Part 5 (1/2)
”I will do anything you wish, Master. ”
”You will go to the court of Ta.s.saa Bareesh and uncover everything you can about the Cinzia and its contents. You're to travel incognito in order to minimize our apparent interest in the sale. You will report what you find to me directly, and I will decide what to do with that information. You will leave this evening. ”
Her voice was brisk and matter-of-fact, belying the significance of her words. This was a major a.s.signment, cutting through the thick of a complex political knot. Were he to fail, it would reflect badly on the Jedi Order, and perhaps hinder the entire war effort. The responsibility was considerable.
Coming so soon after his disappointment of that morning, however, it was impossible to silence a nagging, doubtful voice.
”Are you sure I'm the right choice?” he asked, dragging the words out as though they were made of lead. ”After all, the Council believes me unfit for the trials. There must be someone else better qualified who can do this for you. ”
”Are you telling me you don't want to go, s.h.i.+gar? That you're not ready?”
He bowed his head to hide his mingled pride and uncertainty. ”I trust your judgment, Master, better than my own. ”
”Good, because I believe my reasoning is sound. Your face is unknown on Hutta; you will therefore find it easier to pa.s.s unnoticed. And I have faith in you. Remember that. I am certain that this is the path laid down for you. ”
”So you have seen something!”
He tried to read her expression in the flickering lights of the city. She could have been amused, concerned, or completely blank. It was hard to tell. Perhaps all three.
He swore to himself that he would make her proud. ”What about the situation here-the gangs, the poverty?”
”That's the responsibility of the local authorities, ” she said, fixing him with a firm stare. ”They are doing their best. ”
He heard the warning in her voice. The Jedi's role in the galaxy led them outward, to Tython; he had been told many times before that the Republic's many social problems should not be his, even if this time Mandalorians were involved. Until Mandalore declared himself a particular enemy of someone, he could be considered more or less neutral. ”Yes, Master. ”
”Go now. There's a shuttle waiting for you. ”
s.h.i.+gar bowed and went to walk away.
”Be kind, s.h.i.+gar, ” his Master added. ”Some roads are harder than yours have been. ”
When he turned back, Satele Shan was gone, vanished into the night as though she had never been there at all.
With relief, Larin saw s.h.i.+gar striding along the thoroughfare toward her. He had been gone less than half an hour, but it felt much longer than that. After the encounter with the Senate Security Officers, she had spoken to no one and avoided catching anyone's eyes, feeling more out of place than ever. When he returned, she promised herself, and when he had finished a.s.suring her that he had spoken to his Master about the situation down below and she would do something about it, Larin could vanish back down her hole again, just as the Zabrak had advised her to.
It wasn't that she thought the Zabrak was right. On the contrary.
She just didn't know where to fit in anymore, up here. At least she had something to do in the old districts. Ever since her discharge, she had committed herself to protecting the weak and disenfranchised, those whom even the justicars ignored, to the extent her meager resources allowed. Unlike the justicars, she was interested in something more important than territory, and if that meant working alone, so be it.
”How did it go?” she asked s.h.i.+gar when he reached her.
”Well. I think. ”
”Are you sure about that?”
She didn't know him well enough to be able to tell what troubled him, but he didn't seem remotely content. His brow was knuckled, and the blue chevrons on his cheeks were twisted out of shape by the clenched muscles beneath. Perhaps the rea.s.surance she'd been hoping for wasn't coming after all.
”I have to go somewhere, ” he said. ”Will you walk with me, part of the way?”
”Sure. Where are we going?”
”Eastport. ”
”I thought you only just got to Coruscant. ”
”That's right. ” He glanced at her, as though surprised that she had remembered. ”I've been traveling all my life-since Master Satele took me on, anyway. ”
They walked at an easy pace through the temperate night. A light breeze ran its fingers through her short hair, and she was reminded of one good thing about life topside: weather. The last time anything had rained on her was when a sewage line had burst two levels up.
”I haven't seen another Kiffar for years, ” she said to break the silence. ”Were you on Kiffu during the Annexation?”
”No. Master Tengrove, the Jedi Watchman of that sector, found me the year before. I was on Dantooine when it happened, helping my Master dig through some ruins. ”
”Find anything interesting?”
”I don't remember” He glanced at her again. ”What about you? The Annexation, I mean. ”
”I was there, although I don't remember it clearly. I was too young. My parents slipped me into a shuttle and got me offworld before the worst of it hit. The shuttle took me to Abregado-rae, where a host family adopted me. They had taken on a lot of kids after the Treaty of Coruscant, but there was always s.p.a.ce for another. It was a madhouse. ”
”What happened to your parents?”
”They died in prison on Kiffex. ”
”I'm sorry, ” he said.
”Don't be. It's just more ancient history. What about yours?”
”Dead, too-from a vacuum seal accident on a Fresian shuttle, though, nothing to do with the Annexation. ”
They walked in silence for a while again, he looking fixedly ahead and she down at her booted feet. She felt the usual mixture of relief and sorrow whenever the matter of her parents' sacrifice came up. She hadn't known it at the time, but she had worked out later how much her narrow escape had cost them. With Imperial wars.h.i.+ps crowding their home planet, they must have bribed an Imperial gunner to overlook an escaping shuttle, plus the shuttle pilot and who knew how many s.p.a.ceport guards? They had given up everything, just to save her.
And how had she repaid them?
”I have to go to Hutta, ” he finally said.
”Why?”
”One of the cartels has discovered something. I need to find out what it is. ”
”Is this connected to that Mandalorian?”
”Seems so. But he's off Coruscant now and won't be bothering you again. ”
”Are you sure he won't come back?”
”As sure as I can be. ”