Star Wars_ Rebel Force 03_ Renegade - Alex Wheeler [7]
Chewbacca cut in with an insistent yowl.
"Why should I care about clearing my name?" Han scoffed. "They want to think I'm a traitor, after all I've done for them? Let 'em."
The Wookiee hooted.
"Leia?" Han forced a laugh. "Why would I care what Her Royal Worshipfulness thinks of me?"
Chewbacca opened his mouth as if to disagree, but Han had had enough.
"Just fly the ship, will ya?"
I didn't turn my back on Leia or the Rebellion, he reminded himself, taking an inventory of all the instruments that had been damaged by the Rebel attack.
They turned their backs on me.
Light. Noise. Pain. Dark.
This was Luke's reality. He opened his eyes, grasped at a familiar voice, a face, something to hold onto, that would keep him from drifting away. But he could never hold tight enough; life was a jumble of sound and color that made no sense. He didn't know where he was; he barely knew who he was. He was a body that breathed, a body that hurt. And then his eyes would shut and the darkness would claim him again. A body that slept.
Time had no meaning in the world of pain. It could have been hours, it could have been years.
And then it was over. He opened his eyes, and he was returned to himself.
And she was waiting for him.
"Easy," Leia said quietly, as Luke struggled to sit up. "You need to rest."
"What happened?" Luke croaked, his throat dry and cracked. But even as he spoke, he was remembering: the speeder. The explosion.
The dark warning from somewhere inside of him—or from outside? From the Force? The warning that had saved his life.
"Someone tried to kill you, Luke," Leia said. "If you hadn't jumped off that speeder when you did…"
"Old Ben was right," Luke murmured, amazed. " Let go of your conscious self and act on instinct. "
"What?"
"Nothing, Just something an old friend once told me." Gingerly, Luke tested out his arms, his legs. All seemed to be in working order.
"You were injured in the blast," Leia explained, "but you've been immersed in bacta for the last few days, and you're making a full recovery. Everything should be back to normal soon."
There was a strange look in her eyes. Luke didn't understand it, but he knew that nothing was back to normal. "What aren't you telling me?"
She rested her hand on his. "Later," she said. "When you're stronger."
She was always trying to protect him. But he was stronger than she thought.
To prove it, Luke pushed himself into a sitting position. He swallowed hard, and when he spoke, his voice was clear. "Who set the explosives?" he asked.
"Has the Empire attacked?" But as soon as he said it, he knew that made no sense. Nobody understood why Imperial forces hadn't yet attacked Yavin 4. But if the Empire had decided it was time to act, surely they wouldn't mess around with the death of a single pilot. They would destroy the base, and every living being on it.
But if not Imperial agents, then who?
"We're still investigating," Leia said.
"But you know something," Luke pushed, unsure why he was so certain. Was it because he just knew Leia well enough to see behind her mask? Or was it the Force again, guiding him toward the truth?
She held his gaze for a long moment, then nodded. "A cache of explosives was located…in Han's quarters."
"Then he was framed!" Luke exclaimed. "Han would never try to hurt me."
"That's what I thought, too," Leia said.
Thought. Past tense.
Luke shook his head. "You can't think—"
"I wanted to clear his name," Leia said. "I was just trying to get some information, so we'd have a place to start, but he's such a worrt-headed, hot-tempered—" She pressed her lips together, then lowered her gaze. "He broke out of custody," she said. "The Falcon lifted off without clearance and entered hyperspace. He's gone."
"But…" Luke trailed off,