V
"Captain-Supervisor," Luke swallowed, "I don't know what you mean."
Grammel's eyebrows slid down slightly. "Don't toy with me. You were seen showing a glowing red stone to a local woman whose presence is barely tolerated here. A little something you acquired during your illegal sojourn on Circarpous IV, perhaps?"
Luke's thoughts were in turmoil. Unquestionably, Grammel's informant saw the shard of Kaiburr Crystal. But the spy didn't see Halla present it to Luke.
For an awful moment Luke thought Grammel was a Force-sensitive. A hasty reaching out revealed the usual vapid vacuum associated with non-sensitive humans. Grammel didn't suspect anything about the fragment's real importance. Nevertheless, Luke balked at turning over the precious splinter to a servant of the Empire.
Grammel wasn't one to waste time. "Come on, young man. You seem like a sensible sort. Hand it over or I'll beat the young woman to death in front of you."
Luke unsnapped a pocket and reached in. "You can't!" Leia objected.
"We don't have a choice." Luke touched the tiny catch on the box. The lid popped open. He picked up the splinter and placed it in Grammel's waiting palm.
Captain-Supervisor Grammel stared at the fragment of glowing crimson. "Very pretty. Stolen, no doubt. What is it?"
"I have no idea what kind of gem it is."
Grammel looked sternly at him. "Is that true?"
"I'm no gemologist. Or chemist."
"Is the glow natural, or the result of external excitation?" Grammel probed the gem with his index finger.
"It's glowed ever since we've had it. I'd hazard a guess it's a natural property of the stone."
The corners of the Captain-Supervisor's lips curled up as he looked at Luke. "If you know so little about it, why did you steal it?"
"I didn't say I stole it." Grammel snickered derisively. Luke sighed. "All right, so I stole it. I've never seen anything like it. Something this special has to be valuable."
"You told me your field of expertise was extortion, not burglary," Grammel countered.
"The stone intrigued me." Luke shrugged, his head tilting slightly. "I had a chance to swipe it, so I did," Luke said with a touch of belligerent bravado.
Grammel turned his gaze back to the splinter. "As a gem it's not very impressive. Not faceted or even trimmed for cutting. The radiant property is most unusual. It's not harmful, is it?"
"Well… Not so far."
"You haven't suffered any ill effects since it's been in your possession?"
"Not until we were brought here."
Luke's remark produced deep laughter from the administrator. He clapped Luke's shoulder with his hand, shook his head and caught his breath with a quick sigh. "I think I'll have it analyzed professionally before I come to any conclusions about it." He looked up at Luke, the hardened edges of his face a touch softer. But only for a second.
"Consider it your fine for public brawling."
"But we were the ones assaulted," Luke argued.
"Are you disputing my judgment?" Grammel asked with a deep, dangerous tone. Luke snapped straight. "I didn't think so. It remains you two are on this world illegally in defiance of a great deal of Imperial effort to keep this installation secret. You will be detained until I can verify your story. I have contacts on Circarpous IV, legal and not, to whom I'll forward your retinal prints, neural scans, and such. Either they'll confirm your criminal pasts or I'll be forced to employ less subtle methods of obtaining the truth. Sergeant!"
"Captain-Supervisor!" the trooper acknowledged, stepping over smartly.
"Process these two and escort them to the restraining area."
"Which cell, sir?"
"The maximum security holding pen."
The sergeant hesitated. "But, sir, that cell's occupied. They've already put three men in the infirmary."
"No matter," Grammel said. "I'm sure these two can handle themselves."
When the trooper near Leia took her arm, the Princess tried to pull back. "Why are you doing this? We've been honest with you!"
The trooper behind Luke had his arm around Luke's right bicep and chest, pulling him along. "What are you caging us with?"
"You'll find out soon enough." A small group of Stormtroopers entered the room and boxed themselves around Luke and Leia. Grammel turned his back on them, holding the splinter up to stare into it. "Do try to remain alive until I can check out your story. It would be most inconvenient to learn you were telling me the truth all along, and then have to apologize to your headless corpses."
Once the Stromtroopers herded Luke and Leia away, the chamber was quiet again. The Captain-Supervisor spent several moments gazing at the glowing crystal fragment. He touched a switch behind his desk. A door opened and the short, cloaked figure entered the room for the second time. "Is this what you saw, Bot?" Grammel held up the shard of gemstone. The hooded figure nodded. "Do you know what it is?" The short humanoid shook negatively.
"Neither do I, Bot," Grammel confessed, gazing into the reddish glow. "Neither do I. But I think the youth underestimates its strangeness. I've never seen or heard of anything remotely like it."
Grammel glanced at the doorway where Luke and Leia were taken out. "His story is a little too convenient. Almost as if he gauged his responses to what I wanted to hear. I can't decide whether he's an inefficient crook or a smooth liar. I'm puzzled, Bot. But I think there might be something important in all this. I just don't have all the facts available to glue it together. I'm going to have to contact higher authority. We'll cut the truth out of them."