"Bold words, Lord Vader." Xizor allowed himself a flash of anger." Especially from one who has assured our Emperor that the Rebel Alliance would be crushed long ago. The Rebels seem to have made a mockery of the assurances you made to your master."
If Darth Vader had been physically present in the throne room, those words might have been worth Xizor's life. He knew how dangerous a game he was playing; he could see the visible reaction in Vader's image, the black robes swelling like the sun-obscuring clouds of an advancing stormfront, the gaze from the dark lenses beneath the helmet flashing as sharp as lightning bolts.
"I would caution the prince-" Thunder, ominous and deep, sounded in Vader's speech. The harsh rasping of his breath was just as audible, transmitted from the bridge of the Executor. He had only recently taken possession of this new flagship, which had replaced the previous Devastator. If anything, the threat of his powers seemed enhanced by the greater arsenal surrounding him." His ill-advised rashness might be excusable in one as young and inexperienced as himself. But my patience with him grows thin."
Xizor sensed a pressure at his throat, like an invisible hand tightening against his windpipe, cutting off the flow of blood and air to his brain. He didn't know if he was imagining it, if some weakness not yet rooted out from the core of his being had allowed a trace of unreasoning, wordless fear into his thoughts, or whether Vader's powers could reach this far. He had had previous encounters with the dark lord's undeniable strength, the ability to reach out and crush the life from those creatures Vader considered lesser to himself. To annoy him, to fail to carry out instructions or thwart his plans in any way, was to court an unpleasant death by asphyxiation.
Black spots, the first signals of anoxia, were already beginning to form and coalesce in Xizor's vision. The invisible grip seemed undeniably real now, like a fist beneath his throat, shoving his head back, lifting him onto the balls of his feet. The passage of time, measured by Xizor's own pulse, slowed to a crawl and then stopped.
The Emperor had always intervened before this point, as though he were commanding a guard beast to heel. Perhaps this time, he would let the process reach its fatal conclusion.
A single thought emerged through the darkness welling inside Xizor's skull. I wasn't summoned here for an audience with the Emperor. . . but an execution. My own. . .
The darkness was torn open by a red surge of anger, from deep within Xizor. Anger, and the hunger to survive.
"Patience. . ." Prince Xizor barely managed to squeeze the word past the encircling constriction at his throat. The effort dizzied him; the surrounding throne room dissolved out of focus." Patience is a virtue. .
. the rewards of which. . ." He was close to blacking out, losing consciousness entirely. But he knew his doing so would be followed by his death." Are for the Empire. . ."
"Well spoken, Xizor." A trace of amusement sounded in Emperor Palpatine's voice, barely audible at some place in the black-tinged haze." Rest assured that I find others in my service even more burdensome than yourself. Your little amusements weary me, Vader; release him."
As though the knot of a primitive gallows rope had snapped, the pressure on Xizor's throat-imagined or real-was suddenly released. He barely managed to keep himself from falling to his knees, the invisible fist suspending his weight now gone. With an effort of sheer will, Prince Xizor held himself upright, drawing in a breath that filled his lungs and threw his shoulders back.
He kept his face a mask as well, to conceal the furious hatred he felt for both Vader and the Emperor. To be toyed with, whether with mind games or this mystical Force of which they professed mastery, was infuriating enough. But to be humiliated by Vader, the instigator of the biological weapons experiment that had killed so many hundreds of thousands of Falleens back on their homeworld-a slaughter that had included Xizor's own family, his parents and uncles and beloved siblings-that made the filtered air of the Imperial throne room burn like acid with each inhalation.
"As you wish, my lord." Vader spoke again, his holo image standing with arms folded across its chest." Though I would be doing the Empire a service if I were to permanently remove Prince Xizor from its court."
"That may be so, Vader." The Emperor made a dismissive gesture with one languid hand." But I will be the one to determine that. And I will decide when it happens. Until then, I desire that there be a cessation of this squabbling among my servants. You quarrel with each other while the Rebellion festers and grows." The expression on the wrinkled face darkened." Must I take care of all these matters myself?"
"Only if you forbid me to fight on your behalf, my lord." Xizor spread his hands wide, palms upward." Every atom of my being is at your command."
"How pleasant it would be, Xizor, to believe that. But I am not such a fool." The Emperor made a quick gesture, cutting off the holo image of Darth Vader before it could voice its approval." For one of your devious nature-and high ambitions-to be totally loyal would be a miracle beyond the scope of the Force itself. Even without the Force, I would be able to see well enough into your heart. You are not so devoid of self-interest, Xizor, as you would have me believe. If you wish to see the Empire achieve its fated glory, for its dominion across the galaxy to be total, then such a desire is due to your own lust for glory and power. You tie your ambitions to the Empire, because you know that is the best way to achieve them."
Xizor looked straight back into the Emperor's eyes." I will not deny it, my lord. But should not a faithful servant be rewarded for all that he does on his master's behalf?"
The Emperor had turned in his throne while Xizor had spoken. For a moment longer, Palpatine gazed out the high arched viewscreens that looked out past the Imperial city and beyond to the star-filled skies. Then he turned back toward Xizor and the holo image of Vader." Oh, you'll be rewarded well enough; have no fear of that." His hands lay like dead things on the arms of the throne." When the Rebellion is crushed and all that resist my will are annihilated, those who have served me will have the greatest reward of alclass="underline" the opportunity to continue serving me and the Empire. Until you are broken by age and the rigors of that service, and I will have no further use for you. Such is the nature of my loyalty, to those who have earned it."
Once again, Xizor bowed his head." I desire nothing more than that, my lord."
"Whether you do or not, it matters little. Nothing matters, but my will."
From the corner of his eye, with his head still bowed, Xizor looked over at the holo image of Darth Vader. Even at this remove, with his enemy not even physically present in the throne room, he could still sense the dark lord's disdain and suspicion. He knows, thought Xizor, but he cannot prove it. Yet. And it might not matter, even if Vader could prove it. All of Vader's accusations of treachery counted for nothing against the Emperor's own convuluted strategies, that gave the seeming appearance of trust in the Falleen prince. The actual words Black Sun had been spoken by Vader on other occasions-Xizor's spies at the court had informed him so-and the Emperor had dismissed them with a wave of his bony hand, as though the words were no more than scraps of rumors and lies.
But does Palpatine know, wondered Xizor, that I know? If the Emperor thought that Xizor was taken in by this charade, then the Emperor was the greater fool. It was just a matter of who got caught out first. The Black Sun criminal organization, controlled by Prince Xizor, had its own agenda, its own plans for expansion and dominance throughout the galaxy, as though it were an enveloping shadow of the Empire; where Palpatine's reach extended, so would Black Sun's. And the Emperor was old, visibly so; this vaunted Force, whatever its nature, could not keep him alive forever. Even before then, Black Sun might emerge from the darkness, a power in its own right, and claim the larger empire for its own, a treasure plucked from Palpatine's withered hand.