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Seeing
Double 2000 short story by Louis Turfrey Four
years before Episode IV - A New Hope "Mister St
John, good to see you again. I didn't realised you‘d left planet. Is that a
new ship?" The port official handed Joel back his papers. He took them,
dumbfounded by what the man had asked him. He hadn't been to Chancai for
months. The official smiled, and held out his hand. Joel sighed
and handed over his cred stick, the port official
took it and a transferred the funds to one in his jacket pocket. He handed
back the stick. Joel nodded his thanks. Chancai hadn't changed much in the eight months Joel St
John had been away. The crowds still filled the levels and there was still
the underlying buzz of mixed alien voices. Joel fought back the growing sense
of claustrophobia and merged into the writhing mass. Ten minutes of walking
found him at Zythlies Drop Out Parlour. He walked up to the bar and ordered a
Vineau. The bartender ignored him. Joel reached across and tapped him on the
shoulder. "Hey, Drek,
I said I'd like a Vineau please." The bar tender span round and slapped his hand on the
bar. "Mister St.
John, I'll give you a vineau when you pay off the
bar bill you ran up the last time you were here. Alright?" Joel got angry. "What
bar bill? I haven't been around for eight months. Show me the tab list."
The bar tender frowned, looked at St. John closely and
then reached beneath the bar for the tab list, handing it to Joel. Joel
examined it carefully. Sure enough, his name sprang up several times in the
last six weeks. The last time being last night. Joel frowned. "Have you
got any proof that it was me?" Drek the bartender laughed out loud. "I have my
own eyes, and the security camera will back me up. Though I have to admit,
you were dressed a little more brightly last night." Joel frowned and leaned over the bar towards Drek. "Let’s have
a look at those security recordings shall we?" Drek insisted that Joel paid up his bill before time, and
wouldn't let him look at the holo until he did so.
A further eighty credits exited his bank account. Whoever this man was who
had run up the bill, he could sure down his liquor. Joel placed the recording in the portable holo-player, usually reserved for more choice
entertainment, and pressed the play button followed by the fast forward
button. The bartender looked on with interest. Skimming through the holo, Joel caught sight of something and stopped the
player. Zooming in to one location he enlarged and enhanced the image. What
he saw startled him. A man looked directly at the camera,
probably no more than twenty-five years old, he was almost an exact double
for Joel. Almost. Joel was obviously older and a little wider. The mans choice of clothes was not too brilliant either.
The extremely bright jacket offset a pair of darker trousers. Joel shook his
head. The guy had guts, he'd give him that. He looked tall enough to be an
A-desandian as well. His face seemed familiar as well. Joel took a hardcopy
print from the player and thanked Drek. Jan Lomona smiled to himself as he took the turbolift to
his ship the Berone Sunrise. He'd enjoyed testing out his new persona,
and thanked his lucky stars that Joel St John had such a heavy reputation.
They'd never met but Jan had watched him closely during his early years as a
smuggler. He exited the ramp and started across the pad towards his ship. He
sauntered over and, as was his habit, checked out the ships on the levels
around him. His eyes gazed over several familiar shapes, until he froze in
his tracks. That ship. It couldn't be,
could it? Jan ran to the Sunrise, just remembering to
deactivate his modified security grid as he did so. He dashed into the
cockpit, ignoring Aurran’s greeting, and slammed himself down at the
communications terminal. Seconds later and he was contacting the local port
authorities. A mans face, the port official who he had talked to upon his
arrival, appeared on screen. "Ah, Mister
St John, good to see you again. That’s a rather bright jacket you've changed
into. How can I help you?" Jan swallowed hard. "I don't
suppose you know where I parked my other ship do you, I seem to have
forgotten." Joel
St John moved around Chancai like a hunter stalking its prey. He'd spent a
lot of time trying to find out who was using his name and he only had one
more place to check out. Grabby looked around as he walked into his weapons
shop. "Hello Jan,
I thought you were going to.... Oh, sorry, I thought you were somebody
else." Joel smiled and took his credit stick out of his pocket. Jan Lomona praised his luck that the Sunrise was a
fast, secure ship. He had been given a slot to leave Chancai, and all he
needed now was to wait the ten minutes he needed before he could exit the
massive central well. He prepped the ship and started up the engines, making
sure that they were on hot standby. His eyes kept dodging to the screen on
his console that showed St Johns ship, the Futile Resistance on its
pad. Jan waited impatiently as the count down to his departure slot
continued. Joel St John exited the port official’s office with a
look of triumph on his face. The Portmaster had looked at him quite
alarmingly as he had asked him where his other ship was. He sprinted through
the corridors, checking each number for each docking bay as he did so. He
looked up at the next door and slammed to a halt as he realised that it was
the one he was looking for. Pressing the release stud he dashed out on to the
pad. Jan smiled to himself as the Sunrise exited the
top of Chancai Trade Centre. He flipped his trademark loop and powered the
engines up to maximum thrust, exiting the atmosphere minutes later. He hoped
against hope that St John hadn't gone to Zythlies on Level Nine. Ah, what
the hell if he did. Life’s too short. Jan flipped a switch, pulled
some levers and the familiar glow of hyperspace enveloped the Sunrise.
Joel
St John looked on thoughtfully as the man he wanted to talk to slipped out of his grasp. Grabby had only divulged the mans fist name, but had told him what level the mans
ship was docked at. If he had been just a few minutes earlier he might have
stood a chance. He walked slowly back into the trade centre, wondering how he
might make up the loss of his credits, and why somebody would want to
impersonate a smuggler like himself. Oh well. Guess
I’ll figure it out eventually… Seeing
Double 2000 short story by Louis Turfrey Four
years before Episode IV - A New Hope Histories – The first story to feature the A-desandian smuggler Joel St John, an RPG characters formerly only mentioned as Lomona’s alias in Jan Lomona and
the Sirens of Amagad. A competent smuggler, St Johns likeness of
Lomona was used by Jan as a cover to keep himself out of trouble, and
consequently dropping St John into situations not of his doing.
Cast of Characters
Joel
St John Jan
Lomona Drek Grabby Cap |