Chapter 9: The Trash Compactor

The nightmares reoccurred at random intervals over the next week. They all started in the same way. He would be back on the farm in his pajamas, hiding behind a landspeeder. Then the screaming would start, and he would hear footsteps behind him ... and he would run. Soon after, he'd wake up and stay that way until an hour or two before he had to get up and get ready for school.

On one night, the dream changed slightly. He ran as usual, but this time, instead of running away from the farm, he ran towards his aunt and uncle's bedroom. The windows and doorway were in darkness. He didn't want to move closer, but curiosity was forcing him. A few more steps and he'd be inside and—

A loud beeping rang in his ears, and he fell out of his dream and partly out of his bed. He fumbled around on the floor for his discarded pants from yesterday and then picked up his comlink from underneath.

When he thumbed the connect switch, an image of Ben materialized.

"Hiya-guess-what?!"

Luke rubbed his eyes and dragged the blankets up, stopping just short of covering his head.

"It's too early," he mumbled. "Can you call back in an hour?"

"It's past ten am!"

"It's also the weekend."

Ben held something up and waved it back and forth.

Luke looked at it, confused. Gradually, his vision began to come into focus and understanding dawned. "Gundark Slayer 2!"

"Right! My uncle gave it to me yesterday. He works for the company and got it early! Hurry up and get over here so we can play it."

Luke was torn. On one hand, he really wanted to play that game. On the other, that would mean getting out of bed, getting dressed and walking over to Ben's apartment building. He didn't feel like lifting a finger right now.

"Why don't you come over here?" Luke suggested. "We can play it on my big screen holovid."

Ben looked frightened, as he always did when Luke tried to get him to come over. Luke hadn't yet succeeded.

"Look, it's okay. My father isn't even here."

"How do you know if you're still in bed?"

"He's never here during the day," Luke said. "Besides, this place is huge. Even if he was here, you wouldn't have to see him."

"Well ..."

Luke grinned, knowing his friend was going to give in.

"Are you sure he's not there?" Ben asked.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Doubly sure?"

"Doubly sure!"

Vader had arrived late to a meeting that morning, but his entrance had caused no stir. The occupants were too busy arguing with each other to notice his arrival. He remained standing by the door, making no move to sit. He didn't wish to appear part of the uncivilized bickering going on before him.

"I still have not heard or seen any evidence that these supposed missing people even exist," Grand Moff Halifax was saying, in a tone which indicated being made to attend this meeting was an insult to his status and personal dignity. He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. "Come back when you have some real evidence."

"Exactly," an admiral said, nodding in agreement. "This is merely an elaborate hoax fabricated by the Rebels. Let me send in troops. Give me the order, and I will stop these disruptive protests and make prisoners of anyone who defies us!"

"Gentlemen, please," a quiet voice spoke.

Vader shifted slightly to eye the speaker. He recognized her as the head of the Alderaanian enquiry into this matter, who had been appointed by the planet's senator. Vader had been surprised that Bail Organa had not insisted on heading the enquiry himself, given his usual tendency towards rocking the boat. But this woman seemed to be doing a fair job—she was still alive, which was a good sign.

"Gentlemen, these are my people who are missing. My people. And I can assure you, they are real. Surely the best way to end these protests is to organize a visible search effort and—"

"Give into their pitiful demands, you mean." the admiral started.

"If these are anyone's pitiful demands, they are mine, not the protesters, Admiral," the woman said. "I do not blame the Imperial navy for this. For all I know, the ship could have flown into a black hole hours after the ship was boarded. But surely the navy could spare a few ships to help us in our efforts to locate them. Or at the very least, grant us access to the official reports of the incident."

"The Empire owes you nothing, Diplomat," Grand Moff Halifax replied, standing up. "Your planet has been breeding spies and traitors long enough. A few less of them is a blessing for the galaxy. We will pronounce these people dead, and Admiral Ruck will remove the protesters blocking the shipping routes with force."

"An excellent decision," the admiral said, also standing up.

"And a decision that is not yours to make," Vader said, deciding he'd remained silent long enough.

The occupants turned to stare at him, finally aware of his presence, and the admiral hastily returned to his seat.

"Such a foolish course of action would likely create more protest than suppress it, Governor Halifax," Vader said, walking around the table. He paused next to the diplomat's chair. "You shall have your official reports—although they will tell you nothing more than you already know."

"Thank you, Lord Vader," the woman said, clearly surprised.

"This is merely delaying the inevitable," Grand Moff Halifax said, annoyed. "The Emperor—"

"—is in the throne room, if you would like to go and discuss it with him," Vader said, pointedly.

Having made the effort to get out of bed and get ready, Luke was becoming impatient for his friend to hurry up and arrive. When his comlink began to beep, from under a pile of his clothes, he pessimistically thought he must be calling to cancel. But as he picked up the device, he saw the call was coming in on a short-range frequency.

He flicked the answer switch, and a small hologram of Lieutenant Hicks' head and shoulders popped up.

"Good morning, young Mr Skywalker," he said, in a mock official tone. "Did you by any chance forget to mention you were expecting a visitor today?"

"Oh, stars, what have you done to him?!" Luke said. "Hang on, I'll be right down."

He sprinted all the way from his room to the security office, and as a result, he was out of breath when he skidded into the room. But his friend was only sitting on a chair in front of Lieutenant Hicks' desk, munching on a piece of his candy and looking entirely relaxed.

"Did you think I was interrogating him?" Lieutenant Hicks asked, smirking at him.

"Hi, Luke," Ben said, grinning. He glanced back at the lieutenant. "See, I told you we were friends."

"Oh, I believed you," Lieutenant Hicks said.

"Ben already had a security pass, so I figured it would be fine," Luke said, walking up to the desk. "What's the problem?"

When Ben was younger, he'd used to have to come to the palace after school, and wait in his father's office until he'd finished his shift, so he knew something about the security procedures.

"Unfortunately his security pass doesn't cover the floor where your room is located, which is presumably where you were planning to play this hologame," Lieutenant Hicks said, gesturing at the cartridge on his desk.

"But my father would be okay with it," Luke insisted. It was pretty much true ... his father had never told him he couldn't have friends over. It was doubtful that he could care less.

Lieutenant Hicks smiled and started tapping away on his computer interface. "I suppose I can give Ben a temporary extension, but your father will need to approve a permanent one."

"Can you ask him for that on my behalf?"

"I love that you think I'm important enough to ask your father to approve things," Lieutenant Hicks said, raising an eyebrow. "You'll have to try our good friend Lieutenant Dorany. He's working the weekend shift."

"Sure," Luke said, picking up one of the lieutenant's model TIE fighters. Lev would probably suggest Luke should try asking himself, but he might be lucky.

"How's your hand, by the way?" Lieutenant Hicks said, running Ben's security pass over the reader.

"It's fine," Luke said, rubbing it. "Thanks for the card. I think my droids took some of the chocolate from the gift, but what I actually got to eat was good."

"There's something wrong with those droids, I swear," Lieutenant Hicks said, offering Luke something from the security office candy bowl. "Here, take a handful. I need to stop stress eating."

The computer made a chiming sound to indicate the updated pass was ready, but Lieutenant Hicks paused before handing it over.

"So just hologames, right? No mischief?"

"I'm twelve years old," Luke said, frowning. "I'm not a little kid."

"Luke, I was still getting into mischief at twenty-five."

"No mischief," Ben insisted, taking the pass and the game cartridge. "I'm the sensible one."

Lieutenant Hicks smiled. "Glad to hear it. We could use more sense around here."

"Thanks," Luke said, giving him a mock salute in response.

Ben was soon following him back out to the elevator bays, looping the newly upgraded pass around his neck.

"He was nice," Ben said.

"Yeah, everyone is nice to me here," Luke said. "Especially after they found out about my father. But Lev was nice to me even before he knew about that. Hopefully you'll get to meet him."

When they arrived on the floor where Luke's room was, Ben looked around in curiosity. "This isn't like the rest of the palace," he noted. "There's no art and flags."

"Yeah, I thought it was dark and creepy at first, but I'm used to it now," Luke said, leading Ben down the corridor.

"What's behind all these doors?"

"Nothing interesting."

Ben opened one, seeing the largely empty room.

"Is this where the Jedi used to live?"

Luke turned around, looking back at Ben in surprise. "Jedi? Used to live here?"

"You didn't know? It used to be the Jedi temple, back before the Empire. There's rumours there are still dead Jedi in rooms that no one has discovered."

Luke shuddered, idly thinking he'd been right about it being creepy.

"My father used to be a Jedi," Luke mumbled.

"Really? The Jedi were traitors and tried to take over the government."

This didn't quite fit with how the Jedi were talked about on Tatooine, but he knew better than to argue about history with Ben.

Ben opened another door and looked around inside. "What's with all these crates?"

"I don't know," Luke said. "I think it's some kind of storage room."

Ben walked in further and then said, "This room looks like it hasn't been touched since before the Empire. If there's a dead Jedi anywhere, it would be in here."

Luke smirked and said, "Wait … what's that in the corner?"

"Where?" Ben said, fascinated.

As soon as his friend turned his back to him, he crept up behind him and grabbed him by both shoulders. "He's right behind you!"

Ben yelled in fright, and then turned around to shove Luke off, laughing all the while. They wrestled briefly, and then Luke fell back against a crate, knocking the lid slightly ajar. Ben's eyes widened.

"Do you think there might be a lightsaber in there?"

Luke turned and looked at the uncovered crate, feeling nervous at the idea. After rummaging through it, he said, "It looks like it's all just spare parts. Lots of wires and capacitors. Old droid circuit boards."

Ben prised the lid off another one and found the same thing.

"Who would keep all this useless junk?" he said, pulling out something that looked a bit like an old-fashioned door hinge. "Oh, wait. What's this?"

Luke came closer. Ben was holding up an old holoprojector, the kind people had on their desks that showed a single, rotating image. When his friend touched the on button, it lit up with an image of an old podracer. Then it quickly faded, clearly low on power.

"Where did you find it?"

"In this crate," Ben said. "There's others in there too."

Luke crouched on the floor and stretched his arm into the bottom. His fingers closed around something that caused all his senses to suddenly tingle.

"Whoever owned all this stuff was definitely a Jedi," Ben said. He'd climbed on top of the crates, and had discovered a shelf. "Look at this! It says on the bottom it's a Jedi starfighter."

It was a model ship, of a type Luke had never seen before. He looked from the ship back to the object he'd found, which was a small holoprojector, similar to the type Ben had found earlier.

He didn't expect it to still work, but it lit up immediately when he pressed the on button. Luke quickly cycled through the holograms, his heart beginning to beat rapidly. There were images of lots of people Luke did not recognize. A beautiful woman, with brown hair and brown eyes. Several of the holos showed her with a young, blonde man. They were clearly in love, because they were kissing or hugging in every second image. The pair became younger as he progressed through the holos, and the final few appeared to be of the two getting married.

The last image revealed something that caused a funny feeling to rise up in Luke's chest. It was a large holo and both figures were facing the lens and pictured from the waist up. The blonde man had an artificial hand. Luke brought the image closer to his face, staring at it in surprise. Then something else caught his attention. A lightsaber. There was no mistaking it. There was a lightsaber hanging from his belt.

Luke suddenly looked around the room again and then back at the image in his hand. Did this mean what he thought it meant? No, it couldn't be! There was no way his father could ever have been someone who looked like that. So normal and so ... human? But if it was him, did that mean the woman was his mother?! The thought made him feel both excited and a little scared. Was he allowed to be seeing this?

"Luke? Are you okay?"

Ben climbed back down, still holding onto the model starfighter.

"I'm fine," Luke said quietly, switching off the projector and stuffing it deep into his pocket. He could study it later when he had privacy. "Maybe we should go and play that game now," he said, louder.

"Sure," Ben said. He held up the model. "You want this?"

"No, leave it here." If this really had been his father's room once, he doubted he'd have wanted him rummaging through it. "Come on, let's go."

As soon as they were back in the corridor, Ben looked towards the rooms on the other side of the corridor.

"Which one is his room?"

"It's over there, but it's off limits. Come on—I want to see that game."

Ben followed him into his bedroom, and Luke gestured to Artoo and Threepio.

"Artoo, Threepio, meet my friend Ben. Ben, these are my droids."

Artoo whistled and beeped, while Threepio said, "Hello, young sir."

Ben nodded hello, and then turned around to see Luke's big-screen holovid.

"Wow, look at this!"

They sat down on the floor to play and before long, they were so absorbed, two hours had passed before Luke finally hit pause.

"I'm so hungry," he said. "How about you? I'll tell the kitchen droids to bring up some snacks."

"Sounds good," Ben said, still focused on the 3D display.

Luke didn't bother to waste any time asking Ben exactly what he felt like eating— it was clear that food came second place to the game right now.

"It should be about five minutes," Luke said, crossing the room to lie on his bed. While Ben was distracted, he removed the holoprojector from his pocket and switched it on again. Maybe his imagination was running wild, but the more he looked at the image of the woman, the more convinced he was that this was his mother. There was something about her eyes … so completely unlike his own, yet they seemed so familiar.

A burst of sad music filled the air as Ben failed miserably in destroying a gundark with thermal detonators. He paused the game in frustration and glanced over at Luke.

"What's that?"

"Nothing," Luke said, hastily switching it off. As he leaned over to put it in his bedside cabinet, he accidentally knocked his T-16 to the floor. Ben smiled.

"Hey, that's cool. What ship is this?" He picked it up and began flying it back and forth.

"A T-16," Luke said, quickly jumping up and retrieving the display stand. "Can I have it back, please?" The sight of his friend holding something so important to him made him anxious.

Ben moved it past him as if to give it back, but then turned and 'flew' it over to the other corner of the room, all the while making annoying sound effects.

"Ben!" Luke said, diving to tackle him. Artoo screeched in protest, while Threepio said something about not being entirely sure if this was a good idea.

Ben tripped as Luke grabbed his legs and tumbled to the floor. The model went flying out of his hands and hit the wall ... then bounced neatly into the open disposal unit.

"No!" Luke yelled, jumping to his feet in shock.

"Oh ... sorry Luke!" Ben said, shuffling into a sitting position.

"I've got to get it back," Luke said, distressed. He stumbled over and stuck his head into the unit, trying to see into the blackness. Threepio hastily tried to pull him back, while Artoo whistled in a high-pitched tone.

"I think it's gone," Ben said. "Don't worry, I'll buy you another one, I promise. Where did you get it?"

"No, you don't understand!" Luke said, leaning further into the darkness, much to Threepio's distress. "That model is the only thing I've got from Tatooine! I've had it since I was a kid! Where does this lead?! Artoo? Can you see on the map?"

"It all eventually ends up in a trash compactor," Ben said, assisting Threepio with pulling Luke back out of the hole. "There's usually one for every block, but I suppose the Imperial Palace might have its own. Or even several."

Artoo beeped and rocked back and forth a couple of times. Threepio listened, and then said, "Artoo suggests we use a homing device to determine which trash compactor is connected to this chute."

"Good thinking!" Luke said. "Where can we get one of those?"

"There are some in the hangar bay," Threepio said. "Perhaps Artoo could go down and retrieve one, and then—"

Luke was already half out the door.

After the meeting was finally over, the Alderaanian enquiry head approached Vader cautiously.

"Lord Vader, I am Diplomat Poiloss Shar." She bowed slightly. "I owe you the utmost thanks for allowing—"

"Save your gratitude," Vader replied, pointing at the diplomat. "It is foolish to imagine you have any hope of finding these people. Millions of beings disappear in this galaxy every day and are never seen or heard from again. There is no difference between those cases and this one."

"Except that this one is becoming a gravy train for Imperial traitors and their propaganda machine," Grand Moff Halifax said, giving the diplomat a dirty look as he approached the pair of them. "Excuse me, Lord Vader, but I should like to accompany you and Diplomat Shar, here. I haven't seen the files concerned myself."

"Is that necessary?" Vader asked, not bothering to keep his annoyance out of his tone.

"I consider it my duty to be informed," the Grand Moff said, in a tone of wounded pride.

Vader considered pointing out that it was also his duty to keep his sector in good order, instead of appearing to be on a permanent Coruscant vacation. But such comments rarely had any effect on politicians. In Vader's experience, they had quite different definitions of work and vacation than the rest of the galaxy.

Besides, it was probably in his best interests to allow the Grand Moff to come. Doubtless he wanted to make sure he knew what the diplomat saw, so he could report back to the Emperor afterwards. It would look even more suspicious if he didn't allow him to do so.

"Very well," Vader replied, not without reluctance.

The homing beacon idea had worked perfectly. They'd now traced the disposal chute all the way to the basement levels of the palace, not far from the area where Luke knew the IMH palace liaison staff had their offices. At the east end, there was a security checkpoint and an underpass that led to the IMH buildings.

"So what now?" Ben asked quietly. Being the weekend, they'd encountered few people down here, but they were still being cautious. Artoo had located a floor hatch, but the edges were bolted and magnetically sealed. It would require specialist equipment to get this thing open. Equipment which they didn't have.

"Perhaps there is a maintenance droid who could enter the hatch and retrieve the model ship," Threepio suggested.

Artoo whistled out a question and then beeped a few times.

"What do you mean, 'I'm a maintenance droid'?" Threepio said, annoyed. "You know perfectly well I'm a protocol droid!"

Artoo beeped and whistled again and then suddenly rolled towards Luke, forcing him to back off from his attempt to pry open the hatch using a multi-tool he'd brought down from the hangar.

"I think we should abandon this whole ridiculous idea and simply arrange for the proper authorities to—"

"No, Threepio, you have to understand," Luke said. "That ship is all I have left of my life on Tatooine! No one will be able to help us until next week, and by that time, it could have been crushed and disintegrated! What is Artoo's plan?"

Artoo whistled again, and Threepio relented. "He thinks he can open the hatch but he's insistent that you must not go down there if he does, Master Luke. He thinks he can lower me down to retrieve it using his tow cable."

"Fine, then let's do it!" Luke said. "What's the hold up?"

Artoo whistled loudly, and Luke didn't need Threepio to translate that one.

"I promise I won't, Artoo. Please, I just want my ship back."

Artoo beeped a few times and then turned and rolled over to the nearest wall socket. After a few seconds, the magnetic seal was released, and the bolts unsealed, causing the hatch to rise. Ben helped Luke drag it to one side, and Artoo rolled back to the edge.

"No, you can't possibly expect me to go down there! Threepio said, waving his arms. "Artoo! It's dark and there are strange noises!"

Artoo merely shot his tow cable towards Threepio's back, and then, once it was sealed, he bumped into his legs until he fell into the hole. Luke used the light on the multi-tool and quickly tried to see how far down it was. Threepio's echoing cries of protest made it sound like a large space.

"Threepio?!" he called. "You okay?"

This was followed by the noise of water splashing, and then Threepio said, in a pleading tone, "I was never designed to be immersed in water!"

"How deep is it?" Luke called.

Threepio didn't reply, but Luke soon found him with the light. It was only up to his knees.

"Can you see the ship? It should be on the top. I'm sorry, Threepio. I know you weren't designed for this. But we'll pull you out as soon as you find it."

Artoo made a series of whistles, and Threepio said, "I am looking, you junkyard reject! All right. I can see it."

"Yes!" Luke grinned in pleasure. "Can you reach it?"

"Yes, I think I can if I just—"

It all happened so fast, Luke barely had time to react. First, there was a sharp tug on the tow cable, causing Artoo to be pulled into the hole with a loud screech. Then Ben, who was closest to the smaller droid, dived to try and save him, but as soon as his hand closed around the droid's left foot, he tripped over the multitool and plunged in as well. Then, in his shock, Luke dropped the multi-tool light.

The noise of Ben's shouts, Artoo's screeches, and Threepio's dire predictions of doom echoed out of the hole, and Luke knew if there was anyone within hearing distance, they'd have come running by now.

He sighed. "The things I have to do."

Luke sat on the edge and dropped feet first down into the murky water below. He landed with an enormous splash, but managed to keep his balance. Piles of old droid parts and ship debris floated in the liquid around him like islands in some polluted sea.

Artoo, who was on his side and floating on top of a large sheet of metal, whistled angrily at the sight of him.

"I know, I promised," Luke said, raising his hands. "But that was before the rest of you decided to fall down here! Let's just get the ship and get out and I promise I'll give you both a good oil bath."

"The smell is terrible," Ben said, gazing around. He was completely drenched, apparently having fallen face first. "You know that methane gas is flammable? I wonder what would happen if we lit a match down here?"

"Don't even think about conducting one of your science experiments," Luke said, an image forming in his mind of the entire Imperial Palace being reduced to a massive crater.

"Master Luke, I believe I have found your ship," Threepio said, holding up his T-16.

"Threepio!" Luke said, his face lighting up. "You are the greatest droid ever."

Artoo whistled in protest.

"Tied with Artoo," Luke said, wading over to the astromech, and pulling him back upright.

Vader rested his hands against the base of the holoprojector in the secure data vault, located deep within the palace basement. The Alderaanian diplomat paced back and forth while she watched the highly classified recordings. Grand Moff Halifax stood nearby, clearly unhappy with the proceedings.

He didn't voice his displeasure, however, and so they watched the tapes in silence. The first half were the security tapes gleaned from the Spectrum and showed nothing out of the ordinary. The second half was a recording of the late Captain Koonter making his official statement about the incident.

"Our troops conducted an inspection of the passengers of the cruiser Spectrum and located six rebel traitors. The troops then left the Spectrum and escorted the prisoners to my ship, the Arena. The Spectrum then detached from the Arena and entered hyperspace at eleven hundred hours, Imperial naval time. That was the last time we saw the ship and her passengers."

The diplomat pointed towards the image. "Where is this captain now?"

"He was executed," Vader said.

"A shame," the diplomat replied.

"Do you dare to question our Emperor's commands?" Grand Moff Halifax said, with utmost disgust.

"I am sure he must have known something," the diplomat said, clearly unimpressed with the Grand Moff's anger.

"No," Vader replied, straightening up. "He knew nothing. I interrogated him myself. He was so dense, he would not have noticed if five thousand people disappeared from his own ship."

"It is my view that this 'missing' ship is merely a show put on by the royal house of Alderaan to discredit the Imperial navy in the public gaze," Grand Moff Halifax said. "I would not be surprised if they were keeping these passengers prisoner themselves. Is that not so, Diplomat Shar?"

"That is an utterly ridiculous suggestion."

"Instead of investing so much time and effort into this search, perhaps your government should see about removing those protestors from the shipping routes," the Grand Moff added.

Vader removed the tape from the projector, mentally calculating how long it would take to walk to his ship hanger, select a ship and then depart for Mustafar. There was only so much pointless arguing he could be expected to tolerate.

"Uh, Luke?" Ben said, staring at the ceiling.

"What?"

"How are we going to get back up there?"

Luke followed his friend's gaze. "Um … no problem! Artoo can just use his jets and then fire his tow cable back down."

Artoo screeched and whistled, causing Threepio to say, "Oh, no!"

"That doesn't sound good," Ben said, trying to wade closer to Artoo. "What's wrong?"

A sudden rumble caused Ben to slip backwards. He emerged from under the water, gagging and spluttering.

Luke started to laugh. "Yuk! I hope you didn't swallow any."

"Stop laughing," Ben said, angry.

"I can't help it. You should see yourself!"

Ben waded over to Luke and pushed him backwards. Luke struggled to maintain his balance, before giving up and sitting down in the water. The splash he made caused Ben to lose his balance again, and his splash hit Luke right in the face.

"Lucky tomorrow isn't a school day," Luke mumbled, wiping muck away from his eyes.

Artoo beeped in an annoyed way, and Threepio said, "Yes, I heartily agree with you. We must leave this awful place as soon as possible."

This was underscored by another rumble.

"I hope this thing doesn't enter into a crush cycle anytime soon," Ben said.

"You worry too much," Luke said. "So you're going to fly back up, Artoo?"

"Artoo said earlier his jets are waterlogged and inoperable!" Threepio said. "However, he believes there might be another hatch behind that pile of garbage over there."

Another rumble was all the motivation Luke needed to move over to look. Ben was close behind him. After a few minutes spent scrambling on top of some metal shards, Luke removed a sheet of metal, to reveal another hatch. Unfortunately, it was also magnetically sealed, and the bolts were likely on the other side.

Luke was just contemplating how to break this news to Ben and Threepio, who were currently making each other more anxious, when his comlink started to beep. He looked down at his pocket in surprise, and then picked it up, trying not to get it too dirty in his muddy hand.

It lit up with an image of Lieutenant Hicks again. But this time, he had his face in his hands.

"Luke," he said, his voice sounding strained. "Please, by all that is good in this galaxy, tell me you are not inside a trash compactor right now."

"Uh … " Luke looked around. "Why?"

The holo field was rotated slightly, and Lev came into view. He also sounded more than a little on edge. "Luke, you need to get out of there right now!"

"Oh, hi, Lev. Yeah, I'm trying. Things went a little outside the plan. Listen, could you open the hatch for us?" He looked up at the wall. "The serial number is 8573-LB"

Lieutenant Hicks leaned back into the field then. "You said you were playing hologames!" he shouted. "You said no mischief!"

"This isn't mischief," Luke said, frowning in annoyance. "I had to get my model T-16 back." He held it to show him. "You like models, so you should understand."

There was another rumble, causing Threepio to insist they were doomed.

"Do you have any idea how many alarms you set off?" Lieutenant Hicks said. "There's a guard squad on their way right now."

"Sure, tell them to make sure they don't fall down the ceiling hatch. The cover is off. And can you please let us out, because I think this thing is going to enter a crush cycle."

Lev must have actually been doing something in the background, because Luke heard the bolts release on the hatch. A moment later, a bright light lit up the dank place, and Ben covered his eyes against the glare.

"Thank the maker, we're saved!" Threepio said, waving his arms towards the upper hatch. "Hello up there!"

"Come on," Luke said, pushing at the wall hatch. "We can get out this way."

When the nervous junior security officer entered the room, Vader assumed she was there to return the tape to secure storage. The governor and the diplomat were still arguing and didn't notice her arrival. She glanced from them to Vader, and then said quietly, "My lord, we have been asked to secure this floor due to a security incident. Some guards will arrive shortly to escort the governor and the diplomat to the landing pads."

"What security incident?" Vader asked, immediately stretching out with the Force. He could sense no danger, but an unusual level of panic.

"Intruders were detected in a trash compactor."

"Intruders?" Governor Halifax said, finally looking over. "What's going on?"

"The incident has been downgraded so I assume they are contained, but protocols require that—"

Vader immediately left the room, experiencing a sudden bad feeling.

The hatch had jammed, but the guard on the other side assured Luke they'd have it pried open in a moment. Luke had waded back into the dirty water to form a path for Artoo to roll over without having to go for a swim. The droid was beeping and whistling the whole time, and Luke thought it was probably for the best he didn't know what he was saying.

"I know, I know," he said, as Artoo whistled again. "I promise, I'll clean you up."

The hatch had at last been removed, and Luke could see Ben was helping Threepio go through first. After he stepped through himself, he reached back to help hold the makeshift metal ramp steady so Artoo could roll through.

The metal was slippery, and Luke skidded forward as he emerged into the corridor, and then found himself steadied by two royal guards and one familiar officer.

"Oh, hi, Lev!" Luke said, grinning.

Lev clearly wasn't amused. Horrified was a better word to describe the expression on his face.

"Luke! What were you thinking?"

"I needed to get my model back," Luke said, trying to sound casual, as if people fell out of trash compactors every day. "We're fine. No harm done. Hey, this is my friend Ben. Ben, meet Lev."

Ben, who was busy wiping off his face with a towel the guards had kindly offered him, only looked terrified in response.

"Uh ... L-luke ..." Ben stuttered.

Luke glanced at him in surprise. He'd never heard Ben sound so scared before. His friend pointed up the corridor, and Luke turned to find his father walking towards them, along with some snooty looking man and a security officer. A thousand excuses started to run through his mind, but his throat felt too tight to articulate any of them.

Fortunately, it was the stranger who spoke first. Lev still appeared to be in shock.

"Children! Do you guards know these boys?"

The security officer interrupted. "Governor Halifax, I must ask that you go with the guards. This area is still under restriction."

Luke recognized that name. This must be Ophelia's father. Come to think of it, that disgusted expression on his face did look a little familiar. He didn't respond to the security officer's requests.

"Are these boys the offspring of some lowly servant?" he said. "Or did they just crawl in through the sewer?"

"Maybe you just crawled in through the sewer," Luke suggested, annoyed at the slight.

"I beg your pardon, boy!?"

"Governor," his father said, in a chilling tone. "I suggest you leave immediately."

He seemed to get the hint then, and the security officer practically herded him away. Then his father turned back to stare at him and Luke felt a dark chill radiating between them. Getting back in the trash compactor almost seemed like a good option right now. Ben was clearly feeling the same way, as he was physically shaking. Luke doubted he could help it, but it was causing goo to fly in all directions. This probably wasn't the best moment for formal introductions.

Finally, his father turned to Lev.

"Take him away," he said, gesturing at Ben. "All of you—leave." He then pointed at Luke. "Apart from you."

"At once, my lord," Lev said, motioning for Ben to follow. Ben gave Vader one last terrified stare, and then scurried after Lev, leaving a trail of trash water behind him. The guards followed close behind. Artoo was the only one who remained, and he beeped out something that Luke hoped was a really good excuse.

"Go!" Vader said, in a tone that caused Threepio to hastily return and push the smaller droid on. "Come along, Artoo."

Vader watched them leave, and then turned back to Luke.

Luke stared back, seeing his small, dirty form reflected in the eye shields of the mask.

"I can explain," Luke tried.

That night, Luke lay awake for hours, thinking over the day's events. He could still faintly smell the trash compactor, even after an hour of bathing. He doubted he would ever be completely rid of it. His father had been angry, to say the least. His words were still going round and round Luke's head ...

"Is this what you consider trying not to cause trouble?"

"I had to get my model back!"

"How is it you have managed to survive for so long, when your behavior is consistently so reckless and foolish?"

"I'm sorry—"

"And when did I give you permission to bring your equally stupid acquaintances here? One of you is bad enough, without a clone army!"

That had hurt the most. He was confirming what Luke had long suspected—that his father saw his existence as an ongoing burden. He hadn't heard much else after that, until he was ordered to go and hose down before he contracted a bacterial infection.

He'd made good on his promise and seen to the droids first, though. It had taken the better part of three hours, but they were now as clean and shiny as any other droid in the palace. He'd also fixed Artoo's booster jets, which had resulted in him being well and truly forgiven by the astromech droid. Both droids were now powered down and resting in the corner of his room. Sleep came much easier to them.

Luke stretched his hand over to his bedside cabinet, and took out the holo that contained the images he'd found in the storage room. He flicked through the holos until he reached the one of the dark-haired woman. She had beautiful eyes ... warm and caring. He clutched it tightly, suddenly fearful of having it taken away. He needed a copy, at least. Tomorrow he would wake up early and go into the school library before the start of classes.

Given his father's current mood, he hadn't dared ask him about this. It could have been the final straw that saw him on the street looking for a new home. If he could lie low for a few weeks, perhaps they'd be a good opportunity to ask Vader if what he suspected was the truth.