Palpatine turned away, his face hidden in the folds of the heavy velvet hood he wore. The sting Luke had been expecting was finally delivered, "And you let her get away?"
"I didn't 'let her' do anything. But yes, she escaped." He allowed just enough frustration sound in his voice to suggest his own annoyance at this.
"How did she get out?"
"How did she get in?" Luke said, buying valuable seconds for thought...
"Answer my question."
"...They were trapped in the corridors close to Ops; I'd locked down the blast doors, trapping them." He shook his head, "I need to check the logs - they managed to open the doors somehow."
Palpatine glanced away again, satiated, "They held Override Codes - I will look very closely into how they had them."
Luke knew he was being let off too easily; the only possible reason he could fathom was that Palpatine knew the truth about Leia and was trying to gloss over it now, so he pushed the argument against himself; the facts would be found out soon enough anyway and he might just be able to clarify Palpatine's knowledge by laying the blame for those doors elsewhere.
"Still, the doors shouldn't have opened again; I didn't close them using the mechanism."
Palpatine glanced sharply to him, "You used the Force?"
"Yes- the blast doors which the Rebels locked closed in the first assault had already been opened again. I didn't have time to contact the bridge so I closed them - locked her in. I thought I'd burned the system and stripped the gearing to do it. There should have been no way they could be opened."
Palpatine glanced away with forced calm, "Perhaps you were mistaken."
He knows about her abilities- he's trying to hide them from me.
Luke pushed a little further, aware that he was indicting Leia Organa by insinuating that she had some control of her latent abilities, but this time the risk was worth the price. She was already number one on the Empire's 'Most Wanted' list and Luke needed to know whether it was because she was leader of the Rebellion or because Palpatine knew she was Force-sensitive. And anyway, having closed the blast door himself to convince Palpatine of his willingness to capture her, Luke had to explain away the fact that he had reopened it to get her out. "And... I thought I sensed..."
"You are injured." Palpatine said across his words, causing Luke to look down in genuine surprise. At some point during the short firefight he must have been hit by shrapnel and not realised, adrenaline and focus suppressing it, because when he lifted his left hand, palm up, there was a long, deep gash running down its edge from below his wrist to his little finger, blood drying about the ring he wore there, streaked across his palm and between his fingers.
Palpatine reached out and took his hand, the unanticipated act completely breaking Luke's train of thought. He resisted momentarily, pulling against the hold, but the Emperor stepped forward, drawing his hand closer as Luke tensed uneasily against the unexpected contact.
His Master put bone-thin fingers to the gash and opened it up momentarily, lifting it closer to study the wound. "It will need sutures- have it attended to."
Luke backstepped, again trying to free his hand. Palpatine looked up at this and Luke froze beneath that deliberate, meaningful gaze, deeply uncomfortable- then the Emperor released his hold and Luke slipped his hand free, Palpatine's blood-wet fingers sliding over it as he did so, long nails trailing against Luke's skin like a shiver down his spine.
He backstepped quickly, gathering his composure with distance, then bowed briefly and turned, walking quickly away, seeking to put some space between himself and his Master-
"First-" Luke turned about as Palpatine spoke out, loud enough for everyone on the Bridge to hear, "I will name the starship I came here to launch."
Everyone murmured, unsure, but Palpatine grinned, focus still on his feral Jedi at the far side of the bridge as the room hushed to expectant silence, all eyes on the Emperor as he strode slowly to centre-stage, commanding attention, gaze never leaving Luke's.
When he finally turned away it was to look to the assembled dignitaries and Officers, composed and confident, supremely self-possessed, making sure that this moment would be remembered. "I had thought to call it the Invincible... but that is just a name. This ship and its Commander - Heir to my Empire, Commander in Chief of my Fleet - deserve something more... unique. Something in consideration of the events which took place today, in appreciation of the allegiance, the loyalty of its Commander... The ship I launch today I will name for him; after him-"
He held Luke's eyes across the bridge- not in coercion or intimidation for once, but in indulgent approval. And somehow that was more unsettling to Luke than anything that had gone before, freezing his chest to uneasy tightness as Palpatine spoke;
"I name this ship The Patriot. Long may it serve."
There was a polite ripple of applause about the room, though Luke didn't react, still held to that unsettled stillness, eyes on his Master-Finally he drew a breath; forced himself to move past the moment. He bowed with studied calm, then turned and walked from the bridge, deeply disquieted.
Chapter 23
.
"Well you are flavour of the month." Hallin said easily as he returned to the Patriot's medi-bay where he had sutured Luke's hand and sprayed the wound with sealant.
Luke looked up, glancing to the door, "Why?"
"I heard about the Destroyer's new name- it's all over the Fleet already. Apparently just any old name isn't good enough for The Heir any more - and Palpatine himself came to check on you earlier. Someone told him you'd be out shortly and offered to bring him here but he didn't seem inclined to wait."
Luke looked again to the door, but he knew his Master was long gone, so was breathing easy again. Less so about the new name or its context, aware of the double meaning; that he too had been redesignated today. He should be pleased that he had the Emperor's trust... why then did he feel so very uneasy?
He studied that thought; became uncomfortably aware for the first time of how easy it had been to rationalise his actions in support of his goal. How easy to validate them. How easy to kill.
"Care to tell us poor grunts what happened then?" Hallin said into his thoughts, clearing his instruments into a sterile bowl.
Luke glanced about the medi-bay, bringing his mind back to the moment; he couldn't see any surveillance but this was a new ship and he wasn't inclined to trust it. "There was a brief disturbance; it was dealt with."
He couldn't say more; not here.
"Ah. Very enlightening; thank-you." Hallin deadpanned, turning back to his charge.
He had been contacted onboard the Peerless about an hour ago with word that Luke had been injured and after a brief, breathless panic had found out that it was a minor injury, Luke himself contacting Hallin from the medicentre onboard the Invincible- or rather the Patriot- to tell his medic not to bother; it wasn't much more than a scratch and a droid was tending it.
Still, professional pride and the fact that Hallin was already on a transport had led him to insist, so Luke had ended up simply wrapping some gauze about the wound until Nathan arrived to suture it, maintaining that he would of course do a far better job and adding that anyway, he took great delight in seeing The Heir wince occasionally.
"Well, I think we can safely say you're free to go now. Sutures out in four or five days; you know the routine."
Luke stepped from the medical gurney he'd been sat on then glanced about, hand to his little finger, "Where's my ring?"
Hallin looked up, "What?"
"My ring, the ring I always wear on my little finger- they asked me to take it off when I came in here - I put it there." He gestured to the surface beside him, still glancing about. "There was a surgical dish right there."