Entry 52

As we entered Deke's family residence, he looked around and called out, "Honey, I'm home." When there was no response he smiled. "Good, the wife's not here. You can't discuss any confidential information around her unless you want the ladies at the spa knowing all your business." He pointed to the living area of his apartment. "Take a seat. Do you want a drink?"

"No thanks," I said as I sat on the couch and Commander Tavik took a seat across from me in a padded recliner. "So," I said slowly. "What did you mean by, You, of all people should know some secrets are too dangerous to be known? I am very curious as to what you think I've been hiding."

"I don't just think, I know. I know all about your cousin Jacen's past digressions."

I tried to hide my relief as I blew out the breath I'd been holding. For a moment I had worried that he found out about my son. "I figured you knew. You disappeared with my dad for a couple weeks after the Myrkr incident. I assume you and dad were covering my cousin's tracks."

"Yes, we were." He cocked his head to the side and gave me a curious expression. "You look relieved when I mentioned Jacen as being your big secret…but now I am wondering what else your family is hiding."

I averted my eyes and took a calming breath. "My family isn't hiding anything else."

"Oh, you are a lousy liar," he said with a laugh. "I can tell you are being deceptive. You avoid looking me in the eye and start doing those meditative breathing exercises to calm your nerves." He paused, waiting for me to deny the accusation. When I remained silent he chuckled. "Okay, keep it a secret." He stood and walked over to his liquor cabinet where he poured himself a shot of what looked like whiskey. He held the glass up toward me. "You sure you don't want one?"

"No, I rarely drink."

He shook his head in disbelief. "You and your father are the only two non-drinking Void Jumpers I know of. It must be some spook thing."

I shrugged. "A drunk Jedi is a dangerous Jedi."

"That's true." He downed his drink in one gulp before refilling it and returning to his seat.

"What can you tell me about the attack?" I asked.

He took a sip of his drink and set it on a side table. "My contact warned me about a possible impending attack on the royal family of Hapes. I assumed only Tenel Ka and her children were in danger. I never thought the other royals would be targeted."

I scoffed. "Are you telling me that the emergency drill of the school was sheer coincidence?"

"Yes it was a coincidence." His jaw tightened as his face turned an angry color. "Are you insinuating that my contact told me the exact time and scale of the attack and I didn't bother to evacuate all the buildings? Dozens of people died and, although I can care less about the royals, I do care about the guards, servants, cooks and other innocent people who were killed." He paused as another possibility occurred to him. "Or are you suggesting that I arranged the attack on the royal house myself? I got Tenel Ka and her family out of harm's way because I knew mercenaries, hired by yours truly, were about to assault the complex. I then ordered the evacuation drill to save the children… because, after all, I'm not a total monster. I then made sure I killed all the mercenaries so they wouldn't talk. Is that what you're suggesting?"

I felt my face blanch. "I ah…" I wasn't sure what to say, especially since his second stated possibility sounded so well thought out and conceivable. I took a deep breath and let it out. "I don't know what I am suggesting. It would be a smart move. You did say the Queen had people constantly trying to kill her. This could be a way to get rid of a good many of those conniving dark souls you mentioned earlier. It would make your job easier. The servants might simply be unfortunate collateral damage."

His brow rose as he sat back in his chair. "Damn Talon, you must think I like bloodshed. Just because you and your dad are prolific killers, it doesn't mean all of us Void Jumpers are."

Now I was confused. "What do you mean by that?"

He gave a shake of his head. "Your father did help destroy the planet Byss which I assume was full of millions of people. And you…" He pointed a finger at me. "You have the nickname The Butcher of Jabiim." He sat back in his seat and gave a cold chuckle. "Hell, you killed an entire company of men with a flick of your wrists. Did you know the Mortuary Affairs Unit that went out to collect the bodies had to use industrial floor squeegees to scrap the enemy remains off the various cargo speeders you used to squash them?" He shuddered visibly. "You are the last person who should make accusations of ruthlessness."

I closed my eyes as I began to feel queasy. What happened on Jabiim was necessary to save my unit…but the memory still made my stomach churn. "I'm sorry for suggesting you were involved. It's just that…well, it does seem like a huge coincidence that you called for an evacuation drill of the schools moments prior to the attack."

"Tantiss, did you ever think the evacuation drill might have caused the mercenaries to attack early? If they thought their cover was blown they would either have to stand down and regroup or accelerate the time table and take their chances."

"Oh," I said quietly. It made sense that if the assassins saw people flowing out of the buildings they might have attacked immediately "Who do you think is responsible? There must have been one royal family that sustained less damage. What royals were off planet?"

He shrugged. "As you can imagine, it is unusual for all the royals to be in the palace at one time. Some were off planet; some were simply in another part of the city. What I worry about is the investigation pointing fingers at Tenel Ka."

"Why would they do that? Nobody knows they're off planet."

"Even if they believe Tenel Ka and her family were in the Palace, only the Queen's security Force was actively preparing for an attack. The only bombs discovered and defused were in her sector of the palace. The security personnel of the other royals were not as lucky. Tenel Ka sustained less damage. Suspicion will fall on her. The royals will believe she arranged the attack to get rid of them."

I gazed at Tavik for a long pause. "You don't think she's involved, do you? Could she have planned the attack to kill her rivals and then funneled information to you to get her off planet? This way if you got caught and interrogated you couldn't implicate her?"

His jaw dropped as he considered the possibility. "My men and I could have been killed in the attack. There were bombs and assassins to contend with. Some of my men were severely injured." He sat back in his seat wide eyed as he considered the possibility. "I would think she valued my life more than that." There was a long pause. "I don't think she would do that…but Jacen might. He can be ruthless when it comes to protecting his family."

Deke looked so crestfallen that I felt bad for even suggesting the possibility. "Hey," I said softly. "I'm sure it wasn't them. When I talked to Tenel Ka and Jacen I didn't sense any duplicity on their part. And I don't sense deceit from you. I'm sorry that I am throwing accusations around."

He closed his eyes briefly as he chewed his bottom lip. "No problem, but since we are accusing everybody, I don't feel so bad about asking this question. Do you think the Jedi were involved? Are they punishing Tenel Ka for leaving the order or because of Jacen's actions?"

I actually laughed at the possibility. "No, the Jedi are definitely not involved. Uncle Luke understood why she couldn't stay with the order. And Jacen's family doesn't hold any animosity towards him. Why in the galaxy would you ask that question?"

He drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "Because on one of the assailants I found a lightsaber."

I sat stunned for a long moment before I started a barrage of questions.

"A lightsaber? Do you have it or is it in the hands of the Hapan Consortium Investigation Bureau?"

He made a reassuring gesture. "I found it and smuggled it out of the area. That's the last thing that I wanted the investigators to find."

"Where is it? I can probably glean information from it."

He shook his head. "It was too dangerous to keep. I got rid of it. I flew up to the outer orbit of the planet and jettisoned it. It burned up in the atmosphere."

My shoulders slumped. "Did you turn it on? Did it have an amber blade?"

"I don't know what color blade it had." He got up and went to his dining room table and picked up a datapad. "It wasn't functional, but I took a photo of it."

He handed me the device with an image of an ornate lightsaber that apparently had been broken in half by either an explosion or blaster fire. I looked up to Deke. "Did any of your men report fighting somebody with a lightsaber?"

He shook his head. "This was found inside the person's side pocket. No others were found."

My mind was reeling at the implications as I tried to make sense of the situation. "Can you describe the man you found this on?"

"Sure," Deke said as he looked to the ceiling in thought. "He was about my height, muscular, clean shaven, with light brown hair."

"Did you recognize him? Could he be a Void Jumper?"

He looked perplexed by the line of questioning but then an expression of understanding crossed his face. "Oh, you think he's that guy training the Jedi killing army of Vong Void Jumpers."

"Yes," I said barely suppressing a sarcastic tone. "He is also the guy who attacked the Chief-of-State and I believe he is the man attacking slavers and freeing captives."

Deke sat back down and rubbed his chin in thought. "Damn, that guy gets around. Why would a Jedi-killing, antislavery army attack Hapan royals?"

I threw up my hands. "I don't know. None of this makes sense. If I had that lightsaber I could probably tell you. Now we'll never know if the dead assassin and the man with the amber lightsaber are one and the same."

He laughed out loud. "I can tell you are not the investigative sentinel in your Jedi family." Deke grabbed his drink and took another sip. "You obviously remember that video I gave your father of the Void Jumper with the lightsaber." He reached out and tapped the top of the datapad I was holding. "That is not the same lightsaber. The markings are different. Plus, the assassins we fought weren't wearing Void Jumper armor. And I am fairly certain that handsome gang of assassins sitting in the morgue are not, and never have been, butt-ugly Vong fighters. Also your dad said the antislavery leader didn't hurt your cousin Hanna and the other Jedi. So why would he attack Hanna's cousin?" He crossed his arms over his massive chest as his eyes locked with mine. "No, I think the most obvious answer is probably the correct one. They are Hapan assassins. One idiot probably bought a lightsaber at some antique shop and had delusions of being a Sith-wannabe."

The mention of Sith sent me down another path of thought. "Or maybe Lumiya, the Dark Lady of the Sith, had more than one apprentice and this second apprentice wants to get revenge on Jacen."

Deke grinned sardonically, like that was the stupidest idea he has ever heard. "That's a lot of maybes. I'll let the Investigation Bureau figure this out. I am just happy that the attack failed. Once again my sources have proven correct."

I studied Deke for a long moment. "Commander Tavik, do you trust your source? Do you even know who it is? Or what they want from you in return?"

He stifled a smile as he shrugged his shoulder. "All I can say is, yes, yes and yes."