Chapter 34:
The machinery next to Solo starts beeping. "Looks like we're getting close to Alderaan," he stands up. Han and Chewbacca walk out. I stay here. Luke walks to Obi-Wan.
"I actually did feel something," Luke says. I grow a smile. He's so quick. "I could almost see the droid." Luke looks at me and sees my smile. He doesn't and won't ever know what it really means.
"That's great. That means you're one step closer to learning the ways of the force," Obi-Wan puts a hand on his shoulder. I unstrap myself and I tie my hair up. I press my eyebrows together as I feel strange. I feel the speed of the ship slow. Then it shakes. Luke starts running to the cockpit with Obi-Wan following. I get up and go along too.
"What's going on? I felt a shake," I ask.
"If our position is correct, we should be in the Alderaan system," Han replies.
"Then where is it?" Luke asks.
"It isn't here," Solo replies.
"Are those meteors?" I worry.
"Yeah," Solo replies. "Looks like it blew up." I snap my head to Obi-Wan, shock filling my eyes. He knows why I'm worrying, Leia. I quicken my breathing.
"How?!" Luke asks.
"Destroyed by the Empire," Obi-Wan says. I let out a short shaky breath. Han looks back.
"There's no way an Imperial fleet can take out a whole planet," Solo says and looks back at his controls. Something starts beeping quickly, and it's not R2. Han notices it. "There's another ship coming in," Han says.
"What?" I ask in a panic. Obi-Wan just looks ahead.
"It's an Imperial fighter," Obi-Wan says.
"No way," I sigh. I hear it now. The fighter comes in front of us. I've never seen those kind before.
"It followed us!" Luke exclaims.
"No," I reply.
"It's a short range fighter," Obi-Wan says.
"But where'd it come from?" Han asks.
"Sure is leaving in a hurry," Luke says.
"If they identify us, we're in serious trouble," I warn.
"Not on my watch," Han says. "Jam it's transmissions Chewy." Chewbacca starts flipping switches.
"Just let it go, it's too far out of our range," Obi-Wan says.
"Not for long," Han sings as he puts a hand on a lever. We follow the fighter. I start to analyze the ship.
"There's no way that small of a ship can this far into space," I mutter. "Not on it's own."
"He must have been part of a convoy or something and got lost," Luke says.
"Well he's not going to be around any longer to tell anyone about us," Solo says. I see the ship as we keep following.
"Look, he's heading for that small moon," Luke remarks.
"I think I can get him before he gets there. He's almost about in range for me," Han focuses. I focus on the 'moon' Luke pointed out. I've seen that before, and it's not a moon.
"That isn't a moon," I say bluntly. It's that sphere that I saw in my head.
"It's a space station," Obi-Wan finishes my sentence. I can feel my heart race and the feeling of Anakin get stronger.
"There's no way," Han replies.
"I have a seriously bad feeling about this," Luke says. I couldn't agree more.
"Turn the ship around," I warn. "Now."
"I agree," Han says. I sense panic in him. Obi-Wan looks at me as I stare blankly with my eyes open at the grey sphere. He pats my back.
"He's in there, I can feel it," I whisper to him, not taking my eyes off the grey dot. The Falcon starts to shake and my breathing gets quicker.
"Lock in the artillery power," Han tells Chewbacca. Chewy roars with panic. I gulp.
"Why isn't it working?" I worry.
"We're caught in a tractor beam and it's pulling us," Han informs us. We aren't getting out of this, I know that for a fact.
"There has to be something you can do," Luke whines. Anakin's feeling is getting stronger. I ball up my fists, trying to not let my memories and emotions get the best of me.
"Nothing I can do, I have to shut down," Han reaches something over me, then sits back down. The grey ball gets bigger. "They aren't going to take me without a fight." I raise my chin, nearing my end to my hiding from Annie.
"You can't win," I warn.
"There are alternatives to fighting," Obi-Wan says. He's telling me too. "You'll be alright," Obi-Wan whispers to me. I don't believe him. We keep getting closer to the space station. I close my eyes as Anakin is getting stronger by the second. I open my eyes again as we enter the landing hangar. The jolt of landing jiggles me. I stand up and toughen myself. I pull out my old fingerless gloves from my pocket and I slip them on. Anakin suddenly gets at it's most powerful, like he's right outside. The entrance to the ship opens as I quietly tighten my gloves. I hide in a dark area. A stormtrooper, highly changed from a long time ago, walks past where I'm hiding, not even noticing me. I hear them step off and I let out a shaky, quiet breath. Then I hear that deep voice that yelled in my head a long time ago.
"Did you find any droids?" the voice asks.
"No," another says, completely normal voice. I close my eyes as I hear my heart beat very, very quickly.
"I want every part of this ship checked. I sense a presence that I haven't sensed since...." the deep voice fades and then I hear him walk off.
He can still feel me.
