The Hunters and the Hunted 6

The young man who sat in the co-pilot’s seat watched me nervously. No one had told him that instead of the usual pilot he was getting me instead and he didn’t know how to react. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, it wouldn’t be the last but every time the young imperials who had been assigned as co pilot looked at me as though I had sprung five heads and smelled bad.

I didn’t see any point in trying to put him at ease or explain why I was sitting in the pilot’s seat and not the usual pilot. It wasn’t as if I actually knew the answer to that question anyway and telling these young men that it was just Lord Vader’s way of showing affection didn’t go over well. Imperial men didn’t have much of a sense of humour. I ignored his dirty looks as I started my pre-flight warm up and made him go through the secondary check list twice, just because I could.

I was being crabby and my mood wasn’t improved when Vader, a compliment of stormtroopers and two more stone faced officers arrived. It was a full house. Lord Vader appeared in the cockpit and told the flustered young co pilot abruptly that he was not needed. The young man seemed more than relieved than scared as he evacuated the cockpit as fast as was humanly possible. I watched the entire discussion without comment. I was silently fuming inside but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Lord Vader wasn’t known for his kindness or his understanding when it came to refusing a direct order. And complaining about it was not a smart thing to do, even for someone who had a little amount of leeway with him, like me.

My headset crackled as flight control radioed me. “Shuttle Dark Blade you are cleared for departure.”

“Roger that, Executor.” I said looking at Lord Vader.

“What are you waiting for girl, get on with it!” he growled as he sat down.

I didn’t answer him; instead I answered Flight control and styled the shuttle to swing her out of the landing bay. My initial annoyance at the task I had been assigned vanished the moment the shuttle listed off the flight deck. He was right though, despite my protests I loved flying the L-class shuttles and I even, for the most part, enjoyed flying with him at my side because every time this happened I usually learned something new.

This time, however, the trip was different. Lord Vader was pensive and quiet, brooding on the up and coming task he had set for himself and his men. I could feel that he had something heavy on his mind and that he didn’t want to talk about it. He had shut himself off from me and it was a little like sitting next to a black hole. He had been distant and withdrawn ever since Hoth. I couldn’t begin to understand what he might have been thinking but I was certain it had to do with Luke Skywalker. That didn’t really bode well for the Skywalker kid, especially if the Emperor was also interested in him, as I suspected he was.

It was just before day break when we hit Bespin space. The shuttle shuddered as atmosphere and gravity began their work. Cloud city’s lights glittered in the lightening sky and it hung above the gas giant like a tiny floating jewel in the slender belt of breathable air. The skies around us were just beginning to bloom in the brilliant colours of pre dawn. It would have been idyllic had we not been so rudely accosted by Cloud City air security.

I spoke with the local air traffic control who were utterly unimpressed with our arrival. When me being polite didn’t work I tried to get official this didn’t work either so Lord Vader snatched at the mike I was still wearing yanking it, along with my head, closer to him and threatened the man on the other end with a very nasty death if he didn’t call off the dogs and let us land. For a few shaky seconds my control on the shuttle wavered because I could not see what I was doing.

“Watch where you are going, girl!” He said crossly as I narrowly avoided a brush with a tall building.

“Let go of my headset then!” I snapped back. “I can’t see to fly and be your damn comm device at the same time!”

He flicked my head away with an annoyed, “Pah!”, and the rest of the scenic trip in and around Cloud city was uneventful. The two ships that had guided us to the landing pad veered off at the last minute. I stuck my tongue out at them as they flew off then I brought the shuttle down on the designated landing pad gently, to make up for the bumpy ride. I was going to get a reputation for reckless flying despite my best efforts not to.

As I shut down the engines and disengaged myself from the head set, Lord Vader got up and filled the cockpit with his presence. “You will remain on board and await my return.” He said waving a finger in my face.

“How long will you be?” I asked.

“As long as it takes, do not leave the shuttle and do not disobey me or the punishment will be severe!” he replied. “I want the ship ready to go as soon as I am done here, with no messing about. Is that clear?”

“Crystal.” I said and was incredibly glad I had thought to bring a book along with me. I resisted the urge to wave good-bye to him as he left the cockpit and turned to complete my shutdown to standby procedures.

I watched from the side viewport as Lord Vader and the rest of the men he had brought along with him walked along the landing pad walkway to be met by someone I suspected was Lando Calrissian. The dark haired, dark skinned man was impeccably dressed and smiled easily but his body language told me he was nervous but not utterly afraid and after a brief discussion he led Vader and the storm troopers, as well as the officers into the building we had landed near.

I let out the breath I had been holding and felt the tension in my shoulders ease for the first time in hours. I knew the shuttle was empty and I was on my own. I was more relieved than anything else. With nothing else to do up front I decided to do a walk through the shuttle, then once that was done, I made a cup of tea and settled back down in the pilot’s seat to read a book that Thrawn had given me.

My father had once commented that flying was ninety percent boredom and ten percent sheer panic when something actually went wrong. I was fairly certain I had covered both ends of that spectrum in this one trip and wondered if, perhaps, I should have brought along two books instead. I had the feeling that what ever it was Lord Vader had planned was probably going to take a while.