CHAPTER 2

Han Solo tightened his grip on the princess as the speeder bike nose-dived and leveled out, clearing a low hanging branch. The bike swerved and tilted beneath them as it continued to gain speed. Leia guided the speeder between the spindly trees and fallen logs with the agility of a seasoned pod racer. She shifted gears and accelerated to speeds that were quite dangerous in this unpredictable terrain. Han gritted his teeth and held on to her small waist hoping the ride would come to an end soon. He loved speed and excitement, probably more than most, but he preferred being the one in control.

The speeder bike jerked to a sudden stop and Han jumped off, "What was that?"

Leia killed the engine and gracefully dismounted. "What? Did I scare you?" she smirked. "I'll slow down on the ride back."

"Uh-uh!" Han shook his head, "I'm doing the drivin' on the way back."

She raised a brow, "I don't think so."

"That was a dangerous stunt you just pulled!" His anger rose. "You coulda got us killed!"

Leia rolled her eyes, "Oh, please. Don't be so dramatic."

"On wrong turn—"

"We were in absolutely no danger, flyboy," she huffed. "I've been riding speeder bikes solo when I was five years old."

"What crazy adult would let a five year old do that?"

"No one I know," she fiddled with her binoculars. "I never said I had permission."

Han placed his hands on his hips and chewed on his bottom lip as he stared at the princess. So she didn't always follow the rules. Who would have thought?

"Have you been on patrol before?"

"Huh? Uh, no."

"Okay," she said then pointed to the woods in front of them. "The sensors farthest from the base are right there."

Han followed her finger but couldn't pick out the sensors from the terrain.

"The south and east sides of the base are mainly rock so they're pretty secure, but these woodlands have been more difficult to secure. Nothing threatening has triggered the sensors but we suspect there are others out here hiding or something. Smugglers maybe. We've only found traces of campgrounds about twenty or so kilometers from here."

"This would be an ideal place for smugglers to hide out."

"Right," held her binoculars to her eyes.

Han raised his to his eyes as well and surveyed the woods, "All that foliage makes it difficult to see much."

"Yes," she conceded. "That's been the problem. Come on, flyboy. We continue on foot from here."

"Whadya mean, Your Worship?"

"The bike is too noisy."

"But we don't know what's out there."

"And that's why we're going to look."

Leia started out toward the unknown, but Han grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.

"I thought we were just patrolin'," he frowned at her.

"We are," she shook her arm loose. "I just want to patrol out there. There was an abandoned campground last time Luke and I were out here, and I just want to make sure no one has come back."

"We don't know who's out there."

The princess tilted her head to the left and slowed her words, "That-is-why-we-need-to-check-it-out."

"That's what we have binoculars for."

"Yes," she sighed, "but the range is limited." She rolled her eyes when Han crossed his arms over his chest. "We're just going out a bit further so that the campground is in the range of the binoculars."

With that, the princess trudged further into the woods.

Han took several long strides to catch up with her, "Tell me, is this what they sent us out to do?"

"Not exactly," she admitted. "But Luke and I saw some smoke above the tree line the last time we patrolled this area. We decided to check it out—"

"What if someone was there?"

"From a safe distance," Leia glared at him. "The last thing we want is to get discovered ourselves."

"From a safe distance, of course," Han glared back. "Tell me, how far out is this 'safe distance'?"

Leia's large brown eyes narrowed before she continued on, "Not far out. About half a kilometer."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Han mumbled as he followed her deeper into the woods.

They walked along in silence for a while, each enveloped in their own thoughts: how did I end up in this situation?

The princess stopped, laying a hand on Han's arm before squatting among the bushes. She lifted the binoculars to her eyes, and Han crouched down next to her, pulling out his own binoculars.

"That's not good," he muttered.

"No," Leia concurred. "Looks closer than the last time Luke and I were out here."

They watched the tendrils of white smoke rise from the charred remains of a campfire.

"Looks like whoever made that fire didn't abandon it that long ago."

"Yea," she rolled her lips between her teeth. "Do you think they're still around?"

"I dunno," Han scanned the area with his binoculars. "I don't see any other signs-wait. To your right. What is that?"

Leia pointed her binoculars in the direction Han indicated, "I can't tell. The brush is too heavy."

"Looks like some gear of some sort."

"I don't think so."

"Well, what do you think it is?"

She paused and squinted into the lenses, "Looks like refuge. Whoever was here wasn't very environmental conscious."

"No," Han disagreed. "That's definitely someone's camping gear."

"I don't see anyone around."

"Hard to see this far away," he dropped his binoculars from his eyes.

"You're right," Leia started to stand up. "We've got to get closer."

"What?" Han grabbed her hand and pulled her back down. "I don't think so."

The princess' brow lowered, "We were sent out here to check things out, and that's what we're going to do."

"No," Han continued to hold her hand. "We were sent out here to patrol the perimeters of the base."

"And that's what we're going to do," Leia pulled her hand out of Han's and stood up.

"Uhn-uh," he stood up as well. "We're well beyond the perimeter of the base. Whoever's out there is at a safe enough distance. They won't be botherin' us."

She planted her hands upon her hips, "And you know that for sure."

Han shrugged, "If they're smugglers, they don't want to be discovered any more than we do. We'll just be askin' for trouble."

"And what if they happen to wander into our territory? Then what?"

Han sighed, "That's why we have sensors in place. Let's just do our job an' go back an' report our findings."

"Well, someone's going to have to check this out."

"It doesn't have to be us."

"We're already here."

"Look," Han pointed a finger at her chest, "all I agreed to was to patrol the perimeter of the base. We did that. Let's go."

"If Luke were here," Leia shoved his finger to the side, "he'd go out there to check things out."

"I ain't Luke, and I ain't gonna risk my life doin' something stupid."

"Pretty much all you do is stupid," her voice rose. "You almost got yourself killed on Olia with that stupid stunt you pulled."

"Hey, I saved Luke's ass back there! If it wasn't for my heroics—"

"Heroics!" Leia huffed. "I'd call it unnecessary risk-taking. Luke could've handled those storm troopers without your interference. You only complicated the situation!"

Han's mouth dropped open, "I complicated the situation?"

"Yes," she folded her arms across her chest. "If it wasn't your so-called heroics—"

"If you hadn't been there in the first place—"

"It was my mission!"

"And if the High Command had any sense at all—"

"Look, if you were capable of following the simplest order—"

"I'm not takin' orders from a wet-behind-the-ears princess—"

"You had no business being there, if that were the case!"

"If I wasn't there-"

"If you weren't there, the mission would have been successful—"

"It was successful because of me!"

"Oh, no! If you hadn't caused that ruckus, we would have been in and out of there without anyone knowing."

"I highly doubt that!" Han crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back. "You an' Luke find trouble wherever you go!"

"Then why did you volunteer for that mission?"

"To make sure you two got back unscratched."

"Well, you weren't very successful, were you?" Leia dropped her hands and turned away.

"That wasn't my fault," he mumbled but wondered if it was. He looked up, "Hey, where you goin'?"

"To check things out, make sure they aren't Imperial scouts," she maneuvered between the trees.

"Leia!" Han put a hand on her shoulder, but she shook it off.

"You can go wait with the speeder if you so please," she arched her brow and gave him a hard look before turning away and pressing on.

Han gritted his teeth and kicked the nearest tree trunk. "This isn't a good idea," he muttered under his breath but he followed her deeper into the woods.