Lost and Found 2000 short story by Louis Turfrey Fourteen
years after Episode IV – A New Hope Seven down three to go. Daemon Garr smiled fiercely to himself as he set his ship in orbit around the world of Dagoah, the seventh of ten worlds he had planned to visit. He had a good feeling about this one. He transmitted his New Republic ident code and the computer was given a traffic route. He dropped in behind a small freighter and set the controls to follow the automatic beacon. Stretching his massive frame in the cramped cockpit area, Daemon settled down for a quick nap. His communicator chirped sharply. “Yes, can I help you?” The gentle giants deep voice echoed around the small ship. “Yes, good day fine sir, I am Deit Nedcha of the Dagoah port authority. We received the message you forwarded from Fetna Primus. I noticed your New Republic identification on approach and I have re-read the request you made. We very rarely have visits from such personages as yourself, could you confirm the nature of your visit.” The mans tone was sincere, but Daemon could not help feeling that today he would loose some money. “Yes, I am looking for a man, a free-trader by the name of Jan Lomona. He’s very tall, doesn’t get drunk, and has a bad taste in clothes.” The man on the other end of the communicator laughed lightly. “Is it business or pleasure?” Daemon Garr growled deeply in his throat. “Neither. It’s obligation.” He left it at that. The man called Nedcha grunted his ascent. “I understand. I’ll meet you at the landing pad you have been designated,” he paused, “in one standard time part. If you wish to, I can put you in touch with the appropriate contacts. For a fee.” Daemon Garr smiled. “How much of a fee would that be?” Nedcha chuckled. “Fifteen percent of any bounty you collect.” Garr smiled to himself. “Agreed.” Dagoah from orbit was an extremely beautiful site. Particles suspended in the upper atmosphere reflected sunlight, in varying degrees, back out into space. The unfortunate side effect of this was that the surface of the planet only received just about enough light to support life. Consequently, there was a lot of rain and a lot of mud. The Pacifier Scout touched down onto its three landing skids. The landing pad sank slightly, settling in to the mud below. Garr pressed a button on the arm of his chair and it slid backwards, out of the cockpit and into the small anteroom behind. Garr span it round, got up, and started to bolt on his body armour. He took only his blaster pistol and vibro shiv out of the weapons locker. If he needed anything more than this then he would likely not survive any attack. Anybody who attacked a massive, furry Daemonite would have to be a complete fool anyway. If the ten centimetre retractable fangs didn’t get them, the ten centimetre claws would. Daemon was not a great fan of water. About seventy percent of his genetic make-up was of feline descent, and he had fought long and hard to temper his natural fear. It still caught him off guard on the odd occasion, usually resulting in somebody else getting hurt in his panic. Instead of jumping into a Wookie-like rage he was now able to reduce that fear driven anger into simple bad temper, but he still didn’t like it, especially when the ground was wet, the weather was wet and the atmosphere was damp. Daemon took a deep breath to calm himself and opened the airlock door. The official looking speeder stopped just short of the landing pad as the craft settled onto its mountings. Its occupant was nervous. He’d never met a Daemonite before, especially one who was a high-ranking scout-bounty hunter with the New Republic. It made him nervous. He wondered how he would react when he found out what had befallen his quarry. Oh well, only one-way to find out. As Daemon exited the lower hatch of his ship, so Deit Nedcha exited his speeder. They walked towards each other across the landing pad. Daemon nodded to the Dagoan as he came within hailing distance. The Dagoan smiled back, his frog like features turning it into a near parody. “Good day to you honoured scout. I think we may have some information about your friend.” This surprised Daemon, he’d not expected any progress in finding Lomona at all. “What sort of information?” The Dagoan looked slightly fearful for a moment. “It would appear your quarry is a guest of one of our local crime lords, a lady by the name of Netha Dubra. She is a rather persistent woman who has insisted that Mister Lomona remains her guest for a rather long time.” He paused. “It appears they are about to get married.” Daemon smiled at this, his grin showing his retracted fangs. “Trust Lomona to get himself caught up in a romantic mess. When’s the wedding taking place?” The Dagoan looked perplexed at this, his answer even more urgent. “I’m afraid you don’t understand sir, when female Dagoan’s get married they seduce the male, then eat him.” He looked stricken. Daemon felt like he looked. “Then there is no time to waste. Take me to this woman.” The Dagoan looked even more fearful at this request. “I can’t sir, she’ll kill me if we interrupt the wedding. It’s a sacred right. We wouldn’t even get past the gate of the mansion. She’ll have me killed if I help you.” Daemon leant towards the frog-like creature, grasped hold of his tunic and extended his primary claw so that it pressed upon the skin of the port masters jowl. “What make’s you think I won’t kill you if you don’t?” Jan Lomona sat quietly considering his options. She wasn’t bad looking by human standards, but he couldn’t believe that he’d ever been drunk enough to have proposed to her. A-desandians didn’t get drunk, they metabolised alcohol into sugar. He must have been drugged. He sat back and tried to remember how he had gotten involved with this woman. His mind pulled up a blank. He shrugged inwardly. Oh well, I can always skip town after the wedding. Jan heard footsteps approaching in the corridor, and heard the now familiar sound of his bride to be as she scolded the guards for slouching. There was the sound of the door unlocking and then she entered. At a meter and a half she was tall for her species. Her lithe figure was humanoid in appearance, apart from a light green tinge, lack of body hair, webbed toes and fingers. Her large eyes, blue tinted, looked slightly exotic below her pencil thin raven eyebrows and long dark raven coloured hair. She was not a pure breed Dagoan, being half human, and it showed. Her full, slightly wider than normal mouth sat delicately below her small perfectly formed nose. Jan realised how easy it would be to fall for this woman. “You didn’t have to lock the door. Where would I run to?” She looked Jan up and down, eyeing him closely. “I’m still trying to figure out if you’re stupid or smart. Don’t you know Dagoan females eat our mates after copulation? It’s why we like off-worlders so much.” Jan laughed and looked at her face closely, suddenly feeling very alone. She moved towards him. Extending her hand, she ran a finger down his shirt and then looked up towards him. “Oh, don’t worry. I have no intentions of eating you. After all, I’m only half-Dagoan.” She smiled her wide grin. “ I’ll just nibble a bit.” Jan felt light headed and suddenly aroused. In a small part of his mind an alarm bell sounded and the word pheromones leapt to his forebrain. He reacted quicker than he would have liked and snatched her hand away from his chest, twisting her round and grabbing her in a headlock. She was barely able to breathe as he lifted her off the ground, so that her toes just touched the surface of the ornate carpet. “Now sweetheart, lets discuss the terms of the dowry, huh?” Daemon Garr prepared himself for what he considered was going to be one hell of a fight. The speeder pulled up to the gate, where to surly looking Neetcha Guards stood stiffly to attention. Daemon made the Portmaster exit the speeder first and followed him out. Daemon grabbed the Portmaster by the shoulder and pushed him towards the gate. The Portmaster whimpered. “My name is Deit Nedcha, I am the Portmaster General. I wish to speak to your employer about some extreme irregularities with her trading permits.” The guards ignored him. Daemon stepped around the now cowering bureaucrat and came face to face with a rather large force pike. Just in time, a communicator buzzed on one of the guards’ belts. He placed it to his ear and muttered a curt response. He listened for a few moments and then handed the communicator over to Daemon. “It’s for you.” Daemon took the small com unit. “Garr here.” There was a brief pause, then a familiar voice filled Daemons ears. “Daemon, long time no talk. Have you got a ship on planet?” Jan’s voice sounded stressed. “Yes, but how, I mean who, I mean...” His voice trailed off as Jan butted in. “No time for chit-chat. I’m coming out with a hostage. Get ready to lay down some covering fire.” Then the line went dead. Daemon made a decision, rapidly dispatching the two guards into dreamland, and placing them in the guard box on the left hand side of the gate entrance. The gates started to open upon their own. He grabbed his blaster and pushed the Dagoan port officer into the back of his speeder. Reaching in he deactivated the droid on the front seat and hauled it out the craft, throwing it as far as his arms would allow. There was a commotion behind him and he realised that someone was getting nearer. He turned around to find Jan striding towards the gate, an unconscious female on his shoulders. When he was through the gate, Daemon closed them using the manual controls within the gatehouse and blasted them into oblivion. He grinned as he raced back towards the speeder and helped Jan haul the female into the car. “Just like old times.” He heard Jan mutter. Daemon turned to Jan. “Any idea how we’re going to get off planet?” Jan looked across at him as they climbed into the front seats. He grinned wildly. “Who cares? Let’s wing it. I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.” Lost and Found 2000 short story by Louis Turfrey Fourteen
years after Episode IV – A New Hope Histories – Just a few short months before Daemon Garr’s exit from the Setnin Sector and Jan Lomona’s decade long disappearance this short Louis Turfrey tale shows Lomona in his customary spot of bother being helped out by Garr, the furred Daemonite who has worked with Lomona on many previous occasions. Cast of Characters Daemon
Garr Jan
Lomona Deit
Nedcha Netha
Dubra |