Star Wars - Rebel Force 05 - Hostage

by Alex Wheeler

  So Fess, whoever he was, had a lightsaber. A carefully hidden lightsaber. And, unlike Luke, he seemed to know how to use it.

  Interesting.

  But not relevant. X-7 filed the information away for later use. He rushed down the hallway. As he neared the third door down, a gaunt, gray alien approached from the other end of the hallway. He drew an oddly shaped weapon from his cloak, some kind of whip. X-7 simply blasted a hole through his head. Then, stepping over the dead body, Elad busted through the door.

  "Elad!" Leia cried in relief. "Get me out of here! Before he comes back!"

  X-7 took in the durasteel slab, the small table of torture devices, the injector sitting by her head. "What was he going to do to you?"

  Leia shuddered in her restraints. "It's some kind of experimental brain agent," she said in disgust. "Designed to wring all the information out of my brain and then destroy it."

  X-7 turned his back on the princess and scoured the floor. He seized a twisted piece of metal lying in the corner. He slammed the door shut, then wedged the metal underneath. He'd broken the lock, but this should hold, at least for a few minutes.

  "What are you doing?" Leia asked.

  He approached the slab. "The building's filled with stormtroopers," he said, peering down at her. She was completely helpless. "Have to keep them out until we're done here."

  "Done with what?"

  "Getting you out of these restraints," X-7 said, pretending to look around for something to slice through the durasteel. He had to handle this carefully. She'd been tortured before, and resisted. There was a chance that even the mental agent would fail if she tried to fight it.

  Which meant he needed to convince her not to fight.

  X-7 palmed the injector, then bent over the cuff pinning her left arm to the table, as if examining the locking mechanism. He pulled out his blaster, switching it to the lowest setting, and pressed it to the cuff. "This could hurt, just a bit," he warned her.

  She pressed her lips together, steeling herself.

  With one hand, he shot the blaster, careful to miss the cuff and lightly singe her skin. With the other, he pressed the injector to her arm and injected the drug. The pain of the blaster bolt would disguise the lesser pain of the injection.

  She grimaced. "That didn't feel like it worked."

  "Sorry, Princess. The binders are stronger than I thought. There must be something in here that will cut them."

  "Just hurry," she urged him, "We need to…"

  "What?" he asked, pretending to search the lab, while keeping a close eye on her. She was breathing rapidly, and her skin had gone pale.

  "Nothing, I just feel…strange," she said faintly. "Lightheaded."

  "You've been through an ordeal," he told her. "It's only natural."

  The drug was taking effect. He had to get his answers now, before the others showed up. Or before it killed her. "The Empire went to a lot of trouble to get its hands on you," he said casually.

  "I'll never tell them anything," she said. Her eyes fluttered. "I'd die first."

  "It must be a burden, keeping all those secrets."

  "Is it very hot in here?" she asked, drawing in deep, ragged breaths. "We have to get out of here. Why don't you get me out of these binders?"

  "I'm trying," he lied.

  "Can't you shoot out the locking mechanism with your blaster?"

  He looked at her curiously. "I just tried that," he reminded her. "You don't remember?"

  "Of course I remember," she snapped. "I…" She shook her head as much as the neck restraint allowed, as if trying to clear the fog. "I'm just so tired."

  It was now or never.

  "Of course you're tired, Leia," he said kindly, switching on the miniature holorecorder hidden in his utility belt. The Commander would want proof. "You've done everything you could to protect the Rebel Alliance. Especially the pilot who destroyed the Death Star."

  "The Empire can never find out who he is," she murmured, sweat beading along her forehead. Her pupils had narrowed to black pinpricks. "We have to protect him."

  "I'd lay down my life for him," X-7 said. "But I can only protect him if I know his name."

  Her eyes rolled back in her head.

  "Leia!" he snapped.

  A small sigh escaped from her lips.

  "His name, Leia," X-7 urged her. "Who must we protect? Who destroyed the Death Star?"

  "Luke." She smiled. "It was Luke."

  Exactly as he had suspected. It would be so easy now to kill her—and then open the door and kill Luke, too. Mission accomplished.

  But the Commander had given him strict orders. Learn the name of the pilot and report back. He couldn't act until he got the kill order.

  X-7 injected the remains of the serum into her arm. Given what he knew of brain agents, the odds were high that she wouldn't remember any of this when she recovered. If she recovered at all.

  "If something happens…you have to take care of Luke," she whispered as her eyes slipped shut.

  "Oh, don't worry, Your Highness. I will."

  Ferus gathered his strength and pushed out with the Force. The door flew open.

  Elad stood inside, staring down at a body.

  The princess's body.

  Elad met Ferus's eyes. "I was too late."

  Han, Luke, and Chewbacca burst into the room, freezing alongside Ferus as they caught sight of Leia. Han's voice was ragged. "Is she—"

  "No," Ferus and Luke spoke together. Ferus glanced at the boy, So he was connected enough to the Force—or at least to Leia—that he could sense her still pulsing with life.

  However faintly.

  "Whatever they did to her, she's still alive," Elad confirmed, "but we have to get her out of here." He had already broken through the restraints pinning her to the table.

  Ferus scooped Leia off the table and cradled her gently against his chest. She stirred in his arms, her eyelids flickering. "Father?" she mumbled.

  "No," he said softly, hurrying toward the exit. The others covered him. They'd taken out all the Imperials, but you never knew when reinforcements would arrive. "It's just—" He hesitated, not wanting to say: It's Fess. Not wanting to lie any more. "It's me. Don't worry, you're safe with me."

  She smiled, and her eyes drifted shut again. "I know."

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Leia hesitated just outside the door to the abandoned schoolhouse. Then she gave herself a little shake, and stepped inside. Luke and Kiro Chen sat side by side, their heads bent together in low conversation.

  She cleared her throat.

  Luke looked up. "I thought we still had time," he said.

  While Fess and Elad had gotten Leia safely out of the medcenter, Han and Luke had ransacked the Imperials' com system. They'd confirmed that there had been no distress call—as far as the Empire was concerned, everything had proceeded as planned. But according to the transmission archives, those plans called for Darth Vader to arrive the next day.

  It seemed prudent to blast off the planet before he showed up.

  "We do," Leia said. "I just wanted to talk to Kiro before we left." Wanted, that was wrong. Needed.

  Luke stood up. "I'll leave."

  "No." She'd had enough of being left alone. "Stay. You're part of this now, too."

  Leia sat down across from Kiro. He wouldn't look at her.

  "I'm sorry about Halle Dray," she told him. "I know you two were close." Her memories of the kidnapping were strangely fuzzy, as if she'd taken a blow to the head. She remembered little of what had happened after the stormtroopers had taken her away. But she remembered seeing Halle and J'er Nahj hit the ground.

  "I'm sorry," Kiro said, still keeping his eyes averted. "You should hate me."

  "Whatever you did, you did it because you loved Alderaan. I could never hate you for that." Leia paused. "What will you do now?"

  "Now?" he looked blank, like he couldn't imagine a future.

  "Kiro knows he honors her memory by moving forward," Luke said, encouragin
g him. "By helping others, the way she wanted to."

  Leia frowned. Halle Dray hadn't seemed the type to help anyone. But Kiro had obviously known a different side of her. Or maybe he'd just seen what he wanted to see. "The Rebel Alliance would welcome you," she said.

  "My place is here," Kiro said, drawing himself upright. "With Nahj gone, and Halle…they need leaders." He lowered his eyes. "I know how you feel, Princess. You think it's cowardly not to fight."

  "There's more than one way to fight the Empire," Luke assured him.

  "Luke's right," Leia agreed. "You can do plenty of good here. And I'll do everything I can to help."

  "I know." Kiro pressed his hands to his face. "I'd like to be alone now, please."

  "We should go, anyway," Leia said. "It's time for us to leave this place."

  Far past time. But a part of her wished she could stay.

  Ferus waited for Leia at the spaceport, needing to say goodbye. As soon as she spotted him, she sent Luke off to help Han and Elad with some final repairs, then greeted him warmly. Ever since the rescue, it was as if she'd been trying to make up for the way she'd treated him in the past. Ferus wished that he could enjoy it, finally having her respect after all these years. But he knew it wouldn't last. Not when she heard what he had to say.

  "I've been thinking about your offer," Fess said. After thanking him for his part in the rescue, Leia had urged him to throw in his lot with the Rebellion. "I'm afraid I can't join your fight."

  "If it's because of the way I've treated you—" Leia smiled ruefully. "Seems like I'm doing a lot of apologizing today. One more can't hurt."

  "You've treated me as I deserved," Ferus said.

  "I'm beginning to suspect you're not the man I thought you were, Fess. The Rebellion needs all the help it can get—you should join us."

  Ferus wanted to. And not just because he missed the days when he could protect her at every turn.

  He had turned it over and over in his mind. Obi-Wan had been no help. Search inside yourself, he said. Know the answer, you do.

  Even in his frustration, Ferus had smiled, remembering better days when he and the other Padawans had made a game of imitating Jedi Master Yoda's odd speech patterns. And, frustrated or not, Ferus had followed the older man's advice.

  For whatever reason, Vader had taken a special interest in Leia. If he learned about his connection to the princess, or to Luke, nothing would stop him until they were both destroyed.

  Or worse, Ferus thought. Until he reclaims his children.

  Luke wasn't ready to be trained as a Jedi yet. He needed to grow stronger on his own before he learned how to access such great power. And Leia…Ferus suspected Leia was strong enough. But training her in the Jedi ways would only make her more of a target. The stronger she grew, the greater the chance that Vader would sense the Force within her.

  Just as he would sense Ferus, if Ferus stayed by her side.

  Ferus had been watching and waiting for a long time. He had a new job now: Finding out what Darth Vader was up to.

  And stopping him.

  But how could he explain any of that to Leia?

  "I don't put much faith in groups," he told her instead. "Eventually someone you trust will betray you."

  She laughed bitterly. "You sound like Han. Afraid to believe in anything."

  "I can't speak to whether Captain Solo is afraid, but I can assure you, I'm not."

  Is that true? he wondered. Or do I still fear repeating the mistakes of my past? It felt like he was finally taking action; but was he just running away?

  He missed the certainty of his youth with the Jedi, that rock solid knowledge that his choices were right. He saw it in Luke.

  Of course, he'd seen it in Anakin, too.

  "I support the Rebellion, but I have other priorities right now," he said.

  "What could be more important?" she asked angrily.

  "You'd be surprised."

  "Then go," she spit out. "Don't let me stop you."

  "There are other ways to fight the Empire," Ferus pointed out. "I'm told that Kiro Chen—"

  "Kiro's choice is not based on cowardice," she snapped. "Yours is."

  Ferus told himself she was wrong. "I can't ask you not to be angry with me."

  She crossed her arms. "I don't care enough to be angry."

  "I can only ask that you trust me. This is the right thing." If it wasn't, if he left her alone and something happened…

  He'd forgiven himself so much, but there would be no forgiveness for letting Leia die.

  "You should go," she said harshly. "Minister Manaa is meeting me here, and then I'm getting off this planet. The Alliance needs me."

  "One more thing, Leia," he said. This was probably a mistake, he knew that. But he couldn't help himself. She was the closest thing he had to a daughter—and she didn't know him at all. "Ferus."

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "It's my name," he said. "My real name. You know me as Fess Ilee, but that's a lie. I am Ferus Olin."

  And for the first time in a long time, he was.

  Even with her eyes closed, she can tell her father is standing in her doorway.

  "I'm sorry I ran away," she says, opening her eyes. There is no point in pretending to be asleep. "Am I punished?"

  "We'll talk about that in the morning." He kisses her forehead. "I'm just glad Fess brought you home, to me."

  When she hears his name, she gets angry all over again. "He didn't have to," she complains. "I'm no baby. I didn't need his help."

  "But someday you may," her father says. "And I want you to remember this night. Fess will always be there when you need him. If anything ever happens to me—"

  She giggles. Not because it's funny, but because maybe if she laughs, she won't be afraid. "Nothing's going to happen to you. Don't be stupid."

  "If it does, and you're in trouble, go to Fess. He'll know what to do. He'll always take care of you."

  Leia shook off the memory. She had believed almost everything her father had ever told her. But she'd never believed that. Fess, Ferus, whoever he was—obviously he wasn't the man Bail Organa had believed him to be. He wasn't anyone Leia could count on. It shouldn't have come as a surprise. It certainly shouldn't have mattered.

  So why did she feel like she'd lost her father all over again?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Every thing always comes down to politics, Han thought in disgust, drawing in a deep breath of the stale air. He knew Leia was in her element, convincing the Prime Minister to do exactly as she wanted. But Han couldn't stand to sit around and watch. Making nice with chuff-sucking leeches—especially ones who'd sold you out to the Empire—just wasn't his thing.

  Han wandered slowly through the streets around the spaceport, enjoying the breeze while he could. The air back on Yavin 4 was almost always heavy and still. Sometimes days would go by without a single breath of wind.

  Then why am I going back? Just to drop them off, he told himself. Then I'll get on my way.

  Sometimes Han thought it would just be easier to give in. Join the Rebels. Throw on a uniform. Fight the good fight.

  But something always stopped him. He could join the Alliance, sure. But he'd be pretending to be someone he wasn't. Wearing a mask.

  And he didn't like masks any more than he liked uniforms.

  "Captain Solo!" A scrawny arm popped up out of the crowd, waving furiously. A moment later, Mazi's pale face appeared. The boy rushed toward him, his brothers close behind. "Didn't think we'd see you before we left."

  "Going somewhere?" Han asked, surprised by how pleased he was to see the boys again. "And since when do you call me 'Captain'?"

  The brothers struck a military pose, arching their backs and saluting. "We're going to be respectful now," Jez said proudly.

  Lan elbowed him in the side. "It's respectable," he said, rolling his eyes.

  "We've got respect for him, that's respectful," Jez argued. "Full of respect. Get it?"

  Lan s
mirked. "Full of respect—so that's like, the opposite of what I got for you. Respectless."

  Mazi stepped in and caught Jez's arm just as he threw the punch. "We're going to be respectful to people like Captain Solo here—and that'll make us respectable, so people give us all their respect," he ordered them. He turned back to Han, his face flushed. "That's what the guy said, anyway."

  "What guy?" Han asked.

  "The guy who told us about the Rebellion," Mazi said eagerly. "We're going to be Rebels now. Fight back. We're shipping out tonight."

  Han raised his eyebrows. Leia had designated several of the refugee leaders to act as recruiters in her stead. Apparently they were hard at work already. "Aren't you a little young?"

  Identical scowls drooped across the brothers' faces. "No such thing as too young to stand up for what's right," Mazi said fiercely.

  "The 'guy' tell you that, too?" Han asked.

  Mazi shook his head. "That's all me."

  "What gives, Captain Solo?" Lan asked. "Mazi said you'd be impressed."

  "Yeah. Sure. I just meant…" He stopped, unsure of exactly what it was he did mean.

  Han liked his life. No ties, no obligations, that's what he always said. He and Chewie were totally free. It was the only option for a man like him.

  But Mazi wasn't a man yet. He had a choice.

  "I just meant I can't believe anyone's going to trust you with a blaster," Han said lightly. "Try not to shoot yourself in the foot."

  "At least we'll be able to see our target without electrobinoculars, old man," Mazi teased. "I'm surprised a guy with your ancient eyes and creaky bones can even find your blaster. Much less remember how to use it."

  Han narrowed his eyes. "You better hope I'm too old to catch up with you," he warned.

  The boys looked at each other in confusion.

  "That's your cue to run," Han teased, balling his hands into fists. "Unless you want to see what these creaky old bones can still do…"

  The boys burst into laughter, and took off running down the street. "See you soon, Captain!" Mazi shouted, as he disappeared into the crowds. "Don't forget us!"