A Bad Feeling Working Document

CHAPTER 1:

Sheets of snow and ice blurred Han Solo's vision, and he staggered as he battled the wind. His heart raced with fear. He had no idea where he was or why he was here. He just knew he had to continue forward. The ground rose beneath him and he slipped. He pressed his hand into the snow and leaned forward to manage the change of the terrain.

A lone figure sat at the end of the inclination and wore his brown fur-lined coat. He held his hand to his eyes to shield his view from the glare, but he was still too far away to identify the person. For some unknown reason, he felt a desperate need to reach him or her. His toes ached in his boots with each step and perspiration covered his body and face, intensifying the cold. He glanced down at his blaster and grimaced. Probably frozen. He looked up at the figure. Friend or foe? Panic nipped at his chest, but he didn't feel that the danger threatened him. He was about to call out when the hood of his coat slipped off the figure's head. She turned her face towards him.

Leia.

Her mouth moved, but the wind stole her words.

Han called her to her as he pushed through the waist-deep snow. He picked up his pace, but that brought him no closer to Leia. He screamed her name. She flashed him a sad smile then turned away. Anger snowballed inside his chest. He willed her to look at him, but she just sat there with her back to him and her head bowed.

Han managed to get several feet away from her. Leia twisted her shoulders and looked up at him. Snowflakes caught in her long lashes, and her cheeks were red from the cold. Her loose hair whipped around her face, but she made no move to control it. Han thought that she never looked more beautiful.

Leia whispered his name, and despite the roar of the blizzard, he was able to hear her. Her tone was delicate and lacked its usual bite. She faced away from him once again.

Something wasn't right. Han swallowed down his anxiety, dropped to his hands and knees, and crawled toward her. When he reached her, he put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. Leia looked down at herself before lifting her gaze to him. Horror pierced his gut when he saw the blood covering her chest.

"Leia?"

In her bloody hands lay her heart. She collapsed in his arms.

"Leia!"

"What now?"

Han jumped in his seat. He swiveled around to find Leia framed by the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. Her brow was furrowed and her lips were pursed. He blinked the blur of sleep from his eyes. Lately his dreams distressed him, and sleep overtook him at inopportune moments like this one. When Han's vision cleared, and he saw her standing there alive and well, relief spilled through him. Leia placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head.

"Well." She raised an eyebrow. "What do you want this time?"

"Never mind," Han said.

The princess narrowed her eyes on him. "Very funny." She then spun on her heel and stormed out of the cockpit.

Han slumped back into his seat and ran his hand over his face again.

Leia stalked through the corridor and past Luke who was in the main hold of the ship.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked.

She grunted then shouted, "That man just thinks he's just the funniest thing!" She looked back at the door of the cockpit and threw herself down on the couch.

"What's he done now?" Luke asked, but he already knew the answer. Han kept calling Leia only to tell her he didn't need her. It was a childish joke, even for Han, and Luke wondered why the princess kept responding to his constant calls.

"Don't get me started."

Leia flipped tapped on her data pad. She had a lot of material to cover before they landed on Scillion. She was the lead on this mission and the pressure pressed down on her. While she had practice in picking locks, electro-detonators were something new to her.

"Why does he insist on interrupting my work?" She asked.

Luke glanced at Chewbacca, and the Wookie laughed.

Leia shot Chewie an angry look. "Of course, you would think Han's being funny. I bet you're even in on it."

Chewbacca stood up, waved his hand dismissively, and made his way to the cockpit.

The princess turned her attention to Luke. "And what are you smiling about? Was this your idea?"

Luke leaned back in his seat. "Now, Leia, why would I torture you like that?"

Leia narrowed her dark eyes. "You better not even think about it." She turned put down the data pad. "Oh! I don't know how I'm going keep things straight with all these distractions!"

"I'm sure Han could help you out," Luke said. "He probably knows a lot about electro-detonators."

Leia pierced him with an icy glare. "No thanks."

"That would make your job a lot easier."

"I highly doubt it." Leia rested her head on her hands. "He only manages to make things more complicated."

"I'm sure he'd say the same about you." Luke patted her on the back. "Don't worry. You'll do fine."

"Using the force, oh great Jedi?"

"No." He looked her in the eye. "I have confidence in your abilities. Everything will be fine."

Leia smiled but didn't feel consoled. When did anything ever go "fine" when she was with Han and Luke?

"Have you memorized the blueprints?" she asked.

Luke handed her the data pad. "Quiz me."

"What do you want?" Han growled as Chewie entered the cockpit.

The Wookie grumbled as he sat down in the co-pilot's seat.

"I am not in a bad mood." Han watched the stars shoot by them. "And I didn't snap at you."

Chewie focused his blue eyes on his hairy hand and pretended to study the console. He garwuffed.

"Nothing's wrong. Will you lay off me?" Han stood up. "Your turn to keep an eye on things. I'll be in my cabin if you want me."

Chewie worrfed.

Han sighed. "Right. Leia has my cabin. I'll be somewhere else!"

He stormed out of the cockpit, stomped through the corridor, and hurried through the main hold where the princess was quizzing Luke.

"Hey, Han," Luke called out as Han passed by. "Leia and I are pretty much done here. How about we play some Sabaac?"

Leia rolled her eyes and Han's features pinched.

"Guess not," Luke mumbled.

Han stalked toward the crews' quarters he shared with Luke, but at the last moment he decided to reclaim his own cabin. The door was open. He went straight to the bed and dropped onto it.

"Ow!"

He sat up and removed two discs and a stylus from under him. He cursed as he collected Leia's things and tossed them onto bedside table. The stylus knocked over a cup of water and the discs collided with a bottle of pills.

"Just great."

Solo went to the refresher and grabbed a towel. Han picked up the bottle of pills that had landed in the puddle and turned it in his hand.

Restoril, a sleeping pill. He was surprised Leia took sleeping pills; she was up most nights. He had caught her in the galley more than once just sitting and staring at the table. Other times she was curled up in a ball in the pilot's chair watching the stars zoom by. Some nights he found her bent over her data pad in the lounge. Han never disturbed her, though he had a strong urge to do so. He shook the bottle and opened it. There were only three pills left. These pills could be the answer to his nightmares and insomnia. He pressed his lips together, replaced the cap, and put the bottle back on the table. He cleaned up the water and dropped back onto the bed.

Han couldn't wait for this mission to be over. Leia said it would be a simple mission, but he couldn't see anything simple about sneaking into the pro-Imperial city's government labs, stealing files, and destroying them. He didn't like her plan mainly because he wasn't the one doing the dirty work. Luke was the one who would infiltrate the air ventilation system and break into the intelligence data system located in the center of the building. Han and Leia were to create a distraction by blowing up a utility plant.

He grabbed a pillow and placed it under his head. Leia told him that three Scillion scientists—the most reputable scientists in the galaxy—developed biochemical weapons for a Grand Moff in the Imperial forces. One Scillion scientist defected to the Rebel Alliance, one was missing, and the other was assassinated. Leia denied the Alliance had anything to do with the assassination, but Han thought better. All Leia was ever concerned with was the Alliance, and she saw these biochemical weapons as a way to convince other systems to join their cause. He, Luke, Chewie, and Leia were to bring back evidence of the soon-to-be-a-reality weapons and destroy the formulas.