Tales from the Creche
The Tale of the Hitch-hiking Jedi
By Epeeblade
You find yourself someplace unexpected, a swamp, dark and damp, the
humidity causing the sweat to bead on your nose and upper lip. The stench
threatens to overtake you, and you wince at the sound of the bog
slurping. Only one thing sustains you, to find him.
And there he is, sitting calmly on a log, his old and gnarled gaze a bit
frightening to look at. You kneel next to him and ask him to speak.
"Creche Keeper I had been for many hundreds of years. Know many secrets I
do. You come for secrets, do you? Mmmmm.
"Story I will tell you. Scary story. What, you not frightened? You will
be...you will be..."
The Tale of the Hitchhiking Jedi
Some days it really didn't pay to be an intergalactic smuggler, Han Solo
thought, grousing as he and his furry co-pilot, Chewbacca, worked to load
their ship, the Millenium Falcon.
The cargo this time was actually legit, he couldn't afford to gather any
more suspicision from the empire. He still shuddered whenever he thought
of his near miss when Imperial forces boarded the Falcon.. He had lost all
of his cargo that time, thousands of credits worth of Spice. Spice that
wasn't even his.
He wondered who he should fear more, the Empire, or Jabba once the
acrimonious old Hutt found out that all of his pre-paid-for goods were
gone.
The pittance they were making on this load of vegetables barely covered
the fuel needed to get back to Tatooine. It was however, the only cargo
they could transport from the mostly agricultural planet of Naboo.
A roar from his co-pilot caught his attention and Han looked up to greet
the stranger who had entered the cargo bay.
The first thing he noted was how pale the older man seemed. The pallor of
his face seemed to match the crisp bleached hull of the ships in the
bay. Then he noticed the odd clothes he wore, an earth colored robe fitted
loosely over tunics of pale cream. Finally he took in the gentle blue eyes
caught in that pale face framed by a mane of silvering brown hair.
"I need transport to Tatooine." The man said softly and his voice, a deep
raspy baritone caused the hairs to raise on the back of Han's neck. He had
a bad feeling about this.
"I don't transport passengers." he stated coolly. People were difficult
cargo to manage. Not usually worth the effort.
Chewy roared his agreement from behind him.
Those eerie blue eyes flashed and the man spoke again, "You WILL take me
to Tatooine."
"I will take you to Tatooine," Han told him.
"You'll make an exception this time."
"I can make an exception this time." Han agreed. Why not? They were only
transporting these lousy vegetables anyway. Perhaps this guy was rich, he
might have plenty of credits to pay for this sudden voyage.
"I do not need to pay you at this time."
"You can pay us when we get to Tatooine." Han told him. After all, once
the guy was on his ship there was no place else for him to go.
***
"You know." Han turned in his seat, in the middle of adjusting the
controls for the ship. "You never did tell us your name."
The man nodded his head, "Qui-Gon Jinn." He finally stated.
"Han Solo." Han replied, turning back to the control panel. The pre-flight
check showed all systems go. "Ready to lift off, Chewy?" he asked his
co-pilot. At the answering bellow he radioed control and prepared for
take off.
***
Their passenger was strangely silent for most of the trip. He only spoke
once, just before they were to make orbit about Tatooine, to answer Han's
question about why he wanted to go to such a hellhole of a planet.
"I've been searching for someone for a long time." he said softly.
"Someone you love?" Han guessed, no other reason for this guy to be so
melancholy. He, himself, would never be so taken by love, Han had his eyes
on one thing only right now, and that was getting enough money to pay off
his debts.
"Yes, actually." Jinn replied.
Chewy growled at Han. The traffic controllers wanted their designation.
Han turned back to his panel, and prepared to land the ship.
It was a standard landing, requiring all of his attention to carefully
guide the Falcon into its designated holding area. He had to fire the
thrusters just so or the ship would tilt off balance. And he really didn't
need to deal with a damaged ship just now.
Finally, they hit the ground with a slight thump. Han powered down the
systems and turned to inform their impromtu passenger that they had
arrived.
He was gone. All that was left of Qui-Gon Jinn was a brown robe, neatly
folded on the seat.
***
The Wookie growled at the approaching stranger. He didn't need another
weirdo stowing aboard and then leaving without paying.
The stranger didn't seem to be put off and merely murmured a greeting. He
too, needed transport and was willing to be cash up front.
Chewy thought this sounded much better than the last passenger they
ferried and said so.
"Oh?" asked the stranger, "what happened?"
Briefly, he described the odd stranger and how he had mysteriously
vanished, leaving only this robe. Now that he thought about it, the robe
was awefully similar to the one the client before him now wore.
The old man opened his mouth and did not speak. He gulped in a breath of
arid air and then spoke. "May I see the robe?"
Chewy handed it over, puzzling over the stranger's odd behaivior.
"Did he, did he say anything?"
The wookie thought for a moment, then relayed the conversation between
Jinn and Han.
Startled green eyes looked up away from the robe for a moment. "Did you
say his name was Jinn? Qui-Gon Jinn?" At Chewey's answering nod, he
added, "Qui-Gon Jinn's been dead for over 30 years."
***
"Finally went home, he did, the ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn.
"Lesson there is. Remember this, always you should.
"Pick up not hitch-hiking Jedi.
"heheheheh."
(
geocities.com/epeeblade)