Chapter 15:
Han walked as quickly as he dared to Leia's interrogation chamber. He arrived there and saw her crumpled on the floor of the Force cage, not moving. He rushed to the cage and shut it off, kneeling beside her and cradling her head in his lap, gently. He kissed her forehead, tenderly, and scooped her up into his arms. He hesitated, for a moment, looking down at her, then hardened his resolve.
"Captain Solo."
Han almost dropped Leia in surprise, and whirled around to see Darth Vader standing in the doorway. "Y-yes, milord?"
"What are you doing with the Princess?" Vader's tone seemed…. accusatory.
A nervous sweat broke out on Han's brow. "Luke ordered me to take Leia back to her cell."
Vader paused for a moment, silently contacting his son. Then he said, "Very well, Captain." Vader wanted to keep an eye on Solo, but he didn't want to leave Luke and Mara alone for very long. He watched as Solo carried Leia in the direction of the cell block, then swept off in the direction that Luke and Mara were going.
"Alright, Skywalker, two things I'm going to teach you. One is to avoid being seen, and the other is to avoid being felt. These are just basic lessons, and they might not work as well with certain alien species with a higher sensory input." Luke's eyes wandered up and down the corridor, as he listened to her voice. He looked ahead again to ask her something, and frowned. Where'd she go? He flinched, startled, as something touched his shoulder from behind.
Mara chuckled, dryly. "Don't take it personally. I have to be very good at what I do simply to survive each day."
Luke briefly wondered what her life must be like, always vigilant. "How do you do it?"
"There are a couple of ways. One is to use a stealth generator, say, if you needed to devote your concentration to something else. But what I'm going to teach you is using the Force to do the same thing." She held out her hand, and with a slight ripple, it began to vanish from sight. She looked up at Luke, to see if he understood, and sighed. "Here." She reached out with the Force, touching his mind with hers, letting him feel how it felt to camouflage herself. She sensed his understanding, and smiled. "You try it, now."
Luke frowned, concentrating, and suddenly was gone.
"Luke."
At the sound of his father's voice, Luke's concentration broke, and he flickered back into view. "Father. D'you need me for something?"
Vader looked at the two of them, and Luke could feel his displeasure, about what, however, he didn't know. "I'm here to observe your lesson, my son. You may continue, Emperor's Hand."
Mara frowned, but quelled her irritation, and began again.
Han slid his passcard, and the cell door opened. Chewbacca towered above him, about to attack. Han held up a hand, quickly, and said, "Hey, hey, shhh, Chewie, it's me." The Wookiee paused, then growled a question. Han sighed. "I know, I know, but I had to do it to save Leia. C'mon, I've gotta get you both out of here."
Chewbacca took Leia's unconscious form from Han, who then straightened up his uniform, trying to look as official as possible. "Let's hope Luke was serious when he said I only had to answer to him, Vader, or the Emperor."
As they headed in the direction of the docking bays, they heard screaming, faintly. Chewie cocked his head, questioningly, at Han. A hard look, almost grim, flickered into Han's eyes for a moment. "That's Lando."
Chewbacca rumbled, his voice sounding questioning and yet accusatory. Han's hand tightened into a fist, and he said bitterly, "I know he was my friend. But that was a long time ago. If it wasn't for him, none of us would be in this mess. He deserves what he's getting now."
Chewie moaned a comment, to which Han had no answer, and they kept going, in silence.