NINETEEN

Interrogation cells were the same the galaxy over: dark, cramped, and stark, usually too hot or too cold. The interrogator usually had a breathing problem, some wheeze or rasp or even an artificial respirator that suggested he had been cuffed to a chair a time or two himself. This interrogator, a blue-skinned Chiss in the black uniform of a Defense Fleet commander, spoke with a wet snort. It was probably caused by the old wound above his black eye patch, a thumb-sized dent deep enough to have collapsed his sinus cavities.

As the officer approached, Leia’s nostrils filled with the harsh stench of charric fumes—probably what passed for deodorant aboard a Chiss Star Destroyer. He stopped a meter and a half from her chair, running his good eye over her as though contemplating what a Jedi woman looked like beneath her robes. Leia pretended not to notice. The “undressing” was an old interrogator’s trick, designed to make a prisoner feel more powerless than she really was. Leia had endured such scrutiny more times than she wanted to remember—and that applied especially to the time the interrogator had been Darth Vader.

Finally, the interrogator met her gaze and said, “You’re awake. Good.”

“I’m glad one of us thinks that’s good,” Leia said. “Frankly, I would’ve preferred to sleep until my head stops hurting.”

The interrogator’s red eye glimmered as he filed this tidbit away for future use. Again, Leia pretended not to notice. She intended to lay a trail of such tidbits for him…a trail that would lead straight to the identity of the person who had betrayed their mission.

“Yes…the knockout gas.” The interrogator’s impediment caused him to pronounce gas as khas. “After the trouble we had taking Jedi Lowbacca into custody, we felt it necessary to be prudent with you and Master Sebatyne.”

“You could have asked politely.”

The interrogator offered her a thin smile. “We did. You destroyed two of our clawcraft.”

Leia shrugged. “There was a little misunderstanding.”

“Is that what you call it?” His voice remained steady, but there was an angry heat to it. “Then perhaps we should make certain there are no more misunderstandings.”

He stepped back and gestured toward a sizable display screen hanging in the corner. On cue, an image appeared, showing Han cuffed into a chair similar to Leia’s. Another Chiss officer, younger than the one in Leia’s cell but with a harder blue face, stood next to Han. On a nearby table lay an array of nerve probes, laser scalpels, and electrical clips—a virtual smorgasbord of torture.

Leia gasped, her heart suddenly hammering hard. She turned to her interrogator, struggling to regain her composure. “Captain Fel promised there would be no torture.”

“If you surrendered.” A wet rumble sounded from the back of the interrogator’s mouth as he inhaled. “Instead, you continued your attempts to escape until he trapped you against the Shattered Moon.”

“A Chiss is going to hide behind a technicality?”

Leia knew that the contempt in her voice only confirmed to the interrogator that he had found his leverage, but she could not help herself. After discovering that the moon cluster was filled with Killiks, she had been the one who argued against making a run for the planet. With a faulty control system and Zark Squadron and two Star Destroyers ready to blast the Falcon to space dust, it had just seemed wiser to surrender and escape later. Now she wasn’t so sure. To be willing to break promises and threaten torture, the Chiss had to be in desperate circumstances—and a desperate foe was the most dangerous kind.

The interrogator remained silent, giving Leia’s emotions time to build, trying to move her from fear to anger to hopelessness as quickly as possible.

But Leia had already regained control of her feelings and hid her fear behind a cool voice. “I see I’ll have to revise my opinion of the Ascendancy.”

The interrogator spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “That is entirely up to you…as is your husband’s fate.”

On screen, the young officer picked up a laser scalpel and activated the blade. Han responded with a sneer, but Leia could see the fear beneath his show of disdain. The officer brought the blade close to Han’s eye, then made a very precise serpentine cut down Han’s cheek—just proving that there were no rules for this interrogation. The letter S appeared in faint crimson, and blood began to dribble down Han’s face.

Han held his sneer, not even flinching. “I can only get prettier.”

Please, Han, don’t provoke him, Leia urged silently.

“It’s just a scratch,” the interrogator said. “As long as you cooperate, it’s the worst your husband will suffer. But if you refuse, my protégé will be required to demonstrate his skills.”

A surge of hatred rose inside Leia, and she had the sudden urge to show this little man who was really in control here, to reach out with the Force and squeeze his throat shut. Instead, she swallowed her anger and settled for narrowing her eyes.

“This may surprise you, but I’m willing to tell you whatever you wish to know.” She turned toward the hidden vidcam she sensed to one side of the display screen. “You’re already aware of the Falcon’s mission, and the Jedi have nothing else to hide.”

The interrogator followed her gaze and smiled. “Impressive. Others might guess that a cam exists, but not its precise position. I’m sure you have many such talents, Jedi Solo.” His smile faded abruptly, and he leaned in close, breathing fetid air in her face. “But I must warn you against using those talents to escape. Regardless of whether you succeeded, your husband will be in no condition to join you.”

He glanced at display screen again. When Leia looked, the cam panned back. Behind Han stood two Chiss guards, their charric pistols pointed at his head. Leia took this in, her hatred of the interrogator now growing to include his superiors and all the others whom she knew were watching, and she expanded her Force-awareness around her.

As expected, she felt two Chiss guards standing behind her, as well. But she also felt a more familiar pair of presences lurking above and behind the guards, approximately where a ventilation duct might be. Cakhmaim and Meewalh had escaped custody—or, more likely, they had never been captured in the first place.

Leia turned her attention back to the interrogator.

“I don’t appreciate your threats,” she said. It was a code phrase that would alert the Noghri to the fact that she was about to give an order. “But threats are sometimes effective. While Master Sebatyne and I can take care of ourselves, I would be very unhappy if any harm were to come to Han or the other members of our crew.”

The interrogator frowned, confused by what seemed only an indirect response to his warning. “If you are asking for a guarantee of their safety—”

“I’m not asking anything, Commander…” Leia paused, waiting for the interrogator’s name to rise higher in his thoughts. “…Baltke. I’m telling you that whatever happens to Han and the others, I’m going to do the same to you.” She turned to the hidden vidcam. “And to you.”

The tightening of Baltke’s lips was barely perceptible, but Leia knew that his superiors would point it out to him later as the moment he had lost control of the interrogation. For now, however, he seemed to believe he was still in charge. He spent a moment trying to stare Leia down—snorting softly with each breath—and she felt the Noghri withdrawing to carry out her instructions.

Finally, Baltke stepped to Leia’s side and extended a hand toward one of the guards behind her. The hand returned holding a hypoinjector.

“Don’t be afraid, Princess.” Baltke pulled up the sleeve of her robe and reached down to press the hypo to her forearm. “This is only something to help you relax…and assure that the answers we receive from you are true.”

“Oh, I’m not afraid, Commander.”

Leia created a loud Force-thunk in the corner behind her, then used the Force to redirect the hypo into Baltke’s thigh and depress the injector. He gave a startled cry and pulled the hypo away so quickly that even Leia barely saw what had happened. Given that the vidcam’s view had been partially obscured by the commander’s back, she hoped the monitors in the control room had not seen it at all.

“Commander?” asked one of the guards behind her. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Leia said reassuringly. Normally, she could influence only weak minds with the Force—but the drug was designed to make minds weak. She just hoped that it was fast. “I flinched, and Commander Baltke nearly injected himself instead of me.”

Baltke frowned and looked at the hypo in his hand.

“Commander?” the second guard asked.

“She flinched.” He passed the hypo back to the guard. “I nearly injected myself.”

Leia let out a long breath. “The drug must be working, Commander. I’m feeling more relaxed already.”

“Good. Slo am I.” Baltke’s slur was barely perceptible, but it was there. He stepped back in front of Leia, wobbling slightly. “I think we’re ready to begin.”

“There’s no need to stand, Commander,” Leia suggested. “Sit down and make yourself comfortable. You’re going to find me very cooperative.”

“She’s going to cooperate.” Baltke looked to one of the guards. “Bring me a chair.”

Leia felt a growing wave of concern from the two guards, and she did not hear either of them move to obey.

“Forgive me for inshruding.” Leia slurred her words to reinforce the impression that she was not fully under control. “But washn’t that an order?”

“That’s not for you to say, prisoner,” the guard retorted.

“ ’S not my fault,” Leia retorted. “I’m not the one who injected me with a truth drug.”

“That was indeed an order,” Baltke scowled at the guards. “Do I have to vocode it?”

“No, sir.”

The door whirred opened, and a moment later a black-uniformed guard placed a chair behind Baltke.

“Thank you.”

Baltke sat down and studied Leia, snorting softly, his brow furrowed as though he was having trouble remembering what he wanted to ask her. She was going to have to work fast. It would not be long before his superiors realized something was wrong and relieved him.

“I imagine you want to know what the Jedi’s plans are,” Leia prompted.

Baltke shook his head. “Already know ’em.”

Leia frowned. “You do?”

“Aaaaffirmative.” He nodded for emphasis. “We want to know why.”

“Why what?”

“Why the Jedi are forcing the Galactic Alliance to side with the Colony against us.”

“We’re not,” Leia said.

Baltke snorted sadly, then twisted around to look up toward the display screen in the corner. He clicked the comm unit on his lapel. “She’s lying. Cut something off this time.”

The officer in the vidimage smiled. Then he activated his laser scalpel and pressed the tip to the base of Han’s ear.

“I’m not lying.” Leia put the Force behind her words. “It’s the truth.”

“The truth?” Baltke seemed confused, and Leia realized that the belief she was fighting was deeply ingrained. “But the Killiks ambushed us with a brand-new Alliance Star Destroyer at Snevu!”

“Yes, I know,” Leia said. “It was the Admiral Ackbar. The Killiks captured her in the Murgo Choke. That was shortly before Admiral Bwua’tu prevented the Colony’s battle fleet from leaving the Utegetu Nebula.”

“The Killiks? Capturing an Alliance Star Destroyer?” Baltke was clearly having trouble believing this, even under the influence of the mind-weakening drug. “That doesn’t seem very likely, Princess.”

The officer in the display began to cut into the skin around Han’s ear, prompting Han to clench his teeth and tense against his restraints. His head—wisely—remained still.

“You stupid rodder!” Leia yelled. It required all her willpower to keep from Force-choking Baltke to death, but she held herself in restraint. The Noghri had not yet reached Han, or what she was seeing would not be happening. “I saw it with my own eyes. I was there!”

“You were there?” Baltke continued to watch the display screen, his face blank and disinterested, as though he saw someone’s ear get detached in slow motion every day. “I’m sure that’s why the capture looked so convincing in news-holo footage.”

Leia groaned. “Look, I’m never going to convince you that it wasn’t staged.” She could not take her eyes off Han’s anguished face. “So why don’t you stop cutting and ask your source?”

“Our source?”

“The person who told you about the Falcon’s mission!” Leia said. Whoever that was, he—or she—was also going to pay for what Han was suffering now—assuming Leia could trick Baltke into revealing the traitor’s identity. “You clearly have good reason to trust your source.”

“An excellent suggestion.” Baltke nodded a little too enthusiastically. “I’ll pass it along to Commander Fel.”

“Maybe you should stop torturing Han until you can confirm my answer.” Leia used the Force again, trying to make Baltke think that was a good idea. “I am telling the truth.”

Balkte stood and pressed his comlink. “Wait.”

Han’s torturer glanced over his shoulder, then stopped, the laser scalpel still held to Han’s ear.

Leia exhaled in relief. “Thank you,” she said. “By the time you get a message to Coruscant, there wouldn’t have been enough left of him to—”

“Coruscant?” Baltke asked, looking confused.

“That is where your source is, isn’t it?” Leia focused all her attention on Baltke, alert to any hint of deception…in his face or in the Force. “Or is he with the fleet?”

“You’d have to ask Captain Fel.” Baltke’s tone was helpful, as though he really believed Jagged might tell them. “He’s the only one who knows who the source is.”

Baltke cocked his head and frowned, no doubt listening to instructions over a hidden earpiece, and Leia tried not to choke on the growing lump of disappointment in her throat. Even if Baltke was somehow defeating his own truth drug, there was no hint of deception in either his face or the Force. As far as he knew, Jagged Fel was the only person who knew the identity of the mission’s betrayer.

Baltke’s face turned a lighter shade of blue. “You’re very clever, Princess—but cleverness carries a price.” He depressed his comlink again. “Finish it.”

The officer resumed cutting, removing Han’s ear, then stepped back with the appendage pinched between his thumb and forefinger. Han’s mouth opened in a roar, and he shook his head, spraying a line of blood across the man’s blue face. Leia grew so angry and sick inside that she had to fight to keep from retching.

“I hope you remember my warning, Commander!” Leia snarled. “Because I certainly do.”

“Of course,” Baltke replied pleasantly. “And I hope you remember what will happen if you attempt anything so foolish.” Again, the display screen showed the two guards pointing their charric pistols at the back of Han’s head. “Now perhaps we should discuss your daughter’s activities.”

“There’s no point—you know more than I do,” Leia said. She was still in shock from what she had just seen. The Chiss were tough, cunning soldiers, but she had not believed they would actually torture a prisoner—especially not when one of their command officers had promised otherwise. Of course, the fact that Jagged had felt it necessary to make such a promise suggested that Leia was being a bit naïve. “But I’m sure you won’t believe that, either.”

Baltke looked confused. “I want to believe you, Princess. Just tell us why she is leading the Killik ground swarm.”

“How do I know?” Leia snapped. “Because she’s a Joiner.”

Baltke snorted loudly and cocked his head, and Leia began to regain control of herself, to realize that she was not going to help Han or the Jedi by allowing her fear and frustration to control her. She turned toward the hidden vidcam.

“And even if Jaina wasn’t a Joiner,” Leia said slowly, “the Jedi can’t condone speciecide. We’re all opposed to what you’re doing here. Any help we’re giving to the Killiks—that’s the reason.” She glanced toward the display, and when the officer remained standing next to Han’s bleeding figure, she added, “All the Jedi are trying to do is end the war.”

“By defeating us,” Baltke retorted.

Leia shook her head. “No—by destroying the Colony and restoring the Killiks to their prior state of disorganized nests.”

Balkte scoffed. “Perhaps you and Captain Solo are not getting along these days.” He glanced toward Han’s bleeding image. “Perhaps that is why you keep lying.”

Leia used the Force again. “I…am…not…lying.”

“You aren’t lying?” Even under the power of a mind influence, Baltke sounded unconvinced. “Then the Jedi are fools. What you suggest can’t be done.”

“We think it can.” Leia turned to the vidcam again. “You asked why the Jedi are opposing you. Let me explain.”

The floor and interrogation chair began to shudder with a sudden acceleration tremor. Baltke furrowed his dented brow and remained silent for a moment, listening to his earpiece and snorting softly every time he inhaled. The Force became charged with anticipation…and with a strange, stoic fatalism.

Leia waited until Baltke’s attention returned, then asked, “Something wrong?”

“Not at all,” he said smugly. “Everything is going quite well, as a matter of fact.”

Leia sensed no deception in his answer. “Then how come you’re so ready to die?”

Baltke’s eye widened in surprise, but he said, “Because I am a soldier, Princess Leia.” He returned to his seat and gestured for her to continue. “But please don’t waste our time with more lies. Our session will soon be cut short.”

“Very well,” Leia said. The vessel continued to tremble, suggesting they were accelerating into battle. “You already know what the Falcon’s mission was.”

“Yes. Your assignment was to rendezvous with your daughter and her mindmate.” Baltke was speaking a bit rapidly now, the truth drug and the excitement of the coming battle serving to agitate him. “Then you were to enter Chiss space and attempt to infiltrate our command and control centers with teams of Killik commandos.”

“Not quite,” Leia said. “Actually, the plan was to attack only one center, using a variation on the same tactic the Killiks used to capture the Admiral Ackbar.”

Baltke arched the brow above his red eye, then asked in an interested voice, “Really?”

“The idea was to get the Falcon captured,” Leia explained. “While you were interrogating us, a swarm of Killik commandos—they’re about the size of your thumb—would be sneaking out of the Falcon’s smuggling compartments to infest your facility and take control at an opportune moment.”

As Leia explained this, Baltke frowned and pressed a finger to his earpiece without seeming to realize he was doing it.

“Don’t worry—your vessel is safe,” Leia said. “That part of our plan relied on winning Jaina’s cooperation. Since we haven’t rendezvoused with her, we haven’t picked up any Killiks yet.”

“You’ll understand if we want to check for ourselves.”

“Go ahead,” Leia said. “If you give me a comlink, I’ll instruct See-Threepio to show you how to open the compartments.”

Baltke started to reach for his comlink, then seemed to catch himself and smiled.

“Nice try, Princess.” He glanced at one of the guards behind her. “Bring a vocoder. We’ll have her record the message.”

The guard acknowledged the order, and the door whirred open behind Leia. A moment later the vessel began to buck and shudder more noticeably.

“We’re entering the atmosphere!”

“So it seems,” Baltke replied calmly. “We’re still confused about this plan of yours. How did you expect capturing one of our command and control centers to destroy the Colony?”

“We didn’t,” Leia said. “That was just to get your attention. Luke is destroying the Colony himself.”

“Now I know you’re a fool,” he said. “How could one Jedi do that?”

“By destroying the Dark Nest and its Unseen Queen,” Leia said. “That should be completed by now.”

“You tried that at Qoribu,” Baltke pointed out. “You failed miserably.”

“This time, we’re better prepared,” Leia said. “Our scientists have developed a few weapons to disrupt the Killiks’ collective mind—and we have an Alliance attack fleet to support us.”

Baltke’s voice grew derisive. “And once the Dark Nest is gone, you think the Killiks will become ‘good bugs’ again?”

“Not at all,” Leia said. “That’s only the first part of Luke’s plan. He should be arriving here very soon to complete the second.”

“Which is?”

“Destroying Unu and removing Raynar Thul from his role as the Colony’s leader,” Leia said. “It may take a little time, but our scientists are certain that once Raynar is no longer able to control the nests by exerting his Will through the Force, the Colony will grow disorganized and enter a self-regulating cycle again. Then it won’t be a threat to anyone.”

“An interesting theory,” Baltke said. They began to buck harder than ever, and the cell began to grow warm—an indication that they were descending so fast that the vessel was having trouble dissipating the heat of atmospheric friction. “What exactly do you mean when you say ‘remove’ Raynar Thul?”

“Whatever it takes,” Leia said. “Luke has never liked the idea of a Jedi leading any government, and this is a good example of why.”

“So you’re going to assassinate him?” Baltke asked.

“That’s one possibility, but I don’t know what Luke has decided,” Leia said. “I can promise you this, though: Raynar Thul is a Jedi problem, and we’ll do whatever it takes to fix it.”

Baltke considered all this for a moment, then said, “It does sound plausible.” He stood, shaking his head and turning to the display screen. “But I can see we’re going to have to cut something else off your husband.”

“What?”

The display screen showed a Chiss medic bandaging Han’s ear—and, by the looks of it, enduring the cussing-out of his life.

“Your story doesn’t hold together,” Baltke told Leia. “Attacking one of our command centers contributes nothing to this plan.”

“That’s because the Jedi don’t see the Chiss as an enemy,” Leia said. “Luke never wanted to cause the Ascendancy harm—only to make a point.”

“Is that so?” Baltke asked. “I’m afraid we fail to see it.”

The lights flickered as the vessel began to fire its heavy weapons. Leia checked the display screen again, wondering why Han was still there. The Noghri should have had him free by now.

She turned her attention back to Baltke. “The point was to show that the Killiks are capable of infiltrating even your most secure facilities. The Alliance learned that the hard way with the Ackbar. The Killiks stole it right out from under the nose of our best fleet admiral.”

“Bwua’tu might be your best,” Baltke said. “But I can assure you that no Chiss admiral would make such a mistake—if, indeed, it was a mistake.”

“I don’t think you’re very sure of that,” Leia said. In the display screen, the medic stepped away and made some sort of joke that caused Han’s tormenter to laugh. “If you were, you wouldn’t have been so curious when I described the Falcon’s mission.”

“Merely being prudent,” Baltke countered. “An abundance of caution is never wasted.”

“If you really believe in caution, then you’ll think about what I’m telling you,” Leia said. “Killiks can sneak into anyplace. They’re insects. All they have to do is lay eggs in a few wounded soldiers and let you take them home aboard a medical frigate, and a whole base will be infiltrated. Or they could stow away in a returning supply freighter and then infest an entire planet. Before you know it, your whole society will be swarming with Killiks—and I don’t have to tell you what that means. You’ll become an empire of Joiners.”

“And the Jedi think we would be better off letting the Colony mass nests on our border until they are ready to attack?”

“We think the Chiss would be better off ending the war our way,” Leia said. “You’ll never win the war your way. It’s not possible to wipe out the Killiks. They were building nest cities on Alderaan twenty thousand years before the Chiss empire was born, and they’ll be building nest cities on your frontier twenty thousand centuries after it’s gone.”

A confident smirk flashed across Baltke’s face, and Leia felt something disturbing in the Force—something cold and menacing and final. Deciding to give up on the Noghri, Leia reached out to Saba, concentrating on the bloody image of Han in the display screen, allowing her alarm to flood her thoughts.

Saba’s emotions were oddly reassuring—at least for a Barabel—and Leia received the distinct impression that Han was safe. Unfortunately, Leia was not assured.

Baltke cocked his head again and briefly turned toward the hidden vidcam, then faced Leia. “I’ll pass your warning on to my superiors.” He started toward the door. “But now I’m afraid I must be off to my duty station. We’ll be expecting casualties soon.”

“You’re a medic?” Leia could not conceal her surprise.

“A battle surgeon, to be precise.” Baltke removed his eye patch, revealing a perfectly sound organ underneath, and started toward the door. “Interrogations are a secondary duty.”

“Wait!” Leia commanded.

Baltke stopped—clearly in spite of himself. He glared at her angrily.

“When I told you the Killiks would outlast the Ascendancy, you smirked,” Leia said. “Tell me why.”

“What are you doing? Using a Jedi mind trick?” Baltke demanded. “It will be your fault if I have to hurt Captain Solo again.”

Leia glanced at the display screen and saw that the medic was still standing next to Han, laughing with the torturer. Something did not make sense. Saba had clearly meant to reassure her about Han, and yet Leia could see that he had not yet been rescued—in fact, that he did not even look close to being rescued.

The remaining guard started to step forward behind Leia. She grabbed him in the Force, then hurled him into the corner with the vidcam. He hit headfirst with a loud thunk, then dropped to the floor and did not move.

Leia looked back to Baltke and put the power of the Force into her voice. “Why do you think the Killiks can’t win?”

Baltke’s face twisted into a mask of resistance, but the truth drug made it impossible for him to lie.

“Because we have developed our own solution to the Killik problem,” he said. “And our plan will work.”

He tried to go to the door again, but Leia Force-shoved him up against the wall. “What kind of solution?”

“A p-permanent one.” Baltke cast a longing look toward the display screen, then said, “It’s not too late to save your husband. Just release me.”

“Han’s going to be just fine.” Leia used the Force to begin working the locks of the cuffs holding her in the chair. “You, on the other hand, are in trouble—or have you forgotten what I said about anything that happened to Han?”

“I remember.”

“Good.” The first cuff came loose. “You might want to be a little more informative about this ‘permanent solution.’ ”

Baltke shook his head, but he could not resist the power of his own drug. “P-p-parasites.”

“Parasites?” Leia asked. The second cuff came undone. “You’re going to infect them with parasites?”

Baltke nodded. “Any minute now,” he said. “After the Killiks spring their trap.”

“Trap?”

“You know,” he said. “Isn’t that why you turned back from the Shattered Moon?”

Leia’s jaw fell. “You know about the Killiks hiding there?”

“We suspected.” Baltke seemed almost proud. “We’re counting on them to ambush us.”

“I don’t understand.” Leia stretched her hand toward the unconscious guard and summoned his charric pistol to hand. “Counting on their ambush for what?”

A low boom rolled out of the air vent behind Leia, and the whole room rocked.

“To deliver a resounding defeat to us,” Baltke said.

Leia understood the rest of the Chiss plan. “And tomorrow, all of the nests will have a huge victory dance.”

“That’s right,” Baltke said. “The Killiks aren’t the only ones who can play the infestation game.”

“How long?” Leia asked. When Baltke did not answer, she asked again, this time using the Force. “How long?”

“We’ll have to keep fighting for a while,” Baltke answered. “The parasite won’t be fatal for a year.”

“And by then, it will have spread throughout the whole Colony.”

Baltke smiled. “You see? We can win the war our way.”

“Are you mad?” Leia cried. “That’s speciecide!”

She used the Force to open her ankle restraints—then heard the cell door whirring open behind her. Thinking the other guard had returned with the vocoder Baltke had requested—or the officers watching from the control room had sent reinforcements—she threw herself out of the chair and rolled across the floor, then spun around, brought her captured charric pistol around…and found herself pointing it at the handsome face of her favorite scoundrel.

“Han?”

“Whoa—take it easy, Princess!” Han raised his hands. “I know I’m late, we had to take care of the control room first.”

“I don’t care!” Leia cried, recovering from her shock. She threw herself into Han’s arms, barely noticing as Cakhmaim and Meewalh slipped past to take control of Baltke and the unconscious guard. Then she reached up and touched his ears. “They’re both there!”

“Honey, are you okay?” Han moved her back from him and studied her with a concerned look—until he noticed the display screen in the corner, which continued to show the medic and the torturer standing beside Han’s bloody head. “Hey! That poor rodder looks like me!”