Unchosen again, like I was to the lightsaber in my underwear drawer.
NABOO
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The Company
TheStarfarerarrived at Naboo, but because the palace was currently under renovation, we had arranged to have a special guest speaker—Sosha Soruna, the ruler of Naboo during the fall of the Empire—meet us planetside. Instead, she wanted to come up to visit theStarfarer.Afterward we would take a shuttle tour down to a Gungan city, enjoy a seafood-heavy lunch, and shuttle the guests back up to the ship for dinner.
Sosha Soruna arrived on theStarfarerwith little aplomb and even less security, flanked only by an assistant and a single guard. If I hadn’t known who the older woman was, in her lovely crimson flying jacket, trousers, and supple boots, I’d have guessed she was a civilian. Her black hair, now peppered gray with age, was pulled back into a simple bun, her face barren except for a thick line of makeup that went from her bottom lip to the tip of her chin.
She smiled when she arrived, and hugged my dad.“It’s so nice to finally meet you in person, Hansifred,” she said warmly, “and I’m so glad we could make this work. When Ms. Kotti reached out about this opportunity, Ihadto jump at the chance.”
“You honor us with your presence, Lady Sosha,” he replied, kissing the back of her hand, and led her to the meet and greet in the main chamber.
It was about thirty minutes of Lady Sosha recounting her days during the war, and her efforts to protect Naboo, and the years that followed. Afterward, quite a few of the Civil War Buffs hung around to ask her more complex questions.
I was posted in the main chamber to help facilitate, stifling a yawn a few times from my long night on the flight deck. When the last of the young men approached her, he came on hard and fast, gushing about some Operation: Cinder military action that happened years ago and how “the passage of time has left you timeless”—which wassucha smooth line, I had to admit—before he pulled a piece of flimsiplast from his pocket to hand to her.
I intercepted it and politely told Spectacles, “I’ll keep it for her.”
His shoulders slumped. “O-oh. All right…”
Lady Sosha thanked him, and after all the guests had been seen to, she asked to be excused to the refresher.I escorted her to the closest one and cleared the room before she went in, then guarded the door. When she was done, she washed her hands and inspected her reflection in the mirror.
“The guests on theStarfarerare so lovely,” she commented. “I appreciate their enthusiasm.”
I winced, knowing she was referring to Spectacles. “Sorry about that one guy. He’s one of those Galactic Civil War buffs. He sort of isreallyinto this part of history.”
She didn’t seem bothered by him at all. “He was very excited. Let me see the letter?” she added, motioning to the pocket where I’d stowed it.
I handed it to her. The flimsliplast looked familiar—likely from a guest room.
Delightedly, Lady Sosha unfolded the letter, read it, and gave a riotous laugh. “Thebraveryof some men!” she cried.
Alarmed, I looked at the flimsiplast. It was…“Aloveletter? I amsosorry,” I added, mortified. “I promise that will never happen again—”
“No, no, what an honor! Truly, even age doesn’t deter some people,” she said, and immediately—but not unkindly—ripped the letter up. “What a lovely thing for him to say, even if it’s quite absurd.”
I realized then that I didn’t know much about SoshaSoruna other than her life as a monarch and her brief time before that as a skilled pilot. After, I had assumed she returned to everyday civilian life, but by the blaster pistol at her hip…maybe not so much.
Then she said, as if reading the furrow of my eyebrows as confusion, “I don’t quite like men as my paramours.”
My eyes widened. “Oh.” It didn’t help that my voice came out in a squeak. Andthatjust made me feel mortified. “Oh, stars, I didn’t—did I sound—I didn’t mean to—”
She laughed again, tossing the remains of the letter into the trash. “It’s fine, my friend. I didn’t find out untilmuchlater in life.” She cocked her head. “I was about your age when I assumed the throne of Naboo. It was impossible to think of anything other than saving my people. Foryears, even after the war. I must admit I’m a little jealous of people who found love during it. Leia, and your father, too.”
Leia—“As in Leia Organa?” I asked before I could stop myself.
I hadn’t realized they knew each other, or were close. My father certainly hadn’t met any of the big players in the war, and the way he told it, he was very much a part of it. But the war had been big, with a lot of fronts.
Lady Sosha nodded. “The same. Though most of my ruling years feel transient at this point. I wasn’t a part of anyone’s life long enough to be anything.” A thoughtfullook crossed her face. “What’s it like living on this ship? You were raised on it, yes?”
“It’s…nice. I get to see everything. And I’m safe here,” I added, because that was what Dad always told me.
You’re safe on this ship with me, he assured, as if the rest of the galaxy was full of cruel intentions.
Butsafe, I was beginning to realize, wasn’t the same as happy.
