Star Wars_ Rebel Force 01_ Target - Alex Wheeler [24]
"He obviously has no love for the Empire," Luke said. "He blasted that TIE right out of the sky." He looked curiously at Leia. "Maybe if you weren't always avoiding him, you'd see that he's on our side."
"I'm not avoiding him," she said hotly. "I just don't know that he can be trusted. After all, he is a civilian."
Han nodded—then scowled. "Hey, I'm a civilian!" he protested.
Leia favored him with a cool stare. "My point exactly."
"He doesn't have a ship," Luke pointed out. "We can't just dump him into space."
"We've been over this," Leia said. "We can drop him on Destrillion—it's not too far out of our way."
"Or we could bring him with us," Luke said. "If we run into trouble, we might be glad we did."
"Or we might be betrayed at the worst possible moment," Leia argued. "You heard General Dodonna, Luke. The Empire is searching for us—for you. This isn't the time to take chances."
She's always trying to protect me, Luke thought, frustrated. Why did no one seem to understand that he could protect himself? "Maybe this isn't the time to play it safe."
R2-D2 beeped and whistled.
"Yes, yes, Artoo, I'll tell them," C-3PO said irritably. "Princess Leia, Artoo says that he's run a remote scan of the Malano III computer system and has confirmed Tobin Elad's identity."
The R2 droid beeped again.
"Artoo says—" C-3PO turned to him in horror. "Did you say criminal? " the droid asked in a panicky voice. "Artoo reports that Tobin Elad is a wanted criminal—the Empire has a price on his head!" His golden arms fluttered in terror. "Princess Leia, I must agree with you on this issue. The man is clearly a danger to us all. Just imagine, Artoo—
trapped in space with a criminal!"
"Threepio, according to the Empire, we're all criminals," Luke pointed out wearily.
"Even you."
"Me?" C-3PO asked in indignation. "I beg to differ, Master Luke. Need I remind you, I am familiar with the law of the land, and never has a droid had deeper respect for—"
"Enough!" Han exploded. "We get it. The only thing we're in danger of around you is boring ourselves to death."
"Forgive him, Threepio," Leia said, glaring at Han. "The only language he speaks is brute." She turned to Luke, softening her tone. "Luke, I've heard that the Jedi were able to sense whether someone could be trusted or not. I know you're not trained…but can you give us anything to go on? Some kind of Jedi feeling?"
Han snorted. "You want to base a decision like this on some kooky mystical feeling? "
he asked incredulously. "For all you know, 'Jedi feelings' were just indigestion."
"They were not! " Luke said hotly, fully aware that he knew almost as little about the Jedi as Han. "The Jedi could see a being's true self."
At least, that's how Ben had made it sound. Luke lightened his jaw. It didn't matter what the Jedi could do…Han was right. He couldn't do anything. And without Ben around to train him, that would never change.
"Luke has a connection to the Force," Leia said fiercely. "We've all seen it." She rested a hand on top of his. "Just think about it for a moment. Do you sense anything? "
Luke closed his eyes. He breathed in deeply, then let the air out slowly. He tried to connect to the galaxy. The Force is all around me, he reminded himself. I just have to reach for it and it will be there.
But he felt nothing.
When he opened his eyes, Han and Leia were staring at him—Leia's eyes filled with hope, Han's with barely concealed mockery. Luke couldn't stand to be laughed at yet again.
"I think we can trust him," he said finally. "We should take him to Muunilinst with us." Maybe his opinion wasn't informed by the Force. But so what? Ben had told him to trust his instincts. For the moment, instincts would have to be enough.
Leia looked thoughtful. "I suppose Elad did sacrifice himself to help us…"
"Give me a break, Princess,"