Chapter 19: Disguises and Surprises

The tramp freighter sat listlessly in the docking hanger of the huge bay. Thirty armed Imperial stormtroopers stood before the lowered main ramp leading into the ship. They snapped to attention as Vader and a Commander approached. Vader halted at the edge of the ramp, studying the vessel as an officer and several soldiers came forward. "We've searched the ship sir, and there is no one aboard. The ship is completely deserted. According to the ships log her crew abandoned ship immediatly after lift off. She was set on automatics for Alderaan."

"Possibly a decoy." the commander ventured aloud. "Then they could still be on Tatooine?"

"Possibly." Vader admitted reluctantly.

"Several of the escape pods have been jettisoned." the officer went on.

"Did you find any droids aboard?" Vader called.
"No, sir - nothing. If there were any aboard, they must have abandoned the ship along with the organic crew."

Vader hesitated before replying. When he did so, uncertainty was in his voice. "This doesnt feel right. Send a fully equipped scanning team on board. I want every centimeter of that ship checked out. See to it as soon as possible." With that, he looked at the ship again. "I sense something... a presence Ive not felt since..." he whirled and stalked from the hanger, pursued by the infuriating feeling that he was overlooking something of vital importance.

The rest of the assembled soldiers were dismissed by the officer. "I want a scanning crew in here on the double!"

On board the freighter, a last lone figure left off examining the space beneath the cockpit consoles and ran to join his comrades. He was anxious to be off this ghost ship and back in the comfortable surroundings of the barracks. His heavy footsteps echoed through the once more empty freighter.

Below, the muffled sounds of the officer giving final orders faded, leaving the interior in complete quiet. The quivering of a portion of the floor was the only movement on board. Abruptly that quivering became a sharp upheaval. Two metal panels popped upwards, followed by a pair of tousled heads. Han Solo and Davin Felth looked around quickly, then managed to relax a little when it became clear that the ship was as empty as it sounded.

"Lucky you had these compartments." Leia commented as she lifted her head from the concealing chamber.

Solo was not as cheerily confident. "Where did you think I kept smuggled goods - in the main hold? I admit I never expected to smuggle myself in them." He started violently at a sudden sound, but it was only another of the panels shifting aside. "This is rediculous. It isnt going to work. Even if I could take off and get past the closed hatch - " He jabbed a thumb backwards - "We'd never get past that tractor beam."

As the second panel shifted aside, it revealed the face of the elderly man. "Leave that to me." Ben said, helping little Het out of the concealing compartment.

"I was afraid you'd say something like that." muttered Solo. "You're a damn fool, old man." Leia looked up from her hatch protectively. "HEY! Thats my Unca Ben!"

Kenobi grinned at him. "Who's more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?"

Solo muttered something under his breath as they pulled themselves clear of the compartments. Chewbacca doing so with a good deal of grunting and twisting.

Two technicians had arrived at the base of the ramp. They reported to the two bored soldiers guarding it. "The ships all yours." one of the stormtroopers told them. "If the scanners pick up anything, report it immediatly."

The men nodded, then strained to lug their heavy equipment up the ramp. As soon as they disappeared inside, a loud crash was heard. Both guards whirled, then heard a voice call. "Hey, down there. Could you give us a hand with this?" One trooper looked at his companion, who shrugged. They both started up the ramp, muttering at the imcompitence of mere technicians. A second crashing sound reverberated, but now there was no one left to hear it.

But the absence of the two troopers was noticed, soon thereafter. A gantry officer passing the window of a small command office near the freighter entrace glanced out, frowning when he saw no sign of the guards. Concerned but not alarmed, he moved to a comlink and spoke into it as he continued to stare at the ship. "TK-421, why aren't you at your post? TK-421, do you copy?"

"Copy, this is TK-421" Came a distorted response. "Assisting the technician crew with the scanning equipment. Will be back in position momentarily, sir."

"Copy, TK-421." The officer nodded in response. "Get back to your post as soon as possible."

The gantry officer clicked off the comm, and turned as he heard the door open behind him with a hiss. His face became a look of shock at what he saw at the door. A young woman, standing next to a huge hairy creature aiming weapons at them... with two stormtroopers at their backs. The girl shot the officer with a stun beam, while his aide was already up and reaching for his sidearm when the huge alien shot him with its strange bowcaster weapon, blowing him away.

Kenobi, Het and the three droids followed the group into the small control cabin. "This is good." Han said, reasonably enthused by their success so far. Then they watched as Kenobi operated an incredibly complex computer console with the ease and confidence of one long accustomed to handling intricate machinery. A screen lit up promptly with a map of sections of the battle station. The old man leaned forward, scrutinising the display carefully.

Meanwhile, Threepio, Artoo and Arfive had been going over an equally complicated control panel nearby. Artoo and Arfive both plugged into the system, each attacking the system with their own countermeasures and breaking codes with each other's help easily, the two droids working in concert. Several minutes passed while the two two little droids sucked up information like sponges. Chewbacca was amusing himself by hanging the gantry officer up by his toes. Het was staring at a nearby wall panel for the airvents. Too big for a human, but he could fit easily...

Arfive beeped happily. "They've found it sir." Threepio announced excitedly. "The tractor beam is coupled to the main reactor at seven locations. Most of the pertinent data is restricted, but they can pull the critical information through to the monitor."

Kenobi turned his attention from the larger screen to a smaller one by the three droids. Data began to race across it too fast for Leia to see, but apparently Kenobi somehow made something of the schematic blur. "I dont think theres any way you could help me with this." he told them. "I must go alone."

"That suits me fine." said Solo readily. "Ive already done more than I bargained for on this trip. But I think putting that tractor beam out of commission's going to take more than your magic, old man."

Leia wasnt put off so easily. "I want to go with you." Davin stood forward as well. "As do I, sir."

"Dont be impatient, Pixie." Ben said kindly to Leia. "This requires skills you haven't yet mastered. And as for you, my friend," he turned to Davin. "Stay and watch over the droids... and my neice. Wait for my signal. They must be delivered to the rebel forces or many more worlds will meet the same fate as Alderaan." He turned to Leia. "Trust in the Force, Leia... and wait."

Leia could barely take it. She hugged Ben fiercly. "If you dont come back, I wont leave." She promised. "I love you, Unca Ben."

Ben Kenobi hugged her back, his eyes closed as emotions long locked away came to the fore. "I... I love you too, Leia." he said softly. "Stay safe."

With a last look at his neice, Ben adjusted the lightsaber at his waist. Stepping to the door, he slid it aside, looked once left, once right, and disappeared down a long, glowing hallway.

As soon as he was gone Chewbacca growled and Solo nodded agreement. "Now that the family hour is done, whats on the agenda? Anything would be better than just waiting here for them to come and pick us up. If we - "

A hysterical whistling and hooting came from the computer console. Arfive and Artoo were whistling and hopping up and down on their stubby legs. "What now?" Leia asked.

The taller droid looked puzzled himself. "Im afraid I dont understand either, Ma'am. Arfive keeps saying "Ive found him." While Artoo keeps repeating "hes here!"

"Who? Who have they found?"

"Prince Organa." Threepio announced, listening to the two astromechs attentively. "Senator Organa, and his father, the Viceroy Bail Organa, his wife and aide."

"The prince?" Leia said, remembering the holomessage for Obi-wan. "You mean he's actually here?" Davin looked from his position by the door. "Prince? The guy from the holomessage?"

Attracted by the commotion, Han wandered over. "Prince? Whats going on?"

"Where? Where is he?" Leia asked breathlessly. Going to the Rebellion was one thing, but rescuing a prince would be an entirely different thing, one practically guarenteed to assist her finding Biggs.

Arfive whistled, while Artoo continued to extract information. Threepio translated "Level five, detention block AA-23. According to the information, he is to be transferred to the custody of Imperial Inquisitor Jerec and taken to Coruscant. His father is scheduled to be tortured, while his mother is assigned for slow termination."

"No! We've got to do something!" Leia exclaimed. She needed that prince!

"What are you all blathering about?" an exhasperated Solo demanded.

"He's the one who programmed the message into Artoo Detoo. " Leia explained hurriedly. "the one we were trying to deliver to Alderaan. We've got to help him!"

"Now just a minute!" Solo cautioned her. "This is going just a little too fast for me. The old man said to wait here. I dont like it, but Im not going off on some crazy maze on some stupid rescue mission." Davin stepped forward and nodded to Leia. "Im in." Han looked at him like he was insane. "Marching into the detention block was not something I had in mind. We're bound to end up there anyway... why rush it?"

Leia thought quickly, trying to think of anything that might change Han's mind. Then she smiled. "He's rich."

"Uh... rich?" Han said disdainfully. Leia nodded. "If you could rescue him, and his father and mother, the reward would be more than you could possibly imagine."

"Ive seen the treasure vaults of the Queen of Ranroon beautiful, I can imagine quite a bit." Han glanced at Chewbacca, who shrugged a terse reply. "All right, we'll give it a try. But you'd better be right about that reward. What's your plan?"

Leia was momentarily taken aback. All of her energies up till now had been concentrated on persuading Solo and Chewbacca to aid in a rescue attempt. That accomplished, Leia became aware that she had no idea how to proceed. Davin stepped forward and looked up at the huge Wookie. "You could always pose as a prisoner. We could fake a prison transfer."

"Then what about Leia?" Han said. "I dont think she's gonna want to stay here while we go wandering around."

Davin smiled under his helmet. "Then we have her pose as a prisoner too.. a high profile prisoner. One that the Empire would want transferred to Coruscant with the Prince." he suggested. "Hey Artoo, you two see if there are any high profiles that come to mind."

It took a few moments, but the two Astromechs came up with a dasterdly plan. "Zu Pike?" Leia said, reading the prison records. "Wanted for the murder of sixteen Imperial citizens. Says here shes an expert in Teras Kasi... I dont know Teras Kasi!"

Davin started to shackle her wrists, while Han shackled Chewies. "You dont have to know Teras Kasi to pose as a prisoner. Just know that when the time comes, you'll have a hold out pistol under your belt."

"Leia, ma'am." Leia looked over at Threepio. "Artoo and Arfive have posted false data records stating the intended prisoner transfer. Now pardon me for asking, what should my counterparts and I do if someone discovers us here in your absence?"

"Lock the door." Leia said. "And hope they dont have blasters." Han replied.

"That isnt very reassuring." Threepio's tone indicated that he didnt find the answers humourous.

Leia was about to leave with the others, when she stopped. "Wait a minute.. where's Het?"

Everyone looked around for the diminuative Jawa.. only to find an open airshaft vent. "Oh great." Solo said. "We cant wait for the little guy. He better not get lost."

Leia looked at the airshaft and took a deep breath. "He wont. He's got my scent. He'll find us when he's able."

And with that, the rescue attempt began.