"The New Rebellion (Kristine Rusch)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

She had laughingly pushed him away, but his words echoed even as Mon
Mothma spoke. Perhaps Leia was the problem. Perhaps she was not willing to
move forward.
Perhaps she was the one unwilling to let go of the past.
"All right," she said, straightening, a leader once more. "Let's get on
with this." Mon Mothma did not move toward the door. "One more thing," she
said. "Remember that whatever tone you set at the opening remarks of this
Senate will be the focus of the debate for years to come." "I know," Leia
said. She reached for the door when a wave of deep cold smashed into her. She
froze. Voices screamed-hundreds, no-thousands of voices, so faint she could
barely hear them. Then she saw a face form on the golden door, a white face
with black, empty eyes. The face was concave, almost skeletal, like the death
masks she had seen in a museum on Alderaan in her youth. Only, unlike them,
this one moved. It smiled, and the cold grew deeper.
Then the voices ceased, and Leia collapsed against the door.
Mon Mothma hurried to her side, and grabbed Leia, staggering as she
attempted to support her weight. "Leia?" Leia was still cold. Colder than she
had ever been on Hoth. Her teeth were chattering. She reached with her limited
Force training and found her children in the apartments, just as they should
have been.
"Luke," she whispered. Leia freed herself from Mon Mothma's hold, and
headed toward the old communications control. She contacted Yavin 4, only to
be told Luke was in his X-wing.
"Leia, what is it?" Mon Mothma asked.
Leia didn't answer. She waited to be patched into Luke's X-wing. Soon his
voice filled the room. "Leia?" he asked, as if he had been worried too.
"I'm fine, Luke," she said, relief filling her.
"I'm coming to you. Wait for me." But she couldn't wait. She had to know.
"You felt it too, didn't you? What was that?" "Alderaan," he whispered, and
that was all she needed to know.
The image of Alderaan filled her mind, Alderaan as she had last seen it
on the Death Star, beautiful and serene, in the seconds before it was smashed
to bits.
"No!" she said. "Luke?" "I'll be there soon, Leia," he said, and signed
off. She wasn't ready for him to disappear so soon. She needed him. Something
awful had happened, like the destruction of Alderaan.
And she had felt it.
"What happened, Leia?" Mon Mothma put her arms around Leia. Leia's
shivering had stopped.
"Something terrible," Leia said. She reached out, touched the cool gold
door, straightened, and stood. "There's death in that chamber, Mon Mothma."
"Leia-" "Luke is coming here. He felt something too." "Then trust him," Mon
Mothma said. "He'd know if you were in immediate danger." But he hadn't known.
He had been as relieved to hear from her as she had been to hear from him. Her
mouth was dry. "Send someone for Han, would you?" Mon Mothma nodded. "I
suppose you want to put off the opening session." More than anything. But Leia
straightened her shoulders, rubbed her cold hands together, and checked her
braids a final time. "No," she said. "You were right. I have to be careful of
the message I send. I'm going in. But let's double the guards this afternoon,
and step up security on Coruscant. Also, get Admiral Ackbar to scan for