Star Wars: The New Rebellion (38 page)

L
uke had just finished a small meal from the canned rations still in the house. He was resting, regaining his strength as best he could. The feeling of being watched was gone, for the moment, but he knew it would return.

And it had something to do with Almania.

After he let the food settle, he would question the house’s computer again. He was hoping it knew of a bacta tank or the Pydyrian equivalent. Anything to help him heal faster. He had to do more than Jedi practices. He knew that he would need all of his strength.

Once he found the bacta tank, he would start a search for a new ship. He wasn’t sure if he would proceed to Almania, or if he would go back to Yavin 4 until he healed. He didn’t know how much time he had; he wasn’t even certain what he was searching for, and that made him uneasy.

This whole thing made him uneasy.

Luke?

Leia, reaching toward him from a long distance away, her mind filled with concern.

Leia?

But the connection broke; shattered as it never had before. He couldn’t feel her. He reached with his mind, feeling for her familiar sense, and she wasn’t there. It was as if someone had built a wall around his mind.

Leia?

She couldn’t be dead, could she? Her thought for him had been filled with concern, but he thought the concern was for him, not because she was in trouble.

Leia?

He sought out the children, and could feel them, squabbling happily on Anoth. He even got a sense of his students back on Yavin 4, but not of Leia.

Or of anyone close to her. Something was blocking him. Something purposeful.

He sighed. Something more to seek out. Something else to sap his strength. He rubbed his eyes, taking a deep breath before trying again. He leaned forward in the chair made for a form smaller than his when the blast hit him. It knocked him backward, and he yelped with pain as the floor hit his injured skin. But that pain was nothing compared with the ice-cold pain that overwhelmed him. Pain, terror, the shock of betrayal, all at once, expressed in thousands of mental voices that were suddenly, irrevocably silenced.

The chill filled him. Then he remembered Anakin:
We made the room hot
.

Hot
.

He sent heat into the cold, beating it back, cringing from the pain, his arms around his head to protect himself from the pink goo, from the stinging, from the cold, awful pain of death.

Death.

Death.

The chill disappeared, leaving a sour residue in his mouth. He raised his head, uncertain how long he had been on the floor.

It had happened again. Another planet destroyed.

He sent for Leia again, but didn’t feel her. That block: hard, firm, powerful.

He stood, shaking. He had to find a computer connected to the nets or something that would give him information. Even though he knew, deep down, that nothing had happened to Coruscant.

That blast had been deeper, colder, more powerful than the first one. It had been closer.

Much closer.

And he even knew the source of the destruction.

Almania, and the presence that was waiting for him there.

“Who was that?” Admiral Ackbar asked.

“I don’t know,” Leia said. She brushed off her combat fatigues, and pushed back a strand of hair. She was sitting once more at her computer station, sending messages to Han, who didn’t respond, and to the children, who did. Winter said they too had felt the blast, and this time she had known how to help them. She also said that Luke had helped them on his trip to Coruscant and, while they were shaken, they weren’t as terrified as they had been the first time.

Leia spoke to them, reassuring them that she was fine, and then signed off.

“That death mask looked familiar,” Wedge said.

“We used to have a collection of them in the National Museum on Alderaan,” Leia said. “It comes from one of the farthest reaches of the galaxy.”

“How do we know it’s a mask?” the lieutenant asked. “It moved like a mouth.”

“We don’t,” Leia said. “Do you know of any peoples who look like that? Or use masks like that to cover their faces?”

“Not off the top of my head,” Admiral Ackbar said, “but we should check for it.”

“We need to check for many things,” Leia said. “We also need to find out where that transmission originated from.” Her hair had slipped again. She pushed it back. Her hands were still shaking. “We also need to find out who died.”

“I felt nothing, Leia,” Wedge said.

“I know, Wedge. This Kueller, whoever he is, has some Force capability. He knew that I would feel those deaths. That was his demonstration.”

“How do we know he didn’t do some sort of sending, something that would have made you feel as though people died?” Admiral Ackbar said.

“We don’t,” Leia said. “But I can’t imagine anyone having that kind of talent.” She shuddered, the chill still numbing her heart.

“There are no reports of exploded planets,” the lieutenant said, “either now or just before the bombing of the Senate Hall.”

“Kueller said he used an elegant weapon,” Wedge said. He slipped back into his chair. “We’re looking for something too big. We need to know what planets haven’t been heard from lately or what unusual events have transpired in nearby space.”

“Lots of reports of midspace collisions in the landing area around Auyemesh,” Ackbar said.

“And no response from their space-traffic-control unit,” said Wedge, his voice rising with excitement.

“All attempts to contact others on the planet failing,” the lieutenant said.

“Where’s Auyemesh?” Leia asked.

“It’s a tiny planet in a far system,” Ackbar said. “It’s on the Coruscant side of the Almanian system.”

“The Almanian system?” Leia hated it when she was
ignorant of the galaxy. She thought she knew every place. Was this the Almania Lando mentioned?

“I haven’t heard of it either,” Wedge said, “and I thought I’d been everywhere.”

“It’s beyond the Rim Worlds in distance,” Ackbar said. “The Old Republic was going to make Almania a member, but several senators fought it, saying the distance to the system was too great.”

“Great distance,” Leia whispered. “Admiral, you said that transmission came from a great distance.”

Ackbar nodded. “The Almanian system is far enough away to have that sort of effect. In fact, holo-coding would be the preferred method of communication from that distance because it covers the other obvious tells of a long-distance communication.”

“Because holo-coding is often slower than regular messaging,” Wedge said.

“Precisely. It takes an expert to recognize the differences between coding problems and distance problems.”

“All right,” Leia said. “That gives us some kind of lead.”

“President,” said the lieutenant, “I’ve been running the name Kueller through our database. I have nothing.”

“Keep trying,” Leia said.

“Try all files instead of simply current files,” Admiral Ackbar said.

“Leia,” Wedge’s voice was soft. “The computer identified the buildings around Luke. They’re Pydyrian.”

“Pydyrian?”

Wedge nodded. “That’s also in the Almanian system.”

“And Leia?” Admiral Ackbar said. “We just had it confirmed. The transmission came from Almania itself.”

“Almania,” she said. “What would anyone so far away want with us?”

“I think that’s obvious,” Wedge said. “The question is, how does this Kueller know you?”

“Perhaps you do know him,” Ackbar said. “Perhaps that’s why his face was hidden by the mask.”

“If it was hidden by the mask,” Leia said. She still wasn’t convinced. She was good with voices, and she didn’t recognize his. Holo-coding usually provided an accurate representation of everything, including the voice.

“We have something on Kueller,” the lieutenant said. “But you aren’t going to like it.”

“Tell me anyway,” Leia said.

“Kueller was an Almanian army general hundreds of years ago. He overtook Almania, and then the entire sector. In his later years, he was a beloved leader, known for his compassion and his decisiveness. But early on, when he was conquering, he was one of the most ruthless people in the history of the galaxy. He would do anything to consolidate power,” said the lieutenant.

“So this Kueller is someone else, invoking a historical namesake,” said Wedge.

“It fits with his intentions,” Ackbar said. “If he wants to take over the New Republic, he is letting us know he will do it as ruthlessly as he can. And then, he believes, he will be compassionate and decisive.”

“Decisive and ruthless go together,” Leia said, “but compassionate and ruthless do not. Is he tied to the Empire?”

“Not so far as I can tell at the moment,” the lieutenant said. “Almania is very far away. The Emperor basically ignored it.”

“But it would be a good site for Imperials to hide,” Ackbar said. “I’ll check.”

“There have been reports of stormtroopers in that section of the galaxy,” the lieutenant said.

“Stormtroopers?” Leia asked. “Will they never go away?”

“Leia,” Ackbar said, “we’re now getting more reports from Auyemesh. The ships that managed to land found
bodies everywhere. They were giving more details when all communication to the planet was shut down.”

“Another killing?” Leia asked.

Ackbar shook his big head. “No. It was as if someone wanted just that much information out, and then stopped it.”

“We have to be prepared for the assumption that this is all a hoax.”

“A rather elaborate one, don’t you think, Wedge?” Leia asked. “No, this Kueller is real. I have seen his face before. He’s been haunting me for a while now. He’s real, and he means business. We need to find out as much about him as we can.”

The emotions she had been holding back rose inside her. She checked her own screen to see if she had had a reply from Han yet. Nothing. But he had told her he would be impossible to reach as long as he was on the Run.

The Run was far from Almanian space. She hoped he was safe.

“Admiral Ackbar, will you contact Mon Mothma for me, and tell her I want to see her in my chambers?” Leia asked. She was shaking too badly to do it herself. She had to leave now. “I’ll contact you all for more information after I meet with her.”

“Are you all right, Leia?” Ackbar asked.

Leia smiled tightly at him. “I don’t think any of us will be all right until we do something about this madman.”

“We will,” Ackbar said with complete certainty.

She wished she had the same certainty. This Kueller had more Force capability than anyone she had encountered in years. Except Exar Kun, and he had been a spirit. Kueller was alive. He was using these deaths to replenish his own well of hatred. The dark side ate people from within, but while it did so, it gave them much too much power.

He appeared to have more power than she had. More power than Luke.

Luke. The echo of his mental voice still reverberated in her mind. He was probably on Pydyr.

She would help him, if it was the last thing she ever did.

A
pile of chips, scorched wires, and broken metal toppled on Threepio. The weight of it activated the sensors in his chest. They flared, warning that the weight had to be moved or he would suffer damage.

“Artoo?” Threepio’s voice sounded muffled.

There was no corresponding beep. Artoo hadn’t even noticed when the pile fell on Threepio. Artoo was chirruping softly to himself on the other side of the hallway, digging through a pile of rubble with all of his extensions.

“Artoo! I say, Artoo!”

Artoo whistled at him.

“Not in a moment! Now! Can’t you see I’m trapped here?”

Artoo chirruped. Then Artoo hurried across the floor, moving carefully to avoid the debris.

A door opened on the side. Artoo’s head swiveled.

“Hurry, Artoo!” Threepio apparently couldn’t get himself out of the pile.

A Kloperian slid inside. He was wearing a guard uniform.

Suddenly Artoo’s chirrups turned to submissive beeps. The Kloperian frowned at the debris pile.

“Artoo!”

Artoo moaned.