Title: Business Trip (Prologue I)
Note to Our Fearless Archivist: This series is an
offshoot of Rent-a-Sith and No Force
Rentals. Link to both, if possible!
Author: Per’agana (Per’agana and Gillian Taylor, for
the series)
Category: Crossover with just about every sci-fi show
around, humor, seduction, angst,
and some major plot development
Characters: Almost everyone from the R-a-S/NFR, and
R-a-J series
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Gill from NFR and Liz from R-a-S are invited
to tour the All-Sci Fi Rentals
agency by its enigmatic manager, Miso.
Disclaimer: We’d have to disclaim to half the universe
for this story! Suffice it to say that
we only write for lust and fun, not for money. (Who’d
pay for this, anyway??) No
infringement intended against the owners of Star Wars,
Farscape, Babylon 5, X Files,
or anyone else we include in this little sojourn.
Feedback: Please!

Note: This prologue is set during the NFR RR. The rest
of the story, timewise, is set
about a month after the night of the RR.
*************************************************************
Qui-Gon Jinn sighed as he stood in front of the NFR
restroom mirror. Most of his clients
would be downright astonished to know that he was, in
fact, sixty standard years old,
but tonight he felt every one of those years. The
party that he was forced to work was
going rapidly downhill in his estimation, anyway. His
apprentice was three sheets to the
wind and becoming belligerent, and Selah was flaunting
herself on the dance floor with
those two strangely effeminate men. And then there was
the near-fight. He’d managed
to calm his jealous, angry apprentice somewhat, but
Obi-Wan was still stubbornly
refusing to listen to him.

And then there were his own feelings on the matter. He
groaned, trying not to think of
that, or the confrontation with Luke Skywalker and his
damnedably inquisitive girlfriend.
He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he
failed to notice the shadow detach
itself from the wall next to the restroom door and
take up position behind him.

“Qui-Gon Jinn?” a soft, cultured voice asked from
right behind him. Qui-Gon started,
then almost cursed the failure of his danger sense to
warn him that there was someone
there. Been happening more and more frequently of
late, he thought dourly.     
     
He turned to face the speaker, a slight, attractive
Asian woman seemingly in her middle
years. She had a graceful stance, and attentive,
observant eyes. Her clothing appeared
expensive and well-cut, and a shimmering blue crystal
pin depicting a star shape was
affixed to the lapel of her long black blazer. Qui-Gon
was somewhat intrigued in spite of
himself– this was not the usual patron of his
services. “Yes, I am Qui-Gon Jinn, what
may I do for you?” he asked, some of his famed Jedi
calm trickling back into him.

She bowed slightly, a formal, archaic gesture that he
found oddly pleasing. “My name is
Miso Kim. I wondered if I might borrow a moment of
your time? I have a proposition that
I believe you will find of interest.”


Qui-Gon tried not to show his annoyance. This one was
no different than the rest–
uninterested in his mind, his connection to the Force,
his wealth of experience. Only
desiring of his body and the pleasures it could bring.
He sighed, attempted to sound
pleasant. “I am resting at present, Miss Kim. Perhaps
if you would care to make an
appointment with Gillian Taylor? I would be pleased to
point her out to you.”

She laughed softly and her eyes danced with obvious
amusement. “Not that sort of
proposition, Mr. Jinn. I am afraid I do not view your
species in that way. May we speak
privately? I assure you, I will not take up too much
of your time.”

Qui-Gon’s eyebrows arched at the beginning of her
statement. His species? She looked
human enough. He shook his head, hoping that his
long-practiced knowledge of the
galaxy’s many alien species was not also beginning to
desert him. He was happy to let
the worry slip away, though, and be pleased that his
first assumptions were correct.
Whatever this woman wanted, it wasn’t the usual. He
bowed back to her, noting her
appreciation of his good manners, and led her out into
the garden behind Rent-a-Jedi.
With the “action”, so to speak, in the ballroom of
NFR, he was reasonably certain that
this space would be deserted.

His assumption seemed to prove correct on first
glance, but sometimes the first glance
could be fooled, as any Jedi knew all too well.
Strangely, he noticed that his companion
also seemed exceptionally attuned to gradations in
shadow and sound. Interesting, he
thought. She is cultured, but not unused to the
potential of danger. For a brief moment
he was wary, unsure. Could this be a retaliation on
the part of Elizabeth and her Sith
masters? It would be unusually subtle for them, but...
He reached out with the Force
and studied this woman.

He withdrew the mental probe after what to him was a
long moment, but could in truth
be measured in parts of seconds. The results were
comforting, yet confusing. While
she showed no sign of inclination toward the Dark
Side, she barely registered in his
Force sense in general. Still, it wasn’t in and of
itself a cause for alarm. If she was
telling the truth about herself, it would make sense.
Many alien species registered
strangely in the Force.

She waited, seemingly expecting him to assess her.
“Did I pass?” she asked, less with
the more expected amusement than with evident
understanding.

Qui-Gon was a bit taken aback with her awareness of
what he did. “You have the
Force?” he asked warily.

She laughed again, the sound just as pleasing as it
had been the first time. “No, I am
merely perceptive. You are a Jedi Master, Mr. Jinn. Of
course it falls to you to worry
about potential threats. How difficult it must be for
you here, to be constantly
surrounded by reasons to be concerned.”

He smiled at her understated way of referring to the
ancient enemy of the Jedi. “You’re
referring to the Sith? Well, I do what I can.”

She inclined her head as if considering his words. “I
am quite certain you do, Mr. Jinn.
But it must be difficult, only one man against such a
pernicious threat.”

Qui-Gon stared at her in surprise. “One man? But
that’s hardly true! There are many
Jedi living here. And the Jedi Council is only down
the street.”

She nodded. “Of course. I apologize if I made it seem
as though they were
unconcerned. But they are all part of this “Rent A
Jedi” enterprise, are they not?”

“Well, I guess they are... You haven’t exactly told me
who you are, Miss Kim. Or why
you’re asking me all these questions.”

She smiled, her look conveyed remorse. “Again, I must
apologize, Mr. Jinn. I manage a
very large agency that provides similar services to
another galaxy. I have come out of
curiosity about how yours works. I must confess...I am
quite surprised by what I have
seen.”

Interesting, Qui-Gon thought, trying to take in
everything he’d just heard. She manages
an agency like Rent-a-Jedi, but for a different
*galaxy*? Fascinating! And she was so
unlike Selah– this woman was obviously all business.
He found himself unaccountably
curious about what the differences were between her
agency and Rent-a-Jedi. He sat
on a bench, invited her to perch next to him. “Tell me
more. How is yours different?”

“Well, it’s really rather difficult to make
comparisons. For one thing, those who
associate with my agency do not live together. The
technology of my region makes it
possible to transport clients directly to where my
associates are.”

Qui-Gon nodded, feeling his interest increase
exponentially. Especially with the mention
of such alien, and seemingly advanced, technology. “So
you send the clients to the
men?”

She nodded, and Qui-Gon laughed. “Well, that certainly
beats putting us in shiny boxes
and shipping us off to the clients by Galactic
Express!”

Her eyes widened in amazement. “Surely that isn’t the
way you meet clients!” Qui-Gon
nodded, and they both laughed. “Well, how in the
universe can you live a normal life
that way? Living together, shipped off in boxes, how
do you have any time left over to
be a Jedi?”

He sobered. “I haven’t nearly as much time as I would
like, I’m afraid.” He quickly
changed the topic, not wanting to seem disloyal by
airing his concerns to a stranger.
“So if you transport the clients to the
...associates..., do you warn them first that a client
is coming? I mean, that could be disruptive to the
missions of someone like a Jedi
Knight.”

“Well, you can imagine how difficult that would be,
considering that my associates are
strung across an incredibly large area. Although I do
ask that they let me know if there
are times that they absolutely cannot be disturbed.”

He smiled wryly. “I can imagine! It would be awkward,
to say the least, to have to stop
defending some beleaguered populace in order to
do...*that*.”

She looked astonished. “You mean to tell me that you
must...perform...for each client?”

Qui-Gon was confused by her apparent surprise. “Well,
why else would someone rent
us?”

“Because they’re curious about you, of course! Because
they want to spend a few
moments with you, see what your life is like. SciFi
Rentals makes absolutely no
guarantee of any intimate contact with an associate.
We’re facilitating contact, that’s all.
We certainly do not expect our associates to be
*prostitutes*!”

That hit home. Qui-Gon turned away in embarrassment,
and Miso was immediately
contrite. “Oh, I apologize! I didn’t mean to imply
anything! I was just...” She stood. “I am
terribly sorry. I should probably be going now... I
truly did not mean to offend you.”

He sighed and turned back to her. “No, it wasn’t you.
It’s just that sometimes I feel that
way. When I signed on with Rent-a-Jedi, I
expected...actually, I’m not sure what I
expected. But I didn’t expect to feel like this.”

She paused before him, her eyes deferentially
downcast. “I am sorry that it must be that
way for you. I wish I had not disturbed you, caused
you to think on such painful
matters.”

He looked up in surprise, having almost forgotten that
she was there. He had had this
dialogue with himself enough times lately that it was
almost strange to be having it with
another. He motioned to her to sit back down on the
bench with him. To his surprise, he
was oddly pleased to finally be able to give voice to
some of his feelings. Especially to a
woman from another species and another *galaxy*, yet.
He’d debated talking it out with
his padawan or with Selah, but he’d always held back.
The anonymity of this situation
made it somehow easier.

Finally, he looked back at his companion. “It was the
admiration, I guess.” He said
softly, after a long moment’s thought. “The Jedi
sometimes seem to have a thankless
job. Don’t mistake me, though, I love it. I could
never, *would* never want to be
anything else. But these aren’t the glory days of the
Jedi. The Republic seems to be
crumbling, and there’s little that anyone seems to be
able to do about it. Too many
times I’ve been sent somewhere on a mission only to
find out that I’m only trying to put
a bandage on a wound that’s too large and has been
festering too long for it to truly be
healed by anything but a lot of time and attention–
and we never have that to give.
There are too many things that need and deserve the
attention of the Jedi...” He broke
off, staring into the stars as if he hoped to reclaim
their inspiration.           

“I was surprised when the council agreed to this
Rent-a-Jedi project, since it was
something that would divert so much of our time from
our duties. But I’ve thought a lot
about it, and I think the Council probably feels as
discouraged as I do. A chance for us
to actually receive some caring, some attention...I
suspect it was as attractive to them
as it was to me. And the admiration of the clients? It
was...a revelation, almost. I’ve
never felt anything like that before. It is so
difficult to effect meaningful change as a Jedi
sometimes, but yet this role offers an ability to so
easily bring pleasure and happiness
to others, and to receive it.”

She listened to him attentively. “It sounds as though
there are parts of this that you truly
enjoy.”     

Qui-Gon smiled softly. “Some, yes. But it has also
brought things out in me that I didn’t
expect. Things that perhaps being a Jedi all my life
has insulated me from feeling.”

Miso raised an eyebrow, but did not interrupt him.

He sat in silence, the tension in his face testimony
to the struggle within him. Finally, he
spoke. “On the positive side, it’s brought me love. I
care deeply for Selah.”

Her eyes widened. “Your manager?”

He nodded. “That surprises you? Seems to be something
of the rule here. Selah and I,
Elizabeth and her Sith Masters, and I think there’s
something between one of the
women at No Force Rentals and that smuggler everyone’s
so fond of.”

She shook her head. “I do not permit such behavior.
Not in myself or in any of those
who assist me. I find that it complicates matters and
inevitably brings pain.”

He nodded bitterly. “I can attest to that. It isn’t
just that Selah and I have a relationship.
We also share our relationship with my padawan
learner.”

“This bothers you, clearly. Why do you choose to do
so, then?”

“The Master-Padawan relationship is a close one. I
care for Obi-Wan, he means a great
deal to me. When Selah fell in love with me, she also
felt the same for him. To deny
them the ability to express that affection would have
harmed them both. I wanted to see
them  happy. In the beginning, it was easy. I don’t
know when it became...different.”
           
“Different?”

“When I started to make comparisons. Comparing
yourself to another is the bane of
enlightenment, of confidence. One of my first trainers
told me that...only now am I
discovering how true that is. I began to realize how
much more...popular...my padawan
was than I am. What began as a moment’s passing
jealousy has begun to eat at my
soul. I feel that Selah cares more for him than for
me, that she is more in *lust* with
him. It is natural, I tell myself, I am so much older.
But it pains me no less simply
because it is logical. I knew she also harbored a
fascination for another young Jedi. I
found a way for her to satisfy her craving for him,
and yet to seems to have gone
horribly awry somehow...” His voice trailed off. He
felt spent, unable to allow any more
to pour out of him.

She shook her head. “You have taken quite a bit on
your own head, Qui-Gon Jinn. You
cannot be responsible for *everyone* you know– not
even a Jedi Master is capable of
that.”

He looked up in surprise. “Do I sound that much of a
martyr?” He looked deeply into her
amber-flecked obsidian eyes, and saw the truth
reflected in them. “Well, I guess I
should add arrogance to my list of faults,” he said
sheepishly.

She lifted an eyebrow, but said nothing, offering him
the space to follow the thought.

“It is arrogance as well as responsibility to think
you can do everything, Miss Kim. It’s
just that my padawan and Selah are so young, and even
those whom I’ve held in the
deepest respect over the years have *changed* so
greatly since this Rent-a-Jedi project
started. I barely recognize Mace Windu anymore... and
I *do* feel responsible for Rent-
a-Jedi. Selah’s protocol droid found out about us and
brought a complaint to the
council, and...”

Miso cut him off. “A *droid* complained to your
council? That’s astonishing! Taking
artificial intelligence a bit far, I’d say!”

He grinned. “Especially in T’s case. He’s a regular
pain in the... well, you know. At any
rate, the council gave me the responsibility of
watching over the company’s welfare.”

She looked at him. “And it would no doubt be easier if
your boss was not also your love,
and your ...responsibility.”

He started to protest. “It’s not that... well, yes, it
is. You’re exactly right.” He shook his
head ruefully. “It seems like, from what you’ve said,
your agency has a better...handle
on things.”

She nodded. “Somewhat, yes. It just seems, from
listening to you, that what you really
need is to spend some time remembering what it is like
to be a Jedi. And then, to
decide if you are willing to fight your padawan for
your love’s affections.”

“I could never fight Obi-Wan for...”

She interrupted his angry disclaimer. “Could you
continue to leave things as they are?
Truly?”

His shoulders slumped. “No, I could not. I didn’t
realize how difficult this would be. And
you’re right, I do need to remember what it was like
to simply live as a Jedi.” He sighed.
“Unfortunately, the Council probably won’t see things
as I do, won’t give me the
freedom to be both a part of Rent-a-Jedi and the Jedi
Master I was meant to be. It’s too
bad we don’t do things the way you do, then they
wouldn’t conflict.”

She thought for a moment. “You’re right, Qui-Gon Jinn.
And it seems strange to me that
the council would choose to be in charge of a project
like this. Perhaps you need
someone to take care of such matters so that your
Council could get back to its real
business.”

He looked at her sharply, the idea taking hold in his
mind. He hated to go behind
Selah’s back like this, but perhaps this was the best
way.. “Someone like you, Miss
Kim. Would you be interested?”

“In Rent-a-Jedi? I don’t know. I hadn’t thought of
it...”

“If you’d be willing to think about it, I could speak
with the council on your behalf.”

She was silent, seeming to ponder his offer, before
smiling at him. “I will certainly
consider your offer. In the meantime, try not to
spread yourself so thin... I wouldn’t want
a potential associate of mine exhausting himself like
this!”

He grinned softly. “Of course not. Thank you, Miss
Kim. I’m glad I met you...thank you
for putting up with the meanderings of an old Jedi.
You don’t know how it’s helped.”

She waved his apology away. “It was nothing. I enjoy
listening to you. You have a keen
mind and an appreciation of life that I find becomes
ever more exceedingly rare as time
marches on. Take care, Qui-Gon Jinn.”

She bowed slightly to him, then turned and walked
quietly out of the garden, leaving
Qui-Gon alone with his thoughts. For the first time in
a long while, Qui-Gon felt the
sense of burden, of *weight* on him begin to lessen.
Perhaps, he reflected, there were
answers out there after all.

***tbc***