CHAPTER 25: IT'S THE OTHER WAY AROUND

Ysanne Isard walked down the dark corridor to her office. The corridors of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau were quiet and deserted and the chrono on the elevator panel showed that it was late at night, but the young director had too many things on her schedule to worry about the unusual time.

It rarely happened that Palpatine summoned her personally, but today he had done just that.

With the usual movement, Ysanne opened the cabinet doors, turned on the light, and then, having caught the presence of someone else out of the corner of her eye, immediately pulled out a blaster, aiming at the face of the unexpected guest.

"Good evening, Director. Please excuse the late visit ..." A velvet, male voice cut through the silence.

"What are you doing here?" Ysanne roared, ignoring common curtsey. The blaster briefly flinched in her hand and then she lowered the weapon completely, even though she didn't really want to.

"I was waiting for you. You do not have a reception room and hanging around in the corridor would look a little strange, would it not?" He did not introduce himself, but then again there was no need. Ysanne knew perfectly well who was in front of her. An alien in a white uniform, complete with a Grand Admiral's rank bar, a rather unite specimen, in the most literal sense of the word.

And how the rancor had he managed to hack her door?

Ysanne was shaking from the inside, but her mask of perfect composure did not fail her.

"Correct. And my guests usually expect me in their cells. I prefer being the visitor, having the surprises on my side. Why are you here? Your security clearance allows you to send official requests to IIB and get answers - to all questions."

"Almost all," Thrawn smiled softly and gestured to the chairs which stood around a table.

The conversation would most likely be thorough, and thus Ysanne sat down opposite of him, defiantly placing her blaster in the middle of the table.

"I'm here on a personal matter that concerns my wife."

"Of course. Your wife, how is she?" Ysanne asked warily, like a predator. This whole case was a constant headache. For some reason, the terrorist investigation committee had high hopes for IIB, expecting them to find out who was behind the attack and to deliver their heads on a fine Nabooan plate, decorated with a golden rim. The truth, however, was gloomy: They didn't have a single clue. Which was completely unacceptable when it came to an assassination attempt on someone as important to the Empire as Lady Vader.

But how important was she really?

Ysanne had expected Lord Vader's visit some time ago, after all, she was his daughter ... and Ysanne had had first-hand experience of the commander-in-chief's legendary temper, but as of yet, nothing had happened. He had left Coruscant with the Contractor last night – where to, of course, she did not know. Perhaps he himself had found the answers to the questions plaguing her. Or his daughter was not as important to him as commonly thought. Bitter resentment pierced her heart.

What would her father have done in such a case?He certainly would have demanded answers. But not because he was afraid for her, no ... because he wanted to be feared.

"I'm afraid, I have nothing more to tell. You have read the official reports, right? Well, we have reached a dead end, with no light at the end of the tunnel yet." Thrawn nodded.

"I am interested in something else though. What do you know about the whereabouts of Mirabella Swan-Jar?"

Ah. Here we go. Interested in your wife, are you?Ysanne thought to herself and laughed silently, recalling some of the spicier information in the Grand Admiral's biography and his connection to the opera diva, but aloud she simply replied: "I have no idea. The explosion damaged most of the surveillance cameras in the stores where she was spotted and she was neither among the victims nor the dead. Apparently, our celebrity disappeared without a trace, and this, frankly, is another nuisance." Isard said irritated and then threw the datapad she had been checking on the table, kicking the wooden-carved table leg while doing so. Agents going missing and not getting in touch was not a completely abnormal situation, but there was too much that did not fit here. All agents had tracing beacons implanted which helped to locate them as long as they stayed on the planet, and now the data showed that Mirabella was not on the capital anymore. That, or she had found a way to deactivate the chip, which was not very likely.

"If you are making any progress ... I want to be the first to know."

"Do you have any suspicions, Grand Admiral?"

And if so, would he tell her?

He shook his head.

"No. Not yet."

Thrawn was a dangerous adversary, the director thought. The dark horse of the Emperor. In this, they were somewhat similar.

"Well, if you don't mind me saying so, the attempt was organized very poorly. Too much noise. Too public. Whoever is behind this is either an idiot, or he had completely different goals." Ysanne ran her long, thin fingers absentmindedly through her long hair.

"If you care for my opinion, I think it would be best to question Lady Leia. She might have noticed something that slipped the cameras. Let me talk to her outside protocol, as there is an official ban to interrogate senior personal."

"That is out of the question," Thrawn said and shook his head. "Leia should not be bothered with this; she has gone through much lately." Ysanne grinned wryly. This fury, who had almost single-handedly executed a dozen trained assassins, was clearly not as weak as that. But an order was an order.

"The security information should be enough for you," Thrawn said and with that put an end to the conversation.

"Continue the investigation. And try ... to find your agent as soon as possible." It sounded much like an order.

"Of course," The director nodded coldly and then Thrawn said goodbye, leaving the office.

Isard took a glass from a cupboard, poured herself some Corellian whiskey, drank it in one gulp and then threw the glass forcefully against the stone wall, small glass pieces lying everywhere on the dark, oak floor.

"How I hate this!"

Leia did not sleep that night. In her mind, she repeated the events of that ill-fated day time and again and tried to understand who was behind it. The most obvious candidate was Mirabella. But the way it had happened did not fit her character, although Leia's guards disagreed. She wanted to know the truth, but she was tied up here, imprisoned more or less. Thrawn was silent now and before that had said that the case was being investigated and that she would get the results, but shouldn't bother with the details. The official version was still not released, and the media storm seemed to have calmed down. Sitting in a chair by the fireplace - a real fireplace with crackling firewood - Leia could not make peace with things she could not influence. It had always been this way - inaction and waiting were the worst punishments for her. The living room door opened and one of the guards, Myo, walked towards Leia.

"Good evening, my lady. You have received a personal message. We checked it. It's a common info chip with visual and audio data. The sender is unknown. Would you like to see it yourself or do you want us to check the information first?"

"I will do it myself, thank you. You can go." Without another word, Leia extended her hand, and as soon as the thin info chip touched her skin, it coldly burned her palm - this was important. Without delay, she put it into a datapad and activated the device. A small built-in holoprojector showed the figure of a tall alien in a dark hood, who uttered only one phrase:

"I know who is behind this."

He did not have to specify what he was talking about. The attack, of course. The chip also included a text message with a time and place: Tomorrow at 6pm at the Royal Ritz Hotel.

The Royal Ritz. A fashionable place, not everyone could afford a dinner there, not even among the rich, which was good news, as finding a safer place would be hard. The bad thing, however, was that she was contemplating meeting a stranger who, by the way, seemed vaguely familiar. It certainly wasn't the best solution. First of all, she couldn't tell Thrawn about it. And Leia was not even completely aware of the security orders concerning her own person - Perhaps she was not even allowed to leave the house? And who was this man anyway? Leia started at his features, which were mostly hidden in the shadows. She was sure he was non-human. No doubt. The decision came instantly. Activating the comlink, she said: "Myo, please come to me. We need to agree on some plans for tomorrow."

The morning was cold. Leia must have forgotten to reset the bedroom temperature to Human standards. It was always cold in Thrawn's chambers, but hot in his arms. Therefore, there was no need to adjust climate control whenever he was near. The rooms of the Chiss were close to the fireplace Leia loved so much. And when tiredness had begun to envelop her like a heavy blanket, she had decided that her husband's bed was simply closer and that she could just as well sleep there. In fact, during Thrawn's absence, she quite often watched the fire until late at night, and then slept in his bed. She herself explained this with practical reasons only, but perhaps there was something else that Leia did not want to admit to herself: that she missed him. Her chambers were beautiful and comfortable, but she liked to be in his territory, so to speak.

Leia reached out and wrapped herself tightly in the chilly, thin blanket. It was about six in the morning. Thrawn was not around, and she did not want to turn on the heating system, so she decided to get up. Actually, she was not sure whether she would like her husband to know about her little weakness.

"Good morning," a soft, velvet voice came from the high chair next to the fireplace, the one in which she had been sitting last night.

"Oh, I didn't see you!" She wanted to say something else, but everything that came to her mind would have sounded just as silly.

"I was just about to leave ... it's cold here."

He laughed softly. "And I dare not hold you back. By the way, we are leaving tonight."

"Leaving?! Where to?" Leia tried not to let her voice betray her anxiety.

"Somewhere to warm you up." She did not need to see his face to know he smirked.

"Fiji. You need to rest and to get out of here, for a couple of weeks at least."

Leia froze in place, unable to utter a word.

Did Thrawn know about her plans for tonight?No, it had to be a coincidence. She had to pull herself together now! Having taken several steps towards the fireplace, she sank heavily into the chair next to him.

"Why such a rush?" Her lips sprawled in a seductive smile. "We could leave tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow. Like that I would have more time to pack my things and to get ready for the trip."

"Why? Do you want to go shopping?" It sounded cruel.

No, he did not believe her. Not a word. And he inquisitively peered into his wife's dark eyes, as if trying to read her, to see the true reasons for the intended delay. Leia felt uneasy.

"If I would not know you better, I might think you have a lover whom you want to say goodbye in person before the oh-so-long separation." he laughed again, but now his laugh was cold, burning. He gently took Leia by the chin, then his palm went down and rested on her neck, caressing its delicate skin.

"Tonight. And this is not to be discussed." His eyes blazed with red fire, and this unexpectedly reminded Leia of real fire. It was useless to say anything now. But she needed to come up with something. She was angry and in the past she might have given in to that feeling, but daily meditations helped her to manage her emotions.

"It's dangerous to be so arrogant," she said quietly, threateningly, and pulled away from her husband.

"But you are lucky: I am leaving." She hastily left the rooms and did not hear Thrawn whispering "Good", while picking up her datapad.

Departure was scheduled for 9pm and the Royal Ritz Hotel was located near the Senate and, thus was more or less next to Vader's Castle. Leia had thought things through almost perfectly - the reason for the trip, the route and she had received the confirmation from her guards.

"We will ride together with Lio," Myo reported, opening the armored black speeder door. But she did not have time to close the door again, as she suddenly fell to the floor of the hangar, lifelessly. It seemed to Leia like she had heard the muffled sound of a blaster shot. Looking back Leia saw Thrawn, who carefully examined the white glove on his right hand.

"Excellent accuracy, even from afar," he said calmly while coming closer. He squeamishly looked around Myo's body and didn't even glance at Lio, who clutched her chair as if she was tied to it.

"Stun mode," he explained to Leia and gallantly offered her a hand, helping out.

"But I would not mind killing both of you," he said looking in the mirror, where his eyes met those of the second guard. At that moment he did not look very Human.

"But today you are fortunate. Take her and leave. You are fired."

Prince Xizor was waiting for his guest in a private room of the Royal Ritz restaurant. Leia was already half an hour late and he was no longer sure she would come at all.

So, the fish hadn't swallowed the bait, but he would get it anyway. Or it would swim to him on its own, which, of course, would be preferable. And even if she hadn't come tonight, he would still not be alone.

"Fine wine, isn't it, Mirabella?"

TBC