“A fleet of planetary and civilian ships massed around repair structures orbiting Paucris Major,” croaked the Chalhuddan captain. “Our own ships nearby. No Imperial vessels in the system.”
Thank the Force. Leia slumped against Amilyn and exhaled hard. Onscreen, amid the distant cluster of ships, she could make out the distinct lines of the Tantive IV, which had rarely looked so beautiful to her. Amilyn held one fist up in the air in a victory salute.
“Don’t celebrate too soon.” Leia released the safety harness, hopped down from the tall bowl chair, and hurried to the communications console. At her nod, the officer there opened a channel, and she said, “To any vessels picking up this signal, this is Leia Organa of Alderaan calling Bail Organa or any other individual in charge of—anyone in charge. Repeat, this is Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. Please respond.”
No answer came. Amilyn said, “Should we fly closer?”
“We’d better not. They may have standing orders to shoot down any unauthorized intruder.” Leia remembered her father’s warning on Crait very well.
The seconds crawled by until her gut had begun to tighten—and then static broke through. “Leia?” She’d never been so glad to hear her father sound absolutely furious. “What are you do—”
“The Empire’s coming,” she said. “Something Tarkin said about this system tipped me off. Mom and Mon Mothma sent me. The ships may already be on their way, and you have to get the fleet out of here, immediately.”
Luckily Bail Organa was a man who knew when a conversation could wait until later. “We’re moving out in ten. Rendezvous with us on the Tantive IV.”
Once the Chalhuddan ships had taken their place among the rebel ships—each of which was being hastily restored to power and crewed with minimal personnel or droids—Leia’s vessel was able to dock with the Tantive IV and allow her to disembark. She expected to feel more relief once she was in familiar surroundings, but they were more familiar than she’d anticipated.
“Hey, there,” Ress Batten said, a rueful smile on her face. “In case you were wondering, no, I wasn’t putting you on the whole time. Captain Antilles brought me into the loop not long ago—in the nick of time for some mortal danger, huh?”
“Lucky you,” said Amilyn from a few paces behind, where she was wandering along, gazing at the plain white walls of the ship as though they were miraculous.
Batten frowned in consternation, but there was no time to explain these two to each other, because at the far end of the corridor, separated from her by a few crewmembers and droids dashing around, stood a tall, familiar figure in a blue jacket and cape: her father, alive and whole, as she’d thought she might never see him again.
He caught sight of her at the same instant. “Leia!”
To hell with royal protocol. She ran to him and flung herself into his arms. He hugged her so tightly her toes lifted from the floor for a moment, the way he had when she was a little girl. “I didn’t know if we’d make it in time,” she said. Her face pressed against his jacket muffled her words, but she wouldn’t pull back or let go. Her father could hear her, and that was enough. “I thought we might find you dead.”
“But for you, that might have happened.” Bail Organa’s broad hand cupped her cheek, turning her face up to his. “Instead, we’re going to save this fleet.”
“Did I finally prove myself to you?”
“Leia, no. You never had to do that. I’ve always believed in you, and I always will. If I made you doubt that these past few months, please, forgive me.” The depth of the remorse she heard in his voice made her throat so tight she couldn’t speak. Bail leaned closer and spoke even more intently. “Out of all the many reasons we have to fight, to your mother and me, you have always been the most important one. We want to make a better galaxy for you, a better future. So it’s been hard, realizing that you have to fight too. That we can’t simply save you—that you have to stand by our side.”
She nodded. “I understand. I always did, really. It’s okay.”
“I wouldn’t let myself accept that you were ready for this.” His smile was crooked but proud. “There’s no denying that any longer.”
Leia hugged her father again, grateful that at last they were partners again, that no other division could come between them.
The embrace went on for as much time as they could spare. When Bail released her, he had again focused on the military operation under way; the difference was that he included Leia in his planning. “We’ll be breaking up this portion of the fleet for the time being, until we can arrange a rendezvous at an alternate outpost. Self-destruct sequences were programmed into the repair stations from the start. We’ll activate those before the final convoy departs.”
Portion of the fleet? How many other ships were there, and where were they? But Leia could ask all those questions later. “Do you have a shuttle or hopper Amilyn and I can fly back to Coruscant?” Leia had been considering this during the docking procedure with the Tantive IV. “I don’t want anybody to link the Chalhuddans to us.”
Her father’s smile was equal parts amused and impressed. “I spoke with their captain. You’ve made your first diplomatic alliance, and negotiated an armed convoy, at that.” Then he paused. “Wait. ‘Amilyn’?”
“Hi there!” Amilyn was doing some sort of elaborate acrobatic stretching farther down the corridor, maybe to allow father and daughter some privacy, maybe just for fun.
“Amilyn Holdo from Gatalenta,” Leia explained. “She’s a friend of mine from the Apprentice Legislature, with a knack for being in the right place at the right time.”
“Those are the best kind of friends to have.” Bail lifted one hand in a wave before turning his attention back to his daughter. “We have a hopper for the two of you. Should look like a civilian craft, and it’s small enough that you can pilot it on your own.”
Although Leia wasn’t an expert pilot, she could manage. “All right. After I drop Amilyn off on Coruscant, I’d like to come back to Alderaan for a few days. Unless you’ll be on Coruscant too—”
“You never need permission to return to Alderaan,” her father said gently. “And after this, I think we could use some time at home together as a family.”
These past many months, Leia had wished and hoped that things between her and her parents would go back to the way they used to be. Finally she understood that would never happen, because neither she nor her parents were the people they’d been before. They had to grow into the family they would become—one united to face the challenges ahead.
“Home,” she repeated. “I’d like that.”