• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Luke looked back and forth between them, confused. "Do you two know each other?"

Before anyone could answer, Ferus swept him into a fierce bear hug. "I've been worried about you, Luke. Glad to see you're all right."

The hug seemed somewhat strange; he didn't know Ferus that well. But he didn't want to be rude. "No need to worry," he told Ferus. "I'm fine."

Something pricked the back of his neck. He slapped at it. Probably a banda bug, he thought idly. Although this moon looked pretty dead. Not a likely environment for a banda—no food for them to nibble on.

And why was he thinking about bandas?

Why were his thoughts flying in a million directions, like a flock of frightened hawk-bats?

Why did he suddenly feel like the ground was buckling beneath him?

Luke opened his mouth but lacked the strength to speak. In fact, he realized, he lacked the strength to do much of anything.

And then he was on the ground, staring up at the night sky.

I'm so tired, he thought. Why am I so tired?

But he was too tired to wonder for very long.

Instead, he closed his eyes.

And went to sleep.

CHAPTER SIX

"Luke needs us!" Leia shouted. Why wouldn't anyone on Yavin 4 understand?

"I fear that may be, Your Highness," General Rieekan said, "but we have no way of knowing where he is. I can't authorize a fool's mission."

"Are you calling me a fool, General?" Leia asked coolly.

Han cleared his throat. "I'm sure the general's not—"

"The general can speak for himself," Leia snapped.

General Rieekan sighed and shook his head. "The answer is no, Your Highness. I'm sorry."

Leia turned her back on both of them and stormed out of the temple. She heard Han behind her and picked up her pace. As he walked faster, she began to run. He didn't catch up with her until they'd nearly arrived at the hangar deck.

"Where do you think you're going?" Han asked, grabbing her as she headed toward the nearest and fastest craft. She shrugged him off.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm going to find Luke!"

"And how, exactly, are you going to do that, Your Worshipfulness? You gonna fly around in circles with your eyes closed and just wait to run into him?"

"I have to do something, Han! Are you coming or not?"

"This is crazy, Leia. You heard General Rieekan—"

"You're siding with him? " Leia couldn't believe it. Han had never turned down the opportunity to do something crazy. Never. But now that Luke's life was at stake, now he wanted to talk about doing the sensible thing? Leia was angry; felt helpless. Of course she knew that a rescue mission was foolish. Of course she knew logically that there was almost no chance of her finding Luke. The galaxy was a big place, and she didn't even know where to start. But…it was Luke. She was convinced that something would guide her to him. It always did. "Don't you see, Han?" she cried, frustrated. "I have to."

"Have to what, Princess? Spend the rest of your life jumping to random coordinates, shouting his name out the window? You really think that's going to work?"

"At least I'm doing something," she retorted. "Unlike you. You're happy just sitting around doing nothing."

Han grimaced at her. "Listen, lady, if you think this makes me happy—" He stopped himself, then murmured something under his breath. Leia suddenly realized he was counting to ten. When he spoke again, his voice was even. "The kid'll be fine. He's gotten himself out of plenty of tight spaces. Tighter than this."

"You don't even know what ' this' is."

"Yeah, but I know Luke. The kid's not about to go down without a fight."

"Exactly. Which is why some of us are trying to fight for him."

"Some of us?" So much for counting to ten. Han's anger was back. "Guess I don't have to ask who ' some of us' is. So I don't care? That's what you're saying?"

"Look at you, Han! You have less feeling than a droid!" She nodded toward the Millennium Falcon, where C-3PO was becoming hysterical. R2-D2 beeped soothingly.

"What do you mean, 'this always happens, and he always