Chapter 2

It took a lot of whining, but Luke finally convinced the stormtroopers to guard him outside the door, rather than inside. Once he was the only occupant, he punched the pillow out of pure frustration. Here he was, locked up in his room like a prisoner ... and he hadn't done anything wrong! Who was this mysterious guest that could make his father so ashamed of him?

On the table beside his bed, his comlink began beeping. Luke picked up the projector and it lit up with a small image of Ben.

"I'll be there soon," he said. "Give me ten minutes."

Luke sighed. "I think we're going to have to postpone."

"Why? Is your father there? I don't mind, as long as I don't have to see him."

"He is, but that's not the problem. The problem is the two stormtroopers outside my bedroom door."

Ben grinned. "What did you do?"

"Nothing! That's the worst part of it. There have been accidents all week, and he hasn't punished me at all ... we were even getting on well yesterday. Then today he comes into the tech room and tries to bribe me to get me out of here. He's got someone coming over."

"Who?"

Luke shrugged. "Someone important I suppose. Whoever it is, my father doesn't want them to see me." Luke dropped his gaze. "He's never acted like this before. He's never acted like he's ashamed of me."

"Maybe there's another reason," Ben suggested. "Maybe his guest is dangerous, and he doesn't want the guest to know you exist, in case it puts you in danger."

"Dangerous? You mean ... like a bounty hunter?" Luke's eyes were shining.

"Maybe."

"Meet me in the elevator hub after the security checkpoint," Luke said, suddenly.

"I thought you said there were stormtroopers."

Luke waved a hand. "I'll deal with them. Just be here as fast as you can."

Vader was pacing up and down in the hangar bay conference room, thinking back over his conversation with Luke. Perhaps he could have handled it better. His son would not have been so uncooperative if he had known why he wanted to shelter him from this particular guest. But that was out of the question. Telling his son that a notorious bounty hunter was coming to visit would be like waving a red flag in front of a ronto.

He paced through a few more cycles, and then stretched out with the Force, making sure Luke was still safely in his bedroom. Next time, he would arrange to meet the bounty hunter somewhere else, and so avoid the problem of Luke altogether.

An assistant appeared in the doorway.

"Sir, Slave I has just docked on the north landing pad."

Luke had to smirk at Ben's disbelieving expression as he sauntered out of an elevator.

"Don't tell me," his friend said. "There are two stormtroopers chasing after you?"

"No," Luke said. "It will be a while before they realize I'm not in my room."

"So how did you get out? Window? Ventilation shaft?"

"I figured out last week that if I overloaded one of the power sockets in my room, it would blow the lights in the neighboring storage room. They make a loud bang and sparks fly everywhere. So the stormtroopers went running off to see what was happening, then I sneaked out. Genius, huh?"

"If you say so," Ben said. He pointed towards a corridor that led to an exit. "Can we get out of here? Because I don't want to be around when your father finds out about this."

"Sure," Luke said, turning back to the elevators. "But I want to see the bounty hunter first."

"That would involve actually going to the place where your father is. How is that a good idea?"

"We'll be careful," Luke said, pressing a button to summon an elevator. "Come on, I really want to see who my father didn't want me to meet. It might be someone even better than a bounty hunter!"

"Like a psychopath?" Ben suggested, with a touch of sarcasm.

"Come on, buddy," Luke said, dragging him into the nearest elevator.

"An Imperial officer," Fett said, studying the file.

Fett, as always, was a man of few words, but Vader could discern his meaning clearly. The bounty hunter was disappointed at the lack of challenge.

"A traitor. He has used his position to deliver ships into the hands of the Rebels. Their spies are also assisting him. He has the means to disappear should he suspect we are taking action against him. Do not underestimate his resourcefulness."

Fett nodded once.

"I want him alive," Vader continued. "However, if it should come down to a matter of losing him entirely or taking him dead, I would prefer dead."

"Alive it is," Fett said. "I will deliver him within two weeks."

They took the elevator to the floor above the hangar bay, and then Luke led Ben into a small guard station overlooking the bay. It was currently unoccupied, but the monitors were lit up with views from various security cameras.

"That must be his ship!" Luke said, pointing at the top one. "It's sitting out on the landing pad."

"So where is the crazed murderer, then?" Ben asked.

Luke rolled his eyes. "He must be with my father. Come on, we can take the stairs down to the floor. Let's take a closer look at his ship."

"Your father might be down there!"

"He's not. He's in the conference room ... it's over there." Luke pointed acrossways.

"Those conference room windows overlook the hangar. Your father will see us."

"He's talking to someone important," Luke said. "He won't be staring out the window. He only does that when he's talking to someone boring."

Ben held up his hands. "Maybe you're willing to risk it but—"

"Are you scared?" Luke said, mockingly.

"Yes," Ben said, bluntly. "He may be your father, Luke, but I'm not going to risk getting on his wrong side. He'd kill me."

"I promise you, he won't see us," Luke said. "We'll sneak along the wall, and then run to the landing pad. It will just take a few seconds to look at the ship. Then we can get out of here."

Ben sighed. "Okay. But this is a bad idea."

"Since when have you not been up for my bad ideas?" Luke asked. "Come on!"

They ran down the stairwell to the hangar floor, and then quickly shifted behind a stationary TIE Fighter. Luke looked up at the conference room windows, making sure no one was watching. Luke then shuffled along the wall, quickly moving from ship to ship, until both he and Ben were a few meters from the landing pad entrance.

"Okay," Luke whispered. "Now's our chance. Run for it."

"You go first," Ben said.

"Okay, but if I get over there and you haven't followed me—"

Ben gave him a push, and Luke fell out into the direct sight of anyone in the conference room. He sprinted for the landing pad, and then came to a halt in front of the boarding ramp. He glanced back and found Ben was right behind him.

"Did anyone see us?" Ben asked, nervously.

"No," Luke said. "I'd have heard about it by now."

They turned around to behold the bounty hunter's ship.

"Wow!" Luke said. He started forward, but Ben pulled him back.

"Luke, it's probably booby trapped!"

"If he cared that much, he wouldn't have left it unlocked. Come on, just a quick look around."

Luke crept up into the dark interior and found himself flat up against a ladder. He looked up. "I guess that's the way to the cockpit."

"I think I found the cargo hold."

Luke walked towards Ben's voice, grinning at the fact that Ben had already explored further than him. The ship was very compact, but the cargo hold was spacious enough to hold a stack of crates. There were several here at the moment.

"What do you think is in these?" Luke asked, running his fingers across the nearest one. He jumped when he heard a hiss and looked around to see Ben had opened a storage compartment.

"Wow!" Ben said. "An arsenal!"

Luke moved over and his jaw fell open. There was every kind of weapon imaginable—some unimaginable.

Ben lost interest, and shifted past him to move further into the ship.

Luke was still amazed at the weapons. He was almost scared to breathe in case one of those huge blasters went off.

"Hey, Luke!" Ben called, sounding amused. "You have to see this."

Luke reluctantly closed the weapons locker, and followed Ben. "What?"

"In here!"

"In where?"

He stepped up beside Ben, and saw something which looked like an empty square cupboard. Luke stepped inside, looking around.

"There's nothing in here."

Something rattled behind him, and he whirled around to find himself looking at Ben through a wall of bars. Ben was doubled up against the wall, shaking with laughter.

"Hey!" Luke said, gripping the bars and trying to shift them back.

Ben only laughed harder, causing Luke to frown in annoyance. "You are dead!"

He stopped rattling the bars for a moment, suddenly getting an odd premonition. Someone was coming.

"Ben ..." he said, suddenly serious.

Ben smirked. "What?"

"I think ... I think he's coming back."

His words were followed by the sound of loud footsteps drifting in from the distant hatch. The smile quickly faded from Ben's face, and his eyes grew wide. He jumped to his feet and ran.

"No! Ben!" Luke said, panicking as he saw his friend leave. "Let me out!"

There was only silence, and Luke realized Ben had gone. He struggled to open the cage door one last time, before giving up in frustration. His friend had left him here to be discovered by some crazy person with weapons and cages in his ship. Boy, when his father found out about this ...

The thought made him feel sick. He sunk down against the wall and rested his chin on his knees. This place was cold and dark, and it stunk like the last occupant had been a garbage pit racer.

After a few seconds had passed, Luke heard approaching footsteps.

This is it, he thought. Better start preparing an explanation!

But the person that came into view wasn't some scary bounty hunter, but a nervous looking Ben.

"I thought you left!" Luke said, jumping to his feet in surprise.

"Are you kidding? I just went to hide behind those crates," Ben explained. "I saw him! He came in and climbed up the ladder to the cockpit. If we go now, we can get out without being seen."

"Let me out, then!" Luke said, gripping the bars. He could feel his heart beating quickly.

"I'm trying," Ben said, pushing the buttons.

"Then why isn't anything happening?" Luke asked, struggling not to yell.

"Hang on, maybe it's this one," Ben said, pulling a lever.

Another row of bars slid into place, and Luke jumped back to avoid being squashed.

"No, that's not it," Ben said, pulling it back.

The second barrier didn't retract.

"Come on!" Luke said. "Hurry!"

The ship suddenly began to rumble, indicating the main engines were warming up.

"Ah, he's taking off!" Ben said, pushing buttons one after the other.

"Look, just run for it!" Luke said. "Get yourself out!"

"No! I'll get it, just—"

There was a hissing sound as the boarding ramp retracted.

Luke buried his head in his arms as he realized it was too late.

"Wait," Ben said, still concentrating on the controls. He pushed the lever down, and then leaned his elbow on two buttons. Both doors slid open, and Luke ran forward gratefully.

But before he could reach Ben, he was thrown back against the far wall of the cell. The ship was rising into the air. Then it began to rotate, and they both fell over. Luke rolled around, and then lunged forward to steady himself against the doorframe. Ben had braced himself in a corner.

They didn't say anything for a good two minutes, as the momentum of the ship continued to throw them in one direction, and then another. Finally, the gravity compensators kicked in, and Luke felt steady enough to stand up.

"We must be in space," Ben whispered. He looked like he was about to throw up.

"Don't worry," Luke insisted.

"What do you mean don't worry?" Ben said, standing up. "We're on a one way journey to the other side of the galaxy! I'm going to go up there and tell him to take us back."

"No, you can't!" Luke said. "He's a bounty hunter! Listen, I've got a plan. He'll have to stop sometime, somewhere. We'll hide down here until he does, and then sneak off the ship."

"What do we do then?" Ben asked.

"No problem," Luke said. "We'll catch a transport back to Coruscant. No one will find out about any of this."

Ben raised a skeptical eyebrow.

It was nearly an hour after Fett had departed when Vader suddenly remembered Luke. He had been planning to go and let the boy out of his room straight away, but between military updates and endless comlink calls, it had slipped his mind. Luke was going to be in a foul mood when he arrived, but that couldn't be helped. If he had just accepted the amusement park tickets instead of arguing, this wouldn't have been necessary.

When he arrived in their personal living area, he was relieved to see the stormtroopers still guarding Luke's bedroom. They straightened up as he approached, and he paused beside the one on the left.

"Were there any problems?"

"No, sir."

"Good."

Vader pressed the door release, and the doors slid open. He braced himself as he entered the room, knowing it was going to take some very careful words to smooth things over between him and his son. He expected to be met with some loud music or blaring holovid, but the room was pin-drop quiet. He glanced around, not seeing Luke anywhere. As soon as he stretched out with the Force, he knew for certain that Luke was no longer in the palace.

He returned to the corridor, wondering if he should even bother to ask the troopers for some kind of explanation.

"Luke is not in his bedroom," Vader said, finally. "Where is he?"

The troopers glanced at each other, and the one on the right spoke.

"He was there earlier, sir."

"Did you leave your post?"

"Only for a moment! But it wasn't long enough for him to—"

"Clearly, it was," Vader interrupted. "You are fortunate it was only Luke. If this was a real prisoner, I would execute both of you for such incompetence."

Vader didn't bother to listen to their apologies. He had more important work to see to. Luke was probably at his friend's apartment, or at the local park. When he came home, they would have to have another talk about exploiting stormtroopers.

Two hours into hyperspace, even Luke was starting to wonder if they were doomed. They were cramped in the cargo hold, and every rumble or click they heard made them jump. They both knew the bounty hunter could decide to come down here at any moment.

"Why does your father need a bounty hunter anyway?" Ben asked.

"I don't know," Luke said, tapping his fingers against one of the crates. "I doubt he would tell me if I asked."

The lid of the crate sprung open, revealing glittering contents. Luke leaned closer, and saw the entire thing was filled with precious jewels.

"He's rich," Ben observed.

"Maybe he's going to a banking world to cash all this," Luke suggested. "That's when we'll get off."

"I don't think he's going to stop, Luke," Ben said, sounding irritable. "Besides, if he did go to a bank, he'd come down here to pick up these crates and then he'd find us."

"You could be a little more optimistic."

"Yeah. Optimistic. When we're on a one way trip to the other side of the galaxy with a professional killer!" Ben hit the wall in frustration. "Why did I have to listen to you and your crazy ideas?!"

"Me? I wasn't the one who locked me in that cell!" Luke countered. "If you hadn't done that, we both could have left the ship before he even took off."

"If you hadn't been so desperate to take a look in the first place, we wouldn't even be here," Ben said. "Stars, I'm going to be in so much trouble if my Dad finds out about this."

"Your Dad? Is that all you're worried about?" Luke said. "Have you seen my father by any chance?!"

"Is that supposed to make me feel better!?"

Luke was about to reply, when a clicking noise echoed in the adjacent tunnel. Both of them jumped up and dived behind the crates.

"Now look, he's heard you!" Ben whispered.

"Shut up!"

They pressed themselves flat against the deck plates, hardly daring to breathe. After a minute had passed, with no further sounds, Luke glanced over the crates. There was nothing but an empty tunnel past the cargo hold.

"False alarm," Luke said, standing up.

Ben stood up beside him, somewhat more cautiously.

"Are you sure?" Ben said, peering into the darkness.

"Of course." Luke started to step over the crates, but Ben pulled him back.

Luke glanced up in annoyance, and found himself looking straight into a blaster barrel.

"AHH!"

The person on the other end of the weapon stepped out of the shadows. There was no mistaking him for anything except a bounty hunter. He was completely hidden behind a t-visored mask and armored shell. Various braids and scalps hung off him, trophies of past kills.

"Don't shoot us!" Ben said, putting up his hands. Luke followed suit.

The bounty hunter didn't lower his blaster.

"Who are you?!"

His voice was filtered through the helmet, giving it an electronic edge.

Luke shared a look with Ben.

"Um, I'm B-Ben," Ben mumbled. His hands were shaking in the air.

"And you?" the hunter said, gesturing at Luke with his blaster.

"Luke."

"How did you get here?"

"It was an accident," Luke said, quickly.

"A really big accident," Ben added.

"If you'll just let us off, we'll be right on our way," Luke said.

"Any fuel station will be fine," Ben said. "We need to catch a ride back to Coruscant."

At this point, the bounty hunter had lowered his blaster slightly, seeming to realize they were harmless. "You boarded my ship on Coruscant? Where?"

Ben nodded immediately, dropping his hands. "Luke is Lord Vader's son."

"Ben!" Luke glanced at his friend in annoyance. That information was on a need-to-know basis.

"His what?" The helmet turned back to Luke. "Since when did Lord Vader have a son?"

"Since about fourteen years ago," Luke said, resigned.

"Hmm. If you're telling the truth, then be thankful that you are his son," the bounty hunter said. "If you had been anyone else I might have sold you both to the Hutts as slaves."

"You mean you'll let us go?" Luke asked.

The bounty hunter finally holstered his blaster and inclined his helmet in the direction of the cockpit. "Come with me."

Vader was catching up on some lightsaber practice when he saw an assistant enter the room. The officer waited until he had finished off his current droid opponent, and then came forward to report.

"Sir, I apologize for interrupting you. Ben's father called half an hour ago, wondering if Ben was here, as he hasn't been able to get any response from Ben's comlink. I have been unable to make contact with Luke, either."

Vader glanced at the chrono. It was getting on in the afternoon, but still a fair while until Luke's curfew.

"Tell him to check the local entertainment facilities," Vader said, moving over to activate another droid. His earlier disagreement with Luke explained why he didn't have his comlink switched on, but that was none of the officer's business.

"Yes, sir."