Obi-Wan Kenobi stood somewhat nervously before the pilot of the small chancellor ship, waiting to hear what the man might have to say. "We are in need of a mechanic," he said gruffly. "Can you give me any references?"
"I learned most of what I know at Bel-Meridah," Obi-Wan said almost helplessly. Using the name was something he didn't want to do, but it seemed to be the only thing that would get him a job to some of the places he wanted to go. Not that he really wanted to go there, it was more a case of getting away. The dark feeling was tracking him almost as relentlessly as his... as Master Jinn. "You can certainly...."
"Bennet Kenobi?" the pilot interrupted, confirming the name Obi-Wan had told him, and when Obi-Wan nodded, he gestured sharply. "Wait here." He vanished into the ship and returned a few minutes later. "Very well," he said. "They vouch for you there. Welcome aboard, Bennet. I'm Nai."
"Ben, please. And thank you."
He no longer looked like a Jedi Padawan. His red hair had been bleached by the sun on Maitreva III, and had grown long enough to brush his chin. He'd become adept at hiding the braid he couldn't bear to cut off, pinning it up in his hair most of the time. This was the third job he'd had since leaving the Monastery about one step ahead of the darkness. There was little to be felt through his training bond now, although he had soon found out that he could tell that Qui-Gon was getting close through it. He'd learned thanks to the time his Master had nearly found him.
Obi-Wan followed the pilot on board and introduced himself to the head mechanic, who smiled tightly. "Glad to have you, Ben. I'm Jaklitsch, call me Jak. We don't expect too much trouble with the engines, but it's nice to have an extra body on board." He glanced down at the staff, collapsed now and hung on Obi-Wan's belt, and his smile widened. "It'll be really nice to have someone who can fight besides the guards. Just in case."
"Expecting trouble?"
"Always," Jak said with a tense grin. "Especially right now. Come on. I'll show you where you'll sleep."
The room held four bunks, three of them full. With a grin, Obi-Wan set his bag on the empty bunk, and turned to meet his roommates. They were mechanics as well, and didn't seem to mind his presence. In fact, they welcomed another ‘poor soul unable to escape.' "At least," Jak told him, laughing, "until we reach home and decide if we want to get out then."
Obi-Wan joined in the laughter, and he was amazed that there was no bitterness in it. He noted, however, that in spite of the tension, they all loved their jobs and were very loyal to the Ambassador. The jokes were simply that.
The trip was not as uneventful as the mechanics had hoped. They were traveling through hyperspace when the engines gave a strange sounding whine and dropped them into real space with a jerk before quitting altogether. Obi-Wan left his quarters and the Sabaac game behind him, reaching with the Force to find out what he could.
Worry on the bridge, the passengers were sleeping, violence in the hold.... He shot forward at a run, grabbing the staff from his belt as he slipped through the door to the hold. The last of the Ambassador's present guards fell as he leaped forward to confront the invaders, the staff snapping to full length. The small party of invaders - pirates, from the way they were dressed - were surprised enough that he was able to take them down fairly quickly. Obi-Wan had enough time to reach the comm unit on the wall and call for reinforcements before a second landing party appeared through the tunnel attached to the hole burned into the side of the ship. He moved quickly to intercept them.
Someone shoved him back toward the wall and he heard blasters fire all around him as he fell and slid across the floor. He was back on his feet before the last invader fell, and the pirate ship disengaged and disappeared before they could retaliate. Shields slammed down before everyone in the hold was pulled into the vacuum of space.
"What were you thinking?" one of the guards demanded, turning on him with fury in his face. "You were in the way so we couldn't get a shot at them!" Obi-Wan just stared at him and didn't answer.
"He was thinking he'd give us time to get here," the Captain of the Guard said, a man Obi-Wan had never met. "He did a good job." He turned to Obi-Wan. "Did you know you were injured?"
"What?"
The Captain stepped forward. "You're injured," he repeated, and turned. "Rick. Get this mechanic to the infirmary, then report back here." The Guard that stepped forward nodded at his Captain and at Obi-Wan, who nodded back wearily.
They were half way to the infirmary when the adrenalin wore off. His side began to burn, interrupting his light meditative state. Obi-Wan gasped and stumbled, fighting to keep himself upright. He'd found it difficult to walk and concentrate on keeping himself centered even at the best of times. "How bad are the engines?" he asked, trying to keep his mind off the burning in his side.
Rick snorted a laugh, reaching out to steady him. "Worry about that later," he said. "They'll use your help when you can give it."
"Oh, great," Obi-Wan muttered, disengaging himself. "I'll lose my job for sure."
The door to the infirmary opened, and Rick helped Obi-Wan sit down on one of the medical couches. The guard gave him a smart salute and left as the droid ordered Obi-Wan to remove his shirt. It took him a minute to do so. Before the droid could even start burn treatment, Obi-Wan remembered his training again, accepted the pain, let it go, and dove headlong into a Healing trance.
When he came out of it, the droid gave him two messages. The first he'd known as soon as he woke up: the engines had been repaired and they were on their way again. The second was that the Ambassador wanted to see him, and would call him when he was ready. Moving stiffly, he got up and dressed in his one set of clothes. They had been cleaned at least, but there was nothing to be done about the grease stains or burn marks on them. With a sigh that hitched with the faint, left-over pain, he grabbed his staff, hooked it to his belt, and returned to his quarters.
The room was quiet except for the snores of one of the mechanics, and Obi-Wan sat gratefully at the table. The remains of the Sabaac game were still there, and he looked them over. Whoever had been sitting across from him had won, he thought, glancing at the cards. The money was gone, of course. He closed his eyes to meditate until the guard came saying the Ambassador was waiting to see him.
"What's your name?"
Ambassador Mahália was a small man, but Obi-Wan could feel the power in him. It was the same kind of power Obi-Wan had noticed in some of the senators from other planets - and not noticed in others. He was the ambassador for Kapunen, a small plant near the rim. Obi-Wan remembered it vaguely from his reading for a mission; it was overrun by slavers, and from what he remembered, this ambassador had been trying to get rid of those slavers for a long time. The ambassador had a stern face and the lines about his mouth and dark eyes spoke of worry and conviction. His clothes were economical, as if he were expecting something to go wrong and he wanted to be ready.
"Ben Kenobi." The name was amazingly comfortable now. But after nearly a year, it should be.
"How are you on my ship?"
"I asked your pilot for a job. He said he needed a mechanic, and I told him I could do that. He checked out my references. I just wanted transport off Gendl."
"To where?"
"It didn't matter," Obi-Wan said. "I want to see the galaxy, and trading my skills for passage has been a good way to do it." It wasn't quite a lie.
The Ambassador fell silent. "Are you finished seeing the galaxy?" he asked after a moment.
"Why?" He couldn't help it; wariness crept into his tone.
"Because Captain Phyra suggested you'd be a good body guard for my daughter."
"Aren't I a little young for that?" he asked.
The Ambassador shook his head. "You would only be the last line of defense," he said. "And for that, you are the perfect age. If things continue to go the way they are," he added with a twist to his mouth, "you may have to take her into hiding, and you are not too old to be her brother."
Slowly, Obi-Wan nodded, wondering how thoroughly he'd been checked out - both by Nai and by Ad'lai. "Very well, then."
The ambassador nodded briskly. "Good. Sit down. I have to explain this situation." His eyes narrowed as Obi-Wan took the chair to his left. "What do you know of Kapunen?"
"Not much."
"We are a stopping point and... prime hunting grounds for slavers," the ambassador said, pacing the small room. "I think it is because the people have been peaceful, and we have not, in the past, had very good security. It is difficult, but the system is slowly pulling together to get rid of them. I am beginning to have some success, with the help of the governors on the moons and planets of my system - and that means that the slavers are beginning to be threatened. They have passed those threats on to me, and to my family. Captain Phyra suggested that I find bodyguards for each of my children, in case I have to hide them. Are you interested?"
"Yes, sir," he said, and didn't even need the Force nudge to make up his mind.
So he found himself no longer running, and as soon as they landed on Kapunen, he was turned over to the man in charge of the guards. He fit into the Ambassador's household very well, physically as well as professionally. He wore the dark blue livery with the ease of long practice. It was not so different than the Jedi uniform he'd grown up with. The long blue cloak was even comforting because he'd missed the weight of his old one. He spent mornings in training, both in fighting and in the proper etiquette necessary for living with the Ambassador. His time in the evenings was taken up with the escape route he'd take with his charge in case of an emergency that loomed closer daily, studying the maps and running it on his own in the dark so he knew what he was doing and where he was going. Afternoons were spent getting to know the eight year old girl he was going to be guarding.
Regina was small and shy, a younger daughter but much loved. Her dark eyes stared up at him when they were introduced, and he quickly accommodated her by kneeling down so she was taller than he. "Hi," he said gently. "I'm Bennet, but most people call me Ben. In fact, I forget that my name is Bennet most of the time, so it might be better to not bother with that name."
She smiled shyly. "I'm Regina."
"It's good to meet you, Regina," he said.
She took a deep breath. "Would you care for a walk in the gardens?"
He smiled and stood. "That would be nice."
They walked there often his first few days, and he learned a lot about her, and about her father. She introduced him to her favorite game, something called Bacqueri, and they spent a lot of time playing. Well, he spent most of his time losing. It helped Regina keep her mind of the threat that loomed over her family, the bag she kept packed in her wardrobe in case she had to slip out. As the days passed and the threats became more creative and came more often, she seemed to cling to her cheer in the garden with some desperation he hoped she would recover from when this was all over.
The attack was almost a relief. By the time the alert went off, jerking much of the family awake, Obi-Wan was awake and moving down the hall to Regina's room. When he emerged with the girl, the five guards assigned to them were waiting, and they moved quickly in the middle of them toward her escape route. By the time they reached the transport, they'd lost four, and the fifth stood resolutely in the doorway to block their escape as they took off. Once they were away, skimming low over the ground until they could get off planet, Obi-Wan gathered the weeping girl into his arms and gave her a gentle sleep suggestion. She slumped against his shoulder, and he lay her on the thin sleep couch in the quarters behind the bridge, wishing her a good sleep. Then he returned to the controls and started calculating what he would have to do to get her to safety.
Go on to Next Chapter | Long Road Home
Home | Stories | Fun Stuff | Links | Contact me