Hey kids I was looking around my PC and I have never wrote an Anime Fanfic but I have a 100 chapter star wars fanfic plotted out. I tend to think up stories in the same universe as a show I like but use the main charectors very little. It's a fine example of vondan's Chicksplotation writing (So termed by a friend and film teacher who worked on such classics as Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers)
JEDI CHICKS
Book One: Dawn of Fate
With the fall of the old republic a vast sinister kingdom has arising that feeds off the decay of the Empire's corruption. From many worlds have come creatures that wish to hold dominion over others for power and profit. They gather together to prey upon the fearful citizens of the Empire then return to hidden outpost to admire their plunder.
One of these hidden gathering places is Onyun Rull, a barren lifeless planet all but lost to memory. What few outpost that existed on this world were abandoned during the fall of the Republic. This planet was rediscovered by fugitives seeking a place of seclusion who claimed it as there own. From the hulks of many captured vessels has been fashioned a place of hiding and exchange where anarchy rules and fear is law.
Thus has risen an immense metropolis of violence, deceit and treachery. In this city of greed every thing in the galaxy can be bought or sold for a price. In this city of corruption many beings have been enslaved either in body, mind or soul. In this city of shadows are hidden a few points of light within the darkness...
Chapter One: A Candle in the dark
The ship appeared out of the mist. First it was a vague
shadow, a purple bruise in the swirling clouds of pink gas and
reddish dust that covered the surface of the planet. Then it was
a silhouette, a great black hammer falling from the sky. As it
descended closer to the surface, the haze thinned and it's true
form could be seen. She had seen this one before, many times in
the last few months. Many space craft came and went but for some
reason this ship was her favorite. She dreamed of someday
leaving on that ship, but to go where and for what purpose she
did not know.
The vessel slowly glided above the city. As it drifted
overhead she could barely hear it's engines over the wind
outside, but she could feel the vibration of it's passing through
the walls. She put her hand on the thick glass of the window as
if to touch the craft as it flew by out of view. Pressing her
cheek against the glass she tried to get one last look at the
ship, but it was gone. It always amazed her to see the ships
emerge from the mist as if out of nothing, as if from a dream.
Ships came and went every day. Whenever she could slip away and
quietly sneak to the surface she would hide near a window in some
forgotten storage room and watch transfixed for hours as music
broadcast over the intercom.
She had never been on a ship herself, a real working ship
that is. Many of the buildings in the city were made from the
hulls of captured vessels, but they would go to other worlds no
longer. She had never been outside the tunnels and converted
space hulks that made up the city. To even go outside would be
deadly as the air was poisonous and the wind could drive the dust
with enough force to strip the paint from metal, or flesh from
bone. Most of her time was spent in the deep tunnels left over
from the original mining operation, far beneath the city where
the slaves lived, trained and worked.
Her mother often told her of the beautiful ships she had
traveled on in her youth. That was before Oona was born. Her
mother had been the concubine of a wealthy merchant who took her
across the galaxy to entertain his guests with her dancing. The
grace and movement of the Twi'Lek dancer was known all across the
Galaxy, especially those of the Red Order. Someday Oona hoped to
be a dancer like her mother and travel the galaxy in a beautiful
ship. She trained extremely hard every day and excelled at all
her classes in dance and gymnastics so that she could follow her
mother's path.
The music from the intercom decreased in volume and the
announcers voice broke in. His voice was smooth and soft with a
hint of a growl.
"This is Ingoian Johnny on station WRULL channel 6087.92 on
your audio unit, WRULL the voice of corruption from the city of
scum and villainy. Don't forget it's just a few more minutes
before the beginning of the preliminary rounds of the
Intergalactic Cosmic Cat Fight. Your's truly, Ingoian Johnny
will be ring side as master of ceremonies. Just a few tickets
are left so hurry up and I'll see you there and you can cheer on
your favorite young lady in a fight to the death. For the
remainder of the evening station WRULL will be presenting a
program of uninterrupted Bith Jazz brought to you by Regur Arms
the weapon of choice for the cheap. For those of you who can't
make it to the fight, our sister station the WKILL sports network
will be broadcasting the event live on video channel 8615.01.
This is Ingoian Johnny saying good night, good luck.. And good
riddance."
The mention of the time broke Oona's daydreaming. She
looked from the window to the time display on the intercom.
Oh my gosh, she thought, I'm late for dance class.
She vaulted from her place by the window and gracefully
leaped two meters onto a stack of packing crates against the wall
next to the Intercom. She slid the top most crate aside to
reveal an air vent. Long ago she had removed the four permanent
fasteners and replaced them with two wire hinges on the top
corners of the grating. She opened the grate and gracefully
climbed into the air duct. Before shutting the grate she reached
out to pull the top crate back into place.
The air duct was a tight fit even for Oona who had not yet
reached her full height. Several times she scraped the tentacle
like lekku growing from the back of her head on the ceiling. The
air vent was dark and twisting but she knew the path by heart
from many trips to the surface. At last she came to a hatchway
that opened into a chamber at the top of an abandoned elevator
shaft.
At one time this elevator had been in use for the miners who
worked in the tunnels far below. They would ride down to work
but lived in the original domes on the surface as free men. Now
this shaft was abandoned, it's lower door had been sealed shut
and the mechanism of the elevator had been looted for parts to
repair something else. No one who worked in the mines now was
free to go, they lived and worked in the tunnels. Many who
worked in the mines had not seen the sun for years, some of the
children had never been to the surface.
Oona was lucky, even though she was a slave and the daughter
of a slave, her mother's job in the barrack kitchen near the
surface gave her an extra measure of freedom. It was also known
that once her mother had been a favorite of Bib Forsalmon the
Lanistae or owner of the Slave Training School. He gave them
extra privileges not allowed to most others. They had their own
cell for just the two of them, food of her mother's choosing and
neither had to work in the deep mines.
Looking down the shaft, it was dimly lit but she knew it
went down several hundred meters below the surface. Oona jumped
from the air duct and into the darkness of the shaft.
Instinctively she reached out a hand and caught the elevator
cable. She climbed down the cable hand under hand for exactly
fifty three reaches, as always. Swinging on the cable from side
to side she reached for the sides of the shaft with one hand.
She grasp the rung of a ladder, then went down for another
hundred meters until she came to another air duct.
This air vent led to another storage room behind the guard's
break room. Quietly she climbed out of the duct and into the
room. After adjusting to the light she looked herself over. Her
clothes and chalk white skin were stained from the travels in the
elevator shaft. Oona changed out of the soiled, rough woven work
shirt and put on another. The hand-me-down garment reached to
her knees. Not wanting any one to guess where she had been, she
used the dirty shirt to clean herself as best she could. She
picked up a laundry bag she had hidden in the store room. If
anyone asked, she could say she was getting a load of the guards'
clothes for her mother to wash. It always worked.
She was quick and stealthy as she made her way through the
back tunnels from shadow to shadow, heading away from the guards
area and to the back stairwell. She went down into the area of
the overseers or trustees, the slaves who ruled over other
slaves. She did not want to be seen by any of the trustees they
were often meaner than the guards. For the guards it was a job,
for the trustees it was their only chance to feel like free
beings by getting back at anyone they did not like. Oona ducked
behind an air pump when she heard someone coming down the tunnel.
It was Droog, one of the meanest of the Overseers who ran
the mines. The overseer was driving three slaves before him.
Around their necks were control collars with the symbol of the
maintenance department. Two of the workers carried a
transmission block salvaged from a digger. The third slave an
older human with a scared face carried a bag of tools. Just for
spite, Droog lashed out with his whip and caught the ankle of one
of the slaves carrying the machine. The slave tripped and the
heavy transmission block fell and broke his arm. Droog laughed
as the slave cried out in pain. The third slave, the one with
the tools came over to check on his fellow. As he knelt down he
looked up, right into Oona's eyes and winked.
Oona's heart stopped for a moment until she saw that the man
with the tool bag was Old Bob. He was a friend of both her and
her mother and would never turn in another slave to get the
overseer's favor. Old Bob helped the injured slave to his feet
and gave him the tools to carry. The injured man used his left
hand to place the bag over his shoulder then rested his useless
right arm in the tool bag. Bob picked up the back end of the
transmission and they continued.
Oona breathed a silent sight of relief and proceeded on her
way. She passed out of the Overseers domain without another
incident and into the dancers training complex. She ditched the
laundry bag in the locker room and quickly changed into her gym
uniform. She skipped off to class.
*****
Mistress Hhelga strode before the line of slave girls
standing at attention in the classroom for Dance 201. The
instructor was dressed in the garb of a dancer of the Black
order. Her lekku were bound in black leather and she wore a
short black cape. The Twi'Lek Dance Master paced from one end
of the line to the other slapping the handle of her whip against
her thigh high black boots. All the girls stood still and silent
as Hhelga berated their performance during the warm up exercises.
"Vou all dance like children, like vimpy liddle babies. Vou
have not been practicing your exercises. How do you expect to
enjoy the dance if vou do not feel da pain of pushing vour veak
liddle bodies to da limit. I vill have no failure in my class,
vou vill all stay and practice, there vill be no lunch for da
veak liddle children."
Two slaves from the labor pool a Wookiee and a Devaronian,
came in carrying kettle drums. As they began to set up the drums
for the rhythm dance the Wookiee boy slipped and his drum fell
out of his hands and crashed to the floor. Instantly Hhelga spun
around and lashed out with her electric whip. There was a harsh
crack and a smoking black stripe appeared on the young wookling's
buttocks. He shrieked in pain as the smoking gash grew into a
small patch of flame that climbed up the fur on his back. The
wookie boy ran out of the dance studio followed by a trail of
smoke. The Devaronian girl laughed at the sight until Hhelga
cracked her whip right over the girls head barely missing her
stubby horns.
While Mistress Hhelga's back was turned Oona silently crept
into class and assumed her position in the line. With out
turning her head Hhelga addressed the late arrival.
"Vou are late again. I have vays of making vou obey...
Sadly, Herr Jurbul has other plans for you. Report to Herr
Jurbul's office at once."
Dejectedly, Oona left the classroom head held low. She
moped her way to the office of Jurbul the Hutt head of the slave
training facilities. As she entered the outer office Miss
Quatre, Jurbul's secretary pointed, to the inner office door with
two of her hands.
"Ah mon petit danseur, Jurbul is expecting you."
Inside his office Jurbul was, as usual, seated before his
desk in a giant tub of hot steaming mud. As Oona entered he
looked up from his computer screen. He had been looking over the
figures from the days ticket sales to the Cosmic Cat Fight. She
closed the door and stood at attention before his desk.
"You were late to class again today. This is the third time
this month. Just what have you been up to? You were THE best
student in the dance program but lately your work has been
unsatisfactory."
Oona tried to quickly think up an answer.
"Don't bother telling me any lies, I know you have been
sneaking to the surface. I let it go this long because I knew
you Would not escape, but this distraction has been affecting
your studies. Your recent tardiness has lowered your grade in
Dance 201 from an A plus to a C plus. You knew that if you did
not maintain a B average in Dance you would be dropped from the
program."
At this statement Oona began to feel ill. She felt faint
and wanted to sit down. She forced herself to maintain a rigid
posture as Jurbul spoke.
"Do you have any idea how many of the other slave girls
would love to have the chance to be in the dance program? Two
meals a day with only one work shift. Do not think that just
because your mother was once a plaything of the Bib, that you do
not have to maintain your grades. If I granted any favors to you
the others would get the idea that they could do as they please.
It is therefore my judgment that you are to be dropped from the
dance program and reassigned."
Her legs gave out and she fell to the floor. She was on her
knees and her vision was going gray. All her life she had
dreamed of being a dancer of the Red order like her mother before
her. She had worked harder than any one to achieve that goal.
Now at this moment her whole life's focus had been taken away.
"Having looked over your files and bill of sale, I detect
little to which you are suited. You are too small to be useful
in the mines and you have no technical skills. I have just
spoken with arms-master Narmog. He was impressed with your
performance of the blade dance and finds you to be a healthy
specimen both fit and quick. You will be reassigned to his
gladiator school, you will be trained to fight in the lightweight
division of the Cosmic Cat Fight."
Finally her despair overwhelmed her. She could not get up
off her knees, her body was frozen. She found it hard to breathe
and her vision went dark. She slowly sank to the floor.
She came to when she felt a dampness on her face. She
opened her eyes to the sight of Jurbul towering over her. His
face was only a hands span away from hers and it was his foul
breath that had woken her. She held back the urge to vomit as he
spoke right in her face.
"Narmog was right you are a fit specimen. Perhaps too fit
to waste in a fighting pit. I'm not an unfair creature, but you
have been breaking the rules and must be punished."
Jurbul laughed and rose back to his normal height.
"But I'm the one who makes the rules."
Oona sat up and wiped his damp breath from her face.
"You see I make the rules, and if a rule is broken, I can
make a new rule to fix the break. Perhaps there is a way for you
to return to the Dance school. That IS what you want?
Weakly, she replied, "Yes"
"There is something you can do to get back in." Jurbul
backed away and put one hand on the edge of his mud tub. He
continued to stare at her as he spoke. "You are fit for much
more than just dancing and knife fighting, do you know what else
a young lady such as your self could do for me."
She shook her head no.
"Ah, your mother has shielded you well from many aspects of
the life of a slave girl. You see my mud tub? I do like to take
a soak in a nice steaming tub of mud and rub myself with Kessel
oil. But no matter how hard I try I can never reach my tail...
Perhaps you can help?"
Jurbul crawled into his mud tub. He reached for his ten
gallon can of Kessel oil and filled a giant sponge, then began to
rub it on his fat, bloated body. Oona sat on the floor sickened
with the sight.
"Oh I just can't reach my tail... Could you help me?"
He threw the sponge at her feet.
"Just pick up the sponge and come join me in my tub, and you
will be in the dance program again."
Her heart leapt at this. But the task before her was
nauseating, she did not know what to do. She could be back in
the dance program, but was this worth her life's dream? She
weakly picked up the sponge and stood up, trembling. She took a
step toward the mud tub.
"That's a good girl, it won't be hard. And it will be even
easier tomorrow and the next day and the next." He snickered.
Jurbul's laughter suddenly enraged her. She dropped the
sponge and ran out of his office. Jurbul laughed even more as
she left.
"Go ahead and run to mamma." He called after her. "Your
not going far. We will see how you do in the pit tomorrow."
Oona ran out of Jurbul's office and past Miss Quatre who was
waving a hall pass at her. She ran past the dance class and into
the main tunnel. As she ran down the tunnel she ran right into
the Devaronian girl from the labor pool who had been lazily
making her way to her next chore. Oona had seen her around a few
times. She was from the mines but often worked in the labor pool
for the school. Her name was Dys, her mother had once caught her
stealing food.
The Devaronian girl stared at Oona for a second then had a
look of recollection. She pointed a guilty finger at Oona,
"You're the one who was just late to class. You got called into
the boss' office for "special duty" as we call it down in the
mines." She leered and winked "That was quick, either he
couldn't or you wouldn't."
Oona was struck silent. How could this girl know what had
happened, did every one know what Jurbul had asked?
"He wanted me to.., I can't say. It was. It was awful"
Dys leaned close to Oona almost nose to nose. "You don't
have any idea how easy you've got it. You wouldn't last a day
with us in the mines. I'll bet a weeks rations you really got
him angry and he's going to drop you into the factory or into the
mines. We'll see how you do when "Special Duty" only gets you an
extra biscuit with dinner." Dys licked Oona's nose with her long
blue tongue and laughed as she began to turn away. Then she
stopped. Dys stared at the wall for a second, and looked away
from Oona as she spoke.
"When the time comes remember, they cannot have your mind.
You can survive but you have to forget. Each time it will be
easier to forget, but harder to remember before... When we were
young..."
Dys slipped off down a side passage and left Oona to ponder
the day in confusion. Oona wiped her nose dry and continued
toward her cell. She suddenly wanted to see her mother and began
to run again.
Oona ran until she reached her cell, she collapsed out of
breath at Uugla's feet.
"Oh my daughter what's wrong?"
The girl quickly explained what had happened. Her mother
held her in her arms and stroked her Lekku.
"This is bad, I have tried to protect you from the men of
the tunnels as best I could. Jurbul has been against me for
years, he feared my ways would soften The Bib ."
Oona looked up to her mother's tear stained face.
"Can the Bib help us? He was your friend once."
"I'm not even sure the Bib can help. Jurbul's word is law
in the slave school and it was a long time ago that I was a
companion of Bib Forsalmon. I have not seen him for years. Ever
since I lost a lekku his interest in me has dwindled. It was all
I could get from him to keep us out of the mines."
"What can I do mother? I worked so hard to follow your path
and become a dancer of the Red Order. I do not fear to fight in
the pits, but then I would never get to dance again."
After a thoughtful pause her mother replied "Perhaps you
are meant to take a better path than me. I must think of what to
do. Go to your secret place and hide. I will meet you there
when I go to work in the guards mess hall."
Oona made her way back through the vent and shafts to her
secret spot. This time she did not go to the window to watch the
ships and dream. She hid behind some boxes, covered herself with
a packing quilt and waited her eyes full of tears.
*****
Hours later she awoke from a fitful slumber when someone
came in. She carefully peeked over the boxes. It was her
mother. Uugla came in and closed the door behind her. She
carried a picnic basket that she placed on top of an old power
converter. Daughter and mother hugged, then sat down face to
face on some of the storage boxes.
Uugla spoke as they held hands. "We must speak quickly
before they discover I have not yet reported to work in the
kitchen. I have been planning for you to leave this world for
years. My plans are not yet complete and now this has happened.
We must go ahead with the preparations made so far."
Oona thought for a moment. She had never considered leaving
this world. It had been her home since the day she was born.
Then she asked her mother,
"How are we to leave?"
Uugla stood up and turned away from her daughter to look out
the window. She took a deep breath and declared,
"I will not be leaving, you must go alone."
Oona jump up and put her arms around her mother.
"I won't leave without you, I..."
Uugla turned around and returned her daughters embrace, she
stroked the child's lekku as she spoke.
"You must go alone. If you disappear the Bib will pay
little attention and your passing will be forgotten. If I go
with you the Bib would spare no expense to track us down. How
far do you think you would get dragging along an old woman with
one lekku? But enough with our tears, there are things we must
do for you to leave."
Uugla walked her daughter back to their seats, again they
sat down and Uugla opened the basket. As she removed each item
from the basket she lingered over each one and made a little pile
next to Oona who sat there dejected and quiet.
"I have packed your things, what little you have, and what I
could find on the way here."
First was a few change of clothes, this was all of Oona's
working clothes. Some old brown over-shirts that were large
enough for her to wear as work dresses when she helped her mother
in the kitchen. But oddly, none of her colorful dance costumes
were there.
Uugla noticed the confused look on her daughter's face.
"Today your life takes a turn from the path that was chosen for
you. I do not think, or rather I hope, you will not need the
garments of a slave girl by the end of the day."
Next were several self-sealing boxes for food storage.
"I have packed some food that will tide you over, mostly
Imperial rations and Ewok Jerky and I borrowed a few of your
favorite sweets, Gunga fruit pies from the guards mess hall"
Next was a small leather bag. Uugla opened it and took out
a yellow stone.
"Here is the bright stone you found in the lower tunnels, I
told you before to keep it hidden as your secret treasure. I
know from watching the gem traders who eat in my kitchen that it
is of value off world. I also give you stones I have found or
bartered myself. You can sell or trade them when you need to."
Next was a book, it was obviously hand made. The binding
was cut from slats of plastic off a shipping crate and the hand
drawn pages were made from butcher paper. On the front cover was
a drawing of a Twi'Lek woman in black robes holding a glowing
pink sword.
"I remember when old Bob taught you to read and gave you
this book. I knew it would be dangerous if we were caught but I
felt it was necessary for your future. This is one skill that
you have mastered that I never did learn, in this small way you
have already progressed beyond the limitations of my life.
Last was a doll in the image of a Twi'Lek girl dressed as a
dancer of the Red Order.
"Here is your Eela." Her mother said with fond memories.
"She was a comfort to you when ever you were unhappy or ill."
Oona picked up the doll and handed it to her mother. "I
think she would like to be a comfort to you while I'm gone. I
give her to you."
Uugla took the doll and held it, as she tried to hold back a
flood of tears. "And this I give to you." She took from the
basket a bundle wrapped in rough paper and bound with twine, she
handed it to Oona.
Oona sat the package on her lap as she opened it. Inside was
a hooded cape made of crimson velvet. The girl stared in
amazement. She knew what it was and had seen it in her mothers
trunk years ago. It had obviously been cleaned and repaired.
The one time she had dared to take it out to look at it, the hood
was almost ripped off and the right side was stained with blood.
Uugla took the garment from the wrappings and held it before
her daughter.
"I have been working on this for months whenever you were
out of sight and I had the time. I was going to give it to you
next year when you graduated."
Oona stood up and her mother placed the cape on her
shoulders and closed it with a silver broach.
"There you are. The cloak of a Red Courtesan. The same one
my mother gave to me when I completed my training. Wear the hood
up and no one will notice that your lekku are not yet bound. Now
you may pass through the city as if you were on business for your
master. No one will harass a Red Courtesan."
Oona spun around in the cloak then moved to the window to
see her reflection in the glass. Her brief joy dissolved and she
returned to her seat before her mother.
"As I have said, I have had this day in mind for years but
had not yet completed my plans. This is what you must do to be
free. Go to the Starlight Hotel, use the back entrance and ask
for Pohlleb the head usher. Tell him you are a newly trained Red
Courtesan in search of a patron. I have just spoke to him, he
knows of a young business man who would desire a Dancer trained
in the Red Order but can not yet afford one. He will hide you on
his ship without questions. For a price.
Oona perked up at the mention of a ship. "Oh on a ship!
Will it be a beautiful ship like the ones you were on? Will I
see many wonderful places?
Uugla held her daughter's face in both her hands and looked
in her eyes. "My dear daughter, the ships were never as
beautiful as I told you. My ignorance and shame hide this truth
from me for many years. The ship I was on was a slave ship.
Although I lived well in the captain's cabin, when I slept I
could hear the screams of the other slaves below decks. Every
night I felt both guilty and thankful that I was not trapped in
the hold. Until you were born their was no true beauty in my
life. But there will be a galaxy of new places for you to
discover if you do exactly as I say."
She slipped into a more business like tone.
"You may be asked to do things for this man that you do not
want. Do not falter in this. Do what you must to save your
life. Do what you have to do to get on that ship and escape this
planet. But promise me that on the next free world you will
flee, leave the beautiful ship and those who would possess you.
Make your way as best you can among the free peoples. You are
young, strong and your mind is quick. The places you will see
may not be as grand or luxurious but they will be truly more
beautiful."
The mother turned from daughter and caught her breath. She
reached for the picnic basket as an excuse to turn away from Oona
and compose herself. Uugla opened the basket and pulled out a
large red dura-steel can and a glass bottle wrapped in cloth.
"When you meet Pohlleb, give him the Mon Calamari caviar and
Alderaanian Brandy, that is his bribe for helping you. Do not
trust that he helps you out of respect or kindness."
She put everything back into the basket with the caviar and
brandy on top then pushed it toward Oona.
"You may need this as a last resort." She handed her a
kitchen knife from under her shirt. Oona took the knife and
slipped it in her belt behind her back under the cloak.
"Now go daughter, Pohlleb is expecting you soon"
They both stood up and embraced, then Oona took up her
basket and went to the door. She turned around and signed "I
Love" you with her lekku then pulled the hood over her head. She
opened the door and was quickly and silently gone.
Uugla stepped out the door to say goodbye to her daughter
one last time, but all she saw was a flash of red disappearing
around the corner. She went back into the storage room, sat on a
crate, picked up the doll and held it to her bosom as she wept.
*****
Oona made her way from the store room near the guards' mess
hall to the starlight hotel. She had rarely been allowed in the
surface levels of the city. A few times she had accompanied her
mother on errands. She walked with her head down and the hood
up, avoiding contact with anyone. No one obstructed her way as
they all thought her to be a Red Courtesan on her way to or from
her master and did not wish to offend her unknown patron. She
followed the signs to the Hotel. It was one of the biggest
establishments on Onyun Rull and was well advertised.
At last she saw the door to the main lobby of the Hotel.
She was just passing the main door on her way to the service
entrance when a huge shadow crossed her path and she looked up.
Jurbul the Hutt came out of the Starlight Hotel and stopped in
his tracks. They looked each other for a moment, then Jurbul
sneered.
"Are you trying to sneak away from me little girl."
He reached out for her with one fat bulbus hand. In the
blink of an eye she pulled out the kitchen knife and sliced off
his right thumb. Then she jumped out of his reach and ran as
quickly as she could. Jurbul howled in pain and took off after
her, crushing two Ewok bell boys with his first step. Oona
tucked the knife back into her belt and tried to think of what to
do. She could hear Jurbul wreaking havoc as he followed her.
She jumped onto an escalator built into the floor of a
inclined tunnel and ran up the steps. At the top of the
escalator she continued to run until she thought she had lost
Jurbul. She stopped to get her bearings, out of breath.
"You look like you're on the run. I know that feeling!"
Oona jumped when she heard some one walk up behind her. She
turned around with her hand on the knife under her cape. It was
a Human girl a little taller than Oona. The human was wearing a
white shirt, blue shorts and black boots beneath an old black
trench coat.
Oona whispered to the stranger "Someone is after me!"
The girl pulled back her jacket to revel a length of dura
steel pipe. She patted it with her hand. "Maybe one across the
eyes will give him an attitude adjustment!"
Oona pulled back her cape to show her knife. "He has
already lost a finger today."
The girl chuckled "Good going sis." She looked down the
passage way as if watching for someone. "I gotta go, see yeah
later, kid." The girl in the black coat hurried down the tunnel
and entered the Intergalactic House of Panaka.
Oona was alone again and looked around. She was in the
outer corridor of the main concourse. She had never been this
far up in the city and was lost. On her right was a row of small
shops and businesses. On her left was a wall of clear dura-steel
that looked out from the cliff face and across the canyon floor
to the hulk of a cruise ship that was used as a casino. A sign
hanging from the ceiling had an arrow pointing to the left. It
had wording in five languages. Oona was able to make out the
wording of two of them. In basic and Huttitse it said "SKY
BRIDGE SEVEN; BLUE NOVA CASINO.
She looked to her left. There was an enclosed bridge
leading from the main concourse across to the Casino. The bridge
was empty. She looked ahead and there was a crowd fleeing out of
the Intergalactic House of Panaka. Looking behind her she saw
the shape of Jurbul rounding a corner. He was knocking people
out of his way as he charged at his fastest speed.
She looked across the bridge again. Now a Twi'Lek woman
dressed in black robes was standing in the middle of the bridge.
The woman was extremely noble looking and strangely, for a
Twi'Lek woman she had no bindings on her lekku. The only
adornment she had was a metal cylinder hanging from her belt.
The girl suddenly realized that this woman looked just like the
picture on the cover of the book Bob had made her. Oona felt
calm in the woman's presence. The woman beckoned for Oona to
come to her. The girl chose the bridge and ran toward the woman.
The woman smiled and held out her arms as Oona approached.
Oona glanced behind her for a moment to see if Jurbul had
caught up with her. When she again looked forward the woman had
disappeared. Oona was perplexed. Where could the woman have
gone in that brief instant? The woman was gone but oddly, Oona's
calm remained.
She ran across the rest of the bridge and came to the air
lock on the far side. The outer hatch was open but the inner
hatch was locked. There were three buttons next to the inner
hatch. She tried all three buttons but the control box responded
with an automated message.
"Inner hatch access denied."
She could not enter the Casino. She was trapped. Oona
stood in the air lock at the end of the sky bridge and waited.
Jurbul came around the corner and spotted her, he changed
direction and slithered toward her. He came through the hatchway
of the building and onto the bridge connecting it to the casino
ship. As he came closer, he laughed his deep throaty laugh and
taunted her. She could feel his voice resonate through the
floor.
"Just wait there little girl. I'm going to tear off one of
your Head-Tails just like I did your mother. Your Head-Tail
won't grow back like my thumb!"
Oona was scared for a moment and then confused. Her mother
had never told her how she had lost one of her lekku, only that
it happened right before she was born. Could it really be that
Jurbul was the one who had maimed her mother and ended her
dancing career?
He came closer heaving his great bulk across the bridge.
The bridge trembled with each lunge of his weight. Frantically
Oona looked around the air lock. She spotted a red button marked
"OUTER HATCH CLOSE". She hit the control and the hatch closed
right before Jurbul reached the opening. He laughed and reached
for the controls on the outer hull. Oona hit another button, a
black one marked "Outer Hatch Lock".
Jurbul looked through the view port on the outer hatch, his
yellow eye filled the whole window.
"Just for that stunt, little one, I'm going to tear off both
of your Head-Tails"
Jurbul threw himself against the hatch several times. Each
time he hurled his great bulk the hatch it shuddered but held.
An automated female voice came from the inner hatch
controls. "Outer hatch Sealed. Inner hatch access, now
granted."
Oona turned around and tried the inner hatch again. It
opened. She leaped through the hatch and was gone when it closed
behind her.
Enraged, Jurbul through himself at the hatch one more time.
The hatch began to bulge inward. He tried again. Faintly he
heard the groaning sound of metal tearing. He stopped to catch
his breath
Jurbul was confused. The sound continued even after he
stopped pounding on the hatch. He looked around. The sound
persisted and began to grow louder. The bridge shuddered and a
crack appeared in the glass ceiling. Realizing what was
happening, Jurbul hastily tried to move for the open hatch on the
other end of the bridge. With each lunge of his weight, the
groaning and shuddering increased, Jurbul tried to move more
gracefully, slowly wriggling his massive slug like body to his
objective.
The crack in the ceiling increased. A jagged piece of glass
fell out and landed in front of Jurbul. Pink vapor began to pour
through the hole and roll across the ceiling. An automated
warning came from the controls of the far hatchway.
"Warning! Environmental stability has been compromised.
Emergency procedures activated."
The hatch at the far end of the bridge closed and sealed
itself. A flashing red emergency light came on. The bridge
shuddered again as the hole in the glass grew larger, a tear in
the floor appeared. As the pink noxious vapors engulfed him and
touched Jurbul's skin it raised great blisters and the moister in
his body began to come out through his skin as an oily viscus
mucus. Likewise his eyes began to shrivel and he was blinded.
Jurbul let out a deep low-pitched moan that increased in volume
until it rocked the whole bridge. Then he fell to the floor and
was still. The bridge shuddered again and broke in half.
Jurbul was plunged twenty stories to the rocks below. When
his body hit the ground it split open like a squashed Gunga
fruit. He uttered one word on his way down. "Boska"
The wreckage of the sky bridge tore away from it's moorings
and fell into the space between the cliff wall and the casino
ship covering Jurbul's remains. From a window in the Casino Oona
had stopped to see if Jurbul had followed her. She allowed
herself a small self indulgent smile as she hurried on her way.
THE END
