Wow, sorry for the long wait I gave y'all…I've been super busy with school and a few other writing projects. But next week is spring break, so hopefully I'll get caught up. Thanks for sticking with me through the ups and downs of my "real life".

And even though much time has passed, I still possess no ownership of the characters below…

Chapter 9: The Address

When they were fairly certain that Senator Solfus wasn't around, Luke, Han and Leia returned to his office. The Twi'lek assistant was still there, typing quickly with her blue fingers. She looked up when they came in.

"You're back. What can I help you with?" she asked politely, but her tone had a small twinge of annoyance. Luke sensed that she was either behind on some project, or simply too busy to deal with such important people today.

"Is Senator Solfus in?" Leia asked, just to be certain.

"No, he's in a meeting right now. Can I give him a message?"

"Actually, we're here to speak with you."

She looked rather shocked. "Alright," she agreed.

"We're doing a survey of senators, to select one for a certain award. How do you feel about your boss?"

"He's a jerk."

"What?" Luke asked in surprise.

"I hate him. He yells at me all the time, but is the perfect gentleman whenever anyone important is around. I don't want him getting any awards. In fact, I'd be happy if he – oh never mind. Let's just say I'm not his biggest fan."

"That's good to know, thank you," Leia replied. "We just have one more question: do you know what the senator was doing during this week?" Leia held out her datapad.

"Let's see, that was the week he disappeared."

"And you don't know where he went?"

"Not at all. I was working on some projects, so I was here every day, but Senator Solfus never showed up. I remember thinking how strange it was, because he was involved in some very important negotiations at the time."

"What did he say when he came back?"

"Just that he'd had a family emergency. But I've know the man, unfortunately, for many years. He'd never mentioned any family before; his parents are dead, and he never contacts anyone else."

"You're sure? There isn't anybody back on Aargau? Maybe not a family member, but a close friend?"

"Well, he did used to always send packages to this apartment on Aargau. I don't remember the name, but they didn't share the same last name. I do have the address though." She typed in a few commands and wrote down the address on a piece of flimsi.

Luke took it from her. "Thank you very much for all your help," he said as they turned to go.

"You're welcome, and good luck with everything."

#

When Luke, Leia, and Han returned to the Solo's apartment, Jaina was lying on the sofa, sound asleep.

"Shhh, don't wake her," Leia admonished the boys. "She's probably just got back from a mission and wants to crash for a while."

"I'm fine mother," came Jaina's voice, muffled from behind a pillow.

She sat up, her hair a mess.

"How long are you back for?" Han asked his daughter.

"Well, I guess that would be a question for Uncle Luke," Jaina joked.

Luke smiled. "I have a mission for you whenever you're ready. Would you like to rest a bit first?" he asked, already anticipating her answer.

"Heck no! I've had my two hour nap. That should get me by for a few months."

"I thought you might feel that way," Luke replied. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked the Solos.

"Is this some kind of Jedi mind reading exercise?" Leia asked. "Or just my sisterly intuition?"

"Either works…"

"Yes I do, we can hold things down back here. I'll explain to Han exactly what we're talking about in a minute, but I'm enjoying his confused expression."

Han glared. "You have your fun, but I'll get back at you someday."

"Someday…the day that never seems to come, no matter how many times you threaten me," Leia replied, laughing.

"Alright, Jaina, pack up. We're going to Aargau…"

Less than a standard day later, Luke and Jaina were in their StealthXs, about to enter lightspeed. The flight to Aargau would only take a few hours, and Jaina settled into her cockpit.

"Ready for some action, Rowdy?" she asked her red and white astromech droid.

I do not possess the capacity to feel an emotion of readiness or dread.

"Well, in that case I guess we'll just roll with the punches," Jaina replied, appreciating Rowdy's dry sense of humor.

Excuse me mistress, but who is getting punched?

Ah, figures of speech. They didn't work on droids.

"Never mind. Set course for Aargau."

The two starfighters dropped out of hyperspace, and Jaina's view port filled with the sight of Aargau. It wasn't a large planet by galactic standards, but boasted of quite a large population. Though its cities hadn't overtaken the planet as they had Coruscant, they were spreading, and explained the dense citizenry.

The sphere from this distance looked like a fuzzy ball of green and grey swirls, but as they drew closer, the grey turned into durasteel buildings, and the green into various foliage.

"This is Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker, requesting landing authorization for myself and Jaina Solo," Luke said, and they both waited for a reply.

"This is air traffic control center 26, please proceed to docking bays 312 and 313. Thank you for visiting Aargau."

Jaina smiled a bit at the last part; usually when a Jedi, especially the Grand Master of the Order, came to your planet, it meant trouble. Jedi rarely took vacations, and definitely wouldn't go to a planet known for its obsession with material possessions.

They landed in the docking bays the traffic controller had indicated, and exited their fighters.

"Keep an eye on things R2," Luke told his astromech, and R2-D2 replied with an affirmative beep. Luke gave instructions with the manager that no one was to touch the starfighters, even for maintenance, and he and Jaina left the building.

"Why don't I head to the address we have, and you can go investigate Solfus' funds at the Bank of Aargau."

Jaina cringed inwardly, hoping Luke hadn't sensed her apprehension in the Force.

He had.

"Would you prefer to check out the address?"

"If that's what you want," Jaina replied, forcing her emotions to remain neutral. But she did hate banks. And rich people. And having to ask questions at banks about rich people.

"Yes, I suppose I would prefer that." Luke knew she'd never agree if she thought he was catering to her.

"Alright then. Should I meet you back here in four hours?"

"I'll see you then." Luke handed Jaina the piece of flimsi with the address scrawled on it. Jaina hailed an air taxi, Luke hailing another, and they went their separate ways.

"I'd like to go to this address," Jaina told the driver, showing him the flimsi.

"Are you sure about that missy? Dangerous part of town, Durgout Street is."

"I'm sure."

The driver took off, speeding through the city. There wasn't nearly as much traffic as Coruscant boasted, and most of the beings she'd caught a glace of were adorned in silk robes with intricate trim. The upper class of Aargau obviously lived a life of comfort and pleasure.

Jaina had a feeling that the part of town they were descending to, however, had a starkly different type of population. As they continued their journey, Jaina's thoughts were proven correct. The shiny durasteel gave way to rusty tin structures. They traveled several blocks, made two left turns, then the taxi set down in the middle of the street.

"Here we are," the driver informed her, pointing to a small house to their right.

"Thank you," Jaina replied, handing him a few credits.

"Will you be long? Want me to hang around?"

Jaina knew the exorbitant fee she'd be charged if he 'hung around'.

"Thanks, but I'm fine." She jumped out, and the air taxi sped back to the heart of the city, where he was more likely to find customers.

Jaina looked around, taking in her surroundings, reaching out with the Force. There was definitely some waves of hostility radiating from the address.

This could get interesting.

Hand on her lightsaber hilt, Jaina walked up to the door and knocked. The rap wasn't so loud as to arouse anger, but had enough force to show she wasn't going to go away. She heard shuffling sounds inside, and the lock being turned. Well, locks. Bad neighborhood and all, one could never be too careful.

The door swung open, revealing a black haired man who looked to be in his early thirties. He was unusually tall, and if his hair had been grown out, would have looked strikingly similar to Zekk.

"What do you want?" his gruff voice demanded.

"My name is Jaina Solo, and I just have a few questions for you."

The name usually caused a look of alarm, or at least recognition, but the man didn't even twitch. Maybe they never even heard of the Solo family down here.

"Sure, come in. I'm Zevid," he replied, suddenly compliant. A little too compliant. Jaina paid even more attention to her danger sense.

"What did you want to ask me?" Zevid moved towards the dresser, standing with his back leaning against the peeling wood.

"Do you know a man named Byron Solfus? He's the Galactic Senator for Aargau."

"Heard of him, yeah, but I don't know him personally."

"Are you sure? I have reliable information that says Senator Solfus has sent numerous packages to this address."

"How long ago was that? I've only just moved her three months ago."

A story quite easily made up.

"Do you know the previous owner?" she asked, trying to see if his story was detailed enough to be truth.

"No, sorry but I didn't."

Jaina sighed.

"You're a Jedi, aren't you?" he asked, noticing her lightsaber.

Jaina nodded.

"That's funny…so am I!" Zevid reached behind him, igniting a crimson blade with speed that would have impressed Master Yoda. He lunched forward, using the element of surprise to go in for the kill.