Jacobus by WebRuss
Chapter 4 Arranging Passage.
In the corner booth sat a squat man with a Nubian slave girl on his right. I eyed him carefully as I approached the table. One of his underlings saw me coming and stood up and stepped towards me as I approached. I could see the blaster in his right hand, and I sensed his partner walking up behind me. I raised my hand and gently nudged him with the force and at the same time, pulled his partner to me. I did not draw my blade, for it would not be prudent, but instead in an instant I had both of them by the necks, stepped up to Mungo's table, and pushed them face down on the table's edge. The incident caused a little disturbance and a few heads turned but just as quickly went back to their business.
Mungo raised his eyes, looked at his underlings in what I could only interpret as disgust and motioned for me to let his underlings go. I released them and pushed them gently away. He then gestured to his left, offering to let me sit down across from him. As I sat down he began to speak. "You have come to find Coloss" he said in a matter of fact tone. I was surprised by his forthright statement, but then again, why else would another Jedi be on this planet.
"Yes" I replied, "and I need transport and a guide." Mungo looked at me then at his slave girl. He motioned for her to leave. As she was extricating herself from the table, the shop keeper stepped up with a round of drinks on a platter which he served quickly and departed.
Mungo picked up both drinks and handed one to me. He sniffed at it and then took a sip. I too took a sip from my cup and continued to wait for a reply. Finally he spoke.
"I have what you need, but I doubt you can afford it." he said in a flat tone, his face all business and no pleasure, "You see, I know that Jedi are bound by an oath of poverty, and you seem to take that quite seriously." I was unsure if that comment was a joke or an attempt at an insult intended to keep me off balance.
"I am not without funds" I said as I began to nudge his will with the force, "I am sure we can come to an arrangement."
His face went from very serious to a moment where he just perceptibly smiled, but then it was gone. "Yes I'm sure we can come to an arrangement, but your Jedi mind tricks will not work on me so stop trying." He stated in a matter of fact tone.
"I see" I replied. "What is your price?" I asked, not wanting to prolong this discussion any more than necessary as this was a dangerous place and a dangerous man. Just then I heard a shriek and saw a flash of light saber from across the room. Jacobus had drawn his light saber and dispatched another bar patron. He was standing with blade drawn, the tip just a fraction of space from the dying man's face. Jacobus had a look of fury upon his face and was boiling over with anger. The other Jedi was standing, his hand on his blade but had not drawn.
I was now in a precarious position as I was seated across from a very dangerous man and Jacobus had just killed someone in the bar. The anxiety in the room went up perceptibly, as Jacobus' rage seethed out of him like a land speeder's engine winding up. I had to act quickly or more deaths would certainly follow. The events that happened next took only a split second, yet I see them as lasting for much longer in my mind.
I felt the movement before I saw it. One of Mungo's henchmen started to bring up his weapon to bear upon me, without taking my gaze from Mungo I summoned my will and force pushed hard like a wave out from where I was sitting toward the people around us. Mungo's eyes became wide with fear as people around us were suddenly swept up and away. The force push also ruptured the windows and glass started to rain down around us. I reached out and grabbed Mungo's arm and launched us both out of the booth and through the empty window frame.
Mungo's bellows of fright, blaster bolts and flying glass accompanied me as we flew out the window. The Jedi and Jacobus, just a moment behind us, came running out the door in pursuit as I launched Mungo into the passenger seat of his land speeder and ignited the engines. The other Jedi and landed in the rear seats and Jacobus upon the rear hatch of the speeder. I accelerated hard and blasted away from the bar with Mungo's henchmen close behind.
I ran us at full speed out of town and straight for the dry riverbed. We bounced and weaved our way through the streets. The speeder kicked up an enormous cloud of dust behind us so that our pursuers had to slow down and follow at a distance as the dust cloud covered our escape. After a few twists and turns, I could not see our pursuers but the occasional blaster bolt shot past us. A few times they were close enough that I felt the heat. Finally I spotted the way out and turned us towards the desert, avoiding rocks and derelicts of old mining ships scattered about like fallen monuments.
We skimmed across the open desert, Jacobus and the other Jedi deflecting blaster bolts from the pursuing speeders as they attempted to flank us. As I continued to evade I saw the opening of the canyon ahead and accelerated the speeder well past the safety limits. The speeder whined and warning sirens sounded as we cleared the edge of the canyon and dropped at full speed towards the sand-filled river bed below. Mungo bellowed in pure fright as I fought with the controls and attempted to level out as we dropped to the riverbed. We bounced off the sandy bottom and shot us along the riverbed looking for a hiding spot. Our pursuers had to slow down to drop over the edge of the canyon and this gave us a few moments lead to find a hiding spot. Finally I saw a small opening barely noticeable from the riverbed and turned hard to the right and slipped us into the small alcove.
I cut off the speeder's engines and it dropped softly onto the floor of the little hiding spot, just out of sight from the riverbed. I signaled to everyone to lay low and got a firm grip on Mungo and made it clear that if he attempted to alert our pursuers I would do terrible things to him. We sat silently, except for a soft whimper coming from Mungo. The pursuers shot past us and continued down the riverbed. I turned my gaze to Mungo and observed how this very tough looking bandit was now a cowering child. How often it is the case when one who rules by fear is suddenly confronted with their own terror, they melt into cowards.
The pursuing gang shot past us and did not notice our hiding spot. We breathed a sigh of relief and I relaxed my grip on Mungo slightly and spoke to him softly. "You will be our guide" I said calmly. "You will lead us to Coloss." His eyes were full of terror and I knew he feared or at least respected me and would comply.
I looked around at my companions. The other Jedi was sitting calmly with arms crossed meditating and conserving his strength. Jacobus was nervously looking around and was still spitting and showing obvious anger. I took a moment and centered myself and assessed our situation. Here we were, two Jedi, a padawan, and an outlaw forced into service as our guide. We were hiding in this hole and being pursued because of the actions of Jacobus. This was the first of many outbursts that caused me to discipline him severely and made me doubt his true path.