Chapter 3:
Leia found her gaze drawn to the droid's realistic hands as he worked; Data's actions were delicate and precise as he began repairs on the hyperdrive.
All of a sudden, his mesmerizing fingers ceased all movement—the occurrence would have been unnoticeable had Leia not been watching so carefully. She glanced up to his face, but his expression was unreadable.
"Data?"
"Yes Miss Leia?"
"You stopped working for a moment. Is something wrong?"
"No, I was simply thinking."
"About what?"
Data glanced up, golden eyes large and wide. She seemed genuinely curious about what could be perturbing the android.
After a brief pause, Data finally responded: "I was remembering a...friend."
"Another droid?"
"No, a human."
Now it was Leia's turn to look surprised.
"How did you become friends with a human?"
"Geordi LaForge is not like any other person I have ever known." Data was still facing Leia, but his gaze went past her, scanning information and memories only he could see. "He was born blind, and could only see with the aid of a machine, so I think he understood what it is like to be considered mechanical—to be different."
Leia stared at the android. Data stared back, tilting his head to one side.
"What happened to him?" She finally asked.
"He is thousands of light-years away, with the rest of my crew. I was using a shuttlecraft to obtain close-range readings on a mysterious astronomical body, but got sucked into a black hole in the process. I drifted on this side of the black hole for 67 years, 2 months, and 10 days before Captian Zed captured me."
Leia was speechless. Although she knew from R2 that droids were capable of having loyalty to previous masters, she had never imagined that droids could feel the loss of an old friend, or even have human friends.
"I...I'm sorry, Data. You must miss him."
Data stiffly jerked his head up and down. Although he had resumed work on the hyperdrive during the conversation, his eyes still had that unfocused, faraway quality. Leia also remained deep in thought:
"He looks so vulnerable.
So...human."