A/N: Check out the preceding chapters. I have nothin new to say.
"Finally," Han said, upon receiving the landing clearance code from the Bothan transportation authority. His stomach growled plaintively. Leia had kindly left for him two packets of dry, flavorless crackers to sustain him during the trip. It was all he'd eaten for two days. Not that he couldn't handle a little starvation now and then, but he found it a little weird that Chewie had never complained. The wookiee was always hungry.
"Give 'er a wide berth, Chewie," Han reminded his copilot. "That hologram we're projecting won't have a lot of effect if somebody sees part of it pass right through the docking bay doors."
They landed at last. Han shut down the Falcon, leaving minimal power on to power the hologram. Chewbacca dragged Threepio out of the closet and flicked the switch on the back of the droid's neck.
"Actually, I really don't need to stay powered down for the journey," Threepio insisted. "I'm quite efficient, if I may say so, and-"
"Save it, Goldenrod, we're here already."
Threepio looked around, managing with his completely expressionless face to look taken aback. "Oh. I see."
"Where's our escort?" Leia wondered aloud when they'd disembarked. She stood beside Han, holding one piece of her luggage and looking around for anyone who looked official.
"Hey," someone called out from behind them. A Bothan dressed in very casual looking clothes approached them, waving in greeting."I'm with the travel agency. Are you the Harrisons?"
"That's us," Han grinned, extending one palm for a handshake. Han hadn't realized Bothans even wore clothes. Maybe wearing clothes was the latest fashion statement; he'd have to ask Leia. "We gonna see some ID?" he asked in a conversational tone.
"Of course." The Bothan covertly flipped open a wallet, revealing a government badge with the name 'Hayat Tahira' and holographic logo. Leia discreetly scanned it with a handheld device she'd been issued before leaving Hoth; the lights on the indicator blinked green.
"You speak excellent Standard," Leia commented. She and Han exchanged glances. They wouldn't be needing Threepio.
"Thank you," Hayat said. "I'll be your translator as well as your escort. We don't allow full-sized translator droids into port Bothanel until they've been cleared, because they're considered recording devices, and by the time he's cleared it'll be past your departure date. It's not a new rule, so I don't know why you weren't informed ahead of time. Sorry about that."
"Recording devices? But I assure you, sir, I don't-"
"You heard the man, Threepio. Looks like you'll have to stay back and keep an eye on the ship," Han said. Before the droid could protest, the falcon's docking door had eased shut. Leia hid a grin behind her hand, and the trio followed Hayat to his vehicle.
"Alright, we're going to take a lot of side roads and extra
turns, so it'll be about a two hour trip. Do either of you need
anything?"
"Do we have time to stop for something to
eat?" Leia asked, glancing towards Han.
"Plenty of time. If you dont have any preferences, I know a great place that's open all night," Hayat offered.
"Sounds wonderful," Leia replied. Chewbacca echoed his agreement.
"That was nice of you," Han murmured for Leia's ears only.
"Well, I don't want your stomach growling and drowning out the ambassadors' voices when we meet them," Leia whispered back.
"Touching."
Over dinner, Hayat talked about some of the local sights and encouraged them to do some touring. He told a few Bothan jokes: "How many Bothans to change light panel? Ten... one to change the panel, two engineering consultants, one to hold the chair and six on security." Leia smiled politely throughout.
It was nearly dusk by the time they departed for the capitol center. About halfway through the trip, Leia sat up abruptly. She looked around, frowning. "Something isnt' right," she announced.
"What is it?" Han asked. He looked around. "Everything seems normal to m-"
An ion blast rocked the transport. The engine went dead, along with the lights inside the transport. Han and Hayat simultaneously reached for their blasters, and Chewie went for his crossbow. Leia was unarmed - her orders had clearly named her a noncombatant. Han and Chewie positioned her between themselves.
"You three stay inside the vehicle," Hayat was saying. "Don't move- I'll go check it out."
Han wasn't paying attention, however, and opened his door a crack. He fired a few cover shots into the darkness and stepped outside. "Chewie- stay with Leia, alright?"
They were in a temperate zone of Bothanel, surrounded by new-growth deciduous forest. There were plenty of places for their attackers to hide. Han crouched low, and spotted movement in the faint gleam of remaining daylight that managed to filter through the trees. He fired into the undergrowth and heard a groan, followed by a crash. Immediately he was taking fire from all sides, and ducked back into the transport, using it as cover while firing in the direction of the shots. Hayat took aim and fired, ending one source of fire to Han's right. "I told you to stay in there and let me handle it!" the agent complained, dodging a blast and firing again towards it.
There was a moment of silence, of rustling in the bushes. They were changing position.
"These can't be snipers," Hayat whispered. "We'd be dead already."
"Unless they want us alive for torture," Han replied with mock cheerfulness. "We're outnumbered and exposed. What have you got?"
"Watch." The Bothan took something from one of his pockets and hurled it into the bushes where it released a burst of light and withered all the low-lying plants, ruining their attackers' cover on that side. He did the same with three similar objects in a circle around them. Han saw one and fired, but the enemy ducked out of the way in time to be only grazed. The attackers all began heading away. Han and Hayat had picked off the few on their right side, and the retreat seemed to be headed north, to their left.
"They're retreating," Hayat said. "But they might set up a second ambush further ahead. You protect the princess; I'm going to pursue."
"Shouldn't you be calling headquarters or somethin'?" Han asked, patrolling forward with his blaster held ready in front of him.
"This is really not the time, Captain Solo" Hayat replied with sarcasm.
"Congratulations, you just earned my respect."
The Bothan departed without comment, and Han dashed back to their transport.
"Everyone alright?" Leia asked.
"Yeah, at the moment."
It was eerily quiet after the gunfire. Han and Chewbacca positioned themselves on either side of Leia, facing out of the transport and scanning the foliage around them. Nothing moved or made a sound.
"Something's wrong," Leia whispered.
"Don't get spooky on me, princess" Han replied. "That's the second time you've said that tonight."
Several more tense moments passed. Suddenly a laserbolt hit Chewbacca directly on the side of the head.
Han looked at his friend in horror as the Wookiee spasmed and went slack. Without a word he clambored out of the vehicle and started firing indiscriminately into the darkness. After tossing out enough firepower to bring down half an army, he stopped, catching his breath. He'd advanced into the wooded area himself and realized he'd probably been lured out there deliberately. In this brush he could easily be surrounded by now. Han froze and looked around carefully; he saw no one.
Leia.
Spinning on his heels, Han charged back to the transport as fast as he could run. He saw it from a distance; Bothans were surrounding the ship, five of them. Leia caught one in the chest with a blast from Chewie's crossbow and swivelled around to fire another, but the shot went wide. Another one had grabbed her from behind.
"Get off me. Let me go. Han!"
She kicked, struggled, even tried to bite her captor's hand through his fur when the crossbow was wrenched from her grasp by another attacker. They were all too close together- Han wouldn't be able to shoot at them without risking Leia. He slowed down and crept closer. Leia was doing a good job of slowing their progress, buying him some time. He took aim, sure he could hit the one on the left-
Before he could fire, though, a shot came from somewhere on the other side of the road, taking out the Bothan he'd been aiming at. Leia almost got free for a second, cursing eloquently. Then she stopped. One of them was holding a blaster to her head. The hostage-taker shouted something at them which needed no translation. From behind them several speeder bikes pulled up, a few of them without riders. Leia's captor threw her onto one and got behind her. She looked straight ahead, her expression fiercely angry. They never took the blaster away for a second.
The bikes pulled away quickly, heading into the forest. Han fired a test shot, then stood up slowly.
The clearing was empty. Hayat approached the transport from the opposite side, meeting Han's eyes and looking grave.
"Chewie." Han jostled him, but the wookiee didn't respond. He leaned over and placed his ear over Chewie's chest, listening for a heartbeat. "Hoya. Hatah. Eh, Hayat! He's alive. Hurry up and get this thing fixed, we need to get help."
"It's fried, Captain. We'll have to wait for headquarters." The Bothan punched in a sequence on his wrist device. Nothing seemed to happen, but Hayat sat down in the front seat of the transport. "They're on their way," he said. "It shouldn't be long."
Leia was angry and afraid, but she struggled to get these emotions under control. Getting upset wasn't going to help her now. Her facial expression gradually melted into neutral, and her body relaxed slightly. She concentrated on the sound of rustling leaves.
As she relaxed, a lump rose in her throat. She swallowed it down, refusing to wonder if Han, Chewie, and their guide were still alive. She knew at least one of them was when they'd taken her- probably Hayat, because of the direction that last shot had come from. Chewie had been breathing when she'd checked him, although poorly. Han... well. He had been firing wildly, then he'd stopped.
The only way she'd find out for sure was to escape. So far she hadn't had the opportunity. It was better to get away before they'd got to wherever they were headed, she knew. Her chances of success might be higher while they were transporting her, but they were about nil while she still had the blaster aimed at her head.
"I need to use the refresher," she said in slow, clear Standard. They ignored her, and she tried again.
"Shut up," one of them snarled afterwards. "No refresher in woods. You wait."
Frustration and anger whirled up once more, and Leia fought them down. Alright. Fine. Move on and try something else.
It didn't help that she really did need the refresher. Bastards.
"I'm sorry, Captain Solo," Hayat said.
Han shot a look at him. "It's not your fault," he grumbled. He went back to watching Chewie.
"The ambush... I should've seen it coming."
"Kid, nobody could've seen it coming. You did the best you could, so knock it off."
Hayat fell into miserable silence. He felt sick to his stomachs. The dark look on the Captain's face wasn't helping any. He was sure he'd be blamed for all of this, and why not? The ambassador's safety had been his responsibility, and he'd failed her. Besides that, if the wookiee didn't make it...
In the distance, Hayat's keen hearing picked up the sound of several approaching vehicles. It wasn't long before their "rescue" had arrived, complete with ambulance for the Wookiee. Han followed the medic and grabbed him by the collar.
"Listen up, shorty.Whoever takes care of my friend here better damn well do it right, you got that? Do you have medical droids here?"
"We use droids and people," Hayat interjected.
"Well then if it's a droid you can tell it if it screws up, it's going to end up in tiny pieces in an orbital scrap heap," Han said, "and you can say the same thing if it's a person." He released the medic's collar. The medic looked nervous, but nodded in wordless agreement and hurried away.
For once Han found himself wishing that Threepio was with them. Hayat had left him at the medical center before going off to meet with his higher-ups about the incident. Han had been torn, wanting to go with Hayat to find out what they could about Leia's captors, but he didn't have the security clearance. Hayat had assured him he'd be able to go on the rescue mission and that he'd be given any necessary information, so he'd gone to check up on Chewie while he waited for their guide to return. Now he had no translator, and Han had no idea what was going on.
She had to be alive, he was sure. They'd made no ransom demands yet, but it was obviously a kidnapping. They wouldn't want to injure her or kill her, a high-profile hostage, especially this early on. On the other hand, they hadn't seemed to concerned about any casualties inflicted in the process of capturing Leia. Chewie, if his skull wasn't so thick, would have been dead.
Han's gut twisted sharply at the thought. He hadn't been allowed in to see Chewie yet, and had tried to read his chart- the datapad had a built-in translator function which worked by stating the name of the desired language, in that language, which Han thought was nifty- but a scowling medic had snatched it away from him, administering an untranslated reprimand. Han had tried, pantomining, to ask about the wookiee's status, but was met with another torrent of Bothan and a pat on the shoulder he supposed was meant to be reassuring.
There was nothing he could do for Chewie now. He was completely helpless, wholly in the dark, and getting more pissed off by the second. His best friend was in here and nobody would tell him anything. His... whatever Leia was to him, his, his woman of interest was out there and they were telling him even less. Han was ready to take a hostage himself, that bitch medic for example, and start demanding answers. Pirate diplomacy. But he couldn't even do that, because he'd been forced to check his blaster with security at the medical center entrance. He paced up and down the waiting area, hands thrust in his pockets, casting angry glares in the direction of anyone unfortunate enough to be caught wearing a medical uniform.
At least Chewie was safe now. He really should be out there with the search and rescue mission for Leia, but as far as he knew, they hadn't even started to look yet.
"Hanzolo?"
Han turned. A Bothan and a human, dressed like Hayat only with fancy embroidery on their shoulders, stood side by side.
"What's goin' on?" he asked immediately.
The two exchanged glances. "You will need to come with us."
"I wanna know how my friend is doing first. Find out for me."
"Captain Solo, do not be so demanding. You must keep a low profile. Already there has been a great deal of exposure."
"And you think I care about that? I came here on a diplomatic mission and almost ended up being the only survivor. Don't even try and push me around." He thrust a pointed finger into the human's chest. "Take me to see Chewbacca, and tell me what his condition is. Then I'll go where you want." Han decided to save his questions about Leia until they were back at Hayat's headquarters, where he presumed they were headed. There was such a thing as pressing his luck.
"We haven't heard from them yet, General Rieekan."
"What? There must be some sort of interference. We haven't seen any Imperial activity anywhere near the Bothan system."
"No, sir. There doesn't seem to be any interference. I'm able to pick up standard broadcast channels from the planet, but nothing else is coming in over the grid."
Rieekan frowned. "Send an inquiry to the secure channel," he ordered the young tech. "Notify me as soon as you have an answer."
"Yes, sir."
