The Limmie Daylights/Chapter 10

The Limmie Daylights

Chapter 10

"Hi, this is Jim Speeder, play-by-play commentator for the Chandrila Chiefs," the Duros said on the HoloNet program. "And I'm sitting here with the Chiefs goalkeeper Qatak Lemieux." The shot panned over to a tall, lanky Tarro sitting next to the Duros. "Now, Qatak, some beings in our audience may not be familiar with the finer points of limmie. So if you could explain a few things, like, uh... What is offside?"

The Tarro said in very broken Galactic Basic, "Offside happen when da guy come down, you know, before da ball, and cross da line before da ball. You can't do that."

"I see," the Duros said, obviously not understanding everything the Tarro said. "And what is--"

Europa Kapanen switched off the HoloNet news program when Jace Bont and Shasta Moonreaper arrived back at the Q'u Branch workshop. Europa had been watching some of the championship game preview shows while waiting for them. Europa saw Bont carrying a bleeding Shasta in his arms.

"I need a med droid, now!" Bont yelled as he entered.

"What happened?!" Europa shrieked. "We lost contact with you."

"The explosion blew out our comlinks," Bont replied.

"Explosion?!"

"Where the hell's that med droid!" Bont yelled, racing Shasta deeper into the complex.

A few Q'u Branch technicians appeared with a gurney. Bont carefully laid her upon it and they rushed her away.

Bont and Europa watched as she disappeared from their view. "What happened?" Europa asked again.

Bont said angrily, "He was ready for us. We walked right into a trap."

"Who?" Europa asked. "Did you find anything out?"

Bont reached into his coat and pulled out the flimsiplast. "Shasta took this from the cabin before it blew. It's written in some kind of code." He handed it over to Europa.

She looked at it, not understanding any of the things written on it.

"We still don't know this guy's name," Bont added. "But he's planning to blow up the stadium tomorrow during the game." Bont headed for the door, feeling the aches and pains in his body. "I need a drink."

- - - - - - - - - -

Roughly an hour later, Bont sat at the bedside where Shasta was recuperating. Shasta was laying under the covers with bandages wrapped around her head. What droids and medical supplies they had here in the Q'u Branch facility seemed to do the job. Shasta was in stable condition. She had suffered a concussion that knocked her out when she flew into the front of the speeder. She had lost a lot of blood, so she was currently hooked up to a machine, taking in some meds intravenously.

The med droid said she would be fine. But she needed her rest.

Bont turned when someone entered the room. It was the rest of the team. Pandolfo, Europa, QUAD, the limmie official Kara, and the Q'u Branch tech Alexis. Suddenly the room felt very crowded.

"Commander Bont," the QUAD droid said, "I have decoded the flimsiplast."

"What does it say?"

"Pretty much everything you told me earlier," Europa responded. "They were just plans of what this guy was doing. Except, we did get a name."

Alexis held out a small disk-like holoprojector. A blue hologram appeared showing a somewhat scrawny Human male. Alexis said, "His name is Gideon Roon. A young man from Alsakan...and hardcore limmie fan."

So this is all about a disgruntled limmie fan. Bont shook his head. Sports fans just go too far sometimes.

"I can tell you right now," Kara said, "there's no way the league officials will cancel this game."

Pandolfo said, "Maybe it's better that they don't."

"But thousands of innocent people could be killed," Europa said.

"But," Pandolfo continued, "if we close down the stadium, this Roon guy will run away, disappear, and we'll never catch him. If the game goes on as planned, then we may have a chance at stopping him."

"Pandolfo's right," Bont said, standing up out of his chair. "We may even be able to disarm the bombs before he can blow them." He hesitated. "Although, those schematics with the bomb placements were destroyed when the cabin exploded. We can't get a copy of that."

"I am able to make some educated guesses," QUAD said in his deep robotic voice. "I can process the blueprints of the building and estimate where an explosive could do the most structural damage."

"That's brilliant," Pandolfo said, smiling, looking up at the massive droid.

"Alright," Bont said. "We've still got a couple hours until the sun rises. Let's get the droid some basic schematics of the stadium, then head over there and start our sweep of the place."

Shasta stirred in her bed. "Get that bastard," she said softly.

Europa leaned down over the bed and took Shasta's hands in hers. "We'll be back before you know it," she said with a smile. "Hang in there and get your rest."

"I never even got to fire one blaster bolt this whole mission," Shasta said with a chuckle.

Chapters: Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Epilogue