Chapter Fifteen
Han felt his stomach drop as Binks made a quick, hard dive in an attempt to evade the giant gooberfish. Clutching the seat tightly with his good arm, he glared at the Gungan. "Warn me next time, will ya?"
"Mesa notsa have times to warns," Jar Jar said, his already wide eyes managing to get even wider. "Nows dey shootin' atta us-ah."
"Gooberfish can shoot?"
"Nooosaaa... dat udder bonga shipper dats headen dis way." He pointed out the port side this time, and Han immediately saw a large, harpoon type of weapon careening in their direction. Before he could suggest another dive, Jar Jar pulled the bongo's controls up and the harpoon shot beneath their ship, missing them by less than ten meters.
"That was close," Han gasped, sincerely wishing he was behind the controls instead of sitting in a co-pilots seat and basically doing nothing to help the situation.
"Mesa can aska yousa to maybees fires dis heres bongos harpoon at der gooberfish?" Jar Jar suggested, pointing at a weapon control panel in front of Han's seat.
"No problem," Han replied, taking the joy stick and maneuvering the torpedo tube to face the determined fish monster. Waiting until the creature was a bit closer, he fired the harpoon and it sailed away. The gooberfish twisted to avoid the impact so the harpoon only put a large gash down its side, which seemed to enrage the fish rather than making it turn tail and flee.
"How many harpoons are in this ship's weapons hold?"
"Threes," Jar Jar informed the Corellian. "Yousa has twos lefta, unless der lastest time someones uses dem up and notsa replaces dem."
"Oh, great," Han muttered, trying to line up another shot on the fast moving fish "I could do this a lot better with my right hand." He tried another shot, except this time Jar Jar pushed the 'down' lever again at the exact moment Han's finger pressed the trigger, which caused the harpoon to go wide. "I TOLD you to WARN ME!"
"Sorrees," Jar Jar said mildly. "Buts mesa nots dink wesa likes to getta harpooned by dat udder ship."
Han then understood why Binks had jerked the controls, since he was trying to avoid not only the gooberfish but their pursuers as well.
The other bongo moved very close to their ship - close enough, in fact, that Han could clearly see the two Gungans at the controls as well as Elsha sitting behind them in the navigator's seat
"You would think if crazy Elsha was so in love with me she wouldn't want to skewer me, would you?" Han mused aloud, glaring through the viewport at the determined blonde.
Elsha was furious. All she wanted to do was catch Solo, not kill him, but the two Gungans, the pilot and co-pilot, seemed intent on destroying the bongo they were following at the direction of Boss Nass.
"LASO LUSS!" Elsha screamed out at the co-pilot, the Gungan behind the firing controls. "I told you I don't want him dead!"
"Sorrees," Laso Luss mumbled, looking a bit sheepish. "Dat lasts ones wasa supposes to hit der gooberfish."
"GOOBERFISH?" Elsha screeched. "WHAT IN ALL HELLS IS A GOOBERFISH? And WHY have you decided to go fishing RIGHT NOW?!"
The Gungan pilot pointed out the window. "Wesa notsa fishings. Dat der isa gooberfish, and wesa abouts to gets eaten." Both Gungans hit the escape hatch and sprang themselves free of the bongo, leaving the human female to fend for herself as the water rushed into the cockpit.
Shocked, Elsha turned just in time to see a giant, underwater beast , and an open maw that was filled with huge fangs.
"Uhs ohs," Jar Jar said, shaking his head.
"What now?"
"Heres comes dat goobersfishy again," Jar Jar said, pointing out the viewport.
Solo turned just in time to see the huge sea creature open its mouth and suck in the bongo containing Elsha. Han was rather surprised to see her Gungan pilots were busy swimming away from the sub and to safety. "How hungry are these gooberfish, usually?"
"Dat shoulda fills hims righta uppa," Jar Jar said happily.
The gooberfish dove down into the depths, taking its meal and leaving Jar Jar and Han to finish their ride topside in peace.
"DADDY!" Jaina screamed as Han emerged from the bongo. The twins rushed forward, grabbing their father around his waist and very nearly toppling everyone off the pier and into the lake.
Solo was thrilled and suprised to find his children safe, as well as waiting for him on Naboo. "When did you kids get here? How did you know where to find me?"
"We followed him. " Jacen pointed over his shoulder at Rayne. Then he grinned up at his father. "And here's your blaster, too, Dad. Rayne tried to make a fast draw with it, but he's the worst fast draw that ever lived. You could beat him using your broken arm and have time leftover to fix yourself a drink."
Han smiled at Jacen's comment before taking his blaster and gun belt from his son and placing it back around his hips. But he was flummoxed at Rayne's actions, so he asked the man, "First you kidnap me and then you filed a flight plan? To the actual planet you were taking me? You're not real good at subterfuge, are you?"
Rayne flushed, unable to meet Han's questioning gaze. "I wanted us to be found, because I didn't want you to fall in love with Elsha. Then I would never have a chance with her."
"Uh, Rayne?" Han said slowly, wondering how he was going to break the bad news to the man about Elsha's fate.
"I know, I know!" Rayne said hotly. "You would never have fallen in love with her! I get it, Solo! I just couldn't take the chance that you might."
"Crazy ladys notsa in loves wit anyone, anymores," Jar Jar piped up. "Crazy ladys fishy food nows."
It took a second for Binks proclamation to sink in, and when it did Rayne's face paled and he dropped to the ground, crying and wailing out Elsha's name in grief. When he finally stopped sobbing and sat up, Obi-Wan and Qui Gon each took an arm and pulled him to his feet.
"It's all over, Rayne," Qui Gon told the man gently. "You need to help Solo and his children get back home, and you need to go back there, as well."
"Why should I help them?" Rayne sniffed, wiping his face. "We can all stay here and rot forever as far as I'm concerned. If Elsha is dead, then nothing matters anymore."
Han was about to step forward to get in the man's face and threaten him, but Qui Gon gave Solo a quick shake of his head and addressed the grief-stricken man. "Jacen and Jaina are innocent in all this. They have a mother that's waiting for them and I'm sure she must be worried sick about them. If you don't care about helping Solo, then at the least you can consider the children."
After a few moments, Rayne nodded. "You're right, Jedi. I'll go back with you to Coruscant and set the time travel shields on Solo's dump of a ship so it will go back to the right time."
"Hey!" Solo objected. "My ship is not a dump!"
"After you program Solo's ship, you can take your own ship back to the future, as well," Obi-Wan added, ignoring Han's outburst. "Everything will be put back in the right time and place."
The group headed back to the spaceport at Theed in silence. Little did they know that Rayne was already considering how he could take himself back to a time when Elsha was still alive and before she ever laid eyes on a certain, swaggering Corellian. After all, her obsession hadn't started in earnest until she watched Princess Leia marrying Solo over the Holo-Net. If he could prevent her from falling in love with Solo in the first place, then maybe he still would have a chance with her. Time travel allowed for fixing mistakes, Rayne thought to himself in sudden happiness, never pausing to consider minor details like how much older he would be than Elsha, or how very young she would still be, or even how he would be able to stop past events from reoccurring. Love was rather blinding for the homely Caleb Rayne.