ATTENTION! Everyone, please go back to hcapter 4, and read that, because I accidentalyl forgot to upload Chapter 4, and instead I just uploaded Chapter 5. Apologies about that.
Chapter 6: Eirtae
Eirtaé Bukoro smiled slightly to herself as she swung her legs around off her bed and pulled a lightweight robe around her shoulders. Last night's guard duty had been tedious but the events after between her and Hal had been much much more… entertaining. As she dressed silently, she thought back over the last seven years. She'd originally only joined CorSec to help aid the Jedi, first just as a simple military support and then as a person who helped hide the Jedi. But something she hadn't expected to happen that happened was that she'd fallen in love with one of the Jedi.
Hal Horn, formerly Valin Halcyon, had joined CorSec the same year that she had. Interestingly enough, she had already been going by the name of Hal Horn even though he didn't truly become Hal for another three years. From the vague answers she had received, she gathered that he'd been Hal Horn as a test of some sorts at his undercover work.
But that didn't matter now, she thought as she pulled her blonde hair into a ponytail. Last night at the Emperor's banquet, she had discreetly talked to Saché and arranged to meet her at the local bar called the Space Trader. She'd have to pull a few strings to keep her boss from noticing that she was gone, but she'd manage somehow.
She glanced at the chrono, it was 0700. She smiled slightly as she looked over at Hal's still sleeping form. Moving quietly, she made her way over towards the bed and taped him on the shoulder.
"Wake up flyboy," she said, a grin on her face. In response, Hal merely groaned and rolled slightly on his side. "Hal, the smugglers are getting away with their cargo!" Eirtaé said loudly.
"What?" Hal asked as he sat bolt upright. "Smugglers? Getting away? Where?"
Eirtaé grinned and broke out into laughter at the confused expression on his face. "There aren't any smugglers, Hal."
He pulled her close to him and said quietly in her ear, "Look's like I found my smuggler right here."
"Oh?" she murmured back, "And what am I accused of smuggling, sir?"
"My heart of course, you horrid fiend!" Hal proclaimed as he pulled her head down towards his and kissed her lingeringly on the lips.
Eirtaé found herself so caught up in the kiss that when at last she forced herself to pull away for air, she had no recollection of how she'd ended up sitting on the edge of the bed next to Hal. "We've got work in an hour."
"We can be a bit late."
As tempted as she was to stay there, Eirtaé forced herself to pull away from her boyfriend and stand up. "We can't and anyways, I'm going to need you to cover for me for an hour or so."
Frowning slightly as he got out of bed himself and started to get dressed, Hal asked, "Why? Is it because of that woman you saw last night, Salla Tarrai or whatever her name was?"
"Actually, it's Saché Obaro; Salla Tarrai's just her undercover name. She's one of my fellow handmaidens."
"Don't you mean ex-handmaiden, Zena?"
Eirtaé smiled wryly. "Once a handmaiden, always a handmaiden. Anyways, yes, it is Saché that I'm meeting."
Hal nodded as he pulled on his shirt. "Alright, I'll cover for you while you go meet your friend."
Grinning, she kissed him quickly on the lips. "Thanks Hal."
"Anytime Zena."
True to his word, Hal arranged to make it appear that Eirtaé was still on duty even though she was at the local bar, Space Trader.
At about five minute before the appointed time, Eirtaé pushed open the cantina's door and looked around briefly before heading towards a small table in the back.
"Yeh want anything, Jess?" The bartender asked her.
"Sure, give me the usual, Geran," she replied. Inwardly, she hid a grin. Ever since she'd come to Corellia and joined CorSec, she'd come here every week or so to get a drink and have some serious Down Time and soon became dearly loved once and Hal had been assigned as partners once graduating from the Academy and moved up a bit through the ranks of CorSec. Since the Space Trader was considered to be a bar for the slightly more suspicious type, she and Hal had always gone by "Jessa Ranez" and "Rane Tilven;" names that they had more or less just picked out of midair the first time they'd walked into the bar.
Moments later, Geran came over and deposited a tankard of Lomin ale in front of her. Reaching into her pants pocket, she pulled out a few credits, handing over a few more than the usual cost of the drink saying, "I have a friend coming and I'd appreciate some privacy since we need to talk."
The man nodded and pocketed the extra credits. "You go it, Jessa."
"Thanks Geran," Eirtaé replied with a grin, taking a sip of her Lomin ale. Exactly at 0900, the door swung open once again and a cloaked figure walked in. Eirtaé hid a grin behind a hand and waved the person over. Even with a cloak, Saché still couldn't hide that little swing to her step. Saché sat down and pushed her hood back, a slightly nervous expression on her face.
"I don't know how long I can stay," she said softly, "But anyways, how are you and what am I supposed to call you, Eirtaé?"
Eirtaé smiled seeing that the years hadn't taken away her friend's enthusiasm and cheerful manner. "Well, Eirta's a no, Zena Denes is an even bigger no since she's CorSec and this is a smugglers' bar, so call me Jess or Jessa; it's what I go by around here. What about for you?"
"Saché for now and don't you dare say a word about my hair," she said, seeing the amused look on Eirta's face.
"Red really isn't your color, Saché. You want a drink?"
"Too early in the morning for me, but thanks."
"Okay. So what are you doing in Palpatine's court?" Eirtaé queried her friend.
Saché glanced around, looking for listeners, before replying, "I'm spying for the Senator from Chandrila."
"The woman? Mon Mothma?"
"Yes, her. I need your help to send this into Sabé."
"Wait," Eirtaé said with a frown, "You report to Sabé too?"
"A report every six weeks that includes some information that didn't stay in my report to the Senator attached," the younger woman grinned wickedly, "A girl has to have some secrets after all. Well, a girl and her sisters."
Eirtaé rolled her eyes and grinned as she reached into her black flightsuit pocket and pulled out a datacard which she passed across the table. "Look, if you ever need anything, or you need to contact me, all the information's on that datacard. If you can't get a hold of me through any of those ways, there's another number on there, Rostek Horn-"
"Horn," Saché interrupted, "Isn't that the name of the man you were with last night?'
Eirtaé felt a slight blush come to her face. That wording could be interpreted several different ways and one of them she considered to be very private. "Yes, Hal Horn's my partner in CorSec and Rostek's his father. But anyways, if you give your message or whatever to him, it'll make its way pretty darn quickly to me."
She nodded again and pocketed the datacard and then tossed one of her own across to Eirtaé. "Alright, thanks. I need you to send this to Sabé for me because my old line of communication has been-" she paused for a moment before continuing with, "Blocked."
The blonde woman nodded and pocketed the card, making a mental note to remember to remove it again when she changed back into her CorSec uniform. And then it hit her and she stopped in mid movement. "Wait, what do you mean, 'blocked?' "
Saché bit her lip nervously, her blue eyes darting around the room suspiciously. "I can't say."
Eirtaé frowned slightly as they both stood up and she grabbed the bag which contained her uniform from the chair that it had been sitting on. "You've changed, Saché, you've changed a lot."
"Don't we all?" the brunette replied with a weak grin.
Still frowning, she lightly grabbed her "sister's" arm and led her out of the bar, flipping another credit to Geran as she did. Her thoughts before had been wrong. Saché was the cheerful, optimistic, fearless, party girl anymore, but instead a spy who's too professional to show when they're scared. "Come on," she said once they were well past the door. "We're going to stop somewhere so I can change back into my uniform and I'll escort you back to where the Emperor's Court is staying."
Ignoring her protests, Eirtaé led Saché to a much more nicer and civilized bar and back towards the refresher. Going into one of the stalls, the older and taller woman talked as she changed. "If they question you as to why you have an escort back, a smuggler type startled you and I offered to safely see you back to your destination. Got it?"
Saché rolled her eyes and removed her red wig, shaking her head slightly so her own, natural brown hair came tumbling down. "Zena, I'll be perfectly fine, trust me. Besides, this would work better if your partner Hal was here instead." Her tone suddenly became playful. "What's going on between you two anyways?"
Emerging back out from the stall, straightening her uniform as she did, Eirtaé felt a faint blush come to her face once more. "None of your business."
"Oh come on, you know you want to tell me!" Saché said teasingly. "How serious is it?"
She hesitated for a moment, memories of the events of three years ago on Tatooine flashing back through her head, becoming fresh in her memory once more. "It's pretty serious I guess, but it's still none of your business."
Saché hid a giggle behind a hand as she led the way out. "You're as obstinate as ever, Zena, if not more so."
"Living on Corellia for seven years can do that to you," Eirtaé admitted with a nod, her tone a bit dry.
They continued to chat as they made their way back up towards the more upper class and social part of Corellia, every so often being greeted by someone that they, for the most part Eirtaé, knew, though the greeter didn't always use a name or a cover name that was known to the other.
As they neared the gates into the building reserved for the Emperor's entourage, Eirtaé grabbed the other's arm, turning her towards her suddenly. "If anything, and I mean anything, goes wrong, contact me and I'll be that as quickly as I possibly can. Use the code and all though."
"If my cover's blown, I'm not going to risk blowing yours just to save my own ass," Saché replied calmly. "Besides, you've got a nice life now, Zena. I'm not going to be the one who spoils it for you."
"No, the Empire will do that for you. But screw my cover, I don't want another one of my sisters killed," she replied firmly.
Saché shook her head sadly. 'Starting to sound more and more like Dormé and Rabé every day, Zena.' She glanced over towards the gate guard and then back at Eirtaé. "Alright, thanks. I'll see you around."
"See you around," Eirtaé echoed, watching as Saché pulled herself up, becoming Salla Tarrai and flouncing over towards the gate.
Ten minutes later, Eirtaé arrived back at CorSec Headquarters, panting slightly as she had run most of the way back. Hal glanced up at her as she slid into her chair, the door closing behind her.
"Did your meeting go well?" He asked.
"Pretty well, I guess. Did anyone notice I was gone?" She replied as she began to sort through the papers on her desk, not looking up.
"If they did, than they forgot it rather quickly," his voice murmured in her ear as a set of strong arms wrapped around her from the back just as she stood up once more.
She rotated 180 degrees so she was facing him. "Well, that's nice to know. I need to talk to your father though."
"Later," he said, kissing her gently on the lips.
"Later," she agreed, returning the kiss almost as eagerly, more as if they had been apart for days, not a mere hour.
Things would've gone much farther from there if someone hadn't knocked and then opened the door, causing Hal and Eirtaé to spring apart and go back to work like they should've been. Sometimes, Eirtaé though, having your CorSec partner for your boyfriend is not always the best of ideas.