Star Wars_ The Dark Lord Trilogy - James Luceno [350]
Bail positioned himself on the projector’s transmission grid and signaled for Antilles to open a link to Pestage.
“There you are,” Pestage said after a moment. “Will you grant permission for our shuttle to land, Senator?”
“How unlike you to extend us the courtesy of a warning, Sate. What brings you to this part of the Core, in a Star Destroyer, no less?”
Pestage smiled without showing his teeth. “I’m merely a passenger aboard the Exactor, Senator. As to our business here … Well, let me say first how much I’ve enjoyed watching HoloNet feeds of your … political rally.”
“It’s a peaceful gathering, Sate,” Bail fired back. “And it’s likely to remain so unless your agitators succeed in doing what they do best.”
Pestage adopted a surprised look. “My agitators? You can’t be serious.”
“I’m very serious. But suppose you get back to telling me why you are here.”
Pestage tugged at his lower lip. “Now that I think about it, Senator, it might be more prudent for me to leave the explanation to the Emperor’s emissary.”
Bail stood akimbo. “That has always been your position, Sate.”
“No longer, Senator,” Pestage said. “I now answer to a superior.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Someone you’ve not yet had the pleasure of meeting. Darth Vader.”
Bail froze, but only on the inside. He managed to keep from glancing at Antilles, and his voice belied none of his sudden dread when he said: “Darth Vader? What sort of name is that?”
Pestage smiled again. “Well, actually it’s something of a title and a name.” The smile collapsed. “But make no mistake, Senator, Lord Vader speaks for the Emperor. You would do well to bear that in mind.”
“And this Darth Vader is coming here?” Bail said in a composed voice.
“Our shuttle should be setting down momentarily, assuming, of course, that we have your permission to land.”
Bail nodded for the holocam. “I’ll see to it that you receive approach and landing coordinates.”
Pestage’s holoimage had no sooner deresolved than Bail snatched his comlink from his belt and tapped a code into the keypad. To the female voice that answered, he said, “Where are Breha and Leia?”
“I believe they’re already on their way to join you, sir,” the Queen’s attendant said.
“Do you know if Breha has her comlink with her?”
“I don’t believe she does, sir.”
“Thank you.” Bail silenced the comlink and turned to his aides. “Find the Queen. She must be somewhere in the main residence. Tell her that she is not to leave the residence under any circumstances, and that she is to contact me as soon as possible. Is that understood?”
Retrac and Aldrete nodded, spun on their heels, and hurried off.
Bail swung to Antilles, eyes bulging in concern. “Are the droids on the Tantive IV or downside?”
“Here,” Antilles said, exhaling. “Somewhere in the palace or on the grounds.”
Bail tightened his lips. “They have to be located and kept out of sight.”
Never was one for crowds, myself,” Skeck said as he, Archyr, and Shryne were negotiating Aldera’s throng of demonstrators.
“Is that what first took you to the Outer Rim?” Shryne asked.
Skeck mocked the idea with a motion of dismissal. “I just hang there for the food.”
In addition to keeping out the cold, their long coats, hats, and high boots supplied hiding places for blasters and other tools of the smuggling trade. Jula, Brudi, and Eyl Dix had remained with the drop ship, which was docked in a circular bay a couple of kilometers west of the palace.
It was Shryne’s first visit to Alderaan. From what little he had seen, the planet lived up to its reputation as both a beautiful world and an arena for political dissent, notwithstanding Alderaan’s allegedly pacifist views. The mood of the enormous crowd, made up of war refugees and those who had arrived from countless worlds to demonstrate their solidarity, seemed to be in keeping with those views. But Shryne had already zeroed in on scores of beings who clearly hoped to provoke the marchers