[Irish Wolf]

Huh. Just had a thought - maybe whatever he's working on really is unrelated to the reasons the Space Pirates(tm) have for kidnapping him.

I'm remembering in Heinlein's Number of the Beast, when Zeb Carter gets recruited by Jacob Burroughs to help with his continua device - because Dr. Burroughs has mistaken Zebediah John Carter for his cousin, Zebulon James Carter (there was an eccentric, wealthy uncle with specific requirements for later generations to inherit). "There can't be two Doctors Z. J. Carter on this campus..."

Our Heroic Science Guy might just have a name too similar to the Space Pirate(tm)'s target - like maybe "Harn Solom" and they thought they'd grabbed legendary pilot Han Solo or something (cheesy is okay, we're working with Star Wars which is powered by only the finest hypercheddar).