Fame and Fortune

Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-five

"Chewie, are you alone?" Leia asked worriedly into the communication panel linking Lando's apartment to the Wookiee's office.

*It's nice to hear from you again, Little Princess. It's been a long time.*

"Oh," Leia said, realizing in her concern she hadn't bothered to even say hello. "Hello, Chewbacca. How have you been?"

*I have been well, thank you. I am sorry to hear about your Hapan troubles.* Chewbacca hesitated before adding, *I'm glad Han finally confided in me, Princess. I am guessing that you and Luke must have pressured him into doing so. In any case, I was quite put out with him for keeping this from me for so long.*

Leia couldn't bring herself to waste more time on pleasantries. "He's missing, Chewie."

At first, Chewie misunderstood and thought Leia meant Han had missed his friendship with him. Then it occurred to Chewie that wasn't what Leia had said. *Missing?*

Leia took quick breath, glancing at the closed bedroom door while checking with her rudimentary Force skills to ensure Lando wasn't listening. "The movie director called Corran a timepart ago, and informed him that no one can locate Evin on the set. He was supposedly in his private portable rest unit, but when the break was over he didn't return to the set. They've checked everywhere and no one can find him. I was hoping you've heard from him."

*No, I have heard nothing since a few nights ago, when he comm'd me just to chat and tell me how his movie is progressing. I need to go down there and look for him.*

"Corran has already left to search the area," Leia assured him. "He's upset with himself that he wasn't there, but Han was so confident that he had enough security..." She trailed off, her worry growing by leaps and bounds.

*Can you sense Han?*

Leia bit her lip. "No, I can't. I've tried and tried to use the Force to locate him, but there's nothing."

Chewie let out a grunt of concern. The lower levels were very dangerous places and the Wookiee thought it was idiotic that the movie director insisted the scenes had to be recorded down in the murky darkness of Coruscant's underworld. When Han informed his friend that he would be spending his days in that horrible location for nearly two months, Chewie had not been happy. Humans could be so careless with their lives for no reason. Making a movie in a dangerous location simply for human entertainment purposes was beyond Chewbacca's comprehension. It had been only two weeks and already something bad had happened.

*I should have been down there with him.*

"I hope Corran locates him," Leia responded. "Evin pays him a lot of credits to be his bodyguard."

Chewie still wasn't quite used to hearing Han referred to as Evin, especially by the Princess. Of course, he also couldn't wrap his mind around what his Cub was now doing for a living, either. If Han had only come to him in the beginning, Chewie would have been able to use his influence and get Solo an honest job, something involving flying a ship. He would never be able to figure out humans, especially his human.

*Horn is not doing a very good job then, if that is what Han is paying him for,* Chewie growled. *I was his bodyguard for over a decade and I charged him nothing. Have you contacted Coruscant Security?*

"Yes, of course," Leia replied. "And I've contacted Luke, too. He's worried, and when Luke is worried that's not a good sign. I'm going to the movie location and see if I can pick up anything through the Force. I know Corran is trained as a Jedi, but he can't feel Han's Force presence as easily as I can. I only wish he would have allowed Luke to train him, at least a little bit in self-defense if nothing else."