Star Wars_ The Jedi Academy Trilogy 02_ Dark Apprentice - Kevin J. Anderson [52]
The door chime sounded like a tubular bell through their living quarters. The noise startled Jaina, and her delicately balanced skewer toppled over—which made her begin to cry.
Han sighed, and Leia got up with a scowl. “I didn’t think we could sit through an entire meal uninterrupted.”
She opened the door, and the ornate plasteel plate hummed aside to reveal a hovering messenger droid that bobbed up and down in the corridor, blinking its lights in a swirl.
“Minister Leia Organa Solo, Chief of State Mon Mothma requests your presence immediately in her private quarters for an important consultation. Please follow me.”
Back at the table Han rolled his eyes and glowered at no one in particular as Leia was taken from him again. Jaina continued crying, and now Jacen added his own squalls to the racket. Threepio tried to calm the two children down, completely without effect.
Leia looked imploringly at Han, but he gave a short wave of dismissal. “Go on, Mon Mothma needs you.”
She bit her lower lip, sensing the bitterness he tried to cover. “I’ll cut it short,” she said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Han nodded and turned to his eating as if he didn’t believe her. Leia felt her stomach knot as she hurried after the hovering droid through the arched, well-lit corridors. She felt a simmering annoyance and stubborn resistance build within her, and she walked with purposeful steps.
She agreed to too many things. She bowed her head and trotted anywhere Mon Mothma asked her to go. Well, Leia had her own life, and she had to spend more time with her family. Her career was important too—crucial, in fact—and she vowed to do both. But she had to reestablish some priorities and ground rules.
As she followed the messenger droid into a turbolift that took her to secluded portions of the old Imperial Palace, Leia was actually glad that Mon Mothma had summoned her. She had a few things to say to the Chief of State, and the two of them would have to work out some sort of compromise.
But when the droid transmitted the special unlocking code that caused Mon Mothma’s armored door to grind aside, Leia felt a cold fingernail twist in her chest. Mon Mothma’s quarters were too dark, lit only by soft greenish glowing lamps designed to be soothing, restful … healing. She breathed the sweet tang of odd medicines, and the clinging aftertaste of sickness caught in her throat.
Leia stepped forward into the chambers and saw that they had been filled with bright nova lilies and nebula orchids that showered heady perfumes into the air, masking the unpleasant medicinal smell.
“Mon Mothma?” she said. Her voice sounded small in the enclosed space.
Motion off to her right made her turn her head to see a bullet-headed Too-Onebee medical droid. Mon Mothma looked gaunt and skeletal as she lay on a broad bed surrounded by diagnostic equipment. Another smaller droid monitored the readouts. Everything hung in silence except for the faint hum of machinery.
Leia also saw—feeling foolish for noticing such a small thing—that Mon Mothma kept an array of makeup jars and synthetic skin-coloring agents on her dressing table in a desperate attempt to make herself look presentable in public.
“Ah, Leia,” Mon Mothma said. Her voice sounded pathetically weak, a rustle of dry leaves. “Thank you for coming. I can’t keep my secret any longer. I must tell you everything.”
Leia swallowed. All her indignant arguments evaporated like mist under a red giant sun. She sat down in the small padded chair next to Mon Mothma and listened.
Han had not had time to put the twins to bed before Leia returned. He had felt angry and distracted during the rest of dinner, listless at having her gone again. He had played with the twins, seeking solace in their company.
Threepio was just finishing the kids’ evening ripple bath when Leia came quietly through the doors. Han had been sitting in their