Part 8 (1/2)
Kiro was an ally, and Leia's ready trust in him shouldn't have bothered Luke.
But it did.
”So it's true!” Halle Dray appeared beside them, as if out of nowhere. Beside her was J'er Nahj and Fess Ilee. ”You come here claiming to want to help us, but all you really want are more martyrs for your cause.”
Leia looked at her. ”I don't know what you're talking about.”
”There are rumors, Your Highness,” Nahj said. His voice was gentler, but contained no kindness. ”And given that you're here with him him-” He glared at Kiro.
”I don't even know you,” Kiro said. ”Either of you.”
”But we know you you,” Halle said. ”And we know what you've been up to.”
Nahj looked sorrowfully at Leia. ”It's hard to avoid the conclusion that you're recruiting soldiers for your Alliance.”
”It's not my my Alliance,” Leia said, a little of the old fire returning to her voice. ”It fights for all of us.” Alliance,” Leia said, a little of the old fire returning to her voice. ”It fights for all of us.”
”Not for me,” Halle snapped. ”The Alderaan of my youth rejected fighting. It outlawed weapons, turned away from violence-until the blood-thirsty Organa family sucked it into a war it could never win.”
”That's not how it happened!” Luke protested.
Halle turned the full power of her glare on him. ”Stay out of things that don't concern you,” she said in a low, dangerous voice. ”Especially when you don't know what you're talking about.”
”I know-”
”Luke!” Leia quieted him with a look. ”It's fine.”
”Her Highness only wants what is best for us,” Kiro said. ”We're all on the same side here. She's not your enemy.”
”Alderaan had no enemies before her,” Halle hissed. ”Now we have no Alderaan. Call it what you want, but that's no coincidence.”
Leia stayed silent. It was unlike her, refusing to defend herself in the face of such an attack.
”The Empire is an enemy to all of us, including Alderaan,” Kiro argued. ”And it's our duty to fight back.”
”Yes, I've heard that's your line,” Halle sneered. ”I've been looking forward to meeting this Kiro Chen I've heard so much about, the one who delights in leading our people to the slaughter. There's something I've been wanting to say to you.”
She slapped his face. Then walked away.
Kiro rubbed his hand across his cheek, where Halle's hand had left an angry red mark.
”She's upset,” he said, almost to himself. ”She doesn't know what she's saying.”
”We're all upset,” Nahj said. He spoke softly, but his eyes were angry. ”When you promised to help us in any way you could, Your Highness, I didn't realize that meant sending us off to die at the hands of the Empire.”
”Every Rebel is a volunteer volunteer,” Leia said. ”Every man and woman here is free to choose.”
Luke shot her a sharp look. She was coming dangerously close to admitting that Halle and Nahj were right, that she was recruiting for the Rebel Alliance. It was a dangerous slip. And that wasn't like her, either.
”You're their leader,” Nahj snapped. ”They do as you ask.”
Their leader, Luke noted, not leader, Luke noted, not our our.
Leia whipped her gaze toward Fess. ”Does he speak for you, too?”
”I speak for myself,” Fess said.
It was odd. Luke had heard Leia's stories about Fess's buffoonery and empty-headedness. But the stories didn't match the man.
”You take danger upon yourself so easily,” Fess said, ”and the fight is all you need to sustain you. So it's understandably difficult for you to understand that these people here don't need a fight: They need food. Bacta. Blankets. You're offering them a war. That's no subst.i.tute for a home.”
”I'm offering them a reason to live live,” Leia shot back. ”The Alliance gives me a reason to go forward. Everyone should have that chance.”
”Not everyone's like you,” Fess pointed out. ”Some people just want to live in peace.”
Luke flashed back to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's broken bodies. They'd never wanted to fight anyone. But the Empire hadn't cared.
”Not everyone's like you you, either,” Leia said, her face white with rage. ”Not everyone's so craven and weak. So useless useless.”
Fess opened his mouth-then shut it again. He turned to Nahj. ”I think it's best if I go.”
Nahj nodded. ”I'll go with you.” He extended a hand to Leia. ”You made me a promise, Your Highness. I hope you do not forget it.”
”I've promised to defeat the Empire,” Leia said. ”And nothing's more important than that.”
CHAPTER TWELVE.
”You're late,” Halle Dray snarled, barring the door. ”You're sure no one followed you?”
Ferus nodded. ”Why do you think I'm late?”
She stepped aside.
”You never mentioned you were so cozy with the princess,” she said, as he followed her into the abandoned house. The others had already arrived. They were a.s.sembled in the dusty remains of the living room. Shards of transparisteel littered the floor, and moonlight filtered in through the shattered windows. It was a sad, forgotten place in a sad, forgotten corner of the city. A perfect spot for secrets.
”Cozy isn't the word I would use,” Ferus pointed out. ”In case you hadn't noticed, she hates me. Even more so, now that she realizes I'm with you.”
”That's right.” Halle's voice was laced with sarcasm. ”Sometimes I forget-you're with us.”
It had taken Ferus very little time to get the others to trust him, but Halle Dray remained the lone holdout. He didn't take it personally: She trusted no one.
J'er Nahj had once told Ferus that she'd worked at a wildlife medcenter on Alderaan, tending to injured stalking birds and sick grazers. But that was before before, in what she referred to as her other life. If there was any gentleness left in her now, she hid it well.
”We were right,” Halle told the group, as the meeting began. ”Leia is here to draft survivors into the Rebellion. She pretends to want to help us, but she's just looking for martyrs to her cause.”
”Do you have proof?” Ferus asked.