They would all be asleep by now, Orin knew. He had mixed in a sleep-inducing herb he had found on a jungle planet with everyone's food, in plain sight and with no intent of hurting them. And it wouldn't. They would all wake up in the morning; remember what a good meal they had and nothing after that. What they would make of it, he wasn't sure, but with nothing changed, it shouldn't seem too strange. Not compared to the strange circumstances surrounding the banquet in the first place. He wondered why none of them had been informed of this ahead of time. It would have given him time to test the engines inconspicuously. Now, though, he would have to be on his toes. It was time to forget the stalling and learn what he could as fast as he could. He needed to be ready to escape at the first possible opportunity. If anyone suspected anyone, it was going to be him. He had at most a month he could keep this little charade up in, and then only if nothing else happened.
Luke was the first one up, stretching and yawning before anyone else had even opened their eyes. Odd, they would all fall asleep at once. The food must have been drugged. That thought jarred him out of his half-awake reasoning, and he began to account for everyone before he woke them. All were there. He turned a suspicious glance on Orin, who was sprawled over his chair. Had he been trying something before he realized the food was drugged? Or had he drugged the food; then sprawled himself deliberately to throw suspicion off him to put suspicion on him to throw it off since the entire chain of logic would seem ridiculous? Or, had he... Luke cut himself off there. There were two possibly- either he drugged the food or he didn't. Asking a few questions should prove to be at least a decent idea of how likely he was to have done it, even though it might be a little hard to find out whether or not he actually had. He would have to wait for them to wake up on their own, though, since he couldn't seem to find a way to snap them out of it.
Orin was in the middle of those who woke up. He had given himself a calculated under-dose to make him towards, but not at, the end, but the stuff was tricky and he was no chemist. He got up off his chair; saw Skywalker staring at him suspiciously. That wasn't good.
"I just want to ask a few questions, Rafet." Luke told him. Half the trainees had already gone through the process, being called at half hour intervals and separated after the interviews. Most of them, though Orin didn't know it, had been about him.
"Ask away." He replied, allowing a bit of nervousness to show in his voice.
"Alright. Do you have any idea what was going on with the food? I know you were on kitchen duty. Did you use anything that might have done this?"
"I used a couple of herbs, but I would never intentionally poison anyone." Orin replied. As far as Luke could discern, he was telling the truth. Still, the way he had worded his response was a bit strange.
"Could any of these herbs have had an accidental side effect?"
"I don't know the full effect of some of them." He replied truthfully.
Luke narrowed his eyes. He was avoiding the true purpose of the questioning, replying with honest answers, but he had never said what effects of the herbs he did know about. "Do you know of any properties of the herbs that might have caused this?" He asked, hoping he wasn't too blunt.
"Yes, one of them may have. Although, the sauce could have some sleep agent, or the appetizers, or one of a dozen things people were using herbs for."
"Where did you get these herbs?"
"I brought them with me when I came. As you know, I'm partial to cooking, so I brought a few tools of my trade."
He had successfully avoided a lie that Luke could detect, but suspicion had only increased. If he had brought the herbs, then all of them might have the same effect, or only one, or some combination of those used for the main course triggered a dangerous chemical reaction. Though if that last was the case, he might be truly innocent. There was no way to tell, with Rafet Orin. It might be safer just to ask him to leave.
"Rafet, I'm going to be brusque. Did you place the sleeping agent in our meal?"
"Yes! I mean..." and finally, his last skill had failed him, his confession and been blurted out, and he needed to find a proper twist of words to get him out of this mess. "I put a few herbs in that caused the sleep effect. I wanted to leave the Academy, but I was too scared that you would report me!" So much for that idea. How had he, who had managed to lie his way through dozens of contracts, met his end in this Jedi? The answer came to him easily... the Force. So, the Force could work like a truth serum, could it? He would have to learn that skill himself, after he confessed fully. "I came seeking protection, to wait out the bounty hunter Boba Fett. I only wanted to stay so that he couldn't capture me! But I have seen how wrong I was to use the Jedi Academy as a safe haven. This is a place of learning." Now was the time for his final piece. He turned his body so that it was directly opposite Luke's, and then bowed to him. "Will you teach me truly now, Master Skywalker?
Taken aback by the sudden, apparently spontaneous confession, Luke replied, "We will see."
Fett smirked. He had taken the liberty of planting a truth gas when he sabotaged Orin's engines. As soon as someone asked him a direct question, the gas would make him unable to lie. He could twist words all he wanted, but it would become increasingly obvious. He monitored the comm, as he had for the past few hours, waiting for Skywalker to inform that Orin had been caught in a lie, and one thing had led to another. Logically, once they asked him a self incriminating question, he was doomed.
Luke sighed, inhaled, held his breath for a full minute, and exhaled again. Orin had been revealed for the liar he was, and he was sure there were all sorts of incriminating things he could find out if he asked the right way. "What crimes have you committed, Rafet?" he asked. It was best to be blunt.
"I have committed a few big-time kidnappings, but mostly..."
"Wanted for lying, stealing, extortion, conning, smuggling," Fett read off the bounty. "Two-timing and pretty much every other small time offense you can think of, all rolled into one, easy to track, easy to capture," easy to anticipate, he added silently "person. So, what do you say?"
"Death warrant?" asked Luke, not wanting to condemn anyone to certain doom.
"Yes, but he's much more valuable alive.
"I should really report him to the authorities. Don't expect them to give him to you when they're done."
"No need to mention my name at all, Skywalker. My employers will know what happened."
Fett smiled underneath his helmet. So easy to anticipate. First, sabotage the engines so he couldn't escape. Next, call a false banquet, knowing the opportunity will be too great for him to resist, and knowing it will raise a lot of questions. Third, make sure he can't lie his way out anymore. He plotted the jump to hyperspace, but not to claim his credits yet. He had to make sure certain competition didn't get in his way. Fett programmed one last jump, but he was already scanning his computer, looking for his next mission.