The Force Unleashed (24 page)

refreshed after his short time-out.

"Where are we going?" he asked Juno.

"Nowhere," she said.

Kota looked up with blind eyes. "When I last saw Bail Organa, he said he would find

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someone to help him if I wouldn't: Master Shaak Ti was his choice. I warned him it

would be too dangerous, but the fool went after her anyway, alone. There was nothing

I could do to stop him." The old man's jaw jutted out as though daring anyone to

disagree. "I've checked with Ylenic It'kla, his assistant on Alderaan. Bail vanished

as soon as he landed on..."

"Felucia," said Starkiller, nodding.

Kota cocked his head as though hearing a very faint, distant sound.

A dense silence fell. Starkiller looked up at the same time as Juno, realizing too

late what he had said. Would Kota realize? Juno watched in light-headed panic as

Starkiller's hand crept toward the hilt at his waist.

"The Force is strong in you, boy," said Kota softly, "for you to be able to sense my

thoughts."

Juno let some of the tension drain from her.

"You're just easy to read, old man," Starkiller said.

"Then I suppose you know that Felucia is a dangerous place."

Starkiller dismissed that concern. "I can handle it."

Kota leaned closer. "Don't be overconfident, boy. Felucia is a world finely balanced

between the light and dark sides of the Force. Shaak Ti was the only thing keeping

it from being consumed by darkness. If anything's happened to her, your experience

in the hut will seem like a bad dream in comparison."

Starkiller pulled back. "How did you know-?"

"You're easy to read, too." Kota's smile was tight-lipped.

"Felucia it is," said Juno to break the tension.

"No." Starkiller put his hand on her shoulder before she could nun back to the

controls. "You go get some rest. PROXY and I will get us the remainder of the way.

I'll wake you when we're dose."

She looked up at him and nodded. He had thought of her unprompted; that was

encouraging. "All right. But the slightest problem..."

"Don't worry. They'll hear us hollering in Coruscant. Go."

He took her space at the controls. "Now, PROXY, here's your chance to remind me how

astronavigation works."

"I fear, master, that it would take far too long to supplement your primary program

with the algorithms required ..."

Smiling to herself, she put the cockpit behind her and went to get some rest.

SHE DREAMED INTENSELY AND POWERFULLY that she was already back on Felucia, watching

an exceedingly fragile flower unfold. Bright red petals hid an intensely black

heart. When she leaned close to study it, she found it to be crawling with tiny,

many-legged insects.

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Then she was in orbit, watching a skyhook cable snapping upward from its severed

base. A large chunk of Felucia's crust came with it, like the plug from a bath. The

planet began to deflate, darkening as it shrank until it became Callos under its

pall of smoke. She stared in horror, knowing that she was unable to put the plug

back in, no matter how much she might want to.

Then her father was shouting at her, telling her that she had shamed the family and

the Empire. When she tried to tell him-as she never had in life-that he was the one

who had been wrong all along, about Palpatine and his murderous regime, his

hook-nosed visage changed into that of the Emperor himself, who snarled at her and

repeated the words her father had used.

Then she realized that neither the Emperor nor her father was the true face of the

being in front of her. It was PROXY, playing a trick on her. She plucked at the

illusion, trying to unravel it, but all she revealed beneath was Starkiller, smiling

benignly.

Who are you? she asked him. What's your real name?

He smiled wider and said, Your gratitude is wasted on me.

She woke in a cold sweat, feeling as though she had been clunked in one of Raxus

Prime's poisoned puddles, and knew that she would be able to get no more sleep.

JUNO CAME FORWARD JUST BEFORE the apprentice sent PROXY back to get her. He had

checked on her earlier and found her sleeping soundly, but she looked as though she

hadn't taken much rest from it. She looked much like he felt, in fact: profoundly

strained by recent events, but putting on as good a face as possible.

I'm exhausted, she had said. He had been struck on hearing those words that she

might mean more than just needing sleep. What if the emotional strain of serving

with him proved too much? His mission was far more important than her conflict over

betraying the Empire, but in order to meet his Master's goal-and thereby

successfully challenge the Emperor-he would need her help. While dealing with his

own problems, he would have to find ways to lighten her load.

Kota was next to no help. The old man seemed so wrapped up in his own problems, he

barely noticed anyone else. When Juno joined them, he just scratched his bristly

chin and settled deeper into his seat.

They made a motley crew, the three of them. Only PROXY seemed happy in himself and

with his own goals. The apprentice-wished he could be so clearly defined.

All my life I've thought of myself solely as Darth Vader's apprentice. Now I find I

might have had a past before that-a father, a name, a history. Who was this Galen?

What were his dreams, his hopes, his fears? What made him laugh? What made him cry?

It seemed inconceivable that he could have forgotten something as traumatic as the

death of his father, but he knew that intense trauma could cause partial or complete

amnesia. He couldn't therefore rule anything out.

And the question remained: did it matter? Whoever he had once been, that being was

forgotten, and his purpose now was unchanged. He was his Master's apprentice; they

would be victorious; and Juno would learn, in the end, that she had not betrayed the

Empire after all. If only, he thought, I could tell her now . . .

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He got up to let her into the seat, then leaned over PROXY as she checked the course

the two of them had laid in.

"Not bad," she said, making only a couple of small corrections. "We're not going to

crash into anything, anyway."

"Thank you, Captain Eclipse." PROXY'S insides whirred with pride. "I estimate that

we will arrive in one standard minute."

"Do you want us to put down anywhere in particular?" she asked the apprentice. "It's

a big planet."

"Every Senatorial shuttle broadcasts a unique transponder signal," he said, thinking

of the many missions he had flown for his Master, weeding out political enemies.

"Search for Senator Organa's signal; that will tell us where to land."

Hyperspace gave way to realspace through the forward viewport. Felucia hung directly

ahead, as swollen with life and as green as the apprentice remembered it. He studied

it closely, seeking any sign of the "imbalance" Kota had warned him of. He wasn't

afraid of the dark side. If anything, he would feel more comfortable on a world in

which the proper dynamic between light and dark had been restored. Shaak Ti's death

should have had a profound effect on the world and its inhabitants.

"Searching for the transponder," said Juno. "Shouldn't take long. Felucia's as quiet

as-ah, yes. There it is. You were right."

Juno moved the Rogue Shadow in a fast orbit through the skies of Felucia,

triangulating on Bail Organa's signal. The trail port had landed very close to where

she and the apprentice had put down the first time, although neither of them

mentioned that fact in front of Kota. The apprentice stayed in position as the ship

descended along a carefully controlled flight path. The atmosphere roiled around

them, as thick with pollen and airborne life-forms as before. Clouds of bacteria

swarmed in the air, coating the forward view with a faint patina of green. He hadn't

noticed that last time and hoped it wouldn't affect hull integrity.

"I'm picking up signs of a large Imperial presence on the ground," Juno said as they

descended. "They're the least of your worries, I suspect."

Juno put them down on another sturdy mushroom cap, more confidently than she had on

her first try. Organa's transport was parked on the far side, its hatches open,

empty of life according t<> the Rogue Shadow's sensors. During the hyperspace jump

the apprentice had accessed records of Bail Organa, Imperial Senator and Prince of

Alderaan, and been struck by a strange familiarity about the man's face. Dark-haired

and tall, with a gray-flecked goatee and a strong, thoughtful stare, he had

definitely crossed the apprentice's path before-but where? Not on one of his many

missions for Darth Vader; of that he was certain. Hopefully it wouldn't compromise

his mission, if they had encountered each other in his secret past. . .

"Want to come, General?" he asked the old man.

"What use would I be to you out there?" Kota retorted. "You'll be better off without

me slowing you down."

"Whatever you say." The apprentice strode down the ramp.

"Wait." Juno followed, running in her haste to catch him.

He turned, thinking that he had forgotten something, but she took his arm and led

him off the ramp, toward the empty transport.

"Let's make sure he's not still in there, dead, and our trip wasn't for nothing,"

she said, "before you go gallivanting off into the jungle."

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Puzzled at something in her tone, he let himself be led away from the Rogue Shadow.

The transport was a small one, large enough for five people with a small but

efficient hyperdrive, impeccably maintained. Two crests adorned its sides: those of

the Organa family and of Alderaan, both of which the Senator represented. It didn't

appear to have been interfered with, except by a in ill colony of flying insects

that had made the tiny but opulent passenger quarters its home.

The shuttle was indeed empty. The apprentice turned to Juno to state the obvious,

but she had reached past him to activate the air lock controls. The door slid shut,

sealing them inside with the swarm of disconcerted insects. Before he could say

anything, (the put a finger to her lips and switched off both their comlinks.

"There," she said, stepping back and wiping her hands nervously on her pants. Those

and her boots were the only things she'd retained of her former uniform. "Now we can

talk in private."

"What's this about?" he asked, feeling the beginning of nervousness. The walls of

the tiny air lock in which they were standing suddenly seemed entirely too close.

She avoided his gaze and indicated the shuttle's passenger hold. "I guess Organa

made it this far."

"Certainly looks that way," he said, increasingly puzzled.

"Where will you start looking for him?"

"Where I first confronted Shaak Ti. If he followed her trail that far, he might

still be nearby."

Her blue eyes met his, then danced away. "Does it disturb you to return here

after-after last time?"

"No," he said, exhaling through his nose. "If I let it affect me, Master Kota will

sense it."

"Exactly." Her hand reached out and gripped his upper arm. Suddenly her full

attention was on him. "That's what worries me. It's dangerous having him with us. If

he discovers who you are-who you were-he'll never forgive us."

A worm turned in his stomach. "We've got nothing to feel guilty about."

"I know, but..."

"Don't worry, Juno. Really." He put a hand on hers and awkwardly squeezed it. Her

skin was soft. He was very conscious of the heady smell of her in the close

confines. He wanted nothing more than to reassure her, but suspected words wouldn't

be enough. "If Kota senses who I am, I won't give him the chance to tell anyone

else."

That didn't have the effect he had intended. She pulled away and turned to face the

exit. "That's what I'm afraid of," she said, her hand reaching for the air lock

control.

Light and air rushed in as the door whooshed open. He blinked at the sudden

transition and at the passing of the moment that had existed so briefly between

them. Something had been communicated that he didn't quite understand. Although he

had tried, he had failed to give her what she needed from him. Reassurance,

certainly, was part of it; evidence of his true allegiance as well, perhaps. He

struggled for words to bring her back, but could only watch her walk back to the

ship.

"PROXY," she called through her comlink, peering into a green-slimed intake vent,

"come out here and help me scrape some of this gunk off the ship."

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The apprentice took the hint. This was a problem he would have to deal with later,

once he had Bail Organa safely in hand-at which point his mission would become even

more complex and dangerous. Rescuing a blind old man was one thing; proving his

worth to a fellow teenager-even one with Leia Organa's obvious abilities-was only

marginally more difficult. Bail Organa, on the other hand, had survived Palpatine's