Tortugua Galactic Spaceport
Dalhir, Meridian Sector
Dinner had gone very well as far as Talon was concerned.
He'd been gracious and threatening at the same time. The food had been impressive, and Skywalker's portions so laced with sedatives that even the token amount he'd eaten would be enough to keep him unconscious for a week. /Well, it will here at least. Those lizards really seem to work… I wonder how much the moffs would give me for a few?.. Or the Hutts…/ A smile spread across his face /…Skywalker has so many enemies/
Karrde indulged himself, imagining a black market bidding war for the mysterious lizards. ('Guaranteed to render a jedi helpless!'). If he could attract the right sort of buyer, he'd make a fortune.
The wall in front of him supported a bank of holo screens. Some showed different parts of his palace, important areas of the Lucky Karrde's dock, and a few hotspots in Tortugaa that he liked to keep an eye on.
He flicked the controls of the centre display, and the largest holo, which had been showing a brawl in The Golden Blaster or The Dead Vippet, (Karrde didn't really care which, there was always a fight in one of them, which was why he had them monitored, for entertainment purposes.), dissolved into a shower of blue pixels.
It reformed to show a figure tossing and turning feverishly on a large bed.
Karrde smirked. 'Oh, those lizards are defiantly worth a few million credits each!'
He stared at the jedi sleeping in one of the 'guest' suites downstairs. /I should take a recording of this as proof that the lizards work…/
A thought struck him, /I can send it to the Chief of State! 'Oh Madam Chief of State, you brother is too ill to be moved.. or use the Comm. We'll have to arrange for him to be collected soon I fear… He requires urgent medical attention/
His smirk turned into a grin. Organa-Solo would be eager to get her brother back as quickly as possible with such an incentive. Sure she'd probably be suspicious, but what choice would she have but to pay up? /No matter the cost…/
Pleased with the way fate was smiling upon him, Karrde called the protocol droid that had been hovering in the room behind him.
'Get my masseuse. I'll be in my rooms.'
The silver droid inclined its head, 'Certainly Sir.'
He headed off towards his bedchamber then added as an after thought, 'And no disruptions this evening please.'
The door slid shut behind him before he heard the droid's response.
'The Golden Blaster' – Tapcaf of ill ReputeTortugua Galactic Spaceport
Dalhir, Meridian Sector
Leia stared at her husband. He looked a bit bedraggled, but then, he always did. She gently felt him out in the force, trying to see if he was alright. She fumbled around for a moment, but wasn't sure how to do that exactly. Giving up, she gave him a once over like a normal wife.
He looked alright.
Well, he was pointing his blaster at a pretty red-head and dripping a red substance onto the dirty floor… But Leia wasn't overly concerned, even from a distance, she could identify the remnants of a Corellian Burn. She resisted an urge to gag at an unpleasant flashback involving a night out with Han that ended in the 'fresher early in the morning.
Han looked angry, but the girl facing him looked even angrier. She also seemed to have a larger blaster. A tingle in the force reached out for Leai. /And I think she's got another hidden on her arm…/
Chewie was facing off against a twi-lek with a missing lekku. Leia frowned, /what is with one-lekkued twi-lek on this rock/.
It wasn't that Leia was worried about the woman and the twi-lek, Han and Chewie were more than capable of looking after themselves in a bar brawl. But the rest of the spacers and pirates in the tap-caf looked ready to join in at a moments notice. She didn't like Han and Chewie's odds.
Unless she wanted to have to hack through everyone in the bar, they were going to have to get out, quick.
Taking advantage of the surprise her sudden arrival had caused, she reached out a hand yanked the Twi-lek and the woman's weapons out of their hands with the force.
Well, attempted to.
The twi-lek stared dumbfounded as his blaster sailed effortlessly across the room towards her out-stretched hand. But the nasty looking blaster in the girl's hands just jerked a bit and Leia felt a strong shove of the force push her away.
Trying her best (she was a diplomat) to hide her shock, she automatically batted the twi-lek's blaster to the ground with her lightsaber, where it landed in two smouldering pieces. A second later her old rebellion training kicked back in. If her lightsaber had ruptured the fuel cell, the blaster would have exploded in her face. A spark of nervousness shot through her. /I'm no jedi! And I haven't done anything like this since the war…I'm rusty… I really need to get Luke to train me more... before my luck runs out.../
Han glanced at her and let out a laugh at the twi-lek, but it was a rather confused one. Leia glared at him /don't tell me he's too drunk to recognise his own wife/
Chewie was woofing appreciatively, but he'd recognised her instantly.
Leia raised her eyebrow and watched as recognition washed over Han's face, then shock and relief. She could almost hear his mind working furiously to make sense of the situation.
Focusing back on the twi-lek and his companion, Leia reached out with the force and tried again to pull the blaster from the woman's grasp.
Nothing.
The woman's cold green eyes narrowed.
Leia felt as though she was pushing against a permacrete wall. The woman's strength took her by surprise, it was almost like training with Luke. She redoubled her efforts, her hand reaching out in front of her as she pulled at the blaster with the force.
The blaster shook in her opponent's firm grasp, and for a split second she looked almost surprised, then her pretty face split into an arrogant smirk.
Leia let out a little gasp as the cold, emotionless push of her opponent's will turned hot with anger.
"That's not gonna work on me, jedi" She practically spat the last word out, her hatred glowing in the force.
For a moment Leia was afraid, she hadn't felt such hatred since the war. A small part of her brain registered that it was more than straight hatred, there was jealousy in there too. But before she had time to analyse it further she felt an enormous pressure, like a blast of gale-force wind, and found herself flying backwards. Her arms flailed wildly, her jedi's grace abandoning her and she landed on a table with enough force to break the top. Her head spun as it connected with the hard composite material, then the floor. Distantly she felt relief at having managed to avoid landing on her lightsaber.
Around her she felt pirates reaching for her, drawing their weapons. Her ears were ringing, the laughter coming from all around her sounding dim in her mind. A feeling of danger ran through her and she managed to bring her lightsaber up in time to deflect a blaster shot. Ale dregs and t'bac ash clung to her clothes, her hair and her skin as she stood quickly, ignoring the blossoming throb and dizziness the movement brought her head.
The crowd around her pressed in, trampling the remnants of the table. Taking a deep breath Leia started swinging. She was dizzy, her head was killing her and the smell of stale lum ale coating her face was making her feel nauseas. Her blade flew with less than jedi skill, the figures it cut through the air rudimentary. But as soon as people started losing limbs, however artlessly, the press of bodies fell back.
Leia scanned the faces, looking for a mountain of fur and her husband.
An arm grabbed her and pulled her back between the press of bodies. She de-activated her lightsaber and let herself be dragged, ready to punch whoever it was. Then she felt herself pressed against a wall of ale-scented fur.
Han motioned in the direction of the door with his head, but Leia could feel eyes on them. They weren't exactly blending in.
She shook her head, Han rolled his eyes.
Ignoring him, she turned away from the exit and looked for the twi-lek and the red-headed girl.
A pirate went flying across the bar and the girl moved into view. "Nice try jedi. But you must know, you must have felt it. You're too late. He's dead…' She paused waving her blaster in the direction of Han and Chewie, 'And these two were just on their way to meet him."
The words hung true in the air of the bar. Dread swept through Leia, stealing her strength, /I don't think she's lying… Maybe something really did happen to Luke…/
The crowd laughed appreciatively, Leia caught a lone voice amongst the din, "Yeah! No one leaves Tortugaa alive!"
The girl crossed her arms, "That's right. Karrde's Law. You aren't going anywhere..."
Leia noticed how everyone in the tap-caf looked to follow her lead. Making a sudden judgement call, she impulsively grabbed at the serving droid dithering near the bar with the force and flung it at the girl.
Taken by surprise, she didn't quite manage to get out of it way. Leia smiled as she went flying, /payback./. The red-head crashed into the mirrored grass shelves lining the bar. She didn't get up.
No one moved.
Sensing now was the time to leave, Han once more took his wife by the arm, "Well, we'll be off then."
With Chewie leading the way, they quickly made for the door.
The 'Guest Wing' Talon Karrde's PalaceTortugua Galactic Spaceport
Dalhir, Meridian Sector
Luke awoke with a start.
The room around him was dark and the air had an artificial chill. On some level he relished it against his burning skin.
He was disorientated, his mind muddled with the effects of a fever. For a few seconds he actually thought that he was still in his x-wing, drifting through space. 'Artoo?…' He listened for his droid's response for a moment. Silence.
When reality set in he quickly scanned his surroundings, relying on his eyes and ears for the first time in years. Slowly rising to sit upon the soft bed of his lavish prison, he peered around him.
He was alone. No Artoo. No X-wing. Certainly no cockpit viewscreen full of stars.
Succumbing to the ache in his bones and dizziness in his head he collapsed back into his pillows. /Uhhh..Too fast./ His head throbbed and a wave of nausea rose in him. /I shouldn't show weakness, I know that Karrde's watching me...I don't need the force to know there's holo-cams everywhere… And besides, if I move too quickly, I think I might pass out…/
For a few minutes Luke's mind wandered. He thought about Karrde, and how he'd misjudged him. /Han's right, I am too trusting.. / He thought about the mysterious painting of the Queen from Naboo /There's something… familiar… about her…./ He wondered what had happened to Artoo, and felt guilty for not taking better care of his faithful droid. His train of thought was distracted by Mara Jade for quite awhile, and by the time he remembered Leia, he'd been day-dreaming for quite a while.
His eyes snapped open. /Leia/
She'd been on her way, he was sure. Perhaps she was nearby already?
Again he wondered what had woken him up. /Well, I know it wasn't Leia../
Reflexively he felt out to her through the force, and was shocked to realise that he could sense her, just. Carefully he reached out towards her warm presence. It was only then he realised it wasn't his sister. /mara jade./ He drew back in shock.
As he withdrew he felt the concerned brush of his sister against him.
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. /Why can sense Mara Jade before my own twin?…/ Very slowly he reached out towards her. She was engulfed in a sense of pain and nothingness.
/She's unconscious/ He impulsively reached out towards her, sensing the injury to her head that had knocked her out. /she's hurt/ The worry and concern for her that he felt surprised him a little. He didn't have any to spare, but he still sent her some of his strength, pulling her back from the darkness and numbing her pain. After a few minutes he felt her suddenly jerk to consciousness. Focusing his weak force sense, he called to her, /Mara/ There was no response, her mental shields slammed shut and luke found himself back in his room.
He tried very hard not be offended at Mara's reaction to him,
He sat up again, more carefully this time. The force murmured softly in the back of his mind. Not nearly as strong as usual, but there none the less.
/Well, at least I know some of my force sense is back…And I've been sitting here like a prize Bantha…/
Mentally berating himself, Luke put Mara Jade out of his mind, and quickly stretched out around him, testing how much of his strength had returned to him. He could feel two guards at his door, and another six further up the hallway, but beyond that was only fuzz and vague imprints.
Relaxing himself, he pulled back. His head throbbed again and his breathing had become ragged. He felt like he'd been levitating a star destroyer for half an hour. /Well, only a little bit of my strength is back. And I guess waking Mara up wasn't a good idea. But it's enough…/ The most important thing to do he decided, was to contact Leia. He could tell that she was nearby.
'The Golden Blaster' – Tapcaf of ill ReputeTortugua Galactic Spaceport
Dalhir, Meridian Sector It was cold. Her bunk was much too hard.Mara rolled over, reaching for her blanket.
Her head throbbed. She frowned and let out a little groan. /Uh... too many corellian burns.../
Without thinking she tried to use the force to help the pain and quell the beginnings of a giddy hangover. Reaching out she was surprised to sense someone else. The presence was familiar.
It was warm and welcoming. It reached out towards her and instinctively she accepted it. She smiled as the presence warmed her and the pain in her head diminished.
She relaxed and let her pain and drunkenness slowly faded away. She was so tired, she didn't have the strength to help herself, and she was so warm…
Gradually she became aware of noises. People talking. Someone was shaking her.
With cruel speed her senses returned to her and Mara realised she was lying on the filthy floor of the Golden Blaster. She could smell the ale and stale t'bac smoke. There was glass and mirrored composite digging into her back. She could feel where it had dug deep scratches into her arms and back.
And she knew who had pulled her out of unconsciousness. /Skywalker/.
Her eyes snapped open and she let a surge of anger fill her. His voice vibrated weakly in her mind, coming from the warm presence she'd been luxuriating in, /mara/
He sounded concerned. Mara's anger doubled. She slammed her shields down, blocking him out.
/Concerned? Worried! After his girlfriend did this to me/
She ignored the crowd of pirates peering down at her and stood.
Her head spun slightly, but Skywalker had rid her of the effects of her concussion
They turned to her expectantly, all falling silent.
She found Radan standing nearby. 'Well! What are you standing around for! Get me a speeder!' She glanced around the crowd, noting the severed limbs on the dirty floor, and a decapitated Bothan slumped near the bar. 'No one leaves Tortugaa alive!'
An angry cheer went up around her and the crowd dispersed to take revenge.
Mara followed Radan to his speeder. In her newly-sobered mind she saw the events of the last few hours over again. She'd been upset, she'd been sad when she thought Skywalker had died, and it had all been a trick! He'd just wanted her off her guard when his friends turned up to rescue him!
/And I fell for it like some love-struck little girl/
She'd never been so embarrassed. He'd made a fool of her in front of Karrde, and then in front of the crowd at the Golden Blaster.
Her anger grew until she could feel it burning up inside her, fighting to get out and hurt someone.
/That Jedi and his little friends are going to rue the day they crossed Mara Jade…/
An Alley, several blocks from the Golden BlasterTortugua Galactic Spaceport
Dalhir, Meridian SectorHan was in the process of 'borrowing' a landspeeder when his wife suddenly gasped.
They were crouched in a row along the side of the parked speeder, (A nice, very fast performance model as far as he and Chewie could tell.), ankle-deep in sandy desert dust.
At Leia's exclamation, Han spun on his heels, (flicking sand all over her lap), and glanced up the alley beyond her. He was reaching for his blaster, expecting a mob of angry space pirates. But the alley was still and dark. Leia was staring at nothing.
Han glanced at Chewie, who shrugged, growling that he couldn't smell anyone nearby.
Reached a hand to pat Leia on the shoulder, Han realised that he was holding the landspeeder's locking immobiliser in his fist. They wouldn't be able to break into it subtly now… 'Opps.. er, Chewie, open the door would ya?'
Shuffling closer to his wife and clearing the way for a wookie to pull the locking mechanism off the speeder, he let the broken immobiliser fall to the soft ground..
'Er, sweetie?… Are you alright?'
Leia didn't reply at first, just continued staring very hard at a patch of dark empty street in front of them.
'Luke's here.'
'huh?'
She turned to face him, 'He;s very weak, but he's nearby!'
Beside him there was a loud thud and then an electric whirring as Chewie convinced the speeder door to open.
'Leia honey, I'm not following. Did luke come with you?'
She shook her dyed blonde hair, 'No, he went missing during a skirmish near the Tion Cluster over a week ago.' She paused to roll her eyes, 'somehow he managed to get captured by space-pirates.'
Han shook his head, 'Only your kid brother...'
She smiled briefly, 'yeah...'
A furry fist grabbed onto Han's shoulder before she could finish however, and Han found himself seated in the speeder. His wife followed in a more dignified, non-wookie assisted manner a few seconds later.
Chewie quickly ambled in after them, howling that he smelt drunk twi-lek.
Leia raised an eyebrow at Han, 'well, shall we leave?'
Her husband quickly started the speeder, 'Sure thing. Where to?'
Leia frowned, 'I assumed to the falcon…it is on planet right?' A thought struck her, '…You haven't been gambling again have you?'
Han sighed and pointed the speeder in the opposite direction to the Golden Blaster 'I meant, do we need to rescue the kid?'
Leia blushed a little, or at least, Han thought she was blushing, it was dark, and the instrument lights made her skin look green, 'I'm not sure exactly where he is… I'll try and get a hold on him…'
Han drove a 'casual' loop through the spaceport while she sunk into a trance. The buildings crammed into the crater were lit with vivid antiquated neons, many of which flicked. Revellers spilled out of doorways and onto the narrow streets. Groups of suspicious figures congregated in dark alleys and door stoops. Other speeders flew around recklessly, and a few of the buildings bore the signs of high-speed collisions. In another lifetime, Han thought, he would have been at home here. But then he caught sight of an ominous building backing up to the edge of the crater. It was huge and slightly more elegantly lit then the rest of Tortugaa. No flickering pink neon. It was obviously Karrde's.
Chewie meanwhile, seemingly uninterested in the view, climbed over the front bench seats and began rummaging through the luggage and storage compartments in the rear.
After a few minutes he ripped out the back seat and discovered a large very lethal looking blaster-rocket.
Catching a glimpse in the rear viewscreen display, Han whistled. 'Whoa Chewie. I haven't seen one of them in years…' Chewie inspected the battery charge, presenting Han with a view of the nozzle. '…Hey… Be careful with that thing…'
When Han returned his attention to the front he barely had time to pull the speeder into a steep climb and avoid a head-on collision. He was very glad that he and Leia had bothered to put on their restraint harnesses.
Chewie hadn't, and had been thrown over in the back. But he was too enthralled with his new toy to howl at his friend, and luckily for Han, Leia didn't seemed to have noticed the sudden jerky evasive manoeuvre, and no high pitched tirade came from her direction.
/Good thing to../
'I did notice Han. Expect a 'high pitched tirade' later…' She paused, 'Oh, and by the way, your red-haired girlfriend was in that speeder.''
'Oh, great. Well, I'm glad we had this little talk.'
He glanced at the rear proximity displays. The speeder that they'd almost ploughed into was now following them. /And gaining./ Whoever was piloting it was good. /It can't be the twi-lek or the red-head. They were way too drunk../
Han glanced at his serene wife, 'Er, Princess? Some directions would come in handy any time now…'
There was a deep thwoosh sound from the rear of the speeder.
Han half turned in alarm, 'Chewie! I hope you're actually aiming at something!'
The wookie woofed indignantly and hung out the side window to take another shot, leaving just his hairy legs inside the vehicle.
Han glanced at the proximity displays just in time to see a building a block behind them disappear in a white blur on the heat sensitive read out.
'CHEWIE!'
There was an apologetic sort of howl from the general direction of the back left window, but his exact words were lost to the wind.
Han tried to ignore him, and the thwhoosh noise of discharging blaster-rockets, but the way the rear display screen keep turn white with each explosion was very distracting.
Leia meanwhile simply sat next to him with her eyes shut.
/they're both insane…/
Leia turned to face him, eyebrow raised sceptically, 'That's pretty rich coming from you…'
'Hey! Quit it with the mind-reading mumbo-jumbo already! A man needs some privacy you know…'
Leia crossed her arms.
Han spent the next few minutes dodging other speeders, buildings and the branches of one very large and very unlikely (they were in a desert) tree. When the pilot of the speeder behind them matched him move for move and somehow avoided being caught in the barrage of blast-rocket fire coming from Chewie, he started to get nervous.
They needed to get out of Tortuga while they still could. Pretty soon every pirate in the port would be after them. /And if all their speeders have blaster rocket launchers in them…/
Leia interrupted his depressing trail of thought, 'Han, we need to get over that way.' She gestured towards the edge of the crater that sheltered the port. Straight at the massive building he'd noticed earlier built into the cliff-like edge.
'Is that where the kid is?'
She nodded. Her face was very pale. 'We need to hurry Han, I think he's in danger.'
The bridge they were approaching suddenly exploded in a blinding flash of a rocket explosion. A few pedestrians fell flailing to the ground and a speeder bike spun out of control and into the side of a building.
/Well, looks like they found their blaster-rockets…/ Han's quick reflexes kicked in just in time, pulling the speeder into a turn that even the high performance stabilisers couldn't compensate for.
The speeder was up on its side, Chewie dangling from the top window, his feet kicking wildly. The loose back seat smashed against the other rear window and wedged itself halfway out.
Han overloaded the repulsorlifts and they scrapped along the wall of a stone building almost gently, sending a flickering red sign of a waving twi-lek tumbling towards the ground before accelerating up and away from the now collapsing bridge.
'Han! Can you straighten up already!'
'What? No thank-you?'
He continued to hold the speeder vertical along it's side, using the repulsorlifts against the tall bank of buildings lining the road to keep it relatively stable. Every few seconds a sign or string of lights flew over the front viewscreen in a shower of sparks. Leia glared at him, 'Han! Stop it!'
Behind him Chewie kicked at his seat and howled.
Feeling a little foolish, Han straightened, he'd forgotten about chewie hanging from the window. 'Er..Sorry buddy…'
Leia sighed. And scanned the view of the city before them. Along her left she could see towers of black smoke, almost all of them caused my Chewie's blaster-rocket, blocking out the lights of the spaceport and the stars. Reaching out in the force she could feel a very angry presence behind them. The twi-lek and the red-headed woman from the tap-café. Only by straining her senses could she identify her twin's weak, strange feeling presence.
Her hand moved of its own accord, pointing at what appeared to be ship yard backing onto the impressive building in the cliff-face.
Han squinted at it. 'Hey, I think that might be the shipyard Chewie and I were looking for…'
Leia smirked, 'Needed to make some repairs?'
Han scowled, 'Just a few minor adjustments…'
His wife nodded solemnly, 'The hyperdrive failed again didn't it?'
'…maybe…'
A Really Big Bedroom, Talon Karrde's PalaceTortugua Galactic Spaceport
Dalhir, Meridian Sector
Talon Karrde was feeling good.
For the first time in his life, everything was going his way.
He had a valuable hostage unconscious downstairs, the New Republic Chief of State at his mercy, and of course, his beloved Tortugaa.
A lazy smile spread over his lips.
He stretched out on his conform couch and took a delicate sip of the pale blue Alderaanian vintage in his glass.
The room was silent for a few minutes, save the soft music wafting from concealed speakers.
Then a sigh escaped him as his lovely twi-lek masseuse, Capra, worked a particularly annoying knot out of his left foot.
/Having such handsome boots has its downside… But you must suffer for fashion I suppose…/
Out of the long window that formed one side of the room, the lights of Tortugaa Blinked cheerfully at him, Speeders and ships soaring through the air erratically.
He passed his now empty glass to a servant and leant back into the velvet softness of the couch. He watched two particularly fast speeders chase each other around for a few minutes, but eventually he bored of the impressive display and his eyelids grew heavy…
A Hallway, Talon Karrde's PalaceTortugua Galactic Spaceport
Dalhir, Meridian Sector
He'd managed to get as far as the end of the hallway before he'd run into trouble.
The guards at his door were asleep, three more lay beside him unconscious, and unfortunately a fourth was dead.
The guards themselves weren't the trouble, even to a weak, injured jedi a few heavies with blasters weren't ever going to be an issue. The problem was much, much, worse.
As he'd passed over the threshold and continued along a new corridor, Luke felt a cold stab of fear and shock, followed by an instant weakness and pain that spread out from his fevered blood. The moment he'd passed the junction in the hallway, he'd been cut off from the force again.
The sensation wasn't as dramatic as it had been hours before when he'd arrived at Karrde's Palace, but he hadn't had a fever then. He staggered a few dizzy steps then leant against the elaborate wooden panelling of the walls.
/What's going on? How is he doing this? A drug or an illness can't affect me like this…/
Luke's frustration turned to cold dread, /Maybe it's me.. maybe I'm loosing my connection with the force…/
It wasn't unheard of. Amongst the meagre records that he'd collected since the fall of the empire, there were stories of disillusioned knights who'd been forsaken by the force. Not many, but a few. His brain was getting foggy with fever again, he couldn't think straight.
/no! I can't... That can't be happening to me/
Vainly he tried with all his strength to touch the current of power that he'd always felt flowing through him. Nothing. Not Mara, not the sleeping guards… He couldn't even sense Leia, not even dimly.
In a daze he continued along the hall. /I have to get out of this place…/
He stumbled along, robotically putting one aching leg in front of another, supporting himself against the wall with his good arm. Without the force to sustain him, he was loosing what little strength he'd regained rapidly. He wasn't even hungry anymore. /when did I last eat?.. Some of Karrde's drugged dinner I guess.. but not much... I was hungry.. before…I guess the last time was… on the Star of Naboo?… when was that?.. / At the prompt of the name, his thoughts drifted back to the painting he'd seen earlier.
Imagining a noise, he glanced up the hallway, his rambling internal monologue pausing, /empty…/ Turning back down the hall he continued, his damaged cybernetic arm dangling uselessly. Every time he moved it throbbed. /…Naboo.. That's where I recognised that painting from… The Star must be named after the system that Queen's from../ He felt a little pleased now that he'd explained why the painting had struck a chord with him. But now he had nothing to distract himself with.
Up ahead was another junction. The hallway he was following ended abruptly and divided into two. He slowed. Without the force he was just running blind. He could be heading further away from the exit for all he knew. A wave of despair swelled in him. /I should just sit here… There's no point in going on…/
But Luke was nothing if not an optimist, and his body continued on anyway, ignoring the idea.
He paused in the middle of the intersecting hallways, they seemed identical in both directions. Long wide corridors lined with soft glow globes and white statues of stylised humanoid figures. /More of karrde's 'antiques' no doubt../
Randomly he swung in the right direction, the sudden movement bringing a fresh jarring bolt of pain from his throbbing arm. He inhaled sharply through his teeth, again noting the cold, recycled quality of the air. /It's like a ship…/
Before he had time to ponder further on the nature of Karrde's air scubbers, the force suddenly flared back to life in him again.
He gasped in shock. Instantly he felt stronger. The pain in his arm more bearable, the weakness of his fever negligible.
As the confusion lifted from his brain, he realised that almost 10 minutes had past since he'd broken through the magnetic-locks of his room. /Karrde must be suspicious.. I'm sure he had that room monitored. Unless this is a trap.. Unless he's just playing with me/
That wasn't worth thinking about. Besides, Leia was nearby! In his fever luke had almost forgotten her. She hadn't been able to talk to him, his force connection was too weak, but she was coming. She was close and she knew he was in danger.
/Poor Leia, always having to come and bail me out…/
AN: Sorry about the delay on this chapter! I am still alive, and the rest is on its way..
I am in the middle of moving house at the moment, and I still haven't gotten a new computer.. so if you spot any typos (There has to be a few!) please point them out.
Big Big thanks to le0nidas for HIS pm-review awhile back. (and sorry for referring to you as a girl!), and to everyone who took the time to leave me some feedback. It makes my day.