In the morning, Mara woke up to the sound of the door chime. She rolled over on the couch and got to her feet. "Coming," she told the person at the door groggily. She adjusted her robe and opened the door. A Stormtrooper stood there, a rack of uniforms beside him. He pushed them into the room. "You have one hour to get ready." The white armored man turned quickly and left, leaving Mara standing there blankly.
She shook her head to clear her mind, then pushed the rack into the bedroom where Luke was sleeping. Mara rolled it over to the closet and went over to wake him up, but she paused. He looked so peaceful and innocent as he slept, reminding her once again that he was only two years older than she. She sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed the hair out of his eyes. Then she finally got a grip on herself and stood up, shaking Luke. "Wake up, Lazybones."
Luke opened one eyelid, then closed it.
"Come on," Mara ordered, shaking him harder.
He groaned, "Fine, I'm getting up." Then Luke pointedly rolled over, closing his eyes.
"Luke!" Mara commanded.
"Okay!" Luke sat up in bed, glaring at Mara with twinkling blue eyes.
Mara gave him a weird look, and he laughed, "If you will excuse me, I am going to change in here."
"Okay, but make sure you wear your uniform, just in case." Mara went over to the rack and grabbed an Imperial uniform of her own, disappearing inside the refresher. When she came out, Luke was standing and looking rather ruffled. He was uncomfortable, clawing at his collar and holding his hat loosely in his other hand. She rolled her eyes and snatched his hat away from him and placed it on his head. He gave her an evil look, and she returned it. They walked into the living room and sat down on the loveseat, Luke on the left, Mara on the right. Luke put his arm on the back of it and leaned back.
"What's gonna happen to us?" Mara wondered.
"I don't know...I just hope we can get out of here someday," Luke muttered, not caring if there were security cameras or not.
"I don't care if you leave or not, I just hope I get out of here someday," Mara gave Luke a sideways look, a teasing smile on her face.
Two can play at that game, Luke thought. A taunting grin on his face, he placed his fingers on her left shoulder, and tapped it. "Did you know that it's the same distance from here to here—" he tapped her neck, "as it is from here—" he moved his fingers on her neck again, "to here?" He moved his arm to her other shoulder, so that his arm was around her shoulders. Luke pulled her closer to him, and Mara tried to struggle persistently out of his grip, but he held on tight. She spat a venomous glare and tried to use the Force to pry his arms off, but Luke wouldn't budge. Mara turned her face to Luke, throwing a look that would melt durasteel. Luke gave her a much softer look and pulled her head, straining, towards him. His lips were on hers when the doorbell rang. "Blast!"
Mara gave Luke a triumphant look and hopped off of the loveseat and went over to the door. She opened it, and outside stood a few Stormtroopers and an Imperial officer. Luke came up behind Mara, and the khaki-uniformed officer ordered, "Follow us."
Luke and Mara complied, and they were led through the seemingly endless corridors to the room where medical officers patiently awaited their arrival. The Stormtroopers and commander left them.
The doctor and his assistants exchanged a cryptic look, then one of them went over to the camera in the room that was conveniently hidden in a wall panel. He pretended to "accidentally" cover it with his elbow, and he took out a tool from his pocket and messed with the camera. "There," he said, looking satisfied, "—now we have a few minutes before anyone gets suspicious. We have already disabled the cameras in the corridors—you must leave at once!"
Mara and Luke exchanged confused glances, "Why are you helping us?" Luke asked.
The doctor answered him, "We are tired of doing evil deeds for the Empire. You would be shocked at the conditions some people have had that've been brought in to us—all caused by the Empire. We've decided that we should finally take a stand. In the corridors, there will be no one shown walking around, but only for a little while or security will begin to get suspicious. We have to get you two to the hangar bays, at once."
"What about—" Luke started but was cut off by one of the assistants.
"I had someone grab the animal and the droid." One of the men picked up a cage in which a distressed Deedah was trapped in, and another opened a door to reveal Artoo, who whistled. The doctor went over to Luke with a needle in his hand, rolled Luke's sleeve up, and injected the antidote into him. Luke gave a sharp intake of breath as the Force flooded back into him. "Here are your lightsabers. Now, come."
Amazed and slightly suspicious of their sudden luck, Luke took the cage. He and Mara next took their sabers and, with Artoo, followed the doctor out. They walked for a while, then the medic stopped in the middle of one of the halls and pointed down it. "Continue straight for a while, then take two left turns and you'll end up in the hangar bay. I have to go back." Before they could say anything he slipped silently away, heading back to the medical room.
"Why isn't he coming with us? Isn't he aware they will probably execute them if they find out?" Luke gave Mara a sad look. The pittin mrowled in the cage, so Luke took it out. Mewling, it climbed onto his shoulder.
"Maybe he doesn't wanna save his skin. Or maybe this is a trap. It isn't like things can get much worse. We might as well go on." Mara shrugged. "This could be the break we've been waiting for..."
"How is the operation going?" Vader asked a nearby lieutenant.
The lieutenant leaned over a screen, then his facial expression became puzzled. "M'lord, it seems they are not in the room."
Vader stood, a black menacing figure. Then he turned and stalked away quickly.
