As they made their way out of the university campus towards the landing platform, Luke felt certain they were being followed and let himself drop behind slowly, hoping it would prove to be Han and Leia. Ahead, Chewbacca and Perron rounded a corner and Luke slowed even more, giving them time to get well ahead. When he rounded the corner himself, they were out of sight and he stopped, pressing himself against the wall of the ancient stone building.
He didn't have to wait long. A moment later a small figure turned the corner and almost ran into him. For half a second he thought it was the princess, then quickly realised that this girl was much smaller than Leia, almost child-sized, and her skin had a Kivvidan hue. A halfbreed?
She was breathing hard and looked terrified. Doubly so when she saw him. The rain had plastered her dark hair to her head and ran unchecked across her face.
"Are you alright?" Luke asked and she looked nervously over her shoulder. "Why were you following me?"
"I saw you in the dining hall," she said and Luke frowned. How in the world was he supposed to remember her from that sea of faces?
"You're a friend of Lowmon's, aren't you?" she said.
Abruptly he recognised her; the girl who had flinched at the mention of Lowmon's name.
"Yes," he replied simply, absently scratching at a small bite on his arm; one of many which had been irritating him on and off all day. "Do you know where he is?"
Uncertainty washed over the small woman afresh and she looked over her shoulder again.
Luke touched her arm and asked, "What are you so afraid of? Is someone trying to hurt you?"
She gave him a hunted look then frowned. She had noticed the blue markings on his chest, just visible over the top edge of his undershirt. Quick as a flash, her hand shot up and pulled the shirt down to reveal the small design the Shaman had marked him with. Luke allowed her inspection and watched her as she stared at it for a long moment then ran her fingers over it. Finally she stepped back, completely awed, all nervousness momentarily forgotten.
"You have been marked by the Shaman..." she said wistfully. "You have been with my people..." She regarded Luke intently. "Who are you?"
"A friend of Lowmon's," Luke replied, then added, "I hadn't heard from him for a while and was worried about him."
Grief washed over the young woman's face then abruptly she made up her mind. She pulled a small information disk from a pocket in the jacket she was wearing and pushed it at him.
Luke frowned at it. "What's this?"
"He made me keep duplicates," she muttered hurriedly. "In case... something happened to him..." Her nervousness was back and she glanced over her shoulder again. "I have to go."
Without another word, she turned and ran, vanishing into the rain like she'd never existed, leaving Luke perplexed and concerned. He pocketed the disk and started in the direction the others had gone, dimly hoping he hadn't lost Chewbacca and Solo's father, and wondering deeply about the contents of the disc.
He almost ran into Chewie at the next bend. The Wookiee had obviously come looking for him and was mightily cross at having to do so. He barked angrily at Luke and gave him a none too gentle clip around the ears with a hairy paw. Hurrying to keep up, Luke followed him to the edge of the landing platform in time to see Perron Solo surrounded by several stormtroopers.
Without thinking, Luke surged forward, lightsabre hilt in hand, but was hauled back into the shadows by the Wookiee.
"What?" he demanded hotly and was clipped over the head by the Wookiee once more. "We can't just leave him!" he hissed, struggling against the hold the Wookiee still had on his shirt.
A blue flash caught his eye and he watched with dismay as Solo's father crumpled under the stun blast.
The Wookiee was rumbling behind him, but Luke couldn't understand a word. He watched impotently as Perron was loaded onto a nearby shuttle and, a moment later, the shuttle rose skyward. No doubt heading for the Star Destroyer in orbit.
Luke watched it vanish into the rain-clouds and decided that, despite Han's claims of not caring about his father, the erstwhile smuggler was going to have a fit.
Chewbacca growled at him, making a 'stay put' motion with his hand, and hurried across the platform, crouching low. Luke retrieved the packs Chewie had left nearby and watched the Wookiee check out three 'hoppers before he found one he was happy with. He waved briefly in Luke's direction and immediately set to hot-wiring the lock. By the time Luke joined him, he had the hatch open and was inside, warming up the engine. Unable to fit into either piloting seat, the Wookiee was reaching across them from the rear seat to the main board.
Luke threw the packs behind the passenger seat, wiped the rain out of his eyes, and slid into the pilot's seat, wondering if they could somehow escape the scrutiny of the Tower. He squinted through the rain-blinded canopy hoping to see a sign of Solo and the princess, not prepared to activate the canopy's water repulsors to clear his view. The last thing he wanted to do was alert the Air Traffic Control Tower that they were planning to lift off.
Chewbacca growled something and opened the hatch and got out. Looking for his friend, no doubt.
….
Solo waited a good fifteen minutes before leading Leia from the safety of the small alcove they'd been hiding in, hoping desperately that Inconterza wasn't lying in wait for them just around the corner.
They hurried across the campus towards the university landing platform, both completely sodden and largely invisible in the semi-dark created by the afternoon downpour.
The unwelcome appearance of Farrouq and Inconterza had left Solo seriously concerned about all their safety, not just Leia's. Farrouq was unscrupulous and deadly in his pursuit, but he had his own code of honour that he followed to the letter. Inconterza, on the other hand, had no honour. Just perverse desires that he fed at every opportunity.
Leia's brief good humour was giving way to irritation. Irritation that Solo's past was thwarting their attempts to figure out exactly what the Empire was up to on Galadan. Unless Solo's father would agree to help them with their efforts? That could be an unforeseen bonus. If Perron would agree to come back to the Rebellion with them. The Imperials on Galadan were already looking for the professor and, by now, probably the Princess of Alderaan as well. And with Solo's pirate 'buddies' hunting him, their only option was to flee.
Leia pushed her hair out of her eyes, blinking to try and see through the rain. Solo was holding the hand she had damaged and she wanted to tell him to ease up on his grip as it was starting to hurt.
Suddenly a man stepped out in front of them and Leia found herself jerked behind Solo, his grip on her hand abruptly strong and fierce while his blaster stopped barely a hand-span from the man's face. Like Solo, she had assumed the man would be Farrouq or Inconterza, and was surprised when it wasn't.
He was a tall man, taller than Solo by several centimetres. Bearded, with dark hair and blue eyes, though it was hard to be sure in the rain.
"Leia?" he asked hastily, and there was no denying his Alderaanian accent. "Leia Organa of Alderaan?"
Leia gaped at him. What was an Alderaanian doing on Galadan? And how the hell had he recognised her?
"It is, isn't it?" He sounded eager. Excited.
"Who wants to know?" Solo snapped, his blaster not wavering.
"Commander David Taylor," the man said, backing into the shadow created by an overhanging second storey on the building beside them. "I saw you in the dining hall and couldn't believe my eyes."
Leia gasped, "Taylor?" and started to follow him, but Solo jerked her back.
"We thought you were dead!" the bearded man said. "We were told you'd been killed over Tatooine."
Ignoring the pain it caused, Leia wrenched her hand free of Solo's and moved closer to the Alderaanian. Solo followed her into the shadow, blaster ready and one hand on her back.
"We?" she asked urgently.
"As soon as he heard about your death, your father organised several ships-"
Leia gripped his arm. "How many?" she begged. "How many escaped?"
Taylor reached out and tenderly touched her face, then said, "Five thousand."
Leia put a hand to her mouth, distressed. Five thousand out of four billion people.
"We've been flying with Bel Iblis," he added, and Solo frowned. Garm Bel Iblis was the Corellian senator who'd defected to start the Rebel Alliance with Mon Mothma of Chandrila and Bail Organa of Alderaan. Solo had met the man once in Coronet City, just after the student riots there, and had always held his fellow Corellian in high regard, keeping track of the man's progress when he could. The reports he'd heard when he'd been in the Imperial Navy had spoken of a schism between Bel Iblis and Mon Mothma and, as he'd heard nothing of him since, Solo had presumed the man dead.
Although he was pleased to hear that Bel Iblis was still alive, it still didn't lessen their immediate danger. Recognising that Leia was in shock from meeting someone important from her past and that she had probably forgotten about Farrouq and Inconterza, Solo grabbed her round the waist as she started to ask hopefully, "Bel-?"
"We have to go, Your Worship," he snapped, hoisting her under his arm.
"Put me down!" she hissed angrily.
"Been nice meetin' you," he told Taylor sarcastically, dimly noting the other man's outraged glare, and he started running for the landing platform, Leia fighting him furiously.
Solo's worst fears were confirmed when blaster-fire lit up around them. He returned the fire, dimly aware that Leia was no longer struggling, and made out the dark shape of Inconterza through the rain.
Then blaster-fire splashed at Inconterza from Taylor's position, forcing Inconterza to run for cover, and Solo wordlessly thanked the man. He took the princess' hand once more and ran full pelt for the landing platform, hoping Chewie and the others were there and had found a suitable 'hopper.
….
Luke was seriously beginning to worry that something had happened to Han and Leia and considering having to go look for them when he saw two shapes running across the platform. He heard the Wookiee howl at them and watched them change direction, hurrying towards him. Luke's relief at seeing them safe was swiftly being replaced with anger at why they had taken so long. Anger at Solo specifically for the way he had dragged the princess in the opposite and more dangerous direction in the first place. And anger at Solo for not being with them to stop the stormtroopers from taking his father.
The Wookiee was barking and hooting rapidly as he opened the hatch and climbed aboard, helping the princess into the ship and then his partner.
"Where's Dad?!" Solo demanded angrily as he realised the man was absent from the 'hopper, and Luke could hear the defensive note in the Wookiee's reply.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Luke demanded irritably, as Solo slid into the co-pilot's seat and Leia took the seat behind him, pushing her wet hair off her face. The equally wet Wookiee shut the hatch and squeezed in beside the princess.
Solo didn't even look at Luke as he activated the canopy's water repulsors and replied sourly, "In the backstreets necking. What do you think?"
"Did Farrouq follow you?" Leia asked, fastening her harness.
Luke shook his head as he lifted the 'hopper skywards. "The stormtroopers were here waiting," he said. "They took Perron." He expected a heated response from Solo and was confused when he didn't get one. He risked a glance at the Corellian and the tension in the older man's jaw told him the rage was there, but being held carefully in check.
The comm lit up and the Tower demanded that they return to the landing platform. Solo switched it off.
"The girl we saw at the bar followed us," Luke said while he concentrated on lifting the ship away from the Tower, hoping the rain clouds would provide enough immediate cover for them to put some distance between themselves and the city.
"Girl at the bar?" Leia queried sharply.
"Lowmon's girl," Luke said. "We saw her in the dining hall before you got there."
"She followed you?" Solo said, and Luke could hear the wariness in the older man's voice.
"Why?" Leia demanded.
"Gave me this," Luke said, producing the disk.
Solo watched as Luke passed the disc to Leia and asked quickly, "What's on it?"
"Lowmon's notes," Luke answered, trying to see something in the grey turbulence around them. "Apparently he made her keep duplicates."
"Why'd she trust you?" Solo wanted to know. "Why'd she give it to you?"
Luke indicated the blue lines on his chest through the open neck of his shirt and said, "This." Then glanced at Solo and added, "You were right. She was Kivvidan." He frowned at the clouds outside the canopy and asked, "What's the best vector to take to the Falcon?"
Solo frowned at the control panel in front of him then punched in the appropriate coordinates. The Corellian's instinctive ability for navigation never failed to impress Luke, and he couldn't help smiling at the older man. Solo had claimed that Corellians couldn't get lost and, despite Luke's assumption that it was simply more of the Corellian's outrageous bragging, he had to admit that Solo had an unerring sense of direction.
With the coordinates set, Luke aimed the 'hopper at the Falcon and hoped they would reach the freighter before the Star Destroyer thought to take an interest in them.
"So," Solo said, and turned to look at the princess. "Who's Taylor?"
Luke frowned at both of them and wondered, Taylor? "Someone I thought had died with Alderaan," she said sadly.
"You ran into someone from Alderaan?" Luke asked, incredulously. "What was he doing here?" What were the odds that both Solo and the princess would run into old friends on Galadan?
"Probably the same thing we were," Leia replied.
"He recognised you?"
Leia nodded. "In the student dining hall."
Luke shook his head and muttered sarcastically, "Surprised I didn't run into Biggs' Mom there."
But Solo, it seemed, was not concerned with the unlikelihood of running into old friends as they had. Rather, he seemed more concerned with the sort of friend this Taylor had been to the princess.
"So?" Solo persevered. "Who was he?"
"He was the son of my father's chief adviser," Leia replied softly, and Luke got the impression she was struggling not to cry.
"Boyfriend?" Solo asked callously and Luke shot him a fierce look.
Leia glared at the Corellian for a long moment before replying icily, "No, Han, he wasn't my boyfriend. We were good friends though. Spent a lot of our childhood together."
Solo turned to Luke, winked and said sagely, "Old flame."
Luke chose to ignore the Corellian's jibe, but Leia hugged herself and snapped irritably, "Shut up, Han!"
"Why was he here?" Luke wanted to know. "Is he with another Alliance cell? Why would they send another group when they'd already sent us?"
Solo looked at the princess. "You gonna tell him, Sweetheart, or do you want me to?"
Leia stared resolutely out the transparisteel canopy beside her, refusing to acknowledge either of them.
"Seems there are two rebellions, Kid," Solo told him amiably.
Luke frowned. "Two?"
"Couple of the founders had a falling out in the early days. The one you're with went on with Mon Mothma as its head, while the other one struggled on secretly with Garm Bel Iblis as leader."
Luke shook his head, unable to comprehend. "But that doesn't make any sense," he said. "Surely they'd be more efficient working together?"
"Ah, the wisdom and innocence of youth!" Solo intoned.
"Did you know about this?" Luke demanded of Leia.
"I had no idea Garm was still fighting," she answered softly.
"Bullshit!" Solo snapped, which made her look at him, and Luke couldn't help wondering what Solo was made of that he didn't quail under her fiery gaze.
"Would you stop fighting?" the Corellian continued. "If you were thrown out of the Rebellion tomorrow, would that change your ideals? Make your hatred of the Empire any less?"
Leia's gaze dropped to her hands, and when she met his eyes again the fire of outrage had gone out. She shook her head.
"He's Corellian," Solo growled. "Of course he's still fighting!" Whether it had suddenly hit too close to home or not, Luke wasn't sure, but Solo changed vector abruptly and grinned. "And you know Corellians can't be reasoned with!"
Leia was staring at her hands where they rested in her lap again and Luke frowned at Solo, looking for an explanation. But Solo's attention was focussed on the princess.
Finally she looked up and met his gaze and there was no denying the tears in her eyes as she said, "I know."
She couldn't hold his gaze, breaking it to look out the transparisteel beside her.
Luke waited for some explanation from Solo but it swiftly became self-evident that there wasn't going to be any. Solo had turned back to the control panel and was studying the terrain below on the electronic screen between them.
"There's the Falcon," he said.
Despite Solo's appearance to the contrary, Luke felt certain he was furious about the capture of his father, and wondered whether he had baited the princess out of jealousy over Taylor or anger because he suspected she would stop him from trying to rescue Perron.
"Do you have any idea where they'll take your father?" Luke asked as he settled the 'hopper on the other side of the quetta bushes from the Falcon.
"Coruscant," Solo said matter-of-factly. "Straight to Shenegar's."
Luke glanced at the princess as she retrieved her pack from behind her seat, aware that she would not like his next suggestion, then looked at Solo and said, "Maybe we should go after him?"
Chewbacca barked his surprise and Leia looked at Luke and said sharply, "To Coruscant?"
"We're going to have to go anyway," Luke argued. "Or someone is. We can't leave Perron in Imperial custody; not with what he knows"
Leia was shaking her head and he could see there was genuine fear in her eyes. Luke didn't have to think too hard to figure out what she might be so afraid of. Capture. A very real possibility should they choose to journey into the heart of the Empire. Imperial incarceration, questioning, torture. She'd already been there.
"We have to get this information back to the Rebellion," she reasoned stiffly.
"Lowmon's notes?" Luke said. "Big deal."
Solo's father was going to be forced into working for the Empire or he would be executed. They all knew that. And if they could rescue him, how much more could he do for the Rebellion?
"Sure, they'll be a help, but Han's dad could have answered all our questions," he rationalised, then looked at Solo and watched the battle between responsibility and self-preservation play out across the man's features. Irritated that Solo could consider otherwise, Luke insisted, "We can't just leave him."
"Yes we can," Solo snapped defensively, and climbed out of his seat, forcing the princess and Chewbacca out of the 'hopper. "He would."
Knowing Solo was speaking out of long time resentment for whatever had happened between Han and his father, Luke started to argue, but the Corellian had left the 'hopper. He hurried out after Solo in time to hear the Corellian angrily ordering Threepio to lower the Falcon's ramp over his comlink. Taking shelter behind the 'hopper with them, Luke waited as Chewie fired his bowcaster and set off the quetta bushes. A moment later, Solo gave the okay, then led their mad dash through the quetta.
They all ignored the droids in the surge to the cockpit, and Solo quipped to Chewie as he lifted the ship skywards, "Let's hope all that noise when we landed was the forest and not us."