Star Wars_ Planet of Twilight - Barbara Hambly [159]
Now it was mid-afternoon. How could it be so late in the day, when such a short time ago it had not yet been lunchtime?
“Madam—” Chamberlain Iyon said. But he did not try again to make Leia come away.
“Close the port,” Leia said. “Block the roads. Can the page be questioned? Check the port controller—is there any chance the kidnappers have left the planet?”
As she spoke, she feared any measures she might take would be useless, and if not useless, too late.
But if they’ve fled, she thought, I could chase them in Alderaan. I could catch them, my little ship can catch anything—
“Madam, closing the port would not be wise.”
She glared at him, instantly suspicious of a man she had trusted only a moment before.
“They took your—” She hesitated, unsure what to say.
“My wyrwulf, madam,” he said, “Yes.”
“Your wyrwulf. Don’t you care?”
“I care very much, madam. And I understand our traditions, which you—I beg your pardon—do not. Closing the spaceport is unnecessary.”
“The kidnappers will try to escape Munto Codru,” she said.
Mr. Iyon spread his four hands.
“They will not. There are traditions,” he said. “If we follow them, nothing will happen to the children—that too is the tradition.”
Leia knew of Munto Codru’s traditions of abduction and ransom. That was why Chewbacca had been staying so close to the children. That was why extra security surrounded and guarded the ancient castle. For the people of Munto Codru, coup abduction was an important and traditional political sport.
It was a sport in which Leia did not care to participate.
“It’s a most audacious abduction,” the chamberlain said.
“And a cruel one!” Leia said. “Chewbacca is wounded! And the pressure bomb—my children—” She fought for control of her voice and of her fear.
“The coup-counters detonated a pressure bomb only to prove that they could, madam,” Mr. Iyon said.
“But no one is supposed to be injured, during your coup abductions!”
“No one of noble birth, Princess Leia,” he said.
“My title is ‘Chief of State,’ sir,” she said angrily. “Not ‘Princess.’ Not any longer. The world where I was a princess is long destroyed. We live in a Republic, now.”
“I know it, madam. Please forgive our old-fashioned ways.”
“They must know they haven’t a hope,” Leia said. “Of receiving a ransom, of escape. And if they should …” She could not bring herself to say the word harm.
“Please allow me to advise you in this matter,” the chamberlain said. He leaned toward her, intense. “If you apply the rules of the Republic, disaster—tragedy—will be the result.”
“The ransomers,” Dr. Hyos said, with every evidence of approval, “must be very brave. But young and inexperienced as well. The family … which would it be?” She glanced at Mr. Iyon. “The Sibiu, perhaps?”
“They have insufficient resources,” the chamberlain said.
Whoever it was, Leia thought, needed only the resources of the Force. The dark side of the Force.
Mr. Iyon gestured to the broken ground, to Chewbacca. “This required a skiff, a tractor beam. Connections with arms smugglers, to obtain the pressure bomb.”
“Ah. The Temebiu, then.”
“It could be,” the chamberlain said. “They are ambitious.”
“I’ll show them ambition,” Leia muttered.
“Madam, please. Your children will not be harmed—cannot be harmed, for the ransomers to achieve their goals. They may look upon the event as a great adventure—”
“Our friend Chewbacca has been wounded nearly to death!” Leia cried. “My children will not find that amusing. Nor do I!”
“It is a shame,” the chamberlain said. “Perhaps he did not comprehend the information on our traditions? He was meant to surrender.”
“Close the port,” Leia said again, her voice tight. She was too angry to respond to the chamberlain’s comment. “I won’t