Part 31 (1/2)
His computer had verified the caller from his voice patterns, else it would not have been put through.
”Yes?”
”My prince, there is news of Skywalker.”
”And it is...?”
”He has allegedly been captured by a group of bounty hunters. They would not say where they are precisely, but we have determined that they are on Kothlis. We expect to have that information updated momentarily. There is a problem, however.”
”I see. And this problem is...?”
”They say there is another bidder for their prisoner. One whose offer tops ours and who has... Imperial connections.”
Hmm. Vader had just gone to that area. Ostensibly it was to give credence to the computer theft, but consider: Who in the galaxy wanted Skywalker as much as Xizor himself did? Vader, of course. Then again, Vader was already back here onplanet, had gone to see the Emperor, and there were no indications he had brought Skywalker back with him. Perhaps the information had reached him too late for him to make proper use of it. Or not reached him at all.
Well. This ploy with the princess might not be necessary at all. ”Tell them we'll double whatever the other side has to offer.”
”Highness, if we're bidding against the Empire, we can't match them.”
”I know that. It doesn't matter since we aren't ever going to have to pay it. As soon as we find out precisely where they are holding him, we'll scramble a jade ops team and collect him for free. We don't need him breathing, only his body.”
”Very well, Highness-wait. Your pardon; I'm getting a call from one of our operatives regarding this; it may be the location we need...”
Xizor gave the agent leave to answer the call. He sat and waited.
Meditated on the ruthlessness of entropy. On the amount of time he had spent waiting for somebody to get back to him. Months, probably, maybe more. Of course, that happened a lot less now than once it had...
When his agent came back online, his voice was shaky and he had difficulty speaking without swallowing frequently.
”M-My prince, there has been a... complication,” Fear lurked in the man's words like a desert scavenger circling a dying animal.
”A complication,” Xizor repeated.
”It-It seems that Skywalker has escaped custody. And Darth Vader is now personally involved; he was seen near the site of the escape within hours of the event.”
As the bearer of what he thought very bad news, the agent feared for his life. People had been killed for less when offering unhappy tiding to their princes, and the man knew it, knew his employer had done it himself.
Had doubtless heard the tale of the traitor Green by now, too.
Xizor laughed.
”M-My prince?”
Finally. Some good news. Vader had just missed Skywalker. The boy was free, and as long as Leia was safely installed here, sooner or later Skywalker would show up on Xizor's doorstep. The Wookiee would see to that.
”Do not concern yourself with Skywalker's escape,” the Dark Prince said.
”That situation is under control.” Someday, perhaps, he would allow this story to become public-once he was in control of the galaxy. Ah, people would say, how devious the Dark Prince is. Beware!
Beware, indeed.
Leia tried the door to her room, but of course it was locked. She looked around. It didn't appear as if the last occupant had forgotten and left a spare blaster in the bedside table; there were no tools with which to open the door, no secret escape hatches she could find. She also couldn't spot the holocam, but she was sure the room was wired for surveillance, given what she now knew. If she had to stay here long enough to undress, she would do it in the dark and hope they didn't have a light-gathering scope on the lens. Although it was probably a little late for modesty.
She sighed. She hoped Chewie had gotten away. Not that it would do her much good, but at least if he'd made it, he could fill Luke and Lando in, so they'd know to get Luke as far away from Black Sun as possible. Luke would want to come and rescue her, but Lando was a realist; he should be able to talk Luke out of it. They needed to be free, to rescue Han. That was the important thing.
Forgive me, Han, for what I almost did. It was adrug, I know, but I'm sorry I was so weak.
When she saw him again-well, if she saw him again - maybe she would tell him about it. Then again, maybe not. No point in upsetting him, right?
The idea of seeing Han again made her feel momentarily better, but she had to admit that her chances didn't seem particularly good just now.
She sat on the bed and considered her options. At the moment, she didn't seem to have an awful lot of them.
She leaned back, stretched out. One of the things she'd learned while working with the Alliance's military personnel was: When in doubt, take a nap. Never knew when you would get the chance again.
Not that she thought she'd be able to sleep, given all that was going on.
She'd just lie here and try to relax for a few moments.
She surprised herself by dropping into a deep sleep almost immediately.
Lando didn't want to stop, but Luke insisted.
”Look, I trust the Force and it's telling me Leia is in danger. So let's just put in a call and check, okay?”
”Can't it wait until we get to Tatooine?”
”No.”
Lando sighed. ”All right. But you remember I did this. You owe me one.”
He dropped the falcon out of hypers.p.a.ce. ”How do we call?” Luke asked.
Lando smiled. ”I've got a little surprise for you. Han isn't the only one who can rig the Falcon.”
”What do you mean?”
Lando put the s.h.i.+p on automatic control and led Luke to the aft cargo hold. He pointed at a device mounted on one wall. ”That looks like a comm unit.”
”Bright boy. Go ahead, make your call.”
Luke punched in the relay codes that Lando gave him while the gambler kept fiddling with the override to make sure the communication wasn't tapped.
Dash didn't answer, but there was a recorded computer response.
Luke turned to Lando. ”Do we have the 'play message' code?”
”Yes.” Lando gave it to him.
The image that ghosted into being surprised them. A Wookiee with a bad haircut. Luke didn't recognize himat first. Until he started talking.