But he also wanted to discuss the Force-disturbance with his father before he left. Luke was due to remain at Mosiin only three days, though something at the back of his mind told him even that would be far too late. Again Luke tried to see what had caused the rift...but the knowledge twisted and collapsed in on itself, looping back in a continuous twist of cause and effect, its consequences stretching as far into the future as he could see, yet right now it was still so small as to be insignificant, so mundane as to be easily overlooked; forgotten... he could so nearly see it... almost touch it. The fingers of his left hand closed involuntarily, aware that it was right there in front of him, almost close enough to touch!
Luke opened his eyes, staring without seeing at Reece sat directly before him, his back to the wall, his expression anxious and apprehensive.
He dragged his mind back to the moment; to what he needed to achieve here and now. Vader was in the Tingarn Imperial Barracks less than two hours away to the North, but Luke couldn't be seen to hold off going to Mosiin Province to speak with him, and anyway, he wanted to be away from the Palace as quickly as possible, knowing that the longer he remained the more likely it was that Palpatine would call for him to discuss the strange disturbance, and somehow he felt deeply unwilling to do so.
It occurred to him that if Vader made some excuse to remain at Tingarn Barracks overnight then Luke could fly to Mosiin as ordered and slip away around midnight after he had supposedly retired. If he took an Interat-TIE, he could effortlessly reduce the four-hour journey to less than three, enabling them to speak in far more safety than they ever could here in the Palace, and still be back by dawn...
There was only one flaw in that plan; Mara. It was she and not Reece who was assigned to accompany him to Mosiin. If Luke tried to slip away under cover of night then one way or another she would know.
Wez was looking expectantly at him, and Luke blinked; "Say that again?"
"I said, Lord Vader's offices informed me he is scheduled to return to the Palace tonight." Reece repeated, already aware that Luke needed to speak to his father urgently and this would necessitate an editing of plans, so he was braced for a tense day.
"Fine. In that case we'll set off now." Luke turned to Mara, "Are you ready to go?"
She blinked, surprised, "Right now?"
He merely looked at her and, realising she should correct her tone this publicly, Mara stood quickly; "Yes- I'll just need to return to my apartments..."
"Do it now." Luke glanced to Reece as he rose, "Inform Flight that we'll depart immediately."
The moment Mara had left Luke turned back to Reece. "Contact Lord Vader on a secure channel; tell him to find a reason to stay at Tingarn Barracks tonight; I'll meet him there. He needs to arrange for clearance for an Interat-TIE with a non-military ID to land and give me the permission code- I'll fly in alone around three hours after midnight. When you get the code, transmit it to me in with a few documents- anything will do. Also tell him I'll bring the key to a new cipher code which'll be in effect from midnight tomorrow."
Reece nodded committing this to memory- there were some things one never wrote down. "What will you do about Jade?"
Luke pursed his lips, "I don't know yet, I could do with leaving her here but that's impossible. I'll think of something- I have 'till nightfall."
Reece considered; "Perhaps it would be better for Lord Vader to return to the Palace tonight then..."
"NO!" Luke interrupted, more forcibly than he had intended... why? He calmed, aware that his chest and shoulders had tensed. "No- tell him to stay at the Barracks... it's important."
Reece nodded but, seeing Luke's eyes turn to the door, his question was left unsaid.
It was Hallin rather than Mara who walked in, as Reece had expected, performing his customary neat bow before looking up, glancing from man to man, as yet unaware of the morning's events. "What- have I missed something?"
.
.
Within the hour Luke was heading down from the West Tower to the restricted landing platform set to the rear of the Main Palace roof where his unit was waiting to launch, having contacted the Emperor's office and received permission to depart, Mara and a small contingent with him.
He'd contacted the Emperor's Offices rather than the Emperor himself by comm as early as possible that morning, hoping that his permissions would be pre-approved. Since the trip was on the Emperor's command, he'd gambled that all authorizations were already in place, and sure enough the relevant permissions had been transmitted and now he had every intention of leaving before his Master changed his mind.
It occurred to Luke belatedly to wonder whether Reece would check that there was a squadron from the 701st in his escort- without them his chance of getting a TIE off base without it being queried at Mosiin Barracks was slim. The 701st answered only to Luke, so provided he supplied advance clearance, their movements and more importantly, pilot ID's wouldn't be queried by the Commanding Officer there. Plus their fighters had the necessary stealth equipment onboard to ensure a covert flight beneath general radar, provided he didn't fly too close to the Palace.
He frowned, not breaking pace; he could ask Reece to check that his escort was 701st on an open comlink without raising suspicion, and Reece would undoubtedly realise the rest. Turning to Mara at his side, he held out his hand, "Comlink please?"
Mara nodded, hand going to her belt, used to Luke using her or anybody else's comlink if they were close- he never carried his own...
Luke turned round sharply, sensing Mara's panic as she fumbled at her belt-
"What?"
Mara moved a half-step closer so that she couldn't be overheard, heart fluttering against her chest; "I left it in your apartment."
"Where?" Did he really need to ask?
"It must have been when I left in a hurry." It was an excuse she knew, and she was better than that- she shouldn't need one and even if she did she certainly shouldn't voice it.
Luke walked on for several steps, silently cursing. It would be easy to reassure himself that no-one would see it in the bedroom of his private quarters, but there were any number of Palace servants who entered there legitimately and despite their being in his own personal house staff, not all of them could be trusted- some quite the opposite.
It would be all too easy to convince himself that they would naturally assume it his, but everyone knew he never carried one, his own choice in an effort to make himself a little harder to track or spy on. He briefly considered contacting Hallin or Reece via another comlink, both of whom were still in his apartments waiting to carry out his orders, but to do so would simply reinforce their opinions as to the recklessness of the risks he took. Which left one choice;
"Go and get it. Quickly."
She turned and set off through the Palace at as near to a run as she dare, aware of how damning it could be if found- to both of them.
Instead of taking the main entrance to Skywalker's apartments, Mara stopped three storeys below at the level providing standard quarters as well as kitchens and house service facilities for servants who staffed the sprawling Perlemian Apartments- Luke's apartments. Two storeys above and below his apartment had always been closed off, crammed with fortification and reinforcements originally designed to hold the Emperor's Jedi, and surveillance intended to confirm and ensure his obedience once Palpatine had gained him.
To one side of the large, heavily-staffed kitchens was a direct access which had since been cut through the security measures- an access staircase and automated dumb-waiter which led directly up into the Grand Hall and the State Dining Hall beyond... but there was also a second, concealed entrance hidden behind a blank at the end of a little-used corridor in the refrigerated stores- The Reserve.