Part 9: The Saga Begins
Looking over information on his console, Nicodemus felt a little overwhelmed under his workload. The council was using his talents and connections somewhat sparingly, but between maintaining good relations with people already knew, as well as individual prerogatives and projects, he was swamped. He wanted desperately to take a vacation and call all of his contacts, letting them knew he was going to be unreachable for a few days, but that could be suicide in this business. If the lives of all his contacts kept moving, playing catch-up after a break would be difficult to say the least.
Nico fit the role of the concerned businessman very well. Very few actually knew that he was a Jedi, and despite numerous saying, secrets kept well the circles he traveled. After all, information was power, so if person X knew something that person Y sis not, it was considered leverage and not to be given away lightly. Most of the contacts that Nico dealt with considered him as a representative of a major industry or perhaps even royalty. He never gave them false pretenses, but also was not quick to correct their assumptions when he introduced himself as “A concerned party”.
Giving the issue a good deal of meditation, Nico realized that his one weakness as a Jedi was his unwillingness to fight. The issue had come up once during a business deal with a particularly violent race of beings, and Nico had shied away. There were several reasons for lack of enthusiasm for physical confrontation. Firstly was what he knew of his own past. He had been an assassin, and had taken a great deal of life without giving it any thought, save the money that he would make. Now that he could detect the living force in all beings, he valued their right to live. Secondly, Mottikazzuk had passed onto him one particular memory. It consisted of cutting down an aggressor. The vivid memory was enough to haunt a person, and despite the justification, he felt that he needed to avoid such acts. After losing his past, Nico valued the memories that he had, as refrained them often as example and an anchor for his emotions. Finally, Nicodemus was frankly not that good at fighting. He was better than the average person, for his use of the force provided a certain advantage when anticipating attacks and countering them. He did not relish the thought of having to fight someone of greater fighting skill, or even equal use of the force. After all, when he had trained, he was not exactly discipline rigorously on combat.
Finally, Nicodemus concluded that he would instead use his powers to help people. Partially repenting for his past transgressions, and partially wanting to utilize the talents he knew he had, he decided to take on the practice of medicine. It would be a useful pet to have when traveling and dealing with some people. If nothing else, he could introduce himself as a medical doctor, which carried some weight. He researched the material with a unique interest. He developed an interesting mix and balance between traditional medicine, alternative medicine, and use of the force. He practiced with his use of a force trance, and exploited the healing properties that it had. The material regarding traditional, and even unorthodox medicine was easy enough to find and study, but he relied heavily on his own insight when it came to using the force to aid others.
After several months of study, Nico finally looked over the credentials to enter the medical school in Coronet. He nodded to himself, and reasoned that he should be able to handle himself. He didn’t have any practical experience, but what he lacked in that department, he more than made up for in applied theory and study. He took a trip out to Corillia and went to apply for the school. His time was still constricted, but since he was nearly a teaching aid at his finishing school, he rationalized that he could finally drop out and pick this up instead. He took the entrance exams and waited to be interviewed. He had dressed nicely for just such an occasion, and he had his charm and good graces in overdrive when he went into the dean’s office. They chatted for about twenty minuets before bringing the conversation to conclusion.
“Well Mr. Caleb, your test scores on the placement exam were outstanding. Might I ask where you studied in order to qualify for our classes.”
“My experience,” replied Nico, sounding as suave and confident as ever, “is somewhat lacking.”
“Well, we just need you to send over your qualifications and we can go ahead and enroll you.” the dean said, smiling politely.
“You don’t need to see my qualifications.”
“I don’t need to see your qualifications.”
“I am more than suited to attend class here.”
“You know, I think you are going to fit right in here.”
“Have a good day.”
“Take care now!”
Between med classes and visiting his new friends, Nico promised to have a heavy schedule. However, he loved it. He looked over the required materials for classes back at his house on Dantooine and one item caught his eye.
“Medical Droid? Where am I going to get one of those on such short notice.” It was true that most students at the school would have gotten their own droid by now, and Nico was a little behind par. He then herd a few beeps from behind him as Bantam swept the room free of dust. Nico turned to him with a smile. Bantam beeped discontentedly and backed into a corner.
On the first day of classes, Nico showed up with a brand new R2 unit. He reasoned that at least now Bantam would be able to clean the tops of tables. He approached the building his first class was to be held in with his droid in tow. Bantam was still a little new to being such a big droid and having so many new attachments, and on his way to the building, fell over for no reason. He beeped frantically and Nico had to hurry back and help him up again without causing a scene. In class, it took Bantam a little while to become acclimated to his new job. The first few weeks were the worst, as he was not really a medical droid and it was taking Nico a while to find the actual programing needed. On several occasions during that time, Nico would need a particular tool or a precision incision made, only to find Bantam dispensing a hydrospanner or using his dusting tool. Before long, however, they both were excelling in their class.
Graduation came quickly, it seemed, and there was hardly any fanfare. An eloquent dinner was hosted in celebration, but Nico declined to attend. There was nothing really to prove by showing up, and they also requested that if able, to bring a date. Nico had scanned a list of people he knew, but didn’t really care to spend more time than necessary with them. In then end, a hard copy of his qualifications were delivered to him, and his galactic record showed that he had graduated from the Coronet school of medicine and was a qualified doctor. The credentials, it would prove, would be more useful than the actual training. He practiced from time to time and in emergences, but having a shining recommendation like that on one’s record was always useful to open a few new doors.
Over two years since leaving Dantooine in order to begin his training as a Jedi, Nico got a correspondence from the council. The details of his mission were evasive, but he was instructed that he would meet up with contacts at a certain location at a certain time. It was noted at the bottom of the transmission that the council had taken somewhat of a risk adding him to this particular mission, but had a good feeling about it. He notified Bantam, who due to his extra capacity was able to serve as a message service as well as caretaker, that he would be out of town for a few days and to store all his messages for when he got back. Bantam knew how to handle these situations, and though he didn’t want to be out of touch for so long, he had the feeling that he wouldn’t be able to take any calls where he was going. He packed lightly and traveled to Coroscaunt.
On his way to the rendevous point, Nico thought he spotted something suspicions. It was a shock of red hair in a crowd of people. However, when he looked again, the person was nowhere to be seen. On his guard, Nico took his time to arrive at his location. He thought it better to be safe and make sure that he wasn’t followed rather than risk leading someone to the location of the other members of his team.
Thank you for reading. As the title of Chapter nine implies, this is hardly the end of the adventures for Nicodemus Caleb, or indeed any of his friends. If you found this enjoyable, or just wish to learn more about the author, please feel free to visit that section. Again, thank you.
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