Bloodline

by Claudia Gray

That kind of power structure bred corruption from the highest levels on Coruscant down to the smallest outposts on border worlds. When the people with

authority don’t have to answer to citizens of the galaxy, the result is tyranny.”

His willingness to take on the role of mentor was one of the first things she’d noticed about Han Solo, years ago—well, one of the first things she’d liked about him. For all his griping about “farmboys,” Han had dedicated himself to Luke in the days after the first Death Star’s destruction.

Leia wished she could believe he mentored them out of the same impulse that had led him to befriend Luke; probably, on some level, he did. But Han was also teaching these kids the same lessons he’d wanted to teach their son.

But few sabacc players had learned the game from Han Solo and Lando Calrissian.

His expression reminded her a little bit of Ben’s when he was little, running in after an afternoon of roughhousing with his friends, hair mussed, absolutely filthy, and proud of himself.

Someday was the sun disappearing behind a cloud, a morning lost to darkness long before

night should have come.

Think of your conversation with Casterfo as practice, she told herself. One day she would have to reveal all this to her son. The truth of Vader’s identity had shattered her; she could not imagine what it might mean to Ben. At least Luke could tell Ben the most important part—that Vader had, in the end, been redeemed. Anakin Skywalker had returned; the dark side had been defeated by the light. Leia knew this. She believed it. But she still did not understand it.

Something was written on the paper streamer on her plate. Actual writing. Virtually nobody wrote any longer; it had been years since Leia had seen actual words handwritten in ink on anything but historical documents. But today, someone had left this message on her plate, only one word long: RUN.

But Vader didn’t care about a small boy’s fear. He only cared about the quotas. His hand around Papa’s throat. The way he made Ransolm watch his father gasp and gag and plead. How Vader had thrown Papa down like trash.

Really, it was spectacular. She’d always meant to bring Han here, but they’d never made it happen. Someday, she promised herself. Someday soon.

space station Chrome Citadel

Inside the Chrome Citadel, chaos ruled.

“I dunno.” Joph shook his head. “It makes the Empire look like—like something out of a story. Something that wasn’t real. If you ask me, buying stuff like that and showing it off like it’s no big deal—it disrespects the old rebel pilots, you know? They went up against the Death Stars in X-wings. And we’re repaying them by treating Palpatine like he was only a bogeyman out of a kids’ story?”

LIVE CARGO TO NAL HUTTA NO QUESTIONS ASKED—

200 KILOS GS FROM KEREV DOI TO TATOOINE—

Greer would have to schedule studio time for holos to be distributed galaxy-wide,

In that moment, it occurred to him that, in her zeal, she’d contacted him wearing only a housecoat tossed over her nightgown. How the gossips would talk if they knew he and Leia spoke like this late in the evening.

And the Senate had repaid his service and his love by using it to humiliate his daughter. She felt a moment of dull gratitude that at least Bail had never known this; he’d never had to face just how terribly his message had been used against her.

No biological samples marked either ANAKIN SKYWALKER or LORD VADER had ever turned up in the Imperial registries; no doubt Palpatine had made sure none could ever be collected, lest his dangerous apprentice be cloned. So nobody would ever be able to prove beyond any doubt that Leia was Vader’s daughter.

Alderaan had possessed a moon for only one day of its existence. When the Death Star appeared, little children must have looked up in awe, believing the moon from their bedtime lullaby had come to their skies at last. They would’ve smiled up at it, pointed their tiny fingers, sung the song. Leia squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to imagine it.

children. Then again, the story could be far darker. “Do

you think Darth Vader assaulted Queen Amidala?” he ventured.

they shared the same eyes.

Princess Leia spoke of her brother, the famous Luke Skywalker, who has been little seen in the public sphere for many years now. Perhaps Her Highness learned virtues from her father’s example, but can we say the same for her brother? If he uses his rumored strength in the Force for evil, how could we ever defend against him?”

Bloodburn was a syndrome that sometimes befell space travelers, particularly those who had begun extraorbital

flights young, as Greer had. Nobody knew precisely what caused it, but bloodburn remained rare enough that people didn’t let it stop them from flying. Every space traveler knew it could happen, though: One day your own blood could turn on you and begin the long, slow process of stoking fevers higher and higher until finally your brain was fried, and you were gone.

Then she snapped off the holocam, slung her bag over one shoulder, and walked out of her apartments, into danger. How was it that danger felt more like home?

Leia experienced the vaguely guilty sensation that surfaced every time she realized that droid personalities were more than programmed conversational quirks. A computer core could be lonely. C-3PO could take pity on it.

In the end, she knew, he would always come through.

One of the best things about Han was that he boiled everything down to the essentials and disregarded the rest. Sometimes he simplified things too much, but mostly he helped her center on what really mattered.

Han had brought back Bilbringi food, cheesy meat pies with peppers; she liked Bilbringi, though not quite as much as he did. Tonight, though, it hit the spot. Maybe she shouldn’t be so worried about making messes.

She sighed in fond exasperation. “Some things never change.” His expression grew more serious, and he reached across the table to take her hand. “That’s right,” he said. “Some things will always be the same.” “Is that a promise?” “You better believe it.”

Amid the whirl of the party, Leia stood alone, a solitary figure in black.

She realized, then, something she had never fully understood before. She’d always wondered what had led her father to turn to the dark side, to become Darth Vader. She’d imagined it came from ambition, greed, or some other venal weakness. Never had she considered that the turn might begin in a better place, out of the desire to save someone or to avenge a great wrong. Even if it led to evil, that first impulse might be born of loyalty, a sense of justice, or even love.