The second volume of the Star Wars Insider Fiction Collection arrives tomorrow, November 9th, with twenty fully illustrated stories from the Legends era, as well as tales from the current era of storytelling that were first published in Star Wars Insider. StarWars.com shares an exclusive extract from The Voice of the Empire by written by Mur Lafferty with art by Jason Chan.
Don’t say a word. Stone-faced HoloNet News editor Mandora Catabe didn’t say it out loud, but the message was clear. Calliope Drouth’s eyes flickered from Mandora, seated at her desk, to the man standing behind her, smiling widely, hands clasped behind his back. Mandora’s face was set, grim, her eyes fixed on Calliope’s.
That’s an Imperial smile. Calliope had hoped to be called in to hear about the promotion she’d asked for, but that hoped died when she saw Mandora’s face.
“Calliope, sit down,” Mandora said, indicating the chair opposite her desk. “This is Eridan Wesyse. I wanted to tell you first: I’m retiring, effective immediately, and Mr. Wesyse will be your new editor-in-chief.”
Where Mandora was small and shrewd, suspicious of anyone and everyone, Eridan looked as if he would always listen sympathetically, smile kindly, and report whatever fit the kind of story he wanted to tell; Calliope, knew the type.
She nodded. She’d seen the man around, doing Imperial PR. “Nice to meet you, sir,” she said. “I’ve seen you at some events, haven’t I?”
He nodded, smiling wider. “You do have good eyes,” he said. “Mandora said you’d be my star reporter. Yes, I’ve done some work for the Empire, and I will continue to as Mandora’s replacement. You see, the Empire wanted to have a tighter…” he paused, searching for the word, “connection to HNN. We’ll want to keep on all of the loyal staff, though, so you shouldn’t worry about your job.”
Calliope couldn’t help glancing at Mandora.
“No, I’m the only one leaving. I was already contemplating my retirement,” Mandora said, her eyes indicating no such thing. “The Empire just made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
“How generous,” Calliope said, her mouth going dry. “What plans do you have for HNN, Mr. Wesyse?”
“We’re going to start by giving you a promotion!” he said. “We’re promoting you to senior reporter and calling you the Voice of the Empire. We were so impressed with your work on the Wookiee threat.”
Calliope froze. Her piece on the Wookiee “threat” had been heavily edited by Imperial censors, removing the main part of her story entirely and nearly causing Calliope to quit.
“Based on your noteworthy history with HNN,” Wesyse continued, “it’s obvious we want to promote you. It’s quite an honor to be the one person on camera that countless citizens will watch to get their news!”
“That is an honor,” Calliope agreed, using the smooth voice she used on sources she knew were lying. “Thank you for the promotion. I’m looking forward to the new direction you will take us in, Editor Wesyse.”
She wanted to take Mandora aside and ask her what was going on, why was this happening, but Mandora’s normally animated face was set, which scared Calliope more than anything.
“As our newly appointed Voice of the Empire, we’re throwing you at your first story, actually,” Wesyse continued. “You are to cover the Imperial Ball tonight. We got you an invitation, which was no easy task.” He paused here, as if to give her a chance to thank him, but she pulled out a small keyboard and started taking notes, nodding for him to continue. “You are to go and interview the dignitaries, report what people are wearing, mention how good the food is, and so on. Your job is to show the Empire in a way the public doesn’t get to see it. Make it more accessible. By giving them the inside view, the Empire becomes their Empire. Understand?”
Before Calliope could protest that investigative journalism was her preferred area of news, Mandora pushed something across the desk at her. “I’m giving you Zox. I won’t need it after I retire. It’s yours now.” She patted the little droid, an elderly X-0X unit about the size of her hand. “It’s been very good to me, and I know it will serve you the same way.”
The droid was dome-shaped, and its original color was probably red or orange, but it was hard to tell as the paint had worn off with age. It extended three spidery legs and rose from the desk, wobbled, and fell over on its side. It beeped plaintively until Mandora righted it.
“It will probably be better on your shoulder, now that I think about it,” she said, smiling fondly at Zox and ignoring Calliope’s confusion entirely.
“But X-0X doesn’t transmit, it only records,” Calliope said. “Why can’t I take one of the new droids?”
Wesyse frowned. “Unfortunately, the military did a recall of all of the transmitting droids reporters were using. Turns out there were some technical problems.”
Calliope wanted to laugh, but her spine had turned to ice. Did he know how transparent he was being? Stifling the press by removing their ability to transmit video feeds would drive the press in a direction Calliope didn’t want to go. She opened her mouth, but Mandora interrupted her.
“Anyway, I’m retiring and it needs a good owner. I know you will treasure it as much as I always have.” She gave it another push, her steely blue eyes locking onto Calliope’s. Take the droid.
Read more here, and order now from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Forbidden Planet.
