Star Wars_ Rebel Force 06_ Uprising - Alex Wheeler [10]
"Where am I?" Luke said, trying not to sound afraid. "Where are my friends?"
Soresh clucked his tongue. "I suspect you'd rather not know their fate."
"What did you do to them?" Luke shouted. A wave of anguish swept over him. He had to escape. If Leia and Han were in trouble, he had to do something. If anything happened to them, just because they'd insisted on sticking by his side…
"I'm the one you want," Luke said. "You made that clear. Let them go, and do whatever you want to me."
"I can do whatever I want to you anyway," Soresh said coolly. "So I see no reason to bargain. And, as I say, your friends' fate is already sealed. As is yours."
Luke struggled against the cuffs, lunging toward Soresh, but the chains held fast.
"Just be patient," Soresh advised. "We'll begin soon, and then all will become clear to you." He turned his back on Luke, and began walking away into murky darkness.
"Begin what?" Luke shouted.
No answer came. He would have to do this on his own.
Somehow.
Concentrate, Luke thought. He had done this before, and he knew he could do it again. But summoning the Force meant clearing his mind, turning within, focusing, and that was nearly impossible. He was too desperate, too worried about Leia, Han, Chewbacca, and all the prisoners. He knew that he had to stop trying so hard—that accessing the Force meant letting go. But the harder he tried to stop trying, the more useless it was.
Forget everything else, he thought, trying to pretend that Ben was there beside him, urging him on. Just focus on the stun cuffs.
He gazed intently at the cuffs, taking in their shimmering black surface and the smooth curve of the durasteel. He closed his eyes for a moment, concentrating on the cool pressure around his wrists. He imagined he could see inside the cuffs, to the molecules strung together, chaining him in his prison. The Force flowed through those cuffs, as it flowed through everything. And if he could connect with the Force, maybe he could encourage those molecules to expand. Just a little, just enough to slip his arms free. Help me out, he begged the stun cuffs, feeling slightly ridiculous. Let me go.
Luke didn't know how long he sat motionless, concentrating on the cuffs, trying to break their bonds. It felt like hours; it could have been minutes. And then it happened.
Like a switch had flipped, deep within him, he knew: If he tried to pull his hands out of the cuffs, they would give.
"Please," he whispered. Then wrapped his right hand around the cuff on his left wrist, and pulled.
The cuff slipped down his wrist, over his hand, and got caught on his knuckles. He tugged harder, wincing as his bones crunched together. His hand was slippery with sweat, but he refused to give up. Just a little wider, he thought, trying to feel the Force flowing through the cuff, through his wrist, helping him to freedom. He gave one final, mighty tug—and the cuff slipped off. The other slid over his right hand effortlessly. He was free!
Free, that is, if you ignored the thick durasteel bars trapping him in the cell.
Luke sighed with relief, rubbing his sore wrists. His hope was returning. If he could use the Force to expand the stun cuffs, then couldn't he do the same thing to the durasteel bars? If he could widen them by only a few inches, he could slip right through.
He wrapped his hands around the bars—and screamed.
An electric shock sizzled through his body. He flew backward, slamming hard into the floor. His head clanged against the durasteel. He nearly blacked out with the impact.
Waves of pain crashed over him, but Luke struggled to stay afloat—and awake. His mind was muddy, confused, and everything was blurry. He blinked hard, trying to clear his vision. Trying to think.
The bars must have been electrified, he thought.
That explained what he was doing on the floor.
But it didn't explain why he couldn't get up. It wasn't like the impact of the force