Star Wars_ Darksaber - Kevin J. Anderson [112]
Leia…
Leia!
“Luke?” she whispered.
Threepio, still reciting his list, finally noticed that something was wrong. “Mistress Leia, are you all right?”
Han turned from the pilot’s seat, an expression of concern on his face. “Hey, Leia—what is it?”
Leia shivered and squeezed her eyes shut. She ran her fingertips across her forehead … and the voice continued to echo through her skull, a distant pleading call with no details, just the repeated summons.
Leia!
“It’s Luke,” she said. “He’s in trouble.”
“Do you know where he is?” Han said, his face filled with questions he did not ask. In their years together, Han had learned not to inquire about certain details of the Jedi, because he would never understand anyway. He no longer considered it a “hokey religion,” but he still didn’t comprehend it.
“No,” she said. Luke’s ethereal voice faded to the back of her mind where it remained, its insistent summons growing no worse but issuing a continuous call. “I think I can find him if I concentrate hard enough, though. We have to—”
“Hey, look!” Han pointed out the cockpit as they approached the New Republic fleet. Wedge’s escort frigate Yavaris hung in front of them like a jagged monstrosity. Connected to one of the docking ports was the familiar battered shape of the Millennium Falcon. “Chewie must be back with Artoo.” Han spun in his chair and looked at Leia. “When we get to the fleet, we’ll give them our news about the Hutts. Then we can take all these warships with us to rescue Luke—or we can just go in the Falcon.”
“All right.” Leia bit her lower lip. “I don’t think the whole fleet would help, though. We’ve got to go soon.” She swallowed, trying to ease her dry throat. “We’ll have to brief Ackbar on what we learned about Imperial activities. He’ll need time to plan strategy.”
When the diplomatic shuttle pulled into the receiving bay of the Yavaris, they sprang out of their ship with the New Republic armed escort. Before Han could get his bearings, the towering lanky form of a bellowing Wookiee rushed to greet him. Chewbacca embraced Han so hard that Leia thought she could hear bones crack.
Wedge Antilles came running up breathless. “Han, Leia! Glad you’re back. Chewie and Artoo found out something on Nar Shaddaa, but once they heard you were on your way, they insisted on waiting.”
Chewbacca barked a rapid story that Leia could not understand. Artoo also wheeled up whistling and chittering. “Wait a minute, you two,” Leia said, raising her voice.
Han held out both hands, palm outward. “Chewie,” he said, “hey, buddy—talk slower! I can’t understand you.”
It took several minutes for Han to extricate the message about Imperial General Sulamar linking up with the Hutts to build their superweapon. This—tied with the information that Admiral Daala had unified the remaining Imperial forces and was planning her assault—made the galaxy a dangerous place indeed.
Leia listened, sick with anxiety for Luke, yet knowing she had to give instructions, issue standing orders for her fleet before she went rushing off.
“General Antilles,” Leia said, “let’s go to the war room and link up with Admiral Ackbar. We’ve got to discuss strategy, but Han and I have to leave with all possible speed—my brother, Luke, is in trouble. Everything’s happening at once.”
“Luke’s in trouble?” Wedge asked. “Let’s go!”
They rushed to the sealed war room, and a coded transmission brought a holographic simulacrum of Admiral Ackbar into the room with them. Leia drummed her fingertips on the table, looking around, feeling the prodding of Luke’s mental call that hadn’t lessened.
Luke needed her. He was trapped somehow. She had to leave. She had to leave.
“The Hutts are building their own superweapon with Imperial assistance,” Leia began. “And our old friend Admiral Daala is unifying a new fleet to strike against the New Republic. All this is happening right