Log Date:
	9/17/98

Log Cast:
	Leia Organa-Solo, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Jali, Nerik

Log Intro:
	Badly wounded in an attack upon her by Valak in Plaxton City's
Fountain Square, Leia has been holed up in the Dr. Tarquin Memorial Medical
Center on the planet Caspar, under careful watch by both NR and Caspar
security forces -- as well as Han and Chewbacca, neither of whom have been
willing to leave her side for any longer than necessary to take turns
sleeping. Not at all surprisingly, it hasn't taken very long for Luke to
find out what has befallen his sister, and the young Jedi has hastened to
join the Princess and the Corellian and the Wookiee in the medical center,
determined to convince Leia to leave Caspar. This, as it happens, is an
opinion on Leia's necessary course of action shared by her husband...

----------
Leia says softly and without much enthusiasm, "I know. I just had the most 
  disturbing nightmare about ... well. it was just a nightmare." She breathes 
  in, breathes out, exerting her mastery over her emotions and forcing calm; 
  she is -not- about to let bad dreams influence her wakefulness.

Luke nods regretfully, "I fear this is all my fault." His eyes scan her for 
  damage while he focuses his minimal sensing abilities within. "Will you be 
  alright?"

"You've been through this before, Luke...you're fine now, I'll be fine." True 
  to nature, Leia sounds more herself, the nightmares shoved into the 
  background of her consciousness. "I should have been released earlier, but 
  I'm told another few bacta--" Interrupting herself, she moves onto a 
  different, preferable subject. "It's not your fault at all, Luke; there's no 
  reason you should feel that way."

"This won't happen again." Luke says with determination, "Han, Chewie and I 
  won't let it." He finally clips the saber back to his belt and runs a gloved 
  hand through his hair. "We're getting you off this planet. And don't argue 
  either." he adds with a tight smile, shrugging, "Have Han take you up into 
  orbit on the Falcon. If Valak comes back, we can get you out safely." he 
  says this in whispered measured tones and a firm nod.

Leia leans forward, oddly rankled by the protectiveness. "I am not going to 
  run from a bully, no matter who he is," she notes stridently, "and I'm not 
  going to run away from Caspar again because of the Empire. No. I'm a 
  representative of the New Republic, and if I cower to their aggression, I'm 
  giving Caspar a bad precedent for our presence here. No, I am not going to 
  do it, Luke, and that's final."

"But you're injured." Luke whines emotively, then sighs, "Just do it. I mean 
  it Leia, you're in no condition to take another attack." He gestures wildly 
  at the door, "Did you see how easily I walked past those guards? Do you 
  think Valak will have a tougher time getting in here?" He shakes his head 
  firmly, crossing his arms. "You're going."

The door slides open, admitting a Han who has at some point in the last eight 
  hours managed to reacquaint himself with the quaint invention known as the 
  razor, and an even quainter invention known as 'clean shirts'. Only slightly 
  grumpy that Private Rhansen let him sleep rather far longer than he'd 
  intended -- the Private has blurted out the presence of Luke in the 
  Princess's room, and Skywalker is one of the few people Solo trusts to be 
  watching over Leia while he's napping -- the Corellian steps into the room 
  on the very end of the younger man's argument. He pauses, looking from Leia 
  to Luke and back again, and drawls mildly, "Am I comin' in at a bad time?"

The 'discussion' has at least injected color in Leia's otherwise pale 
  complexion, though the high emotions can't be particularly good for her. On 
  this she feels entirely opposite of her twin. "Luke, Valak will find me if 
  he wants me, and that's all there is to it. Stop worrying about him; I'm not 
  that important to him, because if I were, he'd have killed me a few days ago 
  when he had the chance. I knew he stopped just before I died on purpose, 
  like he was granting me..." At this point awareness of Han's entrance forces 
  her to silence herself, and through her teeth she mutters, "No, Han. Come on 
  in."

"Nonsense." Luke replies, "The only reason he let you live was because of all 
  the attention it was getting." He sighs again as he manages a weak smile at 
  Han, "Han, you see what you can do with her. She's being stubborn as usual. 
  We've got to get her off planet, I can just feel it."

Han's dark brows wing down over hazel eyes, and he slides another look back 
  and forth between the young Jedi and the Princess. Stepping over to claim 
  himself a chair, he drags it to the bed's side, but rather than sitting in 
  it, he props a foot up on it, leaning onto his knee. He pins Leia with a 
  steady regard and says, "So, Your Worship, you wanna explain to me why I 
  shouldn't be agreein' with Junior here?"

Leia grimaces at the ready and easy doubleteam by the two men in her life and 
  mumbles, "I suppose noting that he's overreacting isn't going to work with 
  you, is it? And that repeating that the president of Caspar doesn't need to 
  keep looking at my hind end as I run away from an Imperial threat isn't 
  worth much, either?"

Luke blurts out, "It's not running away Leia. It's being cautious. Trust me on 
  this. If not as your brother, then as your Jedi Master." He cringes using 
  this phrase, but it's obvious he's not being talked out of this for any 
  reason.

To hells with 'Jedi Master'; Han is nothing more than Leia's husband, though 
  as far as he's concerned, that's quite enough reason to keep that intense 
  stare of his on the Princess and declare, "Valak damned near killed you, 
  sweetheart." No, Leia hadn't told Han that, but it's obvious enough to the 
  Corellian. "And given that he appears to be able to wipe the floor with you 
  as far as the Force is concerned, not to mention innocent bystanders, given 
  that he could probably kill you any time he wishes, I'm with Luke. Be 
  diplomatic from Home One. That's what holoterminals are for. Rodo might not 
  like you running from a threat, but do you think she'll like you wandering 
  around with a big sign sayin' 'Fry Me' on your back?"

Leia, frowning all the more heavily, closes her eyes and leans against the 
  cushions of her bed while noting with resignation, "I'm not going to talk 
  you two out of this, am I? I don't remember you both preaching for me to 
  hide in a cubbyhole when Palpatine and Vader were after me."

Luke nods succintly in agreement as Han finishes.
Luke leans further in and puts a hand against Leia's cheek. In his best soft 
  spoken Jedi Master voice he intones, "Sometimes it's necessary to hide, in 
  order to continue fighting."

Jali walks into the room as the front doors swish open to allow her entry.
Jali has arrived.
Jali enters the Waiting Area.

Nerik walks into the room as the front doors swish open to allow him entry.
Nerik has arrived.
Nerik enters the Waiting Area.

Stepping into the hospital and looking around with a quiet and respectful look 
  in her eyes, Jali steps towards the main desk quietly. She whispers 
  something to the attendent before handing a slightly torn piece of paper to 
  the person who looks it over momentarily. The attendent nods to Jali and 
  turns to disappear in a side door. In the meantime, another attendent steps 
  out of the same room and spots Nerik stepping into the main foyer. Quickly, 
  the nurse disappears back into the room and a burly nurse approaches the 
  foul smelling man that just entered and points to the front door, as to say 
  that his kind isn't served here. At least not in his present condition.

Within Leia's room, Han growls out huskily, "I might not be a diplomat, but I 
  know the difference between fighting a Rebellion and trying to carry out 
  negotiations on a neutral planet, Princess." He leans farther forward on his 
  chair, watching the two younger people. "Valak will happily take out 
  civilians trying to get to you, he's proven it. _And_ there's at least one 
  bounty hunter quite happy to do the same."

Also from within the room, Luke turns to stare wide-eyed at Han, "Bounty 
  Hunter?" then glancing quickly towards Leia, "What Bounty Hunter?"

A wrinkled forehead is what meets the burly nose as Nerik looks, at first a 
  bit confused. Though soon too his nose discovers the source of the stench 
  and this all concludes the reasons for the fly. Glancing down, he notices a 
  piece of paper that is rather soaked through some foul smelling substance. 
  Must have got stuck there when I was leaning on that trash receptical, 
  thinks Nerik. Quick thinking and he swiftly discards of the paper in a 
  conviently placed hazerdous wast bin near the door. That obstacle overcome, 
  Nerik maneuvers between a drink machine and an information display, his eyes 
  continuing to watch Jali.

"A Rodian," says Solo, brusquely. "Probably the same one that shot at me on 
  the station. Tried to carry off Her Highness here after Valak tried to turn 
  her into a one-woman power station."

Leia's brown-eyed glare at Han is eloquent in its meaning: thanks a -lot-, 
  Han. "It was nothing, something foolish tried by a Rodian who's a little too 
  inspired by his greed, and it was much less dangerous than anyone made it 
  out to be, Luke." The bounty hunter, however, is the final nail in this 
  coffin; any chance she might have had to remain on Caspar just went away 
  with that gentle reminder.

Noting the guards down the hallway, Jali's curiousity is perked a little, but 
  she makes no move to indulge her curiousity for the moment. She is still as 
  unaware of Nerik as she is of the fly looking for the missing source of 
  refuse. As the attendent returns from the side door with a small box of 
  equipment for Jali, Jali asks a quiet question, pointing down the hallway. 
  When the attendent answers, shaking his head, Jali frowns and pulls out a 
  small ID from under her robe before the attendent finally gives her an 
  answer that causes her brows to raise noticably.

Luke folds his arms and lowers his chin a millimeter, "That settles it then." 
  he adds verbal realism to Leia's fear. He steps quickly to the door, 
  "Corporal, prepare a security team. We're moving the Princess to Home One 
  within the hour." The officer nods with a click of his heels and gestures to 
  a few of his companions as they make ready. The young Jedi turns raising one 
  sandy brow, "We'll accompany you and inform the diplomatic offices where 
  they can contact you." He lets out a small sigh as if relieved the Princess 
  didn't put up a bigger fight.

Nerik's eyes narrow as his curiosity is split between the comotion down the 
  hall, and the rather currious actions of Jali. The desk attendent continues 
  to stare at the man, who, while in a cantina or other such establishment 
  might be doing an amiable job of looking descreet, in a brightly lit 
  hospital he just plain stands out.

Han flashes Luke an approving glance, not minding in the least that Skywalker 
  takes the opportunity to order the GroundOps guards in the hall; he'd have 
  done the same thing himself, except Luke beat him to it. Leaning over 
  towards the bed closer to the Princess, he rumbles gravely at her, "You 
  aren't running to hide, Your Worship. You're just... going off far enough 
  away to be able to act without getting that lovely head fried off your 
  neck." Moderate advice, coming from Han Solo, a man who's been known to 
  chase hordes of stormtroopers while yelling at the top of his lungs? If he's 
  aware of the irony here, he's not showing any sign of it.

Leia's low, final remonstration is probably in vain, but to Han and Luke alike 
  she murmurs, "I don't suppose you both see the irony in demanding and 
  bullying me into retreating when neither of you hesitates before putting 
  yourselves in danger and -I- have no sayso in it."

Luke steps forward to give Leia a quick peck on the forehead, "It's for the 
  best. Han's right. Plus, we don't do it -intentionally-" He smirks at Han, 
  straightening again and giving the smuggler a thankful look, he steps to the 
  door again. "I'll meet you back at the Falcon you two. I'm just going to do 
  a little searching from here to the starport." He shrugs mildly, "..see if I 
  get any funny feelings." He nods and steps out into the hall.

Without missing a beat, Han looks Leia square in the eye and points out, "I 
  ain't been walking around down here without guards ever since our deal." 
  There is, ever so slight, a hint of hurt in that level hazel regard.
And Solo adds over his shoulder without looking, "See you there, kid."

Grabbing a pen off the desk, Jali writes out a quick message on the back of 
  the piece of paper that the attendent returned to her. After a short moment, 
  she hands the paper to the attendent and asking a short question which the 
  attendent returns a nod to. Smiling and looking back at the guards again, 
  Jali turns around and walks ackwardly towards the door, carrying the box of 
  medical supplies with her. As Jali steps outside again, the attendent moves 
  back towards the guards and hands the paper to one of the guards, explaining 
  that the lady recently here asked it be delivered to Leia or one of her 
  guests.

Jali walks through the doors and out of the medical center.
Jali has left.
Jali has left the hospital.

Leia's fingers catch Luke's hand before he can distance himself overmuch from 
  her. Eyes softening, she tells her brother, "Thank you, Luke," and lets him 
  go, adding to his back, "Be careful." Then, turning her bedclothes aside, 
  she pushes herself upright and gingerly puts her feet over the side of the 
  bed in preparation for rising.

Han steps back, then, giving the Princess room, offering a hand if she wants 
  it. His expression has turned rather stoic, however.

Trying a tense little smile at Han, Leia remarks dryly, "You don't have to 
  look so self-satisfied, you know."

If anything, Han's expression turns more stoic, and he growls out, "Who's 
  lookin' self-satisfied?" His eyes darken, and he lowers the hand he'd 
  offered, going on brusquely, "Do you need anything before we get you out of 
  here?"

Before Luke gets too far out of the hall, a hospital aide rushes over and 
  pushes a note into his hand. He peers at it and resumes his movement out.
Luke walks through the doors and out of the medical center.
Luke has left.
Luke has left the hospital.

Nerik walks through the doors and out of the medical center.
Nerik has left.
Nerik has left the hospital.

Leia regards her husband for a long, lingering moment before she places her 
  hand in his, holding it near, and says, "Clothes?"

Han looks back at the Princess, that faint trace of hurt still lingering in 
  his expression, though it eases slightly as his hand is taken. "Brought in 
  what we had on the _Falcon_," he rasps, "last time Chewie had the watch."

"Han..." Leia sighs and, pausing a moment, seeks a balm for his roughened ego. 
  "You knew I was stubborn when you asked me to marry you. And you knew I 
  didn't like backing down in the face of personal threats when greater stakes 
  are at risk. If it means anything...thank you for worrying that much about 
  me."

One corner of the Corellian's mouth curls up. "You're welcome," he says 
  huskily. But that pinged ego of his leads him to point out again, "I _have_ 
  been keepin' up with my end of the deal, you know."

Leia winces and turns her gaze from Han; she was galavanting about Plaxton 
  City without her escort, even if their presence wouldn't have mattered a bit 
  in that escapade with Valak. "I know you have, and I appreciate it, but I 
  don't expect it to last. At some point you and Chewie'll go off on some 
  idiotic suicide mission and I'll be stuck playing the brave Councilor while 
  all I'm doing is worrying about the man I love."

[And with the words "Hey, it's me!" coming to mind, end log...]