"Hey, fifty percent of any game is the cards you get dealt on the day."
"I don't believe in luck," Luke said. "We make our own luck."
"Damn straight," Han agreed. "I'll take a stacked deck over luck any day."
"And if you can't stack the deck?"
"There's always some way to stack the deck," Han said, reaching out to lift the top card from the deck, to hold it with its back facing Luke as he looked at its face. "What's this card--seriously?"
The kid glanced at Han as if it were all the information he needed. "Eight of Staves."
Han dropped the card face up on the table: the eight of Staves. "See? Now that's what I call stacking the deck."
Luke looked meaningfully back at Han. "Which is great...if you're the only one at the table who can do that trick."
"Hey, even if you're not, it's one hell of an advantage." Han tapped at the cards, aware that the conversation was becoming a little too specific. "Are you playing or not?"
"I'm playing," Luke said, mind clearly on the bigger picture. "I'm just waiting for the right cards. They'll come."
"But not this week?"
"Too many chips on the table," Luke declared, throwing his hand down.
"A wise choice, pal. Couldn't've put it better myself." Han grinned, dragging the chips over to himself. "Besides, I think I'm gonna need these today."
"Great," Luke frowned, staring at the pile of chips as Han dealt out the next hand in this non-existent card game. "I think I really need to start stacking that deck."
.
.
"So, they've given you a little more space to pace in," Han said, gesturing with a flick of his head to the drawing room door behind him, open now into the dining room beyond.
He'd managed to communicate to Luke a few weeks back that the dining room was the last one in this sequence of chambers, and so lead directly out into the main hallway...useful information to Luke who, because of the ridiculous proportions of the wide hallway he occasionally glimpsed, hadn't been sure. That had been an interesting conversation, Luke reflected wryly; Jade had called them every third word that visit.
"Yep," Luke answered vaguely, rearranging his cards into no particular order with considered care. They'd played for an hour now, with most information passed on, one way or another. "Not quite made it as far as including a landing platform yet, though."
"Hardly, you'd need to stretch another fourteen floors down for that," Han said casually without looking up.
Both remained silent for long seconds, waiting to be interrupted by Jade, but if she'd noticed, she let it pass without comment.
Finally Luke glanced up and Han gestured again with a nonchalant flick of his head whilst still arranging his cards; the platform was on the east side of the tower.
"Hmm," Luke said simply, sliding ten ornate chips into the center of the table, eyebrows up in question.
Han snorted. "You wish. Let's try doubling that, shall we?"
He slid twenty chips forward, causing Luke to frown. "Is that...thirty, or is it twenty on my ten?"
Han frowned. "That's thirty. Altogether."
"You need to turn a card," Luke said vaguely, appearing lost in thought.
When Han reached out and turned the top card from the deck, Luke glanced up. "Did you see the deck just then?"
"What?"
"The deck," Luke prompted meaningfully. "Did you see the deck?"
"That deck?" Han frowned, looking uncertainly at the deck of cards.
Luke remained still, staring at Han, willing him to understand. "The deck you just bet on."
"See, now I don't know what you're talking about," Han said, leaning in, lost.
"How can you not know what I'm talking about?"
.
.
"Are you asking me if I cheated?" Han stared at the kid, at an absolute loss; how could he cheat at a non-existent game?
Luke rolled his eyes as if counting to ten, then reached out to place his hand on the chips. "I'm saying...you just bid thirty, did you see the deck?"
Jade was glancing over now, becoming curious.
Han stared for a few seconds more...then realization hit that the kid was talking about the flight deck; the landing platform. "Oh, the...no, no." Han paused, playing the part again. "No, I didn't see the deck, I just bet on what was in front of me."
The kid shook his head without meeting Han's eye, amused. "Man, we have got to stop playing this game."
"Or get way better at it," Han said, smothering a grin.
Neither looked at the other for a while, afraid that if they did, they'd start laughing, wondering if anyone watching the security footage was trying to follow this nonsensical game of high stakes.
.
.
.
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Leia stood alone in the dark of her quarters, her hand to her mouth. Simply stood there, very still.
Time passed...a long, long time, whilst distant stars trailed by the viewscreen as she stared out. Eventually she sighed, a long, low, tired sigh. Very calmly, she walked from the room, heading for Mon's office.
"I have something to tell you," she said simply when she entered, and Mon frowned, probably knowing from the tremble in her voice that it was important.
She turned to her Aide, Harlin. "Could we have a few moments, please?"
He nodded diplomatically and retreated, leaving them alone.
Leia paused for a long time, struggling to find a way to do this, aware that Mon was giving her the space, not rushing her.
"I...was thinking about the comms...and Luke." Leia didn't need to elaborate further, she knew.
Last night, just as her shift was finishing, Mon had called Leia to the Communications Suite again and her heart had beaten a little faster in her chest as she'd arrived.
"Leia, please come through." Mon had gestured her into a small room to the rear, where the Com Chief and two slicers had spent the last four weeks working on old, automatically archived comms traced back to the comlink found in Luke's belongings.
The Com Chief looked down now as she came in, taking a half-step back.
Madine was in there of course, and Ackbar, his raspy breathing loud in the confined space.
Leia braced; this didn't look good.
"Lieutenant Leemarit, please?" Mon prompted, and the Rodian Com Chief nodded silently, turning to Leia.
"I'm...sorry, Ma'am."
He reached out his long, blunt fingers to rest on the console controls, and a message played out, clipped by distortion, compression audible in the broken hiss...but clearly recognizable:
"...every chance that we will be relocating shortly. Scouts, myself included, have been sent to systems on the Corellian Trade Spine, as far out as the Outer Rim. This will be a semi-permanent base, so should provide a good strike opportunity when it's settled. Co-ordinates will follow when I have confirmation."
It was, in some strange, twisted way, good to hear Luke's voice again, even like this. He continued, leaving only the shortest pause, as if considering, searching for anything he'd missed.
"As far as I'm aware, Mon Mothma will not be at this base, nor will Madine or Ackbar. Leia Organa will be present, backed up by General Rieekan. No more information at present. Contact within three weeks."
That was it. Probably less than a second when it had been compressed and encoded. It had taken less than a second to damn the man Leia had spent three years trusting absolutely.
Mon spoke into the silence, her tone that of someone not wishing to continue, but knowing that they must lay this to rest.
"We now have four messages deciphered. We gave a fragment of one of them to the Bothans without telling them who it was and asked them to check Imperial and Independent field-agent databases. They ran it through their equipment." She paused again, then pressed on, firing the last bolt home. "They have this voice down as an Imperial Agent named The Wolf. They have no visual ID, but apparently he's the one who re-forged broken links between Black Sun and the Empire following the Falleen massacre, recruiting Xizor to work for the Emperor. They have practically nothing on him, except that he's the son of someone very highly placed in the Emperor's personal retinue. They thought for a while that he may be Aurus Cordo's son--his only son is listed as a Royal Guard, and he's about the right age; four years older than Skywalker claimed to --but Bothan spies in the Palace claim Cordo's son is still there. Whoever he is, the Bothan's contact within Black Sun claims that this agent--The Wolf--left and fell below their radar about three years ago, following the success of the Black Sun mission. The only description they have is that he was a human, average height, athletic, and in his early twenties, with fair skin, pale blond hair and blue eyes."