A Certain Point of View

Chapter 19: Old Meditations

Hangar Bay 327 was located in Sector N6, a long way from the Death Star's command deck. By the time Darth Vader made his way to the hangar, a heavily armed boarding party had already stormed onto the mysterious ship and swept it with their usual clumsiness. That, too, would make his job harder. But Vader knew his ships, particularly the old pre-Clone Wars models, and he knew the creative ways in which Outer Rim scavengers, smugglers, and spacers creatively modified such craft for action. His expertise in starcraft mechanics was very old knowledge, buried deep in his shattered bones; but it came when called upon, just like the Force. And the bizarre circumstances surrounding the little cargo ship were a puzzle meant, perhaps, for Vader alone to solve.

The ship was a sleeper—that much was clear to him. Built from an unwieldy, asymmetrical YT-1300 light freighter, it was heavily retrofitted for what Vader presumed was smuggling in seriously hostile space. From three decks above the ship, he could spot the massive round dish of the rectifying antenna—a military-grade sensor necessary for missile targeting. Sure enough, when he reached the flight deck, he spotted where the cargo coupling between the forward mandibles had been stripped away to make room for a hidden battery of concussion missiles. The appearance of a cargo coupling had been restored, but it had been a clumsy welding job, sacrificing reliability for concealment and failing at both. He wondered what other surprises the ship might hold, how many of them would be revealed by the scanning crew, and how many he would return to discover himself once matters with the Princess had been resolved.

He circled the hull with an almost pleasant curiosity, distracted from the pain of each step by the enigma of the empty vessel. A full crew would be better equipped to sweep the ship, but Vader resolved to supervise them as directly as he could. There were few men left in the galaxy who knew pre-Imperial ships and scavengers' mechanics as well as he did; but the best smugglers could be cunning, and he was not sure the Death Star's crew would be a match for them.

A tremor in the Force struck him as he approached the vessel, like a wave of light washing over him. It was a weak tremor, flagging, fleeting, but its signature was unmistakeable. He jerked his head up towards the hidden drop gun as he rounded the curve of the cockpit. It was as much movement as his black helmet would allow, and he wondered what other illegal modifications lurked just out of his narrow field of view.

The docking bay's security officer came down the ramp to meet him with the last of the initial boarding party in tow. "There's no one on board, sir," he began. "According to the log, the crew abandoned ship right after takeoff." But Vader's mind was already on the uncanny coincidence that a ship out of Mos Eisley would have followed him directly here at unbelievable speed. He did not need to feel Kenobi's presence to know the hallmarks of his old master.

"Did you find any droids?" Vader asked.

"No sir," Captain. "If there were any on board they must also have jettisoned."

"Send a scanning crew aboard," said Vader. "I want every part of this ship checked. I sense something...a presence I've not felt since—"

Since when? Vader left his ominous statement hanging as soon as he realized he did not know how to finish it. Since the fight on Mustafar, nearly twenty years ago? Or since Obi-Wan's presence struck him on board the Tantive IV, just a few standard days before? He recalled his old Master's voice, heard it echo in the back of his mind—heard all the smugness and superiority, the stubborn optimism, the quiet confidence that was somehow far more aggravating than open boasting. That voice came always with a unique presence in the Force. He was sure he had felt it above Tatooine. But aboard the Devastator, they had taken his command literally, methodically tearing the ship down to scrap in search of the plans. Obi-Wan was nowhere to be found. And now, this feeling aboard another ship... he dared not trust it. Was it a projection of some kind? A subtle power in the Force his Master had not taught him?