Inferno (31 page)

She started aft, pulling Han along. Forty years ago, she had burst into his life like a nova, then continued to burn bright that whole time—his guiding star and beckoning light. So he didn’t know why he was so surprised by her strength now, why he hadn’t expected her to meet this loss with the same courage with which she met any hardship. Maybe it was because he was having such a hard time accepting Luke’s death himself. Not being able to actually
feel
someone die, he still needed to see the body before he could believe it.

When they reached the hatch, they found a small honor guard of Royal Space Marines waiting down on the hangar floor. The captain, a striking woman with narrow green eyes and dark full lips, stepped to the foot of the boarding ramp and bowed formally.

“Welcome, Princess. Her Majesty said to bring you up at once.” The captain gestured behind her, where—about twenty meters away—a pair of hammered-aurodium doors guarded an antique mechanical lift. “If you’ll follow me, your escort will join us.”

Han scowled and joined Leia in
not
descending the ramp. “Our escort?”

The captain shot an annoyed glance in his direction, but reacted as any well-trained Hapan officer would when questioned by a foreign diplomat’s male staff. She ignored him. Han clenched his teeth and waited patiently for Leia to take the lead. Bucking four thousand years of Hapan tradition would not convince Tenel Ka of anything.

Leia must have really been off her game, because it took a couple of seconds before she said, “We came alone, Captain. What escort are you referring to?”

The captain scowled and was about to answer when a slender figure in a black flight suit stepped into view. After the long flight from Kashyyyk, the circles under her eyes were even deeper, and her curly blond hair was matted flat with helmet sweat.

“That would be
me,
” Tahiri said.

Han frowned, and Leia asked the question, “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see what
you
were doing,” Tahiri replied. Han noticed that her hand was hovering near the lightsaber hanging from her belt. “And I don’t think I’m going to like the answer.”

“Then go away and don’t ask.” Han had the sinking feeling he was beginning to understand why Tahiri had followed them—and, just maybe, how Luke had gotten killed. “And I’d do it real fast, before my suspicions start to get the better of me.”

The Hapan captain frowned at Tahiri. “You told approach control that you were with the Solos.”

“In a way, I am,” Tahiri said. “I’m here to detain them.”

Han knew better than to reach for his blaster when a Jedi was practically holding her lightsaber, but he had plenty of time to step behind the bulkhead and reach for the door control. Unfortunately, Leia was already starting down the ramp.

“
Detain
us?” Leia demanded. “Don’t tell me you’re with Jacen?”

“Somebody has to be.” Tahiri remained near a landing strut, about three meters to one side of the boarding ramp. “He’s only doing what’s necessary to save the Alliance.”

“You’re too smart to buy that.” Han caught up to Leia and took her arm, then continued to address Tahiri. “What’s he got on you, anyway?”

“On me?” Tahiri looked away, and even Han could read the guilt in her feelings—all he needed was a good pair of eyes and a lot of sabacc experience. “Nothing,” Tahiri said. “I’m only doing what’s right. Anakin would want me to support Jacen.”

This was too much for Leia.
“Anakin?”

She jerked free of Han’s grasp, then stepped onto the hangar floor sputtering something about Anakin never approving of torture and coups. Tahiri reached for her lightsaber, and Han realized the young woman was about to learn a very hard lesson about bad timing.

And so was the honor guard captain, whose eyes widened with alarm as Leia snapped her own lightsaber off her belt. “Put those weapons away
now
!”

The captain reached for her blaster pistol and started to step between Leia and Tahiri—until Han jumped down and pulled her back by the collar.

“Lady, you
really
don’t want to…”

Han let the warning trail off as the captain spun on him, holding her blaster pistol under his nose.

“Okay…maybe you do.” He raised his hands and backed away. “Be my guest.”

A pair of lightsabers sizzled to life behind the woman, and sparks flew as Leia and Tahiri brought their weapons together. By the time the captain spun back around, the two Jedi were locked in a furious battle of flashing blades and flying feet.

“Stop!” the captain ordered. She motioned to her squad, who instantly flipped their blaster rifle power settings to stun and leveled the barrels at the combatants. “You
will
stop, or we’ll open fire.”

Leia landed a jaw-cracking elbow under Tahiri’s chin, and Tahiri slammed a knee into Leia’s ribs. The captain cursed under her breath, then turned to her marines.

“Hold on!” Han said. “That’s a really bad—”

“Fire at will,” the captain ordered.

Han dropped, barely reaching the floor before a flurry of stun bolts flashed toward the fight—then reversed directions as the two Jedi batted the attacks back toward their sources. The marines collapsed in moans and spasms, the redheaded captain cracking skulls with Han as she landed atop him.

He rolled out from beneath her, cursing and rubbing his head. The hangar was ringing with security alarms, and royal guards were pouring from hidden crannies and secret passages, but the two Jedi remained oblivious. Leia connected with a vicious thrust kick that bent Tahiri backward over a landing strut crossbar.

Tahiri grunted and pointed at a loose blaster rifle, bringing it tumbling into Leia from behind, catching her between the shoulder blades and knocking her to the floor. Leia flipped onto her back and brought her legs up over her head, landing on one foot and pirouetting straight into the attack, her blade level with Tahiri’s neck.

“Wait!” Han cried. “Not my strut!”

Leia accelerated her pirouette, trying to land the attack before Tahiri had time to block, and that was when Han began to realize his wife was really serious about this—she wasn’t in it just to teach the younger woman a lesson.

“Leia,
no
!”

The plea made Leia hesitate just long enough for Tahiri to block, then Leia was on her feet again, keeping Tahiri pinned against the strut, beating down her guard, slipping in knee and elbow strikes with a speed and ferocity that only a Barabel-trained fighter could achieve.

“Leia,
stop
!” Han yelled. “You want to kill her?”

Leia continued to press the attack, and Han realized that was
exactly
what she wanted to do. She had found a handy target for all her rage, just as
he
had when he’d blamed Anakin for Chewbacca’s death, and she was determined to make Tahiri pay for what had happened to Luke…and for what Jacen had become.

Han snatched the blaster pistol from the captain’s hand and, hoping to startle his wife back to her senses, sent a bolt zinging past her. It glanced off the
Falcon
and left a black, smoking furrow in the hull—apparently, the captain had not set
her
blaster to stun. Leia glanced away just long enough for Tahiri to land a spinning back-kick that sent her staggering away.

Han sprang up to grab her. He was taking his life in his hands, but he knew Leia would never forgive herself if she killed Tahiri over a stupid comment and a couple of bad choices. He wrapped his arms around Leia’s shoulders and pulled her back—then felt the air leave his chest and his feet leave the floor as she instinctively slammed an elbow into his ribs and started to throw him.

“Whoa…Leia!” he groaned. “It’s me.”

He felt the tension leave her body and his feet return to the floor, then
Tahiri
started to advance, her haggard eyes filled with malice and anger.

“Don’t do it!” Han ordered. He pulled Leia aside and, when she deactivated her lightsaber, stepped between her and Tahiri. “Don’t you
dare.
”

Tahiri stopped two paces away, her lightsaber still ignited, glancing from Leia to Han and looking like a sabacc player trying to decide whether to fold or raise.

“You think
this
is what Anakin would want?” Han prompted. “His mother and his girlfriend trying to kill each other?”

“
I
certainly don’t,” a female voice said, coming up behind Han—and speaking over the drone of her own lightsaber. “And I won’t have it in my hangar.”

The anger in Tahiri’s face quickly changed to embarrassment. She deactivated her blade and bowed, holding herself parallel to the floor. “I apologize, Your Majesty. I didn’t believe they would resist.”

“Resist
what
?” Tenel Ka demanded.

“Tahiri was trying to arrest us,” Han explained. He turned to find Tenel Ka behind him, dressed in a casual-but-elegant tunic and cloak that managed to make her look both regal and approachable—a stark contrast with the company of scowling guards behind her. “And her timing was
really
bad.”

Tenel Ka deactivated her own lightsaber, then motioned Han up as though he had actually remembered to bow. She glanced at Leia’s puffy eyes and frowned, then looked back to Han.

“You may explain, Captain Solo.”

“Sure,” Han said, realizing Tenel Ka must not have felt Luke’s death. He wasn’t sure how that stuff worked, but since she hadn’t been related to Luke, it didn’t seem that surprising. Unless she had been close to them, Leia didn’t usually feel it when other Jedi died, either. “We think Luke just died. Leia felt it in the Force.”

Tenel Ka’s face fell, her expression morphing from shock to disbelief to sympathy in about a second and a half. She turned to Leia.

“We are terribly sorry, Princess.” Tenel Ka didn’t ask how it had happened, probably because she realized her question would only bring more grief—and Leia wouldn’t know anyway. “The palace and its staff are entirely at your disposal. Please feel free to ask for anything you need.”

Leia nodded, but failed to get out her words of thanks and reached for Han’s arm.

“Thanks, Your Majesty,” he said. “We appreciate that.”

“Of course, you mean while they’re under arrest here,” Tahiri said, boldly coming up behind Han and Leia. “There
is
still an Alliance detention warrant out for them.”

“And
I
have already informed Colonel Solo that in recognition of their heroic service during our recent troubles, his parents have sanctuary everywhere within the Consortium—especially within the Royal Hangar.”

“I apologize, Your Majesty,” Tahiri said. Still determined to prevent them from pleading their case to Tenel Ka—at least that’s why Han
assumed
Tahiri had followed them—she continued to stand behind the Solos. “I can’t permit—”

“You cannot
permit
?” Tenel Ka stepped past Han to confront Tahiri directly, followed by enough royal guards to overpower ten Jedi. “This is the Hapan Consortium, Jedi Veila.
I
govern here—not Jacen, not the Alliance, and certainly not
you.
”

“Of course,” Tahiri said. “I only meant the Alliance would disapprove—”

“At the moment, Hapes provides nearly a fifth of the Alliance’s combat capacity,” Tenel Ka said. “The Alliance is in no position to
disapprove
of anything I do. Is that clear?”

“Of…of course,” Tahiri said. “But—”

“There are no buts,” Tenel Ka interrupted. “Now tell me, were you injured when you attacked Princess Leia?”

Tahiri’s jaw dropped. “
I’m
the one who was attacked!”

“I’ll take that as a no.” Tenel Ka turned to a black-haired officer at her back. “In that case, Jedi Veila is ready to travel. Return her to her StealthX and have her escorted out of Hapan space, Major Espara.”

Espara inclined her head. “As you wish, Majesty. And if I may make a suggestion?”

“Suggestions are always welcome, Major,” Tenel Ka said. “You know that.”

“Thank you, Majesty,” Espara said. “It might be wise to keep the StealthX cloaking unit here on Hapes—just to be certain Jedi Veila doesn’t slip away from our escort.”

“You can’t!” Tahiri objected. “That technology is Jedi property. Colonel Solo would look very unfavorably on that.”

Espara was ready with a smooth response. “And yet, the Jedi deserted the Alliance at Kuat, while Colonel Solo is attacking them at Kashyyyk. And
you
are here, attempting to arrest the Solos on behalf of the Alliance.” She turned to Tenel Ka. “The war has grown so very confusing. It’s difficult to tell
whose
side we’re on at the moment.”

Tenel Ka’s brow rose, then, after thinking for a moment, she nodded. “An excellent point, Major Espara—but I want Jedi Veila gone
now.
Keep the entire StealthX and supply her with a messenger skiff instead.”

“Jacen won’t put up with this,” Tahiri warned. “You’re stealing an Alliance starfighter.”

Tenel Ka shook her head. “No, Jedi Veila—we are capturing an enemy starfighter. And since
you
were flying it, that must mean you are now an Alliance prisoner of war.” She turned to Major Espara. “Have her presented to Colonel Solo with our apologies for any misunderstanding. As you say, the war has grown so very confusing.”

Espara smiled. “As you wish, Majesty.”

The major waved her company forward and cautiously disarmed Tahiri.

Han pulled Leia to his side. “How are you doing?”

Leia nodded. “Better. Thanks for…” She looked away, watching Espara’s guards lead Tahiri off, then finished. “…for stopping me.”

“Yes,” Tenel Ka said, joining them. “It was very courageous to step between two angry Jedi as you did.”

“Thanks,” Han said, feeling a little embarrassed. “It was nothing.”

“Nonetheless, please don’t ever do it again. We are quite fond of you with
all
your limbs.” Tenel Ka smiled and waved them toward the antique lift. “Now perhaps you would tell me why Tahiri is so eager to keep you from speaking to me.”