Hearts Are Meant To, Chapter 24

By KnightMara

Feeling much less disgusting after a long shower, Genna stepped out of the 'fresher to grab a clean change of clothes. A slight movement caught out of the corner of her eye had her clutching at the towel that was wrapped around her torso and gasping. She leveled her eyes darkly at the intruder, feeling her heart beat frantically as she did so. How dare he!

"You left your door unlocked," Commander Laire intoned smoothly from his seat on her bed. "Tsk, tsk, how dangerous. Anyone could have barged in." He rose slowly and stepped toward her. "You're lucky it was just me."

Clutching her towel even more tightly to her chest, she felt both fear and anger rising within her. The anger took control of her mouth. "I thank my lucky stars," she spat out bitterly.

A chilling grin spread across his features as he took in her near-naked form. "You should, my dear."

"Tell me," she growled, "are all Imperial spies trained to be as lascivious as you?"

Laire chuckled. "Don't flatter yourself, my dear. I'm hardly here for that sort of thing." He took another step toward her, the grin slowly melting from his features. "Rather, I'm here to check up on you. I've heard nothing recently, and I wanted to make sure you weren't falling behind on your duties to the Empire."

Genna hoped she was keeping the panic out of her features and voice as she responded. "Why would you think that?"

"You've found something, then?"

Fighting to keep her voice level, she replied, "Actually, I've been using this time to get close to Skywalker. In fact, I'm meeting him in a few moments." She narrowed her eyes and added, "In his quarters."

Another icy grin appeared on Laire's face. "Really, Cage, I didn't think you had it in you. Quite the seductress now, aren't you? I was right about the importance of having a female on the job, wasn't I?" He lightly brushed the tip of his finger over her shoulder.

She shuddered at his touch and drew back. "Don't get any funny ideas. I'm not doing this out of any kind of enjoyment or pleasure. Merely out of duty to the Empire."

Again, Laire chuckled, and cautioned, "Be sure to keep it that way. The Empire does not care for female officers who take enjoyment from that sort of degrading work. There are words for that."

"And I am well aware of all of them," Genna spat back bitterly. Drawing herself up and taking yet another step back away from him, she added, "But if you don't mind, I have a job to do. And quite frankly, sir, you're in the way."

Her efforts to put more distance between them went unheeded as he gently brushed her cheek and remarked, "You're so much more spirited now than you were in the lift, my dear. I daresay it pleases me."

Genna bit back the sickening feeling his words evoked and tried to control the slight trembling that seemed to have overtaken her body. "Sir," she managed through dry lips, "my duty calls."

Laire pulled back in response, his face once again becoming coldly expressionless. "Yes, of course. I will allow you to prepare for this evening's activities," he said as he turned toward the door.

Repulsed by his presence and the implications inherent in his words, she placed her back to him and quickly grabbed her garments. Needing to get completely out of his sight as soon as possible, she headed for the 'fresher to change. His voice stopped her dead in her tracks.

"One more thing, Cage," he said, turning back around to study her. "When you're done with Skywalker, there is something else I need you to do."

Her blood turned to liquid ice as he spoke. What in Force did he want her to do now? She didn't want to hear the answer.

"With all the worry over spies and such, the Alliance has beefed up their security measures. As a result, my passcodes no longer grant me access to many of the systems on this ship, particularly personnel files. I need you to try to acquire Skywalker's personal access codes to acquire copies of all of his medical records. Particularly the bloodwork done after that pseudonyex episode."

How did he know about that? "Why?" she asked.

Laire's face shifted into something resembling cool disinterest. "Mere curiosity. After all, that particular reaction has been practically unheard of since the Clone Wars. And even more puzzling are Lord Vader's instructions. After all, this is the rebel who destroyed our finest technological achievement and killed our most esteemed Grand Moff in the process. Surely this would warrant something other than direct orders not to harm the rebel scum. Odd, don't you think?"

Genna nodded, secretly pleased. Laire apparently didn't know about Luke's Force abilities, or his relationship to a deceased Jedi Knight whom Vader had killed. Had she not known as much about Luke as she now did, she might have been curious, too. However, she and Luke had formulated their own ideas as to why Vader was so intent on capturing him. "I'll get them for you as soon as I can."

"Good," Laire replied, a satisfied smile on his face. "Try to do it tonight. Then meet me in the officer's lounge at 0100. I'll be in far-left corner. And don't turn the lights on. That area is supposed to be empty and powered down at that hour. We wouldn't want to attract attention now would we?"

"Of course not," Genna answered stiffly.

With another lecherous grin that made Genna's skin crawl, he left. A few moments after the door closed behind him, she forced her now gelatinous muscles into rapid motion. Swiftly dressing herself, she hurried out of her room and down the hall. She stopped at Luke's door and quickly palmed it open.

The urgency of her entrance caused the young pilot to leap from the chair he'd been occupying before the door slid open. "What is it?"

Before she would answer, she turned toward the door and slid it closed. Then she looked back at him, determination in her gaze. "Whatever plan you had, scrap it! We're gonna' nab him tonight!"

"Okay, I think I got it," Luke said as tried pulling up his records on the medcenter data terminal. It was nearing midnight, and he and Genna were in the tiny records room of the transport's infirmary. It consisted of a desk, a chair, a data storage unit, and a terminal that could be used to access the records of anyone in the Alliance. Luke hadn't really thought he had the codes necessary to pull up his own medical charts, but suddenly his information flashed on the screen. "Yep, I got it. Whoa, take a look at this. These guys sure keep detailed records."

Genna peered over his shoulder. "You had Corellian Influenza?"

Luke shuddered at the memory. "It's not pretty," he said.

"I thought it was extinct."

Luke grinned. "Hardly," he replied, his memory going back to his near-fatal encounter with the virus. "I wasn't immunized."

Chuckling and rolling her eyes simultaneously, Genna quipped, "Idiot farm boy."

"Hey, my aunt and uncle never bothered because I wasn't going off planet any time soon," he argued. His tone changed as he added with regret, "At least that's what they thought."

"Okay, okay," Genna conceded, a sense of urgency in her tone. "Well let's get this copied so we can get out of here."

"Right," Luke agreed, quickly copying his records onto a small datacard and wondering why he was doing so. "Any idea why this guy wants my complete medical history?"

Genna shrugged her shoulders, seeming to be as unsure as he was. "He says he resents the fact that Vader only wants you captured and unharmed, seeing as you destroyed the Death Star and all. Maybe Laire is hoping to discover proof of your Force talents to send to Vader or others who might react badly to the news that the Jedi might have survived. Or maybe he's a simple man hoping to find a weakness he can exploit, like an allergy or something like that."

Luke stared at her incredulously, an involuntary spasm of fear shooting up his spine. "And we're just going to hand this over to him?" he exclaimed. "Why not fake it or give him a blank datacard?"

"Knowing Laire, he'll probably check it as soon as he gets his hands on it, to make sure it's the real thing," Genna explained. "Besides, he's not going to go anywhere with it. I'll have the recorder on, and as soon as we get enough out of him to have him locked away, you nab him."

"And if something goes wrong?" Luke pressed, still very uncomfortable with her plan. His had a lot less risk involved. But then again, he had been counting on having a lot more time.

"If something goes wrong, the results will probably be a lot worse than simply having your medical records stolen," she answered bluntly.

He smiled wryly at her honesty. "Gee thanks."

"Are you done yet?"

Luke looked back down at the screen. "Uh, yeah." He reached down to remove the datacard and paused a moment as he looked at the screen. Although his medical records were very thorough, his personal data was woefully lacking. There, where it should have listed his biological parents, it only said, "Father Unknown (possibly Anakin Skywalker?), Mother Unknown." He stared at the words, feeling a deep pang of need as he did so. A need to know who they were, of where he'd come from. Who was Anakin Skywalker, and was he really his father? The name had never been uttered in the Lars household, and Luke had only come to know it after he joined the Alliance. After all, Anakin had been the only Jedi Knight and pilot during the Clone Wars that anyone could recall as having the Skywalker name. That people had remembered him as a man with a fair complexion who could fly circles around his enemies had only strengthened the assumed connection to Luke. But there was no proof, and no information about Anakin Skywalker to be found. The man was as shrouded in mystery as Luke's own past.

"Luke?"

He jerked at the sound of Genna's voice, realizing he'd become lost in the data, or lack thereof. "Sorry," he mumbled, removing the datacard and handing it to her. He was about to close his records when the door suddenly opened.

"What are you two doing in here?"

Luke spun to see Wedge standing in the doorway, a perplexed expression on his face. Luke's hand had instinctively gone for his blaster, but he relaxed at the sight of his friend and asked, "Well, what are you doing here, Wedge?"

"Looking for you two," the Corellian replied. "Although I certainly didn't expect to find you raiding the medcenter records. How did you two get in here anyway?"

"Luke pulled rank," Genna answered playfully. "You wouldn't believe what being a Commander in the Alliance can do for you, especially when you throw in a little touch of Death Star heroics!"

Luke grimaced and went back to clearing the terminal. "Wedge, we're setting a trap for Laire, and the less you know about what we're doing, the safer you'll be. So I suggest you turn around and head right back out."

"Right," Wedge nodded sarcastically. "And let you two get into who knows what kind of trouble with an Imperial spy? I don't think so." He crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned against the wall, as if to signify that he wasn't going anywhere. "So what's the plan?"

Luke had no intention of answering him, but Genna jumped in. "We're using Luke's medical records as bait. Laire's going to meet me in the officer's lounge while Luke waits just outside the rear door that leads to a seldom used walkway. I'll have a recorder strapped to my chest, so I'll be recording everything Laire says. Once we have enough info to nab him, Luke is going to come from behind and disarm him."

Wedge looked from Luke to Genna and back, an expression of disbelief on his face. "That's it? That's your plan?"

Luke only looked at him in affirmation.

"That's insane!" Wedge exclaimed. "Why just the two of you against him? Why not security officers, or Narra, or me?"

Genna shook her head. "We thought about that, but Laire's too crafty. It'll be hard enough to sneak Luke into the area without him finding out, let alone a bunch of guys with blasters."

"Does Narra at least know about this?"

"No," Luke answered. "In fact, it was just the two of us, until Genna decided to tell you." He gave her a sharp look.

"I got an idea when he came in," she said in defense.

"What idea?" asked Wedge.

Luke had been about to ask the same question. Now he stared as Genna expectantly.

"Maybe Wedge can hang out somewhere that isn't too far away," she answered. "That way, in case anything does go wrong, we're not totally alone in this."

"Yes, but how will he know?" Luke argued. "I mean, if something goes wrong, we're alone in that room. Wedge being at the other end of the hallway isn't going to help."

Wedge cut in. "If I am close by, in a worst case scenario I could hear a blaster shot or a shout for help. But I'd like to put Narra on standby."

Luke shook his head. "Too risky."

"I won't tell him anything, except to be alert for Laire to try something. I'll tell him I'm keeping an eye out for you, but I'll contact him on the comlink if anything goes wrong."

"Then it's settled," Genna said with a nod. She turned to Luke. "Wedge is our backup, and his idea to keep Narra on standby is a good one."

"Fine," Luke conceded. He wasn't happy about any of this, but the situation didn't seem likely to get any better.

"Okay," Genna continued, looking at her chrono. "We've got an hour until the meeting. Let's take our places, shall we?"