Injevido

2000 short story by Jonathan Hicks

Thirty-three years after Episode IV – A New Hope

The tall figure appears to be a mixture of several species, his tall head and arched back belonging to at least two different beings from the Shattered Zone, which lay far beyond the boundaries of the Setnin Sector.

The man next to him is of dwarfish proportions, his small hands deftly utilising a blaster, which has been modified to suit his small palm. Warily he scans the area about him.

   “Trefnare is a dismal place, Squiz,” the tall figure says, his accent perfect and the words formed well as if he has come out of the senate chamber on Benesk. He adjusts his collar and sniffs. “And I’m hungry.”

The dwarf, Squiz, looks up at the alien and smirks. “We’ll get something to eat soon, boss. Let’s just get to some shelter and out of this rain.”

   “Agreed. And you said that the Setnin Sector would present us with opportunities. Hah!” The being’s condescending manner makes Squiz roll his eyes but he says nothing.

They have been walking alongside a long cliff for the better part of a day and as the night-time comes the weather turns foul. Lightning begins to arc down from the sky and the falling rain intensifies - as the two figures start to run along the cliff they are pelted by the hard fall.

Squiz looks about wildly for some form of cover but he sees nothing. He does not know why he has his weapon out and ready - probably because this is a strange place to him and he is a very paranoid man - and with a snarl he tips the pistol forward. Water pours from the barrel and he worries about internal workings.

The tall figure grabs Squiz by the shoulder and points. “Look!” he shouts. “There appears to be some form of constructs over there!”

Squiz can hardly hear the being’s words as the rain hammers hard against his head. He sees where the figure is pointing to, nods, and starts to run.

The buildings are obviously derelict as the two runners approach, the sound of the rain against the partial roofs roaring like the thunder above. The sound is so loud that the tall figure, his species hearing very sensitive to loud noises, pulls an expensive but incredibly damp scarf about his head and grumbles.

As they dive into the nearest building, which has a roof that covers only half the construct, the thunder roars so loudly that they are sure they are about to be hit by lightning. In fact, something outside explodes in a shower of sparks.

Squiz looks at the tall figure with a small smile. “That was a close one. Like getting bombed from orbit.”

The being scowls at the reference. “Almost getting split in two is hardly a source of comedy, my little friend.” Again, the manner and obviously proud bearing of the figure makes Squiz shake his head with a dismissive air.

   “Whatever. This will suffice for now.”

   “Do you think that there is anyone else here?” the tall figure asks. He is shaking out his overcoat, embroidered by hand in the core and costing more credits than Squiz has ever had. The dwarf looks on in astonishment.

   “The whole place looks dead. I doubt it. We’ll see what we can find in the morning. We’ll do a rece and scrounge some supplies.”

   “Scrounge?” The tall being has an astonished expression on his face which slowly turns to disgust. “I do not scrounge.”

   “Look, you’ve been drummed out of the Shattered Zone with no creds to your name. You can’t buy, so we’ll scrounge. If you want to get by here you’ll have to sort yourself out, Injy.”

   “Injevido,” the figure says with impatience. “Really, if you wish to work for me you must address me by my proper title. Injevido Tru, En’Ka’Far of the First House of the Seventh Order...”

   “Listen, Injy, you may have been big eggs back in the Shattered Zone but in the Setnin Sector you ain’t worth spit. Now, find a dry spot and settle down. I’ll start the heater.”

The tall figure, Injevido, looks at the small man with disgust but then realises that he is quite right. He sighs with exaggeration and drops to the rubble-strewn floor. Squiz removes a small cylindrical projector from the folds of his raincoat, presses a switch and watches as the crystal dome on top starts to glow. He turns up the intensity and places it between him and the tall being.

   "I will be great again, even in this sector," Injevido mumbles.

Injevido has a tall cranium, with a long neck that terminates in a slender body. His arms have four long dextrous hands at the ends and his face is long and fine-boned. His eyes glitter like diamonds.

   “Squiz, I have been insufferable since we landed, haven’t I?” he says in a small voice.

   “Spending the last of our credits on that damn scarf was a little extreme, Injy. It cost us enough to get here from P’ro Dynasty space.”

Injevido looks at his feet and sighs again. “I sometimes wonder why you stick with me, my friend.”

Squiz appears incredulous and then barks a laugh. “Stick with you?” he says loudly over another crack of thunder. The room is lit up by the atmospheric explosion. “Well, gee, Injy I’m not sure. I guess when you told me that you were going to steal a quarter of a million credits from your family and you needed my help I was kinda swayed in your direction.” Squiz looks out of one of the holes and shakes his head with frustration. Injevido watches him with interest.

   “And yet you stayed,” he whispers.

Squiz looks back over. “Well, I promised I’d get you to Setnin and to safety. I never, ever break my promises.”

   “You are an honourable man.”

   “Ah, whatever. As soon as I get you to a safe place I’m...” he makes a slashing motion with his hand and whistles through his teeth, “outta here.”

They fall silent as the heater sends warming sensations through their bodies. Squiz starts to remove his damp clothes as they begin to steam under the heat. Injevido starts to do the same.

Another flash of lightning, this one lasting longer than the other ones that preceded, illuminates all around and Injevido can see that the far end of the building has collapsed totally. Outside, past the toppled masonry and the crumpled support beams, he can see rolling hills. He looked back in his memories nostalgically as he remembered the heaving plains of his own world.

Then something catches his interest.

Another flash of lightning and his suspicions are confirmed.

   “Squiz,” he says.

   “What?” answers the dwarf, wrestling with a buckle.

There is another flash. Injevido stares at what is illuminated by the lightning.

   “There appears to be a starship out there.”

Squiz scrambles forward and follows Injevido's pointing finger. He squints as the lightning flashes again.

The ship is squat and dark, gleaming wetly in the sometimes light. It has a large rear section and a long sloping nose but is very angular. The cockpit is large and unlit, sitting on one side of the sloping nose. It is covered in wind debris and grime, a detail Squiz can see even from this distance.

   "Come on, let's check it out," he says in a rush. Injevido pauses and when Squiz notices he is not being followed he looks back at him. "What's wrong?"

   "We do not know who owns that ship."

Squiz smiles. "Injy, the running lights are off and it's covered in enough dirt to tell me it's been abandoned. Come on."

   "It may be a ruse."

   "It may have food on board."

Injevido feels a familiar growling in his stomachs and he raises an eyebrow. "Food?"

In a minute the two beings are scrambling over rubble and slick mud, Injevido grimacing as he gingerly steps over the moist dirt. Squiz becomes impatient as he continually has to wait for his charge to catch up and waves him up with sharp motions.

As they approach the ship the lightning intensifies. One arc of power touches down in the centre of the deserted town and explodes, the sound and visual feast seeming to push Injevido on faster. Squiz looks about nervously. It is as if the sky is warning them off from entering the ship.

The ramp is down and the inner airlock is closed. Squiz approaches, glad of the cover of the ship's hull, and takes a long look at the control panel. Injevido jumps onto the ramp and pulls a face as he looks down at his mud-caked footwear.

   "My boots!" he cries with dismay. "My Coruscant Plaza boots! A curse on this horrid world!"

Squiz shakes his head and turns back to the panel. He flips it open and sees no power is reaching the unit, either because the core was dead or the power had been cut off. He strokes his chin and thinks.

A hand lands on his shoulder and he spins. When he sees it is Injevido he calms himself and turns back to the panel with exasperation.

   "Can you get us on board?" the tall being asks almost pitifully.

   "I think so. The panel has no power to it and the seals are manual. I think I can disengage it and we can prise the doors open. Whoever owns it left it unlocked, anyway."

   "What if whoever owns it comes back?"

Squiz doesn't answer. His small hand is inside the panel and he pulls a wire out and then pushes a small bar. Then he steps forward and pushes one half of the door. It moves very slightly and so he goes to find a bar in the rubble to jam between the seals.

After much effort, with only a little help from Injevido, he finally manages to make one half of the airlock doors slide open. It is large enough for them to enter through and Squiz precedes his charge, hand lume raised and pistol ready.

The atmosphere is stale with a fine coat of dust that glitters in the dim light cast by Squiz's light source. He looks right then left, the right hand way leading to a cockpit, the other way leading to a small lounge and then a huge cargo blast door.

   "It's a cargo ship," Squiz says. "A light freighter. More cargo space than living space but I reckon it would suit two or three."

Injevido isn't really listening. "Where would they keep the food?" he whispers. Squiz motions towards the rear section with a scowl and then heads for the cockpit.

Leaving his charge to explore on his own, Squiz enters the small one-seater cockpit. It has been modified so that all controls to run the ship were at hand for the single pilot and Squiz sees that there is enough room for another seat. He shakes his head as he runs a gloved hand over the panel, watching as drops from his sodden clothes fall to the dust to create small clouds of disturbance.

He orientates himself with the controls and tries to figure out where all the main power systems are. He flicks several switches but nothing happens. The ship does not respond to his ministrations and then he notices a small coding panel. The power systems appear to need a code to get them started and Squiz curses. He is no starship thief.

A violent crash of thunder threatens to shatter the viewport window and an arc of lightning slams once again into the town. Squiz watches with fascination as debris showers the surrounding buildings.

   "Violent planet," he murmurs. His eyes then fall on the vessel's nameplate above the pilot's chair. He wipes away the grime and flashes his lume over the lettering.

   "Cannon Angel," he says, the name familiar to him but the placing of it escaping him. A more violent crash of thunder explodes and a twin arc of lightning touches down over the cliff's edge, actually travelling down the drop and exploding at the base of the rock.

The light washes over him and the nameplate and suddenly he becomes increasingly nervous.

A cry from the rear causes him to spin, his pistol ready, and then he hears Injevido's cries.

   "Squiz! Squiz! Help me!"

Squiz is running out of the cockpit, now, down the corridor and towards the living area. His weapon wavers as he runs, the weight of it suddenly increasing as the tension intensifies. His footfalls create swirls of dust and he jumps through the lounge door and into a crouch , his weapon up and ready.

   "Squiz!"

Injevido isn't in here. There is another door which appears to lead into a maintenance area and he runs to it, his shoulder against the doorframe.

   "Help me!"

Again, no sign. The maintenance bay leads towards the cargo area where he can see a flashing light, as if Injevido was waving his lume haphazardly.

   "Squiz!"

With a heave of his suddenly exhausted body Squiz jumps the short gap and arrives at the cargo door.

Injevido has his back to one of the cargo bay walls and he appears to be trying to push himself through it, his legs working but, of course, his route blocked. Squiz shines his light into his face to see the being and his expression of terror.

   "What? What is it!" There doesn't appear to be any threat and the only sound is his and Injevido's ragged breathing.

   "There's someone there!" the being cries and he points towards the darkness of the cargo bay. Squiz swings his lume about until it settles on a figure in the corner.

It has dead eyes and stands at a slight angle, hanging to one side and leaning against a hull strut as if tired. Its limbs are bony and straight, with long claw-like fingers that glint in Squiz's light. The legs are long and bent at the wrong angle.

Squiz draws in a deep breath and glares at Injevido. "Injy, its just a dumb 'droid!" He walks over to it and gives it a kick. "And it's deactivated!"

Injevido catches his breath and says, in a small voice, "Are you sure?"

   "Just... just stay there. I don't know..."

With a heave Squiz topples the droid which crashes to the floor with a huge thump. He bends over it and presses a switch at the base of its neck. Nothing happens.

   "'En-one-kay'. Oh, it's an old en-one series model. Power cell must be dead," he mumbles. Injevido has crossed over and looks on nervously.

   "What are you doing?" he asks.

   "Well, he ship may be flyable but I need the start-up codes. This 'droid may know them and I know something about 'droid construction. Pass that tool box, will you?" Squiz motions to a small dusty carryall in the corner. Injevido picks it up and holds it at arms length as if it is contagious. Quickly he crosses back to Squiz and drops it next to him.

   "What if it hates us?" Injevido mumbles.

Squiz is prising the chest plate of the 'droid open with a powerbar and he shakes his head as he does so. "What?"

   "Hates us. What if it protects this ship?"

   "If it does," Squiz says with a grunt as the plate comes loose and flips over to land on the floor, "then it's not doing a very good job, is it?".

Squiz jams his hands into the internal workings of the 'droid. He pulls out a bundle of wires and moves several internal piping routes out of the way. "Ah. The cell is live but the primary connector is bust. I'll just wire this. And this."

Injevido looks on with interest but quickly becomes. He looks about with a deep sigh until Squiz says, "Hello, what's this?" His interest is suddenly piqued.

   "What have you found?"

   "Looks like an info-disc," Squiz mumbles as he hands up a small circular object which shines darkly in the light. "What's that doing inside this thing?"

   "Is it its memory?"

   "No, that's those cylindrical things in its head and chest. This is just an old data disc. Very old - the norm is infochips these days."

   "Can you access it?"

   "Sure. As soon as I get this ship powered up. Now, then..." Squiz takes the bundle of wires he originally pulled out and pulls off the old endings. Then he pulls out several selective wires and inserts them into the power cell. With a sniff he reaches up and presses the neck switch again.

With a hum and a jolt the 'droid comes back on-line and it's eyes light up. It shifts its head from left to right and one of its eyes rolls to take in the two figures standing over it.

   "Good evening," it says.

   "Good evening, En-one."

The 'droid spends a moment moving its head about and then looks back at the figures. "It appears that my motor functions have been disabled, sir," it says.

   "That's right," Squiz says. "Sorry about that. We didn't know what you were programmed for."

   "Where is beenine?" En-one asks.

   "Who?"

   "Artoo-beenine. Another member of Mister Karoo's vessel."

   "Karoo? Anzai Karoo? I knew I recognised the name of this ship. Where is he?"

   "I'm sure I do not know, sir. He said he would be back after he had settled some business."

   "When was that?"

   "About three years ago, sir."

Squiz is taken aback. "Three years? What happened?"

   "I'm sure I do not know, sir."

There is a pause as Squiz mulls over the words and he shakes his head. He shrugs. "Listen, En-one, I need the power-up codes for this ship. What are they?"

   "I cannot give you that information, sir."

   "Fair enough. I'll just dismantle your memory core and get the information that way. How difficult do you want to make this, En-one?"

   "Seven-three-seven-eight-seven, sir."

Squiz smiles at the 'droid. It may be programmed to serve and obey but that didn't make it stupid. It had obviously been around long enough to have its own sense of self-preservation. He begins to stand but then remembers the info-disc.

   "En-one, what's this doing in your casings?" Squiz holds the disc up for the automaton to see. En-one turns his head to look and says, "I'm sure I do not know, sir. I am not aware of any disc being placed within my body shell."

   "Ah," Squiz raises his eyebrows and looks at Injevido. Injevido raises an eyebrow of his own. "Interesting, A mystery," the alien says.

Together they walk into the cockpit and Squiz wipes the dust off the control boards. He selects what appears to be the correct system panel and punches the code in. There is a slow whine, followed by a series of whistles, and with building volume a hum began in the heart of the starship. Lights came on n the cockpit, screens flickered into life, and a holographic representation of the vessel appears in miniature on the console. Squiz smiles and nods to Injevido.

   "The ship is ours," he says. "I'll check out the power and supply situation and we'll get the freck off this planet." Injevido squirms at his companion's choice of words and shakes his head.

   "Really, Squiz, such language is not necessary. Shall we see what is on the disc?"

The dwarf nods and searches the cockpit briefly before finding the relevant unit to play the disc. He inserts it and wipes off the monitor that comes to life as a result.

   "Right, let's see. 'Property of Dessio D’Staan'. That name's not familiar."

Injevido nods agreement. "Could it be a diary, or a log of some kind?"

   "It's not encrypted. Oh, here we go... trade routes. Smugglers lanes. Direct anti-patrol routes to the core. Routes to the outer rim..." As Squiz read the listings his face slowly changed from one of interest to one of astonishment. "Account details. Weapons caches. Ship berthing locations. Credit dumps. Contact list. Oh, my..."

   "What is it?" Injevido asks, unsure of what it is that Squiz is reading.

   "This Mister D’Staan has been a very busy boy," Squiz whispers. "Look at this! He was in partnership with Glann Cipple! Glann Cipple!"

Even Injevido knew of that name. "Cipple of Amagad? He's notorious even out in the En'Ka'Far Sector. What does all this mean?"

   Squiz shrugs. "Well, a lot of this is out of date. Some of these route details don't exist for one reason or another, space debris or disasters, you know. But if these accounts exist, or at least some of these contact names are still around..."

   "Yes?" Injevido prompts. "Yes?"

   "Then I think we are going to be very rich men. We've got the details, and we've got the ship to fly about finding all this out. This is it, Injy. This is what you've been wanting. You wanted to be great again? Well, how about a huge piece of the Setnin underworld gretla pie?"

   "What do you mean?"

   "Oh, come on, Injy. What was it you were doing when you tried to take off with a huge chunk of your family's wealth? Borrowing it? You're a fugitive, can never go home, and have no prospects in Setnin. This little disc," he holds up the item after removing it from the player, "is going to solve all our problems. Even if a part of it is still relevant it could make us a million credits. If not, then we let the underworld know we have it and sell it to the highest payer, and then take off before they realise its out of date and useless. Glann Cipple's old partner. Unbelievable. Smuggler routes. Core deals. Unbelievable. It's an opportunity we can't miss."

   "But surely this is illegal?" Injevido says in a small voice.

Squiz looks at his new friend with half closed eyes.

   "Well, duh!"

   "So anyone can read that disc? It's not encrypted?" Injevido asks.

   "Yep."

   "Excellent."

With a flash and a shower of sparks Squiz topples backwards. His face has changed from one of elation to one of extreme shock, as shocked as anyone would be if they were shot in the back. He drops to the floor, one hand reaching behind him reflexively as the hole burns and smoulders. The disc rolls along the floor and bounces off Injevido's foot.

Injevido stoops and picks up the disc, holding it up and inspecting it. It is as if his deed has already been forgotten by him as he places his blaster back into its secret holster. He nods to himself. Only Squiz's groaning makes him look down at the dwarf.

   "Oh, I'm sorry, Squiz, it's just that I'm a little selfish."

Squiz fumbles for his blaster as he gasps for breath but Injevido kicks it from his hand.

   "You've been a great help but I'm going to have to terminate our partnership."

Injevido grabs the dwarf by the collar and drags him to the open airlock. Squiz doesn't put up a fight. He is finding it difficult to keep his eyes open.

   "But let's face it - if we can't agree on proper speech and dress sense, then how can we agree on how to run an underworld business?"

He deposits the man at the top of the ramp, taking in a deep breath of the damp air.

   "Being great again demands sacrifices. You're my first. Don't take it personally."

Squiz grunts something and Injevido bends down to listen.

   "I'm sorry? What was that?"

Squiz grunts again.

   "I can't understand you. Sorry, I've got a lot of work to do and I need you off my new ship."

Injevido places his foot against Squiz's side and kicks him down the ramp. As the man rolls down he pulls his blaster again and shoots him in the side. Another small explosion is immediately dampened by the rain. Squiz lands in the mud, his two wounds horrible burn marks on his clothes.

   "Farewell, Squiz. I wish it could have worked out, I really do." Injevido's manner and expression exudes honesty in his words. The airlock seals and the ramp raises. Squiz is covered by hot air and the press of repulsors as the ship powers up and makes a lop-sided take-off. It hovers for a moment, turns as if the pilot is adjusting himself to the vessel, and then slowly heads out over the landscape.

Squiz stares up at the sky for along time before darkness finally comes to take him.

   I can't die, is his last thought before unconsciousness. I can't die because I'm really, really angry.

Injevido

2000 short story by Jonathan Hicks

Thirty-three years after Episode IV – A New Hope

Histories – The first appearance of Injevido, a well-to-do character from the Shattered Zone.  Teaming up with Squiz, Bad Luck Beon Odiss’ dwarf friend, Injevido aims to make a name for himself in the Setnin Sector – at any cost…

Cast of Characters

Injevido

Squiz

NIK