"Han," the kid whimpered, fighting Zkab's grasp. The blaster wound right through the far left of his chest had knocked the wind out of him. He kept telling his brain to tell his mouth to speak, but it wasn't responding yet. The best he could do was meet eyes with Tess. They were filled with so much fear.
"Please don't kill him," she begged. "Please, I'll go with you—just don't kill him!"
"No…" Han managed. It took almost everything he had left just to tuck one foot under himself and make an effort to stand. More of Zkab's men surrounded him and made sure it didn't happen.
Tess cried out. Han watched a man inject her in the arm with something. Zkab was talking, but in Han's ears the words were slurred. The figures around him swayed back and forth, flickering like a faulty holoprojection.
Don't pass out… he begged of himself.
Han blinked hard and gave his head a shake. His vision unblurred soon enough for him to see Zkab with both hands sliding down Tess' arms, taking his time like he had to feel every stitch of fabric on her sleeve. Han's blood boiled as Zkab brought his lips to Tess' ear.
"Part of me wants to see that power inside you…"
That's it.
In one swift motion, Han snatched a blaster from the guard beside him. Before any of them even knew what happened, he shot every single guard one by one. The pain in his side suddenly disappeared. He stood, blaster pointed right at the purple-haired bastard. Zkab wasn't so confident now.
"Good move, Solo," Zkab said with a nervous chuckle. "Here, take her." He pushed Tess towards Han. She stumbled forward and he had to catch her with his free hand to restore her balance. But not for one moment did Han take his eye off Zkab, nor did he put down the blaster.
Then, when Tess was safely at his side…
He fired.
It was the dream Han had last night. And the night before. Every time, he saved her. He knew it wasn't how it really happened, but for those first couple seconds of consciousness where it felt like it was… he couldn't even explain it.
The Corellian watched the small Dantooine cottage from a safe distance. He had rushed straight there when he heard about rogue Imperials on Dantooine, but they had beaten him there.
Han couldn't hear anything from the cottage. Right now he was taking that as a good sign. Somehow, Tess managed to get out. He only hoped Leia had, too. If they were both there, they would be dragging Tess out and Leia would be dead. By the looks of it they either had Leia and were keeping her there, alive, as leverage, or they found no one and were searching the house. Han hoped for the latter.
His dream wouldn't leave his mind. Somehow, he could have stopped it. Somehow, he could have prevented all of this. But the hard fact was that he didn't.
And he would have to live with that.
Han's throbbing heart threatened to pound right out of his blaster wound.
No…no, this isn't happening…
His entire body felt weighted down—helpless—as everything around him happened in slow motion. All words sounded like they were being said underwater. Like a dream. Every second took its sweet time, like a knife slowly cutting through his flesh.
For a moment, he caught Tess' eye just before Zkab dragged her away. And then in the girl's eyes, he saw Leia's face as she watched him descend into the carbon freezing chamber. Helpless. Not knowing what would become of his friends—that was worse than the carbonite.
Tess' voice brought him back to the present. She called his name as Zkab dragged her off the Falcon. Han looked at a wounded Chewie. He was unconscious and in need of medical attention. The Corellian couldn't see the blaster wound through the Wookie's fur, but it had to be serious if it knocked the 7-foot alien unconscious.
Three men remained in the room—two behind Han and one behind Chewie. Three armed men against a wounded man and an unconscious Wookie. If only Threepio were there to give the odds.
Suddenly, Chewbacca's long body tensed. A low growl came from him, as if he was waking up.
"Shoot it again," ordered the man to Han's left. The guard behind the Wookie compliantly pulled out his blaster before a large, furry arm knocked it out of his hands. Chewbacca shot upright with a loud growl and tackled the guard, pinning him to the floor of the Falcon.
"Shoot it!"
"You shoot it!"
Both men behind Han jumped out in front to try to get a better aim at Chewbacca, and Han slowly scooted back to the wall, using it to push himself to a stand.
"Kill them," came Zkab's voice from someone's com just before one of the guards tried to shoot Chewie again. Han couldn't tell if they shot Chewie or the man he attacked.
Once Han managed to get on his feet, he stumbled forward into one of the armed guards and grabbed for his blaster. They wrestled on the ground, and as soon as Han felt the cool metal of a blaster, he pulled it between the two of them and fired, killing him.
By the time he got the body of the guard off him, Chewie had taken out the other two. The friends exchanged a smile of relief before the Wookie collapsed.
"Chewie!" Han exclaimed, getting on the ground beside his friend with a grunt of pain. "Where you hit, pal?"
The Wookie growled a response, pointing to two wounds near his stomach. Han glanced at the exit ramp just for a moment—maybe he could still catch up.
"Is the job done?" came a voice. Han and Chewie exchanged glances, looking around for the source of the words. "I said, is it done?"
The comlink.
Han lunged forward and grabbed the comlink from the guard he attacked, quickly responding. "It's done," he said as convincingly as possible. They waited a moment. No response. Maybe he bought it?
Chewie told Han to go after Tess, but the smuggler shook his head.
"You may be the one with the life debt," he groaned, forcing himself to a painful stand again and stumbling over to the refresher for a medpack. "But I'm not letting you die here. I'm patching you up, then I will go after him."
Han desperately hoped it wouldn't be too late by then.
"Politics is a dangerous game," Bail Organa once told his daughter before dinner with a visiting royal family. "From enemies to allies, everyone wants something. Your support, your protection, your credits, even your entire planet. And these people are rarely denied what they want."
Her father's words played over in the princess' head. Zkab practically owned Turos Noth by the looks of it, even though he was just a local celebrity. Leia found his demeanor to resemble that of the rulers and politicians she had met during so many dinners. It was like her father used to say: behind the manners and the polite compliments on the food, there was always a motive. That was not to be forgotten.
There was a certain code of conduct to follow in dining events between politicians. Hands should never remain under the table for too long; keeping them visible ensures the others that you are not concealing a weapon. The host always ate and drank first to ensure the guests that they were not being poisoned, and every serving was taken from the same large bowl. If either party had servants, assistants, or bodyguards, they would wait through the meal standing directly behind the person they worked for. Leia once read of a royal family who placed one servant behind each of their guests, and just before dessert, all but the host received a lethal blaster bolt to the back of the head.
Zkab knew these rules, as did the many men who worked for him. He was calm and polite. It was easy to forget that this man was responsible for genocide and allegedly for holding her 15-year-old sister hostage.
"Princess, I must say," Zkab began. "I hear so much about you and your willingness to jump onto the battlefield with the rest of the soldiers. I honestly was not expecting such a well-mannered beauty to grace me with her presence—an exemplary representative of such a miraculous place as Alderaan. Your father and your people would be so proud to see you as you are today."
"Thank you," she said simply. Everyone loved playing the Alderaan card, expecting it to soften her. She played along, but she knew better. "Had you been to Alderaan before its destruction?"
Zkab wiped his mouth after a sip of wine.
"I was a student there for a few years in my late twenties. Studying medicine, of all things. I had my heart set on being a medic, despite the rising reliability on droids for such tasks. Then came a fascination with the brain that lead to interest in psychology." He laughed lightly. "I had no idea what I wanted. I was a child of impulse, drawn towards my passions. Until they changed, of course."
Leia nodded politely. He was a lot smarter than she would have expected. It was rare to deal with someone so close to her level, but the princess wouldn't let herself be intimidated.
"I actually saw you in person once," Zkab continued. "Though you wouldn't have seen me."
"Is that so?" asked Leia. This ought to be interesting.
"You were fourteen years old. I was taking a debate class and our professor brought us to see you in a mock debate with one of the top students. And you won."
Leia smiled fondly at the memory. As a child, she was much too spirited for the etiquette and table manners, but political debate was a fair medium between princess poise and racing speeder bikes outside with the other kids. She would watch her father in meetings from the time she was six years old and the power play fascinated her. She became well-versed in politics before she was ten years old. Her father brought in several tutors for her on the subject, but Leia was more in love with the excitement of mock debates.
"You were a star," Zkab told her. "A prodigy, even. After seeing that debate, I found this place and started an unofficial group of people opposed to the Empire. Dangerous on most planets, but on a liberal one like this it flew completely under the radar. Then, we were given a stage. Then a larger stage. And come the destruction of the Death Star and the victory at Endor, we were given our show under the Rift Skyrail, at the center of Turos Noth. It took 10 years to get where I am today, but it all kicked off with that little girl debating a grown man on Alderaan. I cannot express how nice it is to see the precocious little princess as a successful and strong young woman."
Leia took her last sip of wine from her glass. She looked at this man in awe for his natural charm and engaging conversational skills. And the claim that she herself inspired all of this 10 years ago? Aside from the fact that it was complete bullshit, that was nothing short of brilliant. She never stopped reminding herself that she and Zkab were not on the same team.
He wanted something. They always do. It was about time they got to the point.
"Curious," Leia began. "In your show—what you do in it—Do you not view your actions as murder?" The princess caught the man tensing up.
"They are not innocent people."
"Few people are," Leia agreed curtly. "But one does not have to be innocent for their killing to be considered murder."
"Princess Leia, will all due respect, these are among the people who destroyed your home planet. I thought you of all people would understand. And how is the public execution of an Imperial officer morally different than if one were to kill that very officer in battle? Did you not take any lives at the Battle of Endor?"
"I never said there was a difference between the two," Leia clarified. Now they were getting somewhere. Zkab paused, then let out a chuckle and reclined in his chair.
"I think I was mistaken," he told her. "Here I was, thinking that feisty debate prodigy was left in your childhood, written over by battle speeches, but you have still got that fire in your words."
"I like to think so," Leia admitted, bringing her hands to a fold on the table in front of her. "There is a true power in being able to essentially control someone by moving them to your side with mere words. Such as—"
"Such as convincing an audience of thousands that a man they have never even seen before deserves to die?" Zkab finished. The power play between the two of them was as exciting as it was tense. There was a hint of mutual respect between two people so evenly matched. Leia sat back. Her posture admitted defeat, but her eyes prepared to deal a lethal blow.
"I was thinking more along the lines of convincing a woman that you have no idea of the connection between her and the fifteen-year-old girl you have locked up somewhere in this building."
Zkab and Leia's eyes locked on each other. Each dared their opponent to make a move. Zkab took the dare.
"Fooling you was never my intension, princess," he revealed. "There was no need. The girl will be on my stage tonight. After a little surprise for the afternoon show." Zkab nodded to the guards to block the doors, then set up a holoprojector at the center of the table. He grinned at the princess as a life feed from the stage flickered to life.
"And you will be here to see every minute of it."