The Wrong Side of Right 11

The Sigiri came out of hyperspace shuddering violently. I woke from my doze disoriented and confused. I had been dreaming but the images in my head made no sense to me. For a second I had no idea where I was and then everything came flooding back. The emptiness I felt in the pit of my gut was so physically painful that I had to fight the urge to throw up. I would have cried if there had been time but alarms were screaming at me. My sorrow could wait and I shoved it deep down inside of me.

The Sigiri’s engines had over heated and there had been more damage done by the shock wave from the Death Star’s explosion than I had thought. I wasn’t sure if I could fix it but I was pretty sure I could nurse the hyperdrive until I reached a safe place to set down and get repairs. I patched up the engine as much as I could then I consulted the star charts to see where I was, grateful the nav system was functioning properly.

I had flown quite far and according to the charts I was somewhere out on the edge of the Mid Rim past a planet called Rakata Prime. I didn’t know much about this planet and there was very little in the database so I made the decision to avoid it. I had no desire to find myself on a rebel friendly planet in an Imperial shuttle. I sighed as I ran through the data-base looking for Imperial friendly planets and found a name I knew. Nirauan.

I sat back in the pilot’s chair with a sigh. Thrawn, I thought. He had told me about this planet, he had built a secret base of operations on it. I wondered where he was and if news of what had happened had already made its way out to the Unknown Regions. I had tried to contact any Imperial ships who would have been close on the emergency frequency but there was nothing but static. Long range communications in that region of space were unreliable because the HoloNet system was not fully set up so far away from the core. I punched the coordinates to Nirauan into the nav computer and prayed the engines would hold until I got there.

I was truly tired but I couldn’t sleep. I should have tried but every time I closed me eyes all I saw was the Executor as it crashed into the Death Star and the sensation of being torn apart from the inside out as Lord Vader had died. I couldn’t bear it so I buried it and spent much of my time in the engine room babysitting the engine and the hyperdrive. I was grateful for the small mercy that I was at least on a ship I knew well and had spent many hours in. I forced myself to think rationally and concentrate on what I would tell Thrawn when I finally found him. I wasn’t sure he would be at the base on Nirauan but I had to try. It never even occurred to me to go back to Coruscant or to make contact with any of the other ships in the fleet. I had been so torn apart by the Emperor’s planned betrayal of Lord Vader that I had not thought about anything else. When the hyperdrive alarm peeped to let me know I was entering normal space I was curled up on the engine room floor, numb and exhausted.

Nirauan was a small arboreal planet, the second of three, which orbited a weak red star. Thrawn had spoken of its strange terrain, beautiful vegetation and natural lakes. The base itself had been built over an existing structure and vaguely resembled an outstretched hand. They call it the hand of Thrawn, he had said jokingly as he told me about some of the people who he had stationed there. As I approached the planet I broadcast my Imperial security clearance codes on the Imperial emergency channel. It did not take long to get a reply. I was asked for more identification and I gave it, after a moment’s pause I was given landing instructions. I followed them to the letter not wishing to make what I was sure would be a difficult meeting any harder.

As I styled the shuttle to land I could see why the place had been nicknamed the Hand of Thrawn, there were five towers which reached up out of the base. It did, from a certain angle, resemble like a hand. All they needed to do to make it perfect, I thought wryly, was paint it blue.

Once the Sigiri had touched down, her engines shut off and the boarding ramp lowered I gathered my courage and went to meet who ever was waiting for me. I was shocked to see a friendly face and even more so to see no armed guards or angry troopers waiting for me.

“Miss Gabriel? This is a pleasant surprise, did Lord Vader send you?” Voss Parck stepped forward to meet me, motioning the two Chiss at his side to relax. His smile was genuine but he could not hide the puzzlement he felt.

“Commander Parck….” I began but suddenly lost the ability to speak. Emotion swept through me like blast fire and I had to cover my mouth to stop the sob that threatened to spill out. I fought to calm myself and stay steady on my feet.

“Are you okay? You are as white as a snow lilly.” He asked taking me gently by the arm and leading me out of the landing bay into the facility itself.

I shook my head. “No, no not really.”

“Your shuttle shows signs of damage, there’s a lot of carbon scoring, were you in a fight, some sort of skirmish or an ambush?”

“Endor.” I whispered.

He gave me a quizzical look and a slight shake of his head. “Endor?”

“Have you not heard?” I couldn’t believe that he did not know.

He shook his head. “There has been no news from the Core for the last twenty-six hours, apparently the Holonet is having technical difficulties. We have been in a long range comm blackout and the secondary channels are all silent. Has something happened?”

I choked back a strange urge to giggle and glanced at the two Chiss who eyed me with suspicion. “I think we had better speak in private.” I said.

He did not argue against it and led me to a small meeting room, his hand on the small of my back. His familiarity was comforting despite being a breech of decorum. I sat down hard on the nearest chair, grateful for the solidity of the conference table. With my elbows on the table I buried my face in my hands. Park turned to the two Chiss and asked them to leave. One of them went to argue but Park held up his hand. “Miss Gabriel is Lord Vader’s personal assistant. Grand Admiral Thrawn trusts her, so should you. Please wait outside.”

They didn’t like it but they did as they were asked.

“Now,” He said, “First things first, you look awful can I get you something to drink, to eat?”

I shook my head and drew a deep breath. “Where’s Thrawn?” I asked, getting to the point.

Parck shook his head. “We don’t exactly know. He goes out into the Unknown Regions and he’s out of contact range. We are still trying to establish solid Holonet links but there are pirates and traders, as well as several alien species that disapprove of this technology have a tendency to destroy the emitters. Communications at long range out here are difficult. The Admiral generally goes out for two months and unless there is a serious emergency we don’t hear from him until he returns.” He said. “Miss Gabriel, if I may ask, what is going on? Why are you here?”

I drew a deep steadying breath and said, “They’re dead, Voss.”

He stared at me blankly, not understanding.

“The Emperor and Lord Vader, they are both dead. The Executor was destroyed. It crashed into the battle station.” I was amazed at how steady my voice sounded while I told him the news.

He paled visibly and sat down in the chair beside me. He leaned towards me, his face hard and angry. “If this is a joke, it’s in very poor taste.” He said.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I had to fight from breaking down. “Joke?” I asked, now my voice did tremble. “You think I flew all the way out here in a damaged shuttle to joke with you about this?”

“Forgive me, but this news, it’s difficult to believe.”

I just nodded, blinked away the tears. “I know. I was there, I saw it with my own eyes and I still don’t believe it. Download the Sigiri’s logs; you’ll see it to be true.”

“The Emperor is dead? How do you know, did you see him die?” He was still trying to process the unthinkable.

I shook my head. “I felt it. His presence in the force vanished, violently. It was the same for Lord Vader…when he died... they are both dead. They were on the battle station when it exploded. There was no way anyone could have survived that.”

“The battle Station? The new battle station? It was destroyed? How is that possible?” He ran a hand through his hair, visibly distraught by the news.

“The Emperor laid a plan to trap the rebels and destroy them by feeding them the technical data to the battle station, he hoped to lure them to Endor and wipe them all out but something went wrong…,” I stopped to steady myself. “Something went dreadfully wrong.” I hid my trembling hands under the table.

“What happened?” He asked gently.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I have no idea.” I said. “I was not on the Executor or the battle station at the time, I had been doing a…a job for the Emperor and I was on the Sanctuary Moon, waiting.” I didn’t think he needed to know the whole story. I wondered if he would even believe it if I were to tell him. “By the time I was in the air to return to the Executor all hell had broken loose. I was about half way to the station when I saw the flag ship plunge into it. After that word came down to clear the area because it was about to blow up. The Sigiri was caught in the shockwave when the death star blew. I didn’t stick around to be captured by rebels; I just got the hell out of there. I don’t know what happened to the fleet or anything. I don’t know any more than this, the Emperor is gone, everything has changed.” The words caught like hooks in my throat and I clenched my teeth tightly to the sob that wanted to escape from doing so.

“I just don't know how to believe this, I don't know what to do, …I ….”

I looked up at him so sharply he stopped mid sentence. “The Emperor is dead and so is Lord Vader. Nothing, no one could have survived that explosion.” I said. “I have to tell him, I have to tell Thrawn! He’s the only one who can sort this out; he’s the only one who can make sense of it!” I could feel the hysteria rising in my voice and fought hard to back it down.

Parck leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “The only way to get a message to him is to go to a rendezvous point where they will still be within standard long range comm distance, drop a booster beacon and wait for them to hear the signal.”

“Give me the coordinates. I’ll find him.” I said firmly. I had it in my head that Thrawn could fix this terrible mess and I was not going to be dissuaded from this. That perhaps Sate Pestage, who was technically now in charge of the Empire, would have a back up plan for just this scenario had not even occurred to me.

He gave me a thin smile. “Merlyn, you look as though you are running on vapours, your shuttle is badly damaged and you are in no shape to go anywhere….”

I waved my hand at him and stopped him from speaking. “There is no one else who can tell him what I know. I have to find him and every minute I sit here talking about it is a minute wasted that the rebels gain. Thrawn has to know, I need to find him. Please, Voss, you know I am right.” I could have pushed with the force but I didn’t, I didn’t need to. He could see by my expression that I would not back down. I didn't give him time to reconsider either. “Please....”

I knew he wasn’t happy but that he had no counter argument. I had won. “Okay, but you will take a different shuttle, one that isn’t damaged, with an escort.”

I shook my head. “No, no escort. I do this on my own. I’ll accept a different shuttle, that way if there are rebels out here and I get caught I can lie about who I am, say that I stole the ship to escape. I won’t compromise your work out here and an escort of Imperial pilots will do exactly that. It would raise too many questions if I were to get caught. This place needs to stay a secret. You need to trust me, I am a good pilot and I know what I am doing. I won’t risk anyone else’s life for this, there has been far too much death already!”

He didn’t like this but he wasn’t going to argue either. If the news I had told him was correct, then I was right and Thrawn had to know but the secrecy of this base had to be maintained.

“Well, I guess we should get ready then but I insist you get a decent meal and at least an hour’s rest. It will take that long to prep a ship and copy over the data from the Sigiri. One hour will not make much of a difference now.” I knew from the tone of his voice that he would not budge on this so I nodded, oddly grateful.

He got up and opened the door, spoke to one of the Chiss guards and then motioned for me to follow. “Kshar will show you to guest quarters, I’ll have the quarter master send you clean clothes, and toiletries. I’ll arrange a wake up call in an hour and then you and I will share a warm meal.”

I wanted to throw my arms around him then and hug him for his open kindness and for taking me seriously. Instead I just nodded and followed the Chiss Parck had called Kshar. It was a short silent walk and the small guest area was sparse but serviceable. I thanked Kshar in basic, not wanting to give it away that I spoke his native tongue. A few moments later a knock at the door told me the clothes and toiletries Parck had promised were delivered. I took the pile gratefully and then locked the door. I lay down on the bed and let go of the breath I had been holding for what seemed like forever. I didn’t think I would sleep, but I did. An hour later a knock on the door woke me up.

Showered and wearing clean, unmarked coveralls, I sat at the table in the small Officer’s mess eating the first warm meal I had in ages. I had no idea what I was eating but it was filling and hot. As I soon as I had finished my meal, Parck explained how their communications system worked, showed me on a small data pad where I was heading and the codes I would need to activate the enhancement beacon.

“It’s a very bad area of space though, I would feel better if you were not going alone.” He said as he handed me the datapad. “We have had trouble with hit and run attacks from unknowns.”

I shook my head. “You know I’m right. I stand a better chance on my own.” I did not want to have to worry about someone else. I did not want to be responsible for anyone else. I needed to do this alone. “Did you get the data off the Sigiri?”

He nodded. “Yes, and just so you know, your hyperdrive motivator is shot among many other things, it’s a miracle you made it here alive. The gods must smile on you, I think.”

I wasn’t so sure about any smiling gods that but I wasn’t going to argue with him. “Did you read through the data?”

His business like expression changed to one of sorrow. “Yes. We are trying to establish communications with the Core now, to see how bad things really are but I suspect that who ever was left in charge initiated a total HoloNet lock down and placed Coruscant under martial law until some of this mess can be sorted out. I hope we’ll know more in the next forty eight hours or so.”

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “This is such a terrible mess.”

“Well, if anyone can sort it all out the Grand Admiral can.” He said optimistically. “I’ve had the crews ready a lambda class shuttle called the Aeolian. She’s a solid little ship, used to be an ambassadorial shuttle so she’s more comfortable than the transport shuttles but Thrawn had all the older ships’ weapons upgraded, as well as their nav systems and star charts. She may look like an old girl but she’s feistier than she appears. She’s also unmarked and has a set of fake ident markers if you need to run under the radar, so to speak. The chief mechanic assures me she is in excellent running condition.”

“I need to get a few things off my ship and then, if everything is set, I will leave.” I said getting up. Time was running out, I felt it even though the unimaginable had already happened. I needed to find Thrawn.

Parck nodded. “I’ve had the quartermaster stock the Aeolian fully and added couple of changes of clothes for you; I don’t know how long it will take the Grand Admiral to respond to the signal, could be anywhere from an hour to three days so I thought it best to be prepared. Come on, I’ll escort you.”

On impulse, before he could open the door, I leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

He blushed furiously. “I think you just did. I just hope that I haven’t signed your death warrant by letting you do this.” He said a little gruffly. He had deep misgivings about letting me go on my own and there was no way for me to alleviate them. I wasn’t sure that he was wrong either but the drive to tell Thrawn was stronger than my common sense and I was far from thinking clearly.

The Aeolian had seen better days but Parck was as good as his word and she was a solid ship that had been well taken care of. I took my tool kit and my satchel off the Sigiri, when I had flown from the Executor I had not exactly planned on what had happened next so I didn’t have much in the way of belongings on board her.

“Take good care of my shuttle!” I said to Parck as I turned to board the Aeolian, “She saved my life.”

“I will see to it myself.” He said. “You have all you need? All the data and codes? How to activate the signal booster beacon? And you know what to do if you need help from me or you run into trouble?”

I nodded to each of his questions feeling a little like a kid heading out on her first trip alone. “Voss, I’ll be fine. I’ll find him and tell him what has happened and he’ll come back and fix this mess. It will be fine.” I spoke the words calmly but on the inside I wasn’t so sure. What had happened at Endor had shaken me to the core and what I was about to do made the hair on the back of my neck prickle and stand on end.

“I don’t have to tell you I don’t like this one bit. The area of space you are heading into is known to be a hunting ground for scavengers and pirates.” He frowned. “If anything happens to you Thrawn will have my hide.” He said almost whispering. The worry in his voice spilled out into his features. “He’s not a man to speak of his private life but I know him well enough to understand you are someone precious to him. I do not want to be the one who let you go to your death.”

I nodded. “Well, I will just have to make sure nothing bad happens then.” I said more firmly, more confidently than I actually felt. “A little trust, Commander.” I said. Thrawn’s words not mine and I didn’t really believe them but I didn’t know what else to say. Parck nodded and I knew he had also heard these words before. I turned to leave.

“Good luck, Miss Gabriel.” He said softly. I turned around and looked back at him. I nodded and then shivered as Navaari's words echoed through my mind. It is bad luck to look back.