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.
Shortly after taking Obi-Wan Kenobi as his apprentice, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn is sent to the ocean planet of Callinon to mediate a property dispute. But shortly after the dispute is resolved....
The docks smelled of fish, rope, and water. Obi-Wan gathered his robe closer around himself as he stared out to sea, watching as the giant seabirds of Callinon swooped low overhead, screeching at him in protest.
He glanced down at the gray water, as small fish danced and nipped the waves, their cold eyes blinking up. There were thousands of them down there, living under the city was was suspended over the waves, held up by antigrav generators. Tall green-laced spires pointed skyward in the slightly lower gravity.
It astonished him how anyone could live on a planet devoid of dry land, but Obi-Wan had only been to a few planets so far, besides Coruscant. He looked out over the water, where antigrav skimmers were zooming through the water like insects in a pond. He could see the tiny figures of people on the prows.
They would be on one of those skimmers before long, he knew. Their transport back to Coruscant was in another city almost halfway across the planet, and his master was acquiring passage to the floating metropolis inside one of the buildings.
"Obi-Wan!"
Obi-Wan looked back as Qui-Gon emerged from the boathouse, holding a pair of plastic slips in one hand. "Passes for the CSS Seaspray," Qui-Gon announced, holding out one of the slips. Obi-Wan noted to his chagrin that he was listed as a "child."
The Jedi Master looked around the bend, where a large sea-blue skimmer was docking. It was arrowhead-shaped, with a spacious open deck and large deflecting wings, mimicking the shape of the birds up above. He squinted, then nodded once. "That's her."
The two Jedi walked quickly over to the ship, and almost bumped into a small Callinon male with large pale eyes in a fishy dark face. "What?" he fluted in a rather watery-sounding voice. "You Jedi blind or something?"
"I'm sorry," Qui-Gon said, taking a step back. "We didn't see-"
The Callinon poked at Qui-Gon's broad chest. "You didn't see, you didn't see! You being rude just because you bigger than me?"
"I assure you-" Qui-Gon started, but the Callinon stalked up the gangplank and stormed into the pilot's cabin.
Obi-Wan tried without success to repress the smile that struggled on his lips, at the sight of the tiny fishman challenging Qui-Gon Jinn. Qui-Gon glanced at him, narrowed his eyes, then smiled in return and strode up the gangplank with his apprentice a few steps behind him.
The sea breeze rippled over the deck, throwing strands of Qui-Gon's chestnut hair across his face. He ignored it, watching as the huge antigrav engines powered up, sending the water splashing up. The boat slowly turned and pulled away from the deck.
Next to him, Obi-Wan bit his lips, and Qui-Gon detected a little uneasiness, discomfort from the boy. "Obi-Wan?" he asked quietly, not moving.
"Just a little dizzy," Obi-Wan said, gripping the railing. "I'll be okay."
Qui-Gon looked at Obi-Wan, then sighed. The discomfort was not entirely due to the motion of the boat. The gray-green oceans of Callinon looked remarkably like the single ocean of Bandomeer, where Obi-Wan had been enslaved on a sea platform, and had nearly been killed. Qui-Gon couldn't blame him for the discomfort. He would let it pass.
"Captain!"
The grating voice was not the gurgle of a Callinon, but the rasp of a Tilok. The jewel-draped insectoid wriggled his mandibles madly as he skittered over the deck to the helm cabin, where the cranky pilot was sitting.
Just behind the Tilok was a young woman with bright blue skin. Her eyes were large and red, a pair of fleshy tails fell down her bare back, and her provocatively scanty gold clothing left little to the imagination. A Twi'lek female, Qui-Gon saw as she came into view. She glanced at him, and a smile crept over her dark lips.
Meanwhile, the Tilok rasped and chittered unintelligibly at the pilot, who screamed in some Callinon dialect that Qui-Gon didn't understand. "Unacceptable!" the Tilok screamed. "The cabin, too cold! Too dark! Too small!"
"Too bad!" the pilot shouted back.
Obi-Wan, standing nearer the argument, was slowly edging away, alarmed. He almost fell backwards over the railing when a raucous voice called out, "And the menu is far too small." A fat Rubossian male was standing in the doorway and completely filling it. A silk-clad woman of similar dimensions was standing right behind him. "I am the High Governer of Rubos 4, a member of the royal family, and I demand that-"
"Pardon me," Qui-Gon called out, raising a hand. "Perhaps you should have taken these complaints into consideration before we left the port, and before you booked passage on this particular ship."
The Twi'lek woman purred, "Quite right."
The insectoid clattered angrily at Qui-Gon, then slithered back to the hallway to the cabins. The Rubossian royal looked at him down his nose, a hard feat since Qui-Gon was nearly two feet taller than him, then turned around and walked back into the hall.
Obi-Wan muttered, "I have a bad feeling about this, Master..."