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| Finding a Path - Han (cont) | ||||||||||||
| Disclaimer: Characters and Premise are borrowed from the movie "Star Wars." | ||||||||||||
| "Trish!" I yelled. Startled she turned from the dark haired girl she had been talking to. She scanned the crowd for me. For a second I just stared at her, Trish had changed so much in the past year and little of that change was good. Her long blond hair was a limp lifeless mass, she had lost wight, enough that her bones were plainly visible beneath her skin, her whole body was tense, her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, and her movements had become jerky. "Here Trish," I yelled, pulling myself together and moving quickly toward her. She looked at me in confusion. Could I have changed so much in a year that she wouldn't recognize me? I glanced in the store window behind her. Rosalin had cut my hair in a style that hid the remains of my eariler hair cut, and it was still a little longer than I used to wear it. My skin was darkly tanned from being out of doors so much, but neither change was that drastic. "Hey, don't you recognize me?" I asked smiling. "I'm seeing things," Trish whispered, "I've got to get more sleep; I'm so tired my eyes are playing tricks on me." "Trish, my fighter soft landed in the ocean off Jotorus. I swam to shore. It took awhile for me to get back, but I did it, I'm here and I'm fine." I explained in my best lets-be-calm-and-reasonable-voice. A disbelieving smile crept over Trish's face, "Really?" she asked. In answer I raised my arms and smiled in a way that said I'm here aren't I? Suddenly Trish hugged me, "I thought you were dead." I couldn't think of anything to say to that, so I just hugged her back. "Uh-hum," the other girl cleared her throat meaningfully. "Oh Mora, this is Han Solo," Trish responded, turning to the girl. "Hello Han," Mora remarked. "Hi," I replied distractedly. "Trish we've got to get off this planet before it destroys us." "Han you've changed," Trish stepped back from me, "Last year you never would have given leaving a thought, now you're asking me to leave. What happened to you?" "Nothing, things here didn't turn out like they should have, that's all." "I admit the Rebel Government isn't perfect, but they're doing the best they can. We put them in control, it's our duty to stand by them now," Trish insisted. "You're right," I sighed, "We put 'em in charge and its our responsibility to make sure they don't mess up." "Han, I've got a bit of friendly advice for you, don't get mixed up with governments, especially the Rebel Government if you intend to have a long life." "I'm sure that's great advice Mora," I replied. "But it's too late for me to follow it. I'm partially responsible for what's happening so I'm going to go try to straighten this mess out." "I see why you and Trish are such great friends," Mora commented, "You're both crazy. Neither of you are responsible for the Rebel Government. You two just tried to help this planet change for the better and in a way it did. We're free of the Colonists aren't we? That was your only clear goal. That was all anyone in the Rebellion planned to do. Now that you've done that you don't know what to do. I'll tell you what to do. Follow Han's original plan, leave before it's too late and take me with you. Nothing anyone can do can help this place, but without the Colonists we're free to abandon it. I would have done that months ago except for Trish's crazy sense of duty. There's no reason for us to stay on a sinking ship." Mora glared at me, "Besides, you couldn't straighten up this mess anyway. You're only one person. What could you do that would make enough of a difference." "I could have a friendly chat with Joel Rawlis, he was one of the Rebellion's organizers, and he's the one who suggested I get involved with the piloting program." "Joel Rawlis is the head of security now. You'll never get within a mile of him," Mora remarked. "We'll see," was my answer. "Han Solo, you're a naive little boy," Trish yelled. "You haven't the faintest idea of how the Rebel government works. If you do that all that will happen is you'll be killed for stirring up trouble. I know, I've been ordered to shoot at the rioters before." "They won't be able to kill me, even if they do try, which I doubt. I've gotten even better at surviving tough situations over the last few months, and with your help, nothing at all can happen to me." "Don't count on my help," Trish replied angrily. "Because what you plan to do will hurt the Rebel Government and I won't help you. Any criticism hurts the Rebel Government but yours will more than most because you're a hero. Everyone knows about your attack on the Computer Complex. Everyone hated the implants, they were our chains, and you destroyed them. If it looked like you turned against the Rebel Government hundreds of people would turn against it as well. "Han if the Rebel Government decides you're a threat to them, they'll try to kill you. And I have sworn to uphold the orders of the Rebel Government, regardless of what they ask. I've never broken a promise." I brushed away a tear trickling down her cheek, "You don't look like a murderer to me," I commented. "Trish I've got to do something to help the planet, and telling the Rebel Government what it's doing wrong is the only thing I can think of to try." "If you really want to help the Rebel Government, give it the support it needs. Once the Rebel Government takes care of the CRMC then they can go back to fixing the planet, and in a few years everything will be alright." I looked at her sadly, "And you say I'm naive, Trish. Besides I don't care about the Rebel Government, I want to do what's best for Corellus. And what you're doing isn't going to help. After the CRMC is gone there will be someone else. The Rebel Government can either deal with the important things or compete with CRMC. We both know which option the Rebel Government choose, and how it's chosen to compete. "If you think just standing by the Rebel Government is going to actually help, why is it doing this to you Trish?" I turned her to the window. It wasn't a very good mirror, but even so you could still see the waxy pallor of her skin and the amount of weight she had lost. "Things will get better," Trish insisted, as she broke away from me. Mora and I watch her walk hurriedly away, "Trish!" I yelled. "She hates mirrors," Mora remarked. "Trish would like to pretend she can hide how much stress the Rebel Government puts her under when they ask us to help with things like riot control. I hate it too, but I acknowledge that I can't stand to fire on those people, and when I'm asked to, I fire, but I never hit anyone." ============================================================== A month later, I sat in Joel Rawlis' office. "You really did survive that attack on the computer center," he greeted me. I glanced down at myself. "I don't look much like a ghost, so I must have." "Same old Han Solo," Joel laughed. "Why'd you want to talk to me?" I smiled a bit cautiously. I had taken Trish and Mora's warnings seriously, but I couldn't run away as Mora had suggested, or make myself even more responsible for the Rebel Government as Trish had done. I had to try to help in my own way. "Joel, you know I've been out of circulation for awhile, so right now I'm looking at things from the outside. I thought you might be interested in hearing how you guys look from that point of view." Joel leaned back in his chair, lacing his hands together. "How do we look, from the outside?" His tone was just a tad too cool. "Well, it looks like you don't see the real world anymore," I said quickly. "In what way aren't we seeing the real world?" Joel sounded almost as warm as deep space, but I'd said too much to back out now. "Over half the businesses in town are locked and barred. The rest of them are surrounded by rioters. Rioters who are risking their lives to bring what they think is a serious problem to the governments attention. The only attention they're getting is the wrong end of a blaster," I paused to draw a deep breath then plunged back in. "A lot of people won't pay your taxes, but more and more simply can't, but you treat them all the same way, the way you deal with rioters. From an outside point of view it seems like the way the Rebel Government deals with any problem that comes up is that you shoot it, or at least you shoot the person who told you about the problem. "I never thought it would happen," Joel commented, his icy voice was now laced with a threatening edge. "I'd been told you had turned against us, but I never would have believed it. You volunteered to die so that the Rebellion could succeed. By some miracle you lived through a suicidal mission, only to betray us! "You CRMC's are all the same, getting everyone riled up over some imaginary threat. The only way to accomplish the goals we once shared is to silence the CRMC. If word gets out that you have joined that organization it could do a great deal of damage to the Rebel Government, Solo. I can't allow that to happen, right now it is only a rumor that you survived the first battle. It would be much less damaging to the Rebel Government if that rumor were false, if you remained a dead hero, rather than a living traitor. "Back up a mite, buddy," I exclaimed. "We're on the same side, remember, I'm just not caught up in things!" "No, we're not," Rawlis replied with prefect calm, "You are seeking the downfall of the Rebel Government, but you made a mistake, coming to me with your lies, your last mistake." "You're crazy!" I exclaimed, shocked. "I just think the Rebel Government's gotten on the wrong track! I want to help it improve, I would never try to hurt it!" "Your last mistake," Rawlis repeated in his flat, terrifying voice. When I felt a blaster muzzle brush my neck I understood what Rawlis had meant by my "last mistake." At that touch I had reflexively started to move forward, away from the gun. No one had told me to freeze, so I continued to rise, as I did so I slammed my chair backwards, hard. There was a clatter as the blaster hit the floor. I spun and struck the man behind me in the throat, then dove for the blaster. I was certain Rawlis had already called for reinforcements, so I didn't bother telling him not to. As I darted out of the door Rawlis yelled, "You'll never get out of this building alive Solo!" We'll just have to see about that! At the first corner I met two men responding to their boss' signal. Both had left their blasters in their holsters, both were stunned or dead before they fully realized who I must be. I noticed a ventilator shaft at the bottom of the wall, the perfect place to lay low till things cooled down. Luckily it had a snap-on grating which I pulled back in place after me. I hoped no one would think to scan the building for life forms. It was a long, tense wait. Every now and then I would hear the thud of running footsteps in the hall. They bothered me, but the periods of silence were even more nerve wracking. Eventually the building resumed it's normal activity. Bits of conversation drifted to me. Some of it was every day business, but most centered on me. "... simply disappeared..." "The trail stops after Jos and Kelvar." They must be the two guards I met in the hall. I wished someone would say whether or not they had been killed. "... men were stationed at every door. How..." "Maybe he was a ghost after all," the speaker stopped right in front of my hiding place. "Maybe Solo came back from the other side to warn us away from the path we're taking." "Keep talking like that and it's you we'll be hunting for next," his companion remarked as they walked off. "... had to have jumped out a window." Humm, not a bad idea. Finally the hallway grew dark and silent. Cautiously I crept back to the grill. The hall was clear. I kicked the grill out and crawled into the hallway. I returned to Rawlis' office. By setting my blaster to the highest power and narrowest beam I neatly cut the door's lock off. The office's windows were shatter proof, but not blaster proof. There was one guard stationed at the side gate, but he wasn't expecting trouble, especially not from within the complex. I knew Rawlis would have people looking for me, but I doubted they'd leave a guard in my room. After all I was staying at the air base. Luckily no one had interfered with Trish and I's secret entrance, and I slipped into my room without being discovered. I spent the whole day sleeping under my bed, in case someone thought to check the room for me. Then the next night I snuck out and checked for ships leaving Corellus. I got lucky. There was one ship large enough to hide on leaving the solar system in three days. ============================================================== Someone turned the handle on my door. I rolled under my bed, not an original hiding place, but it would have to do. The person stepped in closing the door behind them. "Han, I know you're here," a pause. "It's Mora, I won't give you away, I promise." Another pause, the closet doors were opened. "I'm sure you're planning on leaving Corellus, please take me with you." Surprised, I slid out from beneath the bed. Mora waited till I was standing then continued. "I can't stand it here any more," she whispered. "Is Trish coming with you?" I asked hopefully. The door opened again, and Trish entered. She looked even worse than she had a week ago. "No," she stated. Remembering what she had said about helping the Rebel Government to kill me, I reached for my blaster. "I won't give you away either," she continued. "Then why are you here?" I asked. Trish sighed, "To say good-bye and to wish you luck, both of you. Han if you weren't going to leave the planet, I would try to kill you, but all the Rebel Government wants is for you to disappear. They don't know that's what they want, but it is, so good luck, and don't ever come back." "Come with us," Mora pled. "You know you aren't happy here any more." "What I said before still goes," Trish replied. "Once the CRMC is destroyed, things will improve." "They certainly can't get any worse," I noted under my breath. A fire ignited in Trish's eyes, forcibly reminding me she wasn't a safe person to play games with. Then as suddenly as it had appeared the fire died out. "Get out of here, Han. Go search for you perfect planet," she commanded dully. "But you'll never find it. Every planet has problems. I refuse to give up the planet of my birth for a dream." And then she left, closing the door after her. I turned to Mora, "Meet me at docking bay 12 at three-o'-clock tomorrow. Don't worry about supplies." She nodded once, and left as well. Tiredly I sunk down on my bed. Why couldn't Trish be reasonable? ============================================================== Mora was right on time, we boarded the ship with a load of cargo. Then we located an adequately deserted bulkhead and set up camp. I don't think anyone could have heard us but during the whole trip neither Mora nor I rose our voices over a whisper. "Where will you go?" Mora asked one day. "Courscant," I answered confidently, "You remember the pilots who visited our planet?" "Yeah," "Anakin, the one that taught my wing, was a good friend to Trish and I. He said that if I ever needed help I could reach him through Starfleet Headquarters." "You're crazy Han. You just got rid of one government, and now you want to get involved with another. Me, I want freedom, I'm going to find a nice little colony on the far end of nowhere. Someplace so remote that everyone still plays by their own rules and no one else's." Mora leaned back against the bulkhead, hands folded behind her head, "That's the place for me. It's not as safe as living under an established government, and I'll miss some of the conveniences of modern life, but I'll have my freedom. You see Han, to have anything you have to give up something else. When it's freedom you want, it's safety you give up. The more freedom you have the less safe you are. When the Colonists ruled Corellus we were safe. I can tell by your expression that you don't believe me, but think about it Han. They had a rule for every aspect of our lives and as long as you abided by those rules nothing would happen to you." I started laughing. I couldn't help it. "Alright, you might fall under undue suspicion and be punished for something you didn't do, or be injured if the Colonists put you to work in a dangerous situation," Mora conceded, "but it's safer than the alternatives. The alternatives are a government that lets you make own choices. When you're allowed to do that you also have to live with any bad choices you make. But even in that sort of government there are some ground rules laid out for you to follow. With the kind of freedom I want the only ground rules are those of nature. In that sort of government some people might not make a rule for themselves about not murdering others, and there won't be any government to tell them that's a no-no. But that's a risk I'm willing to take." I thought about what she had said for a moment then replied, "You missed the most freedom a person could have within the normal universe. Your type restricts you to the real out of the way planets." "You mean people who ignore rules that do exist," Mora commented. "Yep, they can live wherever they want, and do what ever they want." "Until the government whose rules they are so blatantly ignoring takes exception to them and locks them up in a little cage somewhere," Mora added. "Part of freedom is taking risks, that's what you said," I smiled. "But don't worry, I don't want that kind of freedom, I just want a government that hasn't gone off the deep end." "Han I hate to disappoint you, but every government is run by people, and if enough of those people have problems they can drive the whole system round the bend." Mora cautioned. "That's a risk I want to take. After all, it isn't a fore-gone conclusion that every government is going to loose it someday. Don't try to tell me otherwise because I'm not listening." ============================================================== The trip lasted thirty-two days and Mora spent every minute we were together trying to convince me governments were bad news. Sometimes I distracted her by talking about Jotorus. I had brought my trinkets from the Spring Celebration, and a few things from my old room: A picture of my parents and the other member of their wing, (In the background you could see their ships.) a model of a battle cruiser, a holographic star map, and a metal the Rebel Government had given me for my part in the battle against the Colonists. It had been awarded posthumously, which no one bothered to change. I had found it in a storage room with the rest of my stuff when I returned from Jotorus. "Why do you carry around all these old memories?" Mora asked when she saw the stuff. "I like it, it makes me feel at home to have my stuff around." I answered. "We do come from the same planet right?" Mora asked rhetorically. "Well if you really want to feel at home just live on a battle field, it would have the same atmosphere." "Very funny," I commented. "Do you have any other problems with what I choose to take with me?" "Well now that you mention it I think your choice of items is crazy too. To me it looks like your holding on to a lot of painful memories. The cat skin, and the pictures of Jotorus are reminders of a place that you're never going to see again. The star map might be useful, but a model starship? And keeping that medal around is creepy. I mean it was awarded posthumously by a government that wishes the posthumously part wasn't a mistake." Mora lectured. I glared at her, "I happen to like them, and the memories that go with them!" Mora rolled her eyes and walked off. I waited a few minutes then headed out of camp in the opposite direction. I enjoyed exploring the ship, watching the crew. Usually I headed for the most populated areas of the ship. It was fun to take chances, but today was different. I didn't want excitement, I just wanted to think. Eventually I ended up in the ship's observatory. I'm not sure how long I spent staring at the stars streaking by. "Most people find hyperspace disconcerting," A voice behind me remarked. I spun around. A girl stood in the doorway, one hand resting against the doorjamb. I felt panic rising inside me, it was one thing to take risks, but a whole other thing to get caught! My blaster appeared in my hand without me realizing quite how it had gotten there. "You're a little jumpy," the girl commented. She stepped into the room letting the door slide shut behind her. "Alright now I'm your prisoner, what are you going to do with me?" I didn't know, and I was sure I didn't want to tell her that so I asked, "Who are you?" "Ensign Alisa Jenkins, serial number 0-269833," She replied promptly, a broad smile lighting up her face, "I know the rules, I don't have to tell you anything else." I groaned, not only did I have to get discovered, I got discovered by a person with a rotten sense of humor. "Now you have to tell me of your evil plot to take over the universe," She continued. "You watch too many spy movies," I commented irritably. "Close, but no cigar," the girl replied, "Actually I read spy novels. Now how about that plot?" "Join the real world," I growled. "We're not in the real world," Alisa remarked, "In the real world people don't hold you at gun point for surprising them, so I decided to play this by the rules in my spy novels." "If I put up the blaster, will you put up the theatrics?" I asked. "No problemo!" Alisa replied. "Thanks, for some reason I get nervous when someone points a blaster at me." "I'm sorry about that but you surprised me," I said defensively. "Why aren't you in uniform?" Alisa asked. I relaxed. In the dim light she hadn't realized I wasn't a crew member. "I just felt like wearing something different," for good measure I added my most charming smile. "Why are you carrying a blaster? You've got to know the rules. Only on duty security men can carry blasters on the ship." She paused to glance at me, "I'm not sure what sector you're stationed in, but you're obviously not on duty." Apparently the effect of my smile was ruined by the dim light. Too bad. I'd just have to come up with a better story, "I'm in engineering," I explained, "but I have a friend in Security. The other day he was playing around with his blaster and broke it. He was really embarrassed about it so I offered to fix it for him without letting anyone else know it was broken. He was going to meet me here and pick it up." "Yeah right," she stated, "The holes in that story are big enough to fly this ship through. To name just a few: If you were expecting someone why did my showing up startle you so badly? If the blaster isn't yours why are you wearing the holster? And finally you could pass for a gunman with that speed draw... Engineer." "Well what do you think I am?" I challenged, if I couldn't think of a story she would believe maybe she would think of it. "Whatever I say I'm sure you'll agree with me," Alisa commented, "I'm not going to make it that easy for you." Well if I couldn't smooth talk my way out of this maybe I could shock her. "Alright you want the truth," I forced my voice to become harsh and angry," I drew the blaster again. "I'm sick of this ship! In fact I'm sick of this galaxy!" While I was talking I set the blaster to widest dispersal, minimum power, that should produce a good light show without doing any damage, and with a bit of luck she would think I had a disintegrator, not a regular blaster. "I was in the process of killing myself when you walked in!" Dramatically I put the blaster to the side of my head. Just before triggering it I switched my aim a little, the bolt splayed harmlessly across the clearsteel window. Meanwhile I dropped to the floor and crawled to a dark corner. That little display had the planned effect on my eyes at least, I thought, trying to see after the incredible brilliance of the blaster bolt. I hoped she had been momentarily blinded as well. Slowly my eyes readjusted to the dimly lit observatory. Alisa Jenkins was standing in the middle of the room blinking furiously. Then she turned slowly making sure I had really disintegrated myself. I trusted the flash of light, the observatory's normal darkness, and my impression of a statue would combine to hide me. Alisa gasped, them pressed one knuckle to her mouth. Starlight glistened of the tears on her cheeks. Some days nothing goes right, I thought to myself. All I had wanted to do was escape, not upset her. I couldn't give up my game now though. For an hour she sat there looking pitiful, and I sat in my corner forcing myself to be sensible, and stay hidden. As soon as she left I returned to my camp. ============================================================== I didn't tell Mora about meeting Alisa, I had already taken care of the problem hadn't I? Why worry her? "What are we having for dinner?" I asked. "I had another pack of emergency rations. If you want one they're right where they always are, and you have no sense of taste. Han, couldn't you have picked up some real food when you got the supplies?" She complained. "Emergency rations are perfect for what we're doing," I explained. "They're easy to steal, easy to carry, and they provide a perfectly balanced meal." "You miss one thing," Mora pointed out, "They taste awful." "Ya gotta take the good with the bad," I replied, grabbing a pack. "Until the bad outweighs the good," Mora replied. "I know it's risky, but tomorrow I'm going to order a wonderful, tasty breakfast from the ships food processors." After all the risks I'd been taking, how could I object? For several days I stayed in camp. Then bored of listening to Mora's lectures and having nothing else to do I resumed exploring the ship. But now I stuck to the more deserted areas of the ship. ============================================================== A phaser bolt exploded around me. When I woke up I was bound hand and foot. Alisa was standing before me looking very angry. "It's about time you woke up," she commented. "It wasn't very nice of you to stun me," I replied angrily. "And that trick of yours was? That's why I tied you up, you won't get out of this so easily. "I really believed you had committed suicide. I waited a few days but no one announced a crewman's disappearance. That's when I realized you had played a nasty trick on me. I decided to find out who you were then pay you back. I asked the computer to give me the files of all the crewmembers fitting your general description: Male, in his early teens, brown hair, between five and five and a half feet tall. Only none of the people who fit that description were you. I ought to have told the Captain we had a stow-away on board, but basically I'm a nice person, so I decided to give you a chance to explain yourself. Now start talking and it had better be good." "Where should I start?" I asked. "A name would be nice." I thought about lying but there didn't seem to be much to gain from it. "Name's Han Solo, I don't have a rank or serial number to give you." "Ha-ha, very funny. Now where are you from?" "Corellus, and you thought it was funny when you said it," I answered. "Why did you stow-away on this ship." Now was the time to sell my story to her, "I pointed out a few of the Rebel Government's less flattering aspects to its security chief and he tried to have me killed. I had to get off the planet fast, and I didn't want my name on a passenger list. Your ship was going where I want to go, far from Corellus. so I gathered some supplies and hopped aboard." "I'm not sure whether to believe you or not. Your story makes sense, but the last time we met you proved yourself to be less than honest and very resourceful." "How can I convince you?" Automatically I tried to move my hands in a gesture of helpless innocence. I discovered Alisa Jenkins was great at tieing knots. In the end I settled for a sincere expression. "You probably can't," Alisa remarked, "Where are you going?" "Courscant," I answered promptly. "Why?" "Anakin told me I could contact him there." "Who is this Anakin?" "Commander Anakin Skywalker," I answered. That ought to make an impression on her. Alisa looked at me worriedly, "When was the last time you saw Commander Skywalker?" "About two years ago, why do you ask?" "He might not be the same person you knew," Alisa warned. "How so, what are you talking about?" I demanded. "Rumors say he's a Dark Jedi, and since he started working for Senator Palpatine he's gone power crazy," Alisa paused. "At starfleet, they say that the changes in him drove his wife away." "Your wrong, Anakin isn't even married," I stated angrily, "Anakin is my friend!" "If the rumors are true you'll get yourself in more hot water than I ever could," Alisa remarked bending down to untie me. "How old are you?" "Old enough to take care of myself," I answered. "Since when are..." She looked carefully at me, "... Thirteen-year-olds old enough to take care of themselves." I knew I looked younger than I was, but why did people always have to be reminding me of the fact? "I'm fifteen," I corrected her. "And I'm a hundred," Alisa replied. I started to walk off. "Oh don't leave in a huff," Alisa said then added, "If you say you're fifteen I'll believe you." Still anrgy I turned back to her, "Even if I was thirteen I could take care of myself." "What ever you say," She said, her patronizing tone irritating me. "I'm a helmsman on the Starfire." She offered, trying to make up. "Why do you call your ship by a name?" I asked. "Ships have a certain personality," Alisa explained. "And if you want a ship to perform at it's best, you've got to acknowledge that personality. A name is a good way to do that." "Okay, I think I get it. My High Altitude fighter was a Z-95 class, but everyone called it a Headhunter because that name was really different from the name of any other type of High Altitude fighter," I rephrased. "No not at all. There are other ships of the GH-1501 class, but only this one is called the Starfire. It has a number identification too, but the name shows we understand that this ship is different from any other GH-1501 freighter," Alisa clarified. "Starfire is this ship's name, like Han Solo is mine, and Alisa Jenkins is yours." "Yeah now you're getting it." "Why give a ship a name, it's just a machine?" I questioned. "Apparently you've never depended on a ship. We trust the Starfire with our lives, and she protects us. Ship are like living beings they try harder for people who give their all for the ship." Alisa's voice was so intense that I decided now wasn't the time to tell her if you took good care of you machinery it would work better. Nor did I tell her the ship didn't try harder, it was just in good condition. Besides, who knows, she might be right. I hadn't thought animals could become friends with people till I met Dusty, so maybe I'd reserve my judgement about naming ships till I'd had one with a name. ============================================================== After that I had several more conversations with Alisa. She had me help with the ship's maintenance to pay for my ride. One day she told me we had a Mynock (whatever that was) on the hull, and that we were going to take care of it. Several days ago she had the ship's computer synthesize a technician's uniform for me. That way I could move around the ship without risking being discovered a second time. It worked fairly well. This time we walked right up to an Ensign and asked for two space suits. He hardly even glanced at me. Of course he might not have noticed me even if I were dressed in the Captain's uniform. He was too busy looking at Alisa, which was completely understandable. She was very attractive, with shoulder length copper colored hair, brilliant green eyes, and golden freckles scattered across her delicate face. The space suits were uncomfortable and bulky, but Alisa insisted we'd need them when we left the ship. I wasn't that sure I wanted to leave the ship, but Alisa threatened to tell the Captain about me if I didn't. The airlock opened and we entered. Nervously I tapped my foot against the floor and tried to ignore the count down to the time when the outer doors would open. I was sweating heavily and removed my helmet to wipe my face off. As soon as the seal broke I nearly blacked out. Whatever had happened felt much worse than the implants. Dimly I could hear Alisa ordering the computer to reverse depressurization. Then she leaned over me and resealed the helmet. "Repressurization complete," the computer announced. "Ensign Jenkins, what's going on in there?" someone demanded over the intercom. "Mr. Solo's suit didn't seal properly," she answered. "I'll call sickbay," the person remarked. I shook my head, trying to clear it, "If he does that I'll get caught!" I whispered desperately. "Hang on a second," Alisa ordered. "He doesn't seem to be hurt." "Are you sure of that?" the intercom asked. "Yes," I stated. "Let me check," Then she turned to me. "Take off your helmet." "Are you crazy!" I exclaimed. "That's how I got in this mess in the first place!" "It's safe now," she demonstrated that by removing her own helmet. Reluctantly I pulled mine off too. "Well I guess you got lucky, just a few of the blood vessels in your cheeks burst, and you've got a little bit of a bloody nose. You'll have a bad bruise across your face, but when you realize that you could have burst your eardrums, or damaged you eyes with that stunt you were really very lucky. What I can't understand is why you did a dumb thing like removing your helmet in the first place!" "I wouldn't have if you had told me what would happen when I did!" I hissed back. "You have done this before, haven't you?" Alisa asked. "No, the only other time I even left Corellus' atmosphere was when Anakin taught me to fly an X-wing," I answered more calmly. "Great!" Alisa commented, "This is just great. I must be some kind of idiot, not asking you if you'd ever done anything like this before! Well what am I going to do with you, if you back out Technician Garin will send you to sickbay and someone will figure out that you're a stow-away. And if I take you with me you might do something else wrong and get seriously hurt, in addition to getting caught. What in the twin worlds am I supposed to do with you?" "What if I promise not to do anything out there?" I asked. "I could just stand real still and wait for you to finish." "You'll have to float real still, because that's what you do in zero-gravity." Alisa remarked. She reactivated the intercom, "Garin, he's fine. So we're going to continue with the mission. Give us a minute to get our suits back on then start the airlock again." "The computer didn't catch the bad seal on Solo's suit last time I'd like to check it with another computer before you try it again." We did and of course it showed everything was working properly with the suit. So we started out again. This time nothing went wrong. When the outer doors slid open Alisa confidently kicked off the wall and floated out of the ship. I sighed and followed her. For the first ten minutes I refused to look at deep space. The space suit that had seemed so bulky on the ship was now a frail bubble, and the only thing between me and deep space. I wasn't sure what Alisa was doing or what a Mynock was. Finally my curiosity over came my terror of deep space. Carefully I turned to look along the ship to my right. "I'm up here Han," Alisa's voice said over the com link. "About three meters above you." I pushed back a little and scanned the hull above me. as I did so I took my first look at the stars since I'd left the ship. Neither the X-wing or the Starfire's observatory had prepared me for this. They had only let me catch a glimpse of a small square of stars. Now they were all around me, for the first time I realized that space really did go on forever. I could see the stars stretching out around me into eternity. I looked back at the ship. Compared to a space suit it had appeared as safe as a planet. A planet safe? Who was I kidding? Compared to space, even a planet was just a speck of dust. All my life Corellus had seemed like the most important thing in the Universe when it was really so completely insignificant! I started laughing it was so impossibly ridiculous. Who cared about Corellus? There were so many other planets to choose from. And if I didn't like any of them I could always get a ship, a small world of my own. "Han! what's wrong with you. If you get hysterical I don't know what I'll do to you! The least of which will be never letting you forget it!" Alisa yelled. With difficulty I forced myself to stop laughing, "Why in the universe would I be scared out here?" "Oh, I don't know, maybe whatever had you so shook up before," Alisa remarked sarcastically. "I don't know what was wrong with me before," I laughed. "This is great!" "Then get up here and give me a hand with the Mynock." Awkwardly I clamored over the hull to where Alisa was surveying the Mynock. It looked like a wet leather sack. "What do we do with it?" I asked. "We pry it off the ship with small explosive charges, I've already set most of them." She handed me a small flat dish. "Shove this under the edge of the Mynock, but be carefully not to snag your suit on anything." Gingerly I set the charge beside the Mynock and did as she said. A minute or two later we had finished. "Back away and get a firm hold on the ship," Alisa instructed. She checked that I had followed directions then detonated the charges. The ship shuttered as the Mynock was blown off. Alisa began to make her way back to the airlock. I stayed where I was, watching the stars. Alisa turned to look back at me. "Wonderful," She exclaimed. "Now that you're not petrified by deep space, you're mesmerized by it!" She climbed back to me, "Time to go in." When I didn't respond she knocked on my helmet, "Hello, anybody home," She called I sighed, then followed her to the airlock. "When do you think we can go out again?" I asked. "I don't believe you," Alisa remarked. "You take one look at the stars and suddenly you're in love with deep space." "Looking at deep space made me realize that a planet isn't much more that a glorified space suit, and I wasn't scared on a planet so why should I be scared when I'm using a space suit? Neither of them is anything at all compared with space." "Han, I hate to tell you this," Alisa commented. "But you're strange. That is precisely why most people are terrified of deep space." "Well, I guess most people are just crazy." I replied. Alisa laughed, "Only you would say that." "Well when are we going out again?" I repeated. "We won't, we're only two days from Courscant." ============================================================== When I returned to camp that night Mora glanced up at me then returned her attention to the book she was reading. A few seconds later she looked up again, "What happen to you?" she asked. "Nothing, I just found a new place to explore, it's really very interesting." "Did you find it before or after walking into the door?" "Huh?" I didn't have the faintest idea of what she was talking about. "No you didn't run into any thing. That would have just bruised one part of your face, I can't imagine how you did that." "Oh that," I exclaimed. How could I explain away the bruise without telling her about getting caught. I hadn't even checked how much damage the airlock had done, but now that I was thinking about it, I could feel the dull ache of a bruise spreading across my cheeks and nose. "It's nothing really. I can hardly even feel it now," I replied, unable to think of an explanation for it. "Why is it always so much trouble to get a streight answer out of you?" Mora demanded. "Don't answer that, and don't make up any stories about the bruise. I'm too tired to force the truth out of you." ============================================================== I didn't see Alisa again till we were at Courscant. "Han," she yelled as Mora and I stepped out of the cargo bay, "I was afraid I'd missed you. After you catch up with the Commander what will you do?" "Probably try to get accepted to Starfleet Academy," I answered. "I'll call you up some day," Alisa promised. "See ya then," I replied. As we walked off Mora asked, "Who was that?" "Alisa Jenkins," I answered hoping she would drop the subject. "And just who is Alisa Jenkins?" No luck there. "Alisa is my friend," I replied, there was still a slim, a very slim chance I could avoid telling Mora I'd been caught by a crew member. "Uh-huh, and where did you meet this friend?" Oh well, I tried. "On the ship." "You told someone that we stowed-away on that ship!?" Mora screamed. "You're wrong on two counts Mora," I state indignantly. "And which two would those be?" "First, I didn't tell her I was a stow-away, she figured it out on her own. Second, she never knew about you." "Well, thanks for protecting me, I guess," Mora paused, realizing something, something I would prefer she hadn't realized. "You got careless, didn't you? You got careless and she saw you." "I was watching the stars in the observatory." "You were taking stupid risks," Mora said contemptuously. "What's life without risks?" I asked flippantly. "Foolish risks, the type you seem to enjoy taking, are the kind that can get you killed." "For stowing-away on a ship," I laughed. "Or in trouble." "But it didn't," I objected. "Not this time," Mora insisted angrily. "But what about the next time. You took a pointless risk going to the government. You had to know how Rawlis would react, and if you really didn't Trish and I were trying to tell you. But you went ahead and did it anyway. And what did it get you, exiled from your home planet, that's what. Why did you do it, because of some ridiculous sense of responsibility for the Rebel Government!" "So, I'm exiled from Corellus, who cares there's plenty of other planets out there." I remarked. Mora put her hand on my forehead, I ducked away from her yelling, "Hey what are you doing!" "Checking for a fever. I admit that Corellus isn't much, but it's still your home planet. From what Trish said about you, you seemed quite fond of it." "I hadn't realized there was any place else yet," I explained. "And now you have?" "Yep." "No matter how many other planets there are in the galaxy, Corellus is the only one you grew up on," Mora commented. "And that makes it important?" "I plan to go back there some day," Mora informed me. "I don't." "You can't, there's a difference," Mora insisted. "But Mora, I don't want to go back to Corellus," I pointed out. "You're scared to go back," Mora pressed, "and with good reason, the Rebel Government has given you a death sentence." "No, I don't feel like going back, I just don't want to see what the Rebel Government is going to do to my planet, I'm not scared to go back." "Then you're crazy," Mora remarked, "This trip has changed you Han. I can't decide whether or not it's for the worse. In the morning I'll set off for my rough and tumble frontier world, so this is goodbye." She turned down a new hallway, then stopped, "Han, if Trish ever comes to her senses and leaves Corellus, wish her good luck for me." "If she doesn't, do the same for me when you visit Corellus," I replied. She nodded and walked off. ============================================================== Luckily the space port on Courscant was just about next door to Starfleet Headquarters. Getting there was no problem at all but finding someone who could help me was something else entirely. I walked in the front door then stopped and looked around. There was a young man sitting at a desk. I decided to talk to him. "Hi, I was told I could get in touch with Anakin Skywalker through here," I stated. "You need to talk to the communications department," he replied. "That's located on the third floor, fourth branching hallway to your left, on the right side of the main hall." "Where's the elevator?" I asked. He pointed to a pair of doors on one side of the room. I followed his directions till I entered a room very similar to the one I had left, except this time the receptionist was female. "I'd like to put a call through to Anakin Skywalker," I requested. The woman smiled, "That would be in Mr. Taldin's Sub-department. Follow that hallway," she pointed it out, "till you reach a T-branch, then go left. At the second four-way corner take the branch on the right. Mr. Taldin's office is the fifth one you'll come to." "Thanks." ============================================================== "Mr. Taldin?" I asked. "Yes what can I do for you?" he replied. "I'd like to contact Anakin Skywalker, he told me I could reach him from here," I answered. "Do you know which ship or planet he is currently stationed on." "No." I sighed. "Then you'll have to go to personnel and find out." "I'm sure you've got a long list of directions that will get me there, and once I do get there they'll send me somewhere else, right?" I commented tiredly. "If you wish to call someone with a subspace radio, you need to know where to send the call," Mr. Taldin explained. "Alright, gimme those directions." ============================================================== This time the receptionist wasn't anything remotely human. Not only did it give me more directions, it told me the person I wanted to speak to wasn't even in today. "When will he be back?" I asked. "Next week," was the answer I received. "Isn't there anyone else I could ask?" "No." "You mean there's only one person in this whole organization who knows where Anakin Skywalker is?" I demanded. "Of course not, there must be at least a hundred people in this building alone who know where he is, but only Lt. Karish is authorized to give that information to a civilian, and he is out till next week." "Fine, I'll stay here until Lt. Karish shows up." I growled sitting down. "What are you doing!?" The receptionist exclaimed. "I'm waiting for Lt. Karish, this is a waiting room isn't it?" I remarked. "It is not a hotel!" "You're right, it's not. Too bad though, a hotel would be more comfortable, but I can live without one." The receptionist didn't answer. I was half way expecting that. Sooner of later s/he had to try to out wait me. So I started setting up my camp. The more disruptive I was the sooner we could move on to the next act. This being had more patience than I expected. S/he didn't call security till his/hers lunch break. I guess s/he didn't want to leave me alone with his/hers stuff, even for a minute. When the guards showed up I calmly handcuffed myself to the front desk. It had probably been assembled in the room since there was no way anyone could get it through the door. This tactic had the desired effect, the security guards didn't know what to do about me. The cuffs were energy cuffs that couldn't be cut through and were unlocked with a code. I'd got them to help get an interview with Joel Rawlis. Originally the guards had probably planned to escort me out of the building, or if I proved to be stubborn, stun me and then throw me out. Now those plans wouldn't work very well. "The easiest way to get rid of me would be to authorize one of those hundred people to tell me what I want to know." I commented pleasantly. Confused the two guards turned to the receptionist. "The ones that know where Anakin Skywalker is but can't tell me," I explained. "What's going on here?" asked a man who had just entered the room from one of the hallways beyond it. "Admiral Dayvon, we're very sorry to have disturbed you!" the receptionist apologized. "You didn't," the Admiral replied, "I was just stepping out for lunch, and what do I find in the waiting room? Two security guards, a camp ground, and a kid handcuffed to the front desk. Now would someone mind explaining this state of affairs to me?" I smiled happily. Finally someone with enough authority to do something besides direct me to the next office. "Sir," I began, "All I want to do is talk to Commander Skywalker. He told me that I could reach him from here. But so far all I've been able to do is see miles of your building while I'm being shipped from one department to the next. And then when I get here this being tells me the only person authorized to tell me where Anakin is, isn't going to be available till next week. Then he tells me that there are lots of people who know where Anakin is, but none of them can part with the information." "And why can't you wait till next week to talk with the Commander?" Admiral Dayvon asked. A number of possible answers ran through my head: I didn't have the money to rent a room for a week. I didn't want to go through all this hassle again. If I wait the next person I needed to talk to would probably be out too. I didn't think starfleet would accept me without Anakin's sponsorship. "I can't stay here forever," I finally answered. "Then you don't want to know where Anakin is." "Why not?" I asked. "Because before Lt. Karish could tell you that you would have to prove you have a valid reason for wanting the information." I slumped back against the desk. This was even harder than getting an interview with Joel Rawlis. "There is an easier way to get a call through to him," Dayvon continued, "You could find someone authorized to tell Mr. Taldin where Commander Skywalker is." "And how many years would that take?" I asked in disgust. "I could probably do it, as soon as you get free of those handcuffs and get your stuff packed up again," the Admiral offered. "You could!" I exclaimed. "Thanks, it will only take me a minute, I have the cuffs combination memorized." I poked a few buttons and the handcuffs sprung open. I quickly gathered my stuff together. Luck was certainly with me today. "Now, do you mind telling me who you are?" the Admiral asked. "Han Solo pleased to meet you can we go now?" I replied all in one breath. "It's no wonder you didn't have the patience to do things the normal way," Admiral Dayvon commented leading me back to Mr. Taldin's office. With the Admiral's help it took no time at all to call Anakin up. "Hi Anakin," I greeted him tentatively. "Han, how did your rebellion go?" He asked. "We won, then the people who were put in charge of our new government went crazy." I explained briefly. Anakin looked worried, "Are you on Corellus?" He asked. "No, I'm on Courscant and I don't plan on going back to Corellus, ever," I answered. "Do you have any plans?" Anakin continued. "Not really," I commented, everything was going just like I wanted it to. "Well Starfleet can always use good pilots, would you and Trish consider it?" "I'd love too," I replied, "But Trish wouldn't leave Corellus." "I'm shocked," Anakin sounded like it, "I didn't think anything could split you two up." "When I left she said that she would help the Rebel Government to kill me if I ever came back," I replied. "I won't ask why she feels that way. Is that Admiral Dayvon standing behind you?" "Yes," "May I speak with him?" Anakin asked, "I need to make sure he understands that you could be a real asset to the fleet." "Okay, sure," I slid out of the way and Dayvon took my place. "Commander, do you honestly believe this kid would have a chance in Starfleet? It's almost vital that Starfleet applicants come from fleet families or at least a well known family," Dayvon objected. "Han Solo is good enough to make it on merit alone, but I'm sure everyone will have an easier time accepting him if it's known that I'm his sponsor." Anakin relied. "Yes that will certainly improve his chances. Many good people end up on cargo freighters simply because they lacked a sponsor," Dayvon commented. I could tell Anakin found Dayvon's remark amusing, "Admiral, if you'd seen Han fly you wouldn't say that. I'd be glad to have him as my wingman. I'm sponsoring him so that he might be able to avoid some of the prejudice that outsiders get stuck with." "You're serious about this kid, aren't you?" Dayvon remarked. "Yes I am, Senator Palpatine is reorganizing the Republic. It's out grow the old from of government. Palpatine needs skilled indivuals who will be loyal to him, not people with just a name. I know Han is loyal to me, I wouldn't think twice about trusting him with my life. The Senator needs people he can trust, ones who can trust without knowing everything. I trusted Han without knowing everything about the Rebellion, I'm sure he'd do the same for me." I was aware that Anakin had been speaking for my benefit for the last few seconds. "Goodbye Admiral, Goodbye Han I'll see you out here in a few years." As Dayvon shut off his terminal I heard him mutter, "Palpatine doesn't want people to trust him, he wants them to obey him. Can't anyone see that?" | ||||||||||||
