Karrik and Dack sprang to their feet as Leia walked into the outer office. Sergeant Yjris pulled himself to attention. The Princess acknowledged their salutes as she walked towards the doors of the inner office, then stopped, turning back to Karrik. "Lieutenant Commander Antilles has regained consciousness," she told the pilot with a smile, "He's going to be fine."

Tennan took a deep breath, letting it out quickly, "Thank you Ma'am." At her side, Dack grinned. Leia nodded, then turned towards the closed doors. She pressed the chime, wincing at the bellowed, "Enter!"

The General gave her a quick nod of acknowledgement, then turned his attention back to the pilot standing in front of his desk. Luke stood stiffly to attention under Rieekan's stare. Leia turned, seeing Han Solo lounging in one of the chairs, returning his mischievous grin with a withering look. She stepped over his legs and he leant towards her as she sat down. "The Kid sure is getting a rocket!" he told her quietly from behind his hand. She glared at him but he didn't notice, attention on the little scene being played out before him.

Rieekan had moved round the desk to stand beside Luke, "You didn't even know if he was alive!"

"I knew, Sir."

"Tremors in the Force, no doubt?"

Luke shot him a startled glance, then returned his attention to the small pattern of ice just above the General's chair, "Not exactly, Sir, but I had to make sure that his Artoo unit had been destroyed." The rigidity of his stance belied the calm of his voice and Leia felt a sudden surge of sympathy for him.

The General harrumphed, moving back round the other side of the desk. "Luckily for you, Skywalker, the tapes corroborate that. And also that you sent for help. And considering the testimonies of Captain Solo, his co-pilot and Lieutenant Tennan as to what they found on the planet's surface, I have no choice but to accept your story. Thus, unfortunately, we find ourselves in the position of being unable to bring you up on charges." He placed his fists on the desk, leaning over at Luke, his voice dangerously quiet, "However... You placed yourself and your fellow officers in great danger. It is purely fortuitous that Captain Solo arrived at Taspin first. If he had arrived after an Imperial ship both you and Antilles would be in enemy hands with the Millennium Falcon possibly destroyed! Not the sort of information that makes my day, Commander!"

He leaned further towards Luke, "You are a Commander, Mr. Skywalker, and expected to set an example to your junior officers. Rushing off on an impromptu and potentially disastrous rescue mission does not come under the heading of setting a good example! Pull a stunt like this one again and I will personally see your butt pulled back to ground so fast, you'll light up three sectors! They may call us the Rebellion, Mister, but this is a military organisation: we are fighting a war! And mavericks like you may just lose it for us! Do you understand?"

Luke swallowed, slightly taken aback by the vehemence in Rieekan's voice, "Yes, Sir."

"I sincerely hope so, Commander." He paused for a long moment then sat down, "I need people to rekey the area around the base. The snowspeeders are unserviceable for the moment, so we'll have to use Tauntauns. I expect to find that you have volunteered by zero eight hundred tomorrow!"

Luke subdued a wince, keeping his face perfectly straight, not wanting to test Rieekan's mood any further, "Yes, Sir."

But Rieekan was already turning away, "Very good, Commander. Report to the Deck Officer in the morning. Dismissed."

Han fired a look at Leia, wanting to know if this was part of some deal that she'd struck with the General. And if it wasn't, why had the Kid gotten off so lightly? But she ignored him, giving Luke a quick smile as the blond pilot turned smartly, limping across the room. Luke widened his eyes at her but said nothing, vacating the room as quickly as possible.

The door opened and he let out a sigh of relief as it sliced closed behind him. Karrik had shot to her feet, but relaxed her stance as she saw Luke, "How'd it go?"

Luke shook his head and pulled a face, "Rekey duty..."

"Tauntauns?" she asked, grimacing in disgust, flopping back down beside Dack, "Oh, I hate tauntauns. You don't know how much I hate tauntauns!"

"And it's freezing out there," Luke grimaced, "Wonderful temperature for a desert born flower like me!" Karrik murmured in sympathy, but they both knew he had gotten of lightly. Very lightly. Which only made her more worried about what, exactly, they had in store for her. "They let both of you in here together?" Luke was asking, looking from Karrik to the pilot sitting beside her.

Dack nodded, "Yep, but Sergeant Yjris here won't let us talk shop."

As if on cue the Sergeant interrupted, "Commander Skywalker, you'd better leave, Sir." Luke nodded acknowledgement, turning to lay a hand on Karrik's shoulder. The door opened, pulling her back to her feet.

"Lieutenant Tennan, front and centre!"

She threw a brief here goes nothing look at Skywalker, then took a deep breath, tugging at her uniform before walking into the room. Rieekan was leaning back in his chair, arms folded across his chest. He leant forward, unfolding his arms and clasping his hands on the desk as she moved to stand to attention in front of him.

"Lieutenant, you are here under Special Orders. You will be tried by me and sentenced by me and you do not have the right to reject my punishment. Understand, Lieutenant, this is as far as it goes. It will not go to court-martial, although some feel that the circumstances warrant such action. We, however, have neither the time nor the people available to convene such an assembly. Therefore, as I said, you are being tried under Special Orders. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good," he replied, leaning back in the chair. Lifting his hand he indicated the two people at the back of his office, "The Princess Leia Organa has asked to attend as an observer. Captain Solo is here as a potential witness. Do you have any objection to either of them being here throughout these proceedings?"

"No, Sir."

Rieekan nodded, "Very well, Lieutenant. Now, before the charge against you is read, I have a small matter that I wish to bring up. "Command's gonna freak" is, however accurate a description, hardly standard phraseology and certainly not an image that I would expect one of my Officers to be sharing with her more junior pilots! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir."

He nodded again, leaning forward, placing his elbows on the desk, "The other matter, that of the charge against you, is rather complicated. You see, Lieutenant, I'm finding it very hard to decide whether you should be charged simply with being Absent Without Leave…" He paused for a moment before continuing, "Or if the charge should be Gross Desertion of Duty."

Karrik swallowed hard, horror sinking through her stomach.

"Awe, come on..."

Rieekan shifted his gaze to the back of the room, "Captain Solo, if you attempt to interrupt these proceeding once more I shall have you removed from this office! Do I make myself clear?" There was a moment's silence, then the General turned his attention back to Karrik. The colour had drained from her face, but he ignored it for the moment, "The first charge will earn you a punishment. The second? Well, that has yet to be decided. What I have to determine here, today, is whether or not we can afford to continue in our trust of you. As desperately as we need people, especially someone of your experience, we must be able to depend on them. And you have very much disappointed us."

"I'm sorry, Sir."

Rieekan nodded, "I'm sure you are, Lieutenant." He pushed himself to his feet, walking round towards her, "Lieutenant, perhaps I should explain the situation to you more thoroughly." He perched on the edge of the desk, folding his arms as he continued, "You came to us with an incredible background. Female officers are only very rarely found in the ranks of the Imperial Navy. A female trained as a shuttle pilot..." He shrugged, "Well let's just say that there was an understandable reservation amongst the higher ranking officers. But having seen you fly, and considering the cargo that you brought to us, it was decided that you should be given the benefit of the doubt. Pulling stunts like this one does not, exactly, endear you to those who doubted your story."

His words slammed at her, pushing her further off balance. She had never realised before just how tenuous her position had obviously been. She forced herself to take deep, even breaths, fighting down the rising panic. What if she had destroyed it all...? What if they kicked her out...?

Rieekan gave Tennan a long, hard stare before asking, "Do you understand what I'm saying, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Sir."

He observed her for a moment longer, then pushed himself off the desk. "At ease," he said, walking back round to sit down. She relaxed her stance, fighting away the anxiety and apprehension that threatened to engulf her. Now, at least, she knew exactly where she stood. Mentally, she tried to prepare herself for the worst, the adrenaline still flowing. Rieekan leant back in his chair, regarding her in a detached, almost clinical manner and for a moment she hated him for prolonging this. Why didn't he just get on with it instead of making her feel like something nasty that he'd inadvertently stepped in? She was more than a little aware of exactly how much trouble she was in, without him pausing for effect.

"I happen to feel that you're a damn fine officer, Tennan."

His words rocked her off balance again. She looked at him, beginning to feel not quite as alone as she had a few seconds before, blurting, "Thank you, Sir!"

He waved a hand in acknowledgement, continuing, "Which is why I can't understand why you left this base without the permission of your senior officers and deliberately misled them by failing to report the situation: going instead to Captain Solo! I'm interested in your reasoning, Lieutenant?"

"To have come to you, Sir, would have cost valuable time that could have meant the loss of both Commander Skywalker and Lieutenant Commander Antilles. I knew that Captain Solo's friendship with..."

"Commander Skywalker," Rieekan interrupted abruptly, "could be prevailed upon to act more quickly that us?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And then you waltzed off with him, leaving a junior rank to inform us of the situation?"

"She didn't exactly waltz off, General!"

Rieekan turned his head, transferring his steely gaze to the Corellian. "Captain Solo," he began tightly, "you were warned..."

"Look," Han flamed, pushing himself to his feet, fed up with the whole charade, acutely aware that if Luke had gotten off with it, Tennan sure as hells wasn't going to, "You wanted me here as a potential witness and I'm just fulfilling my potential! The transfer points on her droid were fried, she couldn't just lift the co-ordinates and give them to me, we had to plug the droid into the Falcon's computer. The minute she arrived with the droid, I left. I took her with me. I didn't give her time to get off!"

Rieekan looked back at Karrik, giving her another hard stare, "And the business in the hanger when you jammed a blaster into Captain Solo's ribs?"

She looked at him in confusion, having forgotten the incident, "Blaster... Oh.." she finished, suddenly remembering, "I was stressed out, Sir.."

"And I wasn't going to listen to her. The blaster got my attention."

"I suppose you're also going to tell me that you didn't leave orders with Pilot Officer Lanred to inform us of the situation after you had departed!"

"I..." she began, but the Corellian had already butted in again.

"General, I told you..."

Han broke off as Rieekan punched a button, shouting through the opening door, "Pilot Officer Lanred! Front and centre!"

"Look, General, he's going to tell you exactly the same thing! Tennan couldn't have given him any orders because she didn't have the chance. I lifted off while we were still getting the co-ordinates from her droid." Han grinned at Rieekan, giving the General a slight shrug, "So really, she was kidnapped."

Rieekan looked from one to the other, then sighed heavily, turning to the slight figure of Dack, who now stood beside Tennan, "Mr. Lanred, did Lieutenant Tennan at any time suggest that or order you not to appear in debrief until after she and Captain Solo had departed on the day that Lieutenant Commander Antilles was shot down?"

The young man looked at him, the innocent expression on his face too well schooled to be true, "No, Sir. I was delayed for debrief because I was discussing the damage to my T-65 with my tech crew."

"And your crew will, of course, confirm this?"

"Yes, Sir."

"You were seen in the hanger, talking to Lieutenant Tennan just before she left on the Falcon. Do you still maintain that she gave you no orders?"

"I was asking permission to be late for debrief, Sir," Dack replied firmly.

Rieekan looked at the pilots in front of him, one by one, then glanced at Leia. The Princess lifted an eyebrow at the exasperated expression on his face: but said nothing. Finally he turned away from the trio in disgust, "And your tech crew will confirm the damage to your droid, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Sir."

Rieekan nodded, saying nothing, running his fingers along the desk distractedly, as if lost in thought. "Pilot Lanred," he said finally, his voice quiet, "you are dismissed."

Han sat down beside Leia again as the junior pilot pivoted smartly and marched out of the room. Karrik still remained at ease but looked extremely uncomfortable as the doors hissed closed behind the young man. Dack and Solo had probably saved her butt from being kicked out of the Rebel Alliance, but Rieekan could still bust her rank. Or ground her.

The General sat down, sighing wearily, knowing when he was beaten. "I'm not completely stupid, Captain Solo!" he told the Corellian, "I can tell when the wool is being pulled. But as the T-65 pilots appear to be closing ranks, I have no choice but to accept your fabrication!" He stood up, leaning his fists on the desk as he turned his attention back to Karrik. "Well, Lieutenant," he told her acidly, "you seem to carry a lot of loyalty from other members of both Flights. And I have already talked to your tech crew, who confirm that your droid was damaged. Which, unfortunately, gives credence to your story." He pulled himself upright, "Therefore, Lieutenant, it appears that the charge of Desertion is unfounded. And since it is claimed that you were taken against your will, and as I have no proof to the contrary, I am willing to drop the charge of Absent Without Leave. Do you understand?"

Karrik swallowed hard in relief, her voice breaking as she said, "Yes, Sir."

But there was more to come, Rieekan was not yet finished. "However, I am certainly not impressed with your side-step to Captain Solo! You should have come straight to us, Lieutenant, and appraised us of the situation. The delay in reporting could have compromised this base. A precedent has been set that I cannot allow to continue! Therefore, you are charged with Conduct Prejudicial to Good Order and Discipline! Stand to attention, Lieutenant."

Karrik pulled her back straight, staring directly ahead, panic fluttering slightly in her chest as a nightmare of punishments coursed through her imagination. Your decision, she told herself. You got yourself into this mess...

"Effective as of now, demotion to Pilot Officer. All privileges associated with the rank of Lieutenant hereby revoked."

Karrik only just stopped the emotion from showing on her face. There had to be more! Three charges had been dropped to one. She was getting off too lightly, there had to be more. She heard a small sound from Solo, but couldn't tell whether it was in sympathy or disgust. Then Rieekan was dismissing her. She turned, not quite believing that it was all over, relief and dismay washing through her.

"Pilot Officer Tennan..."

Karrik stopped, her stomach lurching. She turned back to the General, having heard only her name, not realising that he had used her new rank to call her back. Here it is then, she thought. He had only been playing with her and he was just about to hit her with the real sentence, "Sir?"

"The snowspeeders, as you may be aware, are unserviceable at this time. We need to rekey the area. It's very good of both you and Captain Solo to volunteer for..."

"Whoa! Wait a minute..." Han began, jumping to his feet.

But Rieekan met his gaze, interrupting coolly, "You compromised the security of this base, Solo. And, by your own admission, kidnapped one of my pilots. Would you rather see the Falcon impounded and her Captain shot as an Imperial spy?"

Han stared at him for a moment, jaw moving as if he was about to say something. The he shook his head, sitting down slowly, forehead pulled into a frown of disgust. "Tauntauns...." He glanced across at Leia and could have sworn that there was a smile behind that calm exterior. But she was ignoring him, standing and crossing to Rieekan as the door closed behind Tennan.

"I think they were suitably scared, Your Highness," the General said, a sardonic grin pulling at his lips.

"You were wonderful, General," Leia told him with a laugh. But when she spoke again, the humour was gone, the sincerity in her voice heartfelt, "Thank you."

"No, Princess, thank you. Your groundwork and explanation saved me a lot of time. And Captain Solo's timely intervention saved me from having to give Tennan a more serious punishment." He shook his head, "It's difficult, Your Highness, very difficult. If Skywalker had left Antilles, if he had gone through the proper channels. Or if Tennan had... instead of going to Captain Solo, here..." He shrugged, not wanting to dwell on the disaster that had been so narrowly averted. He sat back down at his desk and looked across to where Han still sat, asking, "Just as a matter of interest, Captain, did you... kidnap Tennan?"

"Yes," the Corellian lied convincingly.

"Then why wait until now before telling anyone?"

Han gave Leia a long, steady look before turning his attention back to the General, "No-one asked me." He pushed himself to his feet, "If you'll excuse me, I need to see how the repairs to my ship are going. General. Princess."

Leia gave Rieekan an apologetic look then hurried after the Falcon captain as he stomped out of the door. "Han!" she called after him, rushing into the outer office.

Han stopped, spinning on his heel. "What the hells did you tell him when you went running to him?" he demanded.

"I didn't go running to him!" she denied, sharply, "And he was ready to throw the book at the both of them, make an example!"

"But instead you persuaded him just to frighten them, is that it? So how exactly did you buy him off?"

"I told him the truth."

"What..." Han looked at her in total disbelief and disgust, "You expect me to believe that he let Luke off with nothing after you told him the truth! Don't treat me like a fool, Leia."

"I told him the truth," she cut in more forcibly, "Right up until you found Luke! Lying at the bottom of the scree slope!" She stressed the lie, willing him to understand exactly what she had told the General, aware that Rieekan could walk out of the door at any moment, "But he obviously didn't believe your scree story!"

Han's eyes went wide, his jaw dropping. She pressed on before he could comment, "He suspects that's not what happened, Han. But he was willing to trust my trust in all of you. And when I explained that you were only just leaving orbit when the Destroyer arrived, that they would have found Luke and Wedge if you had arrived any later, he agreed to being lenient with them. Especially when he found out that Tennan risked her life to buy you the time to make the jump."

He glared at her, his anger fading slightly, "Did you know what his... verdict... would be?"

She hesitated for a moment, then admitted, "I had an idea."

"And you let me sit there.... living that Hell with them..."

"Han, would you have come to Tennan's aid so eloquently if I had told you what Rieekan had in mind? You saved her from a more severe punishment," she reminded him calmly, totally in control. And that infuriated him even more than the fact that she'd played him for a sucker. He looked at her, anger building again. Then spun on his heel, storming out of the door.

Luke and Dack were waiting for Karrik in the corridor. She smiled wanly, shaking her head at the expectant look on their faces, "Busted back to Pilot Officer."

"What?" Skywalker looked more shocked than she felt herself. She was more relieved than anything: at the moment.

"How? What in the name of the Goddess did they get you on?" Dack asked.

She put on a pompous voice, "Conduct Prejudicial to Good Order and Discipline!"

Dack snorted in disgust. Skywalker looked at her in dismay. "That should have been my..." he began, but Karrik cut him off.

"Forget it, Commander! So I got busted..." She shrugged, desperately not wanting them to see how much this had affected her: not wanting to let the side down, "It could have been worse, they could have grounded me! The only thing that matters is that we all made it back..."

"Awe, hells!" Dack interrupted, "That means I could have you watching my back, Karrik!"

She smiled at his weak joke as the door opened and Solo shoved past them, his muttered comments trailing after him as he strode down the corridor. Luke began to follow but the doors opened again and Leia appeared. She cast a brief look at Han's retreating back, then turned to the three fighter pilots, "Zev Haarkis will step up to take charge of Wedge's flight until he's fit for duty. Technically it should be Janson, but General Rieekan's not happy with the delaying tactics. Hobbie will take your flight, Luke, until you're cleared by medical."

Karrik listened to the Princess. The relief at the lightness of her sentence had already begun to fade as Solo stormed out of the room. And now that she saw the repercussions of her actions spreading even further, guilt began to destroy what was left, leaving her feeling washed out, angry and disgusted at herself. She caught Luke's gaze and quickly looked away, suddenly wanting to be on her own, needing to be alone.

Excusing herself she turned, walking quickly down the corridor, fighting the impulse to run. Luke watched her go debating whether or not he should go after her. But he turned to Leia as Dack excused himself and walked off in the other direction. "What's up with Han?" he asked her.

"If he doesn't turn up for Tauntaun duty tomorrow morning with you and Tennan, General Rieekan is going to impound the Falcon! He didn't take it too well."

"Oh."

"Luke, Wedge is awake..."

"Can I see him?"

She smiled, touching his arm, "Of course you can! Besides, they want to check your knee again..."

"Really?" he asked, his face lighting up.

"Oh," Leia began, slipping her arm through his and escorting him along the corridor, "I'm sure you'll be perfectly alright for Tauntaun duty in the morning. But, of course, if they do keep you in Medical overnight, it won't matter to you that the rec. area is finally up and running and the bar open!"

Luke glared at the innocent expression on her face.

Karrik ignored the concerned glances from the personnel she brushed past as she moved through the base to the living area. Finally she reached it, breaking into a run as she turned into the corridor where her quarters, and sanctuary, waited. She slid to a halt, slapping the release pad and pushing through the door before it had fully opened. Then slammed the inside panel with her fist, leaning back against the door as it slid closed and locked. She sank slowly onto the floor, burying her head in her hands, no longer able to stop the sobs that tore through her as the anger, fear and guilt meshed with the strain of the preceding seventeen hours, and the emotion took its toll.

Wedge was sitting up in bed, propped against a multitude of pillows, wearing a breathing mask. Luke grinned, dragging a chair across to sit beside him, "How you doing?"

"Okay, I suppose," Wedge rasped, "A lot better if I could get out of this place..."

"What's wrong with you anyway?" Luke asked, innocently.

"Something in the sea water I swallowed. Damaged the lining of my lungs, or something like that. It's done wonders for my voice! So they've got me breathing this Bacta gunk..." He pulled a face, "Should be up and about by tomorrow evening."

"How are the legs?"

"No battle scars to impress the ladies," Wedge lamented. "Dumped me in a Bacta tank the minute they got me here!" He sobered, "The Princess said you'd pulled me out... I don't remember..."

"You'd have done the same thing."

"Are you getting heat about coming after me?" Luke shifted uncomfortably and Wedge smelled intrigue, "Luke?"

"It's a long story..."

"Hey, I'm stuck...." His throat closed over the word. He tried to take a breath, and failed. Luke jumped to his feet, but the medical droid was already moving towards them. Luke moved back, letting the droid work, watching his friend's distress slowly relieved by another spray and the injection the unit administered. Finally Wedge collapsed back against the pillows, exhausted by the attack.

"You were warned not to talk too much, Lieutenant Commander," the droid admonished. Wedge said nothing, letting the unit take the spray from him before it slipped the strap of the respirator over his head. He settled the mask against his face, closing his eyes.

"Look, Wedge," Luke began, "I'll come back later..." Wedge turned to look at him, shaking his head slightly, his eyes telling Luke that he didn't want to be left alone again. Luke turned to the droid, "Can I stay if he shuts up and lets me do the talking?"

"That won't be a problem."

Luke grinned and swiped at his friend’s head, quipping, "Great! For once I'll be able to get a story finished without you butting in!"