Jan Lomona and the Six to Go

1998/1999/2001/2003 short story by Mark Newbold

Six years before Episode IV - A New Hope

Jan Lomona ducked his head and cursed to himself.

He knew that it was a bad idea. 

Stealing from Jabba the Hutt certainly had its rewards, that was obvious.  The slug had more wealth than he knew what to do with.  Extortion rackets, money laundering, slavery, pod racing around Mos Espa and spice running had made him a huge fortune.  So all those credits needed…trimming every now and then.  And Jan Lomona, hot smuggler from the world of A-desando was the man to do the trimming.

At least, that was his plan.

All Jan had to do was to fly his Stock Light Freighter the Crusader across Tatooine from the Hutt's desert Palace to the township of Mos Banely.  Here, Jabba operated a small outpost, locally named the Medicine Fortress, where he kept various stocks and supplies, a few small starships and any undesirable prisoners that he wished to be kept away from the limelight of his Dune Sea Palace.  Jans task: - to collect a holdful of cargo and bring it back to Jabbas Palace before nightfall.

A simple enough task.  Menial even.

Or so he thought…

Jan had swung the Crusader through the twisting turns of Greeble Canyon that ran towards the rim of Mos Banely in a hurry, eager to return to the Hutts Palace, claim his reward and leave without any Imperial entanglements.  He’d recently had more than his fare share of run ins with the Imperial war machine and didn’t want any more problems, especially here.  Tatooine was a cool place to be, for a guy that usually operated in the Mid-Rim, but right now he wanted to be anywhere but here.  The heat was unbearably hot, and the job Jabba had asked him to complete was beneath him.  Way beneath him.  Jan Lomona wanted to make a name for himself, but not as a short haul expert.  A smuggling run usually involved some element of hyperspace travel, not a loser’s hop across the Dune Sea.

He’d been to Mos Banely before, on a handful of occasions and he knew a few of the townships citizens.  Indeed, the woman who had taught him more about smuggling and life on the lanes than anyone else had opened a tapcafe in the township two years before.  Jan grinned as he thought about Darwyn T’Reller, the beautiful older woman who had taught him so much, about so many things.  Just wait until I get back to the palace and tell Latti about all this.  Then he’ll wish he’d have got off his lazy butt and come with me.

Jan and his great pal Latti Tellex had recently returned from Coruscant, his first journey to the central seat of galactic power.  It was a mission for Jabba, a trade mission that was due to last four days but which escalated into a much longer stay, due in no small part to the presence of Lyssa Shenn, a stunning Twi’lek woman and one of Jabba’s many Coruscant operatives.  Jan and Latti had finally made it back to Tatooine to give their report and leave, but the Hutt had other ideas.  And so Jan was lumbered with this task.

Which he still felt was beneath him.

And so, impetuosity brimming like a boiling pot, Jan decided to make the trip worth his while.  The Medicine Fortress was a treasure trove of stolen loot.  A box of missing DL-5 here, a cache of blaster carbines there wouldn’t be missed by anybody.  But they’d certainly make the effort of stealing them worth the time.

Jan landed the Crusader in Docking Bay 50 and powered her down.  He grinned at Aurran, his old and trusty droid, and hefted his bag onto his shoulder.

   “Stay sharp old buddy, and be ready in case I call.  This won’t take long.”

   “A comment I hear with regularity aboard this ship, sir.” replied Aurran as Jan gave him a sarcastic smirk and jogged down the ramp.

He paid the portmaster the customary fee and swiftly made his way into the main square of the town.  He could see the Struggling Jawa, an old tapcafe that had sat in Mos Banely for many generations, and noted the steady flow of patrons drift in and out.  I knew if anyone could get that dive going, she would he said to himself, and checking right and left he crossed the speeder lane and entered the tapcafe.

It was dark, as Tatooine cantinas always were, cluttered with cubbyholes and shrouded tables. Jan strode directly to the bar, unhindered by the many figures that blocked his way, confident in his ability to deal with any unruly or argumentative souls that might confront him.  He laid his hands on the clean surface of the bar and waited for the attractive waitress to come to him.

   “I’m looking for Darwyn.” He asked, an edge of impatience in his voice, a glint of interest in his eye as he got a clear look at the woman.  She smiled as she wiped a long glass with a dry towel.

   “Miss T’Reller is unavailable at the moment sir.  Can I get you a drink?”

   “Yeah, a Duarga.  And I’ll have your comm number too.”  He winked at the pretty waitress.  “If you get me Darwyn.”

She gave him a confident grin and nodded, laying the glass down and stepping out back for a second.  She returned with a glass of ruby red Duarga and a sheet of flim.

   “There’s your drink sir.  And something else for your troubles.”  She handed him the flim.  “I get off at six.”

   “So do I baby,” answered Jan, pocketing the flim and squeezing past her to get behind the bar.  “Every night.”

   “You’re looking good Jan.  So smuggling suited you after all.”

Jan gave her a cocky grin as he wrapped her in an embrace.

   “I had a good teacher.”  He motioned back towards the bar.  “How’s retirement?”

She raised an eyebrow and cast a glance down at her own svelte figure.

   “Pretty good I think.  And the bar’s doing good business.  How about you.  Still working for Glann?”

Lomona nodded.

   “And for Jabba.  Jan’s a busy boy.  Which brings me to my point.”  He seated himself and perched his feet on the edge of Darwyn’s office table.  She leaned against the other side and waited for him to speak.

   “Okay, I’m all ears.”

   “Jabba still keeps surplus stock all over the planet, right?”

   “Right, you know he does.  What’s your point?”

Jan rapped his knuckles on the arm of his chair.

   “Well I’m thinking the slug doesn’t need all those blaster carbines he’s got stacked up at the Medicine Fortress, gathering dust.”  He raised an eyebrow at Darwyn.  “I think if a few decided to take a permanent vacation he wouldn’t even notice.  What do you think?”

She laughed at his gall and folded her arms across her chest, pushing away from the desk and walking across the room.

   “I think I taught you to be a little bit too brash.  This is Jabba we’re talking about here.”

Jan nodded quickly.

   “I know, I know.  And if he ever found out then I’d be as dead as a Jedi recruitment centre, but I know this scam inside out.  Believe me, there’s no way he’ll ever know.”

Darwyn shook her head as she turned and walked back across the room.

   “What did I teach you Jan?  Never discount the hand of fate-it’s usually balled up into a fist.”

Jan cocked his head as he thought back to Darwin’s famed list of rules.

   “You also taught me to never trust the rulebook because there’s always a reprint.”  He stood to his feet and planted himself right in front of the ex-smuggler, blocking her stride.  He looked down at her, locking eyes with the attractive older woman.  She couldn’t suppress a grin as he refused to break eye contact.

   “You always were a charmer.”  She gave him a more serious look as she leaned back against the wall.  “If only you were twenty years older.”

Jan flicked an eyebrow in the air.

   “Wouldn’t work.  You know I prefer older women.”

You’d still be too young even if you were twenty years older, she said to herself as she nodded slowly.

   “Okay Lomona, what’s your plan?”

Lomona had left the Struggling Jawa and begun to make his way back to the Crusader, taking a shortcut through the narrow streets of Mos Banely.  They were silent and empty, but streets away he could hear the echoing of steel-capped boots, too far off for him to be concerned with.  He checked his bearings and aimed for the nearest speeder hire and as he picked up his pace he rounded a corner and skidded to a halt….

…. right into the midst of a stationary Stormtrooper detachment.

   “It’s him!  Set for stun!”  The lead trooper ordered, and in a flash their weapons were bearing down upon him. 

He frowned to himself as his mind raced overtime, but there was no time for thought, only action.  There were six of them, which meant a fighting chance. 

For them. 

His first move was a lunging kick that took the blaster rifle clean out of the troopers hands and spun it clattering to the deck. His follow-up attack kicked the same trooper in the solar plexus and crashed him, winded, to the floor.  He knew he’d have to dive, even before the blue hoops of the stun setting arched towards him.  He evaded them with apparent ease, rolling right into the midst of the detachment and lashing out a booted foot.  Two more troopers fell, momentarily stunned and seizing the opportunity he snatched one of the dropped rifles and spun around on the floor on his back, dispersing as wide an arc of stun-fire as he could.  Within three seconds of the assault starting, six troopers lay unconscious on the cold floor.  Jan picked himself up off the floor and smiled a broad, cocksure smile.  These greebs must have just graduated.  Jawas could have done a better attempt at an attack than this feeble bunch.  Glancing up and down the street to ensure his privacy, Jan began dragging the troopers into a nearby doorway, and once there he sliced the code for the door and bundled them inside.   There, another job well done.  As he dusted his hands off to continue on his way back to the Crusader, he couldn’t help but notice the sign above the door he’d just sliced - Beasts of Burden Feeding Centre. 

Hmmm, looks like the Dewbacks of Mos Banely are getting white meat tonight…

   “We just walk in there?” said Darwyn two hours later as she slid out of the rented speeder Jan had hired to take them the ten minute drive out of the main square of Mos Banely to the rocky precipice that was home to the Medicine Fortress.  Jan squinted in the bright sunlight and snapped on a pair of shades.

   “That’s right, like nothing weird is going on.  We stroll in, check out where the stash is and stroll out.”

T’Reller brushed the loose sand from her thighs and put her own shades on, walking around to the other side of the speeder.

   “But you’ve got a cargo to deliver before tonight.  And why would you check the place out before you deliver the cargo, you’ve only travelled across the Dune Sea to get here.  And Jabba’s people are expecting you.”  She gave him a disappointed look.  “Really Jan, I thought you’d have come up with a more plausible plan than that.”

Jan nodded, blowing out a long breath and stepped out of the speeder, wrapping an arm around his mentor.

   “Darwyn, Darwyn, Darwyn.  You really should have more faith in me.  I mean, who was it that told me deception is nine parts bluffing and one part fluffing?”

Darwyn looked totally nonplussed.

   “Not me.”

   “Oh…anyway, whoever said it was right.  If I just do a straight delivery the only part of that place I’ll see is the loading bay and cargo area.  I need to get inside.  And you’re gonna help me do that.”

Darwyn shook her head.

   “Oh no, no way soldier.  I live ten minutes away, I’ve got a business to run.  If Jabba even suspects I’ve got something to do with this I’ll be buried faster than a Womp rat in a sandstorm.”

   “True.  But no one can hold it against you if your speeder breaks down, can they?”

   “My speeder?”

Darwyn had barely finished her sentence before Jan opened the hood of the speeder and yanked at a handful of wires inside.  The engine coughed and died, and the vehicle wobbled itself onto the ground.  Darwyn gave Jan a confused look.

   “I must have been out to lunch the day I taught you that trick.”  She ran her fingers through her hair.  “Remind me again how you’ve lasted this long?”

Jan winked as he began walking towards the small rotunda of the Medicine Fortress.

   “Simple.  The hand of fate was handcuffed.”

Jan checked left and right as he made the last turn up the concrete walkway that led to the small wooden door that was the entrance to the Medicine Fortress.  He knew that he’d probably already been picked up on security cameras but a cautious eye out was nothing unexpected on Tatooine and his regular glances over his shoulder were nothing out of the ordinary.  At least, not for any other visitor.  With Lomona’s great height he often saw things coming before they were launched.

He paused at the door as he prepared to knock, running his simple plan through his head and asking himself again, Why do I do these crazy stunts?  He had little to gain and everything to lose, and he was likely endangering Darwyn’s life as well.  But a devil had hopped onto his broad shoulders and whispered in his ear, encouraging him to go for it.

I’ve really got to stop listening to that little fella…

The door opened slowly and Jan was greeted by a hulking Gammorean Guard that motioned for him to wait there a moment.  Jan did just that, all too aware of the short fuse the alien guards possessed, and the brute strength they could employ when required.  He raised an eyebrow in surprise and disappointment as a dull, copper coloured droid approached, clipboard in pincer-like hand, hissing hydraulics and grease.  Jan could twist almost any sentient being around his finger, if properly motivated, but droids were something else.  He had a special relationship with Aurran, the old droid being in his family for many years, but other droids evaded him.  He shrugged internally and smiled.

   “Captain Lomona.  I’m here to collect a consignment of cargo for Jabba.”

The droid, its face unable to change or alter made a good approximation of a frown and checked the clipboard.

   “The cargo bay is the other side of this facility.  Why have you come to this door?”

Jan gave an infuriating grin and began to walk inside, nudging past the droid as he did so.  It shunted backwards and followed him with its grimy photoreceptors.

   “Well, I’ve been coming here for years and I’ve never seen the inside of this place.”  He glanced at the droid and the guard.  “I want to be one of Jabba’s best men, not juts another smuggler.  The more I know the more use I’ll be to him.”

The droid followed closely as Jan checked the three exits and picked the middle one.  He opened the door and strode through, the guard and the droid shuffling after him.

   “Captain Lomona, this is highly irregular.  You don’t have a permit.”

   “How many of you guys work here then?”

The droid paused a moment.

   “Seven.  Wait, you can’t go in there.”

Jan came to a sudden stop; his hand on the handle of what he thought was a stock room.

   “Oh, sorry.  Just curious.”  He continued his walk through the rotund building, aiming in his mind towards the cargo area.  He just hoped that Darwyn had done what she had agreed to.

   “…and I don’t know how to fix speeders.  I mean, I’m just a girl.”

Darwyn flashed her best guess at what a flirtatious smile would be and leaned back on the speeder.  The three men, two mechanics and one guard all grinned at her and each other and the lead mech lifted a hydrospanner from his toolbox.

   “Well it’s lucky you broke down in sight of our compound ain’t it?”  He twirled the spanner in his hand and began to check under the hood.  Darwyn smiled at the other two, and cast a glance at the Medicine Fortress.

C’mon Lomona.  I’ve got three out of your way.  Now do your thing and get out.

   “And this must be the back entrance to the cargo bay.  Yeah, that makes sense.” Jan grinned and turned to the droid and the guard.  “Thanks for the tour.  I’ll be back in a soon to collect the cargo.”

The guard and the droid looked at each other quizzically as Jan walked away through the loading area and into the blistering sun outside.

   “But how did you get here?”

Jan turned and frowned at the droid, as if it had asked the craziest question ever.

   “How do you think?  I walked.”

He left the confines of the loading bay and disappeared from sight.  The Gammorean snorted a string of porcine grunts and began to back into the cool shade of the cargo bay.  The droid nodded and checked his clipboard.

   “I know.  Crazy off-worlders.”

Jan jogged out of the grounds of the Medicine Fortress and back down the concrete path, but instead of turning left to go back to Darwyn, who he could see had the three men in the palm of her hand he turned right into a narrow canyon which led down for about fifty meters into a disused sunken natural hollow that looked not unlike a Mos Banely docking bay.  He grinned in satisfaction as he saw his ship the Crusader sit silently, waiting for its owner like an obedient pet.  Aurran was waiting at the top of the stubby ramp.

   “I received your message Master Jan.  This is the position you requested?”

   “Oh yeah, Hangar 94.  Couldn’t have done it better myself old pal.  Now we’d better haul butt and collect that cargo.  I think I’ve just made some friends and influenced people.”

   “I don’t know how to thank you guys, this is really helping me out.”  Darwyn looked at all three men, and noticed another two standing at the edge of the compound as her speeder was pushed down the track into the rear entrance of the landing area and through that to the shade of the loading bay.  She had no idea how many personnel manned a place like this, but she guessed it wouldn’t be too many.  A small holding for Jabba, out here in the back of beyond wouldn’t be much of a priority.  Two of the men she had seen at the Struggling Jawa, but they hadn’t recognised her yet.  She brushed herself free of dust again as the hood of the speeder was lifted again and the mechanics eagerly dived in to correct the problem.

   “Looks like someone had a go at fixing this.”  The lead mechanic hauled out the bundle of wires that Jan had yanked out.  The mechanic raised an eyebrow at Darwyn.  “You know you should leave this stuff to the professionals.”

Darwyn rolled her eyes in a `silly old me’ manner and nodded.

   “Lucky I’ve got you professionals to help me out then.”

She could hear a familiar rumble and glanced out of the corner of her eye as the Crusader landed in the wide ship area.  She noticed Jan step off his small freighter and walk towards the bay, a droid and a Gammorean Guard walking past them and stopping to talk with him.  The more time went on the less she liked the idea Jan had concocted.  It was foolish and ill thought out, and she couldn’t fathom why he would risk a promising career to do something as simple as steal a few crates of blaster carbines from the all-powerful Hutt.  She could see Jan nodding and gesticulating as he engaged with the droid, and followed them as the three walked past.  A gaggle of worker and old pod racer pit droids began to load a hold full of cargo aboard the stock light freighter, busily hurrying about to avoid prolonged exposure to the battering heat of the suns. She caught his eye and cast a glance down at his hand.  His fingers flashed swiftly.  Five fingers, then two.  Seven.  Seven staff?  Seven minutes?  She wasn’t sure, but she did know that she was alone with five very attentive men, all trying their best to impress her with their mechanical skills like a bunch of eager teenagers.  She guessed they didn’t see too many women out here, and she was certain Jabba didn’t let his Twi’lek girls practise at the Medicine Fortress.  Hey, maybe this is a bunch of potential customers…

She watched Jan as he disappeared and continued her dizzy blond routine but was distracted by an all too familiar screeching sound in the air.  She was clearly distracted enough to cause the mechanics concern as they all stopped their attempts at impressing her to move into the fading sunlight of the Tatooine later afternoon and squint into the pale blue skies.

Where arcing in towards their location came three T.I.E Fighters.

   “Hit the alert button!”  yelled one of the mechanics as the others raced inside for cover.  Attacks on anything to do with Jabba the Hutt were as rare as Wampa’s in Beggars Canyon, but not unheard of.  Besides, the Hutt had bought a Wampa to fight his pet Rancor not so long ago, proving that nothing in the universe is a sure thing.  Alarms wailed and the doors to the hangar began to slowly lower.  At their current speed Darwyn guessed they would be shut and secure in two minutes.

Two minutes for her and Lomona to get their butts back on his ship and away.

Jan was inside the base when the T.I.E’s screech could be heard and he cursed his bad luck in running into a detachment of Whitecaps.  He was a wanted man on many worlds, but he was certain that his infamy hadn’t reached out as far as Tatooine, and especially a backwater joint like Mos Banely.  But he was wrong, clearly, and now he’d have to think quickly on his feet. 

Nothing unusual there then.

He glanced at the droid, which was busy answering a call from the hangar on a wall mounted comm unit.  His Gammorean Guard escort had ambled off, presumably to join his fellow guards and secure the building.  One thing Jabba hated was allowing uninvited guests easy access to his premises.  Maybe the local Imperial commander hadn’t read the rulebook on Tatooine etiquette.  Sensing a chance to slip away, Jan ducked into a side room, which he knew led to the main armoury and jogged towards the rear door that led to the location of his prize.  He opened the door, half expecting an alarm to blare, but none did.   They were already ringing due to the attack.  He grinned as he entered and began piling wooden crates on top of each other, four, five, six piled high on a mini-loader.  He grabbed the steering rail and manoeuvred it out of the room towards the loading bay. 

It was a narrow and long corridor he had to travel, and at the end he could see sunlight dimming and dimming, which could only mean two things.  Either the twin suns were dropping out of orbit fast or the main doors were lowering.  He reached the end of the corridor and could see it was the latter.  Gritting his teeth he picked up his speed and ran towards the doors, hoping against hope that there would be enough leeway to push the lifter underneath.  As he passed her he threw Darwyn a look of mixed emotions and prepared to duck under the doors.  She blinked back, unsure of what she should do.

   “Hey, you scratching gravel?” she asked, as if addressing a total stranger.  Lomona stared at her.

   “Sure am babe,” replied Jan as he continued his fast pace.  Darwyn edged toward him.

   “Got room for one more?”

   “Anything for a lady.” Answered Jan smartly and watched as Darwyn broke away from those gathered around the speeder and rolled under the door.   The mechanics, the only five people present in the hangar watched in confusion as the crazy woman and the tall smuggler disappeared, their legs casting long twilight shadows under the door until it slammed shut and the internal lights bathed them all in cool light.

   “Dammit it Jan, I can’t decide if you’re the luckiest or unluckiest son of a Krayt in the sector.”

Jan heaved the lifter up the ramp of the Crusader and hit a large button that raised the rear cargo ramp, leaving him free to lift off with Jabbas desired cargo and the stolen bounty of his own.  Aurran was already at the controls; the freighter hot and ready for action and Jan hit the repulsors and lifted the landing claws as the three T.I.E’s came in for an attack.  No doubt about it, he was a wanted man in a wanted ship.  If he hadn’t convinced himself before, this had finally made his mind up for him.  Soon the Crusader would be history and a new ship would be the vehicle of Mister Lomona.  Maybe something larger, a stock heavy, with flames painted down the side and go-faster stripes…

The Imperial vessels screamed over the Medicine Fortress and looped high and wide around the rock formation known as Jabba’s Pinnacle and back towards Lomona’s ship.  Darwyn checked the weaponry and cursed. 

   “This vessel is badly underpowered Jan.”  She made a big effort of switching power over from minor systems into the weaponry.  “And my bar still needs her manager.  You’d better get me back in one piece.”

Jan nodded as he flicked a batch of switches.

   “Count on it.  But first, can we?”  He pointed out of the window at the triple pronged attack that was lancing green laser fire at his ship.  He raised the Crusader up and away from the compound and immediately sought shelter in the large rock formations that surrounded the Hutts smallholding.  Below he could see the assorted figures of the Medicine Fortress watching from the hangar bay, a small side door opened and the seven viewing the battle with curiosity.  Lucky greebs, he thought to himself.  They’ve got the best seats in the house.

The Imperial attack viced out, encompassing the freighter in a barrage of fire, and he struggled to keep her balanced as he gained altitude.  The Crusader wasn’t the fastest or most powerful of ships, but she was certainly nifty and he nudged her away from the Medicine Fortress towards the rocky canyons that surrounded the edge of Mos Banely.  Greeble Canyon would be a good spot to launch a counter offensive, but as he steered his ship that way he caught a serious glare from Darwyn.

   “Haven’t you risked enough today?  Sun’s almost down and Jabba wants his cargo back by nightfall, right?”

Jan dashed his eyes across the board, checking his systems and allowing power to build into vital parts of his vessel.  He nodded and cast another glance out of the narrow cockpit window.

   “Right.  And your point is?”

   “My point is you’ve frecked off a Hutt.  Why invite the Empire to the party?”

   “Because in case you haven’t noticed they’ve already invited themselves.  This cargo is going to Jabbas Palace, and then I’m getting the hell out of here.”  He frowned as his ship was buffeted by more flack.  “Besides, I don’t think our new friends are in any mood to talk.”

Darwyn shook her head and cursed underneath her breath as she switched more systems over to weapons.

   “I knew I should have stayed in bed today.”

Lomona swung the Crusader deep into Greeble Canyon, swooping around the outcroppings of rock that made the natural trench so treacherous to fly down.  The rear T.I.E Fighter couldn’t cope with the sudden turns and crashed easily into a jutting boulder of rock, igniting and illuminating the canyon.  Jan grinned and gave more speed, outpacing his pursuers.  The lead T.I.E opened up with a long volley of shots, but the rear shields held.  Jan turned to Aurran.

   “Time to lose our slipstreamers old friend.”

   “I quite agree Master Jan.”  With that Aurran reached up and slammed a large flat panel in the heads up console, and a distinct rumble could be heard.  Jan slowed the Crusader down so the two Imperial vessels were almost on top of them and waited for the crunch.  Darwyn looked at Jan with confusion.

   “What the hell are you doing?”

Jan gave her a cocky grin.

   “Little trick I picked up on Coruscant.  Keep watching.”

From the rear of the freighter an assortment of metal, packaging and rubbish whipped out, right into the bulbous cockpits of the T.I.E Fighters.  Confined in rock as they were they had no room to manoeuvre and clipped each other, spinning into the walls of Greeble Canyon and flashing into shards on the ground below.  Darwyn raised an eyebrow at the result and patted Jan on the shoulder.

   “Not bad kiddo.  Maybe I’m a better teacher than I realised.”

   “Well, you always made me want to come to school.”  He grinned and checked the displays around him.  “Don’t think we’ve got any more company for the moment.  First we’ll get you back to the bar and then I’d better high tail it to Jabba’s Palace.”

Darwyn nodded and busied herself with the console before her as the horizon shifted and the Crusader swung back towards Mos Banely.

Jabba the Hutt always had a thousand things on the go at any one time, and a thousand lackeys to do it for him, but more than anything, the thing that annoyed him was tardiness.  He detested people being late.

And right now Jan Lomona was bordering on being late.

Tattoo One had set, and Tattoo Two was close behind, her final flares shimmering of the craggy horizons that surrounded his desert fortress.  The great Hutt had asked the A-desandian smuggler to complete a simple enough task, and he had heard nothing from the Medicine Fortress since just after Lomona had set out for Mos Banely.  So where the hell was Lomona?

He turned his head and gazed at the pleading Sullustian as it begged for its pathetic, mouse eared life, hands clasped in a begging motion, black eyes wide with fear.  In truth, Jabba had heard little of what the creature had to say.  He knew it had somehow connived him, cheated, and no creature alive would do that to the Hutt and live to brag about it.  He cast a glance at his major domo Bib Fortuna and slapped the large oval button that released the trap door beneath the Sullustians feet, and curled his lip in pleasure as he listened to the pitiful screams and the popping of bones as his beloved pet Rancor ate the now ex-smuggler as an evening snack.  He could see a figure standing at the doorway; a long shadow cast into the room by the setting of the final sun and knew immediately that it was Lomona.

   “At last, the wanderer returns.”  Growled Jabba without an ounce of the humour the phrase deserved.  Jan shrugged and entered the audience chamber,. Careful not to stand too close to the trapdoor he knew waited for him if he stepped out of line.

   “Ran into a little Imperial trouble.”  Jan paused for a dramatic second.  “Didn’t think you’d appreciate the fourth legion arriving on your doorstep.”

Jabba shifted on his dais and sneered.

   “The Empire and their games are of no concern to me.  My cargo.  Is it secure?”

Lomona nodded and jerked a thumb back over his shoulder.

   “Safe and sound in the main loading bay.  Why?  Didn’t think I’d let you down, did you?”

Jabba raised an eyebrow at the impetuosity of the young smuggler, chest all puffed out and long hair flowing around his shoulders.  It was the hottest Tatooine autumn for years and still the boy was wearing a trench coat.

   “I know you wouldn’t let me down Jan.  Not after the work you did on Coruscant.  That’s why I gave the mission to you.”  He rumbled something Huttese and almost inaudible and Jan cocked is head to hear.  Jabba continued.  “Your pay is waiting.”

   “Good.”  Jan made as if to turn and leave the chamber as the band began their next number and a slave girl slinked to the floor to begin her routine.  The huge Hutt gave her his full lascivious attention.  “Oh, and Jabba.”

The Hutt looked sideways at Jan as the band halted their music and the girl paused mid-twirl.

   “Yes?”  Jabba replied, voice loaded with menace.  Jan grinned and gave a shallow half bow.

   “Thanks for the work.   It’s always a pleasure.”

Jan Lomona and the Six to Go

1998/1999/2001/2003 short story by Mark Newbold

Six years before Episode IV - A New Hope

Histories – Another tale of young Jan Lomona and his impetuous nature that eventually cooled down with experience.  On a dull mission for Jabba Jan runs headlong into Imperial entanglements, and this is one of the reasons why he swaps the Crusader for the larger Berone Sunrise.

Cast of Characters

Jan Lomona

Darwyn T’Reller

Jabba the Hutt

Bib Fortuna