Just Another Day (short story)

[Jedi_Monk]

What was the propoganda like in the Empire? How could the average citizen turn against the Jedi and allow the Empire to take over their lives? This is a story I wrote almost two years ago, but I edited it just tonight. I'm thinking about sending it in to the AOL Star Wars Fan Forum Newsletter (which a friend edits), and also submitting it to theforce.net's library. What do you think?

 

Just Another Day...

 

"Master Orom! I found the histories you wanted!" Ara called, her voice muffled by the enormous stack of ancient texts that she balanced. Professor Orom, a kindly old man whose multitude of wrinkles came from a long lifetime of smiling, glanced up from a scroll he had been examining and took the electro-monocle from his eye.

 

"Very good, Ara," Orom groaned as he lifted his willowy form out of a tall-backed chair. He placed the monocle in front of his eye again as he read the titles printed on the spines of the books Ara had brought him. He muttered their names to himself in alien languages that the young woman didn't yet understand. "Aha!" the scholar exclaimed, sliding one of the books out of Ara's pile; she squeaked as the whole thing almost came crashing down on her.

 

She shuffled her feet, trying to regain her balance, and blew out a sigh of relief when she succeeded. "Very good," Orom repeated, cracking open the book he had taken and bending over it, his beak-of-a-nose almost touching the age-darkened pages. "I don't know what I did before you became my Apprentice, Ara, I really don't!" Ara smiled proudly at Orom's praise forgetting the disaster he had almost caused.

 

Professor Orom had a way of doing that; you couldn't stay angry with him for long. He seemed to remind every one of their grandfather, even if they were of an age with him, or even older. "Set the rest of those books down on a chair, please. And do have a seat yourself. I know that hauling books across this library is no simple task."

 

That was an understatement. The Library of Aldera, the capital of Alderaan, housed one of the largest public collections in the galaxy. Scholars from all across the Republic once came to Alderaan to exploit the store--Orom had told her--but in recent times, since the Empire had arisen, these halls had become all but empty. Ara didn't know if that were sure, herself, she had been born at the very end of the Republic's reign and couldn't remember anything about it. Orom and herself were the only people that Ara could see, now, though she had spotted a few more while searching for the books Orom wanted.

 

The Empire was hostile toward the learned, Orom had told her in one of his infrequent spiels--when his mind became so full with the knowledge he read that he could no longer hold back what he had learned and had to release it upon whomever was near at hand. The literate were different, the intelligent were dangerous; they were anarchists who rebelled in their thoughts against their government. If everyone were alike, everyone would be equal--except for those who were bred to rule by providence.

 

When Orom would make these careless outbursts, she wondered if he had gone mad. Or worse, if he were a Rebel. Ara respected the master scholar to whom she had been apprenticed, but when he spoke thus she became afraid and could not help but look over her shoulder to note who could hear.

 

The Library was vast, covering at least as much space as any palace, and as well ornamented with tapestries, paintings and holo-displays. And much of that space was devoted to shelves of books, to racks of scrolls and banks of computers. Billions of years of galactic history at the fingertips of whoever ventured to find it. It was all a bit overwhelming.

 

Ara carefully set the books down on a chair on one side of Orom--close at hand, if he should want them--and then sat on the other side of her master. She leaned against the intricately worked edge of the table, watching Orom's lips intently as he read the book to himself. At first, Ara had been bored almost to death just sitting around while Orom read to himself. But with time, she had learned to read his lips.

 

Recently, Orom had been very interested in the history of the Jedi Knights, and of the Force in general. The thought of those people sent a chill down Ara's spine. She had heard the stories a thousand times since birth, about how the Jedi had been responsible for the Clone Wars, a conflict that cost billions of beings their lives. How they had attempted, even, to cast down the then-chancellor Palpatine in their drive for supreme power. But Palpatine triumphed over the corrupt Force-wielders and, for the relief of a war-torn Republic, had taken upon himself the weighty responsibilities of Emperor.

 

Orom scoffed whenever she started talking about these things, but he wouldn't tell her why he thought that the whole thing was like a very good joke. Unlike Ara, Orom had spent most of his life under the Republic, and had lived through the war against the Jedi. But no matter how impassioned his speeches would become, he never let slip what he thought about it. She wondered why her Master dabbled in such horrible things as these.

 

A young man's voice echoed her name and Ara turned her attention from reading Professor Orom's lips. Aithy, was running toward her, waving his hand as he weaved between long desks. Ara smiled to herself when she saw him; they were good friends and had known each other since their childhood when they had both been enrolled in the Academic Academy. Over the past year, she had noticed him in a different way, though, and she thought he looked at her a bit differently, too.

 

Since the last session of the Academy had let out, they had both gained apprenticeship, her with Orom, and he with a Wookiee scholar who was on planet for the summer seasons. They called it apprenticeship, though it was mostly caddying books from there to here or here to there. "Master Whishooru's taking me to the Preserves so he can study some animals that were just brought in. I could use some help carrying his manuscripts, if you want to tag along." Aithy gave her a smile, flashing perfect teeth.

 

"Master Orom, can I go with Master Whishooru? I've been wanting to see the animals they brought from... uh... uh... Cholganna!" she dredged up the name, hoping she was correct. Orom continued his reading. "Master Orom!"

 

The old man snapped out of his reverie. "What? What? Oh... Cholganna..." he glanced at Aithy, and a knowing look appeared in his eyes. "I'm sure you're very interested in... Cholganna. Yes. Yes, I suppose I won't need you any more tonight, since you've brought me all these books," he patted the stack that sat beside him. "I'll see you tomorrow morning. You and Aithy have a good time. And at least try to take your eyes off each other long enough to get a glimpse at the animals, yes? They're very intriguing!"

 

Ara blushed as he spoke, but the second Orom gave his consent, Aithy had grabbed her hand and begun to drag her toward the door. "Thank you master! See you tomorrow!" she waved, then she and Aithy picked up their pace, rushing for the door.

 

Wishooru was waiting for them outside. The Wookiee was enormous: head, chest and shoulders over Aithy, and he was a head taller than Ara. The Wookiee's fur was gray streaked with white. Aithy claimed he was almost eight-hundred years old, though Ara couldn't imagine anything living so long.

 

Wishooru smiled at her when he saw them coming, and huffed at her. "He says he's glad that I got master Orom's permission to let you come," Aithy translated. Part of the reason his parents had sent him to be the Wookiee's apprentice was so that he could learn their native tongue. Wishooru grunted again. "Yes, of course I got Master Orom's permission!" The Wookiee nodded, said a few more words in his intelligible language, and led them off down the crowded streets.

 

Most of the people surrounding them were Alderaanian natives--the men in white tunics and women in flowing white dresses--though there were a few aliens and Imperials mixed in. No matter that she had lived under the Empire her whole life, Ara couldn't help but frown when she spotted a Stormtrooper mingled in with the crowd. They were the only people in Aldera she knew of who carried weapons.

 

Abruptly, the mood around them changed, the buzz of normal chatter turned to amazement as people stopped dead in their footsteps to point to the sky. Some people smiled, others had expressions of wonderment. Others had a dark look in their eyes. One of the beings who had the latter expression was Wishooru, who muttered to himself under his breath.

 

"What did he say?" Ara asked, breathlessly as she gazed up at the dull gray moon-sized object that had appeared in the sky.

 

Aithy was frowning to himself. "He says... it's too late." He shrugged, not seeming to understand what the Wookiee meant. Suddenly, a green glow began to emanate in what appeared to be an artificial crater in the moon's surface. The amazed tone heightened, in "Oos" and "Aahs," as though it were some fireworks display.

 

Then, the green lights converged into a lance that stabbed into the horizon; there was no time for anyone to react, nor would it have made a difference if they had. Ara and Aithy would never be given the opportunity to explore their blossoming love, and theirs is just one of a thousand stories which might be told of Alderaan's final day. Theirs, I chose to portray because there are few things more tragic than a young life cut short, and dreams broken before they are conceived.

 

An entire world killed to demonstrate to one person the ruthlessness of an Empire. An entire world whose voice crying out in pain could be heard a galaxy away, if one but knew how to listen. Thousands of voices crying out.

 

And suddenly silenced...

 

-fin-

 

[Old_Ben]

That's great I really enjoyed reading it. It's much better than some of the EU writers that are out there. It shows you how awful it is when leaders sacrifice innocent people to show there power, and it was great how you tied it into the movie. You definatley should send it in to the AOL Star Wars Fan Forum Newsletter and theforce.net's library, and let more people read it 'cause it was really good. I wish I could write that well. Mabey some time I'll get around to writing a story.

[Old_Ben]

I'm gonna bupm this up, just because this is a great story and more people should read it. It may seem long but it's worth it to read the whole thing.

[Agen]

Yeh, it's great. Mind if i add it to the stories form in SWSF?

[Jedi_Monk]

Yeh, it's great. Mind if i add it to the stories form in SWSF?

No, I don't mind at all; that'd be awesome! Just give me a link once it's been posted

 

Old_Ben, thanks for your comments, I really appreciate them!

 

[ckcsaber]

I liked it.