Star Wars the Truce at Bakura - Kathy Tyers [41]
“For information sharing.”
“Oh,” Leia said. If Luke had come up with a plan, there’d be no changing his mind. “Tell me about the senators. What did you feel from them?” She sat down beside Luke and folded her legs up onto the lounge. Its repulsor field felt like unseen liquid holding them off the surface.
“They were hostile,” said Luke. “ ‘Who are you, and what are you doing here, and what business is it of yours?’—at first. But that old fellow Belden was glad to see us. And there were others. Others …” He glanced toward Han, who had walked to the corner between windows. “Leia’s story opened them up. It made the first real change in their attitudes.”
“I’m so glad,” called Threepio from his protocol post by the door. “I would prefer to return to our own people as soon as possible.” Artoo burbled something Leia guessed was agreement.
“There, you see?” Leia stared at Han, willing him to turn around and give her some sign that he’d approved of her presentation. An invisible wall had dropped between them the moment that Alderaanian singled her out. “It has to be hard,” she conceded, “after years of operating covertly, to be this open.”
He finally swung around, thumbs hooked in his belt. “It’s like showing your sabacc hand too early in the game. The cards can change faces on you. I don’t like it. I don’t like these people. I especially don’t like Nereus.”
Leia nodded firmly. “He’s a perfectly normal Imperial bureaucrat. But Luke, what else did you sense? Their reaction to you …”
He frowned. “About what you’d expect, since they hadn’t been warned. Why?”
She searched her feelings for the right words.
Luke found them first. “You’ve got Vader on your mind again, haven’t you?”
Stung, she pointed a finger at him. “I want nothing to do with anything that came from Vader.”
“I came from Vader, Leia—”
She clenched both fists at her sides. “Then leave me alone.”
He shut his mouth without finishing the sentence she’d dreaded: And so did you. He could’ve said it, but he never chose to wound her with words. Already she regretted her outburst. It wasn’t like her to lose her temper so quickly.
“Hey,” cried Han. “Lighten up, Princess. He’s only trying to help.”
“What do you expect from me?” She jumped up and paced past him. “To take it calmly? To announce it to Mon Mothma?”
“Not again,” muttered Han.
Leia planted her fists on her hips. Either she loved that man, or she was going to murder him. “Again?” murmured Luke.
“Look,” said Han. “Nobody’s going to tell your secret. Not even Luke. Right, Luke?”
“We agreed.” Luke shrugged. “For a while, at least, no one but us finds out that you’re related to anyone.” He stretched out a hand.
Leia clasped it. Unexpectedly, Han pushed in and closed his hand around both of theirs.
There was a roar behind her. A huge hairy paw landed on her shoulder as Chewie continued to whuffle and shout. “What’d he say?” she asked Han. Chewie’s other paw landed on Han’s head.
“That we’re his Honor Family.” Han tried to duck. Black-tipped forearm fur trailed into his face. “That’s the basic unit of Wookiee society. It’s the best pledge of loyalty you’ll get, Leia.”
No nicknames this time, no teasing, just Leia.
That was the best pledge of loyalty she’d get from Han. “All right,” she said quietly. “We have work to do. Let’s use every moment until Luke has to leave or they call us back for another session.”
Chewbacca growled. Luke dropped her hand and walked toward the comm center.
“Right.” Han disentangled himself from his copilot. “We’ve also got to check on repairs. Our group has set up a temporary pit over at the spaceport. Pad Twelve. That’s Chewie’s.”
“Ah.” Luke was already punching keys. “There, I found our new data files. Artoo, run a check. See what you didn’t already get from the drone ship.”
Artoo whistled cheerily.
“Keep your eyes open, kid,” said Han.
“And be careful!” Threepio exclaimed.
An Alliance shuttle picked Luke up at the Bakur complex’s roof port. With Artoo loaded in its rear compartment, Luke watched the city sweep past, perched in its concentric circles on that