Project Boussh: First Contact
by Durandir

With the ascending tropical sun blazing from left of them, three X-wing
fighters followed a lone TIE fighter in a steep descent toward a calm
sea. As they drew closer to the water, specks of green and brown began
to be visible amidst the blue waves; soon the specks proved to be
islands, a cluster of them, looming ever larger in the starfighters'
viewports. The TIE fighter led the way to a small island at the north
of the cluster.

Gazing out his X-wing's viewport in growing anticipation, Kell Tainer
could make out several distinct cities or villages on the island. One
city built along a sandy coast, perhaps a seaport of sorts, seemed
larger than the others. An enormous castle rising from a steep cliff at
the sea's edge--at least it seemed enormous in contrast to the tiny
buildings around it--caught his eye. "That must be the High Palace," he
guessed. It was a strange-looking edifice, built in a style that seemed
undecided between ornamentation and defense, and so utilized both
freely, often with the effect of a visual contradiction. The cliff at
the castle's back looked smooth, unclimbable, and from the front, the
castle itself was equally foreboding. Tall towers rose to sharp spires,
beautiful in their own way--but Kell thought he recognized the
silhouettes of antiaircraft weaponry fixed to some of those towers. To
his surprise, while some of the weapons looked like Terran models he
had seen in the briefing materials for this mission, others looked
distinctly Imperial. "They aren't going to make this easy for us," he
reminded himself grimly.

Thayer Atner, in the TIE fighter, led the group past the castle and
cities to the opposite seashore of the island. There, he turned toward
another cliff rising from the sea, less steep than the one on which the
High Palace stood. Thayer skillfully guided the starfighter to a vast
sea-cave hollowed out of this cliff, the three X-wings following with
comparable skill, matching the Mendellian pilot's moves easily. As they
approached, the TIE flashed its landing lights in a signal of some
sort. An answering series of flashes came back from the mouth of the
cave; as they drew nearer, Kell could see the man who had given the
responding signal, waving with apparent relief at the incoming ships.
The four spacecraft landed at last in the part of the cavern farthest
from its mouth.

Within a few minutes, the four pilots had exited their ships and met in
the center of the circle formed by the starfighters. "Your ships are
waterproof?" Thayer asked, not bothering to conceal his admiration and
fascination as he gazed up at the sleek X-wings.

"Well, they weren't built to be flown underwater," Kell answered, "but
it certainly won't hurt them."

"Good," Thayer nodded, "then we shall be safe here. When the tide
rises, this cave is concealed. Our ships will be wet, but no enemy will
find them."

"Ah--that's good for the ships," Tyria said, "but what about us? We're
not exactly waterproof ourselves."

"Come," Thayer grinned. "I will show you."


The Mendellian led them to the back of the cave, to a stairway they had
not noticed before, carved into the rock. They followed him up the
steps; it turned out to be a very long stairway, but at last they
emerged into another cavern, small and cool, lit by dozens of battery-
powered and oil-fueled lamps scattered throughout the room. There were
also some dozen Terran computers set up on long tables in the center of
the room, along with other machinery and equipment that the Wraiths did
not recognize. Arched doorways led off in several directions at the
edges of the cavern. There were people in the room, too; five of them,
some working at the computers, others coming and going through the
doorways or in the middle of various tasks. They looked up as Thayer
and his friends entered, their eyes showing the kind of resolute
alertness peculiar to hunted men.

"Thayer!" one fair-haired man beamed in welcome, coming over to greet
the rightful ruler of Mendellia with a salute whose rigid dignity was
somewhat undone by the exuberant smile that accompanied it. "Good to
have you back, sir! We were beginning to worry. Kirret was sure you'd
been taken, but I told her you wouldn't let that happen. How'd it go,
sir?"

"Both better and worse than we had hoped, Reth," Thayer answered, the
gravity of his tone a sharp contrast to Reth's effervescence. "The
situation has altered. But first, introductions." He motioned the
Wraiths to step forward as he presented them to the others gathered in
the room. "These are the New Republic pilots: Kell Tainer, Tyria Sarkin
Tainer, and Runt Ekwesh."

Reth greeted the Wraiths with his bright smile; the four other
Mendellians only nodded gravely in acknowledgement. Thayer then
proceeded to introduce the Mendellians to the Wraiths.

"This one," he inclined his head to the cheerful blond, "is Reth
Gilkrad Nivag, my second-in-command, and Chief of Optimistic Outlooks,"
he added with a wry smile.

"At your service," Reth bowed with exaggerated flair.

"And this," Thayer continued, indicating a dark-haired, dark-eyed woman
with a perpetual fierce frown fixed on her coral-rose lips, "is Kirret
Xarim. Kirret oversees the gathering of intelligence, and is our
Prophetess of Doom."

"He jests, you realize," Kirret said coolly, greeting the Wraiths with
reserved, graceful handshakes that suggested an aristocratic
elegance. "We have no such official titles. It is a joke of Reth's."

"But a most insightful joke, my dear Kirret," Thayer smiled. "Mind you,
my friends," he turned to the Wraiths, "while you are among us you must
always remember that things are never so bad as Kirret will tell you,
nor quite so good as Reth will say. But if you can find a balance
somewhere between the two, you will have it about right."

"Wiser than you know, Thayer," one of the Mendellians commented, a
plump, petite woman with wistful blue eyes and graying brown hair in an
elaborate style that nearly outdid some that the Wraiths had seen
Princess Leia to wear. "But you mustn't forget that between Kirret's
cautious foresight and Reth's daring hopes--"

"We cover all angles and are best prepared for whatever we face,"
Thayer finished as if reciting a familiar speech, nodding deferentially
to the woman. "I know, Iris. My friends, this is Iris Sewallei, who
keeps our group supplied with whatever we have need of. She is, by
Reth's scheme, Den Mother of the Resistance. And she was also my nurse
when I was a child in my father's palace."

"Charmed to meet you," Iris nodded to the Wraiths.

"And these two," Thayer indicated the last two Mendellians in the
room, "are Egro Firyni and Egro Fenyajul. But because their names are
the same we often call them just Fir and Fenya." Egro Firyni--Fir--was
nearly a head taller than Kell, and no less broad-shouldered, dark-
haired and olive-complected. The other Egro, called Fenya, was a
redhead, somewhat shorter than his companion, with hazel eyes and an
expression of grim determination. "Fenya keeps our machines working,"
Thayer explained, "and Fir trains our soldiers--Fir was once
Mendellia's representative in wrestling at the Olympic games; he is the
best man in Mendellia for hand-to-hand combat, and his skill with
firearms is no less extraordinary."

Fenya and Fir both smiled and exchanged handshakes with the
Wraiths. "And since I'm sure you're wondering," Fir added in a voice
far milder than Thayer's description of him had led the Wraiths to
expect, "according to Reth, I'm the Gentle Giant, and Fenya here is the
Grand Marshal Tinkerer." Fenya confirmed this with a silent smile and
nod.

"Is this everyone?" Kell asked when the introductions had finished.

"No, no," Thayer answered, "there are others stationed elsewhere. Rekla
for one, Rekla Wyksekul--you saw him down in the hangar, the one who
transmitted the all-clear signal. You will perhaps meet the others
soon. We even have operatives," he smiled and a light came into his
dark eyes, "in the High Palace itself."

"Oh?" Kell grinned. "That ought to come in handy. Actually, considering
that our friends Quiara and Becki are being held prisoner in the
Palace, maybe we've got operatives of our own there--I wouldn't put it
past the two of them to have something planned, even from prison."

"Indeed, that will be a factor to take into consideration in our
plans," Thayer nodded. "And we must begin planning right away--ah, but
first--Iris, you have medical supplies here?"

"Of course, Thayer--oh! You're wounded? How is it I didn't see that
before? Come, lad, let me see to that shoulder."

"It's not bad," Thayer assured her almost apologetically, "and Tyria
tended to it quickly after the battle; but our resources then were
limited and I do want to be sure it's taken care of before our
situation here becomes any more serious."

"Certainly," said Iris, hurrying into one of the adjoining rooms to
find the supplies to tend to Thayer's wound.

"Thayer," Kell said suddenly, "while she's taking care of that, is
there any way we can send out a message from here? I want to let the
rest of our team know we're here--some of them will probably be heading
for Mendellia soon, and it'll be best if we can coordinate our efforts."

Thayer stared at him in astonishment. "The rest of your team? There are
others?"

"Well, yes," Kell said. "You didn't know that?"

"We heard nothing of them--only of the activities of you three and your
captured comrade."

"Perhaps our red-herring plan worked better than we thought," Runt
suggested with a wide grin.

"Maybe, except for all those stormtroopers and TIE squadrons that keep
showing up in the other groups' reports," Kell shook his head. "I'm
afraid the enemy must have been more successful in the Intelligence
department than your group, Thayer."

Kirret's customary frown tightened. "That's very likely. We are badly
understaffed here, doing what little we can with outdated technology,
relying heavily on our own determination to carry us through."

"But we've actually done very well so far, despite our difficulties,"
Reth grinned. "Eugor is beginning to take notice of us, especially
after the raid on the Imperial garrison that landed us Thayer's TIE
fighter. Our group presents, at the very least, an added worry,
diverting his attention from other concerns--and we're steadily gaining
support among the populace, as well."

"We rely heavily on Reth's dreams, too," Kirret added dryly.

Grinning at the exchange between his compatriots, Thayer turned back to
Kell. "But what of these other groups? How many of you are there?"

"Thirteen Terrans and twenty-five from the New Republic," Kell
answered.

Thayer's eyes grew wide at hearing this and a smile spread across his
face. "If they all fight like the three of you, my friends, Eugor
Atner's days are numbered. By all means, contact your group--Kirret
will show you how to use our computers for this."

Then Iris returned with a stack of medical supplies and set to work
tending Thayer's shoulder, while Kirret sat Kell down at one of
the "outdated" computers and, with quick and calm efficiency,
demonstrated what to do. Within a few minutes, Kell's message was
making its way to the datapads and e-mail programs of those thirteen
Terrans and twenty-five NR agents:

***************
FROM: Hermit One
TO: Team Boussh
SUBJECT: Wish You Were Here

Location of prisoners confirmed as Mendellia, the High Palace.
Hermitage team is on location. Have made contact with local resistance
effort; expect considerable assistance from this group. Bousshers
currently in or heading for Mendellia requested to rendezvous with
Hermits, if possible, to coordinate our efforts.
***************