Project Boussh: Evolution
by scifantasy

"Corran?"
Corran whirled around, all senses on alert. It had been a long time
since someone had gotten the drop on him like that...
Sci was standing about ten centimeters away, with an odd look on his
face that Corran couldn't read. Suddenly, Corran realized that he
couldn't read Sci at all, even through the Force. However, he could
tell Sci meant no harm, so he relaxed. "Yes?"
"First, I guess we found out about Mike. Sounds like Tionne's power."
"No surprise, as he is a--what did you call it? DJ?"
"Yeah. Good point. Also, I wondered if you might do me a favor."
"Sure. What do you need?"
"A bout." Sci held up a lightsaber--Mike's, by the look of it. "It's
powered down, but I wondered if you wanted to fight."
"No offense intended, but why? It won't be much of a challenge for me,
and I don't think you'll learn a lot, even if I don't use the Force."
"Humor me. And the Force is fair game."
Corran shook his head. "All right."
The two went into the main room of the _Red Home_, where they could
have ample room at a reasonable tempature. Sci dropped into an unusual
fighting stance, one that Corran recognized. "You've studied
swordfighting?"
Sci nodded. "It always fascinated me, particularly since...Well, since
I saw lightsabers. That's actually somewhat common among fencers on
Terra."
"Okay. Ready?" Another nod. But, Sci stayed perfectly still, waiting.
Corran came in for a slash from the upper right, but Sci's blade was
there quickly, with a quick parry. Sci didn't keep his blade up, as
many fighters did, but quickly dropped back down for an attack. Corran
pulled his blade back into line in time to block, but he only barely
managed to parry it. *He's good.*
Corran decided to really let Sci have it. Opening himself to the Force
more fully, he felt...nothing. *What?* His attack wavered, and Sci
took the advantage for an attack. Corran blocked a little clumsily,
but quickly recovered his composure. However, his detective training
coming to the surface, he quickly realized why Sci had asked for this
seemingly suicidal match--he had suspicions about his unreadability,
and wanted to test them.
The match continued for a few moments in near silence, with neither
fighter having a clear advantage--Corran's additional strength and
practice were canceled out by his tendency to use the Force when
fighting with a lightsaber, so he was fighting at about even.
Eventually Sci stopped. "You couldn't read me, could you?"
"No. And you figured that would be true."
"When I went to Coruscant to propose this crazy idea, Wedge took me to
meet Master Skywalker."
"Was that such a good move?" Corran had heard about how the AFW'ers
weren't always fond of Luke.
"Oh, that. No, that wasn't a problem. Anyway, the door opened before
we knocked, but Master Skywalker froze for a second when he saw Wedge
had a guest. He recovered quickly, but it was there. Also, no one,
with any type of Force sensitivity, has been able to predict me or
read me at all."
"And do you have a theory as to why?"
"Yes." *No surprise there.* "You know about the ysalamiri, of course."
"Yes."
"Did Master Skywalker ever tell you Talon Karrde's theory of why the
ysalamiri projected a Force-sensitive bubble?"
"No. Why?"
"There's another creature on Myrkr called the vornskr, that hunts with
the power of the Force."
"Oh, I see. The ysalamiri create a Force-proof bubble to get rid of
the vornskr's advantages."
"Exactly. Now, assuming that throughout history, there have been
Terrans who were Force-sensitive, it's possible that given our total
isolation, some Terrans--not all, mind you, but some--developed an
immunity to the Force. Not a blocking, like the ysalamiri, just a kind
of invisibility. Undetectable through it, and immune to its power."
"That makes sense."
"Another test. Is there anything you can do to me, not permanent harm,
but just lightly?"
"Sure. You're just getting over a cold, right?" Sci nodded. Corran
took a deep breath and tried to use his healing power on Sci. Nothing.
"I take it you're not surprised."
"Nope."
"I have an idea for one more test. Look at the door over there. Is it
closed?"
"Yes."
"How about now?"
"Still closed. I guess I'm just a cloaked body to the Force."
"Guess so. That might be useful in case you ever run up against a
Jedi."
"I know. So, what do you think?"
Corran flopped onto a seat, and Sci followed suit. "About?"
"Vickie and Brad."
"I think neither one has many marbles, that's for sure."
Sci laughed. "But do you think she might be right?"
"Well, it's possible, but you know what they say about the road to
Hell..."
"And of course, Master Skywalker's problems on Bespin."
Corran nodded. "Yeah, that too. If I had to say, I'd say that she
definitely does not pose a danger to the mission in and of herself,
but her actions may have unfortunate consequences."
"'Whether or not what you do has the effect you want, it will have
three at least you never expected, and one of those usually
unpleasant.' The Law of Unintended Consequences. It's from a book I
read. But, what do you think about Brad himself?"
Corran shrugged. "I'd say situational loyalist, but the last time
someone suggested that about a pilot--"
"--Was Kirney. That's what I kept thinking back to. Well, I need time
to decide--and to talk to the people who knew the two best. I need to
speak to Josh, Nick, Pash, and Piggy."
"I think you know Piggy's viewpoint."
Sci sighed. "Yes, but just to be complete. I also need to get in touch
with Rich."
"Who?"
"Vickie's husband."
"Sometimes I'm glad I'm not a commanding officer."
"I know what you mean."
"So what book was that?"
"A fantasy novel. Part of a big series called the Wheel of Time.
Fascinating story."