vessel as an old Corellian YT-1300 stock light freighter. He also noted its customized features, including illegal military-grade blaster cannons and an absurdly large top-of-the-line sensor dish on the port side.
Definitely a smuggler's s.h.i.+p, Vader thought as he walked past the squad of stormtroopers who were guarding the s.h.i.+p.
A gray-uniformed Imperial captain and a pair of stormtroopers stepped down the s.h.i.+p's landing ramp. Stopping before Vader, the captain said, ”There's no one on board, sir. According to the log, the crew abandoned s.h.i.+p right after takeoff. It must be a decoy, sir. Several of the escape pods have been jettisoned.”
”Did you find any droids?”
”No, sir,” the captain replied. ”If there were any on board, they must also have been jettisoned.”
”Send a scanning crew aboard,” Vader ordered. ”I want every part of the s.h.i.+p checked.”
”Yes, sir.”
Vader looked up at the s.h.i.+p's hull. ”I sense something ... a presence I've not felt since .. .” Since Mustafar. Then it hit him. Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi. . . He's alive!
Nearly an hour after the freighter had been captured, Grand Moff Tarkin was at his usual place in the conference room when Darth Vader announced: ”He is here.”
”Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi!” Tarkin said with disbelief. ”What makes you think so?”
”A tremor in the Force,” Vader answered. ”The last time I felt it was in the presence of my old Master.”
”Surely he must be dead by now.”
”Don't underestimate the power of the Force.”
”The Jedi are extinct,” Tarkin insisted. ”Their fire has gone out of the universe. You, my friend, are all that's left of their religion.” A signal chimed from the comlink at the console in front of Tarkin's seat. Tarkin pressed a console b.u.t.ton and said, ”Yes?”
From the comlink, a voice said, ”We have an emergency alert in detention block AA-23.”
”The Princess!” Tarkin exclaimed. ”Put all sections on alert!”
”Obi-Wan is here,” Vader said. ”The Force is with him.”
”If you're right, he must not be allowed to escape.”
”Escape is not in his plan,” Vader said knowingly. ”I must face him - alone.” He turned for the door. As large as the Death Star was, he knew he would find the elusive Jedi Master.