A Change of Plans: OT Fic

Whew, I was getting worried that you might have forgotten about us.

Poor Han. I guess he lost his cool, aloof image in front of the general. Now everybody will know how much he cares about Luke- everybody except Han himself.

 

Thanks for nothing KnightMara. Not only is Luke in trouble, but now there's something going on at the Rebel Base. Wasn't one emergency enought for you?

Sorry to hear you had to switch schools. Unless you didn't like the old school that is and are glad to get out of there.

 

Hey, as they say in real life, "When it rains, it pours."(And don't I know it?) So why should things be any different for our guys in the SW universe?

 

hey what now? and where is leia?!

i like your pic...didn't even know you had one till now!

 

Hey, thanks Vergere! That's a pic from the hotel room at DragonCon two years ago!

Anyway, here's more story. I figure I should start posting stuff as soon as it's written since I never know how crazy my life is going to get from day to day.






It did not take long for the medical crew to arrive. Han stood waiting in the starboard cargo hold as a young man in a self-contained survival suit scrambled out of the lift platform to the upper air-lock hatch. Momentarily disoriented, it took the young medic a few moments to get his bearings before he turned to face Han.

"Captain Solo, I presume," the young man said, shifting a med-kit under his left arm and extending his right hand in greeting.

Han, however, refused to accept it, taking in the young man's unique attire. "Interesting getup," he said with a snort. "Is it really necessary?"

The young man smiled beneath his mask. "Just taking precautions."

Han nodded with thinly veiled disgust. "Wouldn't it have been simpler, then, to just send up a droid."

The young medic shook his head. "All the 2-1Bs have been deployed to the Victory."

Han's blood suddenly began to run cold. "The what?"

The medic looked baffled. Arching his eyebrows in disbelief, he asked, "You don't know?"

Han stepped forward menacingly. "Know what?"

Brilliant green eyes suddenly widened in sympathy as the young man shook his head. "A quarter of the base was destroyed, Captain. The ship lost control while entering the atmosphere, and it plowed right into the South Wing."

Han stared at the young man blankly as his brain frantically tried to piece together the information that was being given to him. Already on edge from fatigue, he could feel his heart begin to race and his nerve endings buzz as he struggled to find his voice. "Are you talking about the transport, The Victory? It crashed?"

The young medic nodded. "Yes, Captain."

A cold knot began to form in Han's stomach as he recalled Luke's delirious rantings from earlier in the day. This was all too unreal and unnatural. Surely, this couldn't be one of those Force things the kid was always talking about. Partly to dismiss this all as coincidence and partly fearing the worst, Han ventured to ask, "Was the Princess involved in this somehow?"

He was deeply cognizant of his thudding heartbeat in the precious seconds it took before he received his answer.

"Yes. She was on board."

Years of gambling and smuggling had ingrained in him an instinctive physical control to suppress any reaction to even the most shocking of news. But, never the less, Han placed a hand against the familiar interior wall of the Falcon to steady himself. Fortunately, he was saved the task of asking any more questions by the young medic who seemed eager to fill him in on the details.

"She was injured, but not badly. The pilot was killed, though, and so were several of the officers in that wing at the time of the crash. Lots of injuries, too."

Han only listened half-consciously to the young man's words. First and foremost in his mind was the information that she had only been mildly injured. That meant she was alive, and probably bossing those poor 2-1B droids around in her usual annoying manner. A slight smile tugged at the corner of his lips at this thought, even as he suppressed the urge to shudder at her irritatingly domineering ways. He could almost picture her in his mind's eye: hair perfectly braided and coiled atop her head, undisturbed in spite of the bruises on her face and the bandage on her leg as she hobbled around shouting commands and maintaining order in the midst of chaos. That was her Worshipfulness, all right.

"Are you all right, sir?"

The softly spoken question jarred Han back to reality. What had he been doing visualizing the princess? Why had he seen her so clearly? And why did she suddenly and unexpectedly seem to matter? He shook his head in self-disgust. He must really be tired. Speaking of being tired . . ..

"Yeah, I'm fine," he ans

 

Han you're such a softie.

Run now before it's too late. I don't know why, but I have a suspicion that this Princess is going to make your life unbelievably complicated.

 

i wonder why you would think that, Herman...?

very nice, i like it. more?

 

I'm psychic.

 

ah is it just me or has those active thread things stopped? cause im not getting any and i should have about 30 by now....

 

ah I've just read your story and I really like the way you work with the characters feelings, KnightMara ; they are really "alive"... well, Luke is not so alive in his state of mind, but I mean you can nearly feel like you were there, with them.

It's a great work... go on...

 

Thanks, Twinnie! It seems my readership has dwindled (hint, hint, wink, wink guys!), so it's nice to see someone new coming in and reading this story. I really appreciate the comments as well.

I'm still working on the next segment. This story in itself is turning out to be as complicated as Han's life is about to get!
(See how I worked that in, Herman. Synergie!)

Okay, sorry, I'm a little punchy from grading a stack of horrible essays from six different classes that are making me question the sanity and the actual effectiveness of my life's calling. Any other teachers out there who can relate? Please tell me I'm not the only one who winds up at the beginning of the year with a classroom full of students who seem to have spent zero years in school prior to coming to my class.

There's a story idea right there: The Jedi Dunce Squad!!!

Okay, the tirade is over. Back to writing my story. . .I'll post later in the week.

 

Oops! Did I forget to reply to your last post? I could have sworn that I did...



I'm still around and checking for updates!

 

Yay! Jee-dai hasn't disappeared after all!

It's okay, I'm guilty of reading and forgetting to post, too. In fact, I think I need to run off and post on some threads I've neglected for far too long.

(I'm procrastinating. . . I have one more stack of papers to grade by tomorrow, and I don't wanna' do it!!!)

 

You're right. Synergie is a beautiful thing.

BTW, I posted more of my story like you asked. Now kindly return the favor.

Grading papers can wait for the weekend.

 

Hey, Herman, I did post on yours! Six minutes before you posted on mine. . .so there!

hehehehe. . .and I still got all my grading done! Yay!

 

I agree, Han's just a softie.
Excellent story!

Post soon!

 

Where'dja go KnightMara?

I know Florida's a little crazy right now, but that's no reason not to post more of your story.

 

Sorry about the delay. I've been a little busy this week. . . I'm still in the process of transferring to another school. Plus, I GOT ENGAGED ON FRIDAY!!!!! Okay, I'm just a little bit excited! It's FINALLY official. . .ring and everything.

But, hey, I'm workin' on the story. So don't worry

 

Hey, that's great news.

Congratulations.

 

CONGRATULATIONS! Very cool, very exciting.

As for the story, I'm still here. Can't wait for more.

 

oh knightmara im all excited *for* you! congrats! yay! whoohoo!!

 

Hey, Congratulations on your engagement!!

Wow, after weeks of illnesses and stress, you get this wonderful news!! I'm really happy for you.

 

Thanks all!

Well, it was difficult to pull myself away from my fiance, but I've been working on the story and here is the next installment:


Han leaned against the doorjamb, his arms folded across his chest as he watched the young medic take Luke's vital signs.

"How long's his fever been like this?" the medic asked, his brows furrowed in concern.

"About nine hours," Han replied, uneasy with so much worry coming from a medic who was supposed to be used to this kind of thing.

The young man's reaction to his words didn't reassure him any. "Damn! Were you able to bring it down at all?"

Han shifted his gaze to the ailing rebel on the bunk. Deathly pale and unnaturally still, the kid looked like he was barely clinging to life. Only the slight rise and fall of his chest and the soft wheeze that accompanied the motion signaled that he was alive at all. His body showed no reaction to the scans and probes to which the medic was subjecting him, and Han found himself silently apologizing to the kid for not being able to do more to help.

"Chewie and me doused him in ice," he found himself saying. "That worked for a bit. But the fever was still pretty high."

The medic shook his head as he continued to assess his patient. "He's severely dehydrated, " he murmured. "Any delirium?"

Han nodded. "Yeah."

"Seizures?"

Han frowned. "Not that I'm aware of. A few coughing spells."

The medic grimaced. "I'm not surprised, considering the scan shows double pneumonia."

"Double pneumonia?"

"Both lungs are infected," the medic explained, looking up at Han, "instead of just one." He dug into his med-kit and pulled out a small, fluid-filled bag with a thin tube attached, and handed it to Han. "Here, hold this for a second. I want to start a fluid-drip on him before his kidneys shut down."

Han obediently did as asked, feeling oddly helpless and subservient on his own ship. He watched as the young medic attached the tube to an IV catheter in Luke's arm before resuming his analysis of Luke's symptoms. "Do you want me to just keep holding this?" Han asked, indicating the fluid bag.

The medic looked back at him with a dry smile. "Let me know if you get tired."

In other circumstances, Han would have told the young man exactly where he could stick the bag, but he merely held his tongue and nodded. Now was not the time for him to take offense. Not when another's life was hanging in the balance.

The medic continued to work quickly, finally taking a quick blood sample and running it through an analyzer. "Now let's see if we can't figure out what's causing the infection," he mumbled as he watched the machine synthesize the data into a probable diagnosis. He paused, shaking his head at the readout. "This can't be right."

"What?" Han asked quickly, surprised at his own level of alarm.

"Hang on," the medic muttered as he took another blood sample and ran it through the machine. "Let me try this again." He waited for the results to come up before he murmured, "Well, I'll be damned."

"What is it?" Han demanded.

The medic shook his head in disbelief. "This scan shows that your passenger here has contracted Corellian Influenza."

Through his exhaustion, the medic's words seemed to slowly penetrate his brain. "Wait," Han voiced, questioningly, "isn't that impossible? I thought Corellian Flu was practically extinct."

"It is," the medic agreed, taking another look at his patient. "Almost. Where's this kid from?"

Han forced himself not to scowl at the medic's use of the term "kid." It seemed rather derogatory considering the medic seemed barely older than Luke himself. "Tatooine," he replied as politely as he could. "On the outer rim."

"Much Imperial presence there?" the medic asked.

Wondering what he was getting at, Han shook his head and replied, "No. It's primarily a Hutt world, with only one spaceport and scattered moisture farms."

"Well, then it's obvious," the medic concluded as the pieces visibly fell into place.

Han

 

yes she posted! and it was really good!

so the Corellian Flu, huh? at least its not a form of the death seed...then everyone would die.

...hey how about an epilogue on the other story?

 

Now, did you *literally* have to pull yourself away from your fiancee? Are you even used to that word yet?

Fiancee?

Fiancee.

Fiancee!


Well, now that we know what's wrong with Luke, what next? I'm gonna have to go back to the first few posts to remember what Luke and Han were doing on that mission.