Chapter Eight
In preparation for their next adventure, Leia wore clothing that resembled what she had worn on the mission to disable the Death Star generator on Endor, while Han had opted for his usual look of black slacks, white shirt and pocketed vest, with his trusty blaster strapped firmly to his thigh. Leia had fought back a smile when Han had exited his cabin wearing his old outfit. It was the first time since meeting the 'new' version of Han Solo that he appeared in clothing exactly like he'd worn in his previous life.
With the Wookiee Princess left behind under the protection of Chewbacca, the three humans trudged across a huge field that was thick with waving, waist-high native grasses. The grass made their walk difficult, and there were times that Leia, with her short stature couldn't even see over the vegetation. After nearly a time-part they reached a clearing atop a hill, so Han stopped walking, raised his macrobinoculars to his eyes and swept his vision across open field that lie below.
He didn't like what he saw. "Are those kath hounds?"
He handed the macro's over to the young Jedi, who was dressed in a black tunic and black trousers. Luke peered through the viewer, noting the pack of about twenty animals. "Yes, they look like it. At least they aren't the horned variety. Those are more aggressive."
"You didn't mention there we needed to watch out for vicious Kath hounds," Leia said to her brother.
Luke sighed at Leia's chastisement. "They're usually not vicious. If we leave them alone, they should leave us alone."
"Famous last words," Han muttered under his breath as he took a swig of water from his canister. "Why didn't you have us land closer to the cave?"
"I couldn't tell exactly where the cave was located until we started walking," Luke replied. "I have to use the Force to guide us there."
"The Force," Han groused. "Everything always comes down to the Force. Somebody should write a song about the wonderful virtues of lightsabers, levitating and talkin' to annoying dead Jedi. I can just imagine that would be a huge hit, since so many beings can relate."
"Maybe you could record that song," Luke said serenely, knowing Han was trying to provoke him. Since Luke had more self-restraint than his sister when it came to Han's sarcasm, it didn't work. "But then it might never be a hit if you'd be the one singing it."
"It wouldn't be a hit, anyway, 'cuz no one could write it," Han said with a snort. "Not enough words rhyme with 'Force.'"
"Course rhymes with Force," Leia said thoughtfully. "Labor and neighbor rhymes with lightsaber. I can't think of anything that rhymes with Jedi, though."
"Dead fly?" Han mused. "Old guy?"
"I'm not laughing," Luke said, trying his best to ignore Han. It was never easy.
"Red eye?" Han continued with the same theme. "Someone could write a song about a Jedi with a hangover, sorta like the one you had the morning of Luke's wedding, Princess."
"Keep it up Nerf, because I'm holding a lightsaber right now and I'm not afraid to use it," Leia teased. "I'm not sure the Jedi of the Old Order would have appreciated a tune written in their honor. From what I can tell, it doesn't seem like they had much of a sense of humor."
"They didn't have much of a sex life, either, which partially explains why they went extinct," Han said in return.
"Good thing I'm not in the Old Order," Luke said with a laugh as the image of Mara's face and body flashed through his mind. Then Luke frowned as Han's earlier comment sank in and he stopped walking, turning around to confront his friend. "When did you ever speak to an annoying dead Jedi?"
"Who, me?" Han asked, holding his hand against his chest with a look of bewildered innocence plastered across his face as he headed down the hill. "I don't know what you're talkin' about, kid."
They kept hiking until Luke finally pointed down toward the ground. "Here's the opening to the cave."
Han and Leia moved next to Luke, gazing down into the darkness before exchanging anxious looks. "How far under the surface will the crystals be located?" Leia asked.
"I'm not sure," Luke admitted. "I got my lightsaber crystal on Ilum and they were pretty far down under the surface. I guess we'll find out soon enough." He sat down on the soft ground, wiggling his torso, feet first, into the hole before sliding under the surface of the damp earth. A green glow quickly emitted from the darkness as Luke turned on his lightsaber. "It gets wider once you're inside," he called up encouragingly.
Leia sighed as she maneuvered herself into the cavity. Before going fully under, she looked up at Han who was staring at her with worry and skepticism written across his features. "Into the kinrath hole, Flyboy," she said with a smirk, recalling some of her first words to Han back on the Death Star.
Solo watched as she, too, disappeared down into the cavern. "I have a bad feeling about this..."
Coruscant
It took over three days for the gossip reporter to locate a qualified hacker, but the hacker quickly proved his worth. In short order he handed over to Turner both Princess Leia Organa's medical DNA records, and Evin Daysun's DNA as well. Even though he was two thousand credits poorer, Nexx Turner was a happy man.
The hacker then got proper clearances to access all the New Republic DNA files, and three heavy duty computers were now working full time to look for a maternal or paternal connection for either Organa or Daysun.
The hacker turned to Turner and said, "This could take weeks, or even months before we get a match. Or, we could spend all that time and still come up with nothing. I charge by the time-part, you know, success or no success."
"That's okay," Turner said to his new employee, grinning evilly. "I'm just putting it all on a certain Prince's account."
The hacker was starting to believe this job was going to make him rich.
The glow from the lightsaber and the two hand-held glowrods only managed to shine light about seven meters forward. They moved cautiously, stopping at every offshoot corridor they came upon, then waited until Luke, who was in the lead, made a decision as to which tunnel was the correct one. Odd liquid dripped down from the roof, creating sticky puddles on the floor.
"Why does it smell sweet in here?" Leia wondered. "It's like an cloying perfume."
"It's probably the musk from the kinrath droppings," Luke surmised. "I imagine they lure their prey with the odor."
"I hope someone never decides to market that smell," Han said. "Or, if they do, they could name it Ode de Arachnid Dung."
"If they put your face on the bottle, I'm sure it would be a best seller no matter what it smells like," Leia joked, glancing back as Han pulled a sour face at her.
"Are you sure you're gonna be able to backtrack and get us out of here?" Han asked worriedly. Han had a superb sense of direction, but this spider-created cave was managing to even get him turned around.
"I'll just do what I've been doing," Luke said, trying to sooth both Han and Leia's concerns. "The Force has been guiding us in, and I'm sure it can guide us out."
"Uh, huh."
"Luke?" Leia said, tugging on her brother's arm. "Do you hear that? It sounds like a scratching noise, and it's getting louder."
Han flashed the glowrod in the direction they'd just come from. "I hear it, too."
Through the Force, Luke felt a spike of warning. "It's the kinraths. Stop luring them this direction with the glowrod, Han. We need to run in the opposite direction."
They ran, and ran some more, struggling to keep their balance in the slime. Gasping for breath, Luke pulled Leia around yet another corner as they desperately tried to escape the spiders. Leia turned to look behind her. "Where's Han?"
"He was right behind you!" Luke said, the sense of danger increasing by the second.
"Han!" Leia shouted, not caring if her voice brought the attention of the kinraths. "HAN!"
"The Force is telling me he's moving further away from us," Luke informed her. "I don't know what happened, but we have to keep running, or the spiders are going to catch us."
Leia spun around, her eyes wild, as she fumbled for her comlink. "I'm not leaving him behind, Luke!" She keyed on the small device. "Han? Han? Can you read me?" The only response was a steady hum. Something was preventing it from transmitting.
"We don't have a choice right now," Luke said, grabbing her wrist. "We can't get back and help him if we're both dead."
"If Han dies, I'll ... I'll die," Leia ground out as she stared at the useless comlink, but she allowed herself to be pulled down the slick corridor while mentally screaming for Han, hoping he could hear her through the Force.
He wasn't responding.
He'd slipped. It was as simple as that, really. One second he was running as fast as he could run, following Luke and Leia down the twisting turns, and the next second he was on his butt, sliding down a slope and away from both of his companions. Before he knew it, he crashed into the side of the tunnel, losing his grip on the glowrod as the wall crumbled away. Behind the rubble of the tunnel's wall was a drop-off and Han found himself tumbling down into darkness, determinedly holding onto his blaster for dear life.
The fall wasn't straight down, more like a painful tumble down a steep incline strewn with rocks and boulders of all sizes and shapes. Solo came to a thudding halt against something very sharp and uncomfortable gouging into his side. He lay still for a few moments, panting and trying to assess the extent of his injuries. Gingerly he felt his at ribs - his fingers came away sticky and slick with blood.
Great, Han thought in disgust. I'm alone in a dark cave with poisonous spiders, bleeding, and I probably have broken ribs. Just fucking great. He tried his comlink to raise Luke or Leia, but got only static for his efforts. Then, in a bit of desperation, he tightly shut his eyes, trying to reach out to Leia using the Force but failed to get a response from that method was well, which made his heart start pounding in fear for Leia's safety. At least he couldn't hear the ominous scratching sounds from the spiders anymore, and he still had his blaster so that was two things working in his favor, he decided dourly. Stupid rocks were definitely not worth all this.
Luke and Leia skidded to a halt as he took in the sight before him. Hundreds of eggs the size of small boulders sat in a pile, and there was no exit from this particular tunnel as it came to a dead-end.
"Now what?" Leia demanded to know. "We can't go back... the spiders are almost here!"
The Jedi Master pushed his sister behind his back and stood waiting, his lightsaber ready. "This is where we make our stand, Leia."
Using the lightsaber Luke had provided her, Leia took a deep breath and flipped it on before moving to stand beside to her brother, even if he dared to object. Blue lightsaber glowed next to green lightsaber. He didn't object.
Instead he took a second to smile at Leia. "Trial by fire."
"Trial by deadly spiders," she corrected him dryly. "Fire might have been a preferable option."