Chapter Twenty-five

"Chewie, are you alone?" Leia asked worriedly into the communication panel linking Lando's apartment to the Wookiee's office.

*It's nice to hear from you again, Little Princess. It's been a long time.*

"Oh," Leia said, realizing in her concern she hadn't bothered to even say hello. "Hello, Chewbacca. How have you been?"

*I have been well, thank you. I am sorry to hear about your Hapan troubles.* Chewbacca hesitated before adding, *I'm glad Han finally confided in me, Princess. I am guessing that you and Luke must have pressured him into doing so. In any case, I was quite put out with him for keeping this from me for so long.*

Leia couldn't bring herself to waste more time on pleasantries. "He's missing, Chewie."

At first, Chewie misunderstood and thought Leia meant Han had missed his friendship with him. Then it occurred to Chewie that wasn't what Leia had said. *Missing?*

Leia took quick breath, glancing at the closed bedroom door while checking with her rudimentary Force skills to ensure Lando wasn't listening. "The movie director called Corran a timepart ago, and informed him that no one can locate Evin on the set. He was supposedly in his private portable rest unit, but when the break was over he didn't return to the set. They've checked everywhere and no one can find him. I was hoping you've heard from him."

*No, I have heard nothing since a few nights ago, when he commed me just to chat and tell me how his movie is progressing. I need to go down there and look for him.*

"Corran has already left to search the area," Leia assured him. "He's upset with himself that he wasn't there, but Han was so confident that he had enough security..." She trailed off, her worry growing by leaps and bounds.

*Can you sense Han?*

Leia bit her lip. "No, I can't. I've tried and tried to use the Force to locate him, but there's nothing."

Chewie let out a grunt of concern. The lower levels were very dangerous places and the Wookiee thought it was idiotic that the movie director insisted the scenes had to be recorded down in the murky darkness of Coruscant's underworld. When Han informed his friend that he would be spending his days in that horrible location for nearly two months, Chewie had not been happy. Humans could be so careless with their lives for no reason. Making a movie in a dangerous location simply for human entertainment purposes was beyond Chewbacca's comprehension. It had been only two weeks and already something bad had happened.

*I should have been down there with him.*

"I hope Corran locates him," Leia responded. "Evin pays him a lot of credits to be his bodyguard."

Chewie still wasn't quite used to hearing Han referred to as Evin, especially by the Princess. Of course, he also couldn't wrap his mind around what his Cub was now doing for a living, either. If Han had only come to him in the beginning, Chewie would have been able to use his influence and get Solo an honest job, something involving flying a ship. He would never be able to figure out humans, especially his human.

*Horn is not doing a very good job then, if that is what Han is paying him for,* Chewie growled. *I was his bodyguard for over a decade and I charged him nothing. Have you contacted Coruscant Security?*

"Yes, of course," Leia replied. "And I've contacted Luke, too. He's worried, and when Luke is worried that's not a good sign. I'm going to the movie location and see if I can pick up anything through the Force. I know Corran is trained as a Jedi, but he can't feel Han's Force presence as easily as I can. I only wish he would have allowed Luke to train him, at least a little bit in self-defense if nothing else."

*Train him? Train who?* Chewie woofed out, confused. Was she referring to Horn? And why didn't Leia use either Han's former name or use his new name, Evin? He wasn't sure who or what the Princess was talking about anymore, and her interchangeable use of the two names added to the Wookiee's confusion.

"Han didn't tell you?"

*Tell me what?*

"When he entered his new body and became Evin Daysun, he could access the Force."

*Han's a Jedi now? He told me none of this.*

Leia gave a quick laugh, then quickly sobered. "Luke would like him to become a Jedi, or at least accept his abilities and learn to use them properly, but you know how Han feels about the Force."

Oh, the irony, Chewie thought, shaking his shaggy mane. *I will be coming down to the lower levels with you, Princess. It is obvious that my Life Debt must pick up where it left off since my Cub can't seem to keep out of trouble no matter what body he occupies or what strange thing he does to earn a living.*

Corellia

"They can't find him, Luke," Leia said through their holo-com connection. "They've looked everywhere." Leia shut her eyes tightly. "I can't sense him. Maybe he's dead. Maybe some underworld being got him and killed him before he had the chance to struggle or fight them. I went down there with Chewie earlier, and there is nothing I can sense from Han." She didn't add how many other beings she could sense in the darkness, lurking and waiting for a chance to maim and kill the beings they perceived as intruders. If one of those beings had gotten to Han somehow... she shook her head. No, that didn't happen. It couldn't have happened. Han was too street smart to allow himself to be ambushed like that.

Luke shook his head. "I've been meditating, Leia. He's not dead. The Force seems to be showing me the past, instead of the future, though. I don't understand it."

"What do you mean?"

The Jedi hesitated, not wanting to bring up bad memories for his sister. "When I concentrate, I keep getting images of Han screaming as he's strapped to the scan grid back on Bespin."

Leia shuddered at the unwanted image that sprang into her brain. "That makes no sense."

Luke nodded in agreement. "I don't get it, either. He's strapped down, he's in pain, there are guards standing around…" He broke off, his eyes widening as the Force gave him another, clearer image, and he was filled with a sense of dread for his friend. "The guards aren't Stormtroopers, Leia."

"Then, who?"

"They're Hapan guards and it's not Vader standing there, watching. It's Isolder."

Hapes

Unable to free himself, Han had drifted off into a light sleep. When his captors finally entered his dark room, he jerked awake instantly. Even so, he was dragged off the cot before his brain was fully engaged, not to mention his vision fully adjusted to the light after spending many timeparts in complete darkness.

As he was roughly hauled out of his cell, he noted the crisp uniforms of the guards that were manhandling him. Uniforms? That wasn't what he'd been expecting, at all. After a few moments he recognized the uniforms. Hapan. That possibility hadn't even entered his mind, but it suddenly made sense. The Hapans would have had the means and the money to infiltrate Coruscant, as well as his movie company's security team. He glanced down at his wrinkled clothing as the men removed the binders from his ankles. He was still wearing his costume from the movie, a black ensemble that resembled Luke's preferred style of clothing. Han suddenly wished his friend would appear with his lightsaber to make short work of his captors. That was probably too much to hope for, he decided with a sigh.

"Hey," Han drawled out as the tall, muscular guards dragged him down the ramp of the transport vessel, their blasters shoved painfully against his ribs, "If I'd known ya wanted me to come back and do another concert so bad, all you had to do was contact my agent, Lando Calrissian. You know him? The fancy Corellian that dresses like he's the star instead of me? He's easy to reach, since his contact number's listed on the HoloNet, right there under 'agents'. That starts with the first letter of the alphabet, in case you didn't make it through primary school."

The oldest of the four guards glared at Han. "Make your jokes now, Daysun. You won't have much of an opportunity in a few timeparts to do anything other than scream." The man waved his hand at another guard and Han found himself in darkness once again as a cloth sack was lowered over his head, effectively blindfolding him for the next part of his trip.

After what seemed like half an eternity of walking and stumbling through endless hallways, Han was shoved to his knees by the four guards and his blindfold removed. He lifted his head to find he was kneeling in front of the Queen Mother and her insipid son, Prince Isolder. They were both sitting on ornate, gold thrones and were gazing down at him with a mixture of contempt and anticipation on their faces.

Han struggled for something witty to say. "Is this considered a command performance in the Consortium? 'Cuz if it is, you people need to work on your manners."

The Prince sneered at Han as both he and his mother rose from their seats. "Bring him into the interrogation chamber. I don't wish to waste any more time before some real entertainment begins. This time your caterwauling will be a pleasure to listen to, Daysun."