Star Wars_ Rebel Force 2_ Hostage - Alex Wheeler [33]
It had been a calculated risk, supporting the princess in her ridiculous plan. Pretending not to see that her new friend Kiro Chen was deceiving her. But his instincts had told him to go along with it, and X-7 relied on them without question. It had been infuriating, watching Chen weasel his way in, gaining her trust with such ease. The only consolation was that X-7 hadn't been the only one shut out. There was no question that the time on Delaya had driven a wedge between Leia and her friends. X-7 had stayed in the background, silent and accepting, in hopes that when the princess turned to someone, she would turn to him. Events hadn't played out in the way he had expected, yet X-7 still expected to turn the situation to his advantage.
If the others found her in time, he would lead the rescue and burrow even deeper into her favor.
If she died, there would be chaos. And when people were panicked, grief-stricken, and confused, it was child's play to get them to do whatever you wanted.
Either way, X-7 had no interest in leading the search. Pretending to be a normal human with normal human emotion was exhausting. And the more he tired himself, the greater chance there was he would make a fatal error.
This was the perfect opportunity for a break.
But just as he was settling into his blissfully blank repose, his comlink activated with an incoming transmission over the secure line. It was the Commander.
"Are you aware that Princess Leia has been kidnapped, and that her captors have plans to hand her over to the Empire?" he asked.
X-7 nodded.
The Commander's face flushed an angry red. "And are you aware that this has all happened at the command of the Dark One? "
Everyone knew it was unsafe to speak Darth Vader's name, even over an encrypted channel. But the Commander's meaning was clear.
"I was not aware."
The Commander bared his teeth in the predatory grimace of a rancor ready to strike.
"Are you aware that the Dark One has made it a top priority to track down the pilot who destroyed the Death Star? That he might be on his way to Delaya as we speak, to personally supervise the interrogation?"
"I was not aware."
The Commander's rage exploded. " Are you aware of anything, you bantha-brained bludfly? "
X-7 swallowed hard.
"You will find Leia before his men can interrogate her," the Commander ordered. " You will interrogate her, and you will find the answers we seek. Enough delay! Get the job done, X-7. Or suffer the consequences."
No one at the warehouses would speak to them. At least not about J'er Nahj, Halle Dray, or Kiro Chen. Leia was merely an outsider. Princess of a planet that no longer existed. Neither Luke nor Han could convince them of anything else.
Fess had come up empty as well. He'd checked all the meeting spots used by Nahj and Halle's group, but there was no sign of any of them.
"You couldn't have known," Luke kept assuring him. "This isn't your fault." Fess didn't seem convinced.
"It's not your fault either, kid," Han reminded Luke. Han suspected he was blaming himself for keeping quiet about Nahj's little kidnapping habit. Sure, he'd made a mistake trusting Nahj. But then, Han had made a mistake trusting Kiro Chen. They all had. And now Leia was paying for it.
Leia had been gone for three hours, and they were no closer to finding her.
They were trudging through a narrow alley on their way back to their quarters when Han stopped abruptly.
"What?" Luke asked. Han shushed him, listening hard. Fess caught his eye and nodded. He'd heard it, too. Fess pointed toward a side alley that led to a dead end. Han led them in, giving Chewbacca a silent signal to hang back. Luke looked confused, but he followed along.
They'd made it almost to the end of the alley when Han spun around, his blaster raised and ready to fire. "You want to come out, whoever you are?"
Nothing happened.
Chewbacca positioned himself at the other end of the alley, blocking the way of anyone who might try to escape.
"We don't have time for this," Luke complained.
"He's there," Fess