Taking the Bait
The insistent buzz of his commlink made the Jedi jump, a little disoriented for a moment. He glanced down a level, noting that Raven was still asleep or at least appeared to be. Judging from the sunlight pouring through the buildings onto the floor, it was late afternoon or early evening. Qui-Gon fetched his commlink, thumbing it on. "Jinn here."
"Hey, Qui-Gon, I got the information you requested," Bielat's voice came over the comm. "Listen, I have to run, so I'll just send it to you, as well as my own personal link if you need anything else. I'm usually working in the Archives any way. Best of luck."
"Thanks again, Emor. May the Force be with you."
"You too." The signal was cut, and then it clicked again, indicating the arrival of a file. Qui-Gon quickly downloaded it to a chip and put the chip into his datapad. He was pleased to find that Bielat had uncovered a wealth of information, even though he wasn't sure how much of it would be useful.
Curiosity got the best of him, and Qui-Gon went straight to the file on Raven. Her name was really Raven Suul. He was a little surprised at the face that looked back at him. It was hers, though a little more filled out and with longer hair. For a moment, Qui-Gon speculated the life she had had before she arrived here, with the income of a runner. Perhaps that wasn't even that reliable, though. It gave the usual stats, her height and weight at last check, her planet of origin, age, race, as well as the records of her training. It listed the classes she had taken, her master, the date of her knighting ceremony, as well as comments from some of her teachers, as well as personal achievements, placements in the sparring competitions, and summaries of her mission and other general commentary.
He looked it over, intrigued to find that she was pretty much an average padawan. She was five years older than he, twenty-nine to his twenty-four. Qui-Gon was also surprised to find that she had won the sparring contest at the last competition. More impressive, she had competed in a weight class above her own, possibly taking on knights 50 kilograms heavier than she. He felt a newfound respect within himself for her.
The file also said that she had left under indistinct circumstances, Jedi-speak for she left the Order of her own will and perhaps to the discontent of the Council. On paper, she was a fine Knight and a loss to the Order. Qui-Gon couldn't help if there was something else to her leaving. All of it seemed rather incomplete to him. There was no reference to her visiting the Council before she defected, which he assumed was standard procedure.
The general commentary was rather interesting. It had regular updates of her training, presumably filled out by her master. They were typical for a padawan, mishaps and mistakes made, punishments administered and points that deserved commendations. Her life, as presented on the datapad, was rather uneventful. He had expected something more from the existence of a person who had eventually left twenty-four years of Jedi training to do something else.
The information on Alderaan and the Obrid system were actually somewhat helpful. Apparently, the Obrid system had had some very controversial internal problems that the datapad didn't elaborate upon. The matter was discussed with much heat in the Galactic Senate, and in the end, many systems put embargoes upon the system, indicating the displeasure with whatever had occurred. Alderaan continued to provide vital goods, mainly food, to the people, showing compassion towards them. This had angered many other planets, namely Corellia. Relations deteriorated between Alderaan and Corellia to the point of almost petty name-calling. So, if Corellia, or a representative thereof, wasn't behind the attacks, it would be easy enough to frame the planet.
The information on the father and son was somewhat more random. Bielat had been kind enough to cross reference Senator Valorum's stand on the Obrid issue. A rather dry speech given by the senator was in the datapad, and it seemed to imply that Valorum thought the actions taken against the Obrid system were a little harsh. However, he did denote that some kind of punishment, in his eyes, was necessary. The article went on to compare that calm statement to fiery opinion's expressed by Finis. In the streets, the younger Valorum called for compassion in the Senate. Finis had even managed to draw the attention of a local influence by the name of Nathaniel Younam. Although it didn't say what exactly he did, the implication was he was a power among the gangs or perhaps a smuggler. Whatever his occupation, it was illegal, and he was not happy about Valorum's statements.
The rest was rather blasé information on the senator about votes and such within the Senate. Qui-Gon read through those reports then deactivated the pad, tossing it across the bed. His closed his eyes, reaching out into the Force. Nothing there really helped him, except to give him a feeling that he had all the pieces. Now, he just had to fit them together. The problem was knowing where to start. The Jedi opened his eyes and regarded the sleeping figure on the couch. He was beginning to believe there was no such thing as chance.
***
Later that evening, Raven was up and relatively mobile, having found much good from the bacta and her meditation. She was drifting in the kitchen, humming tunelessly to herself, as she made something for dinner. Qui-Gon sat at the table, contemplating and asking questions of Raven, trying to find a link. "So, you suspect Boeta? The Corellian senator?"
"He usually seems to have his nose in anything foul," she replied, her hands busy with food preparations. Qui-Gon watched her, wondering not for the first time if she really ought to be moving around so much. He could see that her movements were stiff and greatly controlled. Still, she was stubborn, and a discussion over it wouldn't be worth the energy in the end. He let it go.
"I can't find a link," he replied. "What does your friend S'rmen smuggle again? Maybe there's a key in that."
Raven glanced up from the countertop. "He smuggles food," she replied, her tone indicating that she didn't understand what relevance that had. "Mostly he does it to avoid tariffs, but sometimes he's a blockade runner as well."
Qui-Gon sat up a little. "Food? What blockades has he run?"
"I don't know. I've never asked," she replied. "Why? What does this have to do with the bombing and Valorum?"
"The Obrid system had some internal problems that made other planets angry, correct?" The Jedi stood up, stroking his beard in consideration.
"To my knowledge, yes. The Galactic Senate was in an uproar for some time about it. There were even some systems who imposed blockades…" Raven stopped, the food forgotten. "All right, so whom might have S'rmen run blockades for?"
Qui-Gon smiled. "Smart girl," he teased. "Perhaps he ran the blockades for Alderaan, one of the few systems that would still sell them supplies, despite the general animosity towards the situation there."
"And that might explain the bombing of S'rmen's ship…" Raven said quietly.
Suddenly, the door to her loft swung open, making a loud crash against the opposite wall. Raven had her blaster out of its holster before the door had begun to rebound, the safety off and the barrel trained towards the doorway. Mentally, Raven berated herself for leaving it unlocked. Both she and Qui-Gon had been too involvement in ministering her wound to think about it, and by the time they discussed the morning, both had forgotten.
Ava stumbled in, her face red and streaked with tears. Raven put her blaster down and motioned Qui-Gon to relax. He must have pulled and activated his saber in that short moment. She moved to embrace the other woman, wrapping her arms around the shorter, pregnant frame of her friend. Copelan appeared in the doorway, holding Lian and looking very afraid. Nara stood next to him, almost hiding in her older brother's shadow.
Gently, Raven brushed Ava's hair out of her face. "What's the matter Ava?" she asked. "What's wrong?" Qui-Gon sat back down at the table, surreptitiously turning off and stacking the datacards. Raven motioned for the children to come in. Ava shook beneath her arms, her small frame wracked by sobs. She maneuvered her to one of the stools along the bar then shut the door.
"He's gone!" Ava cried, burying her head in her hands again. Her shoulders continued to shake, even though she made no more noise. Raven knelt before the other woman, warmly pulling Ava's hands into her own.
"I can't help you unless you tell me what's going on, Ava," Raven replied soothingly.
Ava swallowed hard and looked at the children. Immediately, the Rogue understood. The mother didn't want to frighten them any more than they already were. "Hey, Copelan, Nara and Lian," she said, hoping the children would understand. Raven knew that Qui-Gon would catch on quickly. "Why don't you show my friend Joshua the model Nubian ships I got you?" Copelan nodded solemnly, and Raven felt her stomach twist in slight betrayal. He knew that they were being gotten rid of so the adults could talk.
"All right, Ash," he said quietly, beckoning to the unfamiliar face in the room. Qui-Gon stood up and gave Raven an inscrutable look as he passed by, one she couldn't read at the moment. She worked to control her emotions, her instincts and the Force pressing that something had gone terribly wrong.
"Dane's gone," Ava said again, choking on a sob that again wracked her frame. "He was taken while at work. Why would someone want to kidnap him?"
"I don't know," Raven lied, apprehension settling into the pit of her stomach. "Do you know exactly what happened?" She gently squeezed the other woman's hands, sending soothing waves through the Force.
"The people at the embassy called and said he'd been kidnapped, taken at blaster point. They had to let him go, or they would have killed others in the embassy." A note of panic had crept into her voice, and abruptly Ava yanked one of her hands out of Raven's to cradle her protruding stomach.
"Availle, you have to listen to me. I know this will be hard, but you have to calm yourself down. I don't want you sending yourself into premature labor. You have to collect yourself for the children. Can you answer a few more questions for me?" Raven placed one hand on her friend's knee. She knew how she could calm Ava down, but she didn't really want to use the Force compulsion on her friend. Although she doubted that it would harm the unborn child within her, the rogue didn't really want to risk it. Still, it was quickly becoming the best option.
"Sure," Ava replied diffidently, tears still streaming down her face. She looked away, as though embarrassed by her emotional moment. Her hand seemed to convulse, squeezing Raven's tightly for a moment, and the rogue watched her friend's face contort, failing at controlling her emotions. She sighed, knowing now was the time.
"Come on," Raven sighed, pulling Ava from the stool and moving her to the couch that she herself had occupied not to long ago. Her back hurt a little, but she ignored the sensation and the mild ache of pain. There was work to be done, and she could deal with that later.
Ava curled into a fetal position, looking to Raven like an abandoned child. "I don't know what I'd do without him, Ash," she moaned quietly. "You have to find him for me, help me fix this mess."
"I know, Ava, I know," Raven said in low tones. Lightly, she brushed her friend's arm with her hand, carefully applying a light pressure on Ava's shoulder. She closed her eyes, reaching out into the Force. Raven found strands of comfort and calm and through her physical contact, she guided the threads towards her friend, ensnaring her tumultuous emotions into them. The same way, she removed the scattered, painful thoughts, leaving only the calm. All this happened in an instant, but the exertion drained Ava, who was not used to such Force manipulations. She fell into a shallow sleep, one that she would wake up from in a short amount of time.
Raven stood slowly, her mind racing to figure the situation out. She knew one thing for certain, though; someone knew she was investigating the recent occurrences, and this person was setting a trap. The net was being tightened, with Dane as the bait. She sat on the arm of the other couch, looking as Ava slept on. The worst part was, she had to go for the bait. Her own life, she could stand to ruin, but she couldn't do that to Ava and her children. Ava had what Raven could never really understand or have; love and family, two concepts her entire upbringing had taught her to deny. She wouldn't ruin that for Ava and Dane, even if her own life was the price she'd have to pay.
The insistent buzz of his commlink made the Jedi jump, a little disoriented for a moment. He glanced down a level, noting that Raven was still asleep or at least appeared to be. Judging from the sunlight pouring through the buildings onto the floor, it was late afternoon or early evening. Qui-Gon fetched his commlink, thumbing it on. "Jinn here."
"Hey, Qui-Gon, I got the information you requested," Bielat's voice came over the comm. "Listen, I have to run, so I'll just send it to you, as well as my own personal link if you need anything else. I'm usually working in the Archives any way. Best of luck."
"Thanks again, Emor. May the Force be with you."
"You too." The signal was cut, and then it clicked again, indicating the arrival of a file. Qui-Gon quickly downloaded it to a chip and put the chip into his datapad. He was pleased to find that Bielat had uncovered a wealth of information, even though he wasn't sure how much of it would be useful.
Curiosity got the best of him, and Qui-Gon went straight to the file on Raven. Her name was really Raven Suul. He was a little surprised at the face that looked back at him. It was hers, though a little more filled out and with longer hair. For a moment, Qui-Gon speculated the life she had had before she arrived here, with the income of a runner. Perhaps that wasn't even that reliable, though. It gave the usual stats, her height and weight at last check, her planet of origin, age, race, as well as the records of her training. It listed the classes she had taken, her master, the date of her knighting ceremony, as well as comments from some of her teachers, as well as personal achievements, placements in the sparring competitions, and summaries of her mission and other general commentary.
He looked it over, intrigued to find that she was pretty much an average padawan. She was five years older than he, twenty-nine to his twenty-four. Qui-Gon was also surprised to find that she had won the sparring contest at the last competition. More impressive, she had competed in a weight class above her own, possibly taking on knights 50 kilograms heavier than she. He felt a newfound respect within himself for her.
The file also said that she had left under indistinct circumstances, Jedi-speak for she left the Order of her own will and perhaps to the discontent of the Council. On paper, she was a fine Knight and a loss to the Order. Qui-Gon couldn't help if there was something else to her leaving. All of it seemed rather incomplete to him. There was no reference to her visiting the Council before she defected, which he assumed was standard procedure.
The general commentary was rather interesting. It had regular updates of her training, presumably filled out by her master. They were typical for a padawan, mishaps and mistakes made, punishments administered and points that deserved commendations. Her life, as presented on the datapad, was rather uneventful. He had expected something more from the existence of a person who had eventually left twenty-four years of Jedi training to do something else.
The information on Alderaan and the Obrid system were actually somewhat helpful. Apparently, the Obrid system had had some very controversial internal problems that the datapad didn't elaborate upon. The matter was discussed with much heat in the Galactic Senate, and in the end, many systems put embargoes upon the system, indicating the displeasure with whatever had occurred. Alderaan continued to provide vital goods, mainly food, to the people, showing compassion towards them. This had angered many other planets, namely Corellia. Relations deteriorated between Alderaan and Corellia to the point of almost petty name-calling. So, if Corellia, or a representative thereof, wasn't behind the attacks, it would be easy enough to frame the planet.
The information on the father and son was somewhat more random. Bielat had been kind enough to cross reference Senator Valorum's stand on the Obrid issue. A rather dry speech given by the senator was in the datapad, and it seemed to imply that Valorum thought the actions taken against the Obrid system were a little harsh. However, he did denote that some kind of punishment, in his eyes, was necessary. The article went on to compare that calm statement to fiery opinion's expressed by Finis. In the streets, the younger Valorum called for compassion in the Senate. Finis had even managed to draw the attention of a local influence by the name of Nathaniel Younam. Although it didn't say what exactly he did, the implication was he was a power among the gangs or perhaps a smuggler. Whatever his occupation, it was illegal, and he was not happy about Valorum's statements.
The rest was rather blasé information on the senator about votes and such within the Senate. Qui-Gon read through those reports then deactivated the pad, tossing it across the bed. His closed his eyes, reaching out into the Force. Nothing there really helped him, except to give him a feeling that he had all the pieces. Now, he just had to fit them together. The problem was knowing where to start. The Jedi opened his eyes and regarded the sleeping figure on the couch. He was beginning to believe there was no such thing as chance.
***
Later that evening, Raven was up and relatively mobile, having found much good from the bacta and her meditation. She was drifting in the kitchen, humming tunelessly to herself, as she made something for dinner. Qui-Gon sat at the table, contemplating and asking questions of Raven, trying to find a link. "So, you suspect Boeta? The Corellian senator?"
"He usually seems to have his nose in anything foul," she replied, her hands busy with food preparations. Qui-Gon watched her, wondering not for the first time if she really ought to be moving around so much. He could see that her movements were stiff and greatly controlled. Still, she was stubborn, and a discussion over it wouldn't be worth the energy in the end. He let it go.
"I can't find a link," he replied. "What does your friend S'rmen smuggle again? Maybe there's a key in that."
Raven glanced up from the countertop. "He smuggles food," she replied, her tone indicating that she didn't understand what relevance that had. "Mostly he does it to avoid tariffs, but sometimes he's a blockade runner as well."
Qui-Gon sat up a little. "Food? What blockades has he run?"
"I don't know. I've never asked," she replied. "Why? What does this have to do with the bombing and Valorum?"
"The Obrid system had some internal problems that made other planets angry, correct?" The Jedi stood up, stroking his beard in consideration.
"To my knowledge, yes. The Galactic Senate was in an uproar for some time about it. There were even some systems who imposed blockades…" Raven stopped, the food forgotten. "All right, so whom might have S'rmen run blockades for?"
Qui-Gon smiled. "Smart girl," he teased. "Perhaps he ran the blockades for Alderaan, one of the few systems that would still sell them supplies, despite the general animosity towards the situation there."
"And that might explain the bombing of S'rmen's ship…" Raven said quietly.
Suddenly, the door to her loft swung open, making a loud crash against the opposite wall. Raven had her blaster out of its holster before the door had begun to rebound, the safety off and the barrel trained towards the doorway. Mentally, Raven berated herself for leaving it unlocked. Both she and Qui-Gon had been too involvement in ministering her wound to think about it, and by the time they discussed the morning, both had forgotten.
Ava stumbled in, her face red and streaked with tears. Raven put her blaster down and motioned Qui-Gon to relax. He must have pulled and activated his saber in that short moment. She moved to embrace the other woman, wrapping her arms around the shorter, pregnant frame of her friend. Copelan appeared in the doorway, holding Lian and looking very afraid. Nara stood next to him, almost hiding in her older brother's shadow.
Gently, Raven brushed Ava's hair out of her face. "What's the matter Ava?" she asked. "What's wrong?" Qui-Gon sat back down at the table, surreptitiously turning off and stacking the datacards. Raven motioned for the children to come in. Ava shook beneath her arms, her small frame wracked by sobs. She maneuvered her to one of the stools along the bar then shut the door.
"He's gone!" Ava cried, burying her head in her hands again. Her shoulders continued to shake, even though she made no more noise. Raven knelt before the other woman, warmly pulling Ava's hands into her own.
"I can't help you unless you tell me what's going on, Ava," Raven replied soothingly.
Ava swallowed hard and looked at the children. Immediately, the Rogue understood. The mother didn't want to frighten them any more than they already were. "Hey, Copelan, Nara and Lian," she said, hoping the children would understand. Raven knew that Qui-Gon would catch on quickly. "Why don't you show my friend Joshua the model Nubian ships I got you?" Copelan nodded solemnly, and Raven felt her stomach twist in slight betrayal. He knew that they were being gotten rid of so the adults could talk.
"All right, Ash," he said quietly, beckoning to the unfamiliar face in the room. Qui-Gon stood up and gave Raven an inscrutable look as he passed by, one she couldn't read at the moment. She worked to control her emotions, her instincts and the Force pressing that something had gone terribly wrong.
"Dane's gone," Ava said again, choking on a sob that again wracked her frame. "He was taken while at work. Why would someone want to kidnap him?"
"I don't know," Raven lied, apprehension settling into the pit of her stomach. "Do you know exactly what happened?" She gently squeezed the other woman's hands, sending soothing waves through the Force.
"The people at the embassy called and said he'd been kidnapped, taken at blaster point. They had to let him go, or they would have killed others in the embassy." A note of panic had crept into her voice, and abruptly Ava yanked one of her hands out of Raven's to cradle her protruding stomach.
"Availle, you have to listen to me. I know this will be hard, but you have to calm yourself down. I don't want you sending yourself into premature labor. You have to collect yourself for the children. Can you answer a few more questions for me?" Raven placed one hand on her friend's knee. She knew how she could calm Ava down, but she didn't really want to use the Force compulsion on her friend. Although she doubted that it would harm the unborn child within her, the rogue didn't really want to risk it. Still, it was quickly becoming the best option.
"Sure," Ava replied diffidently, tears still streaming down her face. She looked away, as though embarrassed by her emotional moment. Her hand seemed to convulse, squeezing Raven's tightly for a moment, and the rogue watched her friend's face contort, failing at controlling her emotions. She sighed, knowing now was the time.
"Come on," Raven sighed, pulling Ava from the stool and moving her to the couch that she herself had occupied not to long ago. Her back hurt a little, but she ignored the sensation and the mild ache of pain. There was work to be done, and she could deal with that later.
Ava curled into a fetal position, looking to Raven like an abandoned child. "I don't know what I'd do without him, Ash," she moaned quietly. "You have to find him for me, help me fix this mess."
"I know, Ava, I know," Raven said in low tones. Lightly, she brushed her friend's arm with her hand, carefully applying a light pressure on Ava's shoulder. She closed her eyes, reaching out into the Force. Raven found strands of comfort and calm and through her physical contact, she guided the threads towards her friend, ensnaring her tumultuous emotions into them. The same way, she removed the scattered, painful thoughts, leaving only the calm. All this happened in an instant, but the exertion drained Ava, who was not used to such Force manipulations. She fell into a shallow sleep, one that she would wake up from in a short amount of time.
Raven stood slowly, her mind racing to figure the situation out. She knew one thing for certain, though; someone knew she was investigating the recent occurrences, and this person was setting a trap. The net was being tightened, with Dane as the bait. She sat on the arm of the other couch, looking as Ava slept on. The worst part was, she had to go for the bait. Her own life, she could stand to ruin, but she couldn't do that to Ava and her children. Ava had what Raven could never really understand or have; love and family, two concepts her entire upbringing had taught her to deny. She wouldn't ruin that for Ava and Dane, even if her own life was the price she'd have to pay.
