Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Imperial Garrison, Triadon - Maija's Quarters

Maija's fingers brushed over the touch-sensitive screen on her computer and watched as the names of hundreds and hundreds of prison worlds shimmered lightly under her touch. 'There were so many names,' she thought with a momentary tinge of sorrow. 'So many places where too many cruelties were left to go unpunished.' They should serve as a warning to anyone who doubted the reason for the Rebellion's existence. Then, with an ever-present ache, she remembered Alderaan and the loss of her parents. To many this represented a far more obvious human cost. Was it really nearly three years since she'd felt the death blow? Her gaze focused once again on the names on her viewscreen.

"Akritar?" she wondered aloud. "Kessel, or the slave mines on Alzoc III?"

There was something about one of the prison worlds that would become vitally important. If she could only find out which one. Which one to use?

The screen seemed to mock her and she attempted to use the Force to guide her hand. Maija closed her eyes, stretched her hand towards the locations in front of her and struggled to feel something - anything. But whatever had guided her up to this point had left her. "Perhaps this is not for me to find," she whispered. "Still… I must try - I can't just leave it here."

Calling up the twisting, strands of code, she stared at the moving rivulets of meaningless data, running down her screen like rain against a viewport. "Kessel," she murmured softly. "It's as good as any other… it's a place where despair rules."

Her decision made, Maija took a deep breath and gently pressed her fingers against the chosen word.

With a little popping sound the screen went blank, no, not blank - completely dead. Her access to news of the outside world - severed.

"No!"

She was left staring at nothing until an acrid, burning smell assaulted her nose. With a gasp of frustration Maija wrenched the plug from the socket. She was now effectively blind. The computer had just given up and with a sinking feeling she wondered how many alarms she'd tripped on her quest to crack the codes. "I should have listened to myself. I was not meant to discover this and now things are worse.

Pulling a vicious looking vibroblade from her boot heel, Maija sliced open the processing unit and looked aghast at its charred and smoking insides.

"It's gone and melted on me - sithspit!" she cursed fiercely. But there was no time to deal with it just then, so she pushed it under her bed.

***********************************************

The Governor's Residence, Triadon

Nerano saluted the Governor as he left the office to return home to his family. It had been a strange day, he mused to himself. Uppermost in his thoughts was the behaviour of his friend.

"Sir," the aide called.

"Yes?"

"I checked and double checked the information on the identity of the man you gave me to research."

"Nothing then?"

"No, Sir."

"No! He doesn't exist?"

"Oh yes, Sir, he does, or rather, he did. Nearly everything checked out. Just not his first name. So I went over everything again. This is him isn't it?"

Nerano stared at the fuzzy holo image. It could be and then again, it was out of focus - the edges blurred, the likeness poor.

"Mmm, it's not very clear. It could be him and then again it might not."

"Everything about him wasn't clear. So I contacted his home world. It was rather weird, Sir."

Nerano froze. "Explain!" he barked.

"He's dead, Sir. Died six months ago. I have a clearer holo here… " He held out the image.

Nerano forgot his Imperial training for a moment, before remembering it. It was not the man he'd known. But the likeness was close. The Rebels must have good Intel people to find such a close likeness. "Good," he said. "You've done well. In fact you could get a commendation for such work."

"Is this the spy, Sir?"

Nerano opened his mouth to say that he wasn't sure, but that this person was certainly a suspect, since he'd disappeared without trace and his records had been very cleverly falsified. He hesitated just for an instant, unsure how to phrase his reply to the waiting aide, and then found himself saying something quite different instead. "No, this was in fact a… a training exercise which you passed with flying colours, as they say." He risked glancing at the aide to see if his assistant knew that he was lying. But the man seemed pleased with Nerano's answer and returned to his workstation.

Nerano sank onto his own chair and tried to look as if he hadn't made possibly the worst decision of his life. 'What possessed me? I've just gone and ruined everything I ever worked for and I don't know why.'

He stared at his chrono willing the hours and minutes to tick away. He had to speak to Maija. He had to find out if she was a traitor. He had to know the truth.

********************************************

Coruscant

The alarms began to sound as soon as Maija, on Triadon, touched her viewscreen. The officer in charge of monitoring security files sat up in shock. This couldn't be happening. Someone was attempting to decode the most top-secret files in the Empire and they had come damned close to succeeding too. He flicked a switch to block the attempt and snapped into his comlink. "Trace it!"

He nodded towards one of his staff. "I need a secure link to the General, immediately, and have you traced it yet?"

"Not yet, Commander. Patching you through to General Tedx now."

He explained the situation succinctly to his superior. "We have stopped the breach and are attempting to trace the location of the slicer."

"Which files?"

"Top priority, Sir. We have no idea what they contain."

General Tedx did and he wasn't happy about it. If the Emperor got wind of this….

"We'd better inform the Director," the General decided.

"No need. She already knows." The words were chillingly cold, matching the glacial blue of one eye and starting a rush of fear in her subordinates, yet red-hot in the intensity of the glowing red of her other eye.

"Director Isard!" His discomfort at her sudden appearance was apparent. "The Emperor will need to know?" The words were fearful.

"Only if the situation continues - which it will not. Deal with it and I will expect a full report. His majesty has more pressing matters on his mind than some juvenile delinquent hacking into state security files."

"But suppose it's the Rebels?"

"I said 'deal with it'."

The General saluted and as he turned to go his com sounded. "General, we've traced the signal."

"You have?" He turned to face the head of Intelligence. "Where?"

"Adon system, Sir."

"The Adon system," he echoed.

Isard was already checking through the Imperial planetary database and her voice was grim. "The only inhabited world in that system is Adon III."

"Otherwise known as Triadon," the General finished. "It's a mining colony, producing materials for the Imperial war effort."

"Notify the sector Moff and the Governor."

"Director Isard… Triadon is also the site for the testing of…"

"I know," she cut him off sharply. "This is more important than I thought. If it is known what those metal ores are for… Send a team out there immediately."

"Yes ma'am."

*********************************************************************

Imperial Garrison, Triadon

Commander Fariu winced with pain as more data scrolled past his eyes. He'd stopped absorbing any of this information well over an hour ago. He placed his hand on his forehead and rubbed wearily. He'd gone through the data concerning most of his personal staff and it had all checked out. No anomalies, no suspicious events in their backgrounds - nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever. Everything came up smelling of Ghaala lilies.

Maija entered the office and watched her superior as he continued to go through files.

"Ah, Lieutenant. I was just about to go through your personal files. Can I ask you some questions? Since you are here…" He sighed and rubbed his forehead again.

"Sir, you have a headache?"

"Yes, Lieutenant, I have."

"Do you want me to alert the medical droid. I'm sure he could prepare you something to ease the pain."

Fariu nodded and then wished he hadn't as pain lanced through him. "Please."

"You could ask me the questions later, Sir. I suggest you go to your quarters and rest. I'll send the medication there and perhaps an hour's rest would refresh you. You've at this all day and without meals too. I think, Sir, that you just need a break and then you'll feel better equipped to tackle the information."

He looked at the girl in front of him, her pale face showing the correct mixture of composure and concern, her black uniform crisply pressed - the very picture of an Imperial soldier. He was tired - the hunt for spies and traitors was getting to him. Despite his best efforts and all the extra security, things were still going wrong. He smiled wearily at her.

Maija sent him a calm smile in return. "I'll still be here later on, Sir. The best way for us to catch these Rebel spies and traitors is to be at the top of our game. Take a break, Sir," she repeated. "You'll find you get through twice as much when you return to the task."

It was good to have people you could depend upon. "Thank you, lieutenant. You are right."

As soon as he'd left the office, Maija perched quickly on the edge of his nerf-hide chair and quickly hacked into the files, marking her own records as having been checked. She then called down to the medicentre and had the medical droid prepare a sleeping draught for the Commander. It should make him sleep for several hours if she was lucky.

"What are you doing?"

Maija jumped at the sound of Nerano's voice. "I'm accessing the medical files. The Commander isn't feeling well and I'm sending a request to the medical droid for something for his headache. What did you think I was doing?" She hit the button, which cleared her own files from the screen. "Hacking into the files to send secret messages out?"

Her voice was derisive and Nerano felt a little foolish. Still, he felt so distrustful of her motives, he had to question everything she said or did.

"Fariu's checking our records. These are accessible only by the Commander, the Governor and the Moff." Maija's expression was dry.

"But you are a talented encryptor. You could surely bypass the codes if you had to."

Maija snorted. "Not on these files, I can assure you. I would need weeks to get into them - not minutes. The Commander was in here two minutes ago. What am I going to get through that quickly?" She speared him in place with a direct look. "I'm not sure if I like your questions, Lieutenant Nerano."

"I'm sorry, Darklighter…. It's just…"

"You have great faith in my abilities. If I was that good, I'd have been snapped up by the Intel division as soon as I graduated from 'The Academy'". Maija gave Nerano a frosty look. "Don't you have duties for the Governor?"

She moved from the office and returned to her own desk, where she sat with a stony-faced expression. He didn't need to know that Intel had approached her on behalf of the Analysis Bureau, but Maija had firmly refused. She wanted to attend the Diplomatic Centre. It was the one course that was prized above even an Intel placement.

"Look, I'm sorry…" he tried to apologise again.

Maija lifted her head, the harsh expression on her face softening a little. "So am I, Franjeer, so am I. What have I done to make you question my every move in this way? We were friends when we attended the Academy together. In fact you were my only friend."

"I don't think I know you any more, Darklighter. I don't think we see things in the same way anymore."

"I don't know, Franjeer. I don't know if we ever did." The words emerged from a heartfelt sigh.

"I need to talk to you…"

"So talk. You've been doing a lot of that of late."

"I can't talk here." Nerano looked tired suddenly.

Maija paused and stared at the big man as he shifted awkwardly in front of her. "Sure," she murmured. "Mess hall?"

"Yeah…." Nerano shuffled his feet and coughed. "I'd better go."

"Yes, I have work to do."

Maija followed his retreating figure with her eyes as he disappeared down the long corridor. Force knows if she would be meeting him in the mess hall. She moved to the general office area and gave out the usual duty rotations and made sure the staff were gainfully employed before returning to her own office. With a quick eye on the chrono Maija quickly returned to deal with the Commander's correspondence. A coded message caught her eye and with the sure knowledge of her superior's codes - she deciphered it.

'Expect a team from Intel. You have a spy on Triadon.'

Maija froze. She knew it had happened and foolishly she was waiting for things to carry on as normal. With a click she destroyed all her files and left her office, leaving only that message. She had to go and it had to be now. With a calmness that was completely assumed, her heart began to thud heavily and loudly in her ears. So it had finally happened - it was time to make the break with the Empire. If she could just manage to get out of Triadon alive. She wandered casually along the grey corridors and made her way to the outside compound only to see a group of Triadii citizens brought in for questioning.

The Governor had intimated that there would be purges if the systems malfunctions continued. It now looked as if he was making good on that threat. Suddenly, a face caught her attention and her stomach somersaulted.

'Stang! she mouthed silently. Krupek Chitipek stood silently with the rest of the frightened group and with a sinking feeling Maija spotted Lhinda cowering behind him. 'Rorri'. She thought, 'Where was Rorri?' But Rorri was not with his parents.

Switching directions she moved nearer to the group and tried to look like an Imperial officer would look at a group of possible suspects. Still, not by a look or a word did she or the Chitipeks acknowledge in any way that they knew each other or had even met before.

Maija's heart sank. She knew the Chitipeks wouldn't talk willingly, but under interrogation and torture even the strongest could break. As the group were led away, Maija saw Lhinda turn around and look straight at her. The message was clear. Find Rorri and make sure he was safe. She had to do it. So where was Rorri Chitipek likely to go in this situation? Something in Lhinda's measured stare told her that Rorri knew his parents were in danger and he'd gone somewhere to hide. At least she hoped he'd gone somewhere to hide.

She turned back and went to her quarters where she rapidly packed a small holdall, stuffing her ruined processing unit to the very depths of the bag. Her blaster was placed in a shoulder holster and she stuffed a couple of knives in the sheaths fitted into the side of her boot. The last task was to collect a small box from behind an air vent in the wall. It, too, was placed into her bag. Putting on her protective cloak, she grabbed a stray data pad and a couple of cards from the bedside table. A couple of outside passes and a document signed by Governor Fariu were transferred into the holdall and she was ready.

***********************************************************

Governor Markieer stared at the data he'd received from all the bioscan units, matching them up with holocam footage and there was one in particular that didn't correlate.

"Lieutenant Nerano!" he called.

Nerano pressed the door switch and entered the office.

"Find out which office is linked with bioscan unit AA358."

"Yes, Sir."

************************************************************

With a sense of mounting panic Rorri Chitipek patted his tunic again, feeling for the data card his mother had handed to him. His hand found the square edge of the card and a sense of relief swept through him. He'd already checked that it was still there at least half a dozen times as he crawled slowly through a disused mine shaft. He didn't know how he was going to find Jamia. He wasn't even sure if that was her real name. But something in his mother's voice had told him this was the most important thing she'd ever asked him to do.

"Find Jamia," she'd said. "It's something she needs to have. Find her and give her this."

His mother had been standing by the window of their apartment and she'd seen the stormtroopers coming. Quickly she'd gone to the safe and pulled out a data card.

"Rorri, we received this information yesterday. It looks as if we will not be able to hand it over ourselves. There is a bag packed for you. I would suggest you leave through the cellars."

"But…."

"No time, son."

"How did you know?"

"Your father sent me a signal; he was picked up from the factory. He thought they were going to come for me next, but we can't let them take you too." Tears sparkled in the violet eyes, but she blinked them back bravely. At least she'd had a little warning to say farewell to her only son. "We love you." Her lips trembled, but Lhinda Chitipek was a brave woman. "Now get out of here." She embraced him and smoothed the curl away from his forehead with a suddenly shaky hand. "May the Force be with you, Rorri. I cannot say for certain that we will meet again. I hope they just ask us a few questions and send us home, but this is the Empire and I know too well what their methods usually are."

He'd left as quickly as he could, all the time his heart pounding frantically in his chest. But he made it to the cellars without mishap and out into the pouring rain. No one gave the youth a second glance as he made his way towards Rorek's used speeder lot. It was the one place he'd always gone to as a child and he knew Rorek would know what to do.

The place was deserted at this time of night. Most of the factories in this sector of the city had ceased production long ago. There were only one or two left and they were very poor. The rest of the factories were running double, even triple shifts to try and meet the Empire's demands for raw materials.

Rorri slunk across the pot-holed street, his grey cloak blending in with the drab surroundings, and found Rorek anxiously waiting, his yellowish face thin in the waning light of day.

"Thank the Force they didn't take you."

"My parents saw to that. Rorek, I have to get them out…"

The older man shook his head. "You cannot. It's an Imperial Garrison and they are readying themselves to start purges. We cannot risk any more people."

"But my father, my mother…"

"I know. Did they try to escape at all?" The question was straightforward and the look in Rorek's eyes told Rorri everything he didn't want to know. "Your father knew that this was going to happen. He was right and it does no good to deny it. Did they get it - the data?"

Rorri ran trembling hands over his tunic front for the umpteenth time. "Yes…"

"You are hopefully still carrying it?" he raised his eyebrows quizzically.

"Yes, it's here." Rorri patted his tunic carefully and watched as Rorek gave a big sigh of relief.

"Do you know what it is?" Rorri asked gravely. "My mother went white when my father sent her the data stream. She immediately copied it and put it in the safe. She didn't tell me what it said. When his signal came, she hugged me so tightly and handed me the card. There is another copy somewhere, but I don't know where."

"I don't know what it is either, but I knew your father had discovered something they were testing in one of the factory labs. A former employee copied some data and gave it to your father. That employee was arrested earlier today and your father only a few hours later, but it was enough time for him to get the data to your mother and now to you. Your parents knew the risk they were taking. They chose to do this and they want you to make your own choices. Make them the right ones."

"I understand and I chose to join them. I just didn't think it would be like this." Rorri's voice showed the pain of new maturity.

"We live in difficult and dangerous times. Ask Jamia sometime."

"So now we wait?"

"We can't wait too long. If we don't hear from Jamia soon we'll have to try to contact her. Or get it out another way."

"Is that a problem?" Rorri queried. "She's one of us - a factory worker? How can she help us get the data out?"

Rorek rolled his eyes but, in a way, Rorri's ignorance was a good thing. Jamia's identity had been kept secure from all but one or two people and that was the best way. "No, Rorri. Jamia is an Imperial soldier. She works at the garrison."

"And we trust her?"

"Oh yes, we trust her. Your parents and I ran a very haphazard organisation until Jamia came to Triadon. She organised us and helped us get the equipment we needed and the codes to run them. She's a resourceful woman, but she's worried about her own security. I've been told to get her off Triadon and we might have to do the same for you too."

"Me - off Triadon? But I was born here."

"That means nothing. Do you want to die here?" He hustled the youth out of the office and into a turbo lift. "We'll wait in one of the lower level rooms."

"How long can we give her?"

"Only a few hours, Rorri. She's supposed to be on her way to see me tonight anyway - if I'm to get her offworld safely."

Rorek didn't tell Rorri that without Jamia's resourcefulness and the guile of Lhinda and Krupek he wasn't one hundred percent sure how he was going to accomplish that task.