Swoop Dreams
2003 short story by Mark Newbold Seventeen
years before Episode IV – A New Hope It was a hot summer’s day. Sun drenched picnic parties enjoyed their
afternoon in the enormous natural bowl that swept down the side of the
mountain towards the shallow lake below and on the glistening lake itself
water speeders trawled lazily across its smooth surface. As days on A-desando went it was the very
picture of pleasance. There didn’t
seem to be anything that could spoil its charm. Suddenly the sound of engines could be heard echoing
around the picnic area, roaring and howling like dragons. Small children, startled out of their sleep
began to cry. Adults jumped with a
start, dogs began to bark and yelp and in a second the tranquillity was
broken as two small brightly coloured swoops blasted over the lip of the bowl
and down, weaving through picnickers like busy insects, blaring their horns
and screaming wildly. In a panic the
sun revellers grabbed their belongings and scrabbled to their feet, diving
for cover from the two tearaway vehicles.
Alerted to the disturbance, two security speeder bikes
swung into action, roaring at full throttle towards the two swoops that were
nearing the edge of the lake. The
swoops picked up speed, tearing through the course sand that lined the lake
and then onto the shallow waters.
Unable to follow, the speeders slowed and began to circle the lake as
the swoops raised their flight ceiling and blasted across it, coming out the
other side and weaving into the hills beyond. The first security biker, a tall lean man dressed in a
black, orange and grey leather uniform, reached for his comm. unit and called
in. “Lake control,
this is Sergeant Tomoni. We’ve got two
swoopers cutting across Lake Mazapamano heading through the hills towards
Ponon City, doing two fifty, three hundred klicks, over.” The radio crackled in reply, the reception broken up by
the intense affect of the A-desandian sun Tri-Lomon. “Copy Sergeant,
we’re sending an intercept speeder to head them off at Ponon Pass.” The sergeant nodded and slipped his comm. back into his
thigh pouch, jerking a thumb in the direction of the pass and motioning for
his colleague to follow him. They
could still see the two swoops kicking up dust as they headed into Ponon Pass,
weaving and dodging as fast as they could, but knew that their speeders
wouldn’t be able to catch them. These punks were Souper Swoopers. Souper Swoopers was the name given to young swoop gangs
on A-desando, and there was a large concentration of them in the Ecaps City
area. Ecaps City, the capital of the
world of A-desando, was awash with these gangs. From kids as young as five or six right up
to teenagers and beyond, Souper Swoopers were becoming a growing nuisance in
society and caused havoc and mayhem wherever they went, roaring around on
their heavily modified swoops. But as
Tomoni watched the swoops skip across the pass he couldn’t resist a
grin. After all, he knew these particular Soupers. The two Soupers could see the blockade ahead of them,
whizzing towards them at upwards of three hundred klicks per hour, and the
Trandoshan swooper glanced across at his human partner and gave his species
rough approximation of a grin. “We should go
around.” The human boy, ocean blue eyes and a grin as wide as his
face shook his head and hunkered down into the steering vanes of his swoop. “Nah, too
easy. Keep going. We’ll see who blinks first.” The Trandoshan shook his head and laughed a hearty
laugh. He always enjoyed riding with
his human friend, even though both his own family were vehemently against him
fraternising with warm bloods and the humans much the same for befriending a
reptile. But the young Trandoshan
didn’t care. He and the human boy
would be friends for life, the first such friendship between human and
Trandoshan, he’d make certain of that.
Whatever life threw at them, nothing would break that apart. Not even this angry looking blockade. The human boy gave his brightly coloured swoop a kick of
speed and the vehicle bucked, almost losing control. He had a look of deep concentration etched
into his young features, his long mousy brown hair flowing behind him like
streamers. The blockade was set, but
the boys had decided it wasn’t a case of surrender. It was a case of catch me if you can. And just as they thought they’d managed to evade the
blockade and scoot high over it their bikes began to inexplicably lose power
as they found their escape thwarted.
The human had no choice but to apply the air brakes and slow his swoop
down, and with a snarl of annoyance the Trandoshan did the same. Both boys spotted the small, modular power
sink and Astromech droid attached to it that was aimed at them and realised
with regret that it was the droid that had outsmarted them. The boys stopped their swoops just past the
blockade and the Trandoshan stepped off, body language primed for
action. The human remained on his
swoop, tousled hair a mess, the grime of high-speed pursuit staining his
face. Sergeant Tomoni, a towering
A-desandian of a man, dismounted and placed his hands on his hips in a
visible sign of disappointment. “Boys, you’re
under arrest for five violations of city speeder law, three violations of
disturbing the peace and two city noise level violations. Do you have anything to say?” “Yeah.” The human boy Jan Lomona turned and slipped
a grin to his Trandoshan buddy Treesk.
“My Mom’s gonna kill me.” “And how many
times have we told you not to do that!” “You tell me not
to do anything!” Jan flung his
arms around in a mad huff and slammed into the couch, scattering pillows
everywhere. Treesk stood stolidly in
the corner of the room, watching his friends’ tantrum with a cautious eye,
physically unable to truly smile but seeing the humour nonetheless. Sieera Cetting Lomona, Jan’s mother, picked
the cushions off the floor and threw them back into place, slapping her
rebellious sons legs off the table and staring him down. “I will not
have you constantly bring this family into disrepute. I don’t care how bored you are, you will do
as you are told, when you are told, am I understood?” “I understand
you just fine Mom.” Jan struggled to
find the words he was searching for.
“I didn’t mean to get into trouble, things just…got out of hand, that’s all.” Treesk stepped forward in his friends defence. “We were testing
the swoop for our next competition and got carried away. Once we saw Sergeant Tomoni come after us
we should have stopped, but we didn’t.” Sieera gave Treesk a long sideways glare. She didn’t trust Trandoshans as a race at
the best of times, and she certainly didn’t trust this one. Any species that ate the bones of their
parents’ as a rite of passage clearly didn’t have enough respect for their
elders, and she could almost sense Treesk sizing her up as a starter. “Sergeant Tomoni
is the law, and in these parts we obey the law.” She turned back to Jan. “Your father fought a war so that we could
be free of law breakers like you. He
fought a war for justice and order, not rebellion and anarchy.” She breathed deeply thorough her nose as
she heard the back door swing open.
“When are you going to learn?” “When you teach me something useful.” Jan muttered under his breath. Sieera turned and stared at him. “I beg you
pardon?” “Nothing. Just going to tidy my room.” Jan nodded to Treesk to follow and the two
boys leaped up the stairs before Jans father Narn could enter the room. Sieera, hands on hips, turned as her husband
entered the living room and shook her head.
He took off his Imperial officers’ cap and stood beside her. “Your son
causing trouble again?” She brushed a fleck of dust from his shoulders as she
gave him a scowl. “How come he’s my
son when he’s misbehaving and your son when he’s not?” Narn sat on the couch and flicked the HoloVid box on to
catch the evening news. “Because the
only son I’m proud of is probably deep into a book learning about military
history, or following orders from his commanding officer.” Narn smiled as he thought about their
eldest son Hijjin at his A-desandian Security Services headquarters. “For a seventeen-year-old adolescent he’s
one hell of a man.” Sieera
sat beside her husband and placed her hand in his. “So what about
your other son?” Narn’s features darkened as he looked up the stairs to where
his twelve-year-old headache was knocking about. “He’s got a lot
to learn. And I’ll make certain he
learns it.” “Move your foot
Treesk, it’s in my mouth!” “Well jump down
then, puny human.” Growled Treesk and
Jan held back a snort of a laugh as he launched himself the remaining three
meters to the ground and balanced himself as Treesk followed. He checked left and right, making sure none
of his family had seen him sneak out of his bedroom window and scampered away
towards the garage. His swoop had been
brought here by Sergeant Tomoni, and locked away by the lawman. Jan scurried to the garage door and checked
the code. Damn, it had been changed. He waited for Treesk to catch up and
gritted his teeth. “The codes
changed. I bet Mom did this.” “Don’t you have
the override?” Treesk asked, warily
checking all around in case they were discovered. Jan shook his head. “If I did we
wouldn’t be here now, would we?” He
paused for a second and then suddenly dived out of sight. Treesk was left flat-footed, not knowing
which way to move and froze as the shunting sound of a droid came around the
corner. “Oh, Aurran,
it’s you.” Jan crawled out of the bush
and patted the old droid on the shoulder as Aurran looked at the two boys. “Master Jan,
your father is looking for you.” “He is?” Asked Jan, nervously glancing around. “What does he want?” Aurran stared blankly back at his young charge. “He didn’t say,
but he seemed agitated.” The droid
looked at the two boys and down at the key code access lock to the
garage. “Is there anything I might
assist you with?” “You could open
the garage door old pal.” Asked Jan
quickly, stepping back to allow the droid room to open it. Aurran gave the approximation of giving
young Lomona a sly sideways look and punched in the keys to the garage. The door slid upwards, revealing the swoop
that Jan and Treesk had been working on for so many months. A true Prairie Swoop, perfect for two
Souper Swoopers like these boys. Jan
patted Aurran on the shoulder again and ran inside. “I won’t forget
this. One day it’ll be you, me and
Treesk against the galaxy.” Aurran turned around and continued his walk around the
Lomona family grounds as the swoop roared to life. “Of course it
will Master Jan.” The swoop growled and revved as Jan gunned the engine and
drew back the throttle, and before Treesk had even got his backside fully on
the rear seat he sped out of the garage and away down the drive of their
home. He could just see his mother and
father run out of the house to stop him and managed to give a sarcastic wave
at his elder brother Hijjin as he returned from his shift at A-desandian
Security Services. He couldn’t resist
a loud yee-haa as the grit on the road lifted like bubbles from a bath and
the vast plains of the Ponon Pass awaited him. “Honaro
Desiato. I can’t believe it.” Frans Latka brushed the long bolognese twirls of hair out
of her face and curled a lip in disinterest.
“He’s just
another swooper. What’s so special
about him?” Treesk looked at her as if she was completely insane and
folded his arms. “Because he
rides for Assallam Astronautics. The
best team in the sector. He’s going to
become sector champion one day and race in the Core Worlds.” He looked back towards the gathering on the
prairie as he leaned back on the swoop.
“And one day so are we.” Jan nodded and thumped Treesk on his huge scaly arm. “You got that
right buddy.” He turned back towards
Frans and smiled. “So what you been up
to today? Homework I guess?” Frans smoothed the material down on her summer dress and
nodded, pulling her hair away from her face again. “Yeah. If our history droid recalls the Battle of
Fedarn one more time I’m going to braid its logic circuits. I think it needs a memory wipe.” Jan grinned as he sneakily slipped his hand into that of
his girlfriend. “What droid doesn’t?” He gave her a goofy grin. “Apart from Aurran of course.” “Of course. Wherever would you be without your
conscience droid?” Jan frowned as he glanced at Treesk, checking that his
best friend wasn’t listening in on the boyfriend-girlfriend conversation. “What do you mean, conscience droid?” Frans smiled out of the corner of her mouth and gave Jan
a coy smile. “Nothing.” Jan let go of her hand and faced her, a look of
consternation etched into his smooth features, his long hair blowing in the
rising breeze. “No, c’mon,
that’s not fair. What do you mean?” “I mean everyone
in class knew why you weren’t at lessons today. Most of them are here to watch you
race.” She grinned again. “And besides, Sergeant Tomoni’s daughter is
in my exobiology group. We all know
you were arrested. Again.” Jan gave her his best approximation of a roguish grin and
shrugged his shoulders. “Well I can’t
help it if I’m public enemy number one, can I?” “I guess not.” Treesk nudged Jan back to reality and pointed into the
distance at a growing dust trail that was straight-lining its way towards the
gathering on the prairie. “Looks like
Desiato is here.” The three of them all pushed away from the swoop and
walked towards the larger gathering, Jan and Frans hand-in–hand and Treesk
walking just in front. The Trandoshan
boy was growing larger and brawnier by the day, another growth spurt kicking
in like a stampeding Bantha. While Jan
was sizeably taller it was Treesk who looked further along the rocky road to
adulthood. Jan noted this as his
twelve-year-old friend stood at the back of the gathering and waited as he
always did for his presence to be noticed and the people to make way for him
to walk through. Jan and Frans
followed and stopped as an open ended circle formed for the approaching swoop
to park in. Honaro Desiato waved at the assembled kids as he skidded his ZA-453 Assallam Astronautics swoop to a halt
and basked in the warm applause his dramatic entrance afforded him. He stepped off the bike, his four arms and
three legs all moving in unison as he walked towards the crowd to sign
autographs and meet and greet. Jan and
Treesk could barely keep the grins from their faces as he moved round the
circle towards them, chatting easily to fellow young swoopers. As he reached Jan the young boy thrust his
hand out towards one of Honaro’s four and shook it vigorously. “Hi.” Was all Jan managed to say, suddenly star struck. Desiato
grinned as he released Jan’s hand. “Hello
there.” He took a sheet of flim from
an assistant and began to scrawl his name on it. “Who shall I make it out to?” “Huh?” Said Jan as his fixed grin started to make
the sides of his face hurt. Honaro
motioned to the flim. “The
autograph. Who do you want it made out
to?” “Me please.” Replied Jan, and then closed his eyes in
consternation as he bump started back to his senses. “Jan Lomona.” “Yan
Lo-moan-aa. There you go.” Jan took the flim and grinned as he
pocketed it, watching Honaro move to Treesk.
His Trandoshan friend seemed unfazed by Desiato’s celebrity and
smoothly asked him a handful of technical questions about the swoop, arms
folded as if he was gabbing with a close friend. Wish I could be that relaxed. I felt like a canyon rat caught in the
headlights. Oh well, one day people
will know my name… Honaro
was about to move away when Frans leaned forward and made to ask him a
question. Honaro paused, not expecting
the pretty red head to ask a question and smiled at her. “I was
wondering,” began Frans, and Jan felt a cold chill run up his spine and the
hairs stand up on the back of his neck, as if he knew she was going to ask
something awkward. Honaro smiled
again as he waited for her to speak.
“Your girlfriend Asura. Where
is she?” Honaro seemed to falter as the direct question hit him,
and images of his beautiful blue-skinned Twi’lek princess, seconded in the
Honeymoon suite at the local Red Star Hotel, throwing a tantrum because the
five star facilities were way below what she demanded brought a cold sweat to
his brow. She was beauty personified,
a fantastic lover and a smoother ride than his ZA-453, but the maintenance… “She’s being
given a guided tour of Ecaps City by the governor.” He winced as he imagined the scene. Ecaps, A-desando’s capital city and a poem
in sculpted metropolitan architecture, being criticised by Asura as if a
rowdy class of three-year-old school children had designed it. If he escaped this trip without causing a
diplomatic incident he would be amazed. “Oh, right.” Continued Frans, clearly disappointed. “Because I read in the Chancai Express that
she was supposed to be coming with you, and I wanted to ask her about her
hair.” Desiato, Jan, Treesk and about ten other males in the
vicinity all gave her a confused look. “Her hair? Erm,” started Honaro as he struggled to
answer her question. As a Twi’lek she
had no hair, only her long and sensuous Lekku that trailed down the back of
her lithe back. Of course, she had hair.
It just wasn’t on show to the general public. “Yeah.”
Continued Frans brightly. “I want to
braid my hair like that too.” Frans
bunched her hair into two large ponytails and swung them around the back of
her head as Honaro gave her another quizzical look and moved on down the
line. Jan looked at his girlfriend as
if she had just grown a second head and shook his own at her slowly. “Wow. Did you stay up all last night rehearsing
that? If you wanted to embarrass me
couldn’t you have just thrown up all over him?” Frans released her hair and swung it about, spraying it
all over her face and shoulders before scooping it back into tidiness. “One day Jan
Lomona, you’ll learn to appreciate me.”
She tucked her hands into the front pockets of her summer dress and
leaned against her boyfriend. “And
when you do, you’ll understand why I do things like that.” Jan rolled his eyeballs at his crazy girl and nodded
towards Desiato as he moved away from the group back towards his swoop and
followed at a saunter. “I doubt it.” Honaro rode his ZA-453 the short distance to where all
the other swoops were lined up in a row on the grid. Thirty swoops all heavily modified and
emblazoned with brash livery, along a sixty-four metre line. It was the Assallam Astronautics riders’
duty to start the race, number three in the Young A-desando Prairie Swoop
Championships, and to award the winner with a trophy and a trip round the
track on the back of his ZA-453. Jan
slipped his race gloves on and began to button up his cream leather flight
jacket as Treesk fiddled with controls on their swoop and Frans adjusted his
seat for a single rider. The other
twenty-nine racers were doing the same. Team mechanics fussing with the
vehicles, girlfriends, boyfriends or whichever sex was relevant were wishing
their loved ones good luck or high-fiving their adrenaline to higher
levels. Treesk noted Honaro watching
with an interested eye, his own days as a young swooper not so far behind,
and turned back to their swoop. All
the adjustments were complete, and the Trandoshan could see no good reason
why this vehicle couldn’t win the race.
It was now all down to his A-desandian friend. “Remember what
we discussed,” said Treesk as he handed Jan his flight goggles and watched as
Frans tightened the strap under his chin and fastened the clasp. “Tight on the turns and power out of the
corners – “ “And don’t let
anyone slipstream you, I remember.”
Jan grinned and patted Treesk on the shoulder. “Get the jooba juice on partner. This race is as good as won.” He turned to Frans and held her hands
again. She took a deep breath as her
young boyfriend, who suddenly looked so dashing in his jacket, helmet,
goggles and boots, gave her a kiss on the cheek, despite the smirks from all
the other boys around them. He stood
tall and stepped onto the swoop, kicking the engine to life and revving her
hard. Frans and Treesk walked back
from the race line and into the general pit area where all the other
mechanics and crew waited together and looked up at the screens that had been
hooked up to the pit tents poles. All
along the ten-kilometre track, hover cams were waiting to record the action
and send it back to the pits, and a large screen had been erected for the
sizeable and growing crowd to view. On the periphery of the gathering a number of local
officials had gathered to oversee the proceedings and check for trouble,
among them Sergeant Tomoni who watched it all with a faint smile on his
face. He hoped young Jan made a good
account of himself, and that a healthy interest in genuine swoop racing would
focus his mind on other matters. Like
going to school and listening to his parents once in a while. As the roar of the engines increased in
intensity he turned and nodded in acknowledgement as a broad, deeply tanned
man dressed in an orange and purple overcoat stood beside him. Tomoni turned on his speeder seat to face
him. “Ade
Lomona. What’s so important that it
brings you back to A-desando?” Ade pulled his hand out of his pocket and pointed to the
grid. “My nephew. Boy needs a father figure, since his own
barely acknowledges him.” Tomoni frowned and shook his head. “Narn’s a good
man, you know that. He wants to do
right by the boy. If Jan acted more
responsibly, like his brother… “ “The last thing
Jan’s going to do is be anything like Hijjin.” Broke in Ade, cutting Tomoni
down with a hard glare. “All Hijjin
will do with the rest of his life is say `Yes sir’ and salute to someone with
more family connections than him.
That’s what serving in the military on this rock is all about. But Jan,” He put his hand back in his
pocket and grinned. “Jan will listen
to nothing but his conscience.” Tomoni frowned again and turned back to the meeting. “If you’re
right, that will make him a very dangerous man.” Ade began to walk away from Tomoni towards the pit area
and the growing roar of engines and threw a look over his shoulder. “I’m counting on
it.” Frans smiled and ran up to Ade with her arms open and
embraced him warmly as he entered the pit area, and Treesk gave him a firm
handshake as the large man ran his hands through his long hair and lifted up
a complimentary Duarga, flipping the cap and taking a swig. He motioned towards the grid as Honaro
walked along the line to the fifteenth swooper and the gap in the grid five
metres forward where the race starter dropped the flag. Desiato looked down the line, left and
right and then up to the race timekeeper who had started the countdown. 5... 4… 3… 2… 1 Desiato dropped the flag and they were away, exploding
from the grid and kicking up a cloud of dust that engulfed the professional
swooper. He turned to watch them roar
away into the distance, a smile of nostalgia and pleasure stained with the
greasy oil of the grid. Six swoops broke off into an early lead as the first of
the three laps began, lifting up and down the dewy plains of the
prairie. Running through the Ponon
Pass was one of the longest and widest prairies on the entire planet, a
perfect location for swooping, and a definite bonus for those Souper Swoopers
who lived between Ponon and Ecaps cities.
And given that Jan’s parents owned properties in both locations he had
the best of both worlds. Jan sat in a comfortable seventh position throughout the
first lap, tailing the first six swoops and tracking their race lines through
the markers that made the racetrack.
He flipped off a film of flim that had greased up his goggles and
gritted his teeth, hunkering lower on his swoop as he began to leave the race
for eight position behind him and focused his
attention on the sixth place swoop. It
was a factory Desando Dynamic, one of two from a team that was sponsored by
the starship giant, and he got the bright red of its livery in his sights and
reeled it in, slipstreaming it and breaking out from behind as they swung
into a long arc that brought them back on themselves and facing out towards
the skyline of Ecaps City. He briefly
watched the many vessels lifting off and landing and imagined himself as one of those pilots, plying a trade on any
world other than A-desando. Just wait, one day,
this place will just be a bad memory…
Secure
in fifth position he made a series of swift adjustments to his fuel intake on
a dash board pad expertly designed and set up by Treesk and felt a surge of
power as an auxiliary tank came online.
He ducked his head even lower as the second lap came to a conclusion
and he crossed the line tying for fourth place with a Qerradenz IKGUT-4
Swoop. He gave the pilot a cocky grin
as they swung away from the finishing line and down a shallow dip to the
start line and the pits, where he gave Frans and Treesk a quick wave. Frans was jumping up and down on the spot
alongside Ade who was smiling coolly in satisfaction. Treesk gave his friend a quick glance and
turned back to his own pad, checking the telemetry and systems on their home
made swoop. While fourth wasn’t a bad
position, he knew it could be improved upon and lifted his comm. unit to his
ear pits. “Jan, you’re four seconds behind the third
placed swoop. The laps average three
point two minutes in duration, so you have to make an increased effort of – “ Jan’s
static crackled voice burst through the ether. “Treesk, I’m busy right now. Give me the stats when I get back!” “I needn’t remind you the value of a
podium finish to a non-sponsored team like us.” Jan
threw the swoop into another tight turn and powered out of it expertly,
gaining visibly on the third placed rider.
He gripped the steering vanes even tighter and gritted his teeth
again. “No, you needn’t.” Jan
could almost smell the hot fire from the rear of the third placed swoop and
as it dodged and weaved to lose him he could see that it was the second
Desando Dynamics factory swoop. He
grinned widely as he noted its red-clad pilot. Dap Teks, a friend
since pre-school and an excellent racer.
Jan and Dap had played together since they were toddlers and had
developed an enjoyment for speed at an early age. Dap was one of his best friends and closest
rivals, and had been spotted and poached for a factory spot the season
before. And so while Dap had all the
luxury of a billion-credit race team at his disposal, Jan had the
jury-rigging and on-the-spot invention of the amateur team racer. He
wouldn’t swap that independence for anything. Jan
checked the track ahead and saw that the race was nearing completion. He was still two swoops lengths behind Dap,
but knew he had enough in the tank for one more good push. He waited until the final narrow chicane,
and for Dap to slow as he sped through it, careful like Dap always was not to
stray outside of the markers that delineated the edges of the race line. Jan didn’t slow a jot, speeding up behind
his friend and slipstreaming him as he accelerated
away from the chicane. Jan knew he had
him, and pulled out to overtake as the finish line came hazily into
view. He could see the first and
second placed swoops cross the line a good twenty seconds ahead and looked to
his left at Dap as he glanced across at Jan, the two of the almost lurching
in their seats to make their swoops go just that fraction faster. But it was Jan who gave a whoop of joy as
his battered and cobbled together old Wezzwen
TVL-8672 Souper Swoop crossed the line a metre ahead of the state-of-the-art
Desando Dynamic’s package. “Did he
get third, did he?” asked Frans anxiously, squeezing Ade’s hand as the
towering man looked down at Treesks pad. The Trandoshan was running his
finger down the display and then looked up at Ade with a satisfied nod. “Third
position.” It was mayhem in the pit area. Fans were wildly applauding the first two
swoops that had run an amazingly good race, and Honaro Desiato was
congratulating the winner, a serious looking Entallian with a squint in his
eye. Jan jumped off his swoop and into the arms of his girlfriend, hugging
her tightly and then embracing Treesk, who while not used to being hugged
gave his friend one in return. Jan
still hadn’t noticed his uncle in the background and broke out a huge smile
when he spotted the familiar bright attire.
“Ade!” He dug out another hug
for his father’s brother and pulled his helmet and gloves off, dropping them
onto the seat of the swoop. His face
threatened to split apart from his wide smile. “Did you see the race?” Ade nodded and smiled proudly. “Sure
did. Top race.” He turned to Treesk. “You did a good job there.” The Trandoshan nodded at the compliment. “Thank
you Mister Lomona.” “That’s
Ade to you pal.” He gave Frans another
squeeze around the shoulders and motioned up the hill towards where Sergeant
Tomoni’s speeder detachment was sitting.
“I think you might have impressed somebody up there.” Jan
followed Ade’s gaze to the hill and spotted Tomoni deep in conversation with
his daughter, and Jan grinned as the policeman gave him a quick wave and
swung his speeder around to head back to Ponon City with the three other
speeders. Ade ruffled Jan’s unruly
hair and gave him a wink. “Stay on the right side of him you’re
halfway there.” Jan
drew a long breath and nodded. “Shame my family can’t make the same
effort.” Ade
thought about defending his brother and sister-in-laws choices as parents,
but then thought better of it. After
all, Ade had never been a father; he’d only been a son like Jan was. A son with an older brother, who always
did the right thing, was never in trouble and flew through school with
top marks. Ade’s elder brother was
called Narn, and Narn was Jan’s father.
Ade had all the sympathy in the world for his young nephew. “Kid, you keep flying like that you won’t
need other people’s efforts.” The
foursome began to walk through the pit area towards the winner’s rostrum
where Jan would receive his trophy for third place. People were constantly slapping him on the
back, and a large group of dubious looking Quarren acknowledged him in glee,
waving a large bundle of credits at him.
Jan crossed his eyebrows in confusion but nodded back nonetheless. As they approached the podium, Honaro broke
away briefly from the hullabaloo of the ceremony and gave Jan an impressed
nod, placing his hand on his shoulder. “That was a great race, just what prairie
racing is all about.” He pointed at
one of the factory Derrelex swoops and raised an eyebrow at Jan. “How would you like to be riding for one of
the big teams next season?” Treesk
looked directly at Jan, and Frans squeezed his hand tightly. A run in a factory team was every prairie
racers dream, and it could only lead on to bigger things, like system and
sector championships and eventually a spot on the galactic swoop circuit
where races would be held all over the galaxy and life would be…everything a
sentient being could dream of. Jan
looked around the pit area and the disorganised mayhem therein, and down at
his girl Frans, Treesk and finally up at uncle Ade. The elder Lomona raised his own eyebrow at
Jan, and the young swooper knew exactly what his uncle was saying. In fact, Ade was the only Lomona apart from
his cousin Sharn who was on even remotely the same wavelength. “I appreciate the offer, I really do, but
there’s a whole galaxy out there and I want to see it on my terms. Besides, I don’t think racing swoops is the
way my life’s going to go.” He
motioned to Treesk. “But if you’re
looking for a hot mechanic you could do a lot worse than this guy.” The
Trandoshan nodded at his friend in gratitude as Honaro smiled widely. “I’ll put in a good word. Besides, anyone crazy enough to turn down
the offer of a lifetime is someone worth listening too. You’ll go far.” He leaned in to the group in a
conspiratorial manner. “Stick around
for a while. I’ve got to take the
winner on a lap around the circuit, but after everyone has gone I’ll give you
kids a run around too.” He smiled at
Frans. “And perhaps I’ll persuade
Asura to give you some of those hair tips you’re after.” Honaro
walked back to the holocams and meet-and-greets of the press conference as
Jan straightened his racer jacket and tried to tidy his hair. The winners were being called to the podium
and he was first up to collect his prize.
Jan Lomona walked towards the rostrum and stepped up, accepting the
applause for being the highest placed non-factory racer and lifted the trophy
above his head. And through the arms
of the trophy, rising into the purple skies above Ecaps City he could see
freighters and cruisers lifting off and making their way away from A-desando
to the galaxy above. That’ll
be me one day. And once I’m gone I’ll
never come back. Swoop Dreams
2003 short story by Mark Newbold Seventeen
years before Episode IV – A New Hope Histories – An
early insight into the life of Jan Lomona and where many of his traits
and friendships sprang. Here we learn
that not all of his early years were spent in Ecaps but
divided between there and Ponon City. Also we
learn of his long friendship with Dap Teks, another future Governor of Ecaps, as
well as the influence of both Ade Lomona and Aurran. We also see that his life, while strict,
was far from underprivileged, and that he was the schools bad boy. Cast of Characters
Jan
Lomona Treesk Narn
Giappa Lomona Sierra
Cetting Lomona Hijjin
Lomona Frans
Latka Ade
Lomona Honaro
Desiato Asura Sergeant
Breen Tomoni Dap Teks |