Chapter Four: A Heroine's Demise
Janice immediately cried out. A dark, masked figure stood at the entrance of the hallway. His manner was reminiscent of Darth Vader, but he was certainly not of that sort.
He had just thrown something at Janice. From the sound of the device, Janice figured it was a sticky bomb. She grabbed at it and tried to reach it, but she couldn't. It was small and thin and stuck at the center of her back.
The CoCaptain panicked. She rarely panicked, but she was in a state of alarm. What could she do?
Hesitating momentarily, she noticed Luke starting to move slightly. Wondering if this was just her imagination, she continued to pull him toward the exit.
Toward the dark figure.
"Your effort is valiant, but futile."
The deep voice echoed through the corridor walls. It had come from the masked man.
Janice did not speak. The mere sound of a voice like that had set her off. The thundering of the storming guards faded away. The courage she gained from her effort for Luke died down. Now, it seemed she was alone in a cage with the evil form.
Regaining her senses and plucking up a stash of courage, Janice talked back.
"Who are you?"
The man laughed scornfully. He was obviously humanoid; most likely, Amrandian.
"I am a man of many things, child."
"Get out of my way," ordered Janice, a waver in her voice giving her fear away as she stood her ground before the exit.
"Not likely. You see, child, that device connected to you is about to, er, let me put it this way: turn off your nervous system. As soon as I press this button" he holds up a remote "it will implant a needle in your spine and tell your brain to shut down."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" yelled a voice from behind him. It was Han Solo, pointing at him a blaster that was firing away.
The masked Amrandian didn't budge except to laugh and press the button on the remote anyway.
"NO!" Janice screamed shrilly. She crumpled to the ground at the feet of the Amrandian, who thought it quite funny.
Outside, Junior CoCaptain Rosalee grew wary and somewhat impatient.
"This is so boring. Can't we go inside and help them?"
R2 beeped, but Chewie didn't think it was such a good idea. Or maybe he did?
Rosie grunted. "Oh, I remember. There's no one here that can speak plain English."
C-3PO, who had been standing quietly next to the other robot, immediately started. "Actually—" he began to say. But with a smirk from the Jr. CoCap, he knew she was just teasing him again. So he sat back down.
Rustling from the brush alarmed all four suddenly.
Rosalee had her hand on her hilt. It was Starship 2000 protocol to always carry a hand weapon.
R2 beeped and C-3PO quickly spoke. "It is only Han Solo."
Rest assured, the expected arrival appeared, panting and carrying no weapon.
"Janice and Luke" he gulped for air "are captured. I escaped after—"
"Janice and Luke?" spoke Rosalee, quickly at attention. "This can't be happening. How could Luke get captured? He's a JEDI for crying out loud!"
Han just panted. They both knew there was simply nothing to be done.
R2 beeped comforting and slowly to Rosie.
"Now, Captain! See your sister now!" laughed the dark man evilly. Amarav was tied to a post by a glowing blue rope. CoCapJanice was lying on the floor in front of her, looking as dead as ever.
"You'll never get away with this, Sean! I'll have YOUR hands tied behind your back when Luke Skywalker shows up!"
"Hahahahahahaha! No, but I have him too!" cried the man, swinging up a green lightsaber into the air.
Amarav frightenedly looked to a metal door slide open and a cage with the Jedi inside, frozen, as if in ice.
"No! This can't be!" she whimpered.
"You've forgotten that your sister has not any superpowers— unlike yourself," he said, most sinisterly, lifting his mask to reveal a young man, with dark hair and eyes, and a surprisingly handsome appearance overall.
Luke became mobile with a startled jerk. As soon as the sudden realization of muscle control returned to him, he held up his hand to grab the lightsaber from Sean, using the force. Successfully, he pulled it into his hand and slit the cage.
"Yes, but have YOU forgotten that I DO?" he hollered, his young voice breaking through the evil spell cast about the room.
"Skywalker! You have no business with me! I am Sean Underwood, the prince of Enstacia!"
"Back away from her!" he yelled, walking nearer and pointing at Amarav.
"And why should I? I have both the power to stun you and to put you to sleep," replied the prince, without the slightest trace of fear in his voice. "She is mine now, and, if you would like to live, why don't you walk on home to your own planet, while I enjoy mine?"
"This is not your planet! Enstacia is your planet!" retorted Skywalker, tossing his lightsaber at Amarav. She cried out in fear, but it only slit her bonds. She quickly rose into the air and blasted Sean Underwood with blue energy balls from her hands. He fell, unconscious, as if he'd just been hit with a bolt of lightning.
"Thanks," said Captain Amarav.
Luke smiled and saluted her as he bent down to retrieve his lightsaber. "You're the Captain."
She smiled back. But then she saw him look pitifully at her sister, still asleep in a cage, helplessly unable to wake herself up.
"I can handle that," said the Captain, floating over to the seemingly unconscious Sean and descending to the ground. She ruffled her hands into his black cape pockets and quickly produced a remote. Studying it a moment, she found she could not read anything on it.
"Luke, the buttons are labeled in another language. I can't read a word of it."
Luke looked disappointed. He strode cautiously over to her and held out his hand. "Let me see it," he said, but doubtfully. When she gave it to him he only wrinkled his brows and frowned at the device.
"There's so many buttons," said Amarav in an annoyed tone.
"Mm. Nothing we can do. I'm sorry, Amarav," said Luke, with some sympathy. "Let's just get her out of here. Now..."
"I can handle that," said the Captain, raising a finger. She floated over to her sister and bent the bars of the cage enough to slip her out. Then she picked her up and examined her. "Where's her lightsaber?"
Luke stopped studying the remote a moment and looked up. "Her lightsaber... she dropped it in the hallway when he put her to sleep. We should go—"
"Yeah, I know," Amarav replied, unwilling to stay any longer in this torture chamber. She grabbed Luke by the back of his shirt collar as if she was grabbing a kitten by its nape. Then she flew speedily out of the room and into the hallway. A dozen guards pointed freeze guns at them when she stopped to scan the area.
"There it is!" both Luke and Amarav cried at the same time. The pronoun they used could have referred to either the lightsaber or the exit.
Amarav flew past the guards and scooped up the flickering blue lightsaber as she swooshed through the exit.