Chapter 21

The Obira was faster this time. It kept trotting in an attempt to get home quickly. It was obviously as worried as Leo had been about the onset of night. Soon enough though, they came into the stable, where an irritated Em-Two was waiting patiently for him to arrive.

"Ah, finally," the droid said, relieved. "I'm not a stable hand, you know. After our last visitor got back without you I began to wonder…"

Leo interrupted before the droid could go on. "The other visitor: Is he gone?"

"Well, yes…" muttered the droid, surprised.

"Well there's a relief. So…if you're not a stable hand, Em-Two, what are you doing here?" Leo was amazed with just how calm he felt.

"I'm here to inform you that the Battlecruiser Crusader is in orbit right now, and demands that you submit yourself to the will of the Council."

"Ah…" Leo breathed, weakly. He had forgotten the intensity of the problem beyond the boundaries of this planet. Darth Ra had filled his thoughts since he had come face to face with him – and the knowledge that he had stayed here too long had finally caught up with him.

"If I might suggest, Sir, it would be folly to try and fight your way away from them. The chances of beating a Mirage Class Battlecruiser into hyper space before they catch you remain next to none."

Leo shot his gaze up to the droid and glared. "Why, thank you for your confidence, Em-Two." He shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. His ship was up there. Would the Renzucon be able to get out from underneath the Crusader without being caught?

The droid was thankfully silent as Leo thought to himself. He could do the same that they had done on Pentusar, skim the planet's surface in an attempt to get into hyper drive from the other side…

Or he could turn himself over…

Then again, perhaps there was another option.

"What's the hyper drive number of the next planet out in this system?" he asked the droid.

"Nine Two Seven Eight Six One Three," stated the droid, perfectly.

"And the shorter the jump, the less time the navi-computer will take to process it, right?" It would make perfect sense if that was the truth. The droid gave him the affirmative.

"Well then…" Leo mused under his breath. "Can you give me a communications link to the Crusader?"

"As you wish… Will you be handing yourselves over to them?"

"Possibly," Leo lied, flicking his eyes up. "We'll have to see how enticing they are."

Following Em-Two back into the building, Leo was surprised to find out that the hospital here was run entirely by droids. He asked Em-Two why this was, and was stunned by his reply.

"Didn't you know, Sir? The medical facilities for the entire Galaxy are droid controlled for the most part. They are quite capable of downloading the data banks in a few seconds for any species that they might be required to heal. Much more effective in a place so diverse in its species, wouldn't you agree?"

Leo could only nod, stunned. It was logical, certainly.

The communications room was a tiny, cramped space. A brick shaped robot stood at one side, linked into the computer. It beeped furiously at Em-Two.

"Yes, I know you don't like having humans touching your computer, Arr-Sixty, but this is important. I want you to get back in contact with the Crusader. Hurry now!"

Arr-Sixty beeped angrily for a few more moments, but otherwise did as he was told. After a moment, an image appeared, formed like a hologram over what had only been controls and displays a second ago. In the centre was the symbol of the Jedi Council; a pair of crossed lightsabers with the words 'Interplanetary Council of Jedi Forces' wrapped around it.

The droid to Leo's right beeped irritably for a few moments, and Em-Two only answered with "I know, Arr-Sixty," leaving Leo nothing to speculate on as to what the little brick shaped robot had complained about.

Finally, the gold skinned woman from Cantauri appeared.

Leo went straight into the words he had been planning. "What have you done with Ranzel D'Kar?"

"He is safe, for now… He will stand trial, and the likeliness is, he'll be condemned to a planet devoid of the Force for the rest of his life," replied the woman. She had a smooth, convincing voice.

"And if I return to you freely?"

"It will have no effect upon his punishment, but you have no choice but to return. This isn't like life on your sheltered home-world. The Galaxy is…"

"...a dangerous place." Leo finished for her, with eyebrows raised.

"Exactly," she murmured, looking back at him. "So you see…you must go home…"

"Will that make the Universe any safer to live in?" he asked, coldly. "What happens when the Empire manages to reach my home planet…?"

"They will probably overtake it, and enslave you, unless we fight them back."

"Let me fight for it," Leo said, firmly.

"I cannot risk you turning to the Dark Side," the gold skinned woman said. "Your loss to them could mean the destruction of more worlds than you're capable of understanding."

Leo shook his head. "Perhaps we can discuss this in person…" He intoned, softly.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," the Jedi agreed, a deal of tension disappearing from her face.

"It'll take a moment to prepare the Renzucon," Leo replied, raising his chin just a little. His plan would have to go ahead then. If he allowed himself to dock with the Crusader there would be no saving him. His fate was already decided in the minds of the Jedi Council.

"Very well… We will be tracking your progress." It was a warning, not a kindness.

The screen blacked out, and Leo took a moment to recover his senses. The woman had been exhausting to speak to – and it had taken a lot of concentration to keep his serenity. Some of the looks she'd given him had made him want to disappear again.

Frowning Leo took a moment to thank the droid, who beeped rudely at him in return, and then turned to Em-Two. "Could you lead me back to the Renzucon? I swear I'll be out of your hair forever after that."

The droid nodded and began away, leading Leo steadily up until they were once again on the landing bay.

"I wish I was going with you," stated the droid, "But considering your chances, and my responsibility to this sand pit…"

"You're probably right," Leo said, desperate to make sure that the droid didn't accompany him. He couldn't think of anything more irritating than having Em-Two tagging along with him. "I probably won't get out of this System."

The droid looked scared – if that was even possible – and lifted his hands in front of him. "Then I certainly will be staying here. However, I will wish you good luck."

"Thank you very much, Em-Two. I'll remember you if I ever need a linguist."

Smiling, Leo boarded the Renzucon, making his way to the cockpit. Firstly, he typed in the number that Em-Two had given him for the navi-computer, and then he made sure everything was locked down and tidy, in case they needed quick defence from the guns of the Crusader.

"Can't be too cautious," he said to himself, as he tapped the controls and slowly began to warm up the vessel's engines, deactivating all the unnecessary systems as he went. The navi-computer sat waiting, mockingly, reminding him of what he was planning.

Beside it, Leo took a moment to study the same image of the double moon ship. The Crusader was sitting in orbit like a content cat waiting for its tiny prey to come out, so that it could gobble them up. Leo was not intending to be an easy target.

The ship rose up off the platform tidily, when the engines were ready, turning its orb shaped nose slowly towards the opening, and then gliding out in a steady, forwards motion. The vessel rose up slowly, banking upside down and twisting as it changed its angle, and then slowly riding up higher and higher on as direct a course as Leo could manage towards the orbiting ship above. He wanted to be sure that the Council expected him to arrive before he threw the trick on them.

Holding his breath, Leo could only look ahead of him as the ship climbed steadily upwards towards the ship. If he narrowed his eyes, he could see the tiny speck which was the Battlecruiser, instead of a star. It got progressively bigger the higher he got, reminding him of his speed. It was on a half speed. Slower than it had been when they were escaping the Advanced Fighter back on Pentusar. He would have to compensate with a few extra seconds.

The ship burst into violent golden flame as they hit the atmosphere, climbing steadily, and Leo allowed himself to begin the count. One, two, three… Ahead of him now, he could begin to see the Crusader clearly. At least, he could see its distinct shape against the star spattered darkness of space.

Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen… He reached out to tap the activator on the navi computer. Its numbers swirled then fell abruptly still, and the computer beeped furiously at him. He was too close to the planet. A little further then… The ship was getting bigger and bigger, looming ahead of him like a great beast. Much closer and they would activate a tractor beam to pull him in.

He hit the activator again and this time the computer swirled into life, delivering him a number in a few, scant seconds. He fed it into the main computer, which took longer, and then they leapt into lightspeed, leaving the baffled Crusader sitting there, like a dead duck.