Chapter Three

Insurance Seminar

Jac stared in deep frustration at the holocron. He'd spent the last hour attempting to open it, with no success. Throwing it with a loud crash onto the table in front of the sofa, he leaned back against the couch with an angry grunt.

Something occurred to Jac rather suddenly, and he laughed aloud at himself for not thinking of it sooner. His Force gift manifested itself in foresight – he could attempt to access the future, try to see himself with the holocron open.

Jac's thoughts darkened. Seeing his own future eluded him most of the time. He saw the futures of worlds, of people other than himself, but he rarely made an appearance in the leading role. Shrugging to himself, he sighed. He didn't know any other way, might as well give this a try.

Leaning forward, he focused his gaze on the holocron, studying every curve. He closed his eyes for a long moment and opened them, a smile spreading across his lips.

He sat at the helm of his yacht, the one he'd taken from the Scholar's base. Looking out the front window, he saw the blaze of blue hyperspace whisking by the ship.

"Dad?"

The voice of a teenaged boy startled him, and he looked over to see a young man, perhaps around fifteen, looking at him. He resembled Jac immensely, with the black, messy hair, but his eyes were a shade lighter, skin not as pale.

Dad? Did he have a son? Of course, this was possible. Highly probable, considering all the women he'd bedded. He looked down to see the boy holding the holocron, casually tossing it from one hand to the other. Looking up again, he saw the young man's eyebrow's raised as if expecting an answer.

"Um…yes…son?" Jac responded weakly.

"What is Tatooine like? Gotta be hot with two suns, right?" the boy said, returning to look out the window.

"Ah…yes, it's a desert world." Ah, so Tatooine again.

The image shifted suddenly, and he found himself standing at a glassless window in a modest house, looking at the same boy in some desert garden. The boy sat on a bench next to a teenaged girl, pretty, with reddish-blonde hair. The two laughed and talked, enjoying themselves. Jac felt himself smile, and he turned to the man standing next to him. He jolted a bit in shock; Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Ben as Jac knew him when he'd kidnapped the Jedi, looked out the window as well. This was the older Kenobi, the man Jac saw in the vision fighting Darth Vader and mysteriously disappearing. Kenobi looked deeply dismayed as he watched the young people's obvious flirting.

"Well, that would certainly be interesting," Jac heard himself say to Kenobi.

The man shot him a glare so deep, Jac wondered if Kenobi ever dappled in the Dark Side.

"Over my dead body," Kenobi hissed.

Jac laughed. "According to my visions, there is no body."

He now found himself sitting at a table across from the Jedi, the holocron between them.

"Well old man, you ready?" Jac heard himself say lightly, regarding Kenobi with a grin. His heart beat fast with a sense of determination.

"Yes," said Kenobi, and Jac watched as he and the Jedi both reached for the holocron at the same time.

The moment their fingers touched the cube, a bright red light flowed from the holocron.

Jac awoke with a start, lying on the floor in his apartment, the holocron clutched in his right hand. He sat up slowly, feeling woozy from his efforts with the visions.

He would open it, yes indeed. But would he need to wait years? Did he need to seek out Kenobi again?

But the man was much older? Would Jac open it before then? He'd felt so certain, so sure of himself.

And a son? Interesting. Who was the girl the boy flirted with in that desert garden? Kenobi's?

Lying back down, drained and exhausted, he felt a bit of pride in conjuring up visions of his own future, even though they now left more questions than answers. Dozing off right there in the living room from his exertion, he awoke the next morning quite late, barely making it to his desk, and view of Dew, in time.

Miles across town, in the Imperial Palace, Darth Sidious sat up in his large, lush bed. He'd been lying in the dark, attempting but failing to fall asleep. He slept so little these days, but he often found sleep brought dreams, visions, ideas, thus making it worth his time, on occasion. But he felt a growing disquiet as he lay for the past hour.

His life was in danger, he concluded. And frustratingly, he could not see how.

Rising from the bed, he moved across the room after donning his robe, opening the door slowly. One of the two red-clad Imperial Guards turned to him.

"My Lord?" came the muffled voice.

"Just need a walk. Alone," he said quietly, and he moved down the hallway. He sensed dismay from the guard, concern for him, but he motioned again for the man to stay put. The Emperor needed to wander alone.

He found himself drawn to the window, looking out at the nighttime cityscape, again seeking out the Imperial Human Resources building. Did the concerning feeling involve the young Force user who worked there, Jac? After returning from his visit, Sidious made quick work of looking the man up and found little background, a rather boring, standard existence, obviously false and created for some purpose. But other more pressing matters came into play, and he'd put off his investigation for the past week.

Moving again down the long, wide central hallway, he paused outside the quarters of Darth Vader, his apprentice currently in residence. He heard the hum of machinery, wondering how Vader felt existing in such a state, his bedroom filled with life-sustaining devices rather than the comforts of a bed, blankets, a luxurious chair in which to sit and read ancient Sith legends. The Emperor shrugged. Better Vader than me, he thought. While he didn't mind roughing it, had many a time particularly during his own apprenticeship, Sidious enjoyed luxury, had most of his life.

Placing his palm on Vader's door, he reached out with the Force. No, the threat was not from Vader. The young Sith needed Sidious still, would be foolish to dispose of him, or attempt to, after such a short time and little training in the ways of the Dark Side. Darth Vader may appear a terrifying front, but he still had a lot to learn.

No, he felt impending danger to himself but could not quite place the source. Damning the sometimes vague nature of the Force, Palpatine returned to his room and to bed. He would just need to wait and see, keep his senses on alert. Patience, he told himself, as he'd done so often over the long years of his rise to power. Patience, for the Force would reveal the truth soon enough.

Patience alluded Jac all morning and into the early afternoon, as the servers for their computer systems continued to go offline throughout the day, forcing him to talk with Dew. The obnoxious man explained to Jac about the reconstruction project of the family farm on his home world. He specialized in the growing of some root vegetable, and his younger brother currently ran things, but Dew visited often as full owner and heir to the family fortune, which he secretly bragged to Jac about with a smile. Jac didn't mention his own wealth could buy Dew's home world without putting much of a dent in the Sith's fortune, and Jac fantasized about buying out Dew's root farm and blasting the entire thing to oblivion with an arsenal of weapons.

"So what are you doing working at human resources?" asked Jac.

Dew shrugged. "I moved to Coruscant for university and enjoy city life. My world is stiflingly rural. I thought about moving back after the fall of the Republic, but I admire the tenants of the Empire."

Then Dew began talking specifically about the galactic vegetable market, and Jac smiled and nodded, his mind drifting over to Callie, who sat at her desk on her data pad. After their meeting in the basement, she'd acted like nothing happened, like they just hadn't had rough, mind-blowing sex. They'd eaten lunch, flirted like before. But Jac felt perplexed, along with a deep sense of longing. He'd been inside her, deep, heard her moan against him, felt her naked body wrapped around him. And he wanted more, craved her. But she seemed to have moved on completely, never even mentioning, or even indicating knowledge of, the event.

Ludyard, the floor manager, approached her desk to talk for a moment, then he turned and approached Jac.

"Um…yeah, Jac. Callie is running a large insurance seminar for some stormtroopers who just returned from the Outer Rim and need to know their new options. Since it's a large assembly, she requested you accompany her to help with the sign-ups," Ludyard explained.

Jac smiled. Requested him, huh? He looked over to see her standing in her robes, with her bag, ready to go. She smiled softly at him. Gathering his things quickly, accidently putting his outer robes on inside out, eliciting teasing from Dew, he soon found himself in the turbolift.

"So you requested me, my dear?" he said smoothly.

Callie gave him a wry look. "Yes, you know all the options backwards and forwards and…"

"So how would you like it this time, boss? Backwards or forwards?" Jac said, raising his eyebrows and sending her his best coy smile.

Callie laughed. "Maybe later."

Maybe later? Hmmm…he'd turn that maybe into a definitely by the end of the seminar.

They walked the few blocks to the central military facility, and the duo were ushered into a large forum, the audience filled with at least a thousand men. Outside of their stormtrooper armor, the Imperial Army looked like just a bunch of average guys.

Jac watched as Callie went through the presentation of the new insurance options, pointing out the benefits of the different choices on the large holoscreen. Despite the boring content, Jac noticed the men seemed rapt at attention. Perhaps the officers pacing the perimeter of the assembly had something to do with this.

At the end of the presentation, Callie turned off the holoprojector.

"My colleague Jac and myself will be at the tables in the hall to answer any personal questions or to assist you in registering," Callie said. "Are there any general questions at this time?"

Callie answered a few questions before one young man toward the back hesitantly raised his hand.

"Um…yes…well, would this be a good place to address other workplace concerns?" he asked.

Callie shrugged. "I suppose. We are from human resources."

"Okay…well…" the man hesitated. "It's about our uniforms. About our armor."

Jac looked over to see Callie with a puzzled expression. "Yes?" she said.

"Well, I know I'm not the only one, but the armor we wear causes a certain amount of…chafing," he continued.

"Chafing?" Callie said, still looking bewildered, but Jac could see where this was headed.

"Yes…in the crotch. Well, the balls specifically," the man said, getting a bit bolder, but still red in the face.

Jac almost let out a loud laugh seeing Callie stare open-mouthed at the man. But soon a chorus of agreement rose up.

"Yes!" cried one man from the front row. "Those of us on the desert worlds like Tatooine and Jakku…man, our balls are on fire."

"I'm…I'm going to let my male counterpart handle this line of requests," Callie said, gesturing for Jac as she sat down.

Jac took notes on his data pad about numerous complaints about armor before another man toward the center spoke up about a different matter.

"We have blaster practice all the time, and myself, nor anyone in my company, can hit the target," he shouted, other men calling out in agreement. "We either have faulty weapons or poor instructors."

"Enough!" cried one of the officers, now taking the stage. "Seminar over. Now go sign up for your new benefits then head back to your dorms."

Jac spent the next two hours signing up stormtroopers, occasionally stealing a glance at Callie at her own table across the room. When the room cleared, he walked over to help her pack up her things.

"When that guy mentioned his chafed balls," Jac began, laughing. "You should have seen your face."

Callie smiled back, and they left the military complex.

"Must be almost dinner. I'm famished. And not even the thought of stormtrooper genitalia can deter that feeling," Callie said matter-of-factly in her sultry voice, making Jac chuckle.

Then, the realization of a golden opportunity hit him.

"Let me cook for you," Jac said, knowing he had a pantry stocked with goods. "I'm quite good."

"Learned on that space station of yours in the Unknown Regions?" she teased, but she seemed to be letting him take the lead…back to his place. Good.

"As a matter of fact, yes. One of the researchers was a gifted chef," Jac said truthfully, for a moment recalling the ill-fated Duros Sith Lail.

"All right Jac, cook for me," Callie giggled.

A while later, Jac's apartment glowed with the warmth of fire on the hearth and the aroma of food in the kitchen. As he worked, he watched Callie walk around, regarding his lush apartment.

"You have money," she said, returning to sit on a stool by the counter and taking a sip of Alderaanian wine.

Jac shrugged.

"Why are you working at human resources?" she pressed.

Jac felt the urge to speak, tell her everything, but he bit his tongue, keeping quiet. He shrugged again.

After dinner and cleaning up, Jac sat with Callie on the sofa, watching the fire. The space of about a foot separated them as they talked of work and the recent holonews and the ridiculous stormtroopers. Jac enjoyed talking with Callie, found her wry, mocking sense of humor perfect for his mentality of sentients as a whole. She would have done nicely as a member of the Sith Scholars.

A lull in the conversation made the sound of the crackling fire dominate the space, and Callie scooted over, put her feet up on the sofa, and leaned her head against Jac's shoulder.

"This is nice," she said softly.

"Yes," he said quietly, for it was nice. Very nice. He enjoyed just sitting with her, being in her company. And while he'd definitely be banging her in a bit, just sitting with her felt perfectly fine for the moment, definitely not his usual bang 'em and go mentality.

He awoke a little while later to her kissing him, surprised he fell asleep. Her kisses began as soft, but soon became needy, and he tore at her clothes. Soon, things became a frantic blur of lovemaking, the first time on the floor in front of the fire, both naked and moaning together. As Jac rolled on top of her and moved smoothly inside her wetness, he felt sure he could fuck just Callie for the rest of his life and be quite content. The thought startled him, as he rarely craved the same woman more than once. But all thoughts left him as he began to climax, filling her as he groaned into her breasts.

"Stay hard for me," she demanded, flipping him over so she straddled him, his manhood still inside her.

He used the Force to get himself going again, a technique he loved to employ with an eager lover who always left exhausted and impressed by his longevity. Watching her sit up with him still inside her, the erect nipples hard and tantalizing under his touch, he reveled in watching her orgasm, her face flush, mouth hanging open in cries of pleasure, head thrown back. She collapsed on top of him.

"Come to my bed," he whispered. "The floor is hard."

"As are you. Still," she said, removing him from her and getting up. "Impressive."

He took her hand and led her to his bedroom, the large bed with silky sheets and warm blankets. To his utter shock, she slid onto the bed, lying on her stomach, turning to look back at him with a devilish expression.

"You promised me backwards and forwards," she said. "I enjoy both."

Jac wasted no time joining her on the bed and mounting her from behind, driving into her vagina once again, one hand reaching around to fondle her breasts while the other slid from her hip to press into her folds, applying even more pressure to her clitoris. They came undone at the same time, Jac releasing inside her again as her muscles tightened and pulled around him. Force, he could fuck this woman all the time.

Pulling out and falling beside her, he brought the blankets over them. He felt satisfied and sleepy. Callie draped herself across him, sighing.

"You've been with a lot of women," she said in her deliciously buttery voice. "How many?"

Jac bit his lip. This could be a dangerous conversation. He ran through his options quickly, knowing she enjoyed his humor.

"What number would you prefer?" he asked, knowing full well he'd lost count years ago.

Callie laughed brightly, holding him tighter.

"And you?" he asked.

"One," she said, the laughter stopping completely. "But he's long gone now. Dead."

"I'm sorry," said Jac, his sentiment hollow. He wasn't sorry in the least.

"I'm not," she said darkly.

The room fell into silence, and he soon heard her breathing steadily as she fell asleep. Jac slipped away as well, dreaming of Callie walking beside him through the city, Callie in his kitchen helping him make dinner, Callie watching the holonews on his sofa next to him, cradling a cup of caf in her hands.

The sound of crying woke him hours later. Callie sat on the edge of his bed, still naked, hunched over, sobbing into her hands, her whole body shaking. Jac watched and listened for a moment before he felt a bit uncomfortable, like he was spying on a private moment.

"I'm not that bad, am I?" he asked.

Callie jumped a bit at the sound of his voice, then chuckled despite her tears, returning to lie beside him.

"No," she whispered. "You are actually quite good…for a data processor."

"I'm not experiencing any chafing. Want another go?"

Callie giggled and nuzzled into him. "Can you…can you just hold me for a bit?" she said, her voice still thick with tears.

Jac pulled her to him, loving the feeling of her in his arms, all the while wondering why she'd been crying.

While he felt his destiny lie in gaining more power in the Dark Side, finding a powerful master to teach him, nothing in the Sith rule book mentioned avoiding attachment, like those foolish Jedi. And Jac was definitely becoming attached to Callie. As long as she didn't get in the way of his pursuits, he saw no reason to abandon this romance.

Author's Note: Next time, Jac gets a disturbing vision and begins to see the real Callie.

Thank you for reading!