Part 3 (1/2)
In the middle of her normal sleep cycle Leia rose from bed. In an attempt to get her mind off Isolder, she sat down at a computer console and studied the Verpines. The large insects had long been a s.p.a.cefaring race and had colonized the Roche asteroid belts before the Old Republic was born. They had developed an odd form of government. Because they communicated via radio waves using a strange organ in their chests, a single Verpine could talk with the entire race within seconds, allowing the Verpines to develop something of a communal mind. Yet each Verpine considered itself completely aloof from the group, not controlled by the hive. A Verpine who made a decision that might be considered ”wrong” by the group was never punished, never condemned. The acts of the ”mad” hive mother who had sabotaged the Barabel contracts weren't seen as a crime to be rectified but only as a sickness to be pitied.
Leia looked through the files and found ample evidence of Verpine criminals in the history books?murderers, thieves. And she discovered something very interesting. Nearly all of them had one thing in common: a set of damaged antennae. This fact made Leia wonder if the Verpines hadn't developed more of a communal mind than they realized. A Verpine without antennae was forever alone, unreachable.
Whatever the reason for the Verpines' behavior, the Barabels were mad enough to slaughter the whole species and chop them into hors d'oeuvres.
Leia knew she wouldn't find an answer until she reached the Roche system and met the Verpines. She probably wouldn't understand the whole truth even if she met the mad hive queen herself.
Leia rubbed her weary eyes, but was too wound up to sleep. Instead, she walked the long corridors to the holo vid room and said to the operator, ”I would like to arrange a broadcast to Luke Skywalker. You should be able to reach him at the New Republic emba.s.sy on Toola.”
The operator nodded, made the connection, and spoke with an operator there. ”Skywalker is in the wilderness. We can have him at the holo vid screen within an hour, if it is an emergency.”
”Please do,” Leia said. ”I'll wait for him here. I can't sleep anyway.”
She took a seat nearby, then waited for Luke. When he appeared, he stood in a tall building wearing a dark wool greatcoat. Behind him was a huge window of cut gla.s.s. A pale red sun shone coldly through the gla.s.s, scattering light all around him in a fiery halo.
”What's the emergency?” Luke asked, breathless.
Leia suddenly felt embarra.s.sed, shy. She told him about Isolder, about the treasures piled in her room and the Hapan's proposal. Luke remained calm, studied her face a moment.
”Isolder frightens you? I can feel your fright.”
”Yes,” Leia said.
”And you feel tenderness for him, something that might even turn into love. But you don't want to hurt either Han or the prince?”
”Yes,” Leia said. ”Oh, I'm almost sorry I called you with something so trivial.”
”No, this isn't trivial,” Luke said, and suddenly his pale blue eyes seemed to look beyond her, focusing on something in the distance. ”Have you ever heard of a planet called Dathomir?”
”No,” Leia answered. ”Why?”
”I don't know,” Luke said, ”just a feeling. I'm coming to you. I sense an urgency. I should reach Coruscant in four days.”
”I'll be to the Roche system in three.”
”I'll meet you there, then.”
”Good,” Leia said. ”I'd like you nearby.”
”In the meantime,” Luke offered, ”take things slowly. Find out how you feel. You don't have to decide between the two in a day. Forget about Isolder's wealth. You wouldn't be marrying his planets, you would be marrying him. Just give him the same consideration you would give to any other man, okay?”
Leia nodded, suddenly became conscious of how much this call would cost.
”Thank you,” she said. ”I'll see you soon.”
”I love you,” Luke said, and he faded.
Leia went back to her room, lay in bed for a long time before she fell asleep.
She was wakened in the early morning by door chimes. She found Han at the door, holding a starburst plant.
”I came to apologize for yesterday,” Han said, offering the plant. The brilliant yellow flowers on their dark stalks seemed to twinkle as they opened and closed. Leia took it, smiled warmly, and Han kissed her.
”How do you think dinner went?” he asked.
”Fine,” Leia said. ”Isolder was a perfect gentleman.”
”Not too perfect, I hope,” Han said. Leia didn't laugh at his joke, and he hurried to add, ”After dinner last night, I went to my room and gnawed on my own petty jealous fantasies for a while.”
”How did they taste?” Leia asked.
”Oh, you know. I ended up going to one of the s.h.i.+p's galleys in the middle of the night, looking for something tastier to eat.” Leia laughed, and Han stroked her cheek. ”There's that smile. I love you, you know.”
”I know.”
”Good,” Han said, taking a deep breath. ”So how do you think the dinner went?”
”You aren't going to give up, are you?” Leia asked.
Han shrugged.
”Well, he seemed nice enough,” Leia answered. ”I guess. I plan to invite him to stay here on the s.h.i.+p while we go to the Roche system.”
”You what?”
”I'm going to invite him to stay here on the s.h.i.+p.”
”Why?”
”Because he's only going to be here for a few weeks, then he'll leave and I'll never see him again. That's why.”
Han began shaking his head. ”I hope you didn't fall for that line about how he fell in love with you from a distance,” he said a little loudly, ”and how he begged his mother for the chance to marry you.”
”Does that bother you?”
”Of course it bothers me!” Han shouted. ”Why shouldn't it bother me?” His gaze turned inward, and he clenched his fist. ”I'll tell you, as soon as I saw that guy, I knew he was trouble. There's something seriously wrong with him”?he glanced up, as if suddenly remembering that Leia was in the room?”Your Majesty. That guy is, uh?I don't know?slime.”
”Slime?” Leia exclaimed. ”You're calling the prince of Hapes slime? Come off it, Han, you're just jealous!”
”You're right! Maybe I am jealous!” Han admitted. ”But that doesn't change my feelings. Something is wrong here. I can't shake this feeling that something's wrong.” Again he took on that same inward look. ”Believe me, Your Highness. I've lived in the gutter most of my life. I'm slime.
Most of my friends are slime. And when you've been among slime as long as I have, you learn to spot it at a distance!”
Leia didn't understand how Han could say such things. First to insult her by saying that he found it suspicious that another man might find her attractive, then to call the man a slime?all of it ran against her most deeply ingrained beliefs about how people should act toward one another.
”I think,” Leia said, shaking with anger, ”that maybe you ought to take your stupid plant and give it to the prince with your apologies! You know, someday your slow wit and quick tongue are really going to get you in trouble!”