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beatrice-otter · 2 years

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Fic: Currency

Title: Currency Fandom: Babylon 5/Star Wars Original Trilogy Characters: Han Solo, Chewbacca, Londo Mollari, Commander Sinclair, Betaed by: Morbane Length: 4265 words Rating: Gen Written for: Brachylagus_fandom in Crossworks 2022 Summary: Han and Chewie take a job carrying cargo to a place so far out in Wild Space they've never even heard of the Empire. Or the Jedi.

At AO3. On Dreamwidth. On Pillowfort. At Squidgeworld.

Han drank his ale, and looked around the bar as casually as he could manage. He didn't like the place. It was too bright, too open, and had a weird vibe. The clientele was pretty upscale, from what he could tell, but it was just a bar and a small group of tables on the edge of a common corridor, and the corridor itself was pretty plain. Clean, but not nearly nice enough for the clientele.

And the deck wasn't flat, because this place was too primitive to have artificial gravity. Han had never seen a station low-tech enough to get gravity by rotating.

Anyway, it was not the sort of place Han would have chosen, but it was where his client had said, so here he was. "How long do you think it'll take him to show?" Han said.

Chewie shrugged. {He'll probably be late. Ambassador to a dump like this? He'll want to make himself feel important.} Some of the people around them jumped a little when Chewie started talking; they probably didn't get many Wookies around here. And the translation device that had come with the job didn't handle Shyriiwook.

Han sighed. "Yeah, yeah. How late do you think he's going to be?"

Chewie shot him an annoyed look, but took a drink instead of answering.

"Captain Solo! What a pleasure to meet you and your … esteemed colleague."

Han looked up at the exuberant voice. The speaker was a portly near-human wearing a purple suit, partially bald with hair that stood up in a weird crest. "You must be Ambassador Mollari."

"Yes, yes, I am!" Mollari dropped into the third chair at the table. He waved a hand at the bartender, who nodded. "You have my cargo, yes?"

Han nodded. "Sure. You have our coaxium?"

"I do indeed!" Mollari said. "It arrived last week. Very difficult to find in these parts, we do not use it in our engines. And it is a hazardous material that cannot go in regular storage, so I am glad you are on time, because the storage is costing a fortune." The bartender brought him a drink, which he promptly tossed back.

"We'll need to check it before transferring your cargo to you," Han said.

"Very distrustful, Captain," Mollari said. "But of course, I will have to check that your cargo is genuine before I will give you the coaxium, so I suppose I cannot fault you."

"Hey, we picked it up where and when you said," Han said. "I'm just the delivery guy." He and Chewie didn't even know what was in it.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure it's fine," Mollari said, "but one can't be too careful these days, and it's not like we can either of us file a complaint if the other is dishonest." He finished his drink and stood up.

Han and Chewie did likewise. "The drinks are going on your tab?" Han said, when the ambassador made no move to pay.

Mollari made a face. "Certainly not! That was not part of our arrangement."

Han frowned. "We're only in this bar to meet you, and the deal includes expenses. This trip isn't exactly much of a money-maker for us. It's a long way back, and we don't have any cargo lined up going in that direction." They were in the middle of Wild Space, further out than anyone Han knew had ever been. There wasn't exactly regular trade with anyone in known space.

"I didn't require you to order anything," Mollari said.

"And it's not like Imperial Credits are good out here," Han pointed out.

{Or wupiupi, or druggats, or flan, or spira,} Chewie said.

"Exactly!" Han said. "That's the whole reason that you're paying us in coaxium, and pre-paid for the docking fee, and why 'reasonable expenses' are included. A drink in a bar is a reasonable expense." He was getting a bad feeling that they might have wasted a trip.

Mollari glanced behind them and his face brightened. "Ah! Commander Sinclair!"

Han and Chewie tensed slightly. Was this the beginning of a double-cross? They hadn't been allowed to bring weapons off the Falcon, so they were sitting ducks.

"You are just the man to solve our dilemma!" Mollari went on. A human or near-human wearing a blue version of the station uniform came over to their table. "These two fine people are from very far away. Very, very far away, so far that none of our currency systems are of any use to them. And so they cannot pay their bar bill. But! You Earthers are very curious about the larger galaxy, yes? And sometimes you pay for interesting things you do not know? I believe they would have much to share, for a price that would certainly include their tab here."

Commander Sinclair looked at them with faint skepticism. "Mollari, one of them is human. How far away can they be from?" He had a soothing, mellifluous voice, at odds with his military bearing.

"I'm from Corellia," Han said. "It's on the other side of the galactic core from here."

Sinclair's eyes narrowed. "There were a few small groups that set out in generation ships to found colonies elsewhere in the last century, mostly religious splinter groups—are you from one of those?"

"Don't tell me," Han said. "This is one of those places that claims to be the original human homeworld, and it's isolated enough that people actually believe it."

Sinclair raised his eyebrows. "You know other places that claim Humans evolved there?"

"Sure, a couple dozen at least," Han said. "Including Corellia."

"If you're from so far away, how can I know you're not just making things up?" Sinclair said. "It helps that your companion isn't a member of any species we're familiar with, so at least one of you probably knows about places we've not had contact with, but you're asking me to believe there are humans out there who have been out travelling the galaxy for so long that they don't know where they originally came from … and we've only had spaceflight for a little under three hundred years."

{Wonder how they lost space flight technology,} Chewie said.

Han shrugged. "I dunno, but there have been humans in the Galactic Core since at least the start of the Old Republic, and that was, what, something like twenty thousand years ago?" He turned to Chewie.

{Closer to twenty-five thousand,} Chewie said.

"Twenty-five thousand," Han said.

Mollari spoke up. "My people have had occasional contact with their people for the last five hundred years, at least, and they have always had humans with them."

"Why haven't you mentioned it before?" Sinclair said.

"It never came up," Mollari said. "They are from very far away, and we do not have contact with them often, you see, and it is very expensive to deal with them because we have no currency in common between us. But they do have a wide variety of interesting things, oh, yes." He paused, thinking. "The Vorlons may also have contact with them—ask Ambassador Kosh about the Galactic Republic."

"It's the Galactic Empire, now," Han said.

"That's assuming I can get a straight answer out of him," Sinclair said. He shrugged. "But I'll ask, and for now, consider the tab paid. But Mollari," he said, raising a hand, "if it turns out you're not being honest, it's going to go on your tab."

"Commander Sinclair, I am offended," Mollari said, in a voice that didn't sound very offended at all. "Do you think I would lie to you?"

"About a matter of great importance?" Sinclair shook his head. "Not unless your government instructed you to. About your bar tab? Absolutely and without hesitation."

"Ah, you know me so well."

Han and Chewie watched the banter, staying out of things. Han wasn't about to mess up a chance to get their tab paid.

"We will be in the cargo storage facility," Mollari said, "verifying each others' cargo and arranging for the transfer. When Kosh has verified their origins, you will find us there."

***

{It's genuine high-grade coaxium,} Chewie said, replacing the last of the containers in its cradle.

"You're sure?" Han said quietly, hoping Mollari couldn't overhear. "Not just a patch of the real thing over the nozzle?"

{I've been around longer than you, cub, don't try to teach me how to do my job,} Chewie said.

"If he can afford that much coaxium, why was he arguing about a bar bill?" Han wondered.

"Ah, my dear Captain Solo," Mollari said, with some irritation, "I cannot afford that much coaxium. My government, on the other hand, can, for a cargo such as you have brought us; however, they are much less understanding about things such as bar bills. Now that you have verified our payment is genuine—thoroughly verified, very conscientious of you—we can now go to your ship so that I may verify that your end of the deal is also correct, yes? At last?"

***

Han didn't know what Mollari had been annoyed about; he took at least as much time verifying that their cargo was what he expected as they had spent checking the coaxium. But, at last, he pronounced himself satisfied, and they arranged with the cargo handlers to get everything transferred.

Han and Chewie were standing by the hatch keeping an eye on things when Commander Sinclair found them again.

"Captain Solo, Mister Chewbacca," Sinclair said. He studied the ship with a keen eye. "Does this ship have artificial gravity?"

"Of course," Han said. "This is the first time I've ever seen ships or stations that didn't."

{Except for snub fighters,} Chewie pointed out.

"Snub fighters don't count," Han said.

"Snub fighters?" Sinclair asked.

"Small one-person fighter craft," Han said. "Engines, guns, and a cockpit. Plus shields and an enviro system, if you're lucky enough not to be an Imperial pilot."

"We have craft like that," Sinclair said. "We call them Starfuries."

"Pretty name," Han said.

"Yes," Sinclair said. "I understand you would be willing to trade for information about your part of the galaxy?"

"So, you believe us, huh?" Solo said. "This Kosh fellow must have said something nice about us."

"No, he said something inscrutable, as he always does," Sinclair said. "But when we met on the Zócalo, I didn't realize how unique your ship was. That, plus Mister Chewbacca here, prove that at the very least you have contacts with people we don't know. And if you were making up a story as part of a con, I'd think you'd make up something more believable than humans spreading out across the galaxy twenty-five thousand years before we developed spaceflight."

Han shrugged. He normally didn't like talking to authorities, but it wasn't like anything they told Sinclair could be used against them when they got back to civilization. And coaxium or not, it was a long trip back; they could use some more cargo to offset the fuel use and wear-and-tear on the Falcon. And, hell, half the reason they'd taken this job was because they needed to lay low for a while, so hanging around here a while longer would be no problem at all. "What do you have to trade that we might want?"

Sinclair had a list of commodities, and a list of things he'd like to know, and they sat down at the dejarik table to negotiate. It was tough, because a lot of the things that would be valuable back home and easy to offload were metals, which had a lot of mass, and when Chewie figured in the extra fuel they'd need to carry that much weight over the forty or so light-years it would take to get out of Wild Space and back to the Rim, they just didn't pay. But eventually they hammered out a deal that would work, and Sinclair went to get equipment to record their data.

He returned shortly with a Human woman in the same uniform, whom he introduced as Lieutenant Commander Ivanova. She pulled out a device and slotted a piece of crystal in it.

"Hey, whoa, what kind of crystal is that?" Han asked.

"It's just a standard data crystal," Ivanova said.

"Data crystal? You encode data in it?" Han asked.

{It can't possibly be kyber, could it?} Chewie asked.

"I dunno, Chewie," Han said. "Do you know how to tell if something is kyber or not?" He thought the Jedi had used kyber in their archives as well as in their lightsabers. And he knew for a fact that the Corellian Museum had a whole exhibit's worth of ancient media stored in kyber; he'd cased it a couple of times, but the security was too tight, and nothing had ever come of it.

{I think we've got something in the computer, I can check.} Chewie got up and went over to the technical station to look it up. People tried to pass ordinary crystals off as kyber sometimes, it paid to be able to verify you had the genuine article.

"What's kyber?" Ivanova asked.

"A type of crystal we have that's pretty rare, back where we come from," Han said.

"And valuable, from your response," Ivanova said.

"Sure," Han said. He hesitated. Normally, you never wanted to give away how valuable something you were trading for was, but on the other hand, they were paying him for information. He compromised by not mentioning the weapons applications. "It's got religious significance to some groups."

"What sort of religious significance?" Sinclair asked.

Han shrugged. "Depends on the group. But it's only found a few places, and the Empire restricts it 'cause the Jedi thought it was sacred and the Empire wiped them out." And also because they didn't want anybody but their own troops messing around with kyber-focused weapons.

"Wiped them out?" Ivanova said. "What for?"

"Emperor Palpatine says they were traitors," Han said.

"What do you say?" Sinclair asked.

"I was only a kid at the time," Han said, weighing how honest to be. It wasn't normally something he'd even consider, but in this backwater, what was the harm? "Chewie was an adult, but he doesn't talk about that whole thing. But Palpatine labeled them as traitors about the time he seized power and declared himself Emperor, so," he shrugged, "it's not like he was loyal to the Republic, either."

{Palpatine's the real traitor,} Chewie said. {If our government had gotten wind of what he was planning, we'd have killed him for it, without hesitation.}

Han stared at him. It was the most he'd ever heard Chewie say on the subject; maybe being in Wild Space was freeing to him, too.

"What's he saying?" Ivanova asked.

"He says Palpatine was a traitor, and the Wookies would have killed him if they'd known ahead of time what he was planning."

{Do you have the specs for the data crystal?} Chewie asked, clearly uncomfortable.

"And he wants to know the specs for the data crystal," Han said. "To compare with the specs for kyber."

Sinclair and Ivanova shared a glance. "I'll go get them," she said.

It didn't take her long to return with the specs printed out. Everything seemed to match, but translation was always tricky when you didn't have a protocol droid.

"It looks like it's kyber, all right," Han said.

{But they say they use it for everything,} Chewie pointed out. {All the races around here do. They can't possibly have enough kyber crystal to supply that many planets on an industrial scale, can they?}

"I dunno, but nobody's hoarding it for religious purposes, here, either," Han said. "Where does kyber even come from, in the Empire? Jedha, I know, but they don't sell it for commercial use. Where'd the Jedi get theirs?"

{They didn't tell anyone,} Chewie said. {There were rumors they'd go on vision-quests in kyber-filled caves, though.}

"And they had enough to do that after supplying enough kyber for lightsabers for at least twenty-five-thousand years' worth of Jedi," Han said triumphantly. "The worlds in this area have only had spaceflight for a few centuries. It's possible!"

"If you're arguing about scarcity, it's not like data crystals are disposable," Ivanova said. "They can be re-used almost indefinitely."

"It does match the specs we have," Han said.

{If our databanks are correct. If they're translating perfectly.} Chewie said.

Han shrugged. "Well, there's one way to find out," he said, unholstering his blaster.

{Cub, no!} Chewie yelped, as Han shot the crystal.

Everyone hit the floor as the beam refracted through it and multiple blaster bolts shot out around the room.

"Are we done shooting the place up?" Sinclair asked dryly.

{Han, you idiot, what did you think was going to happen if you shot kyber?} Chewie said.

"Sorry," Han said sheepishly. He climbed to his feet and holstered his blaster. "It's kyber, all right."

"A little trigger happy, aren't you?" Sinclair said.

"I didn't know data crystals could do that," Ivanova said, studying the damage.

{It can store data because it focuses and refracts energy, especially visible energy,} Chewbacca said. {Blaster bolts—and cutting lasers—are also energy.} Han didn't translate that. They could figure it out on their own, or not, and he didn't want to drive the price up. Kyber was, per gram, far more valuable than the metals they'd been negotiating about.

"So, does this mean you're willing to trade for data crystals?" Sinclair asked.

"Absolutely," Han said.

***

They ended up staying a couple of weeks as guests of the station, because getting a whole cargo full of un-formatted 'data crystals' required a special shipment. But Han and Chewie didn't care because the rooms were nice, the food and booze were free, the payment would be ample, and the extra time would let things cool down a bit back home.

"If I had known you would trade riches for mere data crystals, my government would not have bankrupted itself coming up with that much coaxium," Mollari grumbled over drinks in the Zócalo.

Han shrugged. "The coaxium is worth more."

{But not by much,} Chewie said.

"Well! Now that we know, we will probably be more regular in our purchases," Mollari said.

{That would probably be a very bad idea,} Chewie said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Han said. "If the Empire finds out you have multiple kyber-mines in this part of space, they will send out a fleet and take them by force. They don't like kyber being out of their control. Jedha's the main source of kyber for non-Jedi, and it's had a Star Destroyer parked over the Holy City since not long after the Empire took over. A single Star Destroyer would make mincemeat of you."

"Then perhaps not," Mollari said. "Or at least, we will have to be very discreet about it."

***

"You are sure you want them raw and unprocessed?" Ambassador Delenn asked them more than once. The crystals Earth was trading in exchange for information were being bought from the Minbari, so she'd gotten involved as well. "Our data crystals are known for the perfection of their shaping and formatting."

"We're not using 'em for data storage," Han said. "Most of 'em will probably be used for relics and stuff like that. And if they do get used for data, we have our own ways of doing that."

She asked for more about religions that venerated kyber, which Han didn't really know how to answer. It's not like street rats were known for their piety, and worship of the Force hadn't been big on Corellia even before the destruction of the Jedi. Chewie knew a bit more, because apparently he'd known a few Jedi. But most Wookies didn't worship the Force and didn't hold kyber sacred, so even Chewie didn't know as much as she wanted.

***

It was a nice vacation, but Han was getting bored by the time the shipment of crystals arrived and was loaded aboard the Falcon.

{Speak for yourself, cub,} Chewie said when Han was enthusiastic about getting on their way. {This is the best vacation I've had in longer than you've been alive.}

"We can stay a while longer, if you want, I guess," Han said reluctantly.

{It's been nice, but I'm fine with heading out now,} Chewie said. {I've got some ideas about how to sell those crystals anonymously and still get a good deal for them.}

"Good," Han said. "Last thing we need to worry about is the Empire taking an interest in us."

***

They got back to their usual stomping ground, unloaded the coaxium and most of the kyber, and found that things had cooled down enough they could relax and get back to their usual smuggling.

"What do you want to do with the last crate of kyber?" Han asked. "Use it as collateral to get into a really high stakes game? We don't want it cluttering up the cargo hold or smuggling compartments."

{Let's just tuck it into a closet for now,} Chewie said. {It's not enough mass or volume to be much trouble.}

"Good idea, Chewie," Han said. "If we turn up to a game with a crate of kyber right after a big, anonymous shipment of kyber changed hands, it'd be too easy to connect it to us."

***

Han had mostly forgotten about that crate of kyber by the time they met a crazy old man claiming to be a Jedi; it had just been taking up space, as they waited for the right time and place to unload it. (A single crate wouldn't be enough to pay off their debt to Jabba.) And anyway, it wasn't like they had much time for thought before the old man (who was a Jedi, after all) got himself killed. Luke didn't need kyber, he had a lightsaber, and so there wasn't any need to mention it.

***

"Hey," Han said, once he had recovered from the carbon sickness enough to notice things. "Is that a new lightsaber?"

"Yeah," Luke said. "I lost my father's lightsaber."

"Sorry to hear it," Han said, but Luke didn't look like he wanted to talk about it, so Han didn't say anything.

"Chewie let me take a kyber crystal from that crate you have," Luke said. "It sang to me—I didn't know they did that. It feels like a better fit for me than my old one."

"How can a crystal sing?" Han asked.

"Through the Force," Luke said. "I guess that's why so many religions honor them. Where'd you get so many kyber crystals from, anyhow? I never got around to asking Chewie why you had them."

"Few years back Chewie and me took a job that took us way out into Wild Space," Han said. "The people we were trading with use kyber for a lot of their data storage, so they've got a ton of it really easy to buy."

"Data storage?" Luke said, cocking his head. "I know the Jedi used kyber for data storage—they had these devices called holocrons that could store an imprint of the Jedi who made them, as a sort of guide and teacher for anyone who wanted to learn from them."

Han wondered if Luke had one of those, and if it was how he'd gotten so much better at being a Jedi in such a short period of time. Luke hadn't said, and Han hadn't asked—what he didn't know, the Empire couldn't get out of him if they captured him again. "From what I could tell, they just used them to store ordinary data in a really compact form," Han said. "If they knew anything about the Force, or the Jedi, they didn't say. Low tech—the station we made the deal on couldn't generate its own gravity. Nice people, though; Chewie liked them."

"Well, Chewie's a good judge of character," Luke said. "What did you think?"

"I actually didn't pay that much attention," Han said with a shrug. "It was just a job. And they're far enough out that I didn't think I'd ever bother going back. It was … nice, being somewhere you didn't have to worry about the Empire or the Hutts or any of the guilds, so I hung out in the casino a lot and figured Chewie would tip me off if there was anything I needed to worry about."

"A simple life," Luke said. "Must have been nice."

"It was, but I was glad to get back to civilization," Han said.

"But they have a lot of kyber they're willing to sell," Luke said. "I know the Jedi had a couple of secret planets with kyber deposits, but I have no idea where they were. I'd like to see if there are others with the potential to be Jedi, and train them, which means we'll need kyber for lightsabers."

Han shrugged. "I told 'em I wouldn't tell people how much kyber they had, so the Empire wouldn't bother them, but Chewie and I could take you. Kind of a boring place, but they were friendly enough. I wouldn't mind going back."

"If I can find enough students that we need more kyber, I'll take you up on that," Luke saidL

"Sure," Han said. "But first we gotta get rid of the Empire, or all you're gonna do is put a target on your back—and the back of anybody crazy enough to learn from you."

Luke shrugged. "If I wanted an easy life, I wouldn't have joined the Rebellion. I'd have stayed on Tatooine—or maybe found myself someplace boring and friendly like the station you got the kyber from."

"Yeah," Han said.

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