How many credits did a pilot earn?
Jada hadn’t been interested before, but she was now, at least mildly. A pilot in the Imperial Navy made nearly double what their ‘rent’ on the family farm was to the Hutts. Da often said that if they didn’t have to give that money to those gangsters each month, they could actually have higher quality equipment, hire some more hands and live better. They could afford to buy some new things instead of always trying to fix old ones.
Zed was worrying her a bit though. He was staring at the recruitment vid, his eyes almost unblinking.
“What’re you looking at?” she asked, imitating a voice that belonged to a bully from Zed’s childhood.
“Yeah, laugh,” Zed said. “But I think I just saw my ticket off this overgrown sandball, and I’m gonna take it.”
“Zed, don’t be an idiot,” Lar said. “Da’ll never let you leave in the middle of the season. There’s too much work to do.”
“Who says he has to let me?” Zed said, sipping his blue-colored drink calmly. His voice shook just a little though. “I’m old enough. He can’t tell me what to do.”
“Zed,” said Jada, “why are you always thinking about leaving? Where are you gonna go that’s so much better than what we have here?”
“Here? Are you kidding me, Jada? Why do you like it here so much? This whole planet is just one big stinking pile of bantha droppings.”
“Zed, I...you want to know why I like it here? It’s because it’s here. There’s Lar, Da, Ma, you...well, maybe you aren’t the big reason.”
“Shut it.”
“Make me. Anyway, it’s like...Zed, today on the canyon floor. I knew exactly what you guys were going to do. I know you picked that spot behind the rocks where we used to do the voice throwing, right? I know every rock there, every place where things are. I spent years wondering what the inside of this cantina was like, and now I know. Twenty years from now, this cantina, the rest of the spaceport, the droids, we’ll all still be here. It’ll all be here, just like old friends. There’s things I don’t like, too; the Hutts, always having to fight the Lars family for vaporator space, their weird kid, Wormie. But those things can change. Da says with the Imperials finally moving troopers into our area, the Hutts’ll be broken and we’ll finally have some real law and order out here.”
“You think so?” Zed said. “What if the Hutts don’t go? Or what if something worse takes over instead?”
“Yeah, like anything could be worse than a bunch of slugs shaking down our home for money each month. You’re dreaming, Zed,” said Lar. Jada looked at him, a question mark in her eyes. Lar usually was far too concerned about the latest servomotor for his bike to be concerned with politics. “The Republic’s finally getting smart,” Lar continued, “At least that’s what I hear some say. Instead of letting the systems run themselves, or letting the Senate take centuries to make things happen, we’ve got a man like Palpatine who gets things done, and does it fast.”
“Well, keep your Emperor. And keep your Hutts, too,” Jada said, sipping her drink. “Only reason I have for being here is you guys, Ma and Da, and the farm.”
“Farm? And slugs?”
Jada looked up. The creature standing in front of them was of medium height, with pink skin, pointed teeth and fingernails, and two large tentacles growing out the back of his head that curled around his waist.
“Bib!” said Lar in a faked happy voice. “So good to see you. Glad you could stop by for a word! What, Jabba’s boots don’t need licking today? Oh, that’s right! He doesn’t wear boots. Because you work for a slug! You’ve been ordering around the servants and wiping his discharge port for years now.”
“I majordomo, house of Hutt, farmer,” Bib said, his red eyes narrowing.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Hutt’s house is a bunker made of clay and flup. A perfect place for you to work, really, since you never could do real work. At least that’s what I hear the farmers say.”
“Lar,” Jada said, “don’t make trouble.”
“Yes, farmer. Don’t make trouble.” Bib’s voice was wheedling, mocking, while his pointed fingernails spun in the air for emphasis. As if on cue, two guards appeared at Bib’s side. One was an Iktochi, a huge, muscle-bound male with a pair of downward-pointing horns. The other was a species they didn’t recognize- he looked human, but appeared to have a pair of open slits in place of a nose. The grimy blaster at his side drew their attention more than the lack of a nose, though.
“Hey,” yelled the barkeep, drawing all their attentions. “No shootin’ in my place! Throw all the punches you want, but no-“
Jada heard a loud smack! as the Iktochi swung a huge fist at Lar, smacking him in the face and making her bigger brother spin in place for a half-turn before he went down.
Jada and Zed swung into action.
Jada knew how both her brothers fought; they’d thrown enough punches at each other over the years to know just how much punishment each could take, and how long it would take for them to recover.
Lar needed at least another few seconds.
Jada now understood why the furniture in the cantina seemed to consist largely of softstone chairs and tables fastened to the floor- no way to pick up a chair and break it over someone’s head, here! But now they used that to their advantage.
Zed leaped up onto the table, yelling in a screechy, high-pitched voice. He fastened his hands together into a double fist, leaping into the air and fully intending to bash the large Iktochi in the middle of his horned forehead.
The Iktochi laughed, smacking Zed’s slender body aside in midair with a sizable left hand.
But as Zed was flying to the ground, the Iktochi looked down and could see what Zed’s attack had blocked from his vision for a crucial split second.
Jada was close in front of him. Down on one knee with her right arm pulled back, she pounded her opponent in a location dreaded for its vulnerability by males of virtually all species. A scream was literally torn from the large bodyguard as he slowly sank to his knees, his mouth open in pain and horror.
Without missing a beat, Jada swept her leg under no-nose, who went down quickly. She leapt up, grabbed him by his vest as he lay on the floor and pounded him in the face again and again, her own face turning into an angry snarl with each hit. He tried to raise his pistol, only to stop in mid-action as Zed leaped from the ground, yelling about the gun as he grabbed no-nose’s wrist and sank his teeth into the soft flesh of the hand. No-nose’s roar of anger turned into a shriek of pain, but he didn’t drop his smaller blaster, firing two quick, wildly aimed shots that popped little craters in the bar’s stone wall.
Zed stopped biting and went back to trying to hold the pistol down when a blast from the bar sounded off, louder than anything they’d heard since they’d shut off their speeder bikes. Jada paused in her pounding of the thug’s now bloody face, still keeping her eye on him and keeping his arms pinned down by her knees.
The blast that had drawn their attention had come from behind them. The barkeep had pulled a double-barreled blaster from under the counter and pointed it at the three of them, but he was looking pointedly at No-nose.
“What are you waiting for?” yelled No-nose. “You know who I work for! Shoot them!”
“You’re new here,” said the barkeep. “An’ you may not know how Jabba does business. I pay my protection, and that means I get to set the rules in my place. And I said, no shootin’ in my place.” The barkeep’s voice had a convincing finality to it that made No-nose loosen his grip on the pistol, letting it hang limp on his trigger finger.
Lar stood up, shaking off the sucker-punch. “So, Bib,” he said, taking a long stride towards the quivering Twi’lek, stepping round the Iktochi who was still kneeling on the floor, his hands over his protected, injured spot. “Looks like you’re fresh out’ve friends for the day. Your boss gonna buy you some more?”
Bib looked up at Lar and sneered. “Jabba hear of dis, you!” he hissed.
“Really?” Lar said, crossing his arms and cocking an eyebrow as Zed and Jada flanked him. “And what do you think he’ll do? Especially after he hears you tried to start a fight and embarrassed his muscle in front of a couple of farm kids? I think you’d be smarter to keep this little adventure to yourself, don’t you think?”
Bib looked at the three of them and stormed out.
A thud sounded as the Iktochi fell sideways onto the ground.
The bar, which had gone silent to watch the fight, sprang to life again with its many muted conversations.
“Let’s get out’ve here and finish our work,” Jada said, “before we have anymore trouble. You think Da will hear about this?”
#
He did.
TO BE CONTINUED.....