Instead, he climbed quickly up onto the desk, pushing a tile back and stowing the disguise before jumping back down, his eyes on the officer.
"What's your name?"
"Arco."
"Do you have a first name?"
The man eyed him warily. "Andorius."
Luke lifted his eyebrows at that. "Okay...we'll stick with Arco. And when I ask you a question, you're gonna answer me straight away, and you're gonna tell the truth, 'cos I'm really not a man you should consider lying to--not tonight."
He hefted the man's stolen blaster up to rest it against his shoulder.
"Let's have our first try, huh? I need the nearest ops room up from here that'll give me access to the Detention Center below the Main Palace." He knew that Mara Jade used one just a few levels down, but going down was not an option.
The man tensed up resolutely. "There are none above here. The nearest one is--"
Luke stepped forward, grabbing the man's arm and wrenching him forward to slam his hand down flat onto the desk before him. Swinging the blaster in, he pushed the muzzle against the back of the Imperial's hand.
"I assume you like the matching pair? Because let me tell you, the surgery to replace it will put my blasting a hole through it to shame..."
The man pursed his lips and Luke tightened his finger on the trigger. He didn't want to shoot--more because the noise may well give him away than for any other reason--but he would, if he needed to. And it wouldn't be the man's hand which took the shot...
Somewhere in the back of his mind an alarm sounded, but he dismissed it almost instantly, focused on his goal. "Last chance--then I get rid of you and wake up the guy in the corner."
Even passively through the Force, this close he could sense the officer waiver, resistance crumbling...
"Fine." Keeping hold of the man's arm, he lifted the blaster without hesitation to his forehead...
"Wait! Okay, okay. Two stories--it's two stories up."
Luke pulled the blaster back, releasing his hold. "You're a smart man, Arco. Lead on."
He was surprised how easy it had been. How easy it would have been...
.
.
Mara sat in the ops room as streams of information came from each of the units who searched the lower levels of the Tower, taking her time now to position and back up each unit carefully, moving all Red Guards back from the last two levels above the Crossway and building the numbers of Palace Guards on every level.
In the Main Palace, one story and about thirty feet of blast-proof organic steel composite down from the Crossway, and completely unreachable from it when the shields were down, she was also positioning stormtrooper units as back-up. She knew that it was impossible to pass between the two without ending up in the enclision grids at the base of the Towers, but that was no reason not to be thorough.
Plus she didn't really want the Emperor's prize Jedi cut to pieces by the military-grade lasers in the enclision grid. Both for herself and her master--professional pride, Mara assured herself as she closed her eyes, listening to the reports... No sign of him yet.
"Where are you?" she whispered at last. "How are you getting down--how are you getting past us?"
.
.
Luke kept on heading up, keeping a loose hold of the Imperial, watchful for security lenses and trying to keep both their backs to them, subtly keeping his own head down. Wondering how much serious firepower was being amassed on the lower levels of the Towers to stop him.
Wondering when they'd start to look up.
Hoping that by now, Mara would be starting to move stormtroopers and Palace Guards up to the upper levels of the Main Palace. Gambling that they wouldn't risk the show of weakness inherent in closing down the Main Palace completely, believing Luke was still in the Towers...
"Here," the officer said quietly, pausing by a door marked 'Ops 90'.
Luke stared at the man for long seconds, but he held Luke's eye.
"How many people will be in there?" he asked, not liking standing out in a corridor, but not wishing to go in half-cocked.
"Two normally, at this time of night. But there's been a call-to-quarters, so it could be more."
Luke gestured with his head. "After you."
Arco sighed, a tremble in his breath, but he pressed the door release and entered. As he stepped through, Luke gave him a good push forward, so that all eyes were on him as he stumbled--then Luke was in the room, his blaster pulled free before anybody even looked to him.
"Up!" he shouted. "Move back to--"
The first man jumped up, chair toppling backward as he drew his blaster--
He was taken down in a single body-shot at this range.
The second man fumbled his own gun up and Luke brought his blaster back for another hasty shot, point-blank, the impact launching the man back. The blaster swung instantly around to Arco, who remained perfectly still, eyes shut...
The falling chair finally clattered to the ground, the sound making Arco jerk back in anticipation.
Luke held the blaster at the man for long seconds as his heartbeat slowed.
"Open your eyes," he dismissed casually as he set forward to the desk, leaving the man standing, shocked rigid.
When he didn't move, Luke reached around and grabbed him, pulling him back to the upright chair and yanking him into it. "Get online. And if you sound one alarm, so help me..."
He didn't finish the threat--he really didn't need to. The proof was slumped against the far wall for Arco to see.
"I'm in the system," Arco said quietly. "What do you want?"
"Detention Center. Level Seven," Luke said, pulling up the toppled chair. "I need access to the security footage and the overrides."
Arco glanced once at him, but didn't bother asking.
.
.
.
Han lay back on his hard bunk for want of anything better to do, gazing up at the ceiling. Had he misunderstood? Tonight was the last night--tonight was one week.
He had no idea of the time, but it was only a few hours after his meal, so it was probably still before midnight--did that mean today was almost through? Or did the early hours of the morning still technically count?
"We have got to work out a better system," he announced to the empty room.
If it did mean... The cell door slid open.
Frowning, Han sat up looking to the door, not sure whether he expected to see two stormtroopers or the kid. Long seconds passed in silence before he finally stood and walked forward, leaning out into the long corridor beyond...
No one was there.
First rule of Sabacc: never turn down a free card...
He stepped warily out into the corridor, seeing that the blast door at the only open end of the corridor was locked down, and hearing muffled voices from beyond.
"Great," he muttered. "That's just..."
Across the narrow corridor, the opposite cell door nearest the sealed blast door opened, making him jump outrageously.
Slowly, warily, he walked forward. Uneasy at the proximity of the guards he could hear just on the other side of the blast door, he crouched down to look inside the apparently empty cell.
Nothing inside... What the hell was going on? Was it just a malfunction?
He stepped back, glancing around...and the door half-closed, then slid open again. Then again.
.
"Come on, Han, get in the damn cell," Luke muttered, willing the cagy smuggler to step forward.
Watching security images from the holo's in the ops room he was holed up in, Luke's attention was split between the three guards on duty on the other side of the blast door, who were now beginning to wonder if it really was the malfunction he'd just assured them it was, and the image of the sealed cell corridor to its other side, where Han paused suspiciously before the open cell door.
"Would you please get in!?" he urged, exasperated.
Finally, Han walked forward, crouching to pass warily under the half-lowered door, which Luke closed immediately after he stepped through.