"Why did you destroy the window?" he said, openly curious.
.
.
.
Luke slumped in the chair, hand supporting his head as he rubbed at his temples, tired beyond reason. "Did it inconvenience you?" he asked caustically.
"It did not inconvenience me in the slightest, Jedi," Palpatine said, amused. "It did, however, clarify the extent of your abilities. I had been unsure until then. Now I know what you are capable of--and what not."
Luke remained silent for long seconds, forcing himself awake now, all of his awareness committed to subtly barring access to his thoughts. He needed to get off this topic, afraid that in his present state he would unwittingly give something away.
"I would say the same of you--your medics have been very busy. Where did they get a sample of my blood? They must have had it for a while to synthesize that kind of drug. I assume it's tailor-made?"
.
.
.
Leaning back, Palpatine settled into the carved chair, taking his time to reply, supremely confident, aware of how much that grated on the boy's taut nerves.
"Yes. It's gratifying to see how well it worked in its latest derivation... probably less so for you, I imagine." The drug would have been a surprise, Palpatine knew. The boy would have taken a knock to his confidence to realize just how easily Palpatine could control him if he wished, wary of having it used against him again.
And he was wonderfully resentful now--at having been controlled so easily, at having had to back down so completely.
"The sample?" his Jedi prompted, not allowing himself to be pulled in.
Palpatine noted the change in purpose--that this was active participation; the boy was no longer avoiding, he was consciously choosing to direct the conversation. Why?
"You would be surprised where I have spies and agents placed. And where I don't..." He shrugged dismissively. "Well then, there is always sentient nature; greed oils many cogs."
"Not in the Alliance," his Jedi maintained, completely sure, finger tapping against the chair arm in consideration, his other hand still against his chin, supporting his lolling head.
"Indeed? Then I must have an agent there." Would he realize the extent of the game? Not in this state... Still, Palpatine waited, curious as to what he would untangle.
.
.
.
Spurred by Palpatine's sanctimonious gaze, Luke considered long moments. "No one I know."
"Of course not."
"Not a medic. The Alliance use droids, and you wouldn't trust a construct--plus any alteration to its program would be too easy to detect." He considered... tired as he was, his mind raced as it always did to connect the pieces, remembering the undiscovered mole in his Alliance Cell. "Command staff have access, but..." Luke dismissed it as unthinkable even as he said it, looking for other means. "A tech maybe; someone who has access to the complete data store. They could pull medical information files and they'd have access to decrypt codes. Data Support maybe--or place them in Comms... A slicer could get data out with reasonable success, hidden in existing transmissions."
"Well done, Jedi," Palpatine congratulated, a note of appreciative finality in his voice.
Luke watched the old man for long moments... because he knew him now. For all that Palpatine claimed knowledge of Luke, it had come at a cost; Luke knew him too. Could sense his sudden wish to curtail this game, much as he tried to hide it...
There was something more... something he didn't wish to share...
"If it was someone in Data, they would have full access to existing stores." Luke's eyes narrowed at the realization. "Which means they could change past entries seamlessly."
Palpatine's eyes narrowed, clearly believing that Luke was realizing entirely too much now, piecing together more than anticipated--an obviously unwelcome development. "Your Princess still betrayed you."
And finally, it all fit, inexplicable fragments falling into perfect place for Luke. He knew the obvious, but knowing Palpatine as he did now, it hadn't been enough. There had to be more--it all had to interconnect somehow. It wasn't sufficient to achieve what was needed, the Sith had to twist it somewhere for his own amusement...and to have Luke bargain for the release of Leia--to have him surrender his own freedom in exchange for the woman who carried the information which would condemn him--finally tied everything together.
"That's why you wanted to free her." It was neither question nor accusation, just a statement of fact. "You linked me to the spy, didn't you? You'd already placed something in existing data stores, but you knew it wouldn't be enough. You needed someone they'd trust, someone beyond reproach to carry back more information--enough to tie all your carefully placed lies together, mixed in with that one truth, to make it seem beyond question. That's why you were willing to let the others go too--to release just her would have been too suspicious. But you made me fight for it, didn't you? This was all part of your little scheme."
He was wide awake now, hearing the accusation in his own voice, the bitterness. Hollow though, strangely empty. As if he were going through the motions with little true feeling.
"None of which changes the fact that she betrayed you. I gave her the information but she had a choice, Jedi. She could have remained silent."
Luke rubbed his hand over gritty eyes, surprised by how little anger he felt--only frustrated resignation. "You did this to trap me here--to break me away from the Alliance."
"To clarify the true extent of their loyalty."
"And where is yours?" Luke accused.
"I do not give loyalty, Jedi. I demand it."
Luke shook his head. "I am not my father."
.
.
.
The grin which came to Palpatine's lips was instantly quashed, but the victory remained; because it was the first time the boy had referred to Vader as such, the first time he had admitted any connection with his father. Had he even realised, in the heat of the moment? Palpatine pressed the advantage, giving him no time to think.
"Of course you are. More than you could possibly know. You have his willful stubbornness, his determination, his single-mindedness... You even look like him. You walk the path he chose..."
"I am not Sith!" his Jedi shouted, half-rising in fierce denial.
Palpatine stared for long moments into that stormy expression, genuinely captivated... When he finally spoke, it was quite calmly, as if the boy had not reacted at all.
"You have his eyes...as angry and as hard and as cold. That wonderful, biting blue- like ice in darkness."
The boy blinked in bewilderment, completely distracted by the unexpected observation.
"Did Kenobi not tell you that?" Palpatine continued, his tone more fascinated than denouncing. "I am surprised. Obi-Wan and your father...they were like brothers, they truly were. Yet when your father defied Kenobi he tracked him down with no--"
"I don't want to hear your lies," his Jedi cut in, and Palpatine smiled at the venom in his voice.
"The truth is a difficult thing to--"
"Your versionof the truth."
"The truth."
The boy only shook his head. "I don't believe a word you say."
"When have I ever lied to you, Jedi?"
"You lied about Leia,"
"I told the truth."
"I realized the truth. You told me only what you needed to manipulate me."
"I made the truth clear--the real truth..." Palpatine paused, realizing that the boy was leading him off-subject again. He was becoming better at this kind of avoidance, the distractions more subtle now, requiring Palpatine to respond or cede the argument. He paused, searching to pull the boy back to his own agenda.