Project Boussh: Regrouping by Josh Nolan The Ewoks were dancing around the fire, yubbing a song for the dead. Ooryl watched their cavorting in the flickering light, tending to the large lizard the furry hunters had killed earlier in the day. The captured TIE fighter loomed in the darkness behind the Gand, standing sentinel over the encampment. The fighter's generator hummed slightly, providing the small amount of power needed to keep Josh alive in the bacta tank strapped to the TIE's underbelly. The human floated inside the tank, unmoving, though the vital-signs monitor built into the tank, as well as the steady workings of the respirator strapped to Josh's face, testified to the fact the young man was still alive. Ooryl could already see a marked improvement in the wound running through Josh's abdomen, which seemed to be half the size it was when Ooryl had dropped Josh into the tank. The wound had been bleeding heavily when Ooryl had removed the last of the quadanium shard, and the bacta retained a pinkish hue, despite its almost instantaneous clotting of the surface wounds. The distant sound of an automobile engine floated out of the night air, so Ooryl left the reptile for a moment, and crept to the top of the nearest rise, trying to trace the source of the noise. Off in the distance, about a klick or two away, two Terran ground vehicles were driving over the rough track that would bring them very close to the campsite. The glare from the vehicles' headlights made identification of the automobiles impossible, even with Ooryl's sensitivity to the ultraviolet spectrum. He had to move quickly. He rushed back to the fire, and began shovelling dirt over it. One of the Ewoks yubbed at him scoldingly and snatched the half-cooked lizard out of the fire, taking a few defiant bites from it. Ooryl said to the Ewoks, "There's two vehicles headed our way. Ooryl could not identify them, so arm yourselves and take cover." The Ewoks snatched up their blaster carbines and scattered into the night, with only the occasional "Yub, yub" giving any clue that they were out there. Ooryl grabbed his own carbine, and took up a position to defend the fighter and the bacta tank, in case the Imperials had somehow tracked them down. There was a tense minute or so as the vehicles approached, their engines growing louder in the still night air, the light from their headlights flashing ever brighter. Finally, the vehicles stopped about fifty metres from the campsite, and doors swung open and shut. "This is about where I saw the thing come down," said a gravelly male voice with a broad rural Queensland accent. "You sure they're friendly?" "It is my belief that they are, yes," replied a familiar voice, with an unfamiliar haughty edge. "Of course, you understand that this is a delicate matter, as well as being highly secret. I would advise you to come no further." "And - I can't tell no one about this." "You would not enjoy the consequences if you did. Your co-operation is appreciated." "You bloody government types. Come pokin' around in some hard-workin' bloke's property, and then threaten the bloke if he tells anyone. The lot'a ya oughta be shot, startin' with bloody Little Johnny Howard. None'a ya understand what it's like out here in the bush." "That will be all, sir. Good night." The voice continued to grumble as a car door opened and shut. An engine started up, and slowly receded. After a while, Nick's voice called, "Ooryl? You there?" "Ooryl is here, Nick. You are alone?" "I am now," replied Nick as he crested the rise near the campsite. "I just had to -" Suddenly, a blaster bolt came screaming out of the darkness, singing the hair on top of Nick's head, causing him to yelp and drop to the ground. "Ooryl, it's Nick!" cried Nick plaintitively, but this call earned another volley of blaster bolts from the surrounding darkness. "Hold your fire!" Ooryl yelled, and with few sullen yubs, the Ewoks did so. Nick raised his head at the sound, and called out, "You gave blasters to Ewoks?" "Ooryl did not - Josh did." "And look at where it got him." Nick cautiously climbed to his feet again, ready to hit the dirt if the Ewoks opened fire again. The night remained refreshingly clear of blaster fire, so Nick picked his way down to the campsite. "What took you so long?" Ooryl asked as the Ewoks silently materialised from the darkness, holding their blasters at the ready, eyeing Nick suspiciously. "Ooryl did not think we were very far from you." "You didn't exactly give very good directions, you know." "It would have been easier were you Findsman," Ooryl replied, sounding hurt. Nick shrugged. "Well, I'm here now, I guess that's the important thing." He lit a glowrod and wandered over to the TIE fighter, playing the beam of light over the starfighter. "Wow," he said. "You know, I always thought of them as kind of small, but... I guess they're not." Nick then played the beam over the bacta tank. Peering into the bubbling liquid, he examined Josh's wound and winced. "Ooo - that's ugly. How's bacta boy coming along, anyway?" "As well as can be expected. It will probably be another eighteen hours before he can survive outside the tank." Nick nodded sagely. "Well, I guess we'd better hook up that generator, then. If you're going to have to fly an eyeball, I'd want you to fly it without the tank attached." "Ooryl was thinking the same thing."