Bounty (Alex Rider/Star Wars Crossover) (BOOK 2)

Chapter Three

Alex watched the ship leave. Good, he thought to himself, They made it off the planet. He turned to Organa. "If I am to look like a Senatorial aide, shouldn't I get a change of clothes?" he asked.

Organa smiled. "I have just the thing for you." He led the way to another room, this one looking more like a majorly oversized closet. Alex and the senator were about the same size. Organa went to the nearest row of clothes and picked out a set of black pant and a matching tunic, with a deep blue robe to wear over it. The boots Alex was wearing already matched the outfit, so he left them on.

After Alex had changed his clothing, he looked like a new person. Organa greeted him at the door. "If you will follow me, Alex, we have some visitor to greet," he announced as he threw open the door and led the way to the landing platform outside, where Vader's shuttle was just landing.

The young Jedi concentrated deeply on hiding his presence in the Force. Alex calmed his inner being and silenced his mind. He kept his eyes posted forward and watched the shuttle land. Steam escaped rapidly from the landing gear as it touched down.

The ramp lowered slowly to reveal a tall figure clad entirely in black. Darth Vader had just stepped foot on Alderaan.

"Greetings, Lord Vader," the senator greeted him, bowing at the waist. "I trust your trip was pleasant," he said cordially.

The dark lord's loud and raspy breathing overtook the conversation. "You may not be pleased when this inspection is over with. We have reason to believe that you are hiding a Jedi, Senator," he bellowed. Then he turned on his heel and strode into the building, his black cape billowing behind him.

 

Alex and the senator exchanged glances. Good, Alex thought, I was able to hide the Force effectively enough, for now anyway. Just have to keep it up a while longer. The two of them turned and followed the Sith Lord into the capitol building, unaware that Vader already knew where to look for the undercover Jedi.

 

Just leaving Alderaan's atmosphere were Obi-Wan and Leia. The Jedi was just setting the coordinates for hyperspace. "Buckle up, Leia," he told the child, "We going into hyperspace."

 

Leia strapped herself in. She was in awe. She had never been in space before. The stars glittering brightly in the sky changed suddenly from their diamond-like appearance into streaks of white and silver flashing past the viewscreen of the ship. They were headed for Naboo. There, they would meet up with Ferus and Damar.

 

Senator Organa had been sitting in his office while Imperial agents had been searching his datapads for anything and everything. Then Vader entered the room.

"Stop what you are doing immediately," he told the soldiers. "I have found what I am looking for." Suddenly, he turned to Alex and made a three-fingered gesture with his hand, as if he were grabbing onto an invisible object and grasping it as if his life depended on it.

 

Alex felt his breathing being constricted tightly. He reached up to loosen his collar, but it wasn't tight at all. He was being lifted off the floor. Now, it was very hard to breathe. He was lifted higher, higher. His vision was blurring and the sounds of yelling around him were muffled. Everything went black.

 

Alex woke up what seemed like days later, which in reality was really only a few hours. He was suspended in an energy field, his arms bound in stun cuffs behind him. Vader was standing in front of him. "What do you want from me?" he asked demandingly.