Star Wars the Truce at Bakura - Kathy Tyers [127]
Luke took one step down. “Gaeriel Captison belongs to Bakura, not the Empire.”
Governor Nereus whirled toward Gaeri. With speed that belied his age and bulk, he yanked the blast rifle out of her hands.
Luke dropped into a crouch. Han had already drawn his blaster. Nereus fired twice. One bolt deflected off the Falcon’s hull. The other flashed toward Luke, intersecting a green-white blade that whipped into its path and deflected energy back along its own course.
Wilek Nereus fell blank-eyed. Luke stumbled, too. Gaeriel gasped. Leia froze in place. Get up, Luke!
Artoo rolled forward at top speed, beeping and whistling. Slowly Luke pressed back to his feet. He held the saber upright in front of him, its hum the only sound Leia heard over her thumping heart. He waved the little droid back. Han leaned over the governor, blaster steady, but Nereus didn’t move again.
Leia stepped around Governor Nereus’s body toward the Bakuran prime minister. Captison snapped to attention, regaining poise. “Prime Minister Captison,” she said, “for this moment Bakura stands alone. If your people choose to rejoin the Empire …” she nodded aside at Commander Thanas, “we will withdraw and leave you to conduct your own affairs. Commander Thanas may supervise your defense against the Ssi-ruuk, if they return before the Empire sends you another governor. You may continue alone, knowing the Ssi-ruuk might return. But if you choose to align yourself with the Alliance, we should negotiate a permanent truce immediately.”
Captison saluted Leia, then Luke. “Your Highness—Commander —we thank you. It is not likely, however, that the Imperial garrison will surrender.”
Luke walked slowly down the ramp. Leia hoped none of the others guessed that weakness, not dignity, set his pace. “We have accepted Commander Thanas’s surrender,” he said, “including the Dominant, the land-based forces, and the Imperial garrison.”
Leia held her breath and waited for Commander Thanas to contradict Luke’s statement. The thin Imperial frowned, but he said nothing. Was he holding his tongue, or was Luke keeping him from speaking?
“Commander Thanas,” said Luke, “you are free from custody. If Bakura’s citizens ask the Empire to leave, you will oversee the troops’ withdrawal.”
Thanas nodded and raised his wrist. Threepio’s arm came with it.
“Let him go, Threepio,” said Luke.
The droid produced a master chip and waved it over Thanas’s binders.
Luke moved closer and looked up at Thanas. “Take charge of your men, sir. Remember, the Dominant’s new crew is watching.”
Thanas opened his mouth as if he wanted to speak, then seemed to change his mind. A double-podded local patrol craft streaked out of the hazy sky and landed close to the Falcon. Two Bakuran enforcement officers sprang out, steering a repulsor litter between them. They hurried toward Nereus’s body.
Commander Thanas turned on one heel, keeping his military posture painfully straight. “Detail,” he called, “fall in.” Nereus’s stormtroopers followed Commander Thanas’s long stride toward the nearest drop shaft.
“You’re just going to trust him?” Leia whispered to Luke. “What did you do?”
“Nothing.” Luke’s eyes also tracked the commander. “He’s not forgetting the Dominant. Even if it’s not up to full capacity, we hold the high ground. And besides, I have a feeling.”
“Will you excuse me?” Prime Minister Captison raised his bushy white eyebrows. “I must make an emergency broadcast. I can almost guarantee that Bakura’s people will choose to join the Alliance after all that has transpired today, but I must consult them.”
Leia could almost guarantee it, too. “By all means.” She inclined her head respectfully. To her delight, Luke saluted and even Han came to attention. Captison strode toward a different drop shaft.
Still watching, Father? Leia glanced over one shoulder, but all she saw … or sensed … was hazy gray sky. Every world she took from the Empire was another defeat for the ghost of Darth Vader.
On the other hand, if Anakin Skywalker