Part 1: In which a message is received

 

Kaliyo crawled blearily out of bed, ignored the shower, threw on a bathrobe and limped to the galley. “Coffee, hot, strong and plenty of it”, she mumbled at the ship droid.

 

Lokin looked up from his unsweetened skimmed milk porridge with extra oat bran. “Hung over again, Kaliyo?” he enquired, with precisely the right blend of condescending amusement and sarcasm in his voice to really get under her skin. She knew he did it deliberately, and he knew that she knew, but she was unable to stop herself reacting to it. This naturally only increased his amusement.

 

“It’s not a good day unless it starts with a hangover”, she growled.

 

“Fascinating”, said Scorpio. “I shall observe your actions and document precisely how your faculties are improved by this condition.” She hummed almost contentedly as her oil change continued. She insisted on performing her maintenance routines in the galley at mealtimes, in order to catalogue the social interactions of the crew and determine the best methods of destruction.

 

“Shut up, Scorpio, or I’ll wipe that permanent smirk off your metal face”, Kaliyo snapped back.

 

Scorpio buzzed and whirred briefly. “I estimate that you would have only a 17.92 percent chance of doing so in your present physical state. Do you concur, Doctor?”

 

Lokin pondered for a moment. “I really don’t consider myself qualified to judge the matter to that level of accuracy, my dear Scorpio.” He took another spoonful of porridge, managing (albeit with some effort) to look as though he was actually enjoying it. “We could go to the training room and perform some experiments later, however.” He beamed benevolently at Kaliyo.

 

“Shut up, ghoulhead!” Kaliyo stabbed a spoon viciously into her coffee cup and stirred violently and unnecessarily, splashing multiple drops of the hot liquid across the table, fortunately not hitting anyone, though she’d been trying to aim it at Lokin.

 

Vector was lost in contemplation of an orange, having eaten one segment of it, and apparently not paying attention, but he looked over at Kaliyo and stated solemnly: “We find it interesting that your aura changes after drinking alcohol.”

 

Kaliyo swallowed a mouthful of coffee and made a noise rather like a snarl. “How about we experiment on you, bugboy? I’ll tie you up and tip alcohol down your throat and you can watch your own aura changing!”

 

Vector pondered for a moment, then shook his head, replying seriously: “Since the joining, our metabolism has altered. Alcohol no longer has the same effect on us as on other species. We thought you were aware of this.”

 

“A very useful side effect, especially for diplomatic parties”, remarked Lokin cheerfully, as he scraped the last bit of porridge out of his bowl. “All that social drinking, circulating, and deal making, need to keep your wits about you. I’d started Protean on a project to see if that particular effect could be isolated and supplied to the Diplomatic Service. I’m sure they would have found it most useful.”

 

“Another of your private moneymaking projects, Doc?” sneered Kaliyo.

 

“A benefit to diplomats everywhere; the name of Eckard Lokin would surely be blessed. I expect Master Vector could regale us with many horrifying examples of alcohol-induced diplomatic disasters.” He looked over at Vector, who had returned to contemplation of the orange again and made no response.

 

Raina, who was on watch duty, stuck her head round the door. “Oh, I thought the agent would be in here, anyone know where she’s got to? There’s an urgent holomessage for her. Quadruple-encrypted, so it must be important.”

 

“She’s as paranoid as the Doc now, doesn’t mean anything”, Kaliyo shrugged, not quite spilling her coffee.

 

“I’ve taught her well”, Lokin nodded with smug superiority.

 

“The encryption isn’t the problem”, said Raina impatiently. “I've already cleared the first three levels. That's when I found out it’s from Republic space, and time-sensitive. It took so long to get through our alternative routers and firewalls that she’s got less than an hour before it expires.”

 

Scorpio clicked and buzzed, then announced: “According to ship sensors, the agent is in her quarters, viewing maps of Corellia. An individual of average intelligence would be able to deduce that this information could have been obtained from the control centre.”

 

Raina narrowed her eyes. “I was at the holoterminal, not in the control centre. This is closer, I thought she’d still be at breakfast, so I came here. Try programming common sense sometime, you ... you ... recycled protocol droid!”

 

“Your insults are meaningless”, intoned Scorpio.

 

Raina rolled her eyes and departed. Kaliyo drank three more cups of coffee in silence. Scorpio clicked and whirred occasionally. Lokin put his bowl and spoon into the washer, then contemplated Vector with something of the same expression with which Vector was examining his orange. Vector took no notice of any of them, but managed to eat another two orange segments over the next fifteen minutes.

Aww, we rarely see the agent companions detailed to this level in the first chapter of a fic, and I'm enjoying it. I love the mental image of Vector slowly nibbling on an orange slice. Is this it, or will we see more?

Nice portrayal of the IA crew. I certainly hope there's more to come!

Aww, we rarely see the agent companions detailed to this level in the first chapter of a fic, and I'm enjoying it. I love the mental image of Vector slowly nibbling on an orange slice. Is this it, or will we see more?

Nice portrayal of the IA crew. I certainly hope there's more to come!

 

Thank you both for your kind words Yes, there is definitely a lot more to come, but after part 2 which I'm about to post, it may be a bit slow in the coming. I know where it's going, but it needs to get there, and I have a full time job as well as a gaming addiction

Part 2: In which the message is understood

 

Raina knocked on the door of Quave’s quarters. “Are you in there?” she enquired, a bit pointlessly.

 

The door slid open and Quave looked up from her desk, wiping the screen as she did so. “What’s up, Raina?”

 

“Urgent message, Agent, time sensitive - I’ve taken down the first three encryption levels for you, quite difficult, but one of them was actually based on a Cheunh - Chiss language - algorithm which was standard protocol at the base on Hoth ...” She was waxing enthusiastic, but trailed off suddenly, as Quave was regarding her with an ironic “concentrate on the job in hand, Raina” expression. She handed over the message chip without further comment.

 

Quave snapped the chip into the slot on her workdesk and glanced at the lines of code that came up. Beyond widening her eyes briefly she made no sign. “I’ll sort it, thanks Raina.”

 

Doing her best to suppress curiosity, Raina went back to the bridge.

 

***

 

The intercom buzzed with the two short and one long signal that meant: “Urgent, get here now.”

 

Raina shot down the passageway from the bridge and collided with Kaliyo who was coming out of the galley, still carrying a coffee cup, fortunately empty. The two exchanged glares as they continued to the briefing room.

 

Lokin emerged from the medical bay carrying two datapads and a holorecorder, and clapped Vector on the shoulder as they met in the briefing room doorway. “Interesting times again, Master Vector, something to get our teeth into perhaps?”

 

“We are not sure that teeth will need to be involved, Doctor, but indeed we expect it to be of interest.” Vector spoke calmly and with no hint of humour. Lokin frowned internally but maintained his normal outward air of slightly smug benevolence. It annoyed him that he had still not managed to work out whether Vector’s literal response to certain figures of speech was genuine miscomprehension or done deliberately to wind him up.

 

Scorpio glided silently into the room and took up her customary place by the wall next to the door as the rest of them found chairs around the table. She had previously explained that, once she found a way to execute them, she had calculated that this would be the best position from which to implement it.

 

All of them gazed expectantly at the Agent.

 

Quave pushed the message chip into the holoviewer in the centre of the table, and her own image came up, dressed in a casual leather jacket and plain slacks with a pair of very serviceable-looking blaster pistols at her belt. She froze it in place. “Ladies, gentlemen, Scorpio ... meet my twin sister Cademuir.”

 

“Really, Agent, I’m impressed!” exclaimed Lokin. “I never found any trace of your family beyond Dromund Kaas. You hid her very well indeed!”

 

Raina switched her gaze back and forth between the image and Quave. “That’s amazing, you’re completely identical. I would have accepted her as you without even wondering!”

 

Quave shook her head with mock despair. “Raina, you really, really need to get more suspicious. You know I never use pistols.”

 

Lokin nodded sagely. “Paranoia always pays off, if only in an increased life expectancy.”

 

“We thought we knew your family, but you have never spoken of your sister to us”, said Vector, looking a little downcast. Quave patted his hand. “There were good reasons, love, you know I would have shared with you if I could.” She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, at which he brightened up.

 

Kaliyo mimed vomiting into her coffee cup and muttered, “Get a room”.

 

Quave touched the play button on the console and the image spoke. The voice was a cheerful one, a bit higher pitched than Quave’s and had a marked Republic accent. Lokin raised his eyebrow slightly and Raina looked very surprised.

 

“Hey sis, bet you were never expectin’ to hear from me like this. I’ve called in sixteen favours from here to the Outer Rim to find you, and had to shift this message cross borders three times, you always were a pain in the butt, know that?” The saucy grin on Cademuir’s face belied her complaints. “Listen, somethin’s up, and a whole load of big shots have gotten more antsy than an akk dog with ginger up its backside.”

 

“A colourful lady, this sister of yours”, murmured Lokin.

 

“Seems some Jedi are lookin’ for you, ‘cept it’s on behalf of a Sith, not Jadus, some new bigshot callin' herself Wrath or somethin' like that. Guss says the Jedi check out, he met one of ‘em on Tython, and the message came in from an Imp bounty hunter who did a couple of jobs for Nok Drayen so Risha vouches for him. The other Jedi's sister is a free trader workin' central mostly, she's confirmed it's legit. Got Republic military in it somewheres too, haven’t figured that bit yet, but I’ll tell ya it’s not good for business, havin’ those types show up here. Makes the locals kinda jumpy, y’know?” She grinned again. “I’m just tellin you all this so you know it’s important, ok?”

 

Quave pressed the pause button again and the image froze.

 

“Are you sure the message is genuine?” enquired Lokin.

 

“Oh yes,” replied Quave. “She included plenty of identifiers in it, and the final encryption level was a personal one.” She eyed Lokin. “And no, you may not have a copy to analyse and figure out how to fake it.”

 

Lokin threw up his hands and feigned injured innocence. “Agent! Would I do such a thing?”

 

“Sure you would, Doc.” “Yes, I think so.” “It would accord with my observations of your standard behaviour.” “We consider that to be quite likely, Doctor.” “I would, and I learned from you”, came simultaneously from Kaliyo, Raina, Scorpio, Vector, and Quave.

 

“Dear me”, sighed Lokin. “What a dreadful opinion you all have of me.” He dropped his hands again and smiled blandly. “All quite correct, of course.”

 

He looked back to Quave. “So, Agent, what comes next?”

 

“Some personal stuff.” She fiddled with the console and Cademuir’s image jumped a bit, then continued, “... the old place. So I’m guessin’ best thing is, you come on over nowhere, and you can talk to the Jedi folks for settin’ up a meetin’. Bring that motley crew of yours, ‘bout time I met them, ‘specially that handsome hunk of a ...”

 

Quave stabbed the pause button again hastily, but not quite in time to prevent “bug-eyed monster” slipping out. Vector’s face went extremely blank. Kaliyo laughed heartily, Raina started to join in then looked ashamed of herself, even Lokin’s lips twitched very slightly. Scorpio said something about noting how much humans enjoyed insults, but was mostly drowned out by Kaliyo’s guffaws.

 

Quave took Vector’s hand in hers. “Listen, I never said that to her, love, she doesn’t understand or know you yet.”

 

Kaliyo stopped laughing and mimed vomiting again.

Spoiler warning! From now on, this thread will contain major spoilers for the (mostly light side) warrior, (mostly dark side) agent, and (neutral) smuggler stories, also some of the companion stories, and elements from the knight, trooper and bounty hunter. I've not managed to complete either a consular or inquisitor yet, never been good with mages I’m working on it.

 

Part 3: In which nowhere turns out to be somewhere

 

Lokin was watching the scans on the Infinity's bridge while Raina idled in the pilot's chair with the ship running on auto. “Hmm... that appears to be an Azalus-class Hutt dreadnaught we're heading for, not a space station. Interesting. Years since I was last on one of those.” His fingers skipped across the board, calling up some schematics.

 

“That's what's at the coordinates the Agent's sister sent.” Raina shrugged. “I guess it means they can move it around if they want to.”

 

“Indeed, easier to hide than a space station. Port Nowhere seems an apt name for it.” He looked up as the com buzzed. “Ah, briefing time.”

 

They walked down to the briefing room and joined the others as they all sat in their usual seats, except Scorpio, who was by the door as normal.

 

Without preamble Quave announced: “It'll only be me and Kaliyo going on-station. I want the rest of you here, in case something goes wrong.”

 

“Do you expect a trap?” Lokin enquired brightly?

 

Scorpio emanated an aura of hopefulness.

 

Quave shrugged. “Didn't you tell me once that you always thought everything was a trap, and that was why you were still alive?” Lokin chuckled, and she carried on. “I don't expect a trap, Cade wouldn't do that to me, not knowingly. But it's possible she might have been set up, for all the this person vouches for that person stuff.” She looked around. “You can all listen in on holo, and I want it recorded every which way.” Lokin nodded.

 

Kaliyo yawned and looked bored, clearly having already been told of Quave's decision.

 

“We were looking forward to seeing this place and meeting your family.” Vector looked disappointed, as did Raina.

 

“I'll bring Cade over to the ship later, once this is all sorted.” She smiled kindly at him. “I want Kaliyo because this is her sort of place: lawless, dangerous, a lot of very nasty people.”

 

“Aww, Agent, skip the compliments”, said Kaliyo with heavy sarcasm.

 

Quave grinned. “If there's something wrong, you're going to spot it before any of the others do.”

 

The proximity alarm pinged at that moment and they dispersed.

 

Raina expertly piloted the ship to the docking port they'd been assigned and cut the engines to standby mode. Quave and Kaliyo waited through the clangs and bumps of the airlock connectors, then made their way down the access tunnel and into the main dock. There was a small knot of people at the exit, one of whom, a smiling young man with a scarred face, detached himself from the group and came over to them. “Welcome to Port Nowhere, Agent. Cap'n's in the private bar, I'll take you along there.”

 

“This is Kaliyo. I'm guessing you're Corso Riggs?” asked Quave.

 

“Yep, that's me, been with the Cap'n since Ord Mantell and that dumb, ugly pirate Skavak screwed us over. We got him good in the end, now he's dumb, ugly, and dead.” He led them along a series of passageways and up a couple of turbolifts, chatting cheerfully about Cademuir’s past exploits as they went. There were plenty of other people around, but mostly silent or in furtive conversation. A lot turned to watch them as they went past, and Quave started to feel a bit twitchy. Kaliyo was looking around with cynical, calculating eyes.

 

Eventually they came into what was clearly the main hub of the station, a huge brightly-lit cantina with multiple bars; pazaak, sabaac and other games going on; sinuous dancing girls making themselves agreeably decorative. There was a loud hum of conversation (and a few louder arguments) and the band was playing one of the latest hits.

 

Without pausing, however, Corso led them straight across to another turbolift. A red-skinned zabrak with a fierce expression, dressed in Mandalorian armour and carrying a vicious-looking electrostaff, was guarding it.

 

She didn't move as the three of them came up. “Hey Akaavi, let 'em go on up, will you?” said Corso.

 

The Zabrak twitched her electrostaff . “How do you know these are the guests the Captain is expecting?”

 

Corso sighed with exaggerated patience. “How come you ain't recognisin' the Agent? She's the Cap'n's double!”

 

“Faces can be faked”, said Akaavi without humour. “I will accompany them and bring death on the enemies of the clan if necessary.”

 

“She should come and meet Scorpio”, Kaliyo muttered to Quave. “Got a lot in common.” Quave coughed to conceal a laugh.

 

“I'll see you later, ladies, gotta go meet the other lot now. Akaavi'll look after you.” Corso grinned and headed back the way they'd come.

 

They came out of the lift into a much smaller room, with a few tables and chairs scattered around, and a well-stocked bar over to one side with a droid attendant.

 

Cademuir was sitting at one of the tables with a small Mon Calamari and a large Wookie, and another woman with a heavily made up, rather petulant face. Two Rattataki men were standing at the bar. The taller one had a drink in his hand and was talking earnestly in a low voice, the other listening while picking his nails with a small knife, which he returned to a belt pocket as they came in.

 

“Quave!” Cademuir leapt up and the sisters hugged. “Great you could get here – you've met Corso and Akaavi, this here's Risha, Guss, and Bowdaar. Over by the bar is Ivory and Redsike.” She pointed to each in turn.

 

“Good to meet you all.” Quave smiled politely.

 

Kaliyo smiled snakily at the Rattataki with the drink. “Hey Ivory. See you got off Belsavis then.”

 

Ivory shrugged. “I was doing well enough. Captain there needed a hand, we teamed up, came here.”

 

“Ain't so much how I remember it.” Cademuir grinned, but with no malice. “Fine dance you led me, but it worked out in the end.”

 

“You know each other?” Quave enquired of Kaliyo.

 

“Ivory and I go way back, Agent.” She looked over at him again. “Fancy getting reacquainted, say, over a few drinks? And who's your cute friend?”

 

Ivory grinned. “I wanna hear how the Wheezer got it, guess he finally bit off more than he could chew with you. And I'll introduce you to Red here, you'll get along real great.”

 

Quave sighed slightly. “Not now Kaliyo, you can go off and have fun later.”

 

“Sure thing, Agent.”

 

The smaller Rattataki listened without apparent reaction, his seamed face expressionless, his ice-grey eyes unreadable. Quave noted the amount of weaponry he was carrying. And I'll bet he's got plenty more concealed as well, she thought. Bounty hunter for sure, and a good one, most likely.

 

Cademuir’s holocom beeped and she flicked it on. Corso's cheerful face appeared. “Just got the Mistrunner dockin' now, Cap'n. They'll be on station in 'bout 5 minutes. I made 'em promise the trooper wasn't in uniform.” Cademuir nodded. “Thanks Corso. Bring 'em up to my office, we'll head over there now.”

 

“You got it Cap'n.” He ended the call and vanished.

 

She gestured to a door over to their left. “C'mon Quave, time to meet the Republic without puttin' a bolt through its skull.” She grinned.

Ultimately, the basis of this story stems from the rationalisation/resolution I wrote for the "Quinncident" (not sure where I plagiarised that from, but thanks to the inventor )

 

However, the way I wrote it, it's in a completely different style to this thread, and inevitably much heavier and more intense, also very long. So, despite it being the fundamental beginning of this story, I don't feel happy including it here. I've posted it separately [A Price Worth Paying], but to save you from having to read it all, this next chapter is an OOC summary of the essential points.

 

Part 4: OOC - In which the reason for the Cipher hunt is explained

 

While Quinn was working for Baras on Balmorra, he discovered quite a few things about his boss:

1. Baras was concerned that his family's Force power had been diluted over the generations by intermarrying with weak or even non-Force users. He and Ekkage were the only powerful Force users in their generation. Hence, he had spent many years trying to remedy this and improve the stock, and ensure a large and powerful set of children and grandchildren whom he could dominate and use to gain the power he craved.
   
2. He started off with an incestuous relationship with Ekkage, which produced Draahg.
   
3. More children were planned, but then Ekkage vanished, so Baras started to investigate cloning, gene-splicing, and similar ideas. This got him to an organisation called Project Protean.
   
4. Protean set up a separate autonomous unit to work on Baras's requirements under a cloak of strict secrecy, in common with most of his projects.
   
5. But clones and suchlike don't spring into existence overnight, and Baras was never going to restrict himself when it came to his secret plans for universal domination, so he began hunting for other potential breeding partners for himself and Draahg.
   
6. As one of these, he found Drumelzier (Zier), who was Zabrak rather than human, but was an exceptionally powerful Force-sensitive and young (17) and impressionable enough to be perfect for his purposes. He took her as his apprentice and began to try and bind her to him*, treating her well, ensuring her loyalty and happiness in his service and trying to soften her up for his future intentions**.
   

 

* Including making creepy comments like "This proves you belong at my side", which is what sparked this whole idea off.

** This also provided another reason for me as to why Quinn was initially so unwilling to accept Zier’s advances, since he was obviously attracted to her. If he knew she was marked by Baras for his own use, he wouldn't dare touch her and therefore took refuge behind military protocol. However, once it was plain that Baras was out of the picture, Quinn was able to follow his own feelings.

 

Later, when Baras contacted Quinn to force him to attack Zier, he told Quinn that he had been unsettled (read: seriously worried) by her success with Nomen Karr and Jaesa. Baras had realised that, firstly, Zier had become too independently-minded and powerful to be willingly seduced (literally) into his schemes; and secondly, regardless of her loyalty, there was a high probability that she would eventually challenge him. He did not, however, entirely abandon his schemes for using her as breeding stock.

 

He used Zier’s power to implement Plan Zero and bring down Darth Vengean, then set up the plot with Draahg to disable her on Quesh. When he discovered that failure he continued his efforts, including setting Quinn up.

 

Quinn explained all this to Zier, and expressed his unhappiness and concern over her leaving Baras alive [i took the imprisoning him forever option]. It would be very unlike Baras not to have provided for all possible contingencies, and Quinn was certain that Baras would have arranged for his clones and/or other offspring to free him in the event of any imprisonment or exile.

 

Draahg was accounted for, but it was clearly necessary to find any other existing Baras-offshoots and dispose of them, which meant locating Protean's secret project. Quinn knew of its existence, but had never found out where it was, nor exactly what the project team had done.

 

Zier and Quave have met several times, and Quinn knows from conversations with Lokin that he had been associated with Protean in the past. So they have decided that a good starting point would be to find Quave in order to get in contact with Lokin. This should have been straightforward, but ....

(Approximately 2 months before the message received by Quave, and immediately after the events in A Price Worth Paying)

 

Part 5: In which a hunt begins

 

As the shuttle approached the ship, Quinn became visibly nervous. “My lord ... what did you say to the crew?”

 

“Oh, sorry Mal, I’m too happy to think straight.” Zier smiled blissfully. “I told them I was going to sort things out one way or another, and get back together with you if I could. If we come back together, everything’s good and if they say one word to you about what happened, or act in any way like things aren't back to normal, I’ll be using them as a replacement for the training dummy.”

 

“What if … ?”

 

“If we didn’t get back together, you wouldn’t be coming back at all, you’d have been on your way to Dantooine as a Moff. If that happened, and they said anything to me about it, I’d be using them as a replacement for the training dummy.” She grinned.

 

Unable to suppress his curiosity, he asked: “What was their reaction?”

 

She grinned again. “You can probably guess ... Jaesa is very hopeful and will be happy; Pierce said if it’s what I wanted he’d go with it, but you’re a slippery little bastard and he’d still keep an eye on you; Broonmark just said: “Sith speaks, Broonmark obeys”; and Vette said it was about time we made up because, apparently, living with me at the moment is like having your own personal thunderstorm.”

 

He didn’t say anything and she poked him. “Are you sure you don’t want to be a Moff? You’d be a very good one, you know, no Broyscisms from you. In fact, I kind of wish you would take the promotion, after I spent time arranging it for you.”

 

“My Lord, I would rather be at your side as a humble Captain than ....” he stopped and smiled ruefully. “You are too fond of teasing me.”

 

“At least you’re getting better at recognising it.” She chuckled. “I shall have to up my game.”

 

“As you wish, my Lord, I look forward to the combat.” He smiled and kissed her. “But, to return to what you were saying, there is something we will have to discuss with the crew: namely the matter of Baras and his plans. He will not have neglected to prepare for all possible contingencies, and as I know, he was concerned that you might defeat him. I strongly suspect that, if his dynastic ambitions have been fulfilled in any way, he will have made arrangements for his ... ah ... family to work on getting him out of prison or exile, or to take over his possessions and power base in the event of his death.”

 

“Probably still guided by himself, Baras would be a restless Sith spirit for sure. You do have a good point there. How can we find out if there are any little mini-Barases running around?” She shuddered. “Awful thought.”

 

The shuttle had finished the docking procedure by then, and they re-entered the ship. Jaesa was waiting for them. She smiled happily at them and hugged Zier quickly. “Welcome back, Master. I have good news, Master Timmns will be here tomorrow, with another Jedi Master. They’ll meet you at the Elysium at noon local time.”

 

Zier looked nervous for a moment. “I hope this works. But right now, we have a small problem ... can you get the rest of the crew together? Quinn has found out some things about Baras.”

 

****

 

Quinn concluded: “I believe, therefore, that our best approach, at least initially, will be to find Project Protean’s subidiary and find out exactly what they have done. We must establish first that there is a threat, before making plans to deal with it.”

 

Pierce was scowling. “Fat bastard did a lot he oughtn’t, I ain’t letting him get away with this. Tell us where to look for these clones, I’ll introduce 'em to my rifle, up close and personal.”

 

Vette wrinkled her nose. “Baby Barases ... I’d rather have a herd of baby rancors. But I’ll get on the net and the archives, see what's there.”

 

Pierce nodded. “I’ll talk to my Black Ops guys too, if there’s anything they got we’ll know about it.”

 

Quinn nodded his thanks. “As I explained, I know that Cipher Nine’s associate Dr Lokin was part of Protean at one time. Imperial Intelligence as such is no more, but using your authority, my Lord”, he looked at Zier, “I should have no difficulty obtaining their records and from those we should be able to locate him.”

 

Broonmark trumpeted: “Sith clan seeks, Broonmark will hunt. Talz may know. Broonmark goes to Hoth.”

 

He rose and stalked out, leaving a vaguely stunned silence behind him.

Edited November 16, 2012 by Syart

Part 6: In which there is a conversation

 

Jaesa, Quinn and Zier went down to Alderaan together the next day, leaving Vette and Pierce to look after the ship and start hunting for Baras-offshoots. Quinn and Zier were in something of a second honeymoon haze (“Not that we ever had a first honeymoon”, she'd muttered to Quinn), and not really concentrating.

 

Jaesa hoped they’d snap out of it before the Elysium. She might share Zier's hopes for a new Empire, but that didn't mean she wanted to be the one trying to start it. All the way there, she was trying to work out the best way to get herself and Zier talking to the Jedi with Quinn being somewhere completely different so as not to distract Zier. She was happy for them, but she didn't want this first and all-important meeting to go wrong.

 

In the event, it wasn't a problem. They arrived at the Elysium, Zier striding forward confidently from the taxi, and then found their way barred by the most enormous and darkest-skinned Zabrak they had ever seen, an ebony giant in full Republic battle armour minus the helmet, and carrying a huge assault cannon as easily as though it was a blaster pistol. “Major Standtrae, Havoc Squad”, he announced in a deep rumbling voice which fitted him perfectly. “Your escort for today. Don't make me do anything you might regret.”

 

Zier drew herself up to her full height, which put her eyes approximately on a level with the middle of his chest, and stared up at him, letting some red fire leak into her eyes. “Darth Drumelzier, Wrath of the Emperor. My Apprentice, Lord Jaesa Willsaam. My husband and ship's captain, Malavai Quinn.”

 

Major Standtrae narrowed his eyes at Quinn. “Captain, huh? Military?”

 

Quinn had no chance of matching the Major's imposing physical presence, but he could do cold stares pretty well and aimed one at Standtrae. “I serve the Empire in a military capacity, that is correct.”

 

“Maybe we'll have a discussion about that, while the Sith ladies talk to the Masters. They're waiting for you now.”

 

Without waiting for a response, he turned his back and walked away. They followed, watched by what felt like a thousand hostile Jedi eyes.

 

Zier murmured to Jaesa, “For all the Jedi claim to have “no emotion, only peace”, I’m feeling an awful lot of hate washing around here.”

 

Jaesa nodded sadly. “Yes master, I feel it too. You showed me how much of a lie they live. I hope we can teach them better.”

 

“They should have learned from what happened to your old master”, Zier sighed.

 

Major Standtrae reached the end of a short side corridor at that moment and opened the door into a small room in which Master Timmns was waiting. Timmns sprang up from his chair with every appearance of delight at their arrival. “Lord Drumelzier! Darth, I should say. You’ve come a long way from that vault on Belsavis. It’s good to see you, I hoped that something might come of our collaboration. You puzzled the Council a great deal, you know, myself included.” He chuckled.

 

Zier glanced at Jaesa who gave a tiny nod. “Yes, it’s genuine, he really is pleased to see us.”

 

“Let me introduce my colleague, one of our youngest and newest Jedi Knights, Taberon. The Council – those who agreed with this meeting, anyway – thought it would be good for you to meet a fellow Zabrak as well as myself.”

 

The other man, another very dark skinned Zabrak, had also risen when they came in, but stood quietly in the background waiting for Timmns. He bowed politely, with a neutral expression. “My Master, Orgus Din, is very interested in what might be spoken here today, but was unable to join us. He proposed that I represented him at this meeting, and I was glad to accept.”

 

Zier glanced at Jaesa again, who made a miniscule shrug and a slight sideways turn of her head. “Not being completely honest, but not hostile, open-minded enough to listen.”

 

“Come and sit down”, said Timmns hospitably, gesturing at a low table with four comfortable chairs arranged round it. “I'm afraid we only have water to drink, but I'm sure we could find something stronger if you preferred it.”

 

"Water will be fine", said Zier, as she moved towards one of the free chairs.

 

“Guess we’ll leave you to it”, Standtrae rumbled. “Come along, Captain, we’ll let them talk in peace.” He led Quinn out of the room, much to Jaesa’s relief.

 

 

 

Part 7: In which there is another conversation

 

Standtrae and Quinn walked back to the start of the corridor. Quinn automatically took up a standard guarding position, but Standtrae lounged casually against the wall and stared down at him, completely at ease and clearly believing himself superior in every way.

 

“You've heard of Havoc, right? Guess we've caused you Imps a few problems here and there.” Standtrae grinned, not exactly maliciously, but definitely with enjoyment.

 

Quinn maintained his forward gaze. “Possibly not as many problems as when the entirety of Havoc Squad defected to the Empire after being abandoned by their Republic overlords.”

 

Standtrae roared with laughter. “Good answer! Guess you Imps do have a sense of humour after all, hidden somewhere behind that stiff-arsed outside. Wasn't quite the whole squad though, they left a rookie Sergeant behind. And we got a couple of 'em back including Tavus, even if I had to down some of the others.”

 

“You were the rookie Sergeant, I take it?”

 

“Too right.” Standtrae shook his head. “Got to admit, it wasn't all easy. Can't deny you Imps can be pretty tough, but nothing stops Havoc Squad. You ever on Balmorra?”

 

Taken by surprise, Quinn turned his head to look at Standtrae. “Yes, I served on Balmorra for a number of years. Why do you ask?”

 

Standtrae shrugged. “Just wondering. My home planet, see? I grew up in the Resistance, got recruited by the Republic. They tried to get my sister Deuchar as well, best pilot I've ever known, but she told 'em to stuff it. She's a free trader now, working the Core Worlds mostly. Taberon's our kid brother. Jedi found him first, got him shipped off Balmorra for training. Was Republic military shipped him out, that's how they found me and Deuchar.” He shrugged. “Funny how things work out. Might've been me chucking a bomb at you sometime.”

 

“That may be possble, but if so, you missed, as you can see.” Quinn tried another cold stare.

 

Standtrae laughed uproariously again. “You have got a sense of humour, Captain, I swear I'm starting to like you. I got to try pushing Dorne a bit more, maybe she'll lighten up eventually.”

 

Quinn blinked. “Dorne?”

 

“My squad medic. Imp defector, pretty good, proved herself enough in Havoc.” Standtrae frowned. “Still gets hassle from security though.”

 

“Not Elara Dorne?”

 

“Yep, that's her. Say, you know her?”

 

“I did field medic training with an Elara Dorne.” Quinn rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “If I'm honest, she was the only person I ever met who was more concerned with military protocol and regulations than myself.”

 

“You ain't wrong there, poor lass.” Standtrae grinned wryly. “Brilliant officer, but I've got a few free spirits in Havoc, she does get on the wrong side of 'em. They're all off on R&R at the moment, hopefully they won't murder her before I get back.”

 

Quinn looked at him enquiringly.

 

“I'm here unofficially. Taberon asked if I'd come along and lend a hand in case things got awkward. Most of the Jedi here are historians, archaeologists, that sort of thing, not that they can't fight if they're pushed, but not many of 'em good at it, and not many been up against full Sith. Tab reckoned I'd be handy if it came to scrapping.” He shrugged.

 

“I see.” Quinn nodded. “You did not expect us to be trustworthy. It is also a good thing you did not bring Dorne with you. If we meet, I will execute her for treason to the Empire.”

 

“Don't take it personally, we've had a few bad experiences. And lay off Dorne, she had her reasons.” Grey eyes met blue in glacial competition.

 

“A traitor is a traitor! And Darth Drumelzier's honour is unquestionable ...” Quinn started, his hackles rising angrily in Zier's defence, but Standtrae held up his hands pacifyingly.

 

“Whoa, I told you not to take it personally, I take things as they come, and I ain't seen anything that worries me yet. Your ladies don't look that threatening anyway. But orders from the Jedi Council said to be prepared, right? So, Tab's just being a good boy and following orders.”

 

By unspoken mutual consent they dropped the subject, and Standtrae began regaling Quinn with stories of his time in the Balmorran resistance, and some of Havoc Squad's escapades. Quinn listened closely, and soon realised that, despite his open and cheerful demeanour, and seemingly thoughtless garrulity, Standtrae was in fact extremely careful not to let any militarily useful secrets slip out. Reluctantly, he began to develop some respect for the giant Zabrak. A deep one, this Major, a force to be reckoned with, he thought to himself.

Part 8: In which there are no discoveries

(Several weeks later)

 

Pleasantly tired and relaxed after a couple of hours saber practice on the dummy, followed by a foot massage from 2V, Zier was lounging on the couch, randomly flicking through holovision channels and grouching about it. “Daytime holo never gets any better. 'Craziest Rancor Hunts', pointless now, no-one's ever going to beat that naked Rodian on roller skates …. 'My Pet is a Sithspawn', they should do an alternative for the pets – My Owner is an Idiot … why are there eleven whole channels just for huttball and another seven for swoop racing? … 'One Hundred Days With the Jawas', just why? ... and I can’t believe they’re repeating the last final of 'The Darth Factor', everyone knows it was Ravage’s choice that won, and he only forced her through because he fell for her pretty simpering missishness. Serevin’s boy was a lot better.”

 

Vette, who was curled up at the other end of the couch reading the latest news on her datapad, looked up. “Maybe it’s 'cause she fell for him too ... he pushed her off the top of the Citadel yesterday. Guess he got bored and went back to Sithy stuff.”

 

“Way to go, Ravage. That’ll really get us Darths a good name”, Zier grumbled. She was working herself up for a bit of a rant, but Quinn came down from the bridge and distracted her.

 

“My Lord, as you know I used your influence successfully and obtained access to the old Imperial Intelligence records, which should have been sufficient for our purpose.” He had an odd expression on his face.

 

“ ”Should have been” ?” enquired Zier. “You look puzzled, that’s not like you.” She switched the holonet off.

 

Vette giggled. “You’d be surprised what he looks like sometimes when you’re not around. Me and Jaesa can do all sorts of things.” She grinned impishly and winked at Quinn, whose expression moved from puzzled to annoyed and pinkly uncomfortable. He glared at Vette and adjusted his uniform tunic unnecessarily.

 

“Really? Tell me more of this.” Zier eyed Vette, who giggled again. “Maybe later, my Lord. Jaesa needs to be here too, it’ll be more fun.”

 

Zier glanced mischievously at Quinn. “Good point, we’ll wait for Jaesa. Meantime, Vette, go chase up those Lorridan crystals I ordered, or you’ll never get the upgrade to your pistols.”

 

“Piece of cake.” Vette unfolded herself and scampered off to call a shuttle.

 

“Ok Quinn, come sit down and explain.” She patted the couch next to her.

 

He sat down obediently, and she adjusted her position to nestle against him comfortably. “Forget Vette and Jaesa, they’re girls, they like teasing, and you’re very teasable, you know.”

 

“You have frequently demonstrated as much, my Lord.” Quinn smiled ruefully and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “But back to the matter in hand. The records are both complete and incomplete. We have access to everything, but there is no mention of Cipher Nine anywhere, nor of her known associates.”

 

“What do you mean? Have they been deleted?”

 

“No, my Lord. They never existed. Apparently.”

 

She twisted round and looked at him. “What do you mean, never existed?”

 

“All records leave tracks in other data, links to different files, cross references, consistency, record integrity, even in the way the data is stored. A deletion would leave a gap, and that would be visible or at least traceable.” He produced his datapad and showed her some examples.

 

“But in the Intelligence personnel records there are no data gaps. Everything is complete, and correct, but without Cipher Nine. I have full records of Ciphers One to Eight, and Ten to Twenty-seven, but for Nine there are the previous holders of the title but not the most recent one, only a note that the designation was unused without further explanation. The same with the records of Fixers. There were more than two hundred of them, and all are there with the exception of Fifteen. There is at least mention of the Hand of Jadus, but only as a temporary position in the organisation, with no personal details.”

 

“This makes no sense at all.” Zier looked bewildered. “It's not surprising that you can't find Kaliyo, from what little we knew about her that almost certainly wasn't her name anyway, and we didn't expect Protean to know about dealings with Baras. But they also claim they've never had a Dr Eckard Lokin connected to them, now apparently he and Cipher Nine never worked for Imperial Intelligence either. The Diplomatic Service say they have no Vector Hyllus on record, and the military deny all knowledge of a Raina Temple on Hoth or anywhere else. I don't like this, Mal, it's getting weird.”

 

“You do not need to tell me that, my Lord. It is most odd, especially since you and I both know that Cipher Nine existed, as do many others. The memories cannot be erased, the computer records apparently have not been erased, but are nevertheless not there.” He considered for a moment, then asked, “What about Darth Jadus himself, my Lord? Can you speak to him directly, perhaps?”

 

She shrugged. “I could, except I don’t know where he is, no more than anyone else does. Maybe that’s the explanation. Jadus took her and her crew with him and they’ve all vanished together.”

 

“I think not, my Lord. It would not explain the missing data, especially since Darth Jadus is most certainly there in the records.”

 

“So .... basically, what you’re saying is that we’ve discovered we can’t discover anything?”

 

“A fair summary, my Lord.” Quinn was clearly not happy.

 

Vette bounced back in at that moment, waving a small packet. “Got them! And I met the others at the port so we shared a shuttle back.” Jaesa and Pierce followed her in, rather more soberly.

 

Pierce leaned his rifle against the wall and stretched, joints cracking. “Decent fight, that, m’Lord. House Alde ain’t any more friendly than before, but we got in and out, no trouble. Walk in the park after the Bastion.” He grinned ferociously.

 

Jaesa looked tired and a bit distressed. “I didn’t enjoy that, Master. You know I don’t really like having to fight, especially on Alderaan.”

 

Zier’s eyes narrowed slightly. “I didn’t send you to enjoy it, I sent you to find information.”

 

She lowered her gaze submissively. “Yes Master, I apologise. I understand, really I do ... it’s just that it’s not that long since I was one of them. And it was all wasted anyway, the library didn’t have anything. I was sure it would, it’s the biggest repository on all of Alderaan, and it’s well known that Cipher Nine was here before she became the Hand of Jadus. You saw her working with Moff Sarek and House Thul, and that time on Voss she told us about how House Cortess was taken over by the Killiks. House Cortess and all the other people are there, but no mention of the Agent at all. Or the Joiner diplomat, Vector Hyllus. It’s like they never existed.”

 

“Curiouser and curiouser.” Zier looked up at Quinn, who was never comfortable showing affection in public and had vacated the couch in embarrassment when the others had come back.

 

He looked down at her almost helplessly. “Every place we look, there is nothing. I do not understand.”

 

Vette perked up a bit. “Hold on guys, you’re looking in all possible records for the Agent, yeah?”

 

Zier, Quinn and Jaesa all nodded. Pierce had vanished and some metallic clatters from the direction of the workbench suggested that he was busy banging out dents in his armour.

 

“So .... what you need to do, if there aren’t any records, is go where there aren’t any records.” She grinned mischievously. “The underworld, right? You know, smugglers, bounty hunters, slavers, pirates, tomb robbers, all those people ... I should know, I was one of them. I’ll go call the guys on Nar Shaddaa.” She bounced out again.

Part 9: In which the next hunt begins

 

“Ok, so Taunt wasn't sure but Plasmajack came up with Port Nowhere. He says it's some secret space station where people in the underworld meet up? Only they've never been there and you need to have, like, clearance, or something. I think I might’ve been there once with Nok and Risha but I’m not that good with memory stuff.” Vette rubbed her hands over the top of her head. "So anyway, Taunt said the best people to talk to would be the free traders, 'cause they go pretty much everywhere and pick up all the news.”

 

“Free traders”, said Zier thoughtfully.

 

Pierce snorted. “Just smugglers and pirate scum, m'Lord, hiding behind the Republic and trying to make themselves sound fancier. They run guns for rebels, spice, illegal tech implants, all that stuff, anything to make a quick credit, and they hate our guts. If I find a smuggler, I stamp on his face.”

 

Quinn nodded reluctantly, not really wanting to agree with Pierce. “The Lieutenant's assessment is largely accurate, my Lord. These will be difficult people to find and deal with; they dislike any rule of law and especially the Empire.”

 

“That Republic soldier - Major Standtrae? Didn't you say he told you his and Taberon's sister was a free trader? Based in the Core worlds, I think?” Zier looked enquiringly at Quinn.

 

“Yes my Lord, I have that on record, but it had temporarily slipped my mind.” Quinn looked annoyed with himself again. First being beaten by non-existent computer records; then being laughed at by Vette; then having to agree with Pierce; now having to admit to forgetting something. This was turning into a bad day.

 

“Well then, we should be able to contact her, if Taberon and Standtrae are willing to help.” Zier looked over at Jaesa. “Looks like we need you to get in touch with Tython again.”

 

“Yes Master. I guess you want to meet with them to explain this? It’ll be safer than a holocall.”

 

“I agree, my Lord, a face to face meeting would be much more secure”, agreed Quinn irritatedly. Another annoyance, why was Jaesa suddenly thinking about security issues? That was his job.

 

“That's settled then, thanks Jaesa, please sort a meeting with him soon as possible. And that was a good brainwave, thanks Vette”, she smiled across at the Twi'lek, but Vette was giggling at something Pierce had said to her and didn't notice.

 

Zier nudged Jaesa, and the two of them looked over at Vette and Pierce with broad speculative grins on their faces. No-one was taking any notice of Quinn, so he went back to the bridge to sulk for a while.

Part 10: In which the message is born

 

They met on Alderaan again at the Elysium, which seemed simpler than trying to arrange some other place. Taberon and Standtrae arrived two days after Jaesa had set it up, and she, Quinn and Zier went down to meet them.

 

As before, eyes filled with suspicion, doubt and dislike followed them through the Elysium to the small secluded room where they'd met before. Zier was nervous, and could feel Jaesa's unhappiness; they communed wordlessly through the Force for mutual support.

 

To Zier's surprise, Timmns was there again too, but she made no comment on it. After the polite exchange of greetings, they sat down, and the two Jedi and Major Standtrae looked to her.

 

"Well, Darth Drumelzier, you called this meeting", said Timmns. "We didn't expect to speak again so soon, so we must assume that your purpose is serious."

 

"It is", nodded Zier. "And something I very much regret having to share with you. Internal Sith politics is a dirty game, and sometimes it spreads a lot wider than we might wish."

 

Standtrae grinned and the Jedi nodded.

 

Zier continued. "My former Master was a Sith called Baras. You will, of course, know Baras quite well?" She looked enquiringly at Timmns.

 

"Not in person, but through my former Master Nomen Karr, indeed." Timmns sighed. "He and Baras were bitter enemies for many years. Ultimately it led to Karr's downfall."

 

"I was there", Zier commented drily. "But I don't think you can blame Baras. I showed Karr's true nature, that's all. I'm not making any apologies for what happened."

 

Timmns shook his head. "I regret it, but I'm not blaming you. You showed his true nature, but where did that nature come from if not largely from Baras's influence and rivalry? That - and you - have made me question a few things. Perhaps that is good, perhaps not. But rest assured, I will not fall as my Master did." He stared at her challengingly.

 

Jaesa was staring silently and unhappily at the floor. Zier glanced at her then looked back to Timmns.

 

"Enough of this. We may talk about it another time, perhaps, more privately. It's not important right now, what's important is other stuff Baras did. He did a lot of things, and developed a lot of ambitions. I regret to say that I assisted in some of his plans, without realising his true nature." Timmns looked extremely sceptical, but remained silent. "Going into full details would require a lot too much explanation, but to sum up, he was trying to take over the Empire, and he got bloody close before we stopped him." She paused and took a sip of water.

 

"I could've executed him, but I chose not to. He's now in a secure prison for the rest of his life, at least that was what I hoped. However, Quinn has information which he shared with us. We need to ask for your help, if you're willing to give it. Quinn, over to you." She smiled encouragingly at him.

 

"Yes my Lord." He proceeded to give a dispassionate recounting of Baras's preparations for his dynasty, with Timmns and Standtrae looking amazed, disgusted and concerned in equal measure. Taberon listened gravely, looking down at the table, his expression hardly changing.

 

Quinn moved on to the abortive hunt, and finally concluded: "Therefore, gentlemen, we have come to you to ask for assistance in locating Cipher Nine, and through her Dr Lokin, via the so-called Free Traders, and I am aware, Major" he nodded to Standtrae "that your sister is one of them.”

 

They all looked at each other. Finally Standtrae broke the silence, looking over at Taberon. "Guess we call Deuchar then. We can't deny this is something we've got to deal with, right? And no sitting around either."

 

Taberon looked up from his contemplation of the table. "Yes, you are right. This could threaten the existence of both Empire and Republic."

 

"You can be damn sure of that", Zier nodded. "Baras had seriously big ambitions. He wanted to swallow the Empire whole, and I'd be willing to bet if he didn't destroy the Republic, he'd want to eat that too."

 

"I concur, my Lord", said Quinn. "Darth Baras was very good at concealing his true nature and intentions to others, but those of us who worked with him for any length of time soon learned the extent of his ambitions."

 

Timmns was shaking his head. "You Sith. I have no idea how you've managed to survive. No trust, no compassion, no peace."

 

He was clearly going to carry on, and Zier and Jaesa both opened their mouths to start arguing, but Taberon spoke first.

 

"A historical and philosophical discussion for another time, Master", he said calmly. "For now, we must discover the scale of the threat, and then consider ways and means of dealing with it."

 

Zier swallowed her annoyance and nodded. "Call your sister then, start the search. Thanks for being willing to help. But this must all remain as confidential as possible. If it gets out what we're hunting for and why, anyone involved in Baras's plans is going to go straight underground and we'll be back to square one." Quinn nodded in agreement.

 

“The Council must be warned”, said Timmns obstinately.

 

Zier shook her head firmly. “Not until we know for certain what we're up against. It might be a false alarm, in which case there's no point, it's just worrying people unnecessarily. If it's real, well, Baras may have a spy on the Council.”

 

“Impossible!” Timmns looked aghast.

 

Zier shook her head. “Certainly not, Timmns, you know Karr successfully infiltrated the Sith as Lord Retrost, and I've no doubt the Republic has SIS spies all over the Empire. The Sith have been doing the same to the Jedi and the Republic.” She considered for a moment, then added, “Baras had at least one senior Republic military commander in place for about thirty years. I should know, I was the one that had to eliminate him when his cover was blown. And I exposed a senior member of the Green Jedi on Corellia who was one of his too. If he had those two, he certainly had other high-placed people, and where better than the Jedi Council? It's a risk even telling the three of you.” She eyed Timmns. “And you weren't even supposed to be at this meeting, it was only for Taberon and Standrae.”

 

Timmns shrugged self-deprecatingly. “I don't like to leave our young knights unsupported. And I confess to curiosity.” He sighed. “Very well, I will do as you wish and keep silent. For now.”

Absolutely love it!

Part 11: In which messages start to be sent

 

As they were walking back to the taxi pad, Jaesa found herself next to Standtrae. Zier and Quinn were reminiscing with Timmns about the hunt for Ekkage on Belsavis, and Taberon walked with them but silently in a world of his own. Standtrae looked down at Jaesa. "You're a quiet one, aren't you? Hardly a word out of you both meetings."

 

She looked down. "It's hard for me, coming back here to Alderaan. I grew up in House Organa, and I was a Jedi for a while."

 

"And now you're a Sith Lord as nice as a Jedi. Got to be quite a story there, I wouldn't mind hearing it sometime." She looked up in surprise, and he smiled warmly at her.

 

"I don't think ... not really ... it wouldn't ...I'm not sure ...", she lost herself in confusion and a morass of unfinished sentences.

 

"Aw, no pressure lass, just a friendly suggestion." He smiled cheerfully. "Offer's open, if you ever want to take it, good to have someone to talk to now and again."

 

He glanced round a moment then spoke a bit more conspiratorially. "Truth is, I'd like you to meet one of my squad. She was born Imperial, came over to us a few years back. Ramrod up her backside, worse'n your Captain there, not good at making friends, y'know? And being the only woman in the squad makes it even harder. She could do with someone to, I dunno, whatever women do together. And since you changed sides too, even going the other way, you might understand how she feels better than most."

 

"Oh! She must need someone very badly. Of course I'll meet her and try to help any way I can." Jaesa's sympathy was immediately aroused.

 

"Good to hear it, I'll call you and set something up soon. And thanks." Standtrae smiled warmly again and Jaesa blushed a little.

 

"It's nothing, I hope I can help her", she replied, and fortunately was saved from further conversation by their arrival at the taxi.

 

They all made polite farewells, and then Timmns, Taberon and Standtrae watched the taxi head back towards Kaamos territory until it disappeared beyond the hills.

 

Standtrae rubbed his chin and looked at Taberon. "I reckon it'd be best if we called Deuchar from your ship. More private there, and some of the squad are likely to go off a bit half-cocked if they get earshot of this."

 

Timmns looked quizzical. "You're cutting me out of this?" he asked. "What are you going to tell her that you don't want me to hear?"

 

Standtrae frowned but it was Taberon who spoke. "Please Master Timmns, you must understand that free traders are often involved in a lot of activities that are perhaps better left unspoken in view of the laws of the Republic. To Deuchar, you would represent danger. It is not that we wish to cut you out, but if we ask her informally as family, she is far more likely to help than if she thinks it is something official from the Jedi. Official things would potentially expose her and her associates to undesirable scrutiny, and she has little cause to love the Republic."

 

His brother nodded in agreement and added, "She tried going legit once, so-called friend got her working freelance troubleshooter for a Senator. Turned out the 'friend' and the Senator were working with an Imperial Moff and sold her out. So she ain't got no reason to try cooperating with the Republic again."

 

Taberon grimaced. "I would rather not have brought up the details, but I suppose it adds weight to the argument."

 

"Hmm." Timmns eyed Taberon. "You don't speak much, youngster, but you certainly have a way with words when you do. All right, consider me convinced. But I want to know how it turns out."

 

"Of course, Master", said Taberon, and the brothers both nodded.

 

***

 

"Hail Trae and Tab, the Republic heroes!" Deuchar answered the holocom in a rather mocking tone of voice. "How're you doing? Still saving the galaxy?"

 

Both brothers chuckled. "All the time, of course", said Standtrae. "It's a Jedi's primary function", added Taberon, and his astromech droid beeped and whistled: “T7 + Jedi = unstoppable”.

 

They exchanged a few more pleasantries, and chatted about some family stuff from Balmorra, then Standtrae said, "Truth is, we didn't just call you for the fun of it. We got a bit of a problem, need help finding someone."

 

"Really? Must be desperate if you've come all the way down to asking a lowly smuggler." She grinned.

 

Taberon brushed his hand through the ruff of hair on his head, leaving it untidier than usual. "Actually, we were asked to call you. By a Sith."

 

Deuchar blinked. "Say again? I think there's a glitch in the holo, could've sworn you just said a Sith asked you to call?"

 

The brothers both nodded. "It needs a lot of explaining", said Taberon. "It would be easier if we met somewhere to talk about it."

 

"Private as well as complicated and serious", added Standtrae.

 

Deuchar looked sceptical. "What's in it for me?"

 

Standtrae grinned. "You get to join in saving the galaxy?"

 

"Right ...." She looked even more sceptical but resigned. "Well, I'm at least intrigued enough to want to find out more. Meet back home? I can pick up some drops to make on Balmorra easy enough, and it's time I got to see Talla and Wylies' new baby."

 

They went back to family stuff again.

Part 12: In which there is a family discussion

 

As agreed, they met at the big sprawling clan compound on Balmorra, and spent the first day catching up with everyone’s news, admiring babies, marvelling at how much children had grown, gossiping about who was doing what (and with whom, in some cases), all the things you generally do when you meet up with clan you haven’t seen for a while. Their parents were delighted to have all of them home at once, and insisted on cooking an enormous evening meal in the big meeting hall to which half the clan turned up, and which inevitably went on far into the night.

 

Eventually, the elders began to totter off to bed; parents scooped up young children who were curled up asleep on chairs, tables, the floor, and, in one case, a bookshelf, and took them home; the teenagers gathered up most of what remained of the drink and went off in a noisy gang to enjoy the rest of the night; and finally it was just Standtrae, Deuchar, Taberon and their parents left.

 

They did some desultory clearing up before agreeing the rest could be left for the morning, and went out into the cool clear night. It was about an hour past midnight, very quiet and still apart from occasional bursts of distant laughter from whichever house the teenagers had ended up in.

 

As they walked back to their parents' house, Deuchar looked up. “You know, it’s kind of weird. I miss the stars when I’m away.”

 

“How can you miss the stars when you’re out in the middle of them all the time?” asked Standtrae.

 

“No, I mean these stars”, and she made a wide sweeping gesture at the sky. “All the old familiar stars we grew up under and dreamed about exploring one day.”

 

Standtrae clearly didn’t understand, but Taberon was nodding. “I know what you mean”, he said. “On Tython, I go out at night and meditate under the stars, and they’ve become very familiar to me, but it’s not the same.”

 

Their mother smiled as they entered the house. “Home is always the best place. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live somewhere else, but I think I should hate it. Balmorra has its troubles, but when all’s said and done, it’s where I belong. I don’t know where you three get your wanderlust from, not from me or your father, that’s for sure.” She smiled at him, and he smiled back, acknowledging the truth of it. “You’re right, my dear, we suit each other perfectly, quite happy to stay at home.” He tried to suppress a yawn, but failed.

 

“Time we old ones were in bed, I think.” She chuckled. “We’ll leave you three to talk in peace, it’s been obvious since you got here that you didn’t all turn up at the same time by a nice coincidence.”

 

“Are we that obvious?” asked Deuchar with a grin.

 

“Oh yes, love, even as little children I could tell what you were up to together most of the time, and none of you have changed that much. Tab was the most unpredictable of you, because he always thought so hard about everything before he decided, but I could normally guess which way you would go. Whichever way Trae didn’t, usually, and he was easy to predict.”

 

Standtrae and Taberon both chuckled, and after a moment so did Deuchar, looking a bit sheepish. “We did hate each other when we were young.” She grinned ruefully at Standtrae, who grinned back.

 

“Used to make me furious sometimes, the way you fought”, said their father. “Several times I wanted to give you a right old beating. But your mother said to leave you alone, you’d sort it out in the end when you grew up, and she’s always right. Makes me proud to see the three of you independent and happy and getting along together.” He yawned again. “Best be off, or she’ll start nagging.” He winked.

 

They all exchanged good nights, and then their parents walked arm in arm away to their bedroom.

 

Deuchar looked at her brothers. "So guys, time for some explanations, right?"

 

They both nodded. "Let's get another drink", suggested Standtrae. "This could take a while."

 

***

 

Deuchar looked slightly bemused. "Ok ... let's see if I've got this straight. Some evil Sith guy called Baras has been cloning himself, this non-evil Sith woman called the Wrath - kind of not convincingly a non-evil name - wants to find these clones and kill them off, the only lead she's got is some old doctor who's vanished, and you want me to find the last person he was known to be with, who's a top secret imperial agent that no-one knows anything about."

 

"That's pretty much it", nodded Standtrae. He'd done most of the talking, with Taberon adding a few explanatory interjections here and there.

 

"And you don't know where to start looking, and I'm not allowed to tell anyone what I'm looking for. Trae, I know I'm pretty special, but I don't do miracles."

 

"We're not expecting a miracle", said Taberon, smiling. "Only that you could put out some feelers, try and find where Cipher Nine might have ended up. You have contacts in many places, and they will have other contacts, and they will have still more, a vast network of knowledge which neither of us has access to. The information is out there somewhere. Standtrae and I are hampered by our official positions, a lot of people won't want to talk to us, whereas you ..." He left it hanging.

 

Deuchar sighed resignedly. "It's true, I guess, we do have information networks that pick up a lot of stuff that never makes it into 'official' news. But why not get the SIS involved?" She looked at Standtrae. "Surely you've got some authority you could use?"

 

Standtrae shook his head. "This has got to stay cloaked from all the sensors for now. Secret as possible, we don't know if there are any of these clones but if there are, we don't want them knowing anything. This Baras was a crafty old devil, spies everywhere."

Part 13: In which the net is spread, and catches a small fish

 

As promised, Deuchar had put out feelers for information, using what Quinn and Zier had been able to supply via Taberon and Standtrae, viz:

 

1. Phantom class starship, last known name Infinity, originally registered out of Dromund Kaas. (She'd managed to get the full registration and transponder details from a hacker friend on Balmorra who'd downloaded the entire Sobrik spaceport database a year ago (just because he could), before their security net had been tightened again. But of course, the first thing anyone trying to hide would do would be to change the ship's registration and transponder code, so there was no point in including it.)
    
   
2. Last heard of at Voss, with approximate dates.
    
   
3. Crew of seven including the owner: four Human, one Ratattaki, two droids.
    
   
4. Owner: Human female, above average height, shoulder-length dark hair usually tied back, light skin but space tanned, blue eyes, scar across right eye, preferred weapon sniper rifle (much of which could be changed, of course, but the description might help).
    
   
5. Names unknown (that wouldn't surprise anyone, since a lot of people in her circles frequently changed names, usually for very good reasons like awkward law enforcement officers or irritated customers. Virtually all Free Traders simply addressed each other as Captain, it saved enquiring what the current alias was).
   

 

Absolutely no mention of Cipher Nine or Imperial Intelligence, that would have freaked everyone out.

 

Without specifically saying it, she let it be thought that the Infinity's owner had defaulted on payment for a big job, and she was after them for the money. Everyone would understand that and most Free Traders would help each other out for it.

 

She had a few quick responses back confirming that, in addition to the places they knew about, the ship had been also been seen at Nar Shaddaa, Taris and Belsavis. But all of it was historical, nothing known after Voss.

 

Then, after a couple of weeks, she had a break. She'd gone to make a drop and a couple of pickups on Corellia, and the second pickup referred her on to a new customer called Suilven who needed something run to Coruscant. The customer turned out to be an old ex-pirate and the something turned out to be himself plus a contraband crate of Corellian brandy which he wanted to give his brother for an eightieth birthday present. The deal was straightforward enough, and she got him and the brandy aboard with only a small bribe to Customs.

 

She made her other drops first, and it took several days to get to Coruscant. Deuchar found herself warming to the old ex-pirate who loved to chat and was full of tales of his old exploits. She'd never minded being on her own, in fact she preferred it, but it was nice to have someone around now and again and Suilven was good company. The second evening, they were downing a bottle of the brandy (just to check the quality, Suilven had said with a broad wink), and he started telling her about the time he'd pirated an Imperial ship.

 

“Closest I ever come to Drumond Kaas, that. Heart in my mouth half the time, but our info was good and our man on board come through and we took her sweet as a Corellian candy bud. Right fine ship too, Phantom class, cleared close to half a million on it. Good days.” He chuckled to himself and took another swig of brandy.

 

Not really expecting anything, Deuchar enquired idly, “Ever seen a Phantom since?”

 

“Well, now, I have and all, right there on Corellia. Maybe three, four months back, it'd be now. Was that reminded me of the old Starshine. When you get old, it's good to have memories to look back on.”

 

Deuchar had sat bolt upright in surprise. The old man had started to wander off into other memories, but she gently led him back to Corellia.

 

“Listen, Suilven, I've been hunting a Phantom class ship, lost it after Voss. This might've been the one.”

 

“Lost someone, lass?” He chuckled. “Or money, more like, eh?”

 

She grinned. “Can't get anything past you old-timers. Did you see anything of the crew?”

 

He pulled thoughtfully at one earlobe. “Hmm, let me think … I was heading up to Coronet spaceport, doing 'business' with a friend in the Customs Office, you know?” He grinned, as did Deuchar. Both of them knew perfectly well that 'business' meant bribery.

 

“And I see this Phantom come down, was admiring her, beautiful lines. Very neat piloting too, straight down, no last minute adjustments. So anyway, I went on in and found my friend and sorted the stuff out. Dunno which hangar the Phantom went in, but not long after, three people come walking out of one of the lifts. There weren't any other ships come in while I was there, so most likely they come off it. I was waiting for my friend to get me some paperwork done, so I was just standing and looking around, see? So these three …” he pondered. “First one was a fine big Human woman, strapping wench, filled the eyes real nice. If I was forty years younger I'd've been trying my luck.” He chuckled to himself. “Dark hair, tied back nice and neat, space tan, bit of a scar across her face, but it didn't take nothing away from the looks. Striding around like she owned the place, and a big sniper rifle on her back which said, don't mess with me. I always did like tough women.”

 

He grinned with lascivious invitation at Deuchar, but she only laughed. “You just carry on Gramps, and don't let me distract you.”

 

“Don't try, don't get.” He chuckled with a shrug and took another large swallow of brandy, emptying his glass. “Where was I? Oh, yes … so, next after her there was a little Ratattaki lady, bit mean and sly looking, I thought, but can't really tell, I was looking at the first woman more. And following 'em both was an older Human man, short grey beard, clever looking, one of them long coats you see sciency types wearing. They come right up past me out of the port, but my friend had come back then.”

 

He refilled his brandy glass with elaborate care, while Deuchar waited on tenterhooks. “So did you see them again?” she couldn't resist asking.

 

“I'm thinking, lass, brain works slow when you come to my age, just you wait until you're pushing eighty.” He set the bottle down again. “Well, like I said, my friend had come back, so he passed over the stuff to me, and we had a quick bit of chit chat and then I went on out. When I got to the front entrance, there was the three of 'em standing at the top of the big ramp down into the city and talking, but just as I come out, the big woman told the Ratattaki to go back to the ship and keep them monitored. Called her Calico, or something like that, if I remember rightly. Imp accent, the big woman had, just like the people on that Phantom we pirated, but the Imps hold the spaceport so no surprise there. So the little Ratattaki said something I didn't catch, then she went back in the port, and the other two walked off towards the rocket tram station. And after that I didn't see them.”

 

“That has to be her, you described them exactly.” Deuchar smiled with delight. “For that, you get this ride half price. And it was three or four months ago, you said?”

 

“Be about that”, he nodded. “Likely closer to four. Could've gone anywhere after that, of course, but might even still be on Corellia.”

 

He took another drink and then said, “You know, if you want to find these people so bad, why not just put out a bounty?”

 

“Mmm... did think of that, but I don't really want it getting out that I'm hunting her. She's got powerful friends, right?”

 

“Oh aye, I know how it is lass. You've got my sympathy.” He grinned and went back to the brandy. She wondered how much his brother would actually get to drink. Suilven seemed to have an amazing capacity, nearly three quarters of the bottle gone and he wasn't even talking slurred, while she'd only had two measures of it and was already feeling that walking was going to be a challenge.

Part 14: In which the small fish is fed to a shark

 

She dropped Suilven off on Coruscant, and gave him back half his fee as she'd promised. Then she sat and thought for a while. Bounties … a good idea, if managed carefully. Taberon and Standtrae had said that all the Sith stuff had to stay secret, but she would need a good reason for this one, and he wouldn't cooperate without the details. So she got out of Coruscanti space (never knew who might be listening in) and made another call, much more risky.

 

"Hey Red, how's it going?" Deuchar smiled cheerfully as the Ratattaki's form came up on the holocom.

 

"Duke, long time no speak, what're you wanting?" Redsike didn't smile in response, but then he rarely smiled at all.

 

"Maybe I just want to talk?"

 

"Yeah right. Pull the other one, it's got bells on."

 

She grinned. "Ok ok, you win, though it'd be nice to meet up over a drink sometime. I'm looking for someone, thought of you, being the expert and all, and having contacts on the Imp side. Well, actually it's my brothers who are looking for this Imp, but it's easier if I do the talking to you, y'know?"

 

"Sure, you're right, they ain't exactly going to be loving me, are they? Do they even know I exist?" he enquired with a glint in his eye.

 

"Kind of ..." she started reluctantly. "Look, they know what I am, they know there's some pretty dodgy people I talk to." She shrugged.

 

Redsike chuckled, unoffended. "We did a bit more than talking, if I remember rightly."

 

"Yeah, we did that. Which is why it'd be nice to have that drink sometime?"

 

"I'll see if I got a space in my diary. Who is it you're looking for and what's the bounty?"

 

"Well, it's complicated. Real serious, saving the galaxy stuff, they say." Deuchar scratched at her cheek.

 

"Yeah, anything a Jedi wants ain't going to be straightforward, and as for saving the galaxy ..." He shrugged. "All the ones I ever met, their heads are so far up their backsides they're seeing daylight through their teeth."

 

"Hey, that's not nice, that's my kid brother you're talking about!"

 

He gave a feral grin. "Admit it, Duke, he ain't living in the same galaxy as the rest of us, is he?"

 

She frowned but conceded, "Ok, I admit, he's a bit off in the clouds sometimes."

 

"And big bro the bigshot soldier? What's his angle in this?"

 

"Being noble and heroic, of course. Trae always was so perfect he made me puke." She sighed. "I kind of wish we'd got on better when we were younger, but all of us were too different. Not that I ever suspected mother of playing around, and we all look alike, but really, it's weird having brothers I didn't even feel related to for half my life. Still, we get along well enough now, and family is family, and they asked for help, so." She shrugged again.

 

"You still ain't told me who the mark is." Redsike gave her a sharp look. "What're you holding out on?"

 

Deuchar shook her head. "Nah, you're just getting me off track. See the effect you have on me?" She grinned. "It's an Imperial Intelligence Agent, no name, just Cipher Nine."

 

"Whoa, you're crazy." He rubbed his hand over the top of his head. "There isn't any Imperial Intelligence any more, I heard some Dark Council Darth got ganged up on by the others and they disbanded it to feck him off. And even if it was still there, Ciphers are the top secret agents, can't be found, no-one's even supposed to know they exist."

 

"You do."

 

"Yeah of course, life and business depends on knowing things like that." He winked.

 

"So... can you do it?" she asked.

 

"Maybe. I need more details. How about that drink? See you in three days, Nar Shaddaa, usual place." He cut the connection before she could reply.

 

Deuchar muttered to herself. Redsike always had to have the last word. Still, he could be surprisingly good fun, for a grim and dangerous bounty hunter. She found herself looking forward to the drink, and went jauntily up to the bridge to set course for Nar Shaddaa.

Part 15: In which messages multiply

 

“How's the new job going?” Even without the holo image Risha would have remembered the deep gravelly voice.

 

“Redsike. Been a while since you last helped Nok out.”

 

“Nice you remembered me, but that ain't an answer.”

 

“It's going well enough. The Captain allows me pretty free rein to keep this place running.” She shrugged. “Makes a change from Nok, he always wanted to manage everything himself.”

 

“And you get to order everyone around, right? I remember you just loved doing that.” He grinned, not very nicely.

 

She scowled. “I had the right. The Captain recognised that.”

 

“The Captain … yeah, that's actually why I'm calling. Got a job. Think she might be just the one to help. If what I've heard is right.”

 

“And how exactly would I know what you've heard? She doesn't like cold calling, Red.”

 

“Why d'you think I came to you first? You can tell her I'm for real. This ain't a scam, Risha. You know me, I don't mess around.”

 

“True enough, you certainly dealt with a couple of our problems.” She scowled again. “Nok never liked relying on others too much, it risks things getting known.”

 

“And I could make a few things known, if there's a need. Sure you get my meaning.”

 

“Blackmail? You've a fine nerve trying that on, Redsike. There's more than a few things I could share too, don't think Nok didn't do a full background search on you before he did any hiring.”

 

He chuckled, amused. “Share away, Risha. Just let me talk to the Captain, ok? That's all I want.”

 

“I'll think about it.”

 

“Think fast, I'll be docking at Nowhere inside an hour.” The line went dead.

 

***

 

Cademuir’s expression as she looked at Risha was a mixture of interest and resigned acceptance. “Another one of your secrets, Risha? How far round the galaxy is this one goin' to take me? You plottin' to get me out of here so you can take over for real?”

 

“Well, it hadn't crossed my mind, but now you mention it ….”

 

“With your sulks and princess-preenin' and favourites this place'd be in civil war inside a month. If you ain't got the sense to see that ...” Cademuir shrugged.

 

Risha's normally petulant expression intensified. “Whatever you think of me, Port Nowhere runs better under me than it ever did before.”

 

“That's because no-one was runnin' it properly before, it just happened. But whatever, tell me what this bounty hunter wants.”

 

“I don't know what he wants, other than he thinks you can help him with a job. If he's asking for help, it's a big one, probably lots of credits involved.”

 

Cademuir’s interest sharpened, as Risha had known it would at the mention of credits. “I suppose it can't do any harm to talk.”

 

“If there's a payoff, I want a share in it.”

 

“I'm makin' no promises. Let's see what he wants, first.”

 

***

 

The tall Human and small Ratattaki's expressions were surprisingly similar as they sized one another up from opposite ends of the meeting table. Redsike saw someone exactly matching the description that Deuchar had given him. Cademuir saw someone hard-bitten, tough, competent, and extremely dangerous.

 

“Bounty hunter, hmm? I'd never have guessed.” She grinned sarcastically.

 

“Well,” he drawled, “I'd never have thought about you bein' a top secret imperial cipher agent, neither.”

 

She had both her pistols trained on him before he could blink. “Explain, now!”

 

Half of him admired the speed of her draw, the other half was thinking, “Got her.”

 

“I said, explain!” Cademuir’s pistols hadn't wavered. Redsike didn't know for sure, but strongly suspected that her foot was hovering inches away from a call button on the floor, certainly something he expected she would have set up.

 

“Easy now”, he spoke peaceably as he raised his empty hands. “I'm not here to expose you, just got a message is all.”

 

She shook her head and smiled grimly. “I ain't who you think I am.”

 

“Oh? So why're you reacting to it? I come here, find someone looking just the way I got described to me, and who jumps out of her skin as soon as I say anything. If you didn't know anything about cipher agents, you'd have just looked at me blank like.”

 

Cademuir sighed. “All right, I ain't goin' to lie, I ain't Cipher Nine but I'm her sister. If you mean any harm to her, you'll not get to her through me, that's a promise. Fact, you won't even be leavin' this room 'cept feet first.”

 

That pretty much confirmed that there was a call button of some kind. She might be good with her guns, but she'd surely not think she could do a solo takedown of a bounty hunter who'd already survived a couple of decades.

 

“Sister, hmm?” He pondered on that. She knew the designation was Cipher Nine, so she genuinely knew who he was talking about, if it wasn't her. “Can you prove that? This could be a masterpiece of a cover story.” He waved his hand around, meaning Port Nowhere.

 

“I've got Corso, Risha, Bowdaar, Akaavi, Guss, they've been with me long enough, they know who I am.”

 

He fingered the triangular jewels set along the angle of his jaw. “All right, suppose I'm convinced … can you get a message to her?”

 

“Depends what it is. Like I said, you mean any harm to her, I won't be the one who gives her to you.”

 

“Maybe this'd be better comin' straight from the source. See, there's this free trader I know, name of Deuchar, Zabrak workin' the Core Worlds, you can check her out. Her brothers need to get hold of Cipher Nine because of a big feckup by some important Sith. That's it in a nutshell, needs a lot more explaining. How about I get them here and they can tell you themselves?”

 

“I ain't gettin' involved in Sith stuff, you think I'm crazy?”

 

“That's why you gotta hear 'em out. It makes sense, in a crazy Sith sort of way. Duke convinced me it's important, guess she could do the same for you.”

 

Cademuir nodded slowly. “All right, bring 'em in, we'll talk. But no promises. And any mention of me bein' Cipher Nine's sister and you'll have every other hunter in the galaxy after you.”

Part 16: In which Port Nowhere gets some unwelcome visitors

 

Redsike made a short holocall to Deuchar, telling her to pick up Standtrae and Taberon and giving her the coordinates for Port Nowhere. Largely out of a spirit of mischievousness, he didn't tell her anything about Cademuir, only saying he didn't want to talk over the holo. Which was a valid reason too, considering it was Deuchar who'd drummed into him the importance of total secrecy.

 

***

 

"Never thought I'd see this place." Deuchar was going through the prelimary docking procedure at Port Nowhere, manoeuvering the Mistrunner up to the connectors at the airlock port they'd been directed to. Standtrae and Taberon were on the bridge with her, Timmns was somewhere else around the ship.

 

"Impressive-looking", commented Standtrae. "That's a Hutt dreadnaught class ship, or was, looks like there's been some modifications. But why'd you think you'd never see it? Now me ..." He chuckled. "They'll probably throw me off straight away."

 

Taberon smiled but didn't say anything, just carried on watching the stars.

 

"Well, it's like this. Either you've got in trouble so big there's nowhere else you can go, or else you're important enough to want someone here or someone wants you. I've taken the best care I can not to need it or be needed." She grinned. "I prefer a nice simple life."

 

Standtrae grinned back. "As long as they don't insist on a memory wipe for us. You've not given us the coordinates and I'm happy to swear six ways from Sullust that I've no idea where we are."

 

The final connections clicked and bumped into place and there was the characteristic whooshing sound of the airlock equalising pressure with the ship.

 

"This is it", said Deuchar as she stood up and stretched. "Let's get Timmns and go."

 

The inner airlock door slid open, and they emerged into a large docking bay, to be greeted instantly with the sound of cocked guns and buzzing vibroblades from all sides.

 

"Hold it! No firin'!" yelled a young man with a scarred face, who seemed to have some position of authority. There was a lot of grumbling, and none of the weapons were put away, but no-one attacked.

 

Standtrae had automatically swung his assault cannon into firing position, but returned it to his back. Timmns had his lightsaber out but not activated, and he put it back on his belt. Taberon hadn't reacted at all.

 

The young man who'd shouted the order came over to them. "Sorry 'bout that, makes people unhappy, havin' the authorities show up. This ain't the sort of place for you. Next time come in disguise, right?" He rolled his eyes. “Name's Corso Riggs, by the way, work for the Cap'n here.”

 

His holocom beeped at that moment and he answered it. A young woman appeared, looking and sounding annoyed. "Corso, boss wants to know why the docking bay alarms just got triggered. Sort them out, will you?"

 

"Ok Risha, I'm dealin' with it. Tell the Cap'n her visitors'll be up in the private bar inside ten minutes."

 

Risha cut the call without answering and Corso rolled his eyes again. "All right, you heard the lady. And I think disarmin' would be safer as well." He eyed Standtrae's assault cannon, then added to Deuchar, "Not you Cap'n, you checked out and you've got clearance."

 

Deuchar looked at the others. "Guys, please? We've got to cooperate here, this isn't safe territory for you and we don't want to antagonise anyone right now."

 

Standtrae and the two Jedi nodded, Timmns with considerable reluctance. "Give us your lightsabers, I'll take them back to the ship", said Standtrae to the two Jedi.

 

Taberon handed his two sabers over without demur, but Timmns hesitated. "Are we to leave ourselves without protection here?" he asked, frowning.

 

"We are not without protection, Master Timmns", said Taberon with his usual calmness. "The Force is with us, whether or not we have lightsabers."

 

Standtrae stood with his hand out, waiting for Timmns' saber. Timmns eyed Taberon. "You're altogether too fond of teaching your masters, young Jedi", he said, and sighed ruefully. "And too good at it as well. It's the young who are supposed to be impulsive and lacking control."

 

He handed his saber over to Standtrae, who trudged back up the airlock and disappeared inside the Mistrunner briefly.

 

Standtrae came back down without the weapons and Deuchar looked at the man called Corso again. "Right, I guess we're ready?"

 

Corso grinned cheerfully. "Sure are, Cap'n. This way folks. Bowdaar, come along with us." He raised his voice: "And the rest of you, put your weapons down and get back to whatever you were doin'."

 

A large Wookiee, presumably Bowdaar, growled something and took up a position behind them, his vibrosword still buzzing threateningly.

 

Corso led them through multiple corridors and up several levels through the station. Taberon walked placidly, appearing almost unconsious of his surroundings, but the others were observing everything as much as possible. It was obvious to all of them that the two Jedi and the big Republic Trooper were the object of considerable suspicion and the cause of quite a number of suddenly turned backs and rapid exits as they went past. Deuchar was grateful for Corso and Bowdaar's escort; she had a strong feeling that they wouldn't have survived very long otherwise.

 

Eventually, they arrived at a large cantina, but this obviously wasn't the private bar, as Corso led them straight across to another turbolift, guarded by a fierce red female Zabrak in Mandalorian armour. Silence had fallen as they were watched through the room, but Corso seemed oblivious. The Zabrak opened her mouth as they came up, but Corso didn't give her a chance to speak. "Stow it Akaavi, no protests, just let us all up. Cap'n's waitin'."

 

"As you wish", said Akaavi coldly, and stared at the group with a look that, as Standtrae commented later, would have frozen a full-grown wampa.

 

"Wait a minute!" A small Mon Calamari who'd been standing nearby came closer and peered at the two Jedi. "I know you", he said accusingly at Timmns. "On Tython, I was there for Jedi training, just me and a load of serene kids."

 

Timmns tilted his head on one side. "And I believe I remember you too. Hard to forget, actually. You had an ... interesting attitude. Languss Tuno, isn't it?"

 

"Attitude? You bet I had attitude! You've got no idea what real rage is until you've been told to control your emotions by a four-year-old in a robe!"

 

Timmns rubbed his chin. "It's possible a mistake was made."

 

"Can you talk about this later, Guss?" Corso interrupted. "Don't want to keep the Cap'n waitin'."

 

"Hah! That's right, push the failed Jedi back in his corner!" He glared at them all impartially. "Later it is then."

 

Corso grinned, and Akaavi stood aside to let them into the lift.

 

"Guss don't mean it, little softy he is really. And not a bad field medic either, handy to have around, if you can put up with his grumbling." Corso smiled cheerfully, obviously the sort of person whose good humour was very hard to dent. Bowdaar rumbled a soft growl.

 

They came out into a much smaller bar, a comfortable-looking place with small tables scattered around and several easy chairs at each one. Redsike was lounging at one of the tables with a drink in his hand. "Hey Duke, made it at last. Hear you had some fun when you got here."

 

She grinned. "Nothing I couldn't handle, you know me."

 

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Come take a seat, the Captain will be here any minute, Risha went to tell her."

 

Deuchar, Standtrae, Timmns and Taberon joined him at the table, and the bar droid came over to take orders for drinks. Corso, however, returned to the lift, as did Bowdaar. "We're off again folks, back for escort duty again later." He smiled cheerfully again. "Have fun, and remember the Cap'n's bark is a lot worse'n her bite."

Part 17: In which the original message is finally sent

 

The bar droid had just brought their drinks to them when a door across to the left slid open and the woman who'd called Corso in the docking bay appeared, followed by Cademuir.

 

Deuchar had taken a mouthful of her spiced nerf milk and promptly choked on it. Standtrae froze with his Corellian Sunburst half way to his mouth. Taberon hadn't yet touched his water, but he stood up, which was pretty much a shout of astonishment from him. Timmns, who hadn't been privy either to the holo image of Cipher Nine from Zier's ship or the description circulated by Deuchar, looked at them with surprise.

 

Deuchar coughed and spluttered a few times then looked accusingly at Redsike. "You never told us you found her!"

 

"That's 'cause he didn't", said Cademuir, looking resigned. "Risha, go sort that stuff out, I'll see you later. And no monitorin', this is strictly private. I've got the dampener fields up anyway."

 

Risha nodded, without changing her sulky expression, and left via the turbolift.

 

"What's going on?" asked Timmns. "Someone explain, please."

 

"That is Cipher Nine!" said Standtrae. "I'd swear to it in front of the Senate! Perfect match, even the scar."

 

Cademuir eyed Redsike coldly. "I'm guessin' you didn't exactly tell 'em, then?"

 

Redsike grinned jeeringly. "My line of work, you kinda get used to surprising people. Call it habit."

 

"You little rat", grumbled Deuchar. "I swear you'll be lizard food before I'm done with you." Redsike only grinned again.

 

She looked at Cademuir. "So what exactly is going on? If you aren't Cipher Nine, who are you?"

 

Cademuir joined them at the table and Taberon sat down again. She signalled the bar droid, who brought her a bottle of something which quite clearly had the Imperial symbol on it, and then retreated into a niche behind the bar and shut down.

 

"All right, what Red didn't tell you ...", she paused and glared at him again. "I'm not Cipher Nine, I'm her sister. Twin. That's all you're gettin' until you tell me everythin' 'bout what's goin' on." She cracked open the bottle and took a drink from it. "No, wait ... just one thing. Is there a Sith called Jadus, Darth Jadus, he's on the Dark Council, involved in this?"

 

Deuchar looked at Standtrae and Taberon. "Not a name you mentioned."

 

Standtrae shook his head. "Nope, it's a problem with a Darth Baras and it's a Darth Drumelzier, also known as the Emperor's Wrath, that's looking for the agent."

 

Cademuir nodded, but didn't drop her pr1ckly suspicion. "If it turns out Jadus is involved, none of you ain't leavin' this room alive. Just so you know."

 

"Captain Quinn did mention that he had suggested seeking out Darth Jadus to find Cipher Nine", said Taberon. "However, Darth Drumelzier stated that neither she nor anyone else knows where Jadus is."

 

"Heh. Jadus is the last person who'd find her", said Cademuir cryptically. "She might explain, if you meet her. Get on with the story then." She leaned back in her chair and took another drink from her bottle.

 

As before, Standtrae did most of the talking, giving a concise and straightfoward military-style report, laying out Quinn and Zier's suspicions, their reason for wanting to find Cipher Nine, and the abortive search history to date. Taberon, Timmns and Deuchar contributed a few extra comments and clarifications occasionally.

 

Cademuir listened without interruption or any change in expression, just sipping from her bottle occasionally. When they finished, she sat still for a moment longer, then leaned forward and put the now empty bottle on the table.

 

"So, let's say I can get a message to her. It'll take a while, she ain't easy to get hold of right now, but I can call in a few favours. It don't sound to me like you're makin' this all up, and if a Sith can convince the Jedi and Rep military to help her, there's got to be somethin' in it."

 

She leaned back in her chair again. "But, I ain't puttin' all that stuff in a message, however much I encrypt it, and I ain't callin' her into a meetin' with Sith straight off either. You can explain all this to her yourselves, convince her that she's got to talk her doctor sidekick into helpin' here. Got it?"

 

All of them nodded. "But," added Standtrae, "got to say it's not the Jedi and Republic Military involved. It's just us here, doing a favour. No-one else knows, all strictly unofficial at the moment."

 

"Not my choice", said Timmns. "I still think the Jedi Council needs to be warned. By extension, you should be informing your military superiors too."

 

"You agreed to the necessity for secrecy, Master Timmns", said Taberon. "Remember, "there is no ignorance, there is knowledge". But as yet we are still ignorant, we cannot act before we have knowledge."

 

Timmns eyed him. "I wonder how your Padawan copes with having a Master who is always right. I found Master Karr's mistakes reassuring occasionally."

 

"Apart from the last one, I guess", Standtrae grinned a little meanly. "Falling to the Dark Side, losing that nice young Padawan to a Sith, nothing reassuring about what happened there."

 

Timmns bristled. "You know very well I wasn't referring to that. In any case, what happened with Padawan Jaesa was complex, and it was Darth Drumelzier who was responsible, not Karr. On Baras's orders, of course."

 

"You can finish your arguing later", said Deuchar, looking slightly exasperated.

 

Cademuir abruptly stood up. "No worries. I'll send the message then, let you know when I get an answer. Meantime", she looked at Deuchar, "get the Jedi and Trooper out of here, please. No offence, they seem decent enough, but this ain't where they're wanted. Next time, make 'em take the uniforms off."

 

***

 

After they'd all gone, she went back into her office and thought for a while. Eventually, she switched on the holo and made a number of calls. When she'd got all the answers she wanted, she set the holo to record, and began: “Hey sis, bet you were never expectin’ to hear from me like this....”

Part 18: In which the Agent meets the Republic and they don't kill each other

 

Corso ushered Deuchar, Standtrae, Taberon and Timmns into the room where Quave, Kaliyo and Cademuir were waiting.

 

Cademuir, dressed as usual in her casual leather jacket and slacks, was sprawled in one of the chairs around the meeting table. Quave, however, was standing stiffly next to her, wound up tight as a spring. She was dressed in very nondescript semi-camouflage, dull green and grey basic-looking armour, no insignia of any kind, as unnoticeable as it could get. Unnoticeable,that is, if you didn't observe the extremely high quality of the armouring and modifications, and ignored the lethal-looking knife at her belt and the top-of-the-range precision model sniper rifle slung on her back. Kaliyo lounged against the wall behind them, blaster pistol in her hand but hanging relaxed at her side.

 

The four newcomers stared at the two Human women. Quave stared back, cold and defiant, but Cademuir only grinned.

 

"Now I see you together, there are a few differences, but apart it would be impossible to tell", commented Deuchar.

 

Cademuir chuckled. "Yeah, we traded on that a lot, up 'til we were 15 and I got this fallin' out of a tree." She ran her finger down the old scar crossing her eye.

 

Timmns tilted his head. "If you, Captain got the scar falling out of a tree, how did you, Madam Cipher, get the same scar? I've heard of a lot of strange things happening with twins, but that seems unlikely."

 

"Lay off the personal questions, green man", said Kaliyo, raising her pistol slightly, though still leaning casually against the wall.

 

Timmns raised his hands in apology. "Forgive me, it was purely curiosity, nothing more. Allow me to introduce myself, Master Somminick Timmns, of the Jedi Council. My colleague, Jedi Knight Taberon, his brother Major Standtrae of the Republic's Special Operations Havoc Squad, their sister Deuchar, Captain of the Mistrunner, a smug..." he coughed "a free trading ship in the Core Worlds."

 

Deuchar eyed him, but decided not to comment.

 

"I know who you are", said Quave. "I came for explanations, not introductions. I don't take kindly to being hunted." Her voice, like her expression, was cold, and she had a clear and precise Drumond Kaas accent, which made Standtrae widen his eyes briefly.

 

"Aww, come on sis", cajoled Cademuir. "You can't blame them for wantin' to know stuff about us. Relax, sit down, listen up, and then clear out if you want. I ain't told them nothin', they don't even know your name, it's up to you if you want to explain the whys and wherefores."

 

Quave looked at Cademuir, and obviously some sort of communication flickered between them. She sat down, but without any of Cademuir's relaxation. "Talk then."

 

They all sat down, except Kaliyo, who continued to lean against the wall. Standtrae looked at the Rattataki, who winked impudently at him. "Name's Kaliyo. We can talk later, big boy, if you're interested", she drawled.

 

Quave turned a glare on her, and Kaliyo affected innocence. "What, Agent? It's not fraternising if it's on neutral territory."

 

Quave stared a second or two longer, then reluctantly grinned. "All right, you win." She looked back at the others, still wary but with the coldness gone. "Talk away then, and if you convince me, maybe I'll do a bit of explaining." She rubbed her finger over the implanted microphone in her jaw, sending a message to the ship in the simple code she'd set up with Lokin: Are you getting all this? The tiny double buzz in her earpiece confirmed: Loud and clear, Agent.

 

"I think it would be best to go right back to how I know Darth Drumelzier, and then go on from there", said Timmns, looking questioningly at the others. They all nodded.

 

"Very well ... I met her during an investigation I was performing on Belsavis, a planet which is, I regret to say, one of the Republic's guiltier secrets, but ..."

 

"I know Belsavis", interrupted Quave. "You can leave out the attempted justification of Republic crimes."

 

"As you say", agreed Timmns, without further comment. "It happened that my interests coincided with Lord Drumelzier's, and we made a temporary alliance. She was not what I had expected from a Sith, she was both honest and honourable, and we parted as reluctant friends. I reported all this to the Jedi Council, of course, which caused considerable debate." He rubbed his chin.

 

"Describe her", commanded Quave.

 

Timmns looked a little surprised, but complied. "Well, she is Zabrak, small with a round cheerful face but fierce yellow eyes. Red skinned with sharp jagged black tattoos. Her hair is dark, cut short, with some of it drawn up at the back into a jaunty little fan shape. She seems very young, but appears confident in her strength. She carries a single red lightsaber which she most certainly knows how to use, and has more Force power than I would care to face alone."

 

Taberon nodded. "The power radiates from her. I think even non-Force sensitives would feel it if she did not hold it in."

 

Quave nodded. "We've met. All right, I accept that you do know her. Go on."

 

Timmns went on to describe how Zier had contacted him asking for a meeting, and how he and Taberon had met her at the Elysium. He told how she had explained to them about being the Wrath of the Emperor, and how she now had political power which she wanted to use.

 

Quave listened intently, and at the mention of Zier being the Wrath, scratched a message back to the ship: Look into that. The acknowledgement buzz came back.

 

Timmns finished, and gestured to the other three. "I will now hand over to my young friends here to explain the rest."

 

Deuchar looked at Standtrae. "Going to do the honours as usual, Trae?"

 

He grinned. "May as well, I've had plenty of practice." He proceeded with the now familiar recounting of Baras's plans and the reasons for hunting Cipher Nine. Quave asked a few questions about Zier's hunt, some of which Trae could only shake his head to. "All we know is, Darth Drumelzier couldn't find a trace of you, so she thought of us. Well, Duke really, being a free trader and having contacts." He winked at Deuchar, who shrugged.

 

Quave produced a small brief smile. "I was intending to vanish completely, it's nice to know it worked, more or less."

 

"So ...", she looked at the four Republic people. "You can consider me convinced, but I need to talk to Lokin before anything else happens. However, on the basis that he will cooperate, go ahead and set up a meeting with Lord Zier and her people." She scratched at her jaw again, telling the ship she was turning off the transmission, and got the double buzz confirmation in her ear.

 

She tapped a brief note into her datapad and showed it to Cademuir and then Kaliyo, who both nodded. "See Akaavi", said Cademuir, and Kaliyo peeled herself off the wall and left the room.

 

They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, then Cademuir's holocom beeped. She answered it on audio only and Akaavi's voice came through: "It is done as ordered, Captain. And the Rattataki has gone to join Ivory and the bounty hunter."

 

"Thanks Akaavi", said Cademuir, and shut off the holo again, looking at Quave.

 

"Brief explanation then", said Quave, looking a bit resigned. "You can start." She looked at Cademuir.

 

Cademuir grinned. "Fair enough." She cleared her throat a couple of times, then spoke in a lower pitched voice with a perfect Drumond Kaas accent, sounding extraordinarily similar to Quave, apart from her irrepressible cheerfulness.

 

"Once upon a time, twin girls were born into an long-established military family on Dromund Kaas, up in the north country. Naturally, both were expected to follow the family tradition of service to the Empire, and both were quite content with that, not knowing anything else. They were a happy pair, very mischievous and much given to playing tricks involving substituting for each other."

 

"Usually with the older one starting them and the younger one following along", interposed Quave.

 

"Bah, you had as much fun as I did." Cademuir grinned mpishly. "Anyway, they did well in school, and were both initially picked for Imperial Intelligence. Imperial Intelligence quite liked the idea of having identical twins, but unfortunately the older twin had a scarred face. So they put the younger twin in for plastic surgery to make an identical scar, and that's how that happened."

 

Both of them simultaneously ran their fingers down their scars in weird synchronicity, then Quave took up the tale. "The younger twin took to Imperial Agent training like a duck to water, but the older one wasn't so happy. She didn't like slow and careful covert operations and information gathering, she wanted action, pure and simple. So after a while, she put in for a transfer into the military and went for pilot training."

 

"At which she was pretty damn brilliant", interjected Cademuir with a grin.

 

Quave nodded. "There isn't much more to tell, really. I carried on with Agent training, graduated with high marks in everything, was assigned to field work, and ended up as a Cipher. I was hand picked by Darth Jadus, and served him directly as his representative in Imperial Intelligence for several years, until it came to an end. I'm not going into any more detail than that."

 

She looked back at Cademuir, who carried on, reverting to her usual voice. "As for me, I won all the pilotin' awards I could find, got my first postin', didn't get along with the Moff, faked my own death, ran away. That's all you're gettin'."

 

"More than we expected", said Standtrae.

 

"Or deserved", added Timmns.

 

"Thank you for your trust"/"Thanks for trusting us", said Taberon and Deuchar at the same time, then looked surprised at each other.