“Not… deluzional,” Saba growled.
“Saba, it’s okay.” Leia reached out to the Barabel in the Force, trying to assure her that they did not doubt her. “We believe you.”
C-3PO stopped spinning, and Saba’s gaze shifted to Leia. The pupils of her eyes were hugely dilated. “Yezz?”
“Sure.” Han let his gaze linger on the forearm. “Something happened to you. Anyone can see that.”
“Why don’t we take care of these wounds?” Leia wished Tekli had not left with Luke. She and Han had certainly patched up their share of wounds, but this was beyond their skill. “Then you can tell us about it.”
“Now,” Saba insisted. “This one will tell you… now.”
“Okay.” Leia gestured to the Taat healers cowering on the edge of the sled. “As long as you’ll let them work on you while we talk.”
Saba narrowed a pebbly eye. “This one… thought you believed her.”
“Saba, some of your wounds are cauterized,” Leia pointed out. “Does that mean you shouldn’t trust anyone who carries a lightsaber?”
The Barabel snorted.
“Look, we’ve got some concussion missiles on the Falcon,” Han said. “If they kill you, we’ll blast the place.”
“Blazt it?” Saba began to siss weakly. “You are alwayz joking!”
“He wasn’t joking,” Leia said. “Do we have a deal?”
Saba eyed the healers cowering on the edge of her stretcher, then nodded. “Deal.”
She lowered C-3PO to the ground again.
“Thank goodness!” He clunked over to stand behind Leia, then said more softly, “They say she’s been an impossible patient!”
A dozen Killik healers crawled onto her body and went to work, sterilizing her wounds and spinning silken bandages. As they labored, Saba recounted-in a halting voice-her discovery of the empty exoskeletons and the attack by Welk, then ended by noting that she had found three empty egg cells and killed only two immature assassins. She was worried that the third had left early to stow away aboard the Shadow.
One of the healers squatting over her opened skull purred an opinion, which C-3PO translated as, “Patients with head wounds often suffer from hallucinations.”
“It waz no-“
“Allow me.” Leia laid a calming hand on the Barabel’s shoulder, then pointed to the arm lying next to Saba’s truncated tail. “If it was a hallucination, how do you explain that?”
One of the Killiks holding the stretcher began to clack its mandibles.
“The healers sometimes make grafts for the injured,” C-3PO translated. “In her delirium, Saba must have mistaken a Joiner for a Chiss. The nest is searching for his body now.”
Saba raised her head. “It waz no-“
“Let us handle this, Hisser.” Han motioned Saba down, then asked, “Then how’d she get delirious in the first place? Where’d all these wounds come from?”
It was one of the healers on her neck that answered.
“Oh, dear!” C-3PO exclaimed. “She says Saba must have fallen after she was poisoned.”
“Poisoned?” Leia gasped.
“Did this one not mention… that?” Saba asked.
The healer on her head purred a comment.
“Head wounds often cause forgetfulness,” C-3PO translated. The Killik on Saba’s neck added, “And they’re very sorry about the poison. They hope you won’t blast the nest.”
“Blast the nest?” Leia looked to the healer that had spoken. “What’s that mean?”
It was the healer on Saba’s leg that thrummed an answer.
“It’s a powerful neurotoxic venom,” C-3PO said. “It causes permanent paralysis-and they have no antidote.”
Saba cocked her brow up at Leia. “Told… you.”
“You’re not dead yet,” Leia said. “How do you feel?”
“Worze than… it lookz.”
Wondering if Saba had any idea how bad she looked, Leia turned to Han. “She might beat it with a healing trance, but-“
“We’ve got to take her back.”
He looked as worried and frustrated as Leia felt. There was no question of not taking Saba back. The Barabel was clearly in danger of dying or being permanently paralyzed, and Cilghal - the Jedi Master-healer- had an infirmary and a lab back on Ossus that would have the best resources to help her.
Han turned to Cakhmaim. “Catch Meewalh and start prepping the Falcon.”
The Noghri nodded and raced off toward the tunnel that led down to the hangar.
“And don’t wake Juun up!” Han yelled as an afterthought. “The last thing we want is a Sullustan slowing things down with procedure.”