MERCY DAY

by ardavenport

"We would prefer a transport today." Qui-Gon Jinn stated, his breath puffing white clouds in the chill air.

"Can't" The space pilot wiped her hands off on a large greasy rag, black grime still filled in the crevices in her tough, pebbly skin. Qui-Gon sighed. It was the last ship in the space port with anyone around. Everything else was gone or shut down. "Port control's down for the holiday already. And we're staying for it anyway." Qui-Gon looked surprised.

"It isn't until tomorrow."

The pilot shrugged her broad shoulders and tossed the rag on a work bench next to the wall of the docking bay. "People like to start early."

"We have a prisoner." Now the pilot looked surprised. Her co-pilot, a tall, skinny youth with a more yellowish tinge to his green hide lifted his head from the workbench and looked at them as well, his thin tail switching with curiosity. Beyond Qui-Gon, his young apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, waited, seated on an anti-grav truck. The pilot walked over and looked at the enormous block of ice on the flatbed. Its edges were smooth as if they'd been melted and re-frozen, its interior clouded. Inside was a perfectly preserved humanoid. He was fully clothed in a cold survival suit and superficially male, its tough, leathery skin gone pale gray. Some tubes and cables connected the being to equipment that the pilot didn't recognize, but a few indicator lights glowed yellow and blue inside the ice. A life sign sensor resting on top of the block displayed affirmative squiggles and lines and text.

"Well, he's not going anywhere."


Obi-Wan followed his master on the narrow path. All the transports had been engaged, so they had to walk to their destination by a path of rough, worn ice roughened with sand for traction, but kept wary of slippery patches. The air was cool and fresh, well below the freezing point of water as it always was on this frozen world, Bovad. The path was cut deep in the ice pack and all he could see ahead was the back of his master's dark brown hood and robe. Ahead of him were the pilot and co-pilot, Lazmat Urm and her nephew Edi Urm. The colony city, Nebo-Sun, had limited accommodations for stranded travelers and what they had were already engaged. But apparently a tradition of the holiday was that 'No one goes wanting,' according to Captain Urm. So, they followed the two spacefarers to the clan compound where they were staying.

It had taken them two hours to first find the local sheriff and then make arrangements for their prisoner, Nule Radeel. He'd used an ingenious way to hide. He'd covered his tracks well, and no lifesign sensor would have picked his frozen body out in the middle of the Bovadi tundra. And after enough time had passed his droid would have revived him from stasis to escape justice. But the Force flowed from all life, and with it, plus a few physical clues, they'd found his hideout. Then the weakness in his scheme had worked for them; once discovered, he was ridiculously easy to capture.

They continued down the deep snow path in silence. They passed a few faint speeder and generator sounds on the way, but were otherwise isolated in a continuous canyon of ice and snow. Obi-Wan might have wondered if the Urms had gotten lost, but there had been no branching paths for a kilometer. Both Jedi kept their robes closed about them, their hoods on against the chill. They wore gloves from the cold weather gear they'd used on the tundra and now stowed in their packs. The Urms were wrapped in insulated, hooded body suits, their tails tucked away into pant legs. The Urms were Zolets, a species very similar to the Zonim colonists on Bovad and apparently they had some distant relations in the clan they were staying with. They shared the same general bipedal type with long bodies and short legs and arms. While their eyes and wide mouths were in approximately the same place as most Humanoids, their small, pointed ears were fairly high, back on their heads and their faces sloped into forward snouts, their nostrils concealed under its bulge. The major differences between the two species seemed to be that Zolets had mostly green skin tones compared to the Zonim's more blue hues and Zonims had no tails.

One more turn and the path finally opened out into a huge snow field ringed with the short, craggy trees native to Bovad. Crowds of people ran about sliding on hills, throwing snowballs, carving elaborate snow sculptures. Beyond the field lay the cluster of mismatched buildings of the clan compound. Edi perked up immediately, scanning the landscape for familiar faces. With a chuckle his aunt sent him scampering off.

"We just have to find the Tilplens, tell them they've got two more," Lazmat assured them. She led them along the walkway that curved around the edge of the open field. It was cleared of snow and ice and their boots crunched on its loose pebbles, rough but good footing in a world of mostly white, slippery ground. They passed several clumps of people, either watching the games in the field or taking warm food and drink from white servitor droids sheltered under yellow and red tents. Finally, when they'd circled around nearly to the compound itself Lazmat recognized a tall Zonim in long, green robes.

"Papa-High!" Lazmat waved and the other turned his small, blue eyes toward them.

"Hah! Urm, you get that ship of yours locked down finally?" He waved them over. Papa-High Tilplens was of average height for a Zonim, a little shorter than Obi-Wan.

"It's all tucked in. Hey, I've got a couple of stragglers from the spaceport. Thought you could take them in for Gyseer." Lazmat moved closer and spoke in a low tone that he might have assumed that his two guests couldn't hear, "We're taking them to Ildan Colony the day after and they're willing to pay in full in advance." Papa-High Tilplens nodded.

"Of course. Everyone's welcome for Gyseer. You hardly need to ask." He sized up the two newcomers and rubbed his dark, blue-green chin. "There will be plenty of your type for the Gyseer-Eve feast tonight anyway. And we can work out what to do with the droids for tomorrow. Otherwise you can stay with Lazmat and Edi. There's plenty of room." He motioned them toward the compound.

They went together through multiple doors and a wide entryway. Huge plasti-steel columns ringed the cream and gray patterned floor of the entrance hall. Colorful banners hung between the column over tables set with candles and spinning, shiny sculptures and food around which people gathered and chatted.

"Mama-Low!" A very tall, thin older Zonim broke off from her group and came to them. She wore a long, pink dress with yellow underdress and scarf tied about her head, pale blue with age and a few wrinkles. "Lazmat's brought a couple of his fares for the Gyseer."

"Oh, you two got stuck at the spaceport, eh?"

Qui-Gon took off the hood of his robe and nodded his head to her. "It would seem so." He introduced himself and Obi-Wan who slid his hood back of his head as well.

"We've got to get some off worlders to staff that spaceport during Gyseer," she told Papa-High.

"Why are you telling me?" he pressed his hand to his chest in innocence.

"You're in the Assembly, remember?"

"Mmm. Well I can bring it up."

Mama-Low waved her hand. "That's what you always say." She turned back to her new guests. "Well, in the meantime, I think we can put you up with Lazmat here. You've got Edi with you, right?"

"Of course," the space pilot affirmed. "He's just gone off with another bunch of kids. Probably won't find him again til dinner."

Lazmat and Mama-Low apparently had known Edi since he was "a hatchling" and they reminisced a bit over some of his more naive attempts at portraying himself as a seasoned space traveler. Them Mam-Low sent Lazmat and Papa-High off to find other members of the clan.

She appraised the two Human guests and summoned a droid to take Qui-Gon and Obi-Wans' packs and they left the entrance hall. They easily kept pace with her quick steps. The older one who was very tall, hardly needed to hurry, with his long legs to carry him. The younger one did hurry; Mama-Low thought that he looked younger than Edi Urm, possibly fifteen or sixteen.

She escorted them through the wide and narrow passages of the compound, past rooms and corridors, white light streaming in through the windows high up on the walls. They passed groups of Zonim who greeted Mama-Low warmly and they paused a few times to exchange information about that night's dinner and the holiday the next day. They finally ascended some stairs to an upper level.

"Now, this one is a little small." She took them down a narrow hallway to a single-room lavatory with a standing sink, disposal and raised bathing tub. "But I'm pretty sure it'll work with your species. You use the same things Twi'leks use, right?" Qui-Gon nodded. "Lazmat and Edi will use the closer one around the corner anyway. Oh..." She paused, her small, round, green eyes resting on the tops of their heads. Zonims and Zolets had no hair. "Oh, I'm sure the droids can take care of it."

She led them back down the hall to a door at the top of the stairs. The droid, a sturdy gray domestic protocol model, waited for them there with the packs. Mama-Low opened the door and entered.

It was a corner room with large, square windows on the two walls facing out toward the tundra. Flat, bright sunlight shone in a bare room with pale blue walls and a dark gray floor. There was one table by the door and a huge, square sleeping platform piled high with rugs, plush blankets and pillows. There was hardly room for anything else. The droid laid their packs on the table and backed out of the room.

"Ah," Mama-Low exclaimed, pulling a basket out from under the table. "You should put your clothes here for Zee-Vee-Twelve here to pick up." The droid silently acknowledged the instruction with a nod of its Zonim-styled head. "She'll bring it back early so, we can have everything clean for tomorrow. The droid caller is just there by the door when you're ready." Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan thanked her for their hospitality and Mama-Low beamed.

"Well, the transports to the city leave in a couple of hours for the big dinner. So, I'll just leave you two to freshen up. Just call if you need anything." Mama-Low waved to them as she left, taking the droid with her. Qui-Gon looked mildly after her as she retreated down the stairs. Then he glanced at his Padawan. And then he went down the hall to the lavatory. Obi-Wan waited for his turn.

"This room will be drafty at night," Qui-Gon observed when they returned to their room. Obi-Wan prodded the pile of pillows, rugs and comforters on the sleeping platform. They knew that Zonim or Zolets commonly slept as many as six to a bed, so they would abide by the local customs. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had shared close quarters with far more troublesome companions than the pilot and her nephew, including each other. But the Jedi had traveled together for long enough to be quite aware of each other's annoying habits and how to ignore them. Obi-Wan lifted a thick, woven rug, dislodging a few pillows, while Qui-Gon gazed out at the bright tundra through the windows. This would simply be a similar challenge.


"Ho! Mama-Low!" A short, pale green Zonim with a rounded face called from a room full of others enjoying card game. He rushed after her, matching Mama-Low Tilplens's longer stride.

"Did you lose our new guests?"

"I showed them their room and told them where to go for dinner. They don't need me fussing over them." She waved the matter off.

"Um, you did notice that they were Jedi?" the other noted dramatically.

"Yes, Pimas, I did saw the lightsabers," she replied firmly. "Even more reason to expect that they can manage on their own." They entered a kitchen area where she accepted a small data screen from the chief droid before she instructed it to account for two Human guests for the Gyseer feast.

"And you wouldn't know why are there?" Pimas persisted as they continued through a the huge dining area.

"They're fares for Lazmat after Gyseer. And I'm sure it isn't anybody else's business what they're up to."

Pimas accepted her advice as they turned a corner. "I suppose you're right. But it seems a bit odd to me to just cut them loose."

"I'm not 'cutting them loose', they're sharing with Lazmat and Edi."

Pimas's mouth opened in surprise. "Oh that will be great when Edi cuddles up to them in his sleep," he exclaimed with a touch of sarcasm. "They're as hot-blooded as any of the humanoids we've got in the city. You can practically see their body glow in daylight."

"Pimas, they've probably been to a hundred times more worlds than you and I combined. I think they can work things out for themselves, including Edi. But since you seem so concerned," she stopped, raising her hand, "you are free to offer yourself as their host and escort. If you can manage to think of something to say to them." Mama-Low found Pimas to be a bit of a gossip and busybody, but even with those faults was a good host and an excellent conversationalist.

"I'll be happy to," he offered gallantly.

end Part 1