Serenity broke atomo only to find itself facing an Imperial blockade currently in hot pursuit of their “friend’s” vessel.
“Oh my giddy aunt.” Wash muttered as he watched the Falcon twist and weave around the heavy blaster fire. “What has that lunatic got himself into now?”
Beside him, Mal’s jaw clenched. What HAD Han gotten himself into? And more importantly, what had he gotten THEM into? “Just get us clear enough to make the jump to light speed.” He said. “They ain’t interested in us, let’s keep it that way.”
“Yah!” Wash exclaimed quickly dodging a stray blast.
*****
Luke stumbled as the ship lurched suddenly. Ben steadied him, but Threepio lost his footing and tumbled into a stack of crates.
“Oh!” the protocol droid exclaimed. “I’d forgotten how much I hate space travel!”
Luke watched as a burly, scruffy looking man paused at Threepio’s side, looked at him, then spit on the decking before walking on. He didn’t give Luke or Ben a second glance.
The woman who’d been introduced to them as Zoe came down the stairs from the upper decks. “This way to the mess.” She said simply. “Captain wants to give you the two cred tour.”
The ship lurched again.
“What’s going on out there?” Luke demanded.
“Seems your previous transportation managed to get the attention of the Imps.” She answered. “Some stray blaster fire’s getting near enough to make Wash nervous.”
“Why doesn’t he just outrun ‘em?” Luke asked. “I thought he said his ship was fast.”
“He’s workin’ on it.”
*****
“Well you can forget our troubles with those Imperial slugs.” Mal said as the group entered the mess hall. “Han’s led ‘em away from us so the trip should be smooth from here on out.”
“I trust he’ll be all right?” Ben asked.
“Han’s a tough nut.” Mal assured him. “He’ll lose ‘em.”
“Nut is right.” Jayne smirked.
“Time to Alderaan is about six hours.” Mal said. “Make yourselves to home, ‘cept that the bridge, engine room, shuttles and cargo hold are off limits. Zoe’ll show you to the passenger area when we’re done here. Feel free to come up here anytime, we’ll be havin’ lunch in a bit, mostly just proteins, but you’re welcome to what we got. Infirmary’s just off the passenger lounge if you get yourself hurt. Any questions?”
****
“Pardon me,” Obi-Wan asked Zoe as she ushered them into the passenger lounge. “But might you have a practice droid of some type?”
Zoe frowned. They did have a droid that she, Mal, and Jayne used for target practice. It also fired low level laser blasts, but what could an old man like this want with one? “I’ll go get it.” She finally said. Mentally she shrugged. Maybe he was a semi-retired gunslinger or something.
While he waited for her return, Kenobi began to instruct Luke in the basics of the light saber.
“What the ruttin’ hell is that?” Jayne asked, entering just as Luke ignited the blade.
“Light saber.” A quiet voice said.
Kenobi’s head snapped around. How had he not sensed it before? Not far away, peering cautiously around the corner, a young dark haired woman stood. Her eyes were fixated on the glowing beam of energy.
“That’s right.” The old Jedi said, smiling gently. “The weapon of a Jedi.”
“Jedi?” Jayne scoffed. “Hell, ain’t no such thing.”
“Is so.” Said Kaylee from her spot on the floor where she and Artoo were getting acquainted. “My daddy met one once.”
Jayne sniffed derisively. At that moment, Zoe returned with the droid. It was the standard model. Spherical, with anti-grav generators and low powered blaster ports.
“This what you’re looking for?” she asked, eying Luke’s unpracticed stance warily.
“Yes, this will do nicely.” Obi-Wan took the droid and switched it on. It hovered before Luke, zipping back and forth, and up and down. Artoo beeped, and Kaylee shushed him.
“I wanna see this.” She said.
“Remember,” Obi-Wan said. “A Jedi can feel the force flowing through him.
“You mean it controls your actions?” Luke asked. The droid fired a burst, just missing him. Though he managed to dodge the blast, he also failed to block it.
“Partially, but it also obeys your commands.”
“What goes on here?” Mal asked quietly. He entered just in time to see Luke manage to block a shot from the droid.
Luke started to feel a little nervous from all the attention he was getting. As a result, the next shot got through his defenses, and stung his leg. He hissed in pain, as Jayne let out a laugh.
“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at yer side kid.” He said.
“You don’t believe in the force do you.” Luke said, glowering at Jayne.
“I wouldn’t take it too personal.” Mal said. “Ain’t much Jayne can’t shoot at that he does believe in.”
“Ms. Kaylee might you have a spare rag I could use?” Kenobi asked.
“Uhm, sure.” She said doubtfully. She pulled one from her pocket. “It’s kinda dirty.”
Taking the rag, he stepped up to Luke and tied it over his eyes. “I suggest you try it again Luke. This time, let go your conscious self, and act on instinct.”
“But with the blind fold on I can’t even see, how am I supposed to fight?” Luke complained.
“Your eyes can deceive you. Don’t trust them.”
“Oh dear,” Threepio worried. “Mistress Kaylee I do hope the chemicals on your cloth are not harmful to Master Luke’s eyes.”
“Me too.” Kaylee giggled. She knew it would not harm him, but as a final payback for insulting Serenity she thought she’d let him sweat a bit.
Luke frowned. “What did you use this for?”
“Wiping my hands after workin’ on the engine.” She grinned. “Don’t worry ya won’t go blind or nothin’. Not permanently anyway.”
“Ooo,” Wash joked, adding his presence to the group. “Party games. What are we playing, Blind Man’s Bluff?”
Luke took a deep breath and activated the blade. Wash blanched and stepped back. “I’m gonna stand way back here.” He said. “Out of range.”
Obi-Wan asked them to be quiet for a moment, and activated the droid again. It immediately fired a blast that caught the farm boy by surprise, stinging his arm.
“Stretch out with your feelings.” His mentor advised.
Luke relaxed, and almost immediately he could picture the droid before him, and knew exactly where to move the blade. In quick succession, he blocked three shots. Exulting, he deactivated the blade and pulled off the blindfold, wiping the grease from his face.
“You see?” Kenobi said proudly. “You can do it.”
“I call it luck.” Mal said, though he didn’t sound too much like he meant it.
“In my experience there is no such thing as luck.”
“Cap,” Kaylee spoke up. “Can I take Artoo on a tour of the ship? He says he’s never been in a firefly before.”
“I beg your pardon Miss,” Threepio said, surprised. “But can you really understand what Artoo is saying?”
“Sure,” she answered. “Can’t you?”
“Well yes, but I’m programmed to understand over six million forms of communication.”
“Well I may not know that much, but I worked with Astromechs since I was a kid. Not many droids I don’t understand.”
“That’s our Kaylee.” Jayne teased. “Got more mechanical boyfriends than real ones.”
While Mal thought over Kaylee’s request, Obi-Wan looked around for the girl. She’d disappeared, but he could still sense her. He let his senses spread through the ship, getting a sense of those within it. There were three that he hadn’t met yet, and there was the girl. And her…brother. Perhaps he should start there.
*****
“How does that feel?” Simon asked, raising Book’s arm a little from his side.
“All right.”
Simon raised his arm a bit more. “Now?”
“The same.”
A little more and his patient winced. Simon gently probed the Shepherd’s shoulder. “So why didn’t you wait for Jayne to spot you?”
Book shrugged, and immediately regretted it when pain shot through his right arm. “I got cocky. It happens to the best of us. Even men of God.”
“It’s rare for men of God to admit fault.” Obi-Wan said from the doorway. “Or men of the Force for that matter.”
Shepherd Book looked at Obi-Wan in shock. “General Kenobi.”
“Please Shepherd, I haven’t gone by that rank for nearly 30 years.”
Simon looked from one to the other, then slowly lowered Book’s arm back to his side. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.” He said, while retrieving some spare rags and began making a sling. “Though it seems you two are already acquainted.”
Book and Obi-Wan grinned. “Oh,” Kenobi shrugged. “All old men know each other.” With a shake of his head, he admonished the Shepherd. “Still getting yourself into impossible situations I see.”
“Oh it’s just a sprained shoulder.” Simon assured him.
“Not quite what I meant, but that’s neither here nor there.” He watched as Simon put Book’s arm in the sling.
“Try not to move it for a few days.” He said. “And here’s some ointment to put on it. If the pain increases, come see me immediately.” He then turned to their guest. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“I actually came to see you.” Kenobi said quietly. “My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi. I wanted to talk to you about your sister.” Even someone without the intuition of a Jedi would have been able to see how closed off the boy immediately became.
“What do you want with my sister?” he demanded.
“I want to help her.” Came the answer. “She has great-“
“Great potential. Yes I know. The Imperial Academy said the same thing. Before they…”
Obi-Wan’s blood ran cold. Much like it had watching the surveillance footage of Anakin’s slaughtering of the Jedi Children. “What did the Empire do to her?”
When Simon did not immediately reply, Shepherd placed his good hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right doctor. I know this man. You can trust him.”
“I don’t know why, exactly.” Simon finally said. “But they cut open her brain, and experimented on her. What they did, made her unstable.”
“Then perhaps I can help in ways I had not thought of before. The Force can work wonders in repairing psychological damage, if only one knows how.”
“The Force?” Simon said skeptically.
“The Force is strong in your sister. Stronger than in most.”
“Forgive me Mr. Kenobi, but I’m a doctor. I don’t know if I believe in that sort of thing.”
*****
Luke had not eaten since dinner last night. He’d skipped breakfast that day to find Artoo, and it had been nearing dinner time when they’d boarded Serenity. So when Ben had gone off to find the strange girl who’d known what a Light saber was, he decided to remedy that. But all thoughts of food left his mind when he entered the mess hall and saw her standing by the stove.
She was probably the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Certainly the cleanest. He found himself frozen in the doorway, his mouth hanging open. She turned and smiled kindly.
“Are you going to lurk in the doorway all evening or are you coming in?”
“Huh?” Luke shook himself, pulling himself together. He was a small-town boy, and he probably had seen more women in the past two days than he’d seen his entire life. He’d never make it in the big bad galaxy if he fell head over heels for every single one that came along. “Sorry.” He said, blushing.
“It’s okay.” She smiled again. “I trained long and hard to get that reaction from men.”
“What?”
“My name is Inara.” She said, pouring the tea. “I’m a companion.”
“Oh.” Luke’s immediate reaction was one of disapproval. Aunt Beru hadn’t had a very high opinion of such a trade.
Inara picked up on the attitude and mentally shrugged. It was Tatooine, the boy likely wasn’t incredibly well educated. “There’s food in the cupboard if you’re hungry.” She said. “And don’t worry, I won’t try to corrupt you.”
*****
Obi-Wan’s stomach lurched horribly, and he staggered. He felt hands steady him as Simon and Shepherd book moved him towards the examination table.
“Are you all right?” Simon demanded, grabbing a stethoscope from the counter. The symptoms looked familiar. “Do you have a history of heart problems?”
“No,” Obi-Wan waved him off, taking a cleansing breath. “I felt a great disturbance in the force.”
“What do you mean?” Book asked.
“It’s as if millions of voices cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.” He answered, his eyes brimming. “I fear something terrible has happened.”
*****
Artoo whistled and beeped his approval at the state of the engine room. Any non-droid that could keep a ship like this going in the first place was top notch, but the engine itself was so efficiently stripped down. She’d cut out a lot of the superfluous parts altogether.
“Artoo is most impressed with…” Threepio saw Kaylee smirk at him. “Oh of course.” He huffed. “You know what he’s saying.”
“You can translate anyway if you want to.” She said, smiling. “You got more personality than most droids. I kinda like it when you talk.”
“I,” the protocol droid was taken aback. “You do?” He pretended not to notice, but he knew perfectly well that most humans found him insufferable.
“Sure. You got more class than most droids I met too.”
If droids were capable of such a thing, Threepio would be blushing.
“Kaylee,” Zoe said from the doorway. “Please tell me you’re not flirting with a droid.”
*****
Mal intercepted Obi-Wan halfway to the mess, a no nonsense look on his face. “Why’re you runnin’ from the Imps?” he asked bluntly.
“I’m not sure it’s best that you know that.” Kenobi said carefully. “The less you’re involved in our troubles the better.”
“I ain’t gonna argue that.” Mal nodded. “But like it or not, and I don’t, we’re involved. You were supposed to take off with the Falcon, and the Imps sent three Star Destroyers after him. They must want you pretty bad.”
“I really think it best if you not worry about it.”
“Oh I’m worryin’.” Capt. Reynolds shot back. “And before you get any funny ideas of tryin’ any of your Jedi mind tricks on me, know that if you try it you’ll get of my boat right now. The Imps want you. Or the kid, or the droids. I want to know how bad. ‘Cause as you migtha heard by now, we got troubles with them of our own. I don’t need another passenger addin’ more.” Before Kenobi could answer, the ship shuddered violently. Grabbing the rail, Malcolm swore.
“Sir,” Wash’s voice came from the comm. “You’d better get up here.”
*****
Mal’s astonishment over ruled his anger when Kenobi and Luke followed him onto the bridge. He’d deal with that later. Right now they had more important things to worry about.
“Wash you want to explain why we’re being hit with rocks?”
“We came out in some kind of asteroid field.” Wash said, steering around one of the flying pieces of debris. “But it ain’t on any of the charts.”
“What do you mean?” Luke asked. “Where Alderaan?”
“That’s what he’s tryin’ to tell ya kid.” Mal said softly, horrified. “It ain’t there. It’s been totally blown away.”