Rating: PG at the moment, later, who can tell?
Category: AU
Spoilers: JA 1 and 2
Summary: This has HappyAgricorps!Obi enjoying a worthwhile
career helping people and the environment.
Feedback: Yes please!
Archive: MA, all others please ask.
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. Let me know if they pop up for
sale on Ebay.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Layna and Destina who were nice
enough to say they liked it.
A bright light shone in the noon sky of Har'ex, attracting the
attention of the two white-clad figures laboriously crossing a
rocky, barren plain. They paused, watching the light scud
across the sky.
One of them pulled back the hood covering her head, revealing
short brown hair and a face wrinkled more by the sun than by
time.
"Looks like yet another arrival," she said. "We're becoming
quite the attraction." She took a long swig from a water bottle
and passed it to her companion.
He paused before drinking. "Was that a comment on me?" he asked
wryly, before drinking deeply as well.
The woman grinned. "Well, if the cap fits..." she teased,
reaching across to ruffle her companion's brown hair which was
bleached blonde and red by the sun. Her face went serious at
the man's sudden forlorn expression.
"I didn't mean you," she began to protest, then stopped at the
mischievous look on her companion's face.
"I swear, you fall for that every time," he laughed. "You are
such a soft target, Vic."
She laughed in turn. "You think I'd know better, wouldn't you,
with two husbands and three children? And I still fall for a
pair of wide eyes."
The man took another drink. "Anyway," he continued, "so another
gawper has arrived. We still have a job to do, don't we?"
Vic nodded as he handed her the bottle and pulled up the
protective hood again.
"So wise for one of your sex, Obi-Wan," she teased.
Obi-Wan's sole comment was a rude sound from behind his face
mask.
Six months earlier...
Obi-Wan Kenobi, ecological engineer and planetary consultant,
sighed as he rolled out of bed in an untidy room in an untidy
house on the edge of one of Corellia's smaller spaceports. His
head was pounding and he was regretting the amount he had drunk
the night before at the party to celebrate... celebrate
something, he was sure.
In the distance he could hear his Wookiee flatmate begin to
sing in the fresher, and really wished he couldn't. Marvik was
not a good singer, even by Wookiee standards, and Wookiee opera
was a rarified taste that was not to be acquired with the help
of a raging hangover. A scratching at his ajar door soon
revealed a purple tentacle as yet another of Keela's strange
plants decided that Obi-Wan's bedroom was the perfect place to
propagate. He tolerated the quiet slithering until he felt a
probe on his foot and discovered that the plant had grown the
six feet from the door to the bed in approximately 15 minutes.
His yell of anguish as he leapt from bed roused most of the
house. Lail, his next door neighbour, dashed into his room
wielding the first weapon he could reach, which turned out to
be an Agricorps issue field boot, liberally covered with dried
mud, while Art, the final member of the household, sauntered in
with a supercilious expression on his face.
"Honestly, Kenobi, you're such a wuss," he sneered, as Obi-Wan
hunched on the headboard of his bed, clad only in his
underwear, trying to avoid the blind probes of Keela's latest
plant.
"What is it?" asked an intrigued Lail.
"It's bloody horrible is what it is," yelled Obi-Wan. "Keela!
Get in here and take your mutant away!"
Keela wandered in yawning and rubbing her sleep covered eyes.
"Oh, there it is," she said vaguely, as she gathered the purple
tentacle to her and began stroking it and cooing softly. "You
probably frightened it, Obi-Wan. All it wants is some
attention." She cooed again at the plant which began to gently
stroke against her face.
"I frightened it? It tried to get in bed with me!" protested
Obi-Wan.
"Well, it's blind, you can't expect it to have a sense of
discrimination," said Art. "Besides, it's your best chance of
getting laid for a year."
"Yeah, right," sneered Obi-Wan. "You're just jealous because
that barmaid spent more time talking to me rather than you."
Art smirked. "At least I get a second chance. You're out of
here in three hours. A transport to Har'ex, I believe?"
Obi-Wan blinked. He was vaguely beginning to remember the
events of the day before. Something about a 10,000 credit bonus
on his next job and cultural restrictions. He frantically tried
to remember, as he began throwing clothes into a bag. His more
important luggage - his work equipment - would be waiting for
him at the space port.
"Har'ex?" he asked vaguely. "Why have I heard that name
before?"
"Because you're stuck there for a year, Kenobi," grinned Art,
not maliciously. "And, well, it's an interesting culture." He
tossed a datapad on the bed, which Obi-Wan recognised as
standard Agricorps briefing material.
Oh shit. This one was coded "sensitive". Obi-Wan hated those
assignments. Nervously he picked up the pad, praying that it
couldn't be as bad as the planet where they'd worshipped the
very weeds that were steadily destroying their ecosystem.
Four hours later, he was still reading when his transport left
the Corellian system for the non-Republic world of Har'ex.
Obi-Wan Kenobi sat in the ante-room of the office of the head
of the Har'ex Environmental Agency listening to his boss and
the agency chief arguing furiously, and wished that he was
anywhere but here. Kashyyk was nice this time of year, he'd
been told, although admittedly not by Marvik who was loud and
complaining about her home planet, yet curiously sentimental at
the same time. Hoth had its attractions he supposed. He shifted
miserably in his seat and looked up to discover that the agency
chief's personal assistant was still staring at him as though
she'd never seen a man before.
That was the problem. She effectively hadn't.
No doubt, thought Obi-Wan, there were men in her family that
she knew, and possibly even her brothers' friends, but Har'ex
had a strict social structure and no-one was in any doubt that
a man's place was in the home.
"We can't guarantee his protection!" a voice yelled from the
next office. "No-one's used to..."
"Surely you can make exceptions for foreigners?" soothed Lila
Paca. "After all, he is from a different culture."
"But that's it!" shrieked the Agency chief. "Are we going to
destroy our own culture to mend our environment? When will the
Republic interference with us cease?"
From the outer office, Obi-Wan could envisage Lila's patient
sigh. "I'm sure Obi-Wan will do nothing to outrage your
culture. And the sad fact is that, since our initial choice has
contracted Gamorrean influenza and is unlikely to be fit for
work for six months, he is our most qualified operative. He was
one of the team that reclaimed Nargala V, you know."
As Lila began her patient reiteration of Obi-Wan's suitability
for the post and his personal virtues - a speech that had made
Obi-Wan blink first time he heard it, since little of it
tallied with his own impressions of himself - he was distracted
by the appearance of another woman in the outer office.
This one was evidently no bureaucrat. Older than Obi-Wan, she
wore a faded but clean jumpsuit and heavy boots. She went
straight to the secretary's desk and consulted with her in low
tones before nodding and looking over at Obi-Wan. For the first
time since arriving on Har'ex, the younger man felt that he was
being looked at as a person rather than a curiosity. She eyed
him up appraisingly then turned and nodded at the secretary
before going into the inner office.
The loud voices quietened down shortly afterwards, and Obi-Wan
caught himself stretching to listen in. A gentle cough from the
desk reminded him and he sat back in his chair, grinning with
embarrassment.
To his surprise, the secretary offered a small smile in return.
A little later she offered him a drink. It was obvious that she
too was now deeply interested in proceedings behind the closed
door.
"Who was that?" asked Obi-Wan eventually. She started at the
sound of his voice.
"That was Vic NiSsula. She's running the environmental recovery
project."
"Formidable looking woman," offered Obi-Wan.
The secretary smiled. "What Vic wants, Vic gets. And it can be
interesting watching her getting it."
They both laughed, then the secretary seemed to remember that
she was speaking to an anomaly and lapsed into silence.
They both jumped when the comlink on her desk chirruped.
The secretary looked up from her call.
"You're to go in," she said, gesturing at the door.
Obi-Wan pulled a face and this time she flushed and smiled as
she left her desk to open the door for him.
Inside the office, two women were sedately seated in chairs,
while the third - Vic - was perched on a corner of the desk.
She stood up as Obi-Wan entered.
"Vic NiSsula," she introduced herself, offering her hand.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi," he replied.
"You're causing quite a stir," she commented. Behind her, the
agency chief glared and Lila shrugged her shoulders.
"I'm sorry," smiled Obi-Wan. "But it's a bit late for me to
change my sex."
Vic laughed, a short, sharp bark that creased up her
sun-wrinkled face. "It's okay," she grinned, obviously
appreciative. "We can work around it."
The agency chief spoke next. Obi-Wan realised that he didn't
know her name. He suspected it was deliberate on her part. Nor
did she meet his eyes or even address him directly.
"It has been arranged that," she paused and checked her papers,
"Agricorps Representative Kenobi will lodge with Engineer
NiSsula for the duration of his assignment here, and Engineer
NiSsula has agreed to take responsibility for Kenobi during
that time. For the record, I wish to note that I do not approve
of this arrangement and that Kenobi's visa will expire when his
contract is completed."
She looked directly at Lila, who nodded. "Thank you," she
replied. "In turn, I can assure you that Obi-Wan Kenobi will
have utter respect for your culture."
The agency chief just looked stony-faced as the three left her
office.
Once outside the office suite, Vic stopped and Lila sighed. "I
didn't think we were going to get away with that," she said. "I
do appreciate your offer, Vic."
Vic smiled. "No trouble, I'm sure. The house is big and there's
enough of us that one more won't be a huge difficulty. Besides,
we need this one's skills." She jerked her head towards
Obi-Wan.
Lila nodded. "I'll have his things sent over, if you give me
the address. I have to go back to the spaceport now. The
quarantine regulations are going to delay my departure."
She turned to Obi-Wan. "Contact me when I'm back on Coruscant
to keep me updated."
She shook his hand, pressing it tight for a moment, nodded to
Vic and turned on her heel and left.
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