Chapter Two: Searching

Denon

Returning to Denon brought back mixed memories for Kyp Durron. He had lived there immediately following the surrender of the Yuuzhan Vong. During this transition time he often spent his days in Advisory Council meetings and in his office and after six months of what he considered inactivity he craved a diversion. He had found it the way many do, in the form of a brief, but sordid little love affair.

As he drove his rented speeder through the neighborhood he had called home for a year he wondered if he should stop in the Beverage Shop nearest to the block of apartments he had lived in. He chided himself for such sentimentality, it was ten years ago and she wouldn't be there, and even if she was, their relationship had been so brief she would never remember him. As he drove by his old apartment her face came to mind, Darchelle Deni was a petite brunette who had waited on him at the Beverage Shop a few times when he stopped to buy wine or spirits. He had finally gotten his courage up to ask her for a date, offering to share a bottle of wine with her and shocked when she agreed.

Their relationship continued for two months without ever really growing into anything more than purely sexual, and that was fine with her. She was young and grew bored and told him she was seeing another, He wasn't really crushed. There was nothing long term about it. And if he put too much thought into it and felt guilt, he dismissed it then as he did ten years later, the relationship had existed to fill the time. Of course there was the other reason the relationship was doomed, she was dating him under false pretenses.

Because the shop was so near his home Kyp had always changed into civilian clothing before going there . He didn't find it necessary as an Advisory Council member and a Jedi to advertise his personal drinking habits. So on the day he finally gained the courage to ask for a date; she had asked his name. He found himself comfortable blurting out Tiam Burnsy and he found he needed no Force persuasion with her. His usual charm worked and she accepted .

He had met to tell her the truth, but after two weeks it was rather easy to be Tiam, construction worker, non Force sensitive, average man. He reasoned he was kind to her and that was all that was needed, but he knew now it was wrong and he had just been lonely and desperate enough to not have to explain for the millionth time that he was indeed Kyp Durron, killer of Carida.

In so many ways Darchelle was a substitute to help him put Jaina Solo out of his mind. The dark haired beauty was a few years older than Jaina, but about the same height, and their looks were similar enough to pass as sisters. Darchelle hadn't minded the comparison. She blatantly warned Kyp she was too young to settle down and their relationship was to be truly only for fun. He was okay with that. At thirty-five even he wasn't sure if he was ready to commit to one person. It involved too many compromises, and a lot of hard honesty about himself and the darkness that plagued him.

He didn't regret it, he had learned nothing is gained from regret. He believed the best you can do is learn from your mistakes and try to not repeat them. In the end it had not mattered, though he knew he would never deceive someone again, so he thought if he saw her, would he tell her the truth? Why, it wouldn't even matter now. He was much older, as was she. He wasn't lonely anymore and he now knew what it was to be in love.

So he drove away from his old neighborhood and he placed his thoughts on the matter at hand. His mother, Muriel Ishra. Now that Doctor Lemm had steered him to the right location he wanted to find any records possible on her. He figured she must have only been on Denon until she was about 20 at the oldest, and that made him think there must be academy records, but which one? He surrendered himself to the Force and continued to drive until he was passing the imposing structures of the University of Denon. The immense white and transparisteel building stretched on for nearly a continuous kilometer. At the end of the building was a raised parking area for air speeders. Kyp left his car and made his way to the library allowing the Force to guide his decisions.

Once inside he took a moment to savor the energy flowing from its occupants and the sights and sounds of the students hard at work or just relaxing in each others company. The smell coming from the attached café drew him in and he decided to sit for awhile and talk to whomever might pass by.

The café wasn't intended to handle large crowds, and when a mass of students passed through the doors the tables immediately filled. Kyp was about to get up and yield his table when two young people, whom he surmised weren't more than fifteen sat down.

"You don't have to leave, professor, join us." The blonde young man spoke. His companion was another boy with long reddish brown hair and blue eyes. Kyp couldn't help but picture Ben Skywalker in a year or two. What Kyp realized were that neither of these boys, with their soft features, were likely to be University students, they were probably from the Academy; so he found himself staying.

The blonde boy was Reamon and the long haired boy was Dirk and they were both in their fourth year of the Academy, which Kyp quickly found out was attached to the University. The boys answered Kyp's questions and talked freely and animatedly with the Jedi Master. It was refreshing, he had spent too much of the day lost in his own thoughts and not enough interacting.

"Professor, what do you teach?" Kyp paused. What was it about this planet and mistaken identity?

"I teach philosophy, at a different University. I'm just here doing research." He had not lied, not really, he taught classes in Force philosophy at the Jedi Temple and he was here trying to research his mother. "Tell me, has your Academy been here long?"

"Over one hundred years, that's for sure. This is the new part, when the University expanded they joined the Academy to it. If you are researching really old stuff then you need to go to the Archival Library."

"What would you consider to be really old stuff?"

The boy scratched his head thoughtfully, "Dirk, what do you think, maybe fifty years ago or more?"

"Yeh, the Archive has everything historical about Denon, the Uni, and the Academy. We'll show you there if you'd like?" Kyp was surprised at the friendly behavior of the teens.

"Would you say this Academy is the finest on Denon?" He asked as they rose from the table and headed for the exit.

"Of course Master, it's very difficult to get accepted here, there are entrance exams, and it is expensive too."

They walked across the campus to an older section where the buildings were smaller and less shiny and the boys took him down a flight of steps and into a tunnel. His Force senses told him they had only the best intensions and they were safe, but the tunnel was long and entirely too dark for his taste. "This tunnel is not safe. You should never travel here alone."

"We know Master, someone was killed here along time ago, but it is the short cut to the Archives and lots of students use it when it is raining." Kyp shook his head at the boys.

"Just promise me you won't walk here alone?"

"All right, if it means that much to you. We won't walk here alone." For some reason Kyp felt relieved.

DDD

The Archives Library was not as damp and dark as the tunnel and entirely not what Kyp had expected. It was an old structure made of a deep brown durocrete and decorated by ornate colored transparisteel which reached from the top of his head to the roof of the building. The boys left him and made their way back to the tunnel short cut and he wondered if they'd ever heed his warning to be careful. Kids, they're never afraid.

Inside the Library it was bright and open. An older man with white hair and a friendly disposition greeted Kyp at once. "Welcome Master Jedi, how may I help in your research?" Kyp shook his hand warmly and introduced himself as Kyp Durron. Better to be honest with the man, he'd had enough of deception on this planet. The librarian listened politely as Kyp explained the purpose of his visit.

"I am looking for information on a specific person who may have been a student here about fifty years ago. Her name was Muriel Ishra, she was my mother."

A childlike grin spread across the older man's face. "Ah, come, I will show you." His look of recognition surprised Kyp and through the Force he could tell the man knew who his mother was and was deeply excited about his relationship with her. He led him to a long corridor lined with holos. "Our Academy has existed for 132 years. These are all the holos of the top graduate in each class."

There were 132 holos hanging on the wall. They were stacked four levels high, but still spanned ten meters down the corridor. The older man came to the holo and pointed it out to Kyp. "How do you remember my mother?"

She's an Ishra." The librarian picked up on the Jedi's confusion. "She Afrim Ishra's sister, you know the owner and director of Tuli Enterprises.

Suddenly it all clicked, Tuli Enterprises was an enormous electronics company, which despite the devastating war, had managed to come out on top when it secured an exclusive contract to provide materials and products for the rebuilding of Coruscant. Kyp, now knew, beyond doubt, that he had met Ishra when the council had interviewed perspective clients to award the contracts. The Jedi were chosen to participate to verify the intent of the competitors. Kyp had argued against Ishra, but had been outnumbered in voting, and deciding it wasn't all that important had acquiesced to his fellow Council members.

He had voted against his uncle. Perhaps a family connection existed that the others would not have felt. It didn't matter now, for there before him was the holo of his mother Muriel. Kyp hadn't seen his mother since he was nine and he had no holos of her. She was as beautiful as his memory had painted her. The holo had been taken when she was sixteen, the same age he had been when he began his Jedi training. She was fair skinned with dark brown hair pulled into an elaborate upsweep, and the eyes that stared from the portrait were wise and vivid green. Kyp found his own green eyes misting and he asked the librarian if there was any way to get a copy of this holo. The man promised him it might take a day, but it would be no problem. And then armed with her name as a student, he knew he could narrow his search. She had graduated in 13 BBY. The man set him up at a computer/holo station and found what Kyp was looking for, another picture and caption. There she was, with her hair loose and long, all youthful with sparkling green eyes which held a wisdom and a knowing beyond her years. She had a small caption beneath her name: "When much is given to you, much is expected of you." "Mom", a tear leaked from his eye as he touched the holo screen, his hand passing through the projection. There were two other items, a holonet story regarding her placing first in her class and receiving an award and an other stating her receipt of a scholarship with her intent to study premed. He summoned the record keeper over and downloaded copies of the information into his data pad.

It was all the man had, but it was, in it's own way a wealth of information. The older man began to prattle on about the Ishra family and Kyp half listened as he heard his own family history, something he had never thought possible. Afrim's father Kaunus had founded Tuli ninety years before and by the time Kyp's mother was a girl it was already the largest producer of electronics on Denon.

"Everyone said the man worked magic, his workers loyal and productive, his business efficient and his marketing flawless. Kaunus Ishra was a powerful man. A true leader." The librarian's voice neared reverence. "He died just before the war, but his son steered that company through, and look at them now."

"Oh, yeh, he's a great man." Kyp said sardonically. He'd heard enough about the businessman whose Force signature made him think of spoiled food. Suddenly he knew why he had voted against Ishra. He sensed him in a way no other Jedi in the room would have, for some reason, his reaction had been personal. He knew deep down that Ishra was a ruthless business man only intent on making more credits, even if at the expense of others.

The librarian hovered over Kyp looking eager to please.

"I need some more help, can you track this name: Nain Dervrosch?"

"I'll need a little time, but I can access galaxy record for this library. May I comm you once I get it." Kyp gave him his code and left to research something he did not want the man to know.

Kyp wandered away from the Academy and found himself at an information Kiosk. He entered Durron in the terminal and found none listed; the same for Deni He considered that peculiar, but filed it away for another day, for now, this was about finding out what had happened to his mother. He entered Ishra. Only two names appeared before him including Afrim Ishra, his uncle and owner of Tuli Electronics. There was a holo and the man who led one of the most lucrative electronics companies in the galaxy stared back at Kyp with the familiar green eyes of his mother. The family resemblance between Kyp and is uncle was apparent. He entered the business address and number into his data pad. The next name was Kyra Ishra, her holo showed a women Mara Jade's age who was also listed at Tuli Electronics. No home addresses were given. Kyp thought, File away for later, he was not willing to encounter his long lost family. Not yet.

He sat in a small park watching all the ordinary beings of the city come and go. He had once longed to be ordinary, but he realized, like so many things others took for granted, he would be denied. Not only did he carry immense Force abilities, he now was a part of one of the richest families in the galaxy. Oh he carried no delusions that they would invite him into their lives, but he was still related to them by blood.

He wondered why the Force had chosen him to be special. He firmly believed the Force had placed upon him infinite suffering and it was his duty to survive to retain hope. There was no time for what if's…what if his mother had not met his father, he would not be who he was. What if they had stayed on Denon…his old resentment towards his parents threaten to fester, he had once been so angry that they would not give up their ideals and had been sent to Kessel due to their stubborn resistance of the Empire. His childhood was ruined, his dark side actions a direct product of his trauma. He willed himself to stop, looking back never solved a problem. He needed to move forward. The Force seemed to drive him to discover where his mother had been taken and what had happened to her. He imagined her alone, her children scattered, her husband dead. Had she lost hope?

His reverie was broken by he chiming of his commlink. It was the record keeper.

"There wasn't much on Dervrosch. Born in Nal Hutta, some arrests for smuggling, fighting when he was younger. I have no record of him purchasing a slave in 4 ABY, but he left Nal Hutta that year as there was a warrant out for his arrest."

"Did it say where he went?"

"Ennth." In his mind there was one whispered word, "go".