"I told you, I'm on the Falco...now," Luke repeated. "I don't have access to th...command codes or to any ops system to deactivate th...heavy shields aroun...the Tower or the Main Palace. I'll try to...et the Falcon down to you if you want, but it ha...limited shields an... dodgy main drive."
Han sighed, frustrated, knowing the kid was right. "Okay, okay. Can you get her out from where you are?"
"Yeah, I'd already unlock...this bay. I have a straigh...line out of here... Clear flight headin...due south."
"Fine--take her straight out, we'll meet up. Don't get her shot up any worse."
.
.
In the ops room Luke sighed, relieved. He'd worried that Han would be more stubborn, but he should have known. They kidded around and bickered when they were nervous, but the smuggler was far smarter than to argue tactics in the middle of a situation like this--just get out and sort the small stuff later. "I opened the bay shields for you before I left ops. Take a shuttle and head due north, I'll catch up."
"I'm already hotwiring one. Sporty little thing--figure I'll sell it to make the repairs to the Falcon."
Luke grinned. "Fine. Are you out yet?"
"Hey, even I'm not that fast!"
There was a long pause, in which Luke took a moment to split his attention to the corridors outside, wondering whether the Main Palace's stormtroopers had made it up into the Tower yet. Presumably they'd figured out where he was by now, and hopefully they thought Han was with him, otherwise they wouldn't have started pulling stormtroopers from the Main Palace as Han had said; they'd still be searching for Solo--and probably would have found him eventually, considering their numbers. This way, Han had a clear run and Luke had a warning of when they...
His heart double-skipped, realization leaving him numb for an instant.
There were guards all around him. Easily over a hundred. Above, below, to all sides. Well back, but waiting...
"Might want to hurry it up there, Han," he said breathlessly.
"What's your rush?" Han cracked. "You're already in the Falcon--just take off."
"I already have. I'm turning about to head north. Are you out yet?" Time to get him moving.
Luke watched on the monitor as the small skimmer lift unsteadily in the bay far below, righted itself, then shot forward like a spooked womprat. An instant of scarlet panic struck when it occurred to Luke that if they knew where he was, they may have checked through any commands issued from Ops 90, and reinstated the security shield to Han's bay... but the skimmer took off unharmed--and he breathed a long sigh. He just needed one more minute to wrap this up...
"Luke? I'm scanning, but I can't pick you up. Do you know which flight corridor you're in?" It was Han, all concern.
Luke forced himself to concentrate on this--everything else could wait. He wanted Han safely away. He'd known, of course, that the chances of getting himself out were almost zero; known that if he tried to split his attention between getting free and getting all the way down to Han in the Main Palace to get him free, he would have accomplished neither.
He also knew that tactically, he'd thrown away his only real chance; that Master Yoda would have despaired of him for it, and Han wouldn't have co-operated if he'd known. But this wasn't Han's fight, it was his, and try as he might, Luke couldn't watch him be dragged in. They'd been through too much together for too many years. Han had always been his big brother, always looking out for him... Well, now it was Luke's turn.
That had always been his goal here; to get Han out.
And anyway, he had a perfectly rational reason for this, he assured himself; he'd wanted that leverage removed. His father was right--friends were a weakness, and Palpatine would exploit any weakness remorselessly.
But something whispered at the edges of his mind... and Luke couldn't help thinking he'd just made the biggest mistake of his life, in swapping his own chance at freedom for Han's.
"Luke? Kid?" It was Han, still jabbering into the comm, his voice a mix of concern and exasperation.
Luke smiled, calm again now at the sound of Han's voice; at his anxiety for Luke, at the absolute belief that Han would have done the same, were the situation reversed. At his knowledge that Han would understand, eventually. He took a short breath and sighed, at ease with his decisions and his fate.
"Sorry, Han, my comlink's nearly out of juice." He continued to feather the comm, more and more now. "Do you have your skimmer's call-sign? Actually, don't say that on the open comm. Listen, do you remember that safe harbor? I can get to that easily. Meet there?"
"It'll take me a coupla' days in this." Han's voice was uneasy now.
"It's still the best way," Luke said firmly, offering a possibility to draw him on. "We might catch up when we get out of the built-up shipping lanes anyway. I'll probably find you well before--or more likely you'll find me."
"I guess..." Han was silent a few seconds. "Is everything okay there?"
"It is now," Luke assured, and in that moment, he genuinely meant it. "You have a comm frequency to make base contact, don't you," he checked, not wishing to speak of the Rebellion by name, sure all frequencies would be routinely monitored.
"Sure. But you'll get there a full day before me anyway."
The lies came easy now, Luke's mind very clear. "The Falcon's comm system is down, remember? I'll hit autopilot as soon as I can, and spend some time on it. Maybe I'll get it working. If I do, I'll comm you first. You should contact them as soon as it's safe to anyway, though. Check Leia and Chewie are okay. Besides, you may well get there ahead of me--she's running at about..." He paused, as if checking status, "well, I've got a reading of fifty-four percent power on 'interat thrust. I'm surprised you can't see me. You are going north?"
"I think I know how to fly north, kid." Han's offense at having his flying ability brought into question belayed any misgivings for the moment. "Listen, there's a cantina just off the main square called the Third Strike. I'll see you there, okay?"
"Okay, Han." Luke smiled, hearing that protective tone come into Han's voice; like a big brother again.
"You need to contact a Sluissi called Karrick and ask him for a 'quiet bay'--exactly that. And whatever he asks as docking fee, offer him half. Feel free to do some of that Jedi mind stuff if you have to. And nothin' up front...tell him you weren't born yesterday--you just look that way."
Luke smiled, but he knew time was running out, much as he wanted to just stay hidden and keep talking like this. It would probably be the last friendly voice he would hear for a long time.
"Don't worry," he said, as much to himself as to Han.
.
.
Sitting at the controls of the poky little skimmer, carefully keeping to the official speed limit and flight line, Han frowned, "I always worry with you,"
He realized he was still scanning the horizon, hoping to see the Falcon--and notbecause he was worried about the ship.
"You may be the only one, Han," the kid replied, and Han wondered at the melancholy note in his voice.
The com crackled for long seconds before the kid spoke again. "...Listen, I think m.. comm's finally dying... if ...can you sti...see you...few day...Take care, Han..."
Han scowled at the comm as the signal faded into static, unable to brush off the uneasy feeling which burned in the pit of his stomach.
How had he ended up allowing the kid to talk him into making this journey separately? They should have just landed anywhere and both boarded the Falcon--they could have fixed her, they always did. Now, with the Falcon's comm system down, he had no way of contacting Luke until they both got to the Third Strike cantina