Disclaimer: George Lucas owns Star Wars. I am not making any profit from this work of fanfiction.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:
TRANSCRIPT FROM SENATE COMMITTEE HEARING
"Ryn Orun, the internal memory from the security droid we were able to retrieve suggests that it experienced a system malfunction at 09:53, Coruscant Standard Time. At what time did you enter the major domo's office?"
"09:55."
"And in the intervening two minutes, Padawan Skywalker was able to stage a diversion so that you could perform an illegal search?"
"I cannot testify regarding actions for which I was not present."
"But the major domo's office was empty when you arrived."
"It was not occupied by any sentient beings, other than myself."
"How did you achieve entry?"
"The locking mechanism was not engaged when I arrived."
"And that didn't strike you as odd?"
"I wasn't inclined to look a gift eopie in the mouth."
"Ah. So you entered. Can you describe the room for us?"
"About five meters by eight meters, wood paneling. One desk, two filing cabinets. Several small statuary that I took to be decorative. A computer unit, set into the desk. It was attached to communications and surveillance equipment."
"You testified earlier that you wanted to gain entry to determine whether the major domo kept documents on the individuals employed there."
"No."
"No, you weren't looking for docs?"
"The individuals to whom you refer were not employed there. They were slaves."
"That is what this hearing is intended to determine. I'll rephrase the question. Were you or were you not looking for documentation related to the workers at Ziro's Pleasure Palace?"
"I was."
"And did you find such documentation?"
"I did not find ID docs or payroll information. I was able to access computer files containing personnel information. Those files have been submitted to the investigative committee."
"Were you able to access all the files on the office computer?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Many of the files were passcode-protected by encryptions that I was unable to break in the time available."
"Isn't it possible that those files contained the information you were unable to find elsewhere?"
"I cannot testify regarding the contents of files I was unable to access."
"Understood. Let's go back a bit. How long would you say you were in the major domo's office?"
[]
The seconds ticked by as Ryn waited impatiently for the files to download. One eye on the screen, she thumbed through the filing cabinets for anything that looked relevant. There was nothing like an employee payroll system, which she guessed was probably good for the case they were building, but there were a lot of coded entries regarded "compliments" in various kinds of pastry goods delivered to different planets ... meaning their representatives in the Galactic Senate? Ryn shook her head; she didn't know.
The files were downloading, too slowly. Ryn slipped the stack of flimsiplasts back into place and continued her search.
She flipped through folder after folder of old-fashioned hardcopy flimsis. These pastry things had to be bribes, and ... Wait a minute. Ryn lifted out a flimsi whose text was Huttese, not Basic, and squinted at it. Admittedly, she spoke Huttese about as well as she could fly unaided ... but she had one hell of a long jump that would do in a pinch. And she was damn sure this flimsi said something about delivering a shipment - of what? - to Borsana Terce.
Borsana Terce, which was currently engaged in a very ugly, very illegal arms race with Borsana Sexto.
And Ziro had recently taken up the weapons trade.
I have a bad feeling about this.
Well, the words were in Huttese, but the alphabet was Aurebesh. Which meant that Anakin could read this, if she could sneak it to him.
Ryn Orun, undercover agent and master of espionage. This has got to be the Force's idea of a joke.
She folded the flimsi in quarters and tucked it into her utility belt before checking the computer display.
Files 77% downloaded.
She flipped faster now, looking for more flimsis in Huttese.
There's one, come on, faster ...
Files 82% downloaded.
Ryn reached for another folder and began scanning. No Huttese in this one, just lists of comings and goings. Some of the entries had comments about the visitors' preferences. The secret to Ziro's reputation for customer service, Ryn thought. But also a damn good resource for blackmail. More than half this stuff would be illegal even if it weren't conducted with slaves.
Which means Senators are going to be awfully reluctant to chat about the evidence.
Files 93% downloaded.
She could feel Anakin's sense of urgency, nothing focused enough to translate into words, but definitely a warning that she didn't have much time.
Hold him, she sent, but she couldn't tell whether she got through.
Files 97% downloaded.
Anakin was on the verge of panic; that couldn't be good.
Download complete.
Ryn hit the eject button and caught the data crystal she'd stolen from the major domo's desk drawer, still hot from the transfer.
Ryn, get out now! Get out! Run!
She left the program running, trusting Anakin's sudden spike in anxiety, and sprinted for the door.
Which was suddenly opened by none other than the Twi'lek major domo himself.
Kriff.
She could see Anakin, hovering just behind the Twi'lek's shoulder, still babbling about the Tarkalian ambassador's unhappiness with a malfunctioning 'fresher.
If there was a choice, Ryn couldn't see it. The Jedi Council had to see these documents, in case Ryn's suspicions proved correct and the key to this new weapons trade of Ziro's was here, in her hands. She might be wrong ... but then again, she might not.
The Twi'lek had just enough time for his surprise to become anger before Ryn's foot connected with his jaw and he went down, knocked unconscious.
She and Anakin both stared at his slumped form for a second, then they each grabbed a limb and hauled him inside the office.
"We have to get out of here now," Ryn told Anakin. "We can't wait for extraction."
"You can say that again," Anakin muttered. He leapt over the desk to look out the window. "Too high, and the drop is inside the wall. We'll have to go out the old-fashioned way."
"That's not very encouraging," Ryn observed. She felt light-headed with terror. If she was right about the docs, and they failed ...
"Come on," Anakin said, and started to run.
They fled down corridor after corridor, hearts in their mouths. They were in the "abovestairs" part of the brothel, and they careened through the humanoid wing with all the speed of the truly motivated.
Alarms began to sound, which meant that the major domo had either woken up or been discovered. Rodian security staff spilled out into the hallway and began firing at their backs.
They reached the central staircase and jumped off it, a drop of three stories. Ryn could feel Anakin softening their impact with the Force, but she didn't have time to voicer her gratitude before they were running again.
Dodging blaster bolts, unarmed, they sprinted for the front door.
There were guards, and they were firing, but the two friends dodged the bolts and then moved as one, darting inside the fire to deliver swift, identical snap-kicks that knocked the blasters free.
The guards had managed to seal the door against them - some kind of magnetic locking device - but Ryn spun on her heel and returned fire at the guards racing down the stairs behind them while Anakin worked to hot-wire the seal.
The door slid open. "Now!" Anakin shouted, and Ryn backed out the door after him, still firing.
Anakin led the way on a sprint through the maze of airspeeders parked outside. A sleek Soro-Suub racer opened its doors for them and Ryn realized he was using the Force.
"Get inside!" Anakin yelled, and Ryn threw herself over the hood to reach the passenger side.
Anakin whipped them out of dock and into full speed so fast that Ryn was thrown against the door, her teeth jarring. They zipped into traffic with no regard for the airlane safety laws.
Anakin whistled. "This thing is a beauty! Wow!" He glanced over at Ryn, which at these speeds made her a little nervous. "Tell me you got something."
"Something," Ryn agreed, fighting the urge to say watch where you're going. "I just don't know what."
Anakin jinked left as blaster fire zinged past them and Ryn realized they weren't out of the woods yet.
"What do you mean, you don't know?" he snapped, incredulous, as they dove improbably between two holobanners.
"The hardcopies I lifted are in Huttese," Ryn explained, wincing as they threaded through the observation platforms on top of a hotel.
Anakin swore. "Take the controls."
Ryn stared. "What? I -"
"So I can read the docs. Hurry!"
Blasterfire zipped around them again as Ryn slid over Anakin to the driver's seat, pulling the docs free and dropping them into his hands as she went.
Ryn put the Soro-Suub into a dive down the side of the hotel, weaving back and forth across its surface, before making a high-speed turn into a docking garage.
The docking garage was set up in a spiral, and Ryn put the accelerator pedal to the floor and jerked the controls left at the first turnoff and heard one of their pursuers impact on the wall of the tunnel behind them.
Well, nobody could say that Anakin didn't know how to pick a speeder.
Ryn took the first exit back into the tunnel, which happened to be the wrong way, but that was all right. Anakin looked up from the docs the first time she leapfrogged an oncoming vehicle.
"Wizard!" he exclaimed. "You could have been a Podracer!"
"I'd rather be alive," Ryn gritted through her teeth, flipping the Soro-Suub on its side to scrape between two oncoming speeders.
"I think we lost the pursuit," Anakin said.
"Nope," Ryn said, looking ahead. Two of the vehicles zooming toward them had Rodians hanging out the sides with blasters.
She jinked from side to side as the blaster bolts scorched the air. "Read fast."
She spun them into the next docking-level entrance, blasterfire splashing the walls red, and shot straight through it to emerge in the spiral, right-way around this time.
The tunnel was congested, but Ryn leapfrogged a couple more speeders and emerged into the Coruscant sunlight to find three vehicles waiting for them.
"We've got trouble," she told Anakin, shooting the speeder into a hard climb up the side of the nearest skyscraper.
"I'm not sure what these docs mean," Anakin said. "Two hundred fifty muffins delivered to Borsana Terce?"
Ryn hesitated. She didn't want to lead Anakin into a faulty train of thought if she were wrong. On the other hand ... "The last time I saw an order for that many muffins, the Lorethan Militia was buying thermal detonators."
"Oh." Anakin looked a little pale. "So you think it's a code."
"I think that's a possibility."
"And we know Ziro has been getting a toehold in the weapons trade." He nodded abruptly. "Let me back at the controls. And then see if you can get the onboard comm system working."
So they traded places again and Anakin began putting the Soro-Suub through what looked like maneuverability tests while Ryn tried to access the com. "Who am I calling?"
"Master Obi-Wan." Anakin wrenched them into a tight turn as he rattled off his master's code frequency.
[]
"Kenobi here."
"Obi-Wan, it's Ryn. We've had to make an unscheduled departure. We are now - oof! - inbound for the Jedi Temple and need clearance to land."
Obi-Wan didn't like the breathless sound of Ryn's voce. "Vehicle?"
"SoroSuub racing airspeeder, sort of a fluorescent - gah! - purple, late model."
Obi-Wan thought, Fluorescent purple? Anakin, you're supposed to be inconspicuous.
"We are in possess of documents that must reach the Jedi Council and we are - ungh - under pursuit. Repeat, we are under - Anakin!"
There was a crackling noise and then Anakin's voice, staticky: "I can't compensate! We're going down!"
"Master Kenobi, we -"
"Jump clear, on my mark!"
"Find us!"
"Jump!"
A shriek, cut off by the noise of an explosion.
Anakin. Had he managed to get clear?
A chill touched Obi-Wan's heart. Oh, Anakin ...