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A Point of Honour 2000 short story by Louis Turfrey
and Mark Newbold Sixteen years after Episode IV – A New Hope Hello Queed. The bounty hunter turned, blaster rifle at the ready. No
one there. Damn, that sounded like Ranth. Queed scanned the area quickly
- no one but himself, the sand dunes and his quarry. Relax - you're just
getting jumpy, it’s the heat. He turned back to his observations. It still bothered
him, Tarr Ranths apparent lack of concern at the news of Boba Fetts
admission. That the deadly Mandalorian warrior had spread the tale of Ranth’s
deceit throughout the Core Worlds, therefore spoiling his reputation. Ranth wasn’t as good as Fett - nobody
was. Even Queed, who had built up a similar reputation, knew his limitations,
like all the best professionals did. And yet it still caused a small pit of
uneasiness within his armour. Nobody could possibly stay that cool,
especially after exploding with emotion like Ranth had. Honour must have meant a lot to Tarr Ranth. Queed chuckled to himself, and started to relax again.
The events of a week ago were still imprinted on the forefront of his mind.
He wasn’t averse to causing Ranth some personal pain, but he hadn’t counted
upon the reaction he had received. Ranth had been both hot and cold, explosive
and quiet. With a raised eyebrow he put it out of his mind. What's so funny Queed? Queed rolled over from his slumber and looked around
sharply. Unsure of himself he switched
his suit to scan in the electromagnetic spectrum. Still no sign. This was
getting beyond a joke. He checked the
skies for a sign of an intruder but there was none, just the lazy circling of
carrion birds high in the distance. He
leaned back onto his elbows and breathed out a slow breath. In the dim distance he heard the sound of
a turbine start up - his quarry was starting to move. Moving to his feet he
mounted the swoop holstered his blaster in the specially made electro grip,
and with little choice in the matter set off in pursuit. Jan Lomona dropped the hood on the borrowed speeder and
sighed with relief. The Dune Sea was not the best place to get stranded, even
when you knew it like the back of your hand. Tatooine’s twin suns beat down
upon the back of his head like a pair of hot coals as he jumped into the drivers
seat, his companions stirring slightly as he thumbed the accelerator. Jan turned towards Ryath Centaur, the ex-Imperial
mercenary who had joined him on the trip. "Any sign
of our mystery pursuer?" Ryath barely moved, as he checked a read-out on the portable
receiver in his hand. "Yes. He’s
about five klicks behind us. Whoever it is, he’s playing a smart game. You’re
lucky that tracker was interfering with the thrust systems." Jan grinned as Ryath updated him. A voice came from the
covered canopy at the rear of the speeder. "He was
lucky I was here to reverse engineer the transmission." Nias Derril
popped his head forward between the two front passengers. "We've only got about fifteen klicks
to go; Simdil’s' transponder will kick in from there onwards. Can’t this
thing go any faster?" The last comment was directed towards Jan. Lomona gritted his teeth as he replied. "No, this
bucket of rust won't take it. Why the hell couldn't you have borrowed
something with a bit more go?" Jan hated back seat drivers. Nias Derril didn't flinch. "I didn't
have time to steal a good one, so I bought this." Both the front seat occupants looked around at the same
time. Jan got in the first retort. “Are you
telling me you actually paid for something?" Both he and Ryath started
to laugh as they turned back towards the terrain ahead. Nias grinned to himself as he remembered falsifying
Lomona’s name and details on the acquisition form and sat back down into the
relative comfort of the back seat. Queed was finding it easy to follow his quarry. Too easy,
he thought. Lomona had always been a thorn in Queeds side. When Lomona had
double-crossed a Quarren mercenary, Queed had leapt upon the chance to take
the bounty and exact revenge, despite the fact that the Quarren had it
coming. It occurred to him that there was some irony in the situation. The
last time he’d encountered Lomona in this remote location, Queed wound up the
loser. And it had cost him dearly. It took months to rebuild his reputation –
many wasted months. And one thing Queed hated was wasted time. On this
occasion, seventeen years later he was better prepared. As he reminisced his helmet
communicator activated. Opening the channel he scanned ahead to make sure
that nobody was waiting in ambush. Satisfied, he boosted the swoop. This would be fun. The Sandcrawler lay motionless in the blistering sun. Its
weather scarred sides showed carbon scoring from the damage it had sustained,
its sides bare and exposed to the ultra violet rays of Tatoo I and II. Simdil lay near an outcropping of rock, less than half a
klick away. Staked out on the sand, arms and legs stretched tightly between
four posts, he was suffering badly. The harsh sun had long since blinded him
and he was starting to get drowsy from the lack of water and intense heat,
but his growing anger and pain kept him awake. A shadow passed over him - he felt the relative coolness
rather that saw it. He wondered what manner of creature was going to eat him
alive. He hadn't heard it approach meaning that it must have been relatively
small. As he sighed it sounding like a wheeze. "Careful.
You'll wake the lizards." A gentle deep voice came from above him.
"Don't try to talk, I'll cut you free." Armoured hands swiftly
released Simdil from his bonds. "Here, drink this." A thin stream
of liquid forced its way between his lips and down his throat. The relief he
felt was magnified enormously by the taste of the water. He strained to talk. "Who are
you?" He heard the noise of a med kit opening, and felt a cool
patch of material press against his eyes. "A
friend." Jan heard the muted gasp of exasperation from Ryath as
they crested the horizon. Their shadowy pursuer had closed up to within a
single klick and Jan Lomona finally decided to play along. "Jan, the Sandcrawlers been attacked.” Centaur squinted in the sunlight and
narrowed his eyes. “Doesn't look too
bad, but there's no sign of Simdil." Jan immediately decided to forgo his plan and gunned the
engine towards overload. By the time they’d come to a halt close to the
crawler, the temperature gauge had shot into the danger zone. He jumped out,
Ryath running parallel along the other side, and started towards the crawler.
Simdil was sitting near one of the treads, in the shade. His forehead and
eyes were covered in a bacta patch. "Jan, it’s
good to hear you." Simdil stood up and held his hand out to where he
thought he would find the smuggler. "Have you got the money for those
parts?" Jan’s concern turned to relief. Ryath walked over to them, listening
intently to his com unit as he did so. Jan heard him say, “It’s your
show." When he suddenly he felt as though he was totally out of the
game. Queed gunned his engine as the distant speeder shot
ahead. He heard the channel clear and a familiar voice filled the speakers. "Hello Queed. Guess what - payback." A massive dark shape dropped down in front of him - The Dark Star II. He barely had time to slow the swoop as he avoided the Dark Stars' giant repulsors. He
circled around and pulled up in front of the ship, easing off the saddle as
he did so. The lower service ramp opened and Tarr Ranth walked down, weapons
holstered, a data pad in his hand. He stopped three metres in front of Queed.
Ranth spoke first. "I assume
you want to know what this is about." He held the pad up, screen out, as
he recited the text he had memorised from it. "It reads: I, Dentate Quill do hereby rescind the
bounty placed upon the head of Jan Lomona, for damages incurred upon myself
and my reputation, upon payment of the sum of 30,000 credits to cover damages
and liability. No further claim will be made now or in the future and
agreement is made that to do so would make me liable to prosecution under
galactic and local systems law. He turned the pad towards himself and
pretended to look at it for a moment. Ten seconds passed before he looked up
again. "What else do you want to know?” Queed paused, dumbfounded. How had Ranth persuaded the
Quarren mercenary to drop the bounty on Lomona? And for what purpose? Queed felt an irrational anger leap up from
the pit of his stomach as he clenched his fists. I must not loose control he
thought as he surveyed the bounty hunter in the black armour. Ranth seemed to
be waiting for something, a sign from the other hunter. Queed finally lost patience. "What,
Ranth? Do you expect me to be angry?
Loose control like you did?" Queeds voice was guttural through
his breath mask. He stood straight, unclenched his fists and relaxed. Ranth shook his head. "No. I
expect you to turn around and go back to your ship like the sensible bounty hunter
I know you are." Ranth steadied
himself, alert for a response from Queed, but none came. He unhooked a second
pad from his belt and examined it closely. Satisfied, he threw the first pad
at Queeds feet. "You'll want to keep that. It lists all the appropriate
subtexts and contractual details." Queed glared at Ranth through the visor of his mask. A grim smile twisted at his mouth as he saw
Ranth in a new light, despite the harsh glare of Tatooine’s suns. “What’s your
problem Ranth?” Tarr Ranth dropped a shoulder and flicked his fingers
against the butt of his rifle. “Right now, you
are.” Queed narrowed his eyes. “I didn’t screw
you over, Fett did. I was just the
messenger.” Ranth shrugged his shoulders. “Fett’s not here.” Queed had to agree with that observation and bent down to
pick up the pad. As he did he heard a sound like a whisper and was shocked to
find himself flat on his back, unable to move, unable to breathe. Traitorous sonofa… Tarr Ranths voice came from above him. "Now let’s
talk about the bounty that Joquim Simdil just placed upon you." Jan Lomona couldn’t help but laugh out loud as he looked
down at Simdil, cowering against the crawler treads. "Ranth's
got a damn nerve. How did he persuade you to do that?" Simdil looked up nervously from where he was sitting. "He rescued
me, said that I owed him my life and it would benefit me in the long run. I
let him sort out the details whilst I drank his water. He said he'd be back
before you left. Oh, he also said that there was a group of dead mercenaries
located nearby. He said that you'd find their swoops first and to use them to
get back to Mos Banely if he didn't get back in time." He turned towards
Jan. "He reckoned you'd burn the speeders engines out once you saw the
damage to the crawler." Jan nodded towards Ryath as the two men turned back to
Ranth as he moved in on Queed. High
stakes at high noon. The Dark Star II
settled to a graceful three-point landing. Tarr Ranth switched off primary
systems and deactivated the defence grid in the prisoner’s section. Moments
later he stood opposite Queed, who had complained about the cramped
conditions of the prisoner cells since receiving the antidote to the neural
toxin Ranth had attacked him with. "Come to
gloat." It wasn’t posed as a question, merely a statement of fact. Queed was still dressed in his armour but
his weapons had been removed, his hands bound by cuffs. Tarr Ranth said nothing as he unlocked the cage. He
grabbed Queed by the crook of an arm and pulled him out of his cell. Ranth
knew that without the cuffs he would have put up a fight. He activated the
cargo lift and they started to descend. "Where's
your honour now Ranth?" Queed felt disgust at the bounty hunter that
stood beside him now, the professional respect that might once have existed
nothing more than a fragile hollow memory. Ranth had broken the code, a code
that Queed strived to live by. Ranth
said nothing and pushed him off the ramp into the full heat of the desert.
Queed continued. "There’s nothing
I despise more than a man who can’t stick to his own principles." Queed
was trying to goad Ranth but it wasn’t working. They half walked, half
stumbled to the damaged main door of the Sandcrawler. It opened as they
approached and Joquim Simdil exited. He was wearing filter glasses to protect
his damaged eyes from the sun, but he was easily recognisable. Queed tried
one more time to enrage Ranth. "This is low, even for you. Do you need
money so badly that you have to take it off a scrap dealer?" Ranth simply turned his helmeted head towards him and
then turned back towards his employer. "As per
your bounty please find the prisoner, Queed, delivered intact, without
permanent injury. Please ratify the bounty, as per local and galactic law, by
imprinting the completed contract with your DNA scan." Tarr Ranth handed
his pad over to Simdil, who placed a thumb on the DNA scanner. The pad beeped
and was handed back to Ranth. Queed noticed the smile on Simdil’s face. Ranth
turned back towards Queed and read from the pad. "Under local law, and after arrangement
with local galactic government, you are to discharge your debt to Joquim
Simdil by becoming an unpaid agent of his employ for a period of one month,
after which time the sentence will be complete and all debts will be closed.
During this one month period you will not make any attempt to escape or harm
your employer. Doing so will bring about
consequences from local government and the Bounty Hunters Guild. You will
still remain a member of the Guild and will be governed by its practices. You
will be unable to exact revenge upon Joquim Simdil, Tarr Ranth, or any of Jan
Lomona’s party for that one month period. To do so will result in an
immediate death warrant." Tarr Ranth turned towards Joquim. "All that is required now is the
payment of the bounty." Joquim Simdil reached into his pocket and brought out a
one-credit piece, which he handed to Ranth. Tarr Ranth handed Joquim the keys
to the binders. Queed looked on in amazement. "One credit?"
He turned towards Ranth as Simdil grabbed him and led him towards the door.
"You went through all this for a credit.
Why?" Ranth looked towards him dispassionately, his face
obscured by the mask. "A point of
honour. Next time you attack an innocent party and leave him for bait,
remember to destroy the security cameras as well." He motioned towards Simdil, the scars of
Tatooine’s suns all too apparent around his blinded eyes and leathered
face. Queed leaned in towards Ranth as
he was moved through the doorway. “You’d do well
to remember that yourself Ranth. And
don’t let me ever hear you utter the word honour again. You don’t have the right.” Ranth held Queeds stare for a brief second, a fraction in
time but an eternity between the two hunters.
He turned away from Queed and started his walk back towards the Dark
Star II. Lomona, Centaur and Nias
Derril were waiting for him at the foot of the ramp, a crate of parts sitting
behind them. Ranth turned towards Jan as he brought the cargo lift back down
from its retracted housing "Am I right
in guessing that the parts are for the Sunrise?"
Jan nodded, a look of amusement in his eyes. Ranth
glanced up at the carrion birds circling high overhead and began to
smile. "Good. Then
we can discuss the thirty thousand credits you owe me before I agree to carry
them back for you." Queed sat in the hold of the Sandcrawler, chained tightly
to a rail that ran its length. He glanced up as Simdil entered the area
carrying a small vid-unit. He placed it down in front of Queed, just out of
his reach. "What's
this for? Planning to bore me into submission with your home movies?" Simdil looked at him and smiled thinly. He placed a data
cartridge into the bottom of the viewer and left, relieved. The recording index showed that it was an old untampered
recording; almost a quarter of a century old, but the quality was superb. He
recognised the combatants immediately, and when it had replayed for the
fiftieth time, he understood. He’d understood the first time, but had long since passed
into a deep, weary sleep. A Point of Honour 2000 short story by Louis Turfrey
and Mark Newbold Sixteen years after Episode IV – A New Hope Histories – Set only a week after Sanction: Off, this story shows Tarr Ranth’s immediate revenge act
brought against Queed, who he
feels bitter enmity towards. Also
featuring Jan Lomona and Ryath Centaur, A Point of Honour reveals the tortured soul that Ranth has
become and is yet another step on his progress to becoming a Jedi Knight The story also refers in
part to The Black Armour and Lost
in the Dunes of Tatooine. Cast of Characters Tarr Ranth Queed Jan Lomona Ryath Centaur Nias Derril Joquim Simdil Dentate Quill |