Chapter 12

"Coup? When? Who?" Lexoc exclaimed. The thought of an overthrow of a whole planet's government without the Senate or the Jedi knowing was unbelievable.

"Whoa, whoa, Lexoc," Nerca said gesturing with her hands for Lexoc to slow. "One question at a time. Yes, coup. When? I can't tell, the files aren't exactly specific there."

"Who, Nerca?" Keldu asked.

"One second," Nerca said. Lexoc watched intently as Nerca tapped many keys, digging deeper into the files, undoubtedly into areas she legally shouldn't be. It took many more seconds for Nerca to find it, while the suspension grew.

Lexoc could see the change in Nerca's face as she apparently found the answer to the last question. She looked into Oliso's eyes and there was a silent exchange of information, one that upset Jesbra terribly.

"Who!" Jesbra insisted. "Tell me and the story behind it. Now."

"All right, all right," Nerca said, taking a deep breath. "The government was taken over by the Mettranaloovye."

"Who?" Lexoc asked. She had no idea who these "Mettranaloovye" were.

Nerca took a deep breath again, obviously unwilling to answer. Oliso laid a hand on her shoulder and whispered something in her ear. Nerca nodded and turned back to Lexoc and Jesbra.

"The Mettranaloovye," she repeated. "When I was an apprentice, my Master and I were sent to Verdin, as you know, to investigate the Emh incident. There I found friends, the Cardeis and Eli and Schelle Jumleu, who I thought were friends. My Master and I where investigating, and I went to Schelle for help. The-ere w-as an acc-cid-dent," Nerca stuttered. "Schelle died and Eli wanted to get back at me," she said slowly, "though it wasn't my fault, and took me to an evil scientific group called the Mettranaloovye. They fed me lies that I believed, so I never told anyone. The only reason Oliso knows is that when I was an apprentice even then she sensed my fear when I returned from that mission." Finally Nerca's expression changed to a smile, directed toward Oliso. "Having that talent at eighteen is special, but then again she was a Knight then."

Lexoc was about to ask more about Eli and Schelle, then she remembered how Nerca looked when she told about Schelle's accident. Nerca had looked so sad, and she looked as though she thought that Schelle's accident was her fault. Seeing her friend's reaction tightened Lexoc's mouth shut.

"So, how do we deal with these Mettranaloovye?" Jesbra asked moving the subject, hopefully for Nerca's sake, but if past experience was any guide, it was more likely Jesbra was forming a plan.

"They are very scientific and through," Nerca said lifting her head up somewhat, from the natural hanging position that comes with speaking out of grief. "This won't be easy. It's a good thing we sent the students back. I think the best way is to just simply hit them where it hurts most. If I know them well enough, they'll not only have rulers posted in the government buildings, but their supreme leader will be in a secret hidden base. I say, find the hidden base, infiltrate and capture their leader."

"Infiltrating a hidden base, with numbers their size?" Jesbra asked skeptical. "Not a clever plan."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a second," Keldu said from the pilot's chair where she was still in Nerca's usual position. "Our mission was to find Annica's killer, not to demolish a crime group."

Lexoc stared at Keldu's back in disbelief. How could she say that? The Jedi's first priority was the people; helping take back their government was probably best for the people. But before she could open her mouth Nerca's hand came up to silence her.

"Before you say anything, I think we're dealing with the same thing here. Who's to say the Mettranaloovye didn't hire Llanef? Think about it. The Mettranaloovye must've been planning this takeover for a while. They hire a fast, quiet way to assassinate the Senator, sending the Uunjaians into panic mode. The Uunjaians blame the Rolocis and begin a war against them, while most troops are gone takeover is as easy as stealing a moloberry pie from an open window."

Lexoc thought over it for a moment. The way Nerca put it, takeover was that easy if you had a plan. "Yes, but there is a puzzle piece that doesn't fit," she said. "Why go after Tonuu as well?"

"That, I still don't know," Nerca said, her necklace clouding over. "That still doesn't fit, but will when we find the Mettranaloovye."

"I hate to break up this discussion," Keldu said, still flying the Cosmic Dragon. "But we need to land."

Nerca stood and took back the controls from Keldu. She dove into the thick trees, nose nearly vertical, then flipped it horizontal again and landed with ease. Once the ship set down she stood, walked back and scooped up the tracker.

Lexoc watched as she separated the datapad from the tracker.

"What are you doing?" Lexoc asked.

"If I put this back the way it was, attach it to an ID Deceiver System, put a holo-projector on it," Nerca shrugged, "and you've got yourself a Cosmic Dragon."

"What?" Lexoc asked, a frown marking her face. "Basic and no mech-talk, please."

"I'll put out an ID Deceiver with the Dragon's data readouts, attach the tracker to it, and put out a holo-image of it, then the Uunjaians will track it and blast it thinking they got us," Nerca said still wiring the imitation Cosmic Dragon. "Then put a cloaker on the real one and go in on foot. It's as simple as that, my friends."

Oh, yeah, Lexoc thought rolling her eyes. That was real simple.