The Black Fleet Crisis_ Before The Storm Part 7

"Easy for you to say, " Han said, starting to feel annoyed.

But the opening he had climbed through had already vanished, leaving him with little choice. He started up the curving wall, and found to his surprise that wherever he stood seemed to be the bottom of the sphere.

There was no telling whether it was a trick with grav fields, some sort of Jedi legerdemain, or the room itself was turning under him. Han tried not to think about it, though his steps became cautious as he went past the halfway point up the wall-or, at least, what should have seemed like halfway up the wall.

After he had gone a dozen more tentative steps, a section of the floor-wall? ceiling? -ahead of him dropped away to form a ramp leading out of the sphere. It seemed to Han as though he must be upside down in relation to the rest of the structure, but he found himself, apparently right side up, entering a large pyramidal room from one of its three sloping sides. It was as lacking in amenities as any s.p.a.ce he had seen so far, and lit by the same curious uniform glow that seemed to come from behind the walls without making them bright to the eyes. The light was as cold as the air.

"Nice little tree house, " Han said, moving slowly toward the center of the room, looking up at the apex of the chamber. "And you've done a wonderful job of cutting down on clutter. I think you've taken the idea of concealed storage to a new level. You'll have to give Leia the name of your decorator. "

"Thank you for coming, Han, " a voice said behind him. "It's good to see you. "

Han spun around and found Luke standing one long stride away, almost as if he had been following Han. Han's face broke into a boyish lopsided grin.

"Well, hey, I wanted to get out of the house, and since I was in the neighborhood-You know, you could've come to see us, too. "

"No, I couldn't, " Luke said. He wore an ankle-length patchwork robe that seemed to be made from bits of several other garments, including a pilot's uniform and a Tatooine sand cape. His demeanor was relaxed but remote, quelling Han's impulse to grab him in a bear hug and clap him on the back. "I hope by the time you leave, you'll understand why. "

"Well-you'll have to start at the beginning, because I don't understand a thing about what's going on, " Han said. "What is this place? Why are you here? Why are you hiding? Why am I here? Why didn't you want Leia to come? "

"Leia wants something from me, " Luke said. "You don't. Your other questions will take longer to answer. "

Han looked around with a frown. "If this is gonna be a long conversation-I don't suppose you have anything like a chair anywhere? "

"Sorry, " Luke said, dropping gracefully into a cross-legged meditation posture. "Sit where you like, and I'll put an air cushion under you. "

He waited until Han was comfortably settled, then went on. "As you see, I can hide well enough, even from Leia. But I'd rather be left alone. I hope that you'll go back and ask her to accept that. If she doesn't-well, she's not going to get what she wants. She's only going to drive me away from Coruscant. "

"I don't get it, " Han said. "Why? You two have always been close. What happened? "

"Nothing, " Luke said. "I just can't be close with anyone right now. "

"Go on. I'm listening. "

Luke nodded, but looked down into his lap before continuing. "I don't know if you can understand or not. When I first met Obi-Wan, he'd been a hermit on Tatooine for ten years or more. When I first met Yoda, he had been a hermit on Dagobah for a hundred years or more. I never thought to ask either of them why. "

"A little late for that now, " Han said with a wry smile.

"At the time, I a.s.sumed they were both in hiding. Hiding from the Emperor, from my father. But that makes no sense. "

"No? Nothing personal, but hiding from that pair makes great sense to me. I can think of a couple of times I'd have been glad to do it if I could have. "

"But why in the middle of a desert, or a jungle? "

"Eh-isn't that obvious? "

"No, " Luke said, shaking his head. "It's much easier for Han Solo to hide--even with a price on his head-than for a powerful Jedi, whether Knight or Dark Lord. A Jedi's physical presence is only a small portion of his connection to the universe. Change his face, hide him from sight, and I'll still feel his presence when he draws on the Force. It doesn't matter if he's in the next room or across the system. Remember when we were taking the stolen shuttle to Endor, to destroy the second Death Star's shield? "

"Yeah, " Han said. "You were pretty jumpy. You said Vader could sense you. "

"He did sense me, " Luke said. "I didn't have the skill yet to make the waters still. But Obi-Wan and Yoda were Masters. If they could hide from the Emperor-and I believe they could-why, they could as easily hide in Imperial City, or on Vader's own Star Destroyer, as anywhere. And if their skills weren't equal to Palpatine's, neither distance nor isolation could save them from being discovered. "

"Maybe they hid out in the sticks so no one else would get hurt if Vader showed up, " Han suggested. "You've gotta admit, when you guys fight, it has a way of getting messy. We've got a few monuments to that fact downtown in Imperial City.

Luke shook his head. "No. I discovered the real reason while I was on Yavin-the dilemma that every Jedi eventually faces. I discovered a very important and difficult truth, Han-a frustrating truth. The stronger you become in the Force, the more that you can do, the more that's expected of you, and the less your life belongs to you. "

"Is this the answer, then? " Han said, gesturing at the room with one hand. "Running away? "

"Call it that if you must. It's one answer. There's another, even less appealing, " Luke said. "Han, I'm convinced that for each Jedi, there comes a point at which he or she must choose. When the world presses in on you, threatens to drive you mad, there're only two ways you can find peace. One is to impose your will on everyone and everything around you. The other is to surrender your will, your ego, and withdraw from those who are always wanting you to 'fix' their lives. "

"I don't see it, " Han said stubbornly.

Luke smiled. "Try to imagine that you're at home. One of the children is screaming, and the other two are tugging at your elbows, each demanding that you punish the other for some slight. "

"Routine, " Han said.

"Chewbacca is playing tree-drum music at ear-splitting levels. SeeThreepio is nattering on about nothing. Artoo-Detoo is behind your chair, arguing with the household droids in Basic. The hypercomm is blaring two channels at once, both too loudly. Your comlink is chirping in your pocket. You have three messages from people who want you to come do them a favor, and Leia's insisting on your attention. Lando has a raucous sabacc game going in the next room, there's someone at the front door, and a flight of airspeeders keeps buzzing right over your head. "

"Okay, that'd be a little worse than routine, " Han conceded. "A little. "

"Now imagine it goes on around the clock for a day, ten days, a month, half a year, a year-not only without a break, but getting worse all the time. Until you reach your limit, whatever your limit might be. What are your choices? Control your environment, or leave it. "

"Or go mad and destroy it, " Han said. "Which hardly counts as a choice. Yeah, I think I get the picture now. "

"Do you see what a thin line separates Palpatine and Yoda? " Luke said earnestly. "Palpatine sought power over others. Yoda sought power from within. Palpatine wanted control of everything, in the hopes of building what he thought would be a perfect universe. Yoda gave up the idea of controlling or perfecting the universe, in the hopes of understanding it. "

"You know, " Han said slowly, "I always kind of wondered why you drew the short straw, why Yoda and Obi-Wan didn't team up and take on the Emperor themselves-"

"Yes! " Luke said, his face more animated than Han had seen it since arriving. "I think that's why it fell to me, Han. That's why I had to be the one to face Vader. I still had the pa.s.sion to reshape things, a pa.s.sion ObiWan and Yoda had moved beyond. Surrender disarms you. "

Han's expression showed his disgust. "It's pretty useless, then, isn't it? Jedi Knights who won't fight? "

"Han, try to understand. The essence of the dark side is using the Force to control others. I know that temptation firsthand. If you champion that idea, you're thinking just as Palpatine and my father did-'I have the power, and it's mine to use as I wish. ' Do you want that to be the code we live by? Should the Jedi rule the galaxy, simply because we can? "

"Well-now that you put it that way-"

"Good, " Luke said. "But then understand that there's a price. When a Jedi renounces that path, it becomes very hard to be a warrior, to lead a crusade. Obi-Wan and Yoda weren't afraid to fight, or to die. They felt the suffering the Empire was causing just as acutely as any of us did-probably more so. I wasn't stronger than them, or wiser. I was raw, headstrong, reckless. But I had to be the one to challenge the Emperor-because I still could. "

Han frowned and c.o.c.ked his head. "What about now? "

"Now? I don't know, " Luke said, shaking his head. "I don't know if I could do it now. I don't know if I could summon the outrage. I feel myself standing on a dividing line, at a cusp. I don't know what I should be doing with these gifts-these burdens. It's the question I've come here to explore. "

"And you want to be left alone to do it. "

"I need to be, Han. Will you help Leia understand? "

"I can try, " Han said dubiously.

"I can't ask more than that. "

"Um-look, with everything you've said, I already know the answer. But I gotta ask, so I can tell her I did. Leia wants your help with something. "

"I know. "

"She wants you to come live with us for a while. She needs help with the kids. "

"She thinks she does, " Luke said. "I'm sorry. I have to say no. "

"Okay, " Han Said with a shrug. "I had to ask. I guess she thought, you know, family and all, maybe you could become a hermit next month instead of this month. "

Luke stood. "She's important to me, as are the children, as are you. You know that. "

"Sure! "

"That's why my answer is no. It has nothing to do with this other matter. "

"It doesn't? " Han asked, struggling to his feet.

"My sister Leia has all the talent and wisdom she needs to be not only the mother, but the model, your children need, " Luke said. "She has only to believe in herself, and she'll find that nothing is beyond her. Which is why the worst thing I could do for your family right now is come to her rescue, to encourage her to look to me to solve her problems. She'll only undercut her own authority with the children, and yours with it. They must learn their first and most important lessons from you. In that, they are no different from any other children. "

Han pursed his lips as he considered Luke's answer.

"All right, " he said, offering his hand. "Good luck, Luke. I hope this won't be the last time I see you. But you call us-we won't call you. Okay, buddy? "

Taking the offered hand, Luke looked intently into his visitor's eyes.

"Thank you, " he said, with a small but affectionate smile. "I couldn't ask for a better friend than you, Han. "

As always, the open emotion made Han uncomfortable.

"You could ask, but you don't deserve one, " he wisecracked, patting Luke on the arm and then pulling away. He circled around Luke toward where the chamber's entrance used to be. "You get right to work moving that mental furniture around, or whatever it is you hermits do. I'll just go home and tell Leia you've cracked up--it'll be a lot simpler. No, don't bother, I can find my way out. I never have seen a maze that couldn't be greatly simplified with a good blaster-"

The golden sheen of the droid's metal skin made a brilliant contrast to the tangle of broad green leaves and dangling vines through which he was noisily making his way.

"Impossible! Such arrogance! " the droid said aloud as he struggled with the thick growth, though he did not yet know there was an audience for his thoughts. "For all he listens to me, you would think that he is the protocol droid and I the astromech. "

Flailing his arms at a snarl of branches blocking his way, the golden droid stopped and looked back the way he had come. "I hope the stonebats rip out your circuits and nest in your equipment bays, " he called into the jungle. "I hope a kitehawk drags you off to the temples and feeds you to her kits. It would just serve you right. "

But when he turned back to consider his own plight, the droid found his way blocked not only by the flora of Yavin 4, but by a tall, broad-shouldered man in a military flight suit.

"Oh! " See-Threepio exclaimed, and fell back a step. "General Calrissian! You startled me, sir. Where did you come from? "

Lando grinned. "With all the noise you were making, a platoon of stormtroopers could have snuck up and startled you. Don't tell me you're still fighting with Artoo after all this time. You two are worse than brothers. "

"That stubborn, contrary pile of tin is no brother to me, " Threepio said with stiff pride. "If I had been as carelessly constructed as he was, I would return myself to my maker to be sc.r.a.pped. In all my years, I have never met another R unit as erratic and egotistical as Artoo-Detoo. A simple rebuild of the secondary power grid, and Artoo turns it into a major project. I could give you a list of his operational anomalies as long as-"

"That will have to wait, " said Lando. "Right now you need to pack your polish and power couplings. You're coming with me on a little trip. "

"Sir, I would be most delighted to accompany you. For all I care, Artoo can fall in a mud bog and rust away, " Threepio said, extracting himself from the snarl of vines and circling a tree to join Lando. "But Master Luke brought me here to manage the administrative needs of the Academy, and he did not change those instructions before he left. "

"What did he say when he left? "

"Not a word to either of us, General Calrissian. He simply vanished in the night. I have not heard from him or of him in nineteen local days. Do you have news of Master Luke, sir? Is he well? Do you bring new instructions from him? "

Lando pursed his lips and considered. "Yes, I do, Threepio, new instructions for the both of you. Luke's fine, but he's gone off on some sort of retreat, and he's a.s.signed you to the Fleet Office until he returns. And the Fleet Office has a.s.signed you to me. "

If I could have found Luke to ask him, I'm sure the end result would have been the same, Lando told himself.

"I am glad to hear that Master Luke is well, General Calrissian. No one has been able to tell me anything. And I will not miss Yavin Four. It is so humid here that my circuits are always corroding. Look at me-I can't go into the jungle without getting filthy. But must we take Artoo with us? "

"I'm afraid so, old man, " Lando said, patting the droid's metallic shoulder. "But look at it this way-you only have to deal with Artoo. I have to deal with the both of you. If I can cope, so can you. "

Threepio tipped his head back, and his eyes flashed. "Sir, I don't understand-"

"I'll explain later, " Lando said, glancing at his chrono. "Call Artoo in. We've got a deadline to beat, and this isn't our last stop. "

"I will have to inform Master Streen of our departure. "

"Already taken care of, " Lando said, thinking of a different set of lies he had just told to Streen. Still can't get used to being trusted-it's better camouflage than I thought. "Come on, tin man, Lady Luck's waiting for US. "

Coppery clouds rich in oxides of Tibanna gas churned outside the viewpanes of what had once been Lando Calrissian's office in Bespin's Cloud City. Inside as outside, nothing had changed since the last time he had seen it. The walls and shelves were heavily laden with the eclectic collection of objects that only a rich man or a well-traveled smuggler could ama.s.s.

"I like what you've done to the place, " Lando said to the cyborg that sat behind what had once been Lando's desk. "I guess I never did get around to sending for my things, eh? "

"I don't mind, " said Lobot. The activity lights on the interface band he wore from ear to ear were flickering busily. "You have better judgment in subjective matters than I do. The calculus of room decoration still eludes me. "

"Well-at least you have the good taste to recognize my good taste, " Lando said with a grin. "Still, a man can get tired of the same surroundings day after day, no matter how splendid they are. When's the last time you got yourself out of here for a while? "

"I go out on inspection walks twice a day, " Lobot said. "It takes ninety-seven days to complete an inspection schedule. "

"Let me put it another way. How long has it been since you broke your connection to Cloud City? "

A puzzled expression flashed briefly across the cyborg's face. "I have never broken my connection to the administrative interface. "

"Just as I suspected, " Lando said. "And exactly why I'm here. Lobot, you work too hard. You're long overdue for a change of scenery-a vacation. "

"How can I leave Cloud City without an administrator? "

"Lobot, I have a secret to tell you-the people who work for you will enjoy the novelty. "

Lobot frowned. "But systems will randomize without monitoring and supervision. "

"Then think about how much fun you'll have putting them right when you get back, " Lando said. "And the trip will do you good, too. Frankly, you could use a little practice in conversation. Am I still the only one around here who knows you can talk? "

"Direct input is more efficient. "

"Efficiency is overrated, my friend, " Lando said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his legs, ankle over knee. "Come on, what do you say? Knowing how much you like to work, I cooked up a vacation where there'll be plenty of work for you to do. "

"What sort of work? "