Out of this World

When Sol and Natalie entered the ship they smelled something burning. Sol followed his nose and found Gar looking apologetic and Master M'tz cleaning up Zaran's burnt flesh.

"I guess he's going into the diaper tank," Sol said more to himself, but Natalie heard him.

"Diaper tank, what's that?" 

"Oh, it's the bacta tank. We use it to heal injuries. I wonder how Gar managed to set Zaran on fire," Sol caught a look from an embarrassed Gar. 

"Let's get him into the bacta tank, Master M'tz raised his hand and levitated the still unconscious Zaran. He walked with Zaran floating in front of him to the port side cabin nearest the armory. This room wasn't a living quarters but a small medical bay. It was a combination of two cabins, but there were two doors. 

Master M'tz stopped in the room after setting Zaran on a bed. Why don't you kids make something to eat? I will join you after I have secured Mr. Zaran in the tank. 

"What do you want for breakfast?" Sol walked out followed by Gar and Natalie.

"Nerf steaks of course!" Gar grinned.

"Okay, I'm going to change and hit the refresher. I'll get to work after that. You can tell us how you set Zaran on fire while we eat," Sol walked away with a bounce in his step. 

"We only have one refresher for the ship, so if you want to clean up wait until Sol is done. You can have cabin 2 for tonight, I'll show you where it is," there wasn't too much of a surprise for Natalie about the cabin's location. They passed it earlier on their way to the carbonite room. 

"Alright, here you go, if you need anything I'm on this side of you and Sol is on the other side. Master M'tz is in the last cabin. You can relax in your room, or wait for Sol in the kitchen," Instead of going into his room, Gar walked toward the ramp.

"Where are you going?" Natalie followed a few steps.

"I'm going to help V6 make a road and a spot for us to work on the Mercury. Lots of man work, you know, nothing you would be interested in," Gar disappeared down the ramp. 

"Tch, sleemo." She learned a word listening to the two boys talking. Natalie went to her room and looked around. There wasn't much in the room, she found the screen near the door could display cable TV, and streaming services. She could also access the internet. After playing with the display she got bored and left her room. 

When she left she was met by Master M'tz, "Always on the go."

"Hello Master M'tz, my name is Natalie Rushmore. The boys hold you in high esteem, I wonder if you could explain a little more about Jedi. Gar says he's a Jedi initiate, but Sol is a Mandalorian trainee?"

"I can see you have many questions, Ms. Rushmore," Master M'tz replied. 

"Is it okay to ask?" Natalie looked at the mysterious Master Jedi. She saw the power of Gar, a mere initiate. What kind of entity was she facing now? 

"You may ask anything you would like, but I reserve the right now to answer questions that I wish," He smiled a kind smile.

"Are you an alien?" Natalie asked, she was in a spaceship with technology beyond that of Earth. From everything she could tell, she was in a spaceship. Were they aliens, did the strange stories the boys discuss happen? Was there a Jar Jar Binks, and was he an all-powerful lord of evil, or a hapless idiot that the light side of the force flows through?

"I am a human, but I wasn't born in this world. The boys, however, are humans from Earth. I met them recently and invited them to receive special training,"

"Can anyone get this training, could I?" Natalie asked.

"Who can be trained isn't only up to me, but when it comes to you --"

"Yes?" Natalie hoped the answer was yes. She asked the question randomly, but now she really hoped the answer was yes.

"I cannot say, I forsee a great journey before you. You cannot be considered for training until you decide," Master M'tz said.

"Decide? What do I need to decide?"

"Patience, child. That is for the future, and we haven't arrived. A teacher I respect very much said, 'Your focus determines your reality.' Tell me, child, what is your focus, and what reality do you hope for?" Master M'tz said. 

For the first time since she met Gar and Sol, there was no cunning in her eyes. All of her secret plans vanished under the kind and caring gaze of this Jedi Master. Tears trickled down her face. Why was she so emotional, she hid her emotions so well for so many years even when she was ripped away from her family, her little sister. Why did she want to share everything with this stranger?

"I want to free myself and my sisters. I don't want to be forced to kill. Please, Master Jedi, is there any way that you can help us?" Natalie asked with great hope and trepidation.

"Are your sisters in danger?" It's complex.

"Tell me everything," Master M'tz commanded. 

As Master M'tz and Natalie talked, a thirty-something Asian man appeared near their ship on a motorcycle. He closed his eyes and turned from the road into the forest. He finally hopped off his bike when the surrounding vegetation became too dense.

 He heard welding and a young man talking with him. Before his eyes lay an old Mercury Cougar stripped to its chassis. There was a robot of some kind, and a young man pointing to something and explaining to the robot.

"V6 I know this is only a car, but there's no reason we can't add repulsor to it, right? What if we want to take it to an alien planet? We need a speeder of some kind," Gar said to the little droid. 

Twiddling back to Gar, the droid spun his head a little, "Don't worry, I'll get more material tomorrow. We can build it out enough so I can take it into town. It's not a big deal. Don't forget to make the front passenger seat your droid slot, maybe make the door open from the side. Have a platform drop and you'll stand on it and the platform will bring you up. What do you think?"

Gar sensed something and turned to find an Asian man watching him and V6.

"Hello there, my name is Shang-Chi, I'm looking for Master M'tz," the man smiled kindly at Gar.