Part 6: Threats

The tall intendant dipped his razor-sharp fingernails in one of the fluids that the skip's shaper had supplied. He then applied an ooglith masquer to his face and stripped himself of all but a simple robeskin.

The man had to wait only a few minutes to see the effectiveness of his disguise. With each question he asked the locals, he found himself closer to the girl's muddy tracks. When the trail disappeared, it took only one tip to put him back on her trail.

The Yuuzhan Vong intendant opened his mouth to grumble when he saw the last trace of the local sun disappear, but he closed his mouth at the sight of his target. As the distance between the Yuuzhan Vong and the princess shortened, the man saw that the Hapan was fast asleep. Those Hapan traitors must have been more competent than they were given credit for and had at least given the apparent heir a hard time. It was a shame that the Queen Mother would not show the slightest sign of a crack under pressure many times as heavy.

The intendant carefully pushed his kouffee-like nails into the girl's muscles beneath her knee. He silently thanked Yun-Yuuzhan for fashioning such a useful sedative as the Hapan heir showed no sign of waking. If she slept through that, then this kid would not wake until she is near Yuuzhan'tar. He allowed his lips to twitch a slight smile as he pulled out his now-red fingernails.

He carefully scooped up his Hapan target. This child was as light as a feather compared to Yuuzhan Vong girls her age and her lack of warrior-like muscles left him momentarily confused. While the Queen Mother and the Solos all showed qualities of warriors, both Hapan royalty and the Solos showed qualities of intendants. After all, most Hapans royalty spent their whole lives running governments, Leia Organa Solo was always either diplomat or Supreme Overlord as far as he knew, the father of the Skywalkers and Solos was second only to the Emperor in some Empire that ruled over an entire galaxy… All this history's making me dizzy.

The thoughts terminated when the kidnapper saw an outline against some of the boras. He was not a warrior and could not carry that princess as he fought. Years of political training taught him to hide his emotions, but he allowed a bit of his relief show as he halted in front of his skip.

He had the Hapan princess sedated and he had enough blood on his fingers to prove that this girl was the blood of the most powerful Jeedai clan in her veins. All he had to do now was open one of the hatches.

The creature opened before the man had to recall any passwords. This was definitely a good night for him. The man stepped through the hatch and commanded the large skip to close it as soon as he was in.

The man laid the princess down in a chamber with most of a shaper's tools and gave the girl a piece of robeskin bio-engineered to eat dead clothing as it grew to cover the body. He would not profane anybody by allowing them to touch dead, infidel cloth and Yuuzhan Vong, especially the females, valued cover. He then left to speak with the only Yuuzhan Vong to have done long-term spying in the Consortium.

-scene change-

The unique Yuuzhan Vong Jedi halted before his former Master, Jacen Solo. He had sensed a skip through his powerful Vong-sense and it was his duty either to confirm that both Jabitha and the Jedi authorized the skip or to inform the other Jedi of discovery by warmistress Cha.

The young Jedi instinctively placed his fingers around his amphistaff as he heard the responses from both Jabitha and the High Council. If no skip had been authorized, then he had a duty to prevent information from reaching Shimrra, or worse, the cold-blooded Kodachi of domain Cha.

Before the warrior's impulse could carry him out of the chamber, one of the Jedi ordered the former member of domain Lah to wait. The Jedi Master had requested for the Yuuzhan Vong to call for backup if he should ever be overwhelmed.

After thanking the Council, the young warrior sank into the Vongsense had was born with and effortlessly darted in the direction of the skip. The skip's glow in the Vongsense was brighter than the light emitted by a burning strip of magnesium, especially in a planet that abounded in the life force that Jedi are sensitive to. He could see the sun setting, so he quickened his pace to allow himself time to walk when night falls. The last thing he needed was to smash into a bora or a person because he could not see and was not using the Force.

Around a standard hour after the darkness forced the Shamed One to walk, both his Vongsense and his eyes suggested the presence of a Yuuzhan Vong who did not regularly dwell on the planet.

The Jedi attempted to follow the slight presence he had sensed with his Vongsense, but the flicker he detected had disappeared within seconds. The sole choice left for the young man was to investigate the skip.

At least ten standard minutes passed before the young warrior found himself beside the skip. Every access was closed and the only way in was through cut holes. Because of the lack of lighting, the Yuuzhan Vong Jedi removed his lightsaber from its usual place beneath his robeskin and activated the glowing blade.

The Yuuzhan Vong wasted no time in locating a suitable area for the cut. As he brought his glowing blade of light about to complete the circular opening, gravity in the area shifted and the skip disappeared from both Vongsense and sight.

The young warrior easily located the creature that served to block his senses, but by the time he convinced it to nap, the skip was truly out of sight and his Vongsense told him that the skip was in hyperspace.

If I took an hour to disable that thing, then the other Jedi would take at least twice the time. The Yuuzhan Vong hoped that his Master had exaggerated each time he was told that his Vongsense was at least twice as strong as that of the next with the ability.

After he committed his experience with the new Vongsense and sight-blocking animal, the Jedi Knight used the Force-present pieces of himself to revert to his Force sense. He would report in full detail his findings to the Council. The recent events foretold of a sleepless night, but to the incarnation of a mysterious god, as Shamed Ones across the galaxy called him, sleepless hours was a mere part of everyday life.