* * *

After struggling to put on his pants, Han Solo fell into a chair. He had been hoping to get out of the hospital before anyone tried to stop him, but that looked unlikely, as he needed to take a break and catch his breath. He turned away from the bed and all its attendant machines and wires, and directed his attention out of the wide window.

He saw what everyone was calling the “Bay of the Republic”, the floodwaters lapping at the Republic Palace and surrounding district. Surprisingly strong waves crashed against marketplace jetties made of scrap materials. The waters were darker than usual, gray-brown after a recent storm. Corrugated steel covered the windows and doors of what was now the first floor of a tall skyscraper, but a few shops were starting to reopen, with their owners sweeping refuse away from their storefronts and back into the sea of sewage. Han sighed deeply, ignoring the pain in his chest as he looked upon the state of the New Republic’s capital once again.

Just as Han had expected, the door to his room slid open and medical droid D1-V1 entered. Han unconsciously pulled away from the skeletal machine, even though he knew that it meant him no harm.

“Master Solo, are you truly intent on leaving so soon?”

“Believe it, Deevee,” said Han. Though he wanted to get up immediately to stress his point, he decided that sitting for another minute would do him some good.

D1-V1 produced an audible sigh, then said, “I would have liked to monitor how you were accepting nutrition from your artificial stomach, and perhaps schedule you for another soak in the bacta tank… but, alas, if you are set on leaving, then I cannot stop you.”

“I’ll be fine.”

As Han prepared to push up from his seat, the medical droid reached behind its back, revealing a satchel filled with small bottles.

“Before you leave, Master Solo, I would like to present you with your nutritional supplements. As you know, we had to remove your stomach and quite a bit of your intestinal tract. Your new stomach is quite incapable of digesting standard fare. That includes alcohol!”

Han grimaced and turned to the window, then forced himself to turn back to the medical droid.

“Now, sir, I realize this will be a difficult adjustment,” D1-V1 continued, drawing out two bottles and showing them off. “As you can see, the nutrient paste not only comes in ‘plain’, but also ‘green’ flavor!”

“Great. Thanks, doc.”

“Now, you may have some difficulty moving around. We were, sadly, unable to reconstruct much of your abdominal wall. You are being held together by a flexible fiber mesh. In time, it will integrate more naturally with your body. And your other muscles will compensate as well.”

“So I guess my running days are over, huh?”

D1-V1 looked at Han. “Were you a runner, sir?”

“Nevermind. Hey - thanks, doc. I mean it. Now, mind helping me with-”

Again the door slid open, and a female nurse swept into the room with a cane held against her bosom. Her large green eyes immediately fixed on Han, then she turned to D1-V1 with a wide smile.

“Deevee! They need you in the emergency room. I can handle Mister Solo!”

“An emergency?” said D1-V1. “I wasn’t notified! What’s happened?”

“There was a stabbing.”

“But my communications log has nothing about such an incident!”

“Actually, I think it’s still ongoing. The stabbing, I mean. Big fight down in the waiting room. So you might not be notified until you’re halfway there.”

“My goodness! Well, then. Good fortune to you, Master Solo.”

Han nodded and D1-V1 made his way out of the room. The nurse looked at Han expectantly. Han smiled awkwardly. “I’m-”

“Han Solo,” said the nurse, nodding. “I’m Nurse Pilena. Here… I brought you this cane!”

“Oh. Uh.” Han took the cane and tested the grip. He had never heard of a hospital issuing canes, but decided that he would probably need it for the long walk to the Millenium Falcon. “Thanks. Nice to see a human around here.”

Han had spoken without thinking. He had meant no harm, but the nurse froze as if terrified, with her comforting smile suddenly turning into a stiff mask. Seeing her discomfort made him uncomfortable, too, as she could easily complain about the comment. Han swallowed as his mouth went dry. The last thing he needed was another allegation of xenophobia.

“Um. Yes,” Pilena said, blinking rapidly. “So. Can I… help you up?”

“Oh… sure.” Grateful that she had given him a pass, Han leaned forward and grasped her extended arm. He rose and leaned into her. Feeling her warm body pressing against him on one side, he was surprised at the sudden rush of exhilaration. He looked into her green eyes, but she immediately turned away.

“The cane should help while you… while you mend,” she said, awkwardly searching for words.

“Thanks,” he said, smiling without meaning to. He leaned against the cane, and she helped him walk across the room. He had been annoyed any time a droid tried to help, but now he unexpectedly found himself enjoying a little attention.

“I see Deevee dropped off some food for you.”

“If you can call it that.”

“It’s not so bad! He told you it comes in green flavor, too, didn’t he?”

He scoffed, then caught her smiling at him. “Maybe we could share a bottle some time?” he asked, suddenly unmindful of how stiff and unnatural his stomach felt. “We could start out with some plain flavor, see where things go from there.”

“Oh! Sorry, hold on.”

Pilena pressed her comm device against her ear and listened in. In the ensuing silence, Han gritted his teeth. What was he doing? Flirting with a pretty nurse came natural to him, but he was no longer a scoundrel roaming the galaxy, free of attachments. Not only was he surrounded by people who reported on him, he was married! He had even heard that his wife left her wing of the mansion just to yell at the hired help in the aftermath of the shootout. And while he had gotten a promise out of Leia that he would face no long-term consequences for hiding Luke, legally he was not completely in the clear. Though his stomach was now only a heavy, stiff plastifiber shell, he still somehow felt a sudden twinge of anxiety in his belly.

“Oh, my.” Pilena suddenly turned to him, saying, “Mister Solo, I was hoping you wouldn’t leave so soon, but we have… well, something of an emergency. An actual emergency. I…”

Han grimaced. He had to assume that the New Republic Medical Facility always had an emergency to deal with, especially considering the riffraff hanging around the stinking fish market down below.

But something about Pilena’s expression told Han that this was different. She seemed concerned - not just for whatever was happening, but for him.

“What’s going on?” said Han. “Maybe I can help.”

“It’s two of our patients,” she said. “They’ve escaped.”

“Escaped? You hold patients here against their will?”

“I mean… that’s not what I meant. The thing is - they’ve gone missing.”

“Who are they?” he said, wondering if he already knew the answer.

* * *

Ben peered around the doorway, first one way, then the other.

“Well?” said Anakel.

Ben turned and put a finger to his lips, then peered around the doorway once again. Finally he crept back to her.

“Nobody’s there,” he said. “I think we’re safe.”

“Safe?” said Anakel. “I don’t know about that.”

Ben and Anakel looked at each other. Though it was hard to see one another in the dark equipment room, they somehow felt each other’s mood.

“Mom’s going to be mad at us,” said Ben.

Anakel snorted. “Mom’s crazy.”

Ben sucked in a breath, surprised at the statement. Still, he was unsure how to argue against what she had said. Finally he said, “Well… what did you get from them?”

Anakel looked down at the stack of datapads clutched in her arms. “It’s the alien genetic stuff! One of these has info about our genes, and the aliens they were going to turn us into.”

Ben winced. “They were going to turn me into a Rodian! But which one is ours?”

“I don’t know…” Anakel picked one at random and flipped it on. Not only was it difficult to navigate with one hand, the screen showed a dense, indecipherable wall of text and figures. Frustrated, she looked around, then found a garbage chute. She made her way toward it, held it open, then got up on her tiptoes and tossed the datapads inside. Ben’s mouth fell open as they listened to the datapads clatter and bang against the sides of the chute.

“I can’t believe you just did that!” said Ben.

Anakel smiled. “Oh well!”

“It takes weeks for them to match the genes together just right!”

Anakel’s smile turned into a grimace of disappointment. “Then I guess a bunch of dummies are going to have to wait awhile before some idiot can turn them into an alien!”

Ben’s fear of being in trouble was slowly replaced by comprehension. “Oh… I guess we’ll be safe for a little while, then.”

“Yeah. Unless you want to climb down in the garbage chute and fish out the manual that says ‘how to turn Ben into a stupid Rodian’!”

“Not really.” The twins stood in the dark room for a moment, then Ben went to check the doorway again. He listened to the sound of conversation in the distance. When the voices faded, he went back to his sister. “What do we do, Ana?”

The exhilaration of escaping from the doctors and nurses had faded, and the question brought a sick, twisting feeling in her belly. Anakel wanted to go home, but then again, she knew their mother was liable to be there. She would just send them back to the hospital. Calling dad would not help, either, as he would just tell them to do what their mother said. And that was assuming he even bothered responding to their call. Anakel’s face twisted up in sadness. She was grateful that the room was dark, so Ben would not be able to see her fighting off tears. Unable to speak, she shrugged.

Ben sighed. “We need a grownup. I don’t know what to do…”

Before Anakel could respond, Ben jumped in fright, then grabbed Anakel. Anakel stiffened with shock, and Ben roughly pushed her away from the doorway. She watched him peering at the doorway with his hands held into fists, but she saw no one there.

“Ben!” she said. “What are you-”

“Get back!” said Ben.

Shocked at how fierce he sounded, Anakel clamped her mouth shut. She peered over her brother’s shoulder. Again, she saw no one standing in the doorway. Anakel waited in silence, with her pulse hammering in her ears. Finally Ben turned to look at her.

“I think we should trust him,” he said.

“Trust who?!”

“The blue man!” he said.

“There’s no one there!”

Ben gave her a skeptical look which was mirrored on her face, then he turned back to the doorway. She could tell that he was listening to something. Had he totally lost it?

He nodded, then turned back to her.

“Let’s follow him,” Ben said. “I don’t know why you can’t see him, but he says he can show us how to get to a safe place.”

“He’s a… blue man?”

“Yeah. Blue. But he’s human. And… I think he’s a good guy.”

Anakel sighed. Though she was confused, and felt totally out of her element, she trusted her brother. “Okay, Ben,” she said.

Ben turned and led her into the hallway. It was still empty, but they could hear the murmuring clamor of distant conversations. Before they entered the crowded, well-lit main hallway, Ben grabbed Anakel’s wrist and dragged her into an open doorway. A large, orange patient covered in bandages lay in bed taking long, even breaths, unmindful of the twins as they crouched inside the doorway. They watched as several people marched past the doorway.

“We’ll get the nurses to check every room on their route!” said one man.

“The Cheka are on the way, but shouldn’t we send someone to watch the main entrance?”

“You should have already done that!”

Anakel listened to the bickering group as they passed. She would have been content to wait a little longer, but Ben suddenly grabbed her wrist again and dragged her back into the crowded hallway. The blood drained from her face as he dragged her past a group of nurses and medical droids. By some miracle no one saw them. Ben pulled her into an elevator, then hit the button to take them up higher.

“We need to go down!” said Anakel. “We’ll be stuck in here if we go up!”

Ben looked up, and seemed to be listening to his invisible friend. He turned and shook his head at her.

“He’s in here, too?” she said. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

* * *

They came to a forgotten floor in the upper reaches of the New Republic Medical Facility. Spiderwebs stretched across black walls now gray with dust. The air was close, and stale, but lights still shone from rooms that must have once been for patients.

“I don’t like it here,” said Anakel, hesitating.

“Well, there’s nobody up here,” said Ben, continuing down the main hallway. “I bet this is where the bad guys used to come when they got hurt. Back when the Rebels would shoot them!”

“As long as there’s no bad guys now…” Anakel said, trying to convince herself that they were safe.

Ben suddenly stopped.

“What is it?” said Anakel.

“He went away!”

“The blue man?”

“Yeah. Well. I guess… I guess we should just keep going.”

Though Anakel still had trouble believing Ben’s story, his confidence had certainly changed, as his determined stride was suddenly replaced with shuffling, bird-like steps.

“Boy, it sure is creepy up here…” he muttered.

“That’s what I said! But you said it isn’t!”

Ben did not respond, but continued on in silence. They came to a wide set of doors which suddenly slid open, as if waiting for the twins all this time. They paused, their hands unconsciously seeking one another out.

They entered a dreary chamber where old medical droids and machines bearing hooked implements and oversized syringes stood in a circle. In the middle of the circle of machines they saw a steel table with manacles placed for arms and legs, like a sacrificial altar devoted to some mechanical religion. Anakel no longer made any pretense toward appearing brave, but gripped one of her brother’s arms in both her hands.

“Wh-where are we, Ben?” she asked.

Ben looked around. His lips slowly parted. “This is where they fixed grandfather.”

“How do you know that?!”

Ben said nothing for a long time. Finally he whispered, “He told me.”

On the other side of the chamber, a door grinded open, shrieking with the tortured sound of metal scraping against metal. The twins screamed in terror.