Luke and Tess held their breath as they listened to the sound device attached to Leia's disguise. It was designed so that they could hear everything going on around her, but they could not communicate with her.
However, Luke and Tess were regretting the use of that particular device because it was indescribably frustrating not being able to remind Leia that they were still listening for updates. She seemed to forget they could hear her at all, so the Jedi Knight and his secret Padawan were left in the dark.
After nearly two standard hours of complete silence, Luke rose to his feet to make something for dinner. As if Leia was just waiting for them to get distracted before she did something interesting, Tess suddenly heard a beeping sound come through the gadget.
"Luke, wait!" Tess halted, picking up the contraption so she could listen more closely. Luke leapt back over to the small table in the late Ben Kenobi's sitting room so he could listen as well.
"What is it? Did she say something?" Luke asked anxiously. Tess hushed him just in time for them to hear a loud, metallic thump. Tess and Luke exchanged worried glances. A gap of silence over the device seemed to last an eternity. Then, there was a dull humming sound.
"Is that it?" Tess wondered aloud, though she realized a moment later that Luke knew no more about the sounds of carbon unfreezing than she did. Proving her hypothesis true, Luke shrugged.
The two of them listened even more carefully—so carefully that when Leia's altered voice came through, they nearly jumped out of their skins.
"Just relax for a moment," Leia began though her voice distorter. Tess and Luke shared the initial thought that the princess was speaking to them. Logic kicked in moments later. "You're free of the carbonate."
Tess and Luke could have leapt in the air with joy.
"We did it!" Tess squealed, clapping her hands together. She was too relieved to be disappointed that they would not be carrying out the back-up plan she and Luke had concocted.
Unlike his Padawan learner, Luke resisted such hasty assumptions. He kept listening through the hearing device.
It was a good thing he did, because a deep Hutt laugh flipped their plans upside-down.
"No…" Tess gasped. She returned quickly to the table. Neither she nor Luke spoke Huttese, so they had to guess what Jabba was saying based on Leia's responses.
"We have…powerful friends!" Leia muttered, clearly trying to maintain her diplomatic composure. "You're going to regret this!"
A few more words in Huttese and then Luke and Tess nearly lost their lunch at the sloshing sound that could only be described as a wet, sloppy lick from a Hutt. They heard the muffled rummaging of Leia getting carried off somewhere before the hearing device went static.
Luke and Tess slowly raised their eyes to look at each other.
"Well," Luke decided. "Looks like you will get to be my Padawan learner in public after all." He stood up, strangely composed as would be expected of a Jedi. "Get your things. We're going to Jabba's Palace."