Shipping and Handling

by Susan Zahn and Erin Darroch

Notes: This story takes place approximately two months after the events of Vested Interest, so you may wish to read that one first. Thanks to YellinYee for beta reading.


"Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit." – Aristotle

Chapter 1

"General Rieekan, we have incoming."

Leia Organa's head snapped up as those words reached her ears, and she was on her feet and following Carlist Rieekan to the Comms station before she even realized what she was doing. Although the planet of Serricci, where their current hidden Rebel base was located, was far from any well-traveled space lanes, the appearance of a single, relatively small ship at the fringe of their long-distance sensor range wasn't reason enough to warrant more than a close watch. Realizing she was the only one present displaying a strong reaction, she slowed her pace and stopped at the Intelligence Liaison station nearby.

As she watched, the Comm Tech, Lieutenant Brimler, indicated an item on his display. "Light freighter. Just dropped out of hyperspace in sector two."

"Identification?" Rieekan prompted.

"She hasn't responded yet, sir, but she's alone. And her vector indicates she's heading our way. I'd say it's one of our contractors, but so far we've had no confirmation. Transponder is dark and she's not observing protocols."

Leia drew a deep breath and let it out with a sigh, allowing her shoulders to sag with relief for just a moment.

Dodgy transponder and not following protocols? It must be the Falcon.

There were only a handful of independent contractors employed by the Alliance, all of them privately owned freighters whose captains, for one reason or another, chose to undertake short-term contracts rather than to join the Rebellion outright. Such arrangements were fraught with security concerns and, as a consequence, only those few whose loyalties were beyond question were employed on that basis. Han Solo and Chewbacca were among that number.

Leia exchanged a silent glance with Rieekan, as they waited for confirmation. The Alderaani general was the new Commander of the base they'd established seven standard months ago deep in the equatorial jungles of Serricci, following their first major victory in the war against the Empire. He was Leia's close personal friend, but he had also developed a genuine fondness for the Corellian captain and his Wookiee co-pilot.

There was a chirp from the Comms station. Lieutenant Brimler put a hand to his earpiece and listened intently for a moment, then reached forward to key in a sequence on his console. "Code's coming through now, sir. Stand by."

Leia held her breath. It had been three days since they'd received a ciphered transmission from the Millennium Falcon—just a short text sent by Chewbacca—indicating that the Falcon's current mission in the Onderon system had run into difficulties. There had been no indication as to the cause, and they'd had no word from the pair since then.

There was a faint beep from the communications console as the incoming code transmission was received. Brimler looked up at Rieekan, then cast a quick glance in Leia's direction.

"It's the Stellaria, sir."

Leia's stomach clenched, and she gripped the back of the Intel station chair to stop the trembling of her hands. Lifting her eyes to Rieekan's, she saw her own worries reflected there, but the older man offered her an encouraging smile.

"I'm sure we'll hear something soon, Princess."

Leia nodded stiffly. "Of course. And I'm pleased to see that Captain Angepeo has returned safely from Carratos."

Ensign Lumey, one of Leia's operations assistants, crossed the small control room and approached Leia's position. "Shall I meet the Stellaria, Your Highness?"

"No, thank you, Ensign," Leia said with a tight smile. "Just dispatch Officer Tibbert with a double trolley and a repulsor lift to see to the cargo, and I'll meet the Stellaria myself."

A few minutes later, as she exited the cool interiors of the Command Center and emerged into the bright Serricci sunshine, Leia congratulated herself on how well she'd maintained an even tone of voice and a calm demeanor, despite the writhing knot of anxiety she felt in the pit of her stomach over the unknown fate of the Millennium Falcon and her crew.

As she strode along the packed-dirt road that led from the central base to the Stellaria's distant landing field, she squinted against the powerful mid-morning sun, and battled her rising fear.

Three days. It's not that long. They'll be back soon. They're fine.

The mantra did little to soothe her feelings, though, and she was painfully aware that she needed to prepare herself for the worst. In the seven months since Han and Chewie had begun working for the Alliance, they'd taken their fare share of mundane supply runs and personnel transfers, but they'd also taken on many of the riskier missions. That was mainly because the heavily modified Falcon could outrun most Imperial ships, and the two pilots were exceptionally gifted at their jobs. They were also very willing to circumvent and undermine the Empire's authority at every opportunity. All of that made them valuable assets. But it also put them in very real danger, every time they went out.

You knew it was going to be this way, Organa. You knew this is how it could end.

Her most cynical inner voice was doing a good job of drowning out her hopeful mantra, making Leia feel brittle and angry as she stalked along the path towards her destination. Whether they ran into trouble with the Imps and got themselves killed, or whether they finally decided that working for the Alliance was not worth the hassle, the end result would eventually be the same.

Sooner or later, they're not coming back.

She'd been telling herself that for two months, ever since the day after her Majority birthday, when she'd made the decision to actively discourage Han's personal interest in her and to curtail her own interest in him. Regardless of the fact she'd scarcely seen him since that day, she realized that she was failing miserably at the latter. Although he was easily the most contrary and infuriating man she knew, he was also one of the most intriguing and attractive. And, she had to admit, she missed him.

As that unsettling thought crossed her mind, she arrived at the edge of the landing field where the Stellaria was settling down on the circular landing pad, amidst the creaking groan of metal struts and the hiss of hydraulics. Leia tried to clear her mind of worry over the Falcon and went to greet Captain Jor Angepeo.

The Iktotchi captain was already beginning to organize the offloading of the Stellaria's cargo even as Leia approached and, for a while, she was absorbed in the business of debriefing the crew, making notes, and directing the distribution of the supplies they'd acquired on Carratos. Then Officer Tibbert arrived to begin transferring the cargo onto the trolley, and Leia's work was done. She said her farewells to her colleagues and turned to head back to the Command Center, lowering her head against the relentless late-morning sun.

As she trudged across the broad landing field towards the edge of the clearing that adjoined the main base road, her thoughts reverted to the missing Millennium Falcon and her crew. Mixed in with the worry, she felt a pang of regret over how she'd left things with Han two months before.

The difficulty with Han, as Leia saw it, was that he'd made it clear on the first day of their acquaintance that he didn't care about the rebellion against the Empire—the one thing that mattered most to Leia, the only thing that had kept her on her feet after the loss of Alderaan, and the deaths of her entire family and virtually every friend she'd ever known. And although he'd stopped repeating that particular sentiment in recent months, he continued to stubbornly turn aside all efforts to recruit him to the cause, citing other obligations—including a worrying bounty on his head—that would eventually lead him to give up his contract with the Alliance and disappear.

And it was mainly for that reason that she'd begun a strategic withdrawal from his company—declining invitations to dinner aboard the Falcon, which she'd previously enjoyed; trotting out her coolest diplomatic demeanor whenever she couldn't avoid running into him on base; and delegating the task of dispatching and greeting the Falcon as it came and went from Serricci on Alliance business. Alarmed by her growing attraction and attachment to someone who was obviously entirely unsuitable, she'd been determined to revert their relationship back to what it had been in the beginning—strictly business, and nothing more. But, although she'd congratulated herself on her ability to put some professional distance between them, she knew in her heart that she was only trying to protect herself from the pain of loss, and that in itself was a hollow victory.

And now she was faced with the distinct possibility that something worse might have happened—something worse than Han merely flying off for more lucrative employment. Perhaps the exchange on Onderon had gone bad, or maybe one of Jabba the Hutt's bounty hunters had caught up with him. Maybe he was dead, and Chewbacca with him. It would explain the complete lack of communication from them over the past three days.

As painful as that idea was to contemplate, Leia knew that it was among the scenarios that she needed to consider. But, although she'd tried to prepare herself for that grim possibility, too, she hadn't counted on the ache in her gut, or the heavy weight of guilt she felt at having authorized them for the mission. She felt a similar sense of responsibility for all of the contractors she supervised, every time she dispatched them, but she knew in her heart that this was different. This was the Falcon, and Han and Chewie were her friends.

As she pondered over that truth, she suddenly felt foolish for having avoided them both for so long, and for such a silly reason. Han's flirting wasn't anything she couldn't handle, she told herself, and it didn't really matter that he clearly wanted something more to develop between them. She'd made up her mind about that, and made it clear to him where she stood. That was no reason to avoid him altogether, or to deprive herself of his company—and Chewie's—for the sake of dodging his suggestive comments and avoiding his speculative gaze. The truth was, she'd missed them both, and she'd especially missed their regular get-togethers with Luke aboard the Falcon, where they could all forget for an evening that they were at war, and simply enjoy the pleasures of good food and good company. Both General Rieekan and her friend Lieutenant Keris Aldric had advised her months ago on the importance of maintaining some sort of balance in her life, and she was beginning to realize they were right.

As she stepped through the tall grass along the edge of the landing field, musing over those thoughts, she became aware that someone behind her was shouting her name. She turned to see one of the Stellaria's crew waving his arms at her and shouting as he trotted towards her down the landing field. She hurried back in his direction, concerned in case something had gone wrong back at the ship, but then he pulled up within speaking range and gave her a big smile.

"Control contacted our ship to get a message to you," he said, panting lightly in the sweltering heat. He rubbed one arm across his sweaty forehead and gestured back towards the ship. "You left your comlink back at the Command Center, and they were trying to reach you before you walked all the way back."

"What is it?" Leia asked, frowning in concern as she patted her pockets. She realized then that she had, indeed, left her communicator behind. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong, Your Highness. It's just that General Rieekan wanted you to know that the Millennium Falcon is inbound. They should be planetside any minute now."