EnterHAN SOLO, carried bySTORMTROOPERS, who drop him and exit.
CHEWBAC.Auugh, auugh!HAN—O, Chewie, I’m in agony—My ev’ry bone and sinew cries with pain.EnterPRINCESS LEIA.
LEIAWhat have they done to you, my noble man?And what can be their purpose, dost thou know?HAN’Twas torture unlike any I have known,For never any questions did they ask.Instead, with silent mouths and darting eyesThey fix’d me solidly unto a seatAnd lower’d me unto a mechanism.At first ’twas like a searing heat that rac’dFrom skin to bone and back again. Then sparksFlew out, upon my chest and neck and face,Such fire as though a hundred blasters spreadTheir shots across my body or, perhaps,As though a million tiny lightsabersDid prick and dance their way about my skin.All this they did, but ne’er made inquiry,Ne’er ask’d me whence we came or where we go,Ne’er ask’d about the rebels’ rendezvous.No information they did seek to know,It only seem’d they wish’d to bring me pain.I tell thee, ’twas far worse and terribleThan if they had sought answers from my blood.But this demented evil shakes my soul,For wherefore torture without questioning?EnterLANDO, withGUARDS.
CHEWBAC.Auugh, egh, auugh!HAN—Get thee hence now, Lando.LANDO—Tut!Attend my voice, for this ye both should hear:Darth Vader hath giv’n word that he will turnBoth Leia and Chewbacca o’er to me.HANWhat dost thou mean by “o’er to me”? Thou knave!I would not turn a rival o’er to thee,Much less the ones belovèd by my heart.LANDOThey must stay here, but will, at least, be safe.’Twas not my choice—I have no say in this.’Tis Vader who doth pull the strings, and weAre but the puppets with which he doth play.LEIAAnd what of Han?LANDO—Darth Vader shall give himO’er to the bounty hunter.LEIA—Vader dothDesire that all of us are dead.LANDO—He wantsYou not at all. He searches for someoneCalled Skywalker.HAN—Aye, Luke—thou meanest Luke!LANDOLord Vader set a trap for him to fall.LEIAAnd we are but the bait by which he’s caught.LANDOThe trap shall soon be sprung, for SkywalkerIs on his way, e’en now.HAN—This villainyThou hast arrang’d is all too perfect. Fie
