Chapter Four
They returned to the house to find Teena playing around the logs stacked by the fireplace, Lady Naraud poring over her datapad on the couch, a glass of wine in one hand, Dal and Jaffia on either side of her, and Bail and the governor discussing the additions that had been made to the house over the years. Bail was describing how the back porch could be converted into a sleeping area to accommodate extra guests, and the governor enthusiastically called to his wife, "Meyra, dear, did you hear that? How ingenious! We'll have to remember that when we build our lodge."
Leia heard Lady Naraud mutter, "I didn't know we were building a lodge."
Dal was babbling on about the river and tree lions while she nodded, never looking up from her datapad. Jaffia whined that she hoped she got her own room, as she was too grown up to have to share with anyone. Teena got a splinter in her finger from playing with the logs and started to cry. When no one heard her over the chatter, she crossed the room to her father, tugged on his pants leg, held up her finger and began to cry again.
Leia and Winter sat side by side in an old, over-stuffed chair and watched the ruckus in mute horror, the governor fussing over a blubbering Teena, Jaffia tugging on her mother's arm, demanding to know what her room was like, Dal tugging on the other arm, gushing about the giant fish he had seen in the river, Lady Naraud ignoring them both, her eyes locked on her datapad.
Winter whispered to Leia, "This is going to be a long weekend."
Not answering, Leia took her friend's hand and pulled her out of the chair. They negotiated a path through the babbling Narauds to her father's side. Looking up at him with a sober expression, Leia said, "Papa, Winter and I have that test on First Day. We really need to study for it."
Bail looked from one to the other of them, his eyes sparkling in amusement. "We have about an hour before dinner. That should give you a good start. Be sure to use your time wisely, ladies." He quirked an eyebrow at that. "I know how much you want to spend time with your new friends."
Leia rolled her eyes. "Right, Papa," she said as she dragged Winter off to the safety of their room.
******
They actually did study a bit, in between complaints about their Imperial guests. Even little Teena was found to be too cloyingly cute. But there was one thing about the Narauds, at least, that interested Leia greatly.
"Lady Naraud was sure focused on whatever was on her datapad," she remarked to Winter. "She hardly paid attention to Jaffia and Dal."
"If I was their mother, I'd ignore them, too," Winter pointed out.
"I wonder what she was working on?"
Winter shrugged. "Who cares?"
"She works for the Empire, too," Leia said. "She's part of the Trade and Labor Department."
Winter's brow wrinkled. "How do you know this stuff?"
"Papa told me. Maybe she was doing some kind of business on that pad."
"Or maybe she was just working a crossword puzzle. Anyway, what does it matter? If her nose is buried in that datapad, it means she's less likely to bother us."
Leia scoffed, "She was not working on a crossword puzzle. And if she was working on business, then it might be information useful to the Alliance."
Winter sat up in alarm. "No way, Leia!" she protested. "Hacking onto your father's computer is one thing, but there is no way you're going to hack onto an Imperial official's datapad."
"Why not? It would be easy enough to do."
"Leia, no!"
"Not only would it prove to my father that I'm capable of spy work, but it would show that I can do something useful for the Alliance." Her eyes took on a calculating gleam. "Maybe it'll have Imperial secrets on it."
Winter grabbed her arm. "Leia, you are crazy! You can *not* hack onto that datapad! You could get into so much trouble. And you don't even know if it's worth it. Surely even Imperials wouldn't be stupid enough to carry major secrets on their personal datapads. She was probably checking out the stock market or something."
"I don't think so."
"Well, you don't know so, either!"
"Which is exactly why I need to get a look at that datapad." She cocked an eyebrow at Winter. "So are you going to help me, or not?"
Winter hesitated. "Do you have a plan already?"
"Not yet," Leia admitted. "But I'll come up with one."
They returned to the house to find Teena playing around the logs stacked by the fireplace, Lady Naraud poring over her datapad on the couch, a glass of wine in one hand, Dal and Jaffia on either side of her, and Bail and the governor discussing the additions that had been made to the house over the years. Bail was describing how the back porch could be converted into a sleeping area to accommodate extra guests, and the governor enthusiastically called to his wife, "Meyra, dear, did you hear that? How ingenious! We'll have to remember that when we build our lodge."
Leia heard Lady Naraud mutter, "I didn't know we were building a lodge."
Dal was babbling on about the river and tree lions while she nodded, never looking up from her datapad. Jaffia whined that she hoped she got her own room, as she was too grown up to have to share with anyone. Teena got a splinter in her finger from playing with the logs and started to cry. When no one heard her over the chatter, she crossed the room to her father, tugged on his pants leg, held up her finger and began to cry again.
Leia and Winter sat side by side in an old, over-stuffed chair and watched the ruckus in mute horror, the governor fussing over a blubbering Teena, Jaffia tugging on her mother's arm, demanding to know what her room was like, Dal tugging on the other arm, gushing about the giant fish he had seen in the river, Lady Naraud ignoring them both, her eyes locked on her datapad.
Winter whispered to Leia, "This is going to be a long weekend."
Not answering, Leia took her friend's hand and pulled her out of the chair. They negotiated a path through the babbling Narauds to her father's side. Looking up at him with a sober expression, Leia said, "Papa, Winter and I have that test on First Day. We really need to study for it."
Bail looked from one to the other of them, his eyes sparkling in amusement. "We have about an hour before dinner. That should give you a good start. Be sure to use your time wisely, ladies." He quirked an eyebrow at that. "I know how much you want to spend time with your new friends."
Leia rolled her eyes. "Right, Papa," she said as she dragged Winter off to the safety of their room.
******
They actually did study a bit, in between complaints about their Imperial guests. Even little Teena was found to be too cloyingly cute. But there was one thing about the Narauds, at least, that interested Leia greatly.
"Lady Naraud was sure focused on whatever was on her datapad," she remarked to Winter. "She hardly paid attention to Jaffia and Dal."
"If I was their mother, I'd ignore them, too," Winter pointed out.
"I wonder what she was working on?"
Winter shrugged. "Who cares?"
"She works for the Empire, too," Leia said. "She's part of the Trade and Labor Department."
Winter's brow wrinkled. "How do you know this stuff?"
"Papa told me. Maybe she was doing some kind of business on that pad."
"Or maybe she was just working a crossword puzzle. Anyway, what does it matter? If her nose is buried in that datapad, it means she's less likely to bother us."
Leia scoffed, "She was not working on a crossword puzzle. And if she was working on business, then it might be information useful to the Alliance."
Winter sat up in alarm. "No way, Leia!" she protested. "Hacking onto your father's computer is one thing, but there is no way you're going to hack onto an Imperial official's datapad."
"Why not? It would be easy enough to do."
"Leia, no!"
"Not only would it prove to my father that I'm capable of spy work, but it would show that I can do something useful for the Alliance." Her eyes took on a calculating gleam. "Maybe it'll have Imperial secrets on it."
Winter grabbed her arm. "Leia, you are crazy! You can *not* hack onto that datapad! You could get into so much trouble. And you don't even know if it's worth it. Surely even Imperials wouldn't be stupid enough to carry major secrets on their personal datapads. She was probably checking out the stock market or something."
"I don't think so."
"Well, you don't know so, either!"
"Which is exactly why I need to get a look at that datapad." She cocked an eyebrow at Winter. "So are you going to help me, or not?"
Winter hesitated. "Do you have a plan already?"
"Not yet," Leia admitted. "But I'll come up with one."
