Dinner passed in a happy manner, with Dal, Leia, and Winter gulping down their food as if they really were hungry bears. Teena still sulked, kicking her feet -- clad in her wet shoes -- against the legs of her chair, and Jaffia pretended to ignore Leia and Winter, which suited the girls just fine.
When their plates had been eaten clean, Bail leaned back in his chair. "So, what shall we do this evening? Another game?"
Leia piped up, "Winter and I should really study some more for our test."
Bail blinked at Leia in astonishment, and she immediately realized her mistake. She should have let Winter make the suggestion. Normally, Leia would never volunteer to study on her own.
"Study," Bail said slowly. "All right. You girls go study for an hour. Then I expect you to come back out and join our guests. We'll roast nutroots tonight when you're done."
Leia sighed in relief. He just thought they wanted to get away from the Narauds again, as they had done the night before. "Yes, Papa!" she said, leaping from her chair and dragging Winter with her.
They retreated once more to the sanctity of their room, shutting the door tightly behind them and climbing onto the bed.
"Okay," Leia said. "One hour isn't a long time, so let's get started."
"We could do this when we get home," Winters suggested. "After all, we really do need to study."
Leia waved her hand dismissively. "Forget it. Besides, we've got to tell Dal something, don't we?"
Winter sighed. "All right. I've been thinking about those files. They don't make a lot of sense to me. Rather than writing it all out now, let me just recite the documents one by one. You listen and see what sounds important. You're better than me at catching that political stuff. If it's important, we'll write it down."
"Good idea," Leia said. "Just -- not too loud, right? In case anyone might be listening."
Winter nodded and closed her eyes. After a few moments of concentration she began to quietly recite the files, as if she were reading from a page in front of her.
Leia stared at the coverlet between them, listening closely. She didn't like to watch Winter recite these things. If Leia didn't watch her, she could pretend Winter really was just reading something, and it was less creepy. Plus, staring at something boring like the coverlet enabled Leia to concentrate more on the words.
Some of the files were letters, some were series of numbers that seemed to be inventories, and some were more like reports. It was a lot of tedious bureaucratic stuff, most of which Leia didn't understand. After each file, Winter would crack an eye open and peer at Leia in inquiry, but Leia merely gestured for her to continue. A lot of it seemed pretty random, and Leia couldn't make much sense out of it. Any of it could be important. But if Leia couldn't figure it out, they might have to write every single document down to give to her father en masse, and that would be a real chore. Besides, what if it all proved to be worthless after all? They would have taken the risk for nothing. Leia doubted such fruitless daring would impress her father much.
On and on Winter recited while Leia sat listening, the words blurring in her ears. She closed her eyes, letting Winter's voice flow through her brain, hardly listening to individual words or numbers, the sounds almost like a song. What was the rhythm? What was the chorus? Did any pattern or theme join all these random notes together?
"Labor needs," Leia muttered, her eyes still closed. Winter stopped reciting, and Leia opened her eyes to see her friend staring at her.
"Labor needs," Leia repeated, still unsure what she was getting at. "Labor supplies. Transportation of labor."
Winter hesitated. "Didn't you say she works for the Department of Labor? So it makes sense should be talking about labor."
Ignoring her, Leia continued, "And there was one document about 'Lyseria 20,000'."
"10,000," Winter corrected.
"Whatever. But a couple of those names I knew. They're cities on Cyrene. Maybe the others are, too."
"Well, that makes sense, doesn't it? They're going to Cyrene. Maybe it means how many people they need to fix the cities."
"But only the capital was destroyed. Some of those cities are nowhere near the capital. That document with the numbers -- did it say labor needs or supplies?"
Winter's eyes lost their focus for a moment as she concentrated. "Supplies," she said at last. "Maybe it means that's how many people they need to rebuild the capital?"
"But there were a whole lot of numbers."
Winter shrugged. "It takes a lot of people to rebuild a whole city."
Leia slid off the bed and rummaged on her desk for a pencil and a sheet of paper. "Read off those numbers again."
Winter closed her eyes and rattled off the names and numbers while Leia scribbled the figures down on her paper. When Winter finished, Leia's pencil continued to scratch over the paper as she worked out the sum. At last she announced, "176,000."
"So math proves useful after all," Winter smirked. Then her brow furrowed. "That seems like an awful lot of people. Are you sure you added it right?"
"Yes," Leia said, as she pondered the figure on her paper. "I know it would take a lot of people to rebuild the city, but -- well, nothing you recited seemed to talk about construction. Though several times she talked about a mine. What was that stuff from the mine?"
Again Winter focused before answering, "Tridentium."
"I wonder what that is?" Leia mused, opening her earth sciences book.
"Now earth science turns out to be important, too," Winter observed. "Except I don't see what that has to do with anything."
Leia didn't answer, reading her textbook. "Here it is. Tridentium is a rare ore that is formed in the high pressure of a plant's mantle and is forced up to the crust by seismic activity. Also found on high-density planets and moons."
"Is that on our test?" Winter fretted. "I don't remember reading about it. We're not that far in the book yet, are we?"
"Low yields... costly and labor-intensive to mine," Leia continued to read. "Used to make high-density materials, especially as plating on interstellar combat ships." She looked up at Winter. "Interstellar combat ships -- like those Star Destroyers."
Winter paused. "Well, yes. But I still don't see what that has to do with --"
"What if all those figures about 'labor supplies' are for people to work in the mines? What if the Empire wants that tridentium for their star destroyers?"
"It could be, but --"
Leia climbed back on the bed to face Winter. "Keep reciting," she ordered.
When their plates had been eaten clean, Bail leaned back in his chair. "So, what shall we do this evening? Another game?"
Leia piped up, "Winter and I should really study some more for our test."
Bail blinked at Leia in astonishment, and she immediately realized her mistake. She should have let Winter make the suggestion. Normally, Leia would never volunteer to study on her own.
"Study," Bail said slowly. "All right. You girls go study for an hour. Then I expect you to come back out and join our guests. We'll roast nutroots tonight when you're done."
Leia sighed in relief. He just thought they wanted to get away from the Narauds again, as they had done the night before. "Yes, Papa!" she said, leaping from her chair and dragging Winter with her.
They retreated once more to the sanctity of their room, shutting the door tightly behind them and climbing onto the bed.
"Okay," Leia said. "One hour isn't a long time, so let's get started."
"We could do this when we get home," Winters suggested. "After all, we really do need to study."
Leia waved her hand dismissively. "Forget it. Besides, we've got to tell Dal something, don't we?"
Winter sighed. "All right. I've been thinking about those files. They don't make a lot of sense to me. Rather than writing it all out now, let me just recite the documents one by one. You listen and see what sounds important. You're better than me at catching that political stuff. If it's important, we'll write it down."
"Good idea," Leia said. "Just -- not too loud, right? In case anyone might be listening."
Winter nodded and closed her eyes. After a few moments of concentration she began to quietly recite the files, as if she were reading from a page in front of her.
Leia stared at the coverlet between them, listening closely. She didn't like to watch Winter recite these things. If Leia didn't watch her, she could pretend Winter really was just reading something, and it was less creepy. Plus, staring at something boring like the coverlet enabled Leia to concentrate more on the words.
Some of the files were letters, some were series of numbers that seemed to be inventories, and some were more like reports. It was a lot of tedious bureaucratic stuff, most of which Leia didn't understand. After each file, Winter would crack an eye open and peer at Leia in inquiry, but Leia merely gestured for her to continue. A lot of it seemed pretty random, and Leia couldn't make much sense out of it. Any of it could be important. But if Leia couldn't figure it out, they might have to write every single document down to give to her father en masse, and that would be a real chore. Besides, what if it all proved to be worthless after all? They would have taken the risk for nothing. Leia doubted such fruitless daring would impress her father much.
On and on Winter recited while Leia sat listening, the words blurring in her ears. She closed her eyes, letting Winter's voice flow through her brain, hardly listening to individual words or numbers, the sounds almost like a song. What was the rhythm? What was the chorus? Did any pattern or theme join all these random notes together?
"Labor needs," Leia muttered, her eyes still closed. Winter stopped reciting, and Leia opened her eyes to see her friend staring at her.
"Labor needs," Leia repeated, still unsure what she was getting at. "Labor supplies. Transportation of labor."
Winter hesitated. "Didn't you say she works for the Department of Labor? So it makes sense should be talking about labor."
Ignoring her, Leia continued, "And there was one document about 'Lyseria 20,000'."
"10,000," Winter corrected.
"Whatever. But a couple of those names I knew. They're cities on Cyrene. Maybe the others are, too."
"Well, that makes sense, doesn't it? They're going to Cyrene. Maybe it means how many people they need to fix the cities."
"But only the capital was destroyed. Some of those cities are nowhere near the capital. That document with the numbers -- did it say labor needs or supplies?"
Winter's eyes lost their focus for a moment as she concentrated. "Supplies," she said at last. "Maybe it means that's how many people they need to rebuild the capital?"
"But there were a whole lot of numbers."
Winter shrugged. "It takes a lot of people to rebuild a whole city."
Leia slid off the bed and rummaged on her desk for a pencil and a sheet of paper. "Read off those numbers again."
Winter closed her eyes and rattled off the names and numbers while Leia scribbled the figures down on her paper. When Winter finished, Leia's pencil continued to scratch over the paper as she worked out the sum. At last she announced, "176,000."
"So math proves useful after all," Winter smirked. Then her brow furrowed. "That seems like an awful lot of people. Are you sure you added it right?"
"Yes," Leia said, as she pondered the figure on her paper. "I know it would take a lot of people to rebuild the city, but -- well, nothing you recited seemed to talk about construction. Though several times she talked about a mine. What was that stuff from the mine?"
Again Winter focused before answering, "Tridentium."
"I wonder what that is?" Leia mused, opening her earth sciences book.
"Now earth science turns out to be important, too," Winter observed. "Except I don't see what that has to do with anything."
Leia didn't answer, reading her textbook. "Here it is. Tridentium is a rare ore that is formed in the high pressure of a plant's mantle and is forced up to the crust by seismic activity. Also found on high-density planets and moons."
"Is that on our test?" Winter fretted. "I don't remember reading about it. We're not that far in the book yet, are we?"
"Low yields... costly and labor-intensive to mine," Leia continued to read. "Used to make high-density materials, especially as plating on interstellar combat ships." She looked up at Winter. "Interstellar combat ships -- like those Star Destroyers."
Winter paused. "Well, yes. But I still don't see what that has to do with --"
"What if all those figures about 'labor supplies' are for people to work in the mines? What if the Empire wants that tridentium for their star destroyers?"
"It could be, but --"
Leia climbed back on the bed to face Winter. "Keep reciting," she ordered.
