Project Boussh: Aftermath, After The Fact
by Josh Nolan

The floor bumped again, bringing Nick into a full state of
consciousness.

He opened his eyes, and recognised the interior of his brother's van,
and could hear the thrum of the vehicle's engine.  Woozily, he lifted
his head to see what else was in the van with him.

The first thing he saw was the menacing form of an E-Web blaster
cannon, its tripod folded up below it, secured with a length of bungee
cord. There was also an impressive collection of Imperial blasters
strewn about in the inside of the van - it looked like about double
the number Josh had given him near Mundubbera.

The next thing he saw, slightly obscured by the E-Web, was Brad, still
in his Imperial uniform, hands and feet bound securely, sprawling in
what looked to be a very uncomfortable position at the rear of the
van. The Major's head rolled loosely as the vehicle canted, and his
eyes were closed.

Nick turned his eyes, and saw Ooryl sitting on the floor, tapping at
his datapad.  Ooryl raised his head at Nick's sudden motion, and
nodded to him.  "Did you rest well?"

Nick blinked blearily at the Gand, and struggled into a sitting
position.  "Not too bad, if you define terminal pins-and-needles as
comfortable.  I take it from the -"  Nick broke off as Ooryl began
looking at him quizzically.  "Pins-and-needles.  Aaah, when your blood
supply gets blocked off from a part of you for a while, and then you
get that prickling sensation as the blood returns?  That's pins and
needles."

"Oh," said Ooryl, nodding sagely.  "Of course."

"Anyway, as I was saying," continued Nick, "I take it from the
blasters that we won?  And helped ourselves to some goodies?"

Ooryl nodded.  "Josh has a load in his car, as well.  After we had
taken the materiel and the Ewoks performed some funeral rites for the
fallen, Ooryl slagged the place with the eyeball.  Ooryl then sent it
off on autopilot, heading towards central Australia.  Ooryl
endeavoured to choose a course to make it seem as if it was trying to
escape detection - but I doubt we will be able to tell if Ooryl's ploy
succeeded."

Nick frowned.  "You threw away the TIE?  But it was probably our most
useful piece of equipment!"

Ooryl nodded.  "It was also our biggest liability.  It was too large
to conceal and too easy for the enemy to detect.  And since Qrygg
allowed a squint to escape, it seems reasonable that the Star
Destroyer's sensors may be looking for it.  It stands out much more
than a pair of Terran automobiles."

"I guess that makes sense.  But what about him?" Nick asked, gesturing
at Brad.  "Is it a good idea to leave him around so many guns - even
if he's tied up?"

In answer, Ooryl picked up a nearby blaster and shot Brad's
unconscious form with a brilliant blue stun bolt.  "Ooryl has been
doing that every ten minutes.  Trust Ooryl, he will not awake until we
get somewhere to question him at leisure."

Nick traced the trajectory of the stun bolt with his eyes.  "Is it
safe to shoot him that often?"

Ooryl shrugged.  "Over time, it can degrade the voluntary motor
functions.  Ooryl surmises that one must be a stun-junkie for a period
of some years for it to have a permanent effect, however."  Ooryl
looked at Nick questioningly.  "Did you find the stun bolt...
pleasurable?"

Nick shivered.  "No.  If I never get shot again, I'll be happy."

The Gand nodded.  "Good.  Ooryl feels the same way."

Nick settled back against the wall of the van, when something finally
struck him.  "Hang on - Josh is driving his car, right?"

Ooryl nodded.

Nick sprang to his feet, a look of horror falling over his face.
"Then..."  He stared towards the front of the van for a few seconds,
then stumbled over to the seat.  "...who is driving?  Oh my God!"

Yarg's furry face looked up at him from the driver's seat, while three
other Ewoks toiled at the pedals and the steering wheel.  "Ewoks are
driving!" Nick yelped, and looked at Ooryl.  Dumbfounded, he demanded,
"How can that be?"

Ooryl grinned at Nick.  "Josh showed them how to use the pedals and
the like.  They caught on surprisingly quickly."

Nick glanced at the front seat again, and then back at the Gand.  "Why
didn't you warn me earlier?"

"I wanted to see the look on your face when you found out."

Just then, something near Ooryl began playing the Star Wars opening
theme in nondescript electronic bleeps.  Nick looked curiously at
Ooryl, who casually pulled out a mobile phone, pressed a button and
said, "Ten here."

There was a short pause, and Ooryl said, "Ten believes that Wraith
Nine, Wraith Eleven and Gonad One have access to a shuttle.  Ten is
unsure where the shuttle is located."

There was another pause.  "Gonad One is Ten's little joke.  The person
in question was a rival of Ten's wingmate, who went MIA soon after
joining Ten's squadron."

Nick heard a drawn out "Oh" on the other end of the phone.  Ooryl
said, "The bacta prince, yes."

There was yet another pause, and Ooryl replied.  "Ten will forward the
request."

Ooryl hung the phone up, and clipped it back on his belt.

"That was Josh?" asked Nick, bracing himself firmly in the corner of
the van, not daring to look out the windscreen.

"It was.  He was saying something about needing a shuttle to the
United States.  He was being very cryptic - he said he'd thought of
something, and that it was need-to-know only."

Nick raised his eyebrows at that, momentarily forgetting the Ewoks'
driving.  "Whoah.  That's weird."

Ooryl shrugged.  "It may be.  Ooryl does find it a little bit annoying
not knowing why he wants to go, though."

Nick grinned.  "You know something, Ooryl?"

Ooryl waited for Nick to continue, but the human simply continued to
grin.  "What?" he asked cautiously.

"We feel exactly the same way every time you go all Findsman on us."