A Matter of Commitment
story and art by Dani
PART 4
PART 6 PART 7
After shunting out the business records, Leia used the command code to get at the subprograms. The screen was blank. It had been erased. All of it. Whatever vital information Emil had obtained, it was gone with Sonel himself. Leia knew that it would be useless to search the place for discs or printouts for the Empire's agents had probably been over the place with an ultra-fine sensor anyway. Pulling open a closet and finding it empty made her realize that maybe the location had been discovered but Emil had escaped. She looked into other drawers and chests. Not all were empty but enough so that it looked as if someone had packed up a considerable amount of his belongings, as if for a long trip. Her eyes rested briefly upon an old-fashioned two-dimensional print of a woman and a child.
Threepio heard the clatter of many armored humans rapidly approaching his position. He poked his gleaming metal skull out from between two empty vendor's stalls and saw two squads of white-clad stormtroopers making for the mouth of the alley.
"Oh no!" he exclaimed. He spoke quickly into the comlink. "Mistress Leia! There are two squads of stormtroopers heading in your direction." He watched as they split up, one group into the alley, and the other going on to cover the front. "The front way is your best chance!" he added.
"Thanks, Threepio!" she replied. "Now get to the speeder!"
"Oh, dear!" Threepio muttered as he threaded his way through the curious beings that were gathering to observe. "Oh, my!"
Leia ran up the stairs but she glimpsed white armor outside the front door already. "Damn!" She looked frantically from side to side. A ventilation grille caught her eye. She unsubtly blasted it open, and she was crawling through as the front door to Emil's burst inward. The anti-theft alarm blared.
Leia found herself in the cafe next door. She ran to the front and blasted the window wide open and another alarm added its wail to the din at Emil's. She jumped out into the street, twisting in air as she did, and fired on the troopers who hadn't quite made it inside the second-hand store. Then she was off and running. While the gawking passers-by were a hindrance to her, they also impeded the pursuing Imperial drones. They fired at her, but to avoid the innocents, the shots were high and flashed over Leia's head. Sensibly, beings began to get out of the way. She rounded a corner at full speed and saw her speeder approaching with Threepio at the stick. Leia hastily changed her mind about the droid's value as a backup. She threw herself into the back seat as Threepio braked. "Full thrust!" she gasped.
"But the velocity limits...!" Threepio protested as he caught sight of the stormtroopers rounding the corner and raising their two-handed blaster to fire. Leia rolled her eyes in exasperation and stuck her foot through the two front seats, kicking the droid's metal hand and the throttle all the way forward. The speeder rocketed past the squad and through a barrage of startled fire.
Once out of sight, Leia took the grip and piloted the craft back to the address on its registration. After some contrived, if hurried, flirting, she managed to get Han's deposit back and she rushed Threepio onto a hoverbus. They rode for a while in tense silence, eyes peeled for any sign of pursuit or suspicious Imperials. They disembarked in front of another vehicle leasing dealer and within another timepart they were making their cautious, roundabout return to the harbor in a totally different type of ground craft. Leia had Threepio record as she drove.
"Early morning, day two," she began. "There is no doubt that the Empire's agents have discovered Emil's base, but whether or not they have him in custody is still unknown to me. I broke into his store and found it to be monitored by a motion-activated surveillance device. The computer banks were wiped clean, although if that was Emil's doing, I cannot say. I suspect it was for it appeared that Emil was aware of his danger and had prepared to flee. It looked as if he had packed and took a great many of his possessions with him.
"I also noticed a two-dimensional photo of a woman and child. If Emil had a family, and I am sure he did for I saw a child's bed, he kept it from us. And if he sent them away and out of danger only to be captured himself...well, this is only speculation. Maybe, if he is still in the city, I will be able to contact him through our senior native operative. In any case, she should be able to shed some light on this puzzling matter. I am not sure how soon I shall be able to attempt contact with her, though. I am afraid that my escape from Emil's attracted quite a bit of attention and the Imperials just might know who they are looking for. Recognition is always a risk for me, but if the motion sensor got a clear transmission of my face before I jammed its signal, then even those local Port Security officers who have never even heard the name of Organa will be on the alert and looking for me. I will have to view a newstape this morning and check for any mention of my activities last night. Out."
They glided along the harbor. The water was catching and reflecting the rays of the rising star. The sky was lightening to a silvery blue as Leia parked the speeder.
Captain Medon Krahar was replaying the holo recording for what seemed like the fiftieth time. There was no doubt that the rebel was a short humanoid female, but she was wearing a hooded cloak that obscured her features.
Krahar observed as she stepped quickly into the room, her lines becoming clearer and more distinct the farther she'd go. Then she'd stop suddenly, jab at some instrument that hung at her waist, and the holo broke up. The captain played it once again. He slammed his fist against the table top. He had a feeling that this rebel could be that damn evasive Leia Organa. But the ID wasn't positive. He wanted to do nothing more than to issue a priority alert for her, but he'd be the fool if she didn't turn up on Ord Mantell, or worse yet, showed up simultaneously in some other system. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part for the governors wanted Organa badly. She was more than just a part of Rebel Command. She was a figurehead, a symbol. She had been a champion of causes in the senate, and now she touted that reputation among the dissidents. And if she were within my grasp,Medon thought ambitiously. My grasp!The success of tracking down the computer tap and capturing Emil Sonel and his family as they tried to escape was still a sweet victory in his memory and it fired his desire for yet another.
He came to a decision and strode out of the observation room and down to the detention cells. He passed several guards and then motioned for the Triordian lieutenant to accompany him as he proceeded down the row of cells. They stopped before an anonymous cell. The door slid aside to reveal a man. He was young, about twenty-five, and fair. He looked up at the two officers apprehensively as they stepped into the cell with him.
"We have interrogated your mate," Medon said. "She is not very strong, yet she will not talk."
"I told you! She doesn't know anything!" the young man snapped. "Let them go!"
"Yes, of course," Medon agreed. "When you tell us what we must know." Their prisoner glared at them coldly, silently. Medon nodded as if he had expected this response. "Bring him," he instructed the lieutenant.
They took him to the small room at the end of the row of cells. It was marked Interrogationin bold, fresh lettering. Emil began to prepare his mental defenses to resist them, but his thoughts came undone when the door opened on a terrible sight.
The room had been hastily outfitted with several ominous-looking machines, and strapped to a reclining table was a pitiful, tortured creature. Emil had been questioned but had not, as yet, been threatened with violent actions, so his wife's condition came as a double shock to him. Emil's throat constricted at the sight of Daya's unconscious body. Her head was hanging down upon one thin, white shoulder. The air whistled softly between her cracked and bloody lips. Fresh bruises showed up starkly against unnaturally pale skin. There were wires running away from sensitive parts of her anatomy.
"No!" Emil started forward but was brought up short and dragged back by the husky Triordian. Medon walked coolly over to the table.
"How long have you been tapping our 'puter lines?" he asked quietly. "What did you find before we caught you?"
Emil kept his eyes fixed on the tortured body of his love. He set his mouth in a thin, grim line. Truly, he didn't know. The tap had been discovered before he had broken the code.
"Who is your Alliance contact?"
Still, Emil said nothing. He tried desperately to set up his mental barriers, thinking that it might help to ease his emotional distress, but his will was beginning to fail him. All his heart longed to give in, to save his young wife from any more pain. Deep inside, though, he knew that he'd always run this risk. He had always been prepared for capture, knew that he had endangered the lives of his family by continuing his work for the Alliance. And now that the possibilities had become realities, his training, so deeply imbedded within him kept him silent, kept him from thinking, kept him numb. It made him feel helpless. He struggled to achieve an active resistance.
"So you will not talk, eh?" The Imperial captain pulled Daya's head up by her hair, which was damp with sweat. Her eyes opened dazedly; she stared into nothingness.
What happened then was too horrible for words and would be relived by Sonel every night in his dreams for years to come. He knew that he would hear Daya's scream in the whistle of the wind and his own answering cry echoing throughout the silence of his room when he awoke, drenched by sweat in the dead of night. He would never be able to recall the lovely, laughing eyes that had shone with love and trust--only the empty, sightless eyes that had been blinded by pain and betrayal. Her agony when she finally died was too much for Emil. Something inside snapped and he sank into a combination of despair and relief. He was ready to die. He sagged against the lieutenant.
The lieutenant had watched the torture with a face of stone. He was a good officer, so his face never gave any indication of the thoughts occupying the mind behind it. He knew that the rebellion was a problem for the Empire, but here on Ord Mantell, the war was a distant reality. The outrages being suffered by this young woman brought home to the guard just how big a problem the Empire considered them to be. He wished fervently for her death and the end of his shift. When Emil Sonel's legs gave way, the lieutenant lowered him gently to the floor.
Emil huddled in the corner, sobbing. Tears ran freely from eyes squeezed shut to block out the sight of Daya's lifeless form. Captain Krahar moved to stand over him. "I think you know that I mean business," he stated flatly. "This morning, someone came to your shop. They broke in, and tried to search your computer. Do you know who it was?"
Help!thought Emil. Help that had come too late.Sonel shook his head; his voice came out in a moan. "Nooooo..."
"They don't know where you are, so they will contact the next agent in line. Who is that?"
If Daya had lived, Emil knew that he would have screamed the name to the stars. But now it didn't matter. If silence would speed his own end, then so be it. "I...I can't."
Medon narrowed his eyes and lashed out. "Did you know that we're holding your daughter in the cell next to yours?"
Emil's breath caught in his throat. He looked up, horror plain upon his face. "Oh, no!" he cried. "You can't! You...you wouldn't!" The expression on Krahar's face made it understood that he would indeed. Emil's gut tightened. He had to go on! He couldn't let them hurt his child...all that he had left.
"But she's just a baby! Please..." Emil dropped his head, his shoulders slumped. "I don't know who the Alliance sent. I only know my Triordian contact by a drop box at SPC."
Medon considered this a moment. He knew that a drop box would be difficult to trace. It could be attempted. The chances of getting the next person in the Triordian network seemed rather slim, but it wouldn't matter if he could capture this Alliance spy. He leaned down to Sonel.
"There must be a way for you to arrange a meeting with this rebel. I want her, and you want your daughter. I will give you twenty-four hours to arrange a trade."
Emil couldn't meet Krahar's eye; he just nodded.
"You what?!"
Leia had found Han Solo and Chewbacca sharing a large morning meal with Nida. The older woman, noticing how Leia's eyes had lit up at the sight of food, had gestured for the princess to sit down and join them. Han pushed a platter towards her and asked how she liked the speeder. He didn't seem too pleased with her response: "I said, I leased us another." Leia bit into some warm bread and then looked at Nida. "Mmmm...this is delicious! My compliments to the chef!"
"Why, thank you!" Nida grinned, ignoring the anxious Corellian.
"What about my deposit?" Solo demanded.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I used it for the new speeder."
"And just what the Sith do you know about speeders? What am I getting for my money, huh?" Han really didn't care about the speeder, but he was concerned over the fact that she'd had to ditch the first one. She must've run into some trouble already, but she looked so damn calm!Did it bother him, he wondered, that she hadn't sought his help? That she hadn't needed it?
"Calm down, Han," Nida consoled. "Now I'm sure that this little gal knows her speeders." Leia nodded her appreciation of Nida's support. "And I guess I've got to get moving. The rush hour comes early this time of year." She stood up. "You kids enjoy yourselves, you hear?"
Chewbacca shook a shaggy hand at her and Han mumbled his good-bye. He sat back and studied the princess. She looked up from her food. Han raised his eyebrows, affecting a patience that he didn't feel.
"Well?" Leia asked, her mouth half-full.
"Are you going to tell me about it?"
She shrugged. She knew that she ought to keep Han informed, but she didn't want him to point out all the mistakes that he would surely think she'd made, either. He'd probably want to go along the next time.
"We were spotted," she said simply. "I had to get rid of the speeder." Han frowned. Leia sighed in exasperation. "Look, I leased an excellent model. You can check."
"It's not that!" he muttered.
"Then what is it?"
Han just shook his head. "Forget it." He stood up. Leia noticed that he had changed into a tan vest and pants. Dress clothes. His shirt was rust. It looked new and he wore it open to mid-chest. Leia thought he looked nice, despite the conspicuous blaster. "Look, we're going to get started. Did you have anything to do right now? Somewhere to go?"
During their conversation, Leia had glimpsed the local news broadcast being displayed on a screen behind the bar. No mention of her, nor even of the incident itself, had made the news.
"As a matter of fact, I do." She took a quick sip from Han's unfinished glass and rose.
"Well, can we give you a lift?" His voice was calmer now and his manner more pleasant. Leia thought for a moment, and then nodded. A speeder was so much faster than the bus.
"Let me change first, all right?"
As Han watched her go out the back door, he made an unconscious decision to keep a closer eye on her from that moment on. He took her bag and followed Chewie and Threepio out to see the new speeder.
Boba Fett wandered the streets of Jettee-Fel. If he was enjoying the carnival atmosphere of the convention, he gave no sign. He had no idea of how long Solo was planning on staying dirtside, but he was sure of one thing. The best reason for a smuggler like Solo to be on Ord Mantell at all during the Season was to pick up some kind of illicit cargo. Fett also speculated that Solo might be interested in the Trade Show and the variety of hardware available there. He spent some time cruising the downport bars and odd dens. After finding these places to be nothing more than informational black holes, he made his way to the great pavilions to watch the crowds. Solo might be hard to spot but his Wookiee copilot would stand two heads above most of the spacers who browsed the show. He created an isolated area and waited.
With Chewie at the stick, Leia instructed the Wookiee to take her to the Imperial Currency Exchange building on the outskirts of town. It was slow going; the rising sun had brought with it the crowds and the streets were packed again. Han noticed that Leia seemed fascinated by the dancers, the musicians, and all of the activities the festival provided. Somehow, Han had known that her tastes ran more towards the artsy stuff. He could appreciate some of it himself, but what he really found himself appreciating was the sun on her hair, the flush in her cheeks, and the sparkle in her eyes. She really ought to let go more often,he thought. She was much too lovely to let the hard lines about her mouth and eyes become permanent. Maybe she just needed someone to show her how.
Chewbacca pulled the speeder out onto the causeway where the traffic was faster. Leia was shedding the brown cloak, lest it be recognized from the early morning's narrow escape.
"Are you going to be long?" Solo asked suddenly.
"Long?" she asked back.
"At the Exchange."
"Oh, I'm not sure. I don't think so, though."
Han paused, hoping that she was not going to throw that "working" bit at him again. "When you're done, how about coming with us? There's a lot going on. We could show you around."
The princess opened her mouth to decline, but the unusually earnest expression on Solo's face made her reconsider. "Weeelll..." she affected to muse. "I guess I probably will have some time to kill today..." She seemed to reach a sudden decision. "Chewie, let us off about a kilometer from the Exchange, please." Looking back to Han, she added, "Give me, oh, about one timepart, then I'll met you back here, okay?"
Han nodded. He climbed into the front seat with Chewie as Leia and her droid departed on foot. By previous agreement, Threepio moved quite a bit ahead of Leia. It made it seem as if she were walking all alone. Han didn't like that at all.
E Rafiel was the senior native rebel agent on Ord Mantell. She was unusually young for a permanent position of that sort, having come into it through her father's involvement with the Alliance. At the age of twenty-two, she was head of the Investment Department of the ICE and privy to sensitive information on many high-ranking Imperial officials. She also had some influence in the investment policies practiced by the Exchange and, therefore, was of some help in channeling funds into companies that were covertly supporting the rebels.
Leia Organa approached the desk in the lobby; it was occupied by an android designed to appear human and pleasing to most other species as well. It raised its plain pink face and scanned her. "A pleasant morning!" it purred. "I am CLA Ninety. You may call me Celia. How may I serve you?"
"Good morning, Celia," Leia returned. "I am Fern Rafiel. I'm on an unexpected stopover here on Ord Mantell, and I had hoped to visit my cousin, E Rafiel. Is she here?"
The android automatically tilted its head in a condescending gesture. "I'm sorry, but personal business may not be conducted during on-duty hours."
Leia hoped it could accurately scan her expression as she smiled apologetically. "Of course. May I leave her a message? To be delivered during a break? I'd feel awful if I missed her."
The droid hummed for a moment. "That arrangement will be satisfactory. Please begin when you hear the beep."
At the tone, Leia left her alias, which was actually a code word, and a request to meet at the time and place of E Rafiel's convenience. Leia noted that she would call back in the afternoon for E's response. As she left the building, Leia was satisfied that E was still employed at the Exchange and she knew that if her reply contained the corresponding code word, then her cover was still intact.
Leia found Threepio suffering the antics of several playful children, and greatly relieved to see her. The two of them managed to discourage the youngsters and they headed for their meeting with Solo and Chewbacca.
H an Solo and his Wookiee partner were involved in a mechanical demonstration of a radical new emergency landing device. Installed in the bridge or cockpit of a ship, it would activate upon sensing an imminent crash and seal the cabin and gas the occupants. The beings would supposedly stay in suspended animation, until help could arrive. The dealer asked his audience if there were any adventurous souls present who would be willing to test this marvelous new device upon their own ships. Han turned to leave. Chewie made a few terse comments.
"Yeah," Solo agreed. "Not in our business." That was the way of the Hyperlight Convention. There were a lot of new ideas presented here that would be totally impractical for all but a minute percentage of the attendees. Chewie was pointing out that it could be modified for live cargo.
"You have a point there, Chewie," Han replied abstractly, thinking how much he hated live cargoes. He had caught sight of another demo and quickened his pace a bit. He ran an admiring hand over the latest in powerful long-range scanners. "Mmmm...now this!" He spoke to no one in particular. "Only half the size of the one we've got now and twice as potent. This is what we came looking for, Chewie."
Always practical, Chewbacca was studying the technical prints that accompanied the scanner. He grunted in dismay and pointed out the outrageous power requirements the operation of this new rig would entail. "It would surely blow our transformer,"he added.
"We'd have to run it right off the sublight engines..." Han mused.
"But the power flux,"Chewie argued. "And you'd still need the system we've got now when you're not running the power plants."
"A damper? A regulator?" Han looked up at his copilot curiously. The Wookiee loved a challenge. Chewie narrowed his eyes. He nodded thoughtfully; it could work. "And we could tear out half the fittings in our regular unit. After all, we'd only need it on downtime. Face it, pal, the Falcon'ssmart enough to take care of downtime all by herself."
Chewbacca agreed and suggested that Luke's friends could run a scan over it and maybe adapt some of the principles to their own ships.
"Hey! Wait a second there!" Han spoke up sourly. "How come everything we do has to benefit them in some way? This baby would be for us, and it couldn't hurt to keep it to ourselves. After all, we're going to need it when we go back to Tatooine and pay off that scumbag Jabba. I've got a feeling that he's going to want a lot of interest on that money we owe him."
Chewie told him that he was just mad that it wasn't his idea. "I'm getting pretty tired of your attitude, fuzzface. You don't always know what I'm thinking." He got no quarter from the Wookiee, though, and he finally consented. "All right! All right! They can have a look at it, after we get back from Tatooine."
With a look of resignation, he led his partner over to the quiet little egghead who was acting as sales rep for the deluxe sensor dish. Shortly, they came away a little poorer and carrying two boxes. Han glanced at his chrono and placed his box on top of the one Chewie carried. "Here you go, Chewie," he said. "I've got to go meet Leia. You take those to a transport desk and have 'em sent to the docking bay. I'll meet you back at the speeder."
The Wookiee lumbered through the crowds, his large, intimidating form clearing a path easily. He swept his eyes over the crowd by habit and stopped short when they rested finally on a lone figure that leaned against one of the archways leading outside. He wore the armor of the infamous shocktroopers and his helmet moved slowly as if he, too, were searching the passing beings for someone. Could this be the scout pilot?Chewbacca wondered uneasily. He certainly fit the description. Chewie noted the excessive weaponry and suddenly his gut tightened in anger. Over one metal-clad shoulder hung several Wookiee scalps, the long fur braided into death trophies. Bounty hunter!Chewbacca snarled and took a step towards him and, at that moment, the bounty hunter saw him.
If Boba Fett had any doubts about who the Wookiee was, they were erased by the large beast's menacing approach. He raised his rifle and aimed steadily at the encumbered Wookiee. Chewie, arms still full of new sensor components, stopped a few meters away from the muzzle of Fett's rifle. He tossed his head, bellowing a challenge. "There's a bounty on you, Wookiee, but not as big as the one on Han Solo." Boba Fett's voice was like gravel and held almost as much emotion.
Chewbacca growled fiercely in reply. He told the bounty hunter that if he came near Han Solo, that he'd never live to regret it.
Meanwhile, the crowd had cleared out from behind Chewbacca. They all stood and watched in awe as the Wookiee threw verbal abuse in the face of the ruthless-looking bounty hunter. Chewie figured that the boxes of parts he carried would absorb the first shot, giving him a chance to lay hands upon Fett. One of the merchants, fearful of what a shoot-out would do to his goods, which were directly in Fett's line of fire, had sent for Security. Fett glimpsed the bobbing red helmets of Port Patrol approaching.
"When you least expect it, Wookiee!" he threatened and turned to flee. He darted into the spectators, who hurried to get out of his way. Chewie watched him retreat while the Security men swarmed past him and into the crowds. Since he was not armed, or at least not pointing a weapon, the patrol ignored him. Chewbacca hurried to get rid of the boxes and get back to the speeder to warn Solo.
PART 6 PART 7