Chapter 4.

The rest of the night went by without any incident. In the morning she checked in with her master.

“Master, there must be some mistake, Ketch is a good man. I can find no taint of the dark side in him. Also, the news seems like it is being filtered to paint him in the worst possible light.” she paused thinking

“Joran, keep him hidden, there is something very strange going on. All that we have been able to uncover so far, is that he did crash the speeder, the women he was with, was the owner’s daughter and had taken the keys without asking. She told the real story once the council stepped in. It seems a private bounty has been put out for him.” Master Qel-Droma said.

“How much is the bounty for?” Joran asked.

“350,000 credits.” Master Qel-Droma replied, “So be on your guard, and stay hidden, for at least a week. Until the bounty hunters move out of the sector. I’ll stay in touch, but try not to contact me unnecessarily in case someone traces your transmission.”

“Yes master, I’ll keep you updated. May the force be with you.” Joran said.

“May the force be with you always, Joran.” Master Qel-Droma replied

Joran put her comm. unit back in her bag, Ketch and K2tec where working in the garage. Ketch was seldom calm or still, being confined seemed to wear on his nerves. From the moment he woke up till he slept he was in constant action. After the second day of looped newsreels, they had stopped watching the Vid. In the last three days, they had completely stripped the speeder down and started from the frame.

“What kind of speeder is that hulk your working on,” Joran asked trying to distract Ketch from dwelling on being trapped in the garage.

“Lady, this isn’t a hulk. This one of the most state of the art pieces of engineering you will ever see.” Ketch said.

“It’s a Modified version of a Koro-2 Exodrive Airspeeder. They are designed for wasteland worlds with thin or corrosive atmospheres. Instead of checking in with your handler all the time and meditating all day. Why don’t you give me and KayToo a hand finishing this thing so we can get out of here.”

“What do you mean, get out of here?” Joran asked walking over to where Ketch was lying on his back under the Airspeeder. She hooked one boot under the gravsled that let him slide around on the smooth floor underneath his project and drug him out so she could look at his face.

“I mean I’m not going to wait around for the Patrols to get a hold of me, or the bounty hunters to laze down my front door. This canopy is one-way, once I get the power connected. K2tec hand me that magnetic coupler for the right coil.” Ketch said sliding back under the frame. He extended a hand out waiting. K2tec tried to drag the heavy coil of wire and electrodes, but couldn’t get it off the ground. Joran grabbed the coil and handed it to Ketch. He took it and with one hand placed it in its spot in the right front prong of the Airspeeder. After a few minutes, Ketch slid out and looked up at her.

“What no comment on not laying low, like your master wanted?” he asked. Sighing Joran closed her eyes and gathered the force around her and in the speeder. After a few seconds, Ketch stood up, just before he could speak the Airspeeder wobbled and lifted off the stands. Joran opened her eyes, but they remained unfocused. Lifting her hands the speeder floated even with her palms. Parts rattled and flew off the bench, Ketch jumped back eyes wide. He had never seen a real demonstration of the power of the force. The power core gently floated into place, and all of the bolts screwed themselves in, holding it securely. Wires moved likes snakes weaving themselves into place tightly till they were as tightly knit as old growth vines. Panels flew off the walls and clanged gently into place like the frame was a giant electromagnet. Gently, Joran lowered the Airspeeder back to its resting place.

“How, how, how. Did you do that? Have you built one of these before? How did you know where the parts went?” Ketch stuttered.

“No, I’ve never worked on an Airspeeder before, but all of the parts know where they belong. I can feel them trying to go back where they should be.” Joran said plopping down. “But it took most of the strength I’ve gathered over the last few days, to do that much. With enough time I could coax the whole thing back together.” She laughed tiredly.

“But it would take less energy, and most likely, less time to do it by hand.” Joran studied the speeder. “Well, the power core is in, let's fire it up, and see about that canopy.”

Ketch took this in silence, shaking his head, he climbed into the speeder. Gritting his teeth, he powered up the basic systems. Braced for a malfunction or an explosion of some sort at the very least. Seconds ticked by, and nothing exploded or shorted out. Letting out his breath, he went through a basic systems reboot. K2tec swarmed up the side and in next to Ketch, he extended a universal jack and interfaced with the onboard systems. After a few minutes, they both climbed back out looking excited.

“Well, everything seems to be in working order, thanks to your help. After me, and K2 here rebuild that magnetic front end, we should be up and running in two days max. Just a few more body modifications, and some other mods, and we should be good to go.” Ketch said smiling at the Airspeeder in eagerness.

“So what exactly have you modified on this thing?” Joran asked moving to stand next to him. K2tec landed on her shoulder, and she petted his smooth exoskeleton fondly. They had grown close over the last three days. The polite little droid was impossible to resist, he was always ready with a quick answer from the net or from his impressive logic circuits.

“Well, the original speeder had the usual repulsorlift system, and electromagnetic coils in each of the forward mandibles. Those electromagnets charge incoming molecules and drive them out the rear, to propel the craft forward. But we added in a pair of Radon-Ulzer 620C Turbo jet engines in the rear. These should push the top speed up to around 1,400Kph, but the engines will only maintain that speed for, a max of about 30 seconds. Then they will need twice that to cool down. We can maintain 800-1,000Kph with no problem.” Ketch said pointing to the large matching turbine engines underneath the rear cabin. Walking around the Airspeeder he pointed out other modifications he had made.

“These extra flaps will help us air-brake and turn. I got the idea from Daken’s Speederbike, those extra flaps on the back really make piloting the thing a synch. We also sealed the canopy better so don’t worry about it leaking fumes in down here, or losing air in space. Then we added in another row of seats so we can fit four people stretched the cockpit, added some very basic sanitary facilities. But with no rest quarters or cooking facilities, I wouldn’t want to take more than a 14-hour trip. Plus we don’t have any working Hyperdrives just laying around, but we did have some boosters that we mounted around the back so we can handle a couple of hours of space travel. In the morning I’m going to finish adding in the weapons systems and a few other little surprises, for...anything else we might encounter.” Ketch finished looking smugly at the nearly completed speeder.

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“Well, it sure looks fast. Not bad for an officer cadet. Where did you learn to turn a wrench like that? Or all pilots mechanics as well?” Joran asked startling a chuckle out of him.

“Nah, my Grandfather made me earn my keep back in the Starship yards. Then the company gave me a scholarship to the academy, right before the Empire fell.” Ketch said sitting down and dusting off his pants.

“Let’s see that was my second year, then while we where restructuring with the rebel alliance, and then the new republic. None of us advanced much for four years, classes only started up about a year ago now. Well, about my plan. I know you're with the council and all but. I don’t think I have any hope of getting a fair trial here while the Dean has it in for me.” Ketch said.

“Well aside from a disturbing trend of impulse control, and a love to gamble. You’ve done nothing that warrants so much attention, did you do anything else to attract the attention of someone that would want you shot first?” Joran asked.

“None that I can think off hand,” Ketch said thoughtfully. “But I’ll think about it some more.” He turned back to the speeder and slid under it, K2tec scuttled under after him. One of his eyes snaked out and winked it at Joran. A few minutes later they both crawled out.

“Have you always been so good with machines?” Joran asked him

“No, it was a rather recent development actually.” he looked thoughtful, “ I was a decent mechanic when I worked with my grandfather, but not especially gifted, that changed just before the end of my first term.” he put the new coil down on the workbench and sat on the edge of the bed. Worry and Fear pulsed off of him. Joran sat down next to him.

“Ketch, what happened at the end of that term?” Joran asked softly. She extended her force senses to gauge his truthfulness. He took several minutes to answer, finally, his emotions calmed and he looked at her.

“Well, the empire was looking at every possible way to increase its pilot’s performance. The called for volunteers, to test a few new treatments to increase our abilities.” He said taking a deep breath.

“The first few tests where basic, they tampered with our diets, limiting our food and such trying to eak out the best meal plans. Finally, they started doing Robotic enhancements to anyone who would take them. Anything, from hardwired navicomputers in your brain, to droid arms or hands, to increase your reflexes. I refused any of those alterations, and they were going to drop me from the test group.” Ketch had a pained faraway expression on his face as he tried to recall the details.

“I needed the money though. My scholarship didn’t pay for food, or even for clothes and books. So the last treatment they came out with was some kind of injection system. I figured it was some kind of stimulant, they gave me and another cadet regular injection of some clear liquid for almost a year. I didn’t have any side effects that I could tell, and I guess they gave up on the project. Since they stopped giving me the shots, they continued to test me right up till the collapse of the empire. It was a little after that, I started having these really lucid dreams. they were strange though, not like regular dreams more like plans and schematics, Like KayToo over there, I dreamt of his design. I had no idea how I was going to come up with the right parts, but they seemed to keep falling into my lap. First, a gambling buddy repaid me with the location of this place. Then those smogger kids started hawking their scrap parts on me, till finally, he was all ready to go. Weren’t you big fella?” he asked patting K2tec like a beloved pet.

“Quite right sir,” K2tec answered with dignity, but his eyes glowed a little bit brighter at the affectionate touch.

“Next I dreamt up this Airspeeder, I mean who in their right mind would use a 30-year-old Airspeeder frame, with even older pod racing engines! It’s crazy but it seems to be working out. This sounds crazy doesn’t it, like a conspiracy theory or something.?” Ketch asked heavily

Joran took what he had said and ran it through all of her training and experience.

“This could well be the reason for the unusually harsh way he was being pursued. An imperial test, suddenly cut off, never being told what the drugs were exactly. Maybe the imperial researchers were trying to keep Ketch out of the New Republics hands.” Joran thought.

“Ketch, what happened to the other test cadet?” Joran asked him.

“Well, I didn’t see him except at the injections. He dropped out after about two months, some kind of side effect to the drug is what they told me when I asked. He left the academy right after. I never saw him again.” Ketch said.

“I think this is definitely has something to do with why the news is being spun so badly against you. And why those bounty hunters where so quick to find you.” Joran said.

“Makes sense, now I wish I knew what they had put into me that they want to hide so badly,” Ketch said.

“I have a theory.” Joran said.“ I think you are force sensitive, and whatever they did to you it augmented that ability. That would explain your visions and your new competence with machines.”

“Well, is there any test you can do? That will tell for sure if I can channel the force or whatever?” Ketch asked.

“Yes with a blood sample I can get your Midiclorhin count, and that will tell us how strong in the force you are.”

“Alright let’s do it. How long will it take to get the results?” Ketch asked offering his finger. Joran pricked it quickly with a small device she pulled from her robe.

“Well I’m going to encrypt the transmission as much as I can, and send it out to get tested. We should have the results in the morning.” Joran started working with her comm. device. Ketch stood up and went over to keep working on the speeder. He needed to keep busy and try and not dwell on the events unfolding around him. It felt as if he had no control over what was happening in his life. Not a comfortable feeling. He tested all of the bolts that held the fusion generator, they were all tight. Nice work, for a Jedi, Ketch thought.

K2tec tweaked the program for the miniature rotating laser torrent they had designed. The six rotating barrels helped prevent overheating. They had mounted it right below the pilot seat to cut down on the delay from when he squeezed the trigger to when the blaster actually fired. The delay was .0034 seconds or so K2tec told him but with the repositioning, the delay was cut down to .0012 not much but it could be the difference between life and death. In space, the difference between living and dying was measured in microseconds. Their design was innovative because it allowed the turret to swivel 360 degrees. It was hidden from view, but once he activated the targeting systems it lowered out. They had rigged a traditional set of forward blasters, and one rear facing Ion cannon.

“Sir, I must state again. That if we do end up using these weapons they will deplete our available energy in less than 16.8842333331 seconds.” K2tec said.

“Do you always have to do that?” Ketch demanded with a grunt exasperated as he welded armor plating on over the power core.

“Do what sir?” K2tec asked.

“Give me everything to the tenth decimal point? It’s not really necessary.” Ketch said.

“I... will try not too in the future, sir,” K2tec said. They went back to working on the computer programming. Once they finished all of the programming and system diagnosis in less than an hour. Next, they finished welding in the first layer of Durasteel armor. They put a triple layer over the front mandibles and the shield generator. A double layer over the Fusion reactors, the rest they left single layered. Ketch finished the bodywork and installing the last of the air flaps and brakes.

“Alright KayToo, you paint it and we will be all done once it dries.”

“Very good sir, what color did you decide on?” K2tec asked

“I don’t care, I’m too tired. Just nothing in the orange or red spectrum.” Ketch said yawning.

“It will be done by the time you wake sir,” K2tec said starting up the paint equipment.