“Hey!” a male voice
shouted. “What’re you doing?”
Yurrn and Irgan Uyllt
looked up and saw a rather large figure approaching
them.
It didn’t look good
for the brothers. They appeared rather incriminating
as they stood over two people who were crumpled like
dolls on the ground. A variety of conclusions could
be formed from such a scenario and they weren’t
about to stay there and be questioned.
“GO!” shouted Irgan as
he turned and ran.
“Wait for me, you
swamp spawn!” Yurrn chased after his brother and
disappeared into the cover of night, leaving the two
unconscious Jedi to their own fate.
The man charged toward
the fleeing cowards but they had already melted into
the shadows. Turning, he knelt down next to the
still bodies and checked their life signs.
Vaarn Nurgh was sorting
out his thoughts as he strolled up the street. “My
assignment has nothing to do with Mara, but that
woman… They look so much alike…” Suddenly he came
upon a man hovering over two bodies. “What happened
here?” he inquired suspiciously as he approached.
“Don’t know.” The man
shrugged and glanced back at the newcomer. “I saw
two men hovering over them.”
“Where are they?” Vaarn
pressed as he knelt down and felt for a pulse on
each person. They were
breathing, just unconscious. Noticing the saberdart,
he plucked it from each of their necks and examined
it.
“Ran off, the gutless
slugs.”
“Hrumph, child’s play,” he snorted, turning the dart
over in his large hand. “Must’ve wanted to rob them
or something. Why don’t you see if you can track
them down? I’ll take care of these two and make sure
they’re ok.”
“Uh,
ok.” The man nodded. Turning, he lumbered off and
soon disappeared.
“Looks
like they found some ID…let’s see who you two are.”
Picking up the ID chips, Vaarn took out his decoder
and inserted the first chip. “Interesting…very
interesting…” He nodded to himself as the
information appeared on the screen. “And just who
are you, little lady?” he asked himself while he
swapped the chips. A moment later he had his answer.
“Sakoya Jade-Kenobi, hmm… Well, that may play to my
advantage.” He took her ID out of the decoder and
placed them both in Obi-Wan’s pocket. Pulling out
his comlink, he gruffly spoke into it. “Rheu! Wake
up, you fool! Send transportation to the
Phantom’s Lock.”
“Huh?”
came the sleepy reply.
“You’re
not asleep, you night owl.”
“Well,
I was about to. I over-exerted myself tonight, ya
know?”
Vaarn
didn’t appear to be amused. “Quit shape-shifting so
much.”
“Well,
I have to, thanks to the demands of our employer!”
Rheu snorted resentfully.
“Just
send a carriage,” Vaarn barked.
“Fine.
Why?”
The
large man chuckled and replied, “Pick-up for two
Jedi.”
__________________________________*****__________________________________
When Obi-Wan awoke in
the morning he found himself in their resort room,
still clothed in the previous night’s attire. He
turned his head to the side and found Sakoya still
asleep beside him. To his dismay, he moved to
quickly as he sat up, which caused his head to throb
painfully.
“That must have been
some drink last night,” he commented outloud as he
slowly got up and walked toward the fresher.
Sakoya stirred at the
sound of Obi-Wan’s voice, grumbling incoherently,
and turned over, covering her head with her
husband’s pillow.
When the Jedi Master
finished his shower, he came out into the bedroom
with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.
He laughed at the sight of his wife and decided she
needed to wake up herself.
Walking over to the
bed, he leaned over and reclaimed his pillow by
snatching it away. Sakoya’s groans became growls of
aggravation as Obi-Wan’s wet hair dripped all over
her face.
“Get away from me!” she
shouted. “Ugh! Men!”
“Good morning,
sunshine,” Obi-Wan cooed.
“Just because it’s
morning doesn’t mean it’s good,” Sakoya retorted as
she pushed her husband – wet hair and all – away.
“I’m going to make some
caf, you want some?” he asked, smirking.
“No, but I’ll take some
tea after my shower,” she remarked, holding her head
as she got out of bed.
“Yours too?” Obi-Wan
asked.
Sakoya rubbed her
temples, although it didn’t help alleviate the pain
she felt. “Owww, what was in that drink last night?”
she miserably asked.
“That’s what I’ve been
wondering. I don’t remember coming back here
either.”
Sakoya moved her neck
in circles, which produced a few crunching noises.
“Ah, that feels a little better.”
“I hope so.” He visibly
grimaced. “What’s the last thing you remember from
last night?” he prompted.
The Jedi frowned,
“I…remember we were walking…talking…and –” she
paused a moment, “that’s it – nothing more.”
The Jedi Master rubbed
his goatee, while the crease in his forehead marred
his handsome face. “That’s all I remember as well.
Go freshen up while I make us something to drink.”
Sakoya lazily walked up
to her husband and threw her arms around his neck.
“I love you.”
“I love you too. Now,
go,” Obi-Wan playfully swatted her on the rear,
“wake up in the shower.”
Sakoya giggled and
kissed him before turning away and disappearing into
the refresher.
With a smile, Obi-Wan
shook his head and went to get dressed.
__________________________________*****__________________________________
Some time later, Sakoya
walked into the main room of their suite and found
her husband sipping on his caf and watching the
local holonews. He had kindly left her a cup of her
favorite [cassis] tea – all she had to do was pour
in the hot water from the duraglass pot sitting
beside the cup.
With her mug of
steaming liquid, she joined Obi-Wan on the divan and
curled up next to him.
“This explains how we
got here last night,” he said, handing her a datapad.
She looked at him
quizzically and set down her cup on the nearby table
then read the note left for them.
Apparently, the
Festival of Fools got the better of each of you last
night. I found you both cataleptic and placed you in
a coach. The driver scanned your ID’s and told me he
would see to it that you reached your suite safely.
Perhaps you will
return the favor one day.
Until we meet again,
Vaarn Nurgh
Curious
and confused, Sakoya asked, “Who is this ‘Vaarn’
person?”
“I have no idea,” Obi-Wan
replied. “But let’s see if we can find out.” Getting
up, he walked over to the desk and activated a
secure channel via the HoloNet. After entering the
proper
encryption codes, he sent the transmission and
waited for the recipient to answer.
“Ben! How is your
honeymoon?”
Upon hearing the
familiar voice, Sakoya got up and walked over to the
desk.
“Excellent. This city
has a charm all of its own,” Obi-Wan replied.
“It is so beautiful
here, Padmé. Thank you so much for suggesting it.”
Sakoya beamed as she took a sip of her tea.
“Yes, it really is a
paradise. We’ve been thoroughly enjoying ourselves,”
Obi-Wan concurred with his bride.
“Then why are you
allowing me to take time away from you?” Padmé said
with a twinkle in her eye. She hesitated a moment
and then her demeanor took a more serious tone. “Is
something wrong?” she queried.
Sakoya glanced over at
her husband who simply nodded at the viewscreen.
“Chancellor –” Obi-Wan
began.
Padmé frowned. “Ben,
stop that! We’re not in some official meeting. We’ve
known each other too long for you to address me like
that in private.” Padmé berated the Jedi Master.
“Now, please continue,” she said with a smile.
“See, I told you,”
Sakoya snickered and winked at her husband.
Obi-Wan glanced at his
bride out of the corner of his eye. “Quit gloating,”
he jokingly said before shifting his gaze back to
the viewscreen. “I’m looking for information on
someone named, Vaarn Nurgh.”
“Hmm, I’m not familiar
with the name… Any particular database we should
look in?” Padmé asked.
“I’d start with the
Imperial one first.” Sakoya interjected.
Padmé nodded in
agreement. “Just a moment, let me do a search.”
The minutes passed as
Supreme Chancellor Skywalker searched the databases
at her disposal. Due to her high position in the
Senate, not only did she have access to the Imperial
records from the Empire’s occupation of Coruscant,
but the Old Republic, Rebel Alliance, and Jedi
Archives as well.
Finally, she turned
back to her friends. With a shake of her head, she
told them of her findings. “There isn’t much. It
appears this person is a Clawdite and a smuggler of
sorts. The name you gave me is one he uses primarily
but that may not be his real one.” She shrugged
slightly. “The way they can change shapes, he could
have a dozen different names.”
“There isn’t any more?”
“My, you’re inquisitive
today, Ben,” Padmé said with a smile. “Let me take
another look.”
Padmé’s face
disappeared from view and was summarily replaced
with another.
Anakin smiled brightly
and waved at his friends. “Behaving yourself,
Obi-Wan?” he asked with a wink.
“Wouldn’t you like to
know?” the Jedi Master retorted.
Anakin laughed heartily
as Sakoya rolled her eyes and looked at Padmé who
had just came back into view. “Do you think we
should leave them alone?”
“Might be a good idea,”
Padmé chuckled.
Sakoya smirked. “On
second thought – they might come up with something
dastardly.”
“Of that I have no
doubt.” Padmé nodded, glancing out of the corner of
her eye at her husband. “I did find something else
about your mystery Clawdite. I had to delve a little
deeper into the records. It states that he’s a
personal protector of
Reynard Sindre.”
“Who?”
Sakoya asked, confused.
Obi-Wan
didn’t appear to be thrilled with the news any more
than Anakin or Padmé. He sat back, contemplating
this new information even as he said, “Mr. Sindre is
a wealthy scientist on one of the outer rim
territories. He’s quite obsessive from what is known
of him. He had amassed a fortune selling
biologically engineered toxins to the highest
bidder.”
Sakoya
was impressed by her husband’s knowledge of such a
villainous individual. “How do you know all of
this?” she inquired.
“He’s
been on a watch list for years,” Anakin responded.
“And
he’s extremely intelligent and knows how to cover
his tracks,” Padmé added with a sigh of frustration.
Sakoya
took another sip of her tea and thoughtfully said,
“Which is why he hasn’t been caught. Probably one
reason why he stays in the outer rim.”
Obi-Wan
nodded in assent. “No Republic governing.”
“What
have we stumbled into?”
“I
don’t know, Sakoya, but be careful,” Padmé warned
and then shifted her gaze. “You look like you have
more on your mind, Ben.”
“Hmm?
Oh, yes, I do.” Obi-Wan sat up more, focusing his
attention on the viewscreen before him. “The
Emperor’s Hand. Are either of you familiar with
such a person?”
“The Emperor’s Hand…”
Padmé murmured as she
stopped to think, a
slight frown marring her brow. “Not that I can
recall…”
Anakin turned away and
began a new search in the Imperial archives of his
friend’s request. Within moments the search was
complete and no matches were found. “Nothing here,”
he sadly informed them.
Obi-Wan sighed. “Thank
you. If there’s nothing in the Imperial records, I
doubt any of our other resources will have
information either.”
“What’s going on, my
friend?” Anakin prodded.
“It could be nothing.
Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s all
coincidence.” Obi-Wan replied.
“There are no
coincidences in the Force,” Anakin solemnly stated.
Padmé spoke up. “Be
that as it may, don’t let any of this disrupt your
honeymoon. You have some time left – go enjoy
yourselves.”
“Is that an order
Supreme Chancellor Skywalker?” Sakoya playfully
inquired.
“Yes! It is!”
“Be mindful, Obi-Wan,”
Anakin added.
“Isn’t that something I
used to tell you?”
Anakin laughed. “I can
recall a few times…”
Sakoya was grateful to
have such caring friends and relayed such feelings
through the Force back to them. “Thank you both,”
she said cheerfully.
“Anytime,” they replied
simultaneously.
Obi-Wan snickered as he
and Sakoya said their goodbyes and ended the
transmission.
“They’ve been married
too long,” he said with a laugh.
* * * *
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