Skywalker's Legacy, page 85

Chapter Fifteen

To Han's surprise, Rupert seemed only relieved at the news when Han told him. "You mean, I'm not going crazy?" Rupert said.

"Well, uh, that's what we're gonna try to prevent," Han replied.

Then Rupert asked, "Is he really a Jedi Knight?"

"He really is," Han assured him.

"And he's Mom's brother."

"That, too."

Rupert smiled at that. "Then we've got the best chance in the galaxy for getting Mom back."

Han wished he shared his son's optimism.

Rupert was silent for a few minutes as he thought over the events of the day, the news about his mother's kidnapping, and his own unique sensitivity, and so Han was left to his own thoughts. They settled on Leia. He wondered where she was and how she was, whether she was all right, or...he didn't want to think about the possibilities but found he couldn't help himself. Deities, he wished he had Rupert's supreme confidence in the abilities of a Jedi Knight. But Rupert didn't know Luke the way Han did.

Han's thoughts were interrupted by Rupert's voice. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

Rupert looked at his hands for a moment, then looked up and asked, "Do you think...he'll want to train me here, on Tatooine?"

It seemed like a strange question to Han, given everything else that was going on, but Han shrugged and answered it anyway. "I don't know, Rue."

"Corran...said that he was trained on a place called Dagobah."

"Like I said, Rue, I really don't know. Does it make a difference?"

"I hope it's here," Rupert said softly.

Now Han was curious. "Why?" he asked.

Rupert gave his father a sad, rueful smile before looking away again. "Well...there's this girl I met..."

Han's ears practically pricked forward. "Girl?"

Rupert shook his head. "I don't even know her name. But she was...I don't know. She was so different from all the other girls I've ever met. It doesn't matter though. I'll probably never see her again, anyway."

Now this, at least, was something Han could deal with. "Hold on, son, don't give up so easily. What do you know about her? Anything you can think of might help in tracking her."

"She's a mechanic. A freelancer. She said she'd be leaving off-world soon. No commitments. That was our arrangement."

Han mused. "Freelancer, huh? You don't find too many of them these days. Tell me, what does she look like?"

"It's no use. She's probably off-world already anyway."

"Now, Rue, you never know. Come on, give me a description."

Rupert gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Would you believe me if I said she looked like an angel?"

"What does an angel looked like."

"Well...an angel has hair the color of sunlight, eyes as blue as the sky during mid-day, a face as soft as the petal of a new flower..."

"Shouldn't be too hard to find," Han said, thinking exactly the opposite. "All we need to do is look for the halo and wings..."

The sensor wards beeped, indicating that someone was violating the ship's perimeters, and Han's immediate reaction was to think that the sand-people had returned. But as he started for the laser rifle, the communicator beeped for attention. Han switched it on and heard Luke's voice: "Han, come in."

"Luke? What is it?"

"I've got Lucy and Brenna with me. They're both fine, but we've got another problem."

Swell, Han thought. But aloud he said, "The old bird's flight-feathers are clipped, old friend. Should I charge up the guns?"

"Not just yet, but we could use a sheltering wing. There's a predator nearby, with an appetite for baby birds. Any idea when mama bird will be able to fly?"

Han looked over at Rupert, who held up four fingers and shrugged. "Four days, maybe," Han told Luke.

"Let's see if we can make it in one," Luke said. "I'll collect Chewie and Poul in the after I drop these two nestlings off. With all of us working on the problem, we should be able to solve it that much faster."

Han turned to his son. "Sorry, Rupert, but we'll have to work on the girl-problem later. The man seems to be in a hurry, so let's get started."

"I'll run the systems report," Rupert said, and headed for the front of the ship.

Han met Luke and the girls at the main entrance, gave his daughter a quick embrace by way of a greeting, nodded at Brenna, who automatically moved to the brighter part of the Falcon's interior. She had traveled the distance with only the interior lights of the speeder to ward off the darkness.

"What sort of predator are we talking about?" Han asked Luke.

"Etan Lippa's here on Tatooine," Luke replied. "The sooner we get off, the better."

Rupert came back from the cockpit. "Dad, there's a---" he stopped when he saw Brenna, ignoring his sister and Luke. "You...!" he said in a surprised voice.

"Lando?" Brenna said. The incredulous expression on her face mirrored Rupert's. "What are you doing here?"

"Lando?" said Han.

Rupert turned to his father with a disbelieving grin. "Dad, it's her. The girl I was telling you about."

"Brenna?" said Luke. "Have you...and Rupert met already?"

"Luke?" said Han. "Uh, Luke, I have something to tell you..."