“Please hold still your Highness.” Simon said.

Leia did so, soothed mostly by the young doctor's soft voice, and respectful tone. “I hardly think slap in the face is grounds for medical attention.” she snarked.

Simon smirked slightly. “Maybe so, but an Imperial interrogation might be.”

Leia took in his clothes and manner. “This ship is full of surprises.” she muttered. As Simon examined her, she mused that he had a very professional, and yet calming bedside manner. “You don't look like you belong here. You're so...”

“Clean?”

“Well, yes. How did you wind up as a crew member on a disreputable freighter?”

“That's a very long story.” Simon said. “Suffice to say that you're not the only one who's life has been uprooted by the Empire.” She followed his gaze to the young woman looking curiously at her. “My sister and I are relatively new additions to the crew.”

“You're far more polite than the rest of the crew as well.” Leia said.

“The captain needs to warm up to people.” Simon advised.

*****

Luke glanced over at the infirmary, trying to decide whether or not to go check on Leia to make sure she was okay. He decided that would seem too eager. He wasn't sure what it was about her. Certainly she was beautiful, but it was more than that. From the first moment he'd seen her, he'd felt as if they had a connection.

“So what do you think of her?” he asked the person standing behind him. He didn't realize until he'd asked it that it was Jayne standing there.

Jayne spat contemptuously. “Tryin' not to kid.” he said.

Luke felt nothing but relief at that. “Good.”

Jayne smirked at him. “If you like girls to push you around, go for it.” he said. “Can't say she ain't pretty.”

Nearby, Kaylee was looking over the droids to make sure they didn't have any damage. She frowned slightly.

“Is anything wrong Miss Kaylee?” Threepio asked worriedly.

“Huh? Oh, no Threepio, don't worry about it.”

*****

Wash looked at the planet below them with deep satisfaction. “There it is.” he said with a sigh of relief. “Yavin four.” He glanced back, smiling at his captain. The smile died at the troubled look on Mal's face. “If I asked you why you weren't smiling, would I regret it?”

“It was too easy.” Mal muttered. “We manage to get around or through all the security on that station and there's only four sentry ships? It doesn't add up.”

“So the answer to my question would be yes.”

Mal gritted his teeth. The sensible thing to do would be to drop the princess, Luke and the droids off, collect their fare and get out while the getting was good. He had a nasty feeling in his gut.

But he needed to have a word with their newest passenger first. There was a good chance they had just led the Empire right to these people. And Mal wouldn't feel right unless he knew that they understood the situation.

“They're tracking us.” Leia said, without preamble the moment she saw Mal.

“Well that was easy.” he muttered. “Most like. Best explanation I can think of for how easy that all was.”

“You call that easy?” Luke said wonderingly.

“Given the size of the station and the importance of their prisoner, I'd say four sentry ships was a little light.” Book agreed.

Jayne swore. “Knew it was too good to be true, us gettin' that lucky.”

“So what do we do?” Luke asked. “Can we find the tracking device?”

“Not before we get to Yavin 4.” Mal said. “It could be anywhere on board, or even on the hull.”

“We could,” Book said slowly. “Make for a different port. Lead the Empire away from the Rebels, that might give us more time to find the device.”

“No,” Leia said. Her voice did not hold it's customary air of command. “No the rebellion needs the information Artoo is carrying. We're what the Empire is looking for. Captain once you deliver the droids and I, you should get out while you can. We've caused you enough trouble already.”

Mal looked at her with new, if grudging respect. Maybe she wasn't quite so simple as he'd thought. And she was definitely more diplomatic than he'd have given her credit for. “All right then.” he nodded. “I just wanted to make sure you knew the situation. Didn't want to leave you and yours unprepared.”

“I appreciate that Captain. And Captain, thank you for your help. You've done a great service to-”

“Yeah I feel all warm and fuzzy.” Mal said, cutting her off. He didn't want her to get to speechifying. He had a suspicion it'd only lead to her asking them to stick around and help.

Leia bristled, but controlled her reaction. “There's a recognition code you have to transmit.” she said.

“Figured there might be.” he said. “Come on.”

*****

“Finally,” Threepio said dramatically. Kaylee had noticed that Threepio said a lot of things dramatically. “A place of refuge!”

She briefly considered informing the droid that the Death Star was most likely on their trail, but decided not to burst his bubble. The poor translator had been through so much already.

As the ramp lowered, Mal and the rest of the crew stood with Leia and Luke and the droids.

“Looks like there's a reception committee.” Zoe observed. She hoped there wouldn't be a lot of ceremony. She doubted she'd have any more patience for that than Mal would.

“I can have the money sent out to you.” Leia said stiffly.

Mal nodded. “Just make it quick. I don't know how fast that Death Star of yours moves, but I want my ship and my crew out of harm's way before it gets here.”

Luke happened to glance at River, and frowned. The girl was trembling, keeping far back from the door. “River? Are you okay?”

“There's darkness here.” she whispered to him.

“Darkness,” Luke frowned. “As in, The Force?”

River nodded. “Can't stay here.”

How could she sense it and he could not? He must need to be trained more. But as Leia headed down the ramp towards those who had come to greet them, Luke followed behind. “Threepio, Artoo, let's go.”

Kaylee impulsively caught Threepio in a hug, and patted Artoo fondly on the head. “Take care of yourselves you two.” she said.

“Miss Kaylee if we do not see you again before you depart, may I say that it was an absolute delight to have met you.” the golden droid said. Artoo beeped his agreement.

Mal, after a moments hesitation, finally went out as well. Zoe accompanied him, for moral support.

To Be Continued...