Part 24 (1/2)
Guri said, ”They belonged to Boushh, an Ubese bounty hunter. Boushh was quite good at the trade. He did a lot of contract work for Black Sun.
He... retired recently.”
”As it happens, I speak a bit of Ubese,” Leia said.
”We know. The costume is not a coincidence.” Leia looked at the clothes.
”What happened to thisBoushh? He retired?”
”Quite suddenly. He tried to rascal Black Sun for more credits on a delivery for which there was an agreed-upon contract. That was...
unwise.”
The sound of the last statement gave Leia a chill. She moved to don the clothing. She had a feeling Boushh would not be needing these smelly clothes again.
When Chewie returned in a few minutes, it was all Leia could do to keep a straight face. Where his fur hadbeen brown and gray, it now was mottled with large patches of black. A racc.o.o.nlike mask encircled his eyes, and the fur on his head had been trimmed into a short s.p.a.cer's cut. She turned to Guri, who said, ”MeetSnoova, a well-known Wookiee bounty hunter.”
Chewie was unhappy, and that came through in whatever it was he said.
”Stop complaining,” Leia said. ”The dye will wash out and your fur will grow back. In a couple of weeks you'll be back to normal.”
Leia put her helmet on and tested the built-in voxscrambler. When she spoke her voice was electronicallyaltered. She knew enough Ubese to get by, and as long as she didn't run into a native of that place, she should be okay. Her speech buzzed and clicked and sounded to her own ears as if it were indeed coming from an alien throat.
Chewie gargled and moaned, and Guri nodded. ”Yes. It will do. We'll be landing soon.” Leia nodded and removed the helmet. She hoped Guri knew what she was doing.
23.
A thin man brought Luke food and drink twice a day. He had eaten worse, eaten better, too. The routine was usually the same when breakfast or supper arrived: The thin man carried a tray to the door. The guard unlocked the door, leveled his blast rifle at Luke, and backed him to the cot; the thin man put the tray on the floor just inside the door, then left, with the guard.
This time, Luke asked the thin man for the time.
”Whyddya care?” the thin man said.
”Why do you care if I care?” Luke returned.
The thin man sneered, but he told Luke what time it was and departed.
This was the evening meal, as Luke had suspected.
The reason for his question was simple. He was planning on leaving, and he wanted the cover of darkness. Once he got out of the building, better they were not able to spot him, that he could use the night for camouflage.
Luke ate. The liquid was sweet, brown, and fizzy; the food was bland-soypro cutlets, some kind of orange vegetable, something green and crunchy-but there was no point escaping on an empty stomach. Once he got to his X-wing and lifted, there was no telling how long it would be before he had a chance to eat again.
Once he got to his X-wing.
He grinned around a mouthful of the green stuff. Like that was going to be the easy part.
It would not be wise for them to be seen together, Guri told Leia. ”After you clear customs, meet me at these coordinates.”
Leia and Chewie agreed.
There were a few tense moments at customs.
A guard examined the holocard ID that said Leia was Boushh, tapped it against the table in front of him. ”Purpose of your visit?”
”Business,” Leia said in Ubese. Her voice clicked and buzzed through the mask.
”I see you are licensed to carry that weapon, but we do not take kindly to people who use them on Imperial Center.”
Leia said nothing.
”I think we'll have to take that helmet off,” he said. ”Just to be certain you match the holograph.” He tapped the card again, looked at it.
”One can't be too careful.”
Leia said, ”It will damage my lungs to breathe this air without my filters.”
”I can arrange an atmosphere room-” he began. He stopped. Chewie moved close to Leia and the guard, rumbled something. She realized how used to him she'd gotten every time she took in his disguise. Good old Chewie, he was as dependable as sunlight, loyal to a fault.
”What is your problem?” the guard said.
Chewie babbled something that sounded angry.
”I don't care if you are late for an appointment,” the guard said. But the line of people waiting to pa.s.s through customs was starting to lengthen, and the guard suddenly thrust Leia's ID card back at her. ”Move along, bounty hunter. I have others to process.”
Once Chewie was through, he and Leia moved quickly away from the area.
”Okay, now we go and see my contact. This section of the Underground is relatively safe,” she said, ”but still not a place where you want to relax your guard.”
Chewie nodded and patted his bowcaster. Said something.
”If you just asked why we aren't going directly to see Guri, I want to see if I can't hedge our bets a little first.”
Aboard the Executor, Vader considered his upcoming meeting with Luke.
Since last they'd met, the boy had had time to come to terms with what he'd been told. On some level, he must know the truth, that Vader was his father. Of course, that had been in another lifetime, when Vader had still been Anakin Skywalker, but the fact of it remained.
He would turn him. He knew he could, because he had felt the dark side rise in Luke, had felt the power of his anger. The boy had loosed it once; he could be made to free it again. Each repet.i.tion became easier.
The dark side was a path that grew wider and deeper each time you trod upon it. Soon it would be no effort at all for Luke to allow the dark side to rule.
And the Emperor was right. Luke had much power in him. It was raw, unchanneled and untrained, but it was vast. His potential was larger than the Emperor's, larger than Vader's.
But it was still only potential and not focused energy. When next they met, Vader would still be more adept, still the master. He would defeat the boy and bring him to the dark side. They would be in accord, father and son.
And when that happened, nothing in the galaxy could stop them. None would dare oppose them. All would bow before them. Worlds would tremble at their approach.