NOTHING STAYS THE SAME
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Three and a half days in hyperspace was being overly optimistic. Much like Solo's ship, the Asteroid Belt had numerous problems, one of which was a faulty hyperdrive. They could only travel a few parsecs at a time, and every few hours they had to come out of lightspeed, recalibrate the nav computer, and hop into hyperspace again. Three days in hyperspace was enough to make anyone irritating, but Mara was bitchy by the second day of the constant hyperspace hopping. She spent the first day mostly in her room. The small freighter was no more roomier than the Millennium Falcon, and Mara wanted nothing else but to take out her frustration with her lightsaber. Corran had volunteered to spar with her, but the simple fact was that although there was room for one person with a lightsaber, two was pushing it. Besides, Mara could feel her anger crowding her judgment, and she couldn't guarantee that Corran would come out unscathed. Oh, she wouldn't kill him, or permanently injure him, she'd just bruise him. She knew that the team needed him, but did he have to be so damned irritating?
Talon noticed the friction between Mara and Corran early on, having learned quickly to recognize Mara's actions and attitude. He knew that they couldn't spar with lightsabers, but why not just hand-to-hand combat? He wasn't sure how good Corran was, and he'd seen Mara a few times. It would be entertaining to watch, if Corran was half as good as he said he was. So he and the tall Wookiee cleared one of the supply holds so that they could spar.
Mara was kind enough to remove her shoes before beginning. She knew she could do enough damage without them. Corran kicked his shoes away and faced his opponent. Both were dressed in Corran's clothes—all Mara had with her was her flightsuit, and Corran was the closest to her size.
Mara struck first, with a low kick meant to sweep his legs out from under him. He backed away a step and Mara pressed forward. She unleashed in her attacks her frustration and anger, landing on the quick pilot several blows, two of which he could feel already beginning to swell and bruise. Other than that, she was controlling herself very well. She wasn't fighting to practice—she fought to maim. Corran knew he was adept at hand-to-hand—he'd proven that to Luke during his brief stay at the Jedi Academy—but Mara was far more experienced than him. She didn't seem to tire, or falter, or make a mistake. He'd block a blow, only to realize she'd feinted it and he had another bruise. He tried to use the Force against her, and although he could sense her presence, strong and carefully shielded, he could not predict one move she'd make.
Predicting her moves were impossible to him, so he decided to try and exercise his own mind powers. He began to press at her shields in several different areas, testing her, trying to find a weakness to exploit. He knew he couldn't say in the fight much longer, so finally he found a small scratch in her mind and he pushed against it with all his strength. She fell back against the wall and finally looked up at him.
"Not bad, Horn," she said. "Of course, if there were any ysalimiri around, you'd have been in deep shit."
"Damn, Mara, I was already in deep shit. Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?" He gratefully grabbed the water container from Talon, and tossed the other one to Mara.
"Different places. I learned quickly." Mentally she was already critiquing her own performance. She'd been too emotional, number one. That had been a problem she hadn't had in many years. Number two, her one-two-one snap kick backhand combination was a little slow. Damn. She'd need to work on it.
"So how does it feel to lose to a girl?" Han asked, trying to stifle a laugh.
"Against her? I have no problem with that. I'm just glad I'm still standing. I could die a happy man right now."
"Yeah, well, kid, I suggest you sit down before you collapse."
"I'm not that bad," Corran protested.
"Don't complain, Horn. It makes you sound like a kid," Mara said, offhandedly. She passed him on the way to the refresher to take a quick shower. She hooked her right leg behind his ankles and laughed as he dropped to the ground. "Now the fight is over."
"As you can see just behind me, the Senate building has just been evacuated. New Republic Intelligence received a warning this morning about the possibility of an attack during the trial against Mara Jade. This warning proved true when security personnel found several thermal detonators planted around the entire building. New Republic Intelligence are planning to conduct an investigation and are unsure of how long this will take. Until then, Mara Jade's trial has been postponed. This is Khrana Theleq, and I'll keep you updated on this story as it happens."
Iella Wesirri Antilles wasn't surprised when her secretary announced that Rendel Alino demanded a meeting with her. She wasn't surprised when her assistant, Tarin, told her that the lawyer was waiting outside her office. What did surprise her was the man's attitude when he walked into the office.
"Cute stunt, Director Wesirri Antilles. Very cute. I wonder who came up with that idea."
"I do not know what you are talking about," she glanced at a datapad on her desk as if it had his name typed on it, "Mister Alino."
"Play ignorant, if you want. Doesn't matter either way to me. I just wanted to know whether my services are to be needed anymore."
"You mean being Ms. Jade's lawyer?"
"Yes. Talon Karrde never told me that he was planning to leave the planet, and I certainly did not expect him to bring Mara Jade with him. I rather suspected that he would leave with a group, find the real murderer, and free Mara legally when he came back. It seems I underestimated him."
"I wasn't aware that Master Trader Karrde had left planet."
"I'm certain," he said. He clearly did not believe her. The Mara Jade trial and everyone involved in it probably had red flags being set off if any one of them did something even slightly unusual. That Karrde would spontaneously decide to take a hyperspace trip and not tell anyone the real destination…well, the NRI had to have been going crazy trying to locate the ship he took, since the Wild Karrde was still on planet.
"It would seem that you have a better information network than I do. Tell me, Mister Alino, where do you get your data?"
"That is not my secret to tell, Director."
"Director, President Organa Solo requests to meet with you." Iella glanced down at the small comm built into her desk.
"Tell her to come in when it is convenient for her."
"Yes, ma'am." There was a slight pause. "She says it is convenient now, ma'am."
"She's in the building?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Let her in." Iella turned to Rendel. "This meeting is over."
"I think I'll wait around. I would like to speak to President Organa Solo as well."
"I don't think so, Alino—" The door slid open to admit the petite princess. "Madam President, good afternoon. About this morning, all I can say is that I have my best investigation team already working on it, and I'll keep you informed onto the happenings in this."
"Thank you, Iella. I just wanted to know whether you had any information as of yet. I should have just called the office instead of coming down, I guess. I wanted to stretch my legs some. Okay, just keep me in touch with this."
"Of course, Madam President." Leia glanced curiously at the man standing by Iella's desk.
"Ah, so it was you who came up with the idea. I should have known," the man said.
"I still don't know what you are talking about, Mister Alino. Perhaps you have me mistaken with someone else?" Or you're too smart for your own good?
"What is he talking about?" Leia asked the Intelligence Director.
"I don't know."
"You ladies are both excellent actresses. I wonder whether Wynssa Starflare could have beaten you in this. But I am not stupid. I was not allowed to meet with my client for the simple reason that I couldn't have, because she is no longer there. Just before my client would have made her entrance, some very concerned security personnel immediately evacuated everyone, yet no one was allowed into the hall where Mara would have made her entrance even though that was one of the safest areas in the entire building. One reason for this could be that you did not want any of the Senators to feel that any of their peers were favored above themselves, or it could be you didn't want anyone to maybe notice that the guards surrounding Mara Jade had no one to surround because she wasn't there. The ysalimiri, a nice addition, provided that even any Force-sensitives in the area wouldn't be able to tell whether or not she was there." He had watched both women with a sort of casual air during his entire explanation. Now he gave then a slight, almost sad smile. "I know, you're not going to tell me. Too bad, so sad. I just wanted to let you know that while you both are extremely intelligent—I barely even pieced together your little deception—not to play your sabacc cards that way too often. Someone's likely to catch on. Anyhow, I intend to help you with this, and so I will keep in touch. I also expect that if something were to come up, I would be among the first to know, so I can help you with this. Thank you, ladies," he said, pressing the button on the doorpanel and leaving the room. The door closed behind him.
"What an arrogant monkey-lizard," Leia muttered. " 'I barely even pieced together your little deception.'"
"What a pain in the ass," Iella agreed. "I just hope he's not going to try any shit. I'll have Tarin look over that. She needs something to do."
Mara's nightmare had begun the same way it had before. The darkness surrounded her. But this time it had been different. She'd remembered vaguely how she got to be there, but where there was, she wasn't sure. She'd been in her hotel room, packing up to leave, and then her senses went black. She grabbed her lightsaber and managed to catch two of the blue stun bolts on her saber, changing the green-white blade blue for an instant. She remembered bringing her saber up to catch a third when a fourth and fifth slammed into her body from the back.
She remembered several of the interrogations, not the questions, really, but the pain. Her body had been beaten and drugged. A few times she realized her captors had been careless and she'd been able to touch the Force, but never for very long. Then the nightmare ended suddenly, as if she'd been watching a holodrama when the power was cut. She'd woken up bathed in her own sweat, her heart beating irregularly.
Now she sat in the cockpit of the Asteroid Belt, piecing together what she knew.
It hadn't been her memories; they were Luke's. He'd been caught just after she left. They must have had him under surveillance—he'd begun packing when she left. He was put under ysalimiri just after she jumped to hyperspace—perfectly executed. Luke didn't have a chance.
What did these people want him for? Did they want ysalimiri, or just torture him?
"Mara, are you all right?"
"Did I wake you up?" she asked. "Sorry. I know you need plenty of sleep after your beating."
"I sensed your dream."
"How much did you see?"
"Not much. Darkness. But I could feel your emotions. His emotions. That was Luke, wasn't it?"
"Great deductive reasoning, CorSec. What tipped you off?"
"The green lightsaber."
Mara finally turned to look at him. She could barely see his face because of the light coming from behind him. She hoped that he wouldn't be able to see her face because of the shadows. She didn't want anyone to see her right now. "I thought you said you couldn't see anything."
"I felt you realize it wasn't you because your lightsaber was the wrong color. You also noticed the grip was different, and the balance. You know your saber backwards and forwards." He leaned against the sides of the door to the cockpit.
"Yeah, well, so do you," she said defensively.
"Yeah, I do. I just think it is kind of amusing that you've gotten attached to your lightsaber." Smart move, Corran, he chided himself. Some things you don't want the assassin to know.
"What's funny about it? It's a good weapon, CorSec. Reliable. Power cells last longer than a blaster's power pack. Can block blaster bolts. I haven't come across a better weapon for close combat situations."
Corran thought it sounded like she was reading a manual for the lightsaber. "I know." Sure, Mara. There are only four things you are attached to: the Jade's Fire, your lightsaber, your job, and Luke Skywalker. Slowly her friends were being added to that list.
