Deep Cover

A short that I put together a while back. Just a "day in the life" of a Jedi on the run during the Empire...

Karmack looked up as the bell over the door to his shop chimed softly. A smile spread on his face at the sight: A child clutching a hard-sided case to his chest, eyes darting nervously around the shop as his mother followed along behind gently prodding him forward. “Good afternoon! What can I do for you, young sir?”

The boy looked at him, eyes wide and remained silent. “It’s ok, Jonas, he just wants to help.” His mother said, bending down and giving her son a protective hug. “Tell the man what you need.”

Karmack let his smile spread. “Jonas. That’s a strong name. What can I do for you, Jonas?”

“It won’t open, mister…” he said, still clutching the case.

“Karmack.” Karmack said, extending his hand with a wink to the hovering mother. “Nice to meet you, Jonas.”

“Likewise.” The young man said, slipping his small hand into Karmack’s calloused paw.

Karmack gently squeezed his hand, applying firm but gentle pressure and then released him. “So, let’s take a look. May I?”

The boy looked up at his mother again, then reluctantly handed the case over and stepped back, pressing into his mother’s skirts. Karmack smiled reassuringly at him before turning his attention to the case. “OK. So it’s usually just a jammed locking mechanism…” He gave the case a quick once-over and was unable to locate any form of mechanism. “Hmm….”

“We thought so as well, but we can’t locate a lock or release lever.” The mother offered up, pulling her son tighter into her skirt.

“So I see. Well, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.” Karmack grabbed a small scanner and set it to scan for trace power signatures by feel, his eyes never leaving their ever deepening scan of the case’s exterior. He slowly brought the scanner across the top of the case looking for hidden triggers and switches designed to release a latch or otherwise unseal the case. After several minutes of detailed scanning he still had nothing.

“Hmm….” Jonas and his mother receded from his attention as he selected another scanner with higher resolution and sensitivity and repeated his scan of the case. His smile disappeared as again nothing registered. There was no power source, no powered mechanisms, nothing electronic with which to release the locking mechanism that held the case tightly closed. Another scan, this time with a tool designed to look for minute cracks in metallic tools and ship’s hulls revealed no hidden buttons or gadgets. Karmack felt his brow furrow deeper, his concentration sharpening. He was remembering his own encounter with an impossibly locked box, how he’d discovered the key when he reached out with the force, tracing the lines of power that held the case left behind by a Jedi Sentinel for him to find generations later. He fiddled with his instrument again, this time for show, and prepared to open his senses and reach out with the force…

A quiet whimper, barely audible, caught his ear.

Karmack continued his fake scan, his attention snapping back up and “out” into the room around him. Jonas and his mother were nearly to the door, ever so slowly backing away from him. Karmack continued to give the impression of intense concentration on his task as the pair reached the door. With his senses he opened up, scanning the exterior, the street, the alleyway and walkways… There! Armed men, perhaps six or seven, and a shadowy presence, dark and malevolent and shimmering in the force with incompletely hidden power.
The tinkle of the small bell on the shop’s door rang again, small and suddenly forlorn. Karmack looked up in time to see the nameless mother mouth the words “I’m sorry” before disappearing into the darkening street scene outside. By reaching out with the force Karmack had revealed himself. Like the shadowy Sith outside he took great pains to cloak his abilities and hide himself from other force-sensitive people. He was generally successful, but by scanning the area he had marked himself as a force user as readily as lighting up his lightsaber would mark him in a dark room. And yet…

He was missing something. There was more to this puzzle. His training had been under less-than-ideal conditions and had some interesting holes in it, but Master Cunn and the rare visiting Knights who had spent time with him over the last several years had all stressed the same thing: there is always time to think. Act, do not react. So Karmack set down his tools, gripped his lightsaber, and let his thoughts race. What was he missing…

His attention came back to the box. Why the box? Was it just to get him to use his abilities and verify who he was, but if that was the reason then why was the strike team not already in the room with him? They were – he checked quickly – still waiting outside, ready but not making any overt moves. The Sith was still as well, ready to pounce but passive. Waiting… Karmack looked at the box and his eyes narrowed. Not a puzzle, like his box from Master Cunn. This one was a trap.

With a deep breath Karmack sprang into motion. He lifted the case and tossed it against the far wall of his small shop, exactly opposite the bulk of the armed men poised to storm the place. He then did his best to cloak himself again in the force, moving quickly to the rear and to a small door the led into the alley opposite the main street. Ready and with his hand on the door, he took a deep breath and reached out with the force, gently probing into the small case as he had been about to do before Jonas’ sigh stopped him.
Inside the case a small device sensed the probe and initiated an electrical pulse, which induced the explosives in the case to instantly flash into plasma, turning the case itself into shrapnel. The wall exploded outward, catching the small team by surprise, killing one outright and wounding two others.

Karmack was already in motion, springing into the ally as the case exploded behind him. His saber ignited as he ran, blocking two shots from the sentry left to guard the rear door before slicing through the hapless trooper and then disappeared again, its work done.

Karmack ran for several blocks before dropping back into full stealth. Behind him the shadow of the Sith faded, preoccupied with the attack on his team and attempting to sort out if Karmack had died in the rubble. Soon enough he would find the sentry and know the truth. Karmack intended to be long gone by then.

Long gone and back into deep cover.