DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
Note: Thoughts are in * and Italics.
"Are you all right?" Qui-Gon Jinn asked the man who had knocked him over.
Erju looked at him, still half in shock. He nodded, "Yeah, I'm all right."
"Your shoulder," Qui-Gon said pointing. Erju looked to see a large, bloodied gash running from his collar bone down across his shoulder to where his upper arm began. He didn't think he had been hit during the fight. Apparently, he had been, and was just noticed it. Now that he had seen his own injury, he was beginning to feel the pain. *Damn it, none of this is going the way it was supposed to!*
"What's not going the way it was supposed to?" Obi-Wan asked.
Erju was taken a back for a moment, and quickly buried his feelings. He didn't know very much of the Jedi, these being the first of their kind he had ever come into contact with. He did know that they had the ability to sense things, including thoughts. No offense to them, but he didn't want anyone rummaging around in his brain. He had enough trouble dealing with it on his own.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," Erju said quickly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I got places to be." Erju began to walk away. Behind him, he could hear a shuffling of feet, but did not bother to look.
"Obi-Wan, let it go," he heard Qui-Gon say.
Obi-Wan...Hadn't that been the name of the Jedi Callisto had been connected with?
Erju turned around. "I didn't think Callisto had contacted you."
All the three of the Jedi, including the boy who had yet to speak were all stunned into silence. This hadn't been expected.
"You know her?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Yeah, I know her. I just didn't think you would have called you. She said she wasn't going to."
"She didn't contact us," Qui-Gon said. "Where is she?"
"Not here," Erju said. "I got people coming after us."
"Who is us?" Anakin asked. "You and Callisto?"
"Yeah, kid, me and Callisto. Now I'm not in the mood for any more trouble tonight so can we please get some place where I won't have people with guns chasing me down?"
Qui-Gon nodded and gestured for the man to follow him, which he did.
"What about Callisto?" Obi-Wan asked.
"She's a big girl, she can handle herself. Where ever she is, I'm sure she's being taken care of," Erju said sharply.
"That's what I'm afraid of," Obi-Wan said, worriedly.
Callisto let out a low moan as she opened her eyes. Once again, she found herself in a darkened cell. She sighed, frustrated. This was beginning to form a pattern she was not liking in any way. Couldn't she be held captive some place with a few pillows, some champagne, or at least better lighting? Most of the people who were after her could afford to, for heaven's sake.
She was on a ship, that much she could make up. given the pattern that the lights dimmed and brightened, they were in hyperspace. That in itself was not a good thing. It certainly was going to make escape more difficult. It might be wiser to wait until they dropped back into real space, but that just might not be an option since she wasn't quite sure where she was or who exactly she was dealing with.
The lights brightened some. The power was reconfigured in the generators, she guessed. The light for the laser wall the held her in her corner did not dim, or weaken in any way, but that was to be expected.
Bounty hunters took such measures to make sure that their quarry didn't have a prayer.
A small distance in front of her was the cockpit, where a man, well, she guessed it was a man. It was hard to tell from beneath the helmet. IT had been that Mandalorian that Erju had warned her about, the very same that had ambushed her in the alley.
"How much?" Callisto asked.
He turned his head.
"Come on, how much? I just want to know if the price has risen on me at all. I certainly hoped it hadn't drop any. I don't want to think I'm beginning to lose my touch."
"100,000 credits," he said.
"That's it? Damn it, I am losing it. Wow, that's insulting. I was hoping to be up at least fifty-thousand more than that by now."
"You won't have the chance."
"Well, I take it whoever want me, want me alive so I just might. So, who is it?"
The bounty hunter said nothing.
"Who? Jabba? Black Sun? Rapalen? I know it's gotta be one of them."
His only response was to turn around.
"Big talker," Callisto said, leaning against the wall, gathering her thoughts. She went over everything that had just happened, trying to make sense of it. Everything had a cause and a reason, it was only a matter of time to find out. The problem with that was she was sure she had very little of it.
She wasn't worried.
There was still the plan.
Erju sat inside of probably one of the finer ships he had ever seen in his life. It was a beautiful, slick model. If he hadn't been so afraid of the outside world, he might have considered trying to get a ship like this of his own, despite costs.
The one called Obi-Wan finished bandaging up his wound.
"You're a lucky man," Obi-Wan said. "An inch deeper and you probably would have lost the arm."
"Luck had nothing to do with it. Everything is based on chance, factors, and variables."
"I always thought they were the same thing," Obi-Wan said. He didn't like this man who apparently was a friend of Callisto's and he suspected, this Erju didn't like him very either. Unfortunately, he would have to work with him if they were to know what had happened to Callisto.
"What were you doing in stealing those files?" Qui-Gon said, leaning against the wall, stroking his beard in thought.
Erju sighed. When Callisto did get back with them, she was not going to be happy about this.
"I'm not supposed to say anything," Erju said. The he sighed. "But, it might help. Callisto and I were trying to rouse someone out of hiding, someone who did a very bad thing years ago and might be back up to it again."
"Who?" Obi-Wan asked.
"This fellow named Tebor, the current head of the Black Sun. Not sure how much longer he's got left though..Man has been slipping up something severe lately."
"What does that have to do with Callisto?" Obi-Wan asked. Then he quickly added, "And you?"
"I probably shouldn't be talking about this. Callisto would not like it, probably kick my ass when she does find out." He suddenly paused. "She should have contacted me by now." He checked his com unit. It was working all right. There was absolutely no reason why it shouldn't have gone off already.
"She isn't always on time when it comes to these sort of things," Obi-Wan said, his voice hopeful, but the concern could be heard creeping in.
"Not this time, this was important and she knows it. Something happened. I know it, I know it, something happened," Erju said, starting to get up.
"Damn it," Erju said. He then noticed all three of the Jedi had their eyes closed.
"I don't sense her," Obi-Wan said, his voice low.
"I'm afraid I do not either," Qui-Gon said. He looked at Anakin, who had his brow furrowed. He was still very much new at this.
"I can't seem to do it very well, Master," Anakin said.
Qui-Gon placed his hand on Anakin's shoulder. "It comes with practice, my apprentice. Now, back to the matter at hand. What had happened after that?"
"Well, the Black Sun's baddies came in shooting. We were set up. It's the only thing that makes sense, but by who? Someone had to have thrown the red flag, told them were coming. We made a break for it in separate directions to make escape easier." He paused. "I guess she didn't make it."
"She's not dead," Obi-Wan said. "We would know.. I would know."
"Bounty hunter," Erju said, nodding. "Yeah, that has to be it. She's a big prize at the moment and I had word that one was in the area looking for her. My guess is she ran into him while making a run for it."
"Which one?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Some new guy, Mandalorian or at least in the attire. Boba Fett, I think it was."
"Is there any way to find out who she is being taken to?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Possibly. I can run through some files see what I can come up with. Most likely it will be the highest bidder. It makes the most sense." Erju spun a chair around the ship's computer, already hacking into databases, without needing any authorization from the Jedi.
Qui-Gon stepped up behind him to watch him work. "So why were you both there. You never fully answered that question."
"Callisto won't like me to tell you."
"It might help her," Obi-Wan said.
"Alright, Erju said, still working. "You know, it is a long story."
"Most are," Qui-Gon said.
Erju sighed deeply. He was about to go back to a place he didn't want to go and tell some things that he should keep a secret, especially now, but he doubted the Jedi would relent until he said something.
"It all happened about seven years ago..."