"Day of the Hunter"
Arouk Bouk-Bousa

	I write this story not for fame or vanity.  I write this as a
testament for myself, because I can hardly believe what has
transpired.  You may believe or disbelieve it as you wish; but I can
only tell you my experience, and let you decide for yourself.
	I live in the triple-sun Arius system, on the planet of
Borru. There, I am a bacta grower and developer.  Not a glamorous or
rich business, but stable.  There's always fighting, always wounding,
and always a need for healing.  That was my life; that -- and my wife
and two sons Maric and Janill.
	One day, I was flying the skyhopper to Mat Matra, the main
marketplace of the planet.  I was journeying to pick up our weekly
supplies and spare parts.  Suddenly, an intense light blinded me, and
the hopper's controls became unresponsive.  It seemed that something
had hit the rear thrusters; but fortunately I was able to make a
relatively safe landing in a mandora patch, about 10 kilometers out of
the market-city.
	I climbed out of the hatch, and began to look around for
whatever had hit me.  The third sun, Aroul, was rising above the
horizon.  Within the hour, all three suns would be evenly dispersed
across the sky, leaving no shadows or shading on the landscape.  This
phenomena happened once a month, when our planet orbited in this exact
location.  The intense light gives the mountains and lakes an eerie
two-dimensional look. It was an illusion; everything looked surreal
and artificial.  Before I had a chance to enjoy this scenery, I saw
what must have fired upon me.
	A medium-sized attack ship was landing before me, a strange
but evil looking vessel.  As the lifters settled the ship only meters
from me, I could not decide whether to run or face this attacker.  I
was in the middle of nowhere; where could I flee?  Besides, if the
pilot had wanted me dead, he would have done more than take out my
thrusters.
	The ship landed, and the rear hatch opened.  An armored
humanoid staggered out, obviously wounded.  I heard him rasp through
his helmet speaker, "I had to stop you.  I need help-". At this point,
he fell to the ground, apparently unconscious.  I had half a mind to
leave the bastard to die.  But, my life was growing healing for
others, and I couldn't very well let this one die on me.
	This was a bounty hunter, no doubt.  The man was adorned with
several weapons, including a rocket mounted on his back.  He wore a
helmet which appeared to have sophisticated tracking and firing
devices.  He also wore green and gray armor, which if I didn't know
better, I'd say went back to the clone wars.  This was a mysterious
individual indeed.
	My ship was unflyable now.  I dragged the hunter back onto his
ship, noticing blaster holes in his side and left leg.  I went to the
cockpit and examined the controls.  Nice ship, but not too
complicated.  I managed to lift off and fly the short distance back to
my home.
	I commed my wife to get a bacta tank ready, and cut her off
when she started to demand an explanation.  I arrived home to see my
wife worriedly, and my sons excitedly, waiting for me.  I opened the
hatch, and Mark and Janill carried the man to our home, and set him
down by our low-level medical droid.  Nothing too sophisticated, more
a diagnosis machine than anything else.
	As I fumbled to remove his helmet, the man grabbed my hand.
"No." was all he said.  I was more than a little irritated at this
point.  "Hm. You cripple my ship, almost kill me, demand medical
attention, but don't want me to see you face?  Fine, lie there and
bleed to death."  Although I couldn't see his eyes, I could feel an
icy glare.  Finally, he let go, but nodded towards my family and said,
"They must leave."
	I nodded to my family, and they reluctantly departed.  I
turned back and said, "What's your name, friend?"
	No reply.  I shrugged, and went back to his helmet, releasing
the catches.  With more than a little nervousness, I lifted the helmet
of his shoulders.  What I saw I can never forget, not in a million
years, not through a million black slumbers.  If I tried to describe
to you what I saw, you would never understand, never believe.  I can
only say that if I never see that face again, it will be too soon.
	I removed the rest of the armor carefully, wary of hitting any
of the myriad of little switches and buttons covering his arms and
hands.  Assuming him to be a hunter, I knew that these devices were
not designed to instill delight and happiness to the recipients.  With
the help of the medical droid, we hoisted him into the bacta tank, and
let my bacta work it's magic.  I knew he would be there for several
hours, so I left him.
	Once out in the general living quarters with my family, I was
immediately besieged with questions.
	"Enough! I'll tell you all I know, if we live through this.  I
want you three to leave immediately."
	With much resistance, I corralled them into the
bacta-transporter, and watched them leave.  They agreed to stay
overnight at my brother's inn, at Man Matra.  As they left, it dawned
on me that if I ever wanted to see them again, I might have to do the
difficult thing.  I grabbed my laser rifle, checked the charge, and
walked back to the bacta tank.
	I took aim at the tank, knowing I could make sure that no harm
came to me or my family.  But I couldn't do it.  He was floating
there, helpless.  But there was another thing.  He was obviously in
top condition, yet there was something different about him.  There was
a cool deadliness surrounding him, almost taunting me.  Now I wonder,
did I not pull the trigger out of pity, or fear?
	If I wasn't going to kill him, I wanted to at least know what
he was.  I walked back to his ship, and entered once again, this time
more slowly.  The ship was Spartan and practical.  I began to look
through the holds, and found some very strange and foreign things.
There were caskets of spices and rare crystals.  One hold seemed to be
his "trophy" room, with skeletons of bizarre creatures and scalps of
some large, hairy creatures.  Could have been wookies, or vendalas, I
suppose.  This hunter must have seen a hundred worlds, and thousands
of lifeforms.  What adventures had he lived?  What changes in the
universe is he witnessing?
	I came upon one hold, and saw a strange device.  It looked
like a vegetable carbon- freezer, yet it appeared that there was a man
inside.  With disbelief, I looked at the control panel, and indeed,
this freezer was holding a human at a barely livable temperature.
This was too much.  Hunter or not, he had no right to do this to
another human.  I reached for the controls to begin the thawing
process-
  	As my hand came close to the panel, I heard steps coming up
the ramp.  Before I could react, I was staring into that blank visage,
the invisible glare once again beaming from the helmet.  He was
completely armored again, and appeared healthy; but in only half the
time it should have taken.  "How did you heal so-"
	"Get off my ship, before I change my mind." was his sole
reply.  The voice still haunts me...no emotion, no anger, no threat.
A simple warning.  I realized that he would have no compuncture from
killing me right there.  I simply stood up and walked away, never
looking back at him.  I know that my life was spared only by a sort of
barbaric code-of-honor of the hunter.  There would be no future favors
or returns.  My life was my gift.  As the ship lifted off, the weight
of a thousand banthas lifted from my shoulders.  The ship soon became
a speck, then...nothing.  Walking back to my home, I felt relieved,
exhausted, and to my surprise -- a little envious.

Submitted by Robert Keller
rkeller@csom.umn.edu