Lando smoothed down his clothes as he stood before the door. He was on Coralie IV, about to see it's famed oracle.
"She will give you one answer and one only." said the attendant, a short Vorkan.
"Oh, I have my question." Lando assured the creature, rehearsing it in his head. "What stops me asking more?"
The Vorkan's eyes twitched as it spoke, reciting an answer it had spoke often before. "Fortelling exhausts the Oracle. She will only be able to respond clearly once. Enter and ask your question."
The Vorkan pushed a button and the door opened. "Just signal when you're ready to leave."
Lando smoothed his clothes again and entered.
He paused as he entered. The high domed chamber contained circular rows of seats. Lando wondered what this room had been. At the focus of the room was a chair besides a post. Sitting in the chair was a slight Human woman dressed in a simple white robe. She was tethered to the post by a chain to a manacle on her arm.
No one had mentioned the chain. That was unsurprising. The Oracle had been recommended by some rather unsavoury beings. Lando had wondered what a genuine precognitive would be doing the dressed up version of a travelling fortune-teller. Why wouldn't they be living the high life as a professional gambler?
He had guessed as much. Now he knew. She was not her own person. She was property. A slave.
'So why am I annoyed by this?' he wondered as he approached her. It was harsh, but that was life in the Galaxy.
Now he stood before her. The woman looked up at him. Lando started again.
They had not mentioned she was a prisoner. Nor had they said how young she was.
He came to a decision and changed his question.
"Would you like to break out of here?" he said.
"Please." was her reply.
Lando fiddled with the Oracle's restraint. It was of a make said to be foolproof. Lando imagined it was indeed proof against fools, but not him.
He released the Oracle from the restraint. Together they made for the exit.
"Seven, two, eight, eight, one." said the Oracle as he looked at the door control. "Wait." she added before he entered the code. After a brief pause she said "Now."
The door opened. The Vorkan was absent. They hurried out.
Escape became a matter of following the Oracle's directions. She knew where to go, where to hide, when to move and the sequences on the doors to allow access. She did tire quickly and had to be carried onto his ship. As they ascended out of the atmosphere he detected surface chatter but it was too late.
Lando looked down at the woman now sleeping in the guest quarters. Why had he just rescued her? He was now in a considerable amount of trouble. Oh well, it was a problem for when they exited hyperspace in a few hours. He went to the cockpit to plan what to do now.