Legend of the Harp Episode I: Birth of a Jedi

Legend of the Harp Episode I: Birth of a Jedi By Hemaccabe

Legend of the Harp

Episode I: Birth of a Jedi

By Hemaccabe

Chapter 3: Speculator

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

*** Jedi Knight Furin Kazan, Aboard First Hope in hyperspace***

Captain Thomas brought the Hope to a stop a couple hours later so I could move the tug to her regular docking position and debark.

"Sharp thinking and good shooting out there." Chris said with a smile as he greeted me at the airlock and helped me with the awkward gravity transition back onboard Hope.

"Tell Captain Thomas, when he thinks we have a moment, I would like to have a crew conference." I replied, still a bit shaky.

I went to the mess and got a cup of caf. Then I sat down to let my nerves settle down.

Everyone filed into the mess a bit later. As the ship was in hyperspace for at least twenty more hours to get back to Corellia, everyone could stand to take a break.

Fortunately, I'd had a couple hours to pull my composure back together and think about what to say, so my voice didn't crack, and I sounded somewhat organized when I said, "That did not go how I'd hoped. I didn't expect any violence, but obviously some happened. Luckily, I was here, and things turned out well, but they could have gone badly. I have to ask all of you, is this something you want to continue to do?"

Everyone in the room started looking at each other. Then Thomas spoke, "I think you did really well out there in the tug and you definitely saved our bacon. You should understand though, if you weren't here, Kory would have been in that tug and he has over twenty more years of training and experience, maybe he would have done what you did, maybe he would have done something different. It was kind of a bad thing that, of the entire crew, it was you, the least experienced, in the tug when it happened."

Everyone nodded. Of course, they had no idea I was a Jedi and that I had been accumulating intelligence, so I was able to react a split second faster, which had probably been what had saved all our lives. If Kory had been in the tug and had started snapping switches when the fighters came into view, we'd have been done, but how could I explain that to them?

"So then how do you all feel about continuing this enterprise?" I asked.

Alex piped in first, "I can only speak for myself, but I want to continue. Yeah, I do have some bills to pay back home, but we really helped those people back there. That food really changed outcomes. I was in Space Rescue for over twenty years. I probably didn't save one percent of the lives we just rescued. That feels really good. I want to do it again."

Everyone looked at each other and they were all nodding and agreeing. How could I, a Jedi, sworn to selflessly save lives, say to these good people, "No, we've saved enough lives. I hate risk?"

Instead I answered, "So the enterprise will continue. I'll hop off when we get back to Corellia. We'll have new cargoes scheduled, though none going back to Mandalore. That will definitely be a firm rule. If there's violence at a destination, we don't go back. I'll hire a new crew for the end of the month and begin shopping for a second ship."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Well what could I do then. I passed out the really nice jackets. It's common for a shipping concern to have some uniform clothing. These were just nice cloth jackets in a really pretty woven blue/green pattern. I had a box of one thousand in different sizes, but I had these five with custom embroidering showing their names and ship name. They had not gotten down to the planet, so they were pleased. I did have one jacket special made for me and my extra arms so for once, I matched.