Tales of the Gold Wookie, Part 7

Leia would have questioned the “glamorous” part at that point. They'd been dragged downstairs to the hotel's boiler room. She screamed as Harry's wrists and ankles were bound tightly with cord taken from a shelf in a storage room, then tied to the hulking boiler. Two of Vader's men bound her to a rattan chair with a broken wicker back.

Harry winced at the heat rising from the boiler, even in early September. He nodded at Leia. “Just one thing. Let her and the other two go. They ain't got nothin' to do with me n' Yasmin.”

“Ahh, Mrs. Hutt.” Vader's attempt at a chuckle sounded more like the steam coming off the boiler. “Quite a formidable woman, for one with her considerable...assets. She wishes for me to return you alive. She says she has ways of dealing with scum like you.”

“Yeah.” Harry's lazy smirk was more like a sneer. “I'll bet she does.”

“Vader, no!” Leia struggled wildly in her bonds. “He doesn't know anything! I'm the one you want!”

“You're one of the ones I want.” Vader nodded at his men behind him, where his men carried heavy coils of rope. Fettara was smoking a cigar, ignoring the sign that said not to smoke around the boiler. “He's all yours, gentlemen. Don't play too roughly with him. Mrs. Hutt wouldn't like that.”

He went behind Leia as the men whipped their cords across the pilot's back until he screamed in anguish. Fettara ordered the goons to roll up Harry's sleeves. He ran the glowing cigar butt down one of Harry's arms, then the other, before pressing his chest into the steaming metal. One of the men in white clamped a hand over Harry's mouth to keep his shrieks of pain from going up the boilers. Vader's hand went over Leia's before she could let out her own angry protests.

When Harry finally slumped to the floor, they were both dumped in a storage room in the basement, just off the main boiler room. Clarence was fussing at Charel as he tried to wrap a swollen ankle. Harry landed on his hands and knees, barely able to move. Leia and his co-pilot went quickly to his side.

Charel took his friend's hand and tried to get him to his feet, but his legs buckled almost as soon as he was upright. Harry groaned as the big Russian set him on a musty bed with a ripped mattress. “I feel terrible. They kicked the shit out of me, but they never asked me any questions.”

“They're after us.” Leia sat on the bed and took his head in her lap. Her fingers gently ran through his scruffy mop of hair. “Vader wants the sword and our Force powers.” She kissed his forehead tenderly.

“I'm not going back to Yasmin,” Harry murmured. “She may be smart and a looker, but she has all the compassion of a dead fish.” Charel frowned and let out something concerned in Russian as he started wrapping old torn linens around Chip's chest. “I don't care how much money we owe her, buddy. She tried to have me killed. Twice, actually. I'm pretty sure Gredoni wanted my hide, too.”

“There's nothing we can do about this tonight.” Leia tucked an old blanket under Harry's head. “Let's try to get some rest. We'll figure this out in the morning.”

“Yeah.” Her erstwhile lover winced and rubbed his head. “Maybe my brain will stop throbbing by then.”

They awoke the next morning to find that a tray of fruit, sausages, and bread had been left in their room. “Well,” Leia admitted as she bit into a sausage, “at least they don't want us to go hungry.”

“And the food's not bad, either.” Harry ate heartily, for someone who had been savagely beaten the night before. “Looks like my so-called buddy at least doesn't want to poison us.”

Charel barked something between gulps of coffee. Clarence nodded as he picked at his orange slices. “I agree, Mr. Bacca. I can't help feeling there's something terribly wrong, especially after last night. They're going to kill us, or throw us into freezers and turn us into human ice cubes! I've seen the gangster serials. I know what they're capable of.”

Leia rolled her eyes. “That's ridiculous. You and Artie need to stop spending your Saturday afternoons watching serials with the kids.”

They had just finished eating when Laurence came in, followed by Fettara and several of Vader's “enforcers” in the long white jackets. Charel let out a string of what Leia presumed to be Russian epithets, holding up a fist in their direction. “Get out of here, Larry,” Harry snarled, “before I knock your teeth out and Char does worse.”

“Would you just shut up and listen to me, for once?” Even under duress, Laurence was still dressed in the height of summer fashion. His creamy yellow suit was as dapper as his face was nervous. “Vader wants to see you all in the offices upstairs. He's turning Harry over to Mrs. Hutt and Mr. Fettara.”

“Vader isn't after him.” Leia's glare was scathing. “He wants my brother and me. We have...my brother Luke has an artifact he desperately wants, and you and I know where the other one is.”

“No, Vader does want him.” Fettara crossed his arms smugly. “My boss already has first dibbs. Vader can have what's left when she's done.”

“All I know is, some guy named Luke is on his way here.” Lance stepped back at the fire in Leia and Harry's eyes. “My friend Niem Numiez is a pilot. He saw him and some short black guy landing in a rattletrap old British plane from the war. My manservant Pierre is picking him and his friend up as we speak.”

“Oh no!” Clarence wailed. “I swear sir, Arthur hasn't done anything recently!”

“You fixed us all really good, didn't you?” Harry managed to get stiffly to his feet. “You are no friend of mine!” He lunged for Larry before anyone could stop him. His fists lit up, hitting Larry in the chin with a crack that sent him across the room and over an old ottoman. It took three of Vader's lackeys to get Harry's arms into handcuffs. Charel had started in on two more, but he was also cuffed.

“Do you want to try something, bella bambola?” Fettara leered at her and grabbed her arm. His grip was like steel.

Leia managed to extricate herself from his rough fingers. “Not with all of you staring at me like the blue-plate special.” She ducked away to Harry's side, wiping at his bloody brow with a rag she'd found in the storage room and had dusted off. “You certainly have a way with people.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Vader was waiting for them in what Leia presumed to be Laurence's office, at the very end of the main hall on the ground floor. She pushed to the front of the group the moment they arrived. The hulking man in black had lightened his usual wardrobe to a dove-gray suit with a wide-brimmed gray straw fedora. Otherwise, he looked much the same, including the black leather gloves that must have been beastly hot in this climate. His distorted lips were set in a thin line as he steepled his sausage-like fingers.

The office was decorated in the same Art Deco-meets-the-Mediterranian style as the rest of the hotel, with lots of curvy rattan furniture and spiky blond wood. Leia noticed a long, narrow wooden crate that took up almost all of the window seat in the back of the room.

“Vader,” she demanded, “I want you to let us go. You know we're not going to tell you where the Sword of Light or the Sword of Wisdom are.”

“I already know where the Sword of Light is. It'll be in our hands shortly.” His hiss made him sound like the boiler downstairs. “As for the Sword of Wisdom, I had a long chat with Mr. Carlyle last week. It seems that it belongs to a Mrs. Yasmin Hutt of Los Angeles. It came into her possession as part of a delivery of illegal antiquities that were looted many years ago from Latin America. I talked to her people, did a bit of bartering. We agreed to trade Captain Solomon for the Sword and other antiquities in her possession.”

“You did what?!” Leia was about ready to reach over and belt Larry in the chin herself. She turned her red face and tight fist on him. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“Yeah, or me?” Harry tried to get at him again, but two of the goons had a tight grip on his arms. “You know I don't want to go back to Yasmin. Damn it Larry, if she thinks she can use me like she does all those pretty boys she keeps on a leash, she has another thing comin'!”

“He did it to keep this lovely hotel of his standing.” Vader's smirk chillingly resembled Luke's when he was being cocky. “Cooperated with us quite nicely after we had a long...er, chat.”

“You threatened him.” Leia put both her palms on the table, trying to ignore the itch to slap him. “Vader, you know Luke and I are not going to do what you want us to. We would never, ever, in a million years work for you or that lunatic dictator you're a slave to, so you can just forget this all right now!”

“You have no choice in the matter, Miss Skylark.” He nodded at Fettara and waved at the crate. “Solomon is all yours, bounty hunter. Yours and Mrs. Hutt's, with my blessings”

“What if he doesn't survive in that thing?” Fettara nudged the back of the crate with his gun. “He's worth a lot to me.”

“The Empire and Dark Star Industries will compensate you for your loss.” Two of Vader's goons pried open the top of the crate with crowbars. “Load Solomon in, gentlemen.”

“What? Are you crazy? There's no way I'm traveling in that!” Harry tried back away, but he ran into another goon. “I ain't a piece of furniture!”

Fettara gave him a low chuckle. “It's not exactly a luxury plane trip, but it's the only way I figured I'd be able to transport you to LA without you getting into trouble.”

Charel attempted to pound the men surrounding him, but he was still cuffed. “No, please!” Clarence whined on the big Russian's back. “He doesn't mean it! He's just upset!”

“Char, stop! This ain't helpin' me!” Harry put his own bound hand on his friend's. “Save your strength, comrade. There'll be another time.” He nodded at Leia. “You have to take care of Leia and Luke and the others. Make sure they get to...well, where they're going. Ok?” Charel nodded, but there were tears flowing down his cheeks, soaking his magnificent brown beard.

Leia kicked at the goon's shin and threw her arms around Harry as soon as the man started hopping around. “No! I won't let you do this! Harry, I love you!”

Harry nodded, his usual tiny smirk now a sad smile. “I know.” The captured pilot gently tipped her chin forward and gave her the most passionate kiss she had ever experienced. It made her insides turn hot and mushy and her knees shake. She would have ended up on the floor if she hadn't been clutching him for dear life.

They were kissing again when strong leather hands wrapped around her arm and ripped her from his side. “Enough of this.” Vader wrapped one arm around Leia, ignoring her struggles. “Put him in.”

Charel let out a great Russian roar as one of the men whipped Harry across the back of his head with the handle of his gun. The moment he went down, they lifted him by his arms and legs and dropped him in the open crate. There were just enough holes in the top of the crate to allow him to breathe. Otherwise, it looked like an ordinary wooden box. Leia's screams and Clarence's whimpering joined the sound of the hammers as two of his men nailed the crate tightly closed.

“Take the girl, the Russian, and the blond man to my car.” He pushed Leia at Laurence. “I have a little...matter...to deal with.”

Now it was Larry's turn for the freezing glare. “You said they'd be left here under my supervision!”

“I'm altering the deal, Negro.” Vader's deep voice brooked no argument. “Pray I don't alter it any further.”

Larry followed him and the goons out as they made for the front door. “This deal is getting worse all the time.” This was just about the stupidest thing he'd ever done. He knew that now...and he knew what he had to do to make up for it.

Leia mournfully watched two of the goons lift Harry's crate onto a long metal cart and wheel him to the back loading dock to notice. She got the fleeting image of Maurice stepping behind the counter and picking up the phone before she and the others were ushered out to the main parking lot.

Wouldn't you know it, her silly brother and his two friends were already there. “Leia!” Luke rushed to her side, still taking notes in his little book as his gray shirtsleeves flapped around him. Artie and a short Chinese man in a pale green suit ambled along behind him. “We're here to rescue you!”

“Luke, no! It's a trap!” She stomped at the goon's foot, but he pulled it away. “Get out of here!”

“Arthur, please!” Clarence was being carried bodily by another one of the men. He trembled like a leaf in their arms. “Get Mr. Luke away from these horrible people!” Charel's Russian and his fuzzy arms waving in the direction of the downtown area seemed to indicate something similar.

“Vader!” Luke saw the flutter of the older man's gray suit going around the back of the hotel. “I've got to stop him!” He looked torn between saving his sister and getting the scoop on the man who murdered his parents and destroyed his father's work.

“Let me help you there, kid.” Leia's eyes widened as four police cars drove up to the parking lot. Laurence held a gun on the man who had been dragging her. “Inspector, I want you to arrest these gentlemen. They're working with a known smuggler and are disturbing the peace and my customers.”

“Merci, Monsieur Carlyle.” A man in a long khaki coat and straw fedora easily disarmed the goon as the rest of Vader's “enforcers” dropped their weapons. “Thank you for bringing these criminals to our attention. They will be taken into our custody. My men search for their ringleader as we speak.”

Charel growled and pointed towards the back of the hotel. Laurence nodded. “Comrade Bacca's right. A fellow smuggler and bounty hunter kidnapped Captain Harold Solomon, an old, er, amie of mine. They're taking him to a Mrs. Yasmin Hutt in Los Angeles.”

“Zut alors!” Inspector Clouson wrinkled his nose. “I have heard of her. She is, how you say it, a very dangerous woman. She traffics in everything from antiquities to exotic animals to human life. Many young men looking to become cinema stars have been taken in by her, only to be found not in their right mind, with no memory of where they go or what they do.”

Luke frowned. “The ringleader. Vader. Have you seen him?”

“Not here, he is.” Yoda had been standing placidly next to Artie the entire time, his slightly greenish countenance barely ruffled by the ensuing drama. “Inside, he has gone. Bad intentions he has, I fear.”

“Mais oui, petit Chinois man.” The Inspector took Luke's arm. “I agree. Let le police handle him, Monsieur.”

“No!” Luke pushed him away. “I think there's a story here. I'm going to get that scoop on his activities, even if it takes me all year!” He darted through the revolving doors and back into the hotel.

“I think he's right.” Leia swiped Laurence's gun. “Laurence, take Charel and the cops and stop Fettara's car, before he gets away with Harry and Charel throttles you.” To the surprise of Laurence and every cop there, she easily adjusted the gun and checked the remaining bullets. “I'm going after Vader and my brother. When Luke's thinking of a story, he doesn't think of anything else, including his own safety.”

“Bad idea, this is, young Leia Skylark.” Yoda tugged at the skirt of her bedraggled red gown. “After you as well, he is. Wants your abilities.”

“Yeah, well, I'll give him those abilities up his half-machine ass.” Leia stuck the gun in her waistband. “With interest.” Ignoring Yoda's remaining protests, she ducked back inside.

~*~*~*~*~

The building was oddly quiet. Laurence must have evacuated before the cops arrived. Her heels clicked against the checkered tile floor of the main lobby. Every sense she had tingled like a thousand bolts of electricity. Vader was in this building...and he had her brother. He'd already taken her parents and the man she loved and stolen part of her godfather's life's work. She would not let him harm her brother the same way.

“Leia!” Luke was here...and he was scared to death. “Leia, get out! Go get Harry!” She turned around, gun drawn, just in time to see Vader stride out of the office. He had Luke in a headlock under one arm and held a gun to his head.

“I want those plans, Skylark.” Vader kicked open a narrow door. “If you want to see your precious brother again, meet me on the roof. Bring Dr. Organa's notebooks...and nothing else. If I see one person with you, I'll corrupt your brother's magic faster than you can shoot.” He darted up the stairs just as Leia shot at him. The bullet hit the wall in the stairwell, leaving a small, jagged hole.

“Damn it!” Leia was about to go after them when she heard the rumble of an engine. She ran back outside...just in time to see a familiar green armored truck go flying past two cop cars and down Le Avenue del Mer. The top of the crate that held Harry was clearly visible in the truck bed. She ran as fast as she could past the two cop cars, shooting at the rusty vehicle while screaming like a madwoman at the top of her lungs. “Come back here, you bastard!” The gendarmes were already on their way down the road, but Leia suspected it would do no good. The truck was already out of sight.

Another car, a soft yellow Rolls Royce, carreened around a corner before stopping in front of Leia. Laurence leaned out, his blinding model smile on full display. Charel had shotgun. Artie was wrapping Clarence's ankle with gauze in the back. “Hey there, lady. Want a lift?”

“No.” Leia shoved her gun in her purse. “Vader has my brother on the roof. I'm going after them.”

Charel shook his head and let out a series of growls. Laurence nodded. “I agree. I don't think you should go alone. Vader may be planning something.”

“I know he is. And I'm not going alone.” Her grin was almost as snarky as Harry's. “You gentlemen will be right under me.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Leia stepped out onto the roof about twenty minutes later. It was hot, but a soft, salt-scented breeze from the ocean ruffled her hair in their twin looped braids. “Vader? Luke?” No one answered. The only sounds were the laughter of people on the beach and the occasional twitter of birds.

“Miss Skylark.” The sizzle and pop of the Force beam drew her into the shadows. “You are not a Guardian yet.”

“I don't care about that, Vader.” Leia dove under the beam, which put a small hole into part of the roof behind her. She held out the gun, planting both heel-clad feet on the tarred roof. “You've already taken Harry and my parents from me. I want my brother. Now.” The catch on the gun clicked. “Or I'll blow out your heart, if you have one.”

“Leia!” Luke tumbled onto the ground before her, landing on his hands and knees. “Leia, please! Get out of here! He'll hurt you!” Her brother was black and blue all over, there was a cut above his left eye that might need stitches and another, thinner one on his neck. “Leia, please! He's...he's...”

“Come with me, Miss Skylark.” Vader moved closer to her as Luke scrambled to her side. “I have money. I could fund your expedition, give you equipment, tools. Anything you wanted. We could find the Sword of Strength and the Death Star weapon.”

“So that's what you're after.” Leia pulled back, pushing Luke behind her. “I read that in Papa Bail's notes, too. When the three swords are pushed into one vessel in the Temple of the Guardians, it's said to give you infinite control of the Force. You can kill or heal in a moment's notice.”

“You don't know what that weapon could do for our new world order. A world where people obey and listen. Where they don't laugh at theories they don't understand.” Vader waved his hand, making the gun jump into his. He threw it back into the stairwell. “I want you both to join me. Join us. With our combined strength, we could restore Alderaan to its former glory and end this destructive world conflict.”

“No, Vader!” Luke was shaking his head, his blue eyes pleading, but Leia ignored him. “I won't let you destroy Luke and me like you did our parents. Like you did our father.”

“Your father.” Vader's hiss came out more like a snort. “Benton Kenobi never told you what happened to your father, did he?”

“He told us enough!” Leia's voice had risen to a shriek. “He told us you killed him!”

“No, Leia!” Luke grabbed her hand. “He's...he told me coming up here that he's...”

Vader leaned over and touched her cheek. His beefy fingers were surprisingly gentle under all that leather. “You look so much like your mother.” The whisper was faraway, lost in an ancient dream. “She had that chestnut hair, and those eyes...they always looked into your soul. I could never keep anything from her. But...you have my temper, my ambition...”

“No.” Leia yanked away as if she'd been stung, her eyes wide with the realization. “No. You can't be! You can't! He's dead! Andrew Skylark is dead!”

“He's only dead on the inside.” Vader...Father...took off his fedora. His hairless head was a mass of burns and pits and craters, looking more like the side of the moon than a human face. “I am your father, children. Benton and Bail thought they could hide you two from me on the farm. It never would have lasted long. The moment you came into your powers, I'd find you.”

“He told me.” Luke shivered from head to toe, his blue eyes dark with anger and horror. He pointed a shaking finger at Vader. “He told me on the way up here. He said...he said he'd corrupt our Force powers...his powers are like mine...”

“Never!” Leia grabbed at the hilt of the sword, trying to yank it out of his hand. “This belongs in a museum! Papa Bail searched for it for thirty years, and I'm not about to let you destroy his life's work, like you killed him and his workers.”

“Don't trifle with me, girl!” Vader swung the sword to knock her away, slashing her hand with the sharp crystals embedded in the blade. Leia screamed and drew back, clutching her heavily bleeding hand. “You don't know what you're up against. I could teach you. Let me show you the ways of the Force.”

He forced open her purse and yanked out several papers. “Ahh. Dr. Organa's maps and notes to the temple. These should be most useful. Let this be your first lesson, child. A Guardian of the Force never lets their guard down.” He folded the papers and slid them in a pocket in his coat.

“No!” Leia's hand hurt like hell, but she still managed to grit her teeth and glare wrathfully at the hulking man in stony gray. “That's Papa Bail's life work!”

Vader shoved Leia against the side of the roof. He held her arms, his face so close, she could hear his raspy breathing. “Come with me, daughter. It's the only way.”

“I wouldn't want you to show us the ways of the Brookyln Dodgers!” Luke leaped onto Vader's back, trying to reach into his jacket and grab back the papers. “Leave my sister alone!”

Vader barked angrily, trying to shake his son off, but Luke held firmly to his broad shoulders. Leia managed to grab her purse and make for the nearest fire escape. Luke finally jumped off his father's back, just in time for him to run into a radio antenna.

Luke made a face. “I hope no one wanted to hear Fibber McGee and Molly tonight.” He quickly followed Leia to the fire escape before Vader could recover.

His sister was tying a handkerchief around her wound when he reached her at the next floor. “Did you get the notes?”

“Some of them.” He handed her the notebook. “I could only get this. He still has the individual maps.”

“That's something. We'll go after the rest later.” Leia shoved her purse under her arm. “Right now, we're getting out of here.”

“Good idea.” Luke started to force open a window, but Leia was already climbing over the railing. “Sis,” he said with wide blue eyes, “what are you doing?”

“This.” She grabbed Luke's hand. “Follow me.”

“Leia, are you...” They ducked as a blast of red light nearly melted part of the railings. Luke gave her a sheepish look. “Uh...do you want to jump first, or should I?”

“We both will.” Leia climbed over the remains of the railing, followed quickly by her brother as a familiar hulking figure started downstairs. “Ok, then. Let's go!”

Leia took her brother's hand and jumped. There was the brief feeling of floating through the sea breeze like a seagull feather...before they broke through a fabric roof. Her legs made contact with something surprisingly soft.

She opened her eyes as a Russian grumble and a very New York “geddoff, kid!” met her ears. Her legs were tangled with Charel's long cotton-clad ones, as she'd seemed to have landed in his lap. Luke was attempting to unwind himself from Artie and Clarence.

“That was total madness!” Clarence wailed. “What were you two thinking?”

A beam of red light hit the back of the car. “Hey!” Laurence leaned out and shook his fist at the massive man on the fire escape. “I paid good money for this car! That's going on your bill, Vader!”

“Matter at the moment, it does not.” Yoda had somehow managed to rate the front passenger seat and looked as calm and unruffled as if he were drinking tea in his own parlor. “Leave this place, we must, before Vader comes looking for us.”

“He's right.” Leia wrapped part of her sleeve around her hand. “But first, we have to stop at a hospital. I think I might need stitches on this, and it hurts like hell.”

Laurence made a face. “What were you two doing up there?”

“Learning more about our family history than we ever wanted to know.” Leia frowned. “I'm guessing neither you nor the police were able to catch up with Fettara.”

Artie finally managed to push Luke onto Clarence. “We tried, but he was already gone by the time we were half-way down the road. The cops are already looking for him.”

Charel's growls drowned out everyone else. “I agree, buddy.” Laurence turned his car around, heading out of town. “We're going to LA. I still have connections in that town. I can get us into the Hutt's club without being detected.”

“It'll be easier for us.” Luke pulled out his notes. “She doesn't know Leia or Artie or Clarence or Yoda or me.”

Yoda blushed. “True, this is not.” His slightly greenish face turned a little red. “Encounters with Mrs. Hutt, I have had before. Andrew Skylark, too. Fellow gangster kidnapped Mrs. Hutt's husband's infant son, wanted to trade him for artifact. Put a stop to that, Andrew did.”

“Miss Tano told me about that one.” Luke flipped his notebook, reading over one of the pages. “It was one of the first stories she ever wrote. Made the front page too. She said she worked pretty closely with Dad for a while, but got into a tussle with one of her fellow writers and moved to editing instead.”

“Is there a way we could get an in with her?” Leia tried to shift on Charel's big lap, but it still felt awkward. “I don't think she'll let all of us just walk in the door.”

“Nightclubs always need help, especially in LA.” Laurence made a sharp turn that took them away from the rocky road along the ocean and further inland. “I could probably squeeze in with the orchestra. I know some guys in Duke Ellington's band. Either that, or I might be able to get in as security.” Charel snorted, his deep voice rumbling almost as hard as the tires under them. “You, we could definitely pass as security, or even sneak in the kitchen.”

“Talk to Miss Tano, I will.” Yoda's little mouth went down. “Will also talk to FBI. Know about this woman, they should, if they don't already.”

“Talk to Agent Rieekian.” Leia had to brace herself from going out the window as they went around another curve. “He's an old friend of Papa Bail's. He knows a lot about the smuggling rackets.”

“I might be able to get in as a waiter or a doorman.” Artie leaned over and grabbed Clarence's arm. “And here's Mrs. Hutt's newest secretary and translator.”

“What?” Clarence's jaw nearly ended up on the floor. “I'm not getting involved in this! I'm in bad enough shape as it is!”

“We're going to need all the help we can get.” Leia winced at the blood on her handkerchief. “Right now, let's get going. The more time we waste, the less time we have to go after Harry and the Sword of Wisdom.

Leia tumbled out the moment Laurence stopped at the shiny new air field. “I'm driving.” Laurence pulled a dark leather suitcase out of the trunk and handed it to a small, droopy-faced man with a thin mustache who came running over. “Here, Nieno. We're taking the Silver Falcon. Yes, my old plane.” He chuckled as Nieno let out an excited stream of garbled Spanish. “Yes, we're going to need you, too. In fact, we're going to need a lot of help. We're going treasure hunting.”

Leia raised an eyebrow as Nieno tossed Laurence's suitcase in the back of the plane. “What's this 'we' stuff?”

“Us. All of us. Harry too. You're going to need more help finding that sword, especially once Vader catches up with us.” Laurence gave her that blinding toothpaste smile again. “For now, let's go to Tinseltown and make sure Harry's mind and...other parts...are still in one piece.”

“By the way,” Leia took her brother's arm before they climbed into the Falcon, “what happened to the Sword of Light?”

“It's in the safest place possible.” Luke shrugged. “On a rack with other knives and spears in Yoda's collection at his house. He's got a lock. If anyone sees it, they'll just think it's part of his collection.”

“We'll swing over to San Francisco and send it along to Dr. Mothma after we rescue Harry.” She grinned. “But right now, let's go save our fellow Guardian and keep the Sword of Wisdom from ending up in Vader's grubby mechanical hands.”