AN: Well... here we are. Friday and the last part of "Missing." Everyone is in this chapter... If you've reached this far - I thank you for reading this story. If you have anything to say about it please let me know...
All previous disclaimers apply...
Missing
XXIII.
Han Solo smiled grimly as he listened to the steady, welcome throb of the Falcon'sengines. He threw a quick glance out of the cockpit window at the X-wings and Y-wings that surrounded his freighter. He liked the irony of the situation: he was in command of two Rebel squadrons. He laughed silently at the thought. He looked to Chewbacca, who growled encouragement and his hope that the mission would succeed; not only in diverting the Empire's attention from Minoan, but also that they would return with another passenger.
Leia entered the cockpit. "Are we ready?" she asked, seating herself behind Han in the navigator's chair.
Han nodded. "As we'll ever be."
The princess watched her pilot closely, admiring the determination and calmness of the man, admiring the dexterity of his fingers on the controls of the ship, and the way she responded to his touch. Leia pulled the seat belt across her lap as she sent her prayers to any god who would listen and answer.
"Millennium Falcon,"the control room's commander hailed Solo, "you are cleared for take-off. May the Force be with you."
Han grunted noncommittally, a pained expression crossing his face, and replied curtly, "Thanks."
Leia smiled to herself as the ship lifted from the ground. If anything was guaranteed to make Han uncomfortable, it was that saying.
ooOOoo
Luke coughed, the spasm wrenching his body, the pain cutting through his fatigue and bringing him to full consciousness. He prised open his gritty, gummy eyes and closed them again against the glare of the cell lights. He was lying on his right side on the hard metal slab that passed as a sleeping platform, his left arm strapped up and throbbing incessantly. He shivered and drew his knees up, trying to shield himself from the chill of the air and grimaced, cried, as his battered limbs and muscles protested the movement.
This was impossible. This was an impossible situation. An appalling nightmare from which there was no waking, no escape.
And Vader was coming.
Tank had told them who he was. Tamara had told them who he was. The Colonel who talked so gently and hurt him so badly had said Vader was anxious to find him. Because of who he was.
Vader.
Why would Vader be so interested in him?
The Death Star. Because of the Death Star.
"Vader betrayed and murdered your father."
Father.
Vader had killed his father. Would Vader now kill him? What would the Dark Lord do? Kill him here? Take him from here first? Torture him some more? Hurt him worse? Luke groaned, shuddered, the blood rushing in his pounding head. He retched, gagged dryly as panic caused nausea to wash through him.
His father had been a Jedi. He had wanted to become a Jedi, just like his father. This wouldn't be happening to him if he were a Jedi. He would be able to call upon the Force and…
The Force!
"All it needed was a little Force."
A sliver of hope rose from his despair as his boast to Tamara by the riverbank returned to him; he had moved the stone with the Force. He had…
The door suddenly sliced open. Luke started back in sudden terror, trying to sit up, trying to pull himself tight into the corner of the bunk.
Vader?
Two guards stepped down. The same ones who had bound him and beat him. His body trembled, shook violently as they neared him and he hated not being able to control his physical reactions. They had batons swinging from their belts, blasters holstered on their thighs.
The Force. The stone.
Luke drew himself up, grappled to find a hold on the feeling Ben said was the Force. He cast out his right hand and pictured the blaster from the nearest guard rising from his holster and flying into his palm.
"What the hell?"
Luke opened his eyes at the surprised exclamation and saw the gun fall to the floor. Without thinking, and using all of his desperation, he threw himself forward and off the bunk. He barely heard the cry of, "Kasden!" as his hand curled around the gun's handgrip. He raised it, pointed it at himself and fell back as fire raced from the back of his neck along his nervous system, suns burst in his head. He screamed, shrieked at the intensity of the blast, as he lost all control over his body. Fresh blood flooded from his nose and he gagged as it ran to the back of his throat.
The pain abruptly stopped as he was grabbed and hauled upwards. He could hear gasping, moaning, a voice quietly pleading…
"Please… please…"
His back hit the wall and his arms were taken, spread wide and fix in restraints above his head. His fractured left elbow grated, the pain excruciating, and he cried out again, choking on the blood from his nose. A gloved hand took his chin, forced his head back, thudding it off the wall. Everything was surreal, pain-filled and slow. Hazily he opened his eyes and saw an angry face inches from his own.
"You're lucky Vader's coming, or I'd beat you within an inch of your life, you piece of shit!"
Luke swallowed blood, drew in a heaving breath. "'Thought… you'd done that… already."
The guard stepped back and viciously backhanded Luke across the face. As the youth slumped in the restraints he leaned forward, smiling. "We'll see if you're as cocky when Vader gets here."
Luke barely heard, he closed his eyes welcoming the darkness as it raced toward him. Then there was a sting from his arm, coolness moving swiftly through his veins spreading through his body reaching his mind and clearing the darkness out as full awareness flooded in. He grunted in pain, heaved in a gasping breath of horror.
The guard waved a hypo before his face and grinned at Luke's suffering. "He wants you awake."
Laughing, the guards turned their backs to him and left him alone once more.
ooOOoo
Jared turned from the view screen and muted the sounds of the youth's pain. He had been surprised by Skywalker's attempt at suicide, had hesitated to act when he had gone for the guard's blaster, had left it to Kasden to activated the control unit and he had been sickened by the guards brutality.
He wiped his face with a trembling hand. Once Vader arrived and took the boy, this would be over and perhaps Dassu would allow him to request a transfer; for he knew he couldn't do this duty anymore.
ooOOoo
Morning. The rising sun pushed away the darkness of the night, the growing heat chased away the chill. A light rain during the night had cleansed the air in readiness for the newborn day. Bright birds took to the sky, testing the air currents; small animals left their dens and bathed in the dewy grass. The noises of the day began: songs, squawks, grunts and moans as the forest fully woke. The river gurgled in its winding path, the smooth surface broken only by jutting rocks, jumping fish and a tossed stone.
Tamara smiled at the short plop and the rippling circles in the water as they grew in size, then faded back to a glossy finish.
"All it needed was a little Force."
Now she understood his joke, and she smiled to herself. She threw back her arms and tilted her head, letting the sun's warmth brush her face.
"You were my friends."
Her smile paled at the memory of the last words she had heard him say, at the desperation and anguish in his voice. She sank to the grass, staring at her reflection in the water. Grey eyes studied grey eyes. She tossed in another pebble, disrupting her image, and lay back, stretching out on the green lawn to look at the blue of the sky, the blue of his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Luke," she said aloud, wishing he could hear and understand.
OoOOoo
The small Rebel force eased out of hyperspace. Han stared out at the unfamiliar small planet, looking for signs of trouble. He checked his co-ordinates and smiled; there was no sign of Imperials, and the Navi-computer had dropped them in the right place. He glanced out the side window, making sure the fighter squads were still with him. He threw the thumbs-up sign to the nearest ship, and the young pilot responded in kind.
Leia checked her chrono. "They'll be leaving for Minoan now. We don't have much time, so let's make it count."
Han nodded, and opened the channel to his squads as Chewbacca pushed the throttle gently open, bringing the freighter up to attack speed. "We all here?" he asked quickly, not wanting to go through the palaver of the call signs.
"Yes sir!" The reply was from an eager young lieutenant, embarking on his first mission.
Han smiled at the "sir," and at the impatience and nervousness in the boyish voice; it reminded him of his own first space battle. "Keep on this channel," he told them all. "Our target is the biggest installation; that's our only worry." He glanced back at Leia. "Keep your eyes open for a secluded landing area and scan the com channels in case Luke tries to contact us. Okay, let's do it!"
Breaking through the cloud cover, the ships banked apart, each targeting a different area and bringing their guns to life.
ooOOoo
The first hits woke the Imperials from the lull they had been working in since the Irlam base had first been established. An attack was something that had not been considered likely in this region of the galaxy. But sometimes the unlikely happens. The slowest to react were the first to fall to the accurate Rebel shots.
ooOOoo
Dassu was thrown across his office as an explosion rumbled outside, blowing in his window. He lay stunned behind a chair; then drew his wits about him and gingerly picked himself up from the floor. Wiping a hand over his face he was dismayed to find thin cuts trickling blood down his cheeks. He turned to the ruined wall, looking for the cause of the blast, and was surprised and horrified to see several out-dated X- and Y-wing fighters circling his garrison.
"Rebels!" he breathed; then he turned and sprinted from the door, as the entire room disintegrated by a second blast.
ooOOoo
The noise of distant explosions drew Tamara to her feet. She stared at the sky, which shone with the orange of a raging fire. Tiny ships dotted the area, rising and falling with fierce regularity. She screamed loudly and threw herself to the grass as a larger ship flew overhead, scraping the tips of the trees. It turned sharply and followed the other ships' paths, seeming eager to rejoin the fight. She stood, trembling with fright, watching it climb in the sky. She took one step back, two steps, then turned and fled toward home.
ooOOoo
"Easy; take it easy." Bower fought to calm the panic of a young injured soldier as he pulled him from the burning building. He set the youth down and crouched beside him. Quickly, he ripped away what was left of the dark uniform, exposing a horrifically burnt chest. He paused, staring at the fatal wound, then glancing at the hazel eyes. With impotent sadness, he took the boy's hand and watched those eyes dim with death. Reaching up, he closed the lids, shutting off the blank horror that seemed frozen in the irises.
An explosion shook the ground and he looked up at the fighters as they strafed the area, destroying more structures, cutting down more lives. Around him, chaos reigned, as defenceless Imperials ran for shelter, as the screams of the injured and dying echoed in his mind.
"Medic! Medic!" The cry seemed to echo from all directions. Someone took up a sentry cannon and started shooting back at the Rebel attackers. There were reports from trooper rifles and handguns.
"Bower! Hey, Bower! Over here!" another medic called out to him. Tank ignored him. Drawing himself to his feet he dropped his medical equipment and ran toward the detention centre.
OoOOoo
Just beyond the Irlam system another ship emerged from the chaos of hyperspace. It slowed in its approach, settling into a steady orbit around the small planet. There was a stillness, the vast ship seeming to hang possessively over one area. Then, beneath the geometric behemoth, a docking bay door drew back, spilling out the familiar form of TIE fighters.
OoOOoo
Kasden and Jared were almost jolted from their chairs by a new tremor that ran through the detention centre; an alarm klaxoned loudly. The console in front of them crackled and spat threateningly. They both glanced at the ceiling, expecting it to collapse.
"What the hell's going on up there?" Kasden voiced the mutual question and the mutual fear.
The door began to slide open, only to stick tight as its controls gave out. There was a muffled curse, and ten fingers gripped its side, pushing. "Hey, Byron, give me a hand," Tank grumbled angrily, his voice also holding an edge of urgency.
Jared assisted, puzzled by the medic's appearance, when so many above would need his services. The lights flickered wildly as they forced the door open widely enough for Tank to squeeze through. They paused, waiting for the pure darkness to fall; but then the power kicked back in and the light grew stronger. It was then that both Kasden and Jared noticed the blaster the medic had pointed at them.
"Bower?" the elder technician began to ask; then he slumped silently over the arm of his chair. Tank was beside him in an instant, laying down the weapon with which he'd stunned him. He started to strip the uniform jacket from the unconscious man.
He turned to his surprised friend. "Don't worry, he'll be fine." He lifted the gun and tucked it into his belt.
"What are you doing?" Jared demanded - although he had a fair idea.
Tank glanced in at Luke, his face darkening when he saw the youth pinned to the wall. Skywalker was shuddering and crying out as each new explosion from above rocked his cell. "I need your help," Tank said, ignoring Byron's question.
"What about, Thaler and the guards?"
Tank looked pained. "Thaler's dead."
Jared hesitated. He had let one Rebel escape; could he now help someone else do the same? He looked at the sleeping form of his partner, watched his friend disappear through the doorway, carrying the Kasden's jacket.
"Don't talk shit; you want them to get their hands on me?"
His brother's words, said in panic and the look of horror on Luke's face when Vader's name was mentioned, forced Byron's hand. He reached for his desk drawer and lifted out a small blaster.
"Jared!" Tank's voice called from the cell. "Let him down."
He was committing treason, he was becoming a Rebel himself and quite likely this one act would kill him. "Shit…" he breathed as he punched the control that released Luke's binders.
OoOoo
"Your Highness!" the young lieutenant shouted over the com. "I have something on my scanners - it looks like…" The words disintegrated into a sharp, panicked cry; then static. The small X-wing broke up in a brief conflagration. The source of its destruction flew over the freighter, its guns spitting as it went. The Falconshook under the barrage.
"Where'd they come from?" Han yelled from the gun turret under his ship's belly. "You said there were no TIEs!"
"There weren't!" Leia told him, watching a vicious battle seethe in the sky above the Imperial base. She felt the situation slip away from them. More TIE fighters broke through the clouds, heading for the hopelessly out-numbered Rebels. Chewbacca banked the ship, fighting to avoid the laser shots that came their way. He nudged Leia, bringing her attention to the scanners. A huge, chillingly familiar shape lay outlined on the screen.
"Han!" she shouted desperately. "We can't stay here!" She closed her eyes, trying not to hear another death cry. "We have a Star Destroyer above us!"
"I bet I know who it is, too." Han swivelled in his chair, bringing his guns to life, as he remembered Dodonna's words about Vader being after Luke. The presence of the ship made him even more determined to find his young friend. "I'm not leaving without the kid!" He grinned as he scored another hit.
"There're too many - we don't stand a chance!" Leia was torn between her obligation to the young men in the fighters, and her personal feelings toward the young man who quite likely lay in an Imperial cell below.
"I'm not leaving Luke to Vader!" Han practically growled the sentence, and switched off the com, ending any arguments Leia might have.
Leia glanced at Chewie, knowing the Wookiee would follow Han's example.
OoOOoo
Luke stared at the ceiling of his cell in apprehension as another shock wave spasmed through the building, jerking his bruised body. He squeezed his eyes shut at the ripple of pain that came as a result. He could only guess at what was happening above him; but whatever it was, he didn't like it much. The door of his cell opened and, with suspicious surprise, he watched Tank quickly step down and shout.
"Jared! Let him down."
The binders snapped open and Luke dropped, but was caught by his friend before he could hit the floor. Bower gently laid him down and knelt beside him. "Why did they do this?" he demanded, as Jared ran in to join them. "They know his arm is broken."
Jared didn't answer at once, knowing neither Bower nor the Rebel would appreciate the news. It was only when Tank turned to him that he answered.
"Lord Vader ordered it," he said flatly, watching Luke's eyes flash to Tank in a silent plea.
"That Sith Lord doesn't waste much time, does he?" Tank helped Luke sit up, quickly checking him over; noticing the fresh nosebleed and new swelling and bruising on his face. "He's due today?" he asked Jared, who at last seemed to be relaxing a little.
"Yes," Byron nodded; he hadn't liked the news, either.
"Then we don't have much time." He turned to Luke. "We're going to need your help, Luke. Do you think you can walk?"
At first, Luke couldn't comprehend Tank's words. He felt air blow pleasantly from the open door, felt more tremors ripple through the building, heard the rumble of explosions. When he saw Tank begin to unfold an Imperial uniform, he began to understand. "I can try," he answered hoarsely, feeling hope glimmer. It was a new sensation, one that brought a smile to his face.
Jared watched the smile - the first he had seen from the Rebel - and again he was painfully aware of how much Skywalker reminded him of his brother. Perhaps he and Sam would be reunited in the Alliance somewhere.
Tank held up the uniform jacket. It was several sizes too big for Luke. "Welcome to the Empire, my friend." It was meant in humour, to relieve tension; but the irony of the statement was lost to none of them.
ooOOoo
Tamara pulled Brett from the middle of the yard, where he stood applauding the light show above them. Hot air from the exploding X-Wing blew their hair as they ran toward the house; but to Tamara, the wind was the last breath of the man who had just died. She closed the door behind them and lay on the floor next to their parents.
"They don't stand a chance," Alex mumbled as he pulled his family close to him.
ooOOoo
"Have you found somewhere for us to land yet?" Han's voice crackled over the com. Obviously, he had thought better of the silent communicator.
"No." Leia shook her head as she replied. "We can't land in this; we'd be too vulnerable." She was relieved when Chewbacca nodded his agreement.
There was no reply from the Corellian, and Leia knew he was feeling the same desperation as she was. They were running out of time; they had come so close, only to lose. Sooner, rather than later, they would have to call a retreat. She could almost feel the expectation, the want, the need of her fellow Rebels. They had done what they had come for; why stay and be slaughtered?
"Luke," she whispered, beginning to hate herself.
ooOOoo
With Luke's arms slung across their shoulders, the two Imperials slowly made their way into the open courtyard, every step jolting Luke, bringing tight gasps of pain. They paused, crouching low in a doorway, as a damaged TIE dropped from the sky, crashing in the open area a few hundred meters away from them.
"Your friends sure know how to put on a show!" commented Jared, as he brushed dust and specks of masonry from his shoulders.
Tank lifted Luke once more. "Come on; we can't sit around here."
Skirting the burning wreckage and evading the running, panicked soldiers, they carried Luke toward ignored landspeeders. The vehicles were parked near the shuttle landing area, which was now pockmarked by laser bursts. They had obviously been intended for ferrying the coming Sith Lord to the detention centre. Tank almost bodily threw Luke into the first one, taking little notice of his light squeal of protest. Now was not the time for care.
Jared held back as Tank began to climb in. Bower noticed the other's hesitation. "What are you waiting for?"
Byron pushed away his doubts, his years of training and indoctrination and climbed in behind his friend. "Nothing," he mumbled. "Just get us out of here!"
ooOOoo
Dassu held onto the side if the turbo lift as it rocked to the side. The door slammed open and he stumbled out into the detention centre. The floor was littered with debris, the reception console sparked and crackled loudly. Thaler lay on his back staring with dead eyes at the ceiling. His chest had been torn open by a single laser burst.
The Colonel moved on, almost running along the dark corridor to the Rebel's cell. The door lay open, the cell empty. He stepped into the observation room and found Kasden sitting in his chair rubbing his head.
"What happened?" He barked.
"The medic and Jared…" the man started.
"Dammit! Get on the com and contact Captain Donat. Tell him to organise some troopers for a search."
ooOOoo
For now the road was silent, empty of all other traffic; but still Tank kept the throttle open, wanting to keep the distance between themselves and the Imperials as wide as possible, in case they had been followed. Beside him, Luke was quiet, his face serene, his eyes staring at the forest greenery as if he'd never seen it before.
"You okay?" Tank asked, for the want of something to say as another X-Wing swooped above them followed by two Imperial fighters.
Luke nodded carefully. "Yes."
Tank shifted his gaze to the road, his movements belonging to one who feels guilt. "I'm sorry, Luke," he said uneasily, not accustomed to apologising.
Luke tentatively rubbed the wounds around his wrists. "It was your job." His words were choked, not with his present emotions, but with his past memories. He didn't know quite how to react to his sudden freedom. It wasn't something he had expected, and therefore he had no chance to assimilate it.
"What were you doing here, Luke?" Tank suddenly burst out. "Why aren't you back home?"
Luke knew the reason for the questions; he'd put Tank into a situation he didn't want to be in. Instead of being the quiet, anonymous medic he had once been, he was now thrust into the role of a fanatic Rebel. "I don't have a home there anymore."
The answer was soft, sad, and it drew Tank's attention away from himself and back to Luke. Skywalker didn't look at him.
"They killed my aunt and uncle. I wasn't really given any choice but to join the Alliance." He hesitated, biting the inside of his cheek. "They killed Biggs, too."
Tank felt his heart sink, heavy grief caught his throat. "I'm sorry," He apologised again, realising that this boy was no longer the Luke he had known. That Luke had been a teenager, untouched by the evil of war, surviving on an innocence and a naiveté everyone else mistook for simpleness. This Luke was not much older in years, but tens of years older in experience. He knew what it was like to suffer at the hands of others; it was a trial that had ruined many a man. Tank prayed that there was some innocence left in Luke; that Dassu had been unable to strip him of the quality that seemed the foundation of his personality. He also prayed that Luke was strong.
"Look out!" Jared called from behind them, ducking down as a large freighter roared overhead, but turned before its shadow could catch it. It followed the path of the road before them, firing red bursts of light toward them from its belly guns. Luke cried out in surprise, and Tank's reflexes were pushed to their limits as he fought to keep the speeder under control and on the road. The ground beside them churned as laser bolts pounded into it.
"Don't your friends know the good guys when they see them?" Bower shouted through gritted teeth.
Luke laughed. Tank stared at him in astonishment, but Luke ignored him, his spirits soaring at the sight of the Millennium Falcon."It's Han!" he croaked happily.
Tank's moment of distraction proved decisive; the next burst drove them off the road and into the trees.
ooOOoo
That stopped them!" Han yelled from the turret.
Leia bounced in Han's chair, as the Falcontook another hit from behind. Her hands gripped its sides, her knuckles turning white. Both she and the Wookiee winced away from the window as Han scored another hit; but she knew there were plenty more TIEs to take the destroyed one's place.
"Han, we have to leave!"
Silence was her only reply.
ooOOoo
There was a brief moment of stunned stillness. Then Tank groaned, his hand going to his painfully jerked neck. He looked toward Luke, but found a heavily leafed branch blocking his view. He lifted it from between them, and was relieved to find Luke smiling at him. He couldn't help grinning back as he climbed from the wrecked vehicle.
"Jared?" he questioned looking into the back. Byron pulled himself up from the back seat. "I'm fine…" He grasped Tanks offered hand and scrambled out.
"Remind me to tell that numbskull what I think of his shooting!" Tank grumbled. "Give me a hand with him, Jared."
They lifted Luke from the speeder and setting him on unsteady feet.
Jared sighed wearily and glanced around. "I guess we walk from here."
ooOOoo
Dassu wiped the blood from his face as he watched the dying battle above. He knew that soon, as the air cleared, Vader would arrive. He had to get Skywalker back, or face the consequences. He turned to the captain behind him. "Are your men ready?"
"Yes, sir!"
His eyes focused on the still-burning TIE wreckage in the courtyard; "You'll find him at the farm where we picked him up before. Have Lord Vader's shuttle redirected there, too."
"Of course, sir."
Dassu smiled. All was not lost yet.
ooOOoo
Tank's legs were shaking with the added exertion of half-carrying Luke when they reached the gate arch of the nearest farm. The sight of his goal gave him an added spurt of energy, which seemed to extend to Jared as well. They heaved Luke higher.
"Not far now, Luke."
Luke glanced up and saw the familiar landscape. Horror chilled him. "No! Tank, no!" He tried to dig his heels in but his bare feet scrapped on the dirt. "Not here!"
"We've no choice, kiddo…"
"This is where I was!" Luke's voice scrapped through his aching throat. "I can't do this to them again, please."
"We need to contact your friends, Luke. This is the nearest place to do it."
"Hey!" Jared shouted above the noise of the battle toward the house. He agreed with Tank. This place was their only hope of getting picked up. "Hey, help us!"
The door opened slowly, suspiciously, and the farmer appeared.
Alex squinted at the two dark uniform-clad figures as they stumbled across his yard carrying a third between them. He couldn't hide or silence his surprise as he recognised the smaller man. "Ryder?" He hurried forward, closely followed by Brett, whom he shooed back into the house. He took Luke from Tank and Jared and carried him into his home, remembering all the while the first time he had done this.
"I'm sorry…" Luke whispered to his uncle.
ooOOoo
The death of yet another Rebel pilot forced Leia's hand. The killing had to end. Determined but broken, she opened the com to Han.
"I'm calling retreat," she told him. "There's nothing for--"
The communicator crackled, whistled, cut her off.
"Han?" started an unfamiliar voice. "Uh, Han… Come on, damn it, whoever you are!"
Leia glanced at Chewbacca, who shrugged his shoulders; he was as perplexed as she was.
"Come on, come on… Han! Do you copy?"
"What's going on?" Solo came up behind the princess, and she vacated his chair for him.
"I'm not sure, but it's you they want."
"Han," the voice continued, sounding more frustrated by the minute, "I've got a friend of yours here."
Han stiffened; worried, suspicious, but strangely tinged with joy.
Leia laid a hand on his shoulder. "Luke?" she asked, barely hiding her hope.
"It may be a trap," Han offered, voicing his usual scepticism.
"Perhaps we should…" The princess broke off as another voice cut in across the airways.
"Millennium Falcon."The speaker sounded tired, shaky, but familiar. "Solo, do you copy? This is 'Farmer.'"
Chewbacca wailed loudly at the call sign Han had given Luke to use as a means of identification in difficult situations. All three in the cockpit knew the boy would not use it if he were being used as bait in a trap.
Han gleefully opened the channel. "Farmer, where are you?"
It wasn't Luke who answered. "We're on a farm, a short distance from the main base. Just follow the road and you'll see us."
Chewbacca banked the ship, turning. It was Leia who spotted the road, but she also saw several large vehicles heading in the same direction. It wasn't time to celebrate yet. "Han, look!" She pointed to the Imperial carriers.
"Yeah, I see 'em, Princess." Han was grim. He turned his attention back to the com. "We're on our way, but so are… "
The speaker didn't let him finish before he cut the connection.
The Corellian nervously watched the Imperial fighters around him. "This is going to be close."
ooOOoo
Tank lifted his hand away from the console as he broke off the communication. He gazed at the silent instrument, thinking of Luke, glad the youth was back in the other room with the family and hadn't overheard the spacer named Han mention the princess. Tank had no doubts it was the Princess Leia Organa. The senator was alive, and yet Dassu had allowed Luke to believe she was dead, and had allowed his grief to contribute to his breaking. Bower knew, understood, how Luke had believed everything was lost to him; that was why he had betrayed the Alliance. How would he react to the news that the princess was alive? How did the Alliance react to traitors, even when they had disclosed under duress?
Was he doing the right thing after all by bringing Luke back to them?
Bower shook himself, shedding his doubts. He had started this, and he would see it through. He hurried back to Luke, Jared and the family.
ooOOoo
Tamara hugged Luke gently; aware of the pain a tight embrace would bring him. His right arm encircled hershoulder, and she heard his quiet whisper of "Tama." And she knew he had forgiven her. She laid her head against his chest; listening to his heartbeat, she began to weep. His hand lifted her chin upward, his fingers gently brushing the tears away. His tenderness and warmth only served to heighten the girl's guilt. He had been hurt so much, and still he was concerned for her.
"Don't cry, Tama."
Alex tried to ignore the display of emotion between his daughter and his adoptive nephew, afraid of what it might represent for the two. Ryder was Jedi - a dangerous religion, a hazardous cult to belong to in these difficult times - and Tamara loved him. The farmer stared out of the window past the other young man who had helped Ryder, watching an Imperial shuttle cutting through what was left of the battle, heading for the installation. What was going to happen to his family after Ryder was gone? What would happen when the Imperials arrived once more? Alex didn't think he'd ever been more afraid than at this moment.
Brett hugged Luke's legs, oblivious to his elder cousin's discomfort. Mhari pulled him off, telling him not to be so enthusiastic. The older woman took Luke's hand, frowning in discomfort and anger at the ugly, bloodied scars around his wrists. She looked to his eyes, seeing pain and fear, but also an undercurrent of courage and strength. Luke was a complex mixture of boyhood and manhood, his transition from one to the other taking place too violently and too swiftly. The youth had been thrust into an adult world without the knowledge or maturity of adulthood, but she knew it was most likely his innocence and his still barely intact faith in others that still held him firm. That and the gift she believed he had inherited from his parentage.
"You'll be all right, Luke," Mhari said softly, lending him whatever encouragement she could.
"Thank you," was all he could say. This family had sacrificed so much for him, and all he could say was an inadequate thank you.
"We have to go, Luke," Tank broke in, as he emerged through the door. "We're going to have company."
Luke tore his eyes away from Mhari. "Han?" he asked eagerly.
Jared, standing by the window, frowned as the shuttle that has passed moments before turned and headed back. "And others." He added to Luke's words.
Fear flooded back into Luke. "Vader?" his voice trembled.
"That's a likely guess."
Tamara tightened her grip on Luke, wanting to never part from him, but knowing that in a few minutes he would be gone from her life. She studied his face, ignoring the bruises, the cuts, seeing only unblemished features, trying desperately to imprint his image into her mind so as not to forget it.
Alex took her arm, speaking to Luke. "You have to leave now." The pain on his daughter's face was vivid and punishing.
Tank took hold of Luke, breaking him away from the girl. Alex laid his hand on her shoulder, restraining her. Mhari slipped her arm around Tamara's waist, feeling her anguish.
Luke twisted his neck, trying to look back, as Tank and Jared carried him away from the family. Tamara stood between her parents, weeping. Brett waved in his own simple way. Luke stared at the girl, wanting to shout to her, wanting to have her with him, and sorry there was no time for goodbyes.
The Falcon swooped over the barn, over them. It pivoted in the sky and lowered itself into the empty nerf field; its hatch opening before the lifters had touched the dirt.
Jared and Tank were helping Luke over the enclosure fence when their pursuers arrived. Stormtroopers spilled from the transporters, heading toward them, the shuttle turned and gently touched down behind the Falcon. They threw Luke over the fence, jumped it themselves and dragged Luke up. Together they ran toward the ship's beckoning hatch. They had almost reached their goal when the shout came.
"Tamara - no!" It was Alex.
Tank stumbled turning to see the girl break away from her father and run toward them, barely in front of the advancing soldiers.
"Oh, no!" the medic breathed. They ran forward, dragging Luke, who now struggled frantically in their grasp.
"Get Tamara!" Luke cried, fighting them as they pulled him forward.
"You first, Luke!" Tank winced as a laser bolt from behind barely missed his shoulder.
"No!"
Blaster fire from a handgun spat from the open hatch of the ship. With relief, Tank spotted a Corellian spacer in the doorway, giving them covering fire. So that was Han. The smuggler ran to them, his hands grabbing Luke. "Get the girl!" Han told the medic, nodding toward the shuttle hatch as its ramp lowered to the grass.
Tank turned for Tamara, but it was too late. There was a brief burst of light, a look of confusion on her pretty face, and she pitched forward to lie still on the long grass. He hesitated for a second, but Luke's scream of horror galvanised him. He ran to the girl, his medical instinct over-riding his natural instinct to flee.
"Tamara!" Luke's cry seemed to echo around the field. He wriggled in Han and Jared's arms, trying to break lose as they pulled him to the Falcon.
Han had a solid grip on the overly large Imperial uniform that inadequately hid his young friend's wounds. He pulled Luke up the ramp, trying to ignore the fact that his action was causing Luke extra pain.
"Come on, kid!" he pleaded. "He's getting her!" He turned to the stranger who was helping him. "We could use an hand in the gun turrets," he suggested.
Jared released his hold on Luke as they finally entered the ship's main corridor. "No problem."
Luke dropped to the floor. "Tamara… Tank!" Then more arms reached for Luke; warm, soft hands smoothed the sweat-wet hair away from his wild eyes.
"You're safe, Luke," Leia told him.
Luke turned his gaze to her, the crazed sparkle in his pupils dimming. He shook his head, seeming to deny the princess's presence. "No!" The whisper betrayed his shock and horror. "No… I…you're dead! I told them… Ahana… and you… died. He said you'd died!" Alarm spread over his features as a terrible realisation swept through him like a chill wind. "I never meant to… I didn't want to… But is was too hard… it was too hard…" His voice was full of despair; he was a child who had done wrong, and was begging in panic to avoid punishment. He moved backward away from her, stopping only when his back hit the bulkhead.
"It's all right, Luke," she soothed quickly, fighting to reassure and calm him. From the moment she had watched the Imperials carry him over the field, she had known what had happened. And now the wounds on his wrists, the contusions on his body, and the heavy guilt in his eyes confirmed her fear. Minoan had failed. Gently she told him, again, "It's all right."
Han turned back to the hatch, looking for the medic, hoping he would succeed—not particularly for the girl's sake, but for Luke's.
ooOOoo
Tank knelt beside Tamara and turned her over. She groaned, the sound of pain barely audible over the impatient engine noise of the waiting ship. He glanced up to see the Corellian waving frantically at him to come, and from the corner of his eye he also saw the dark bulk of Darth Vader striding down the ramp of the shuttle followed by more stormtroopers.
Panicked, he looked down at Tamara, knowing she couldn't be moved without the proper medical help. Besides, there was no longer time to lift her and run for the haven the ship offered; the Stormtroopers were almost upon them. He shook his head at Han, gesturing for him to leave, pointing at the sky and the approaching TIE fighters. The spacer looked back into his ship, the sorrow on his face visible even at a distance. He nodded his understanding and saluted the medic. The hatch began to close as the ship slowly left the ground and the top guns opened fire on the approaching TIE fighters.
Bower looked down at the girl's pale face, and brushed a lock of red hair from her forehead. The Falcon veered off, followed by tracers of blaster fire. Tank watched the white tail of the ship's after-burn; it reminded him of something...
Shooting star,he suddenly thought. It's not two,it's one...
The running footsteps of the Stormtroopers halted around him. He smiled at his new concept, stood and, with a feeling akin to triumph, Tank turned to face his executioners.
Thanks for reading!
Um and that's end end of "Missing" but not the end of events in that story's "universe." I have one in the works that takes place a few months later so please bear with me - you will find out what happens to Luke. And I have plans for at least one other... It's just getting the time to write the darned things...