Timothy Zahn - Survivor's Quest

Once again, the room began to reconfigure. Mara swung herself over to one of the other columns as hers retracted toward the ceiling, then pushed off and down to grab hold of a swinging wall panel. A brief pause to catch her balance, and she jumped down to the next one in line. Three panels later, she landed on the deck.

"Thanks," she said, stretching out her hand to the Imperial, her senses alert for a last-second betrayal.

But he merely handed over her lightsaber, most of his attention on the room itself. "Impressive," he commented as the room hit neutral and then began shifting into the mode Mara had keyed it for. "Instant redecoration, whenever the mood strikes you."

"It's a little more functional than that," Mara said. Up close, he looked even younger than he had from the ceiling, no older than his midtwenties. Like a kid playing soldier, the irreverent thought struck her. "Didn't Formbi explain it to you? Or didn't you get one of these rooms when you came in?"

"We haven't talked to Formbi much," the young man said. "Or any of the other Chiss. We've been trying to keep a low profile since we came aboard." He smiled tightly. "I don't think General Drask is exactly thrilled by our presence here."

"General Drask doesn't seem very easy to thrill," Mara said. Stepping past the group to the control panel, she keyed the room back to its original neutral mode. "So," she said, turning back to face them. "You going to tell me who you are? Or do I have to guess?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." He stiffened to full attention. "I'm Commander Chak Fel, warrior of the Hand. You may remember meeting my father a couple of years ago."

"Very well," Mara said, smiling tightly at the memory. "I'm sure General Baron Fel remembers me, as well."

"With the greatest respect and admiration," Fel assured her. "He asked me to send you his greetings, and to tell you he still has hopes that you'll bring your talents to the Empire of the Hand someday."

"Thanks, but I've had my fill of Imperial service," Mara told him. "Any Imperial service. So you knew I was going to be here?"

"I hoped you would be," Fel said. "Admiral Parck told me you and Master Skywalker had been invited, though he wasn't sure you'd be willing or able to come."

"He didn't let you know we'd contacted him a few days ago?"

"No," Fel said. "Of course, we were already on our way. Maybe he didn't think it was worth recalling us at that point."

"Which brings us to the rest of your party," Mara said, looking at the silent stormtroopers.

"Oh, yes." Fel waved a hand to encompass his escort. "This is Unit Aurek-Seven of the Imperial Five-Oh-First Stormtrooper Legion."

Mara felt her stomach tightening. The Imperial 501st: Vader's personal stormtrooper unit during the Rebellion. Dubbed "Vader's Fist," its very arrival in a star system had often caused Rebel forces and corrupt Imperial officials alike to run for cover. Nonhumans of every sort, even innocent bystanders, quickly learned to tremble at the sight of those white armored face masks. The Emperor's bias against aliens had impressed itself indelibly onto the combat psychology of all his stormtrooper legions, but even more so on the soldiers of the 501st.

And so, of course, that was the specific unit Parck had revived for his Empire of the Hand. That said a lot right there as to how the admiral was running things. "I guess the old saying is right," she said stiffly. "The one about old units never really dying."

Fel shrugged noncommittally. "So what exactly were you doing up there?"

Mara glanced around. Still no Chiss in sight, but that wouldn't last forever. "Not here," she told Fel. "Follow me."

Turning her back on them, she headed down the corridor. A moment later, without complaint or question, they had formed up behind her.

The Force connection between her and Luke wasn't nearly as clear and precise as most people in the New Republic thought, as if it were a mental comlink conversation. He became aware of her approach as she neared their quarters, and she could tell he was also aware that she was bringing company.

But it wasn't until he opened the door for her that he realized just what kind of company it was.

As usual, he recovered quickly. "Hello," he said calmly, nodding in greeting. "I'm Luke Skywalker."

"Commander Chak Fel," Fel said, nodding in return. "This is my escort guard, Unit Aurek-Seven of the Five Hundred and First."

Mara caught Luke's flicker of recognition at the name and the unit designation. But he merely nodded again. "Honored, Commander," he said. "Won't you come in?"

"Just the commander," Mara said before Fel could reply. "There's no room for everybody, and I'd just as soon not have Drask's people see stormtroopers hanging around outside our quarters."

"Good point," Fel agreed, giving the stormtroopers a hand signal. "Return to the ship."

"Acknowledged," one of them said in that flat, mechanically filtered voice that was one of the marks of a stormtrooper. Turning in perfect unison, they marched away.

"Now," Mara said, waving Fel toward the conversation area as the door slid shut behind him. "Let's start with you, Commander. What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd explained that," Fel said, lowering himself into one of the chairs. "Admiral Parck wasn't sure you'd be coming, so he sent me to act as his representative."

"And Formbi went along with it?" Mara asked, sitting down beside Luke across from the young Imperial.

Fel shrugged. "Actually, Formbi didn't seem to have a problem. As I said, it was mostly General Drask who objected."

"He doesn't seem too happy with our presence, either," Luke told him.

"Or Ambassador Jinzler's," Mara added, watching Fel closely.

But there was no bump of reaction at the mention of Jinzler's name. "Yes, I've noticed," Fel said. "Frankly, I don't think Drask likes anyone. Certainly not aliens. Possibly not even Formbi."

"So why did Parck send you and a bunch of stormtroopers instead of coming himself?" Mara asked. "The way Formbi talks about it, you'd think Outbound Flight was the diplomatic high point of the year. Or does Parck just like irritating Chiss generals?"

"Not a hobby I'd like," Fel said. There was a flicker of something— "Actually, I really don't know why we're here."

Liar. Mara didn't have to look at Luke to know he'd caught it, too. "All right," Luke said, not giving any hint that they'd caught Fel's prevarication. "Let's try this, then. Why didn't Parck mention you when he talked to us?"

Fel shook his head. "I don't know that, either. I more or less assumed he had."

That one, at least, did seem to be the truth. "But then—" Mara began.

"Just a moment," Fel said, cutting her off with a lifted finger. "I've answered a whole batch of questions. It's your turn now. What were you doing climbing around the ceiling of the entry chamber that way?"

Mara had already decided there was no point in playing coy with this one. If Fel was involved in the cable incident, he already knew what had happened. If not, there was no reason for him not to know. "There was a small accident when we first arrived," she said. "A heavy cable attached to the ceiling came loose and nearly knocked my husband across the room."

Fel's eyes shifted to Luke, gave him a quick once-over. "No, it missed me," Luke assured him. "But as Mara said, it was close."

"I wanted to see if the cable might have been deliberately cut," Mara continued. "It had already been put back up, so that's where I had to go to look at it."

"What did you find?" Fel asked.

"No evidence that it had been cut, but it also shouldn't have come loose by itself," Mara said. "Still, I did find indentations on the end like you might get if it had been held in a spring clip for a while."

"Um," Fel murmured thoughtfully. "As if someone had had it already disconnected and held in a clip, so that they could release it at just the right time. Unless they swapped out the entire cable?"