Chapter 5
Bureaucracy.
The foulest swear word that had even been invented.
It was a miracle that Leia could navigate it every day without losing it. When I'd first met her, I would have pegged her for loving all the red tape and hot air. But now, I knew it was mostly an exercise in endurance. The price of being born a princess, or being adopted one anyway.
I watched her head bob in a perpetual nod, her jaw clenched in mock pleasantness. The fat bureaucrat at the other end of the table sure must have loved to hear himself complain. Because that was all he was doing…
Somewhere along the line, probably because of Luke's infinite grace, the idea had come about that a Jedi's place was mediating political disputes. Even if we didn't say anything, our presence was supposed to ensure that justice or whatever was done. I thought it was a little redundant given Leia was a Jedi herself, but her fellow politicians didn't seem to see her as anything but the princess and leader she'd always been. A long time ago I'd learned the hard way what would happen if I actually tried to add to these little meetings. Han said I'd almost single-handedly started a war. He also said he was impressed…
Nowadays, I just nodded along with Leia, a dazed look on my face.
The politician folded his tentacle-like arms on the table, apparently resting his argument at long last. I resisted the urge to break out in song…
"Your concerns," Leia said, desperately clinging to her politeness. "All of them are noted and very important to the New Republic. I assure you we take these kinds of matters very seriously."
The bureaucrat nodded, his frail emotions apparently being soothed. Then he looked at me, apparently hoping the wise Jedi in the room would be as equally concerned with his trivial whining.
I shrugged. "Yeah, what she said."
Not the answer Luke Skywalker would have given, but it was all this fat character deserved. He looked less than satisfied with my reply, but Leia swiftly ushered him out before he could start another round of complaints.
Now just the two of us, she collapsed into a chair, a loud huff of frustration escaping her lips. "Some days, I honestly hate this job…"
"You should quit, or run away, or both," I offered, not entirely joking.
She grinned at me, obviously the more responsible woman. "I almost wish I could… But someone has to keep this little dream of ours running. Even if…" she admitted playfully. "Some days it seems more like a nightmare."
I stood, stretching my cramped limbs. "Well, it's lunch, so let's get out of here before another middle-aged politician wants us to pick a splinter out of their finger."
Leia chuckled before frowning slightly. "I wish I could go, but I'm behind on a few reports and…"
She hesitated, her eyes flickering toward me mischievously. "But I might be persuaded to postpone them if the argument was strong enough..."
I smirked, enjoying the side of my sister-in-law not everyone got a chance to see.
"How about this…? We can call it an official business lunch, maybe even get paid for it?"
She stood quickly, not needing much persuasion. "Let's get the heck out of here…!" she whispered urgently.
Our flee from responsibility landed us in a mid-casual cafe a few blocks from the palace. Leia ordered a black caf and clung to it like a lifeline. It wasn't hard to see the lines of fatigue beneath her eyes, but then you could see the same on mine. We both were two tired, mildly haggard women, relishing a half-hour escape.
I watched her sip the caf, a little envious of the sweet sweet caffeine my decaf was lacking. But admittedly, she seemed to need it even more than I did. Three kids and dozens of politicians to babysit... I had to feel for her.
Finally, the caf bringing her back to life, she glanced across the table at me. "So, when is Luke supposed to be back from Yavin?"
I shrugged. "A week or maybe two. I told him he has his hands full as it is, but he always likes to give the new students a little one on one time." I traced my finger around the rim of my mug. "One thing is for sure, Luke Skywalker isn't one to forget the little people once he's on top."
"That's Luke, alright…" Her eyes crinkled with obvious affection. I knew they were technically twins, but their relationship made Luke out to be the little brother. Leia was always the one to worry about and dote on him. It fit, honestly, he was too innocent and pure to seem the older one in anything. The thought made me smile a little, but I wasn't going to gush too much in front of her.
"It must be a little hard," she mused sympathetically. "Him disappearing to Yavin so often?"
I shrugged again. "We've always traveled in our own circles, as long as they overlap occasionally, I don't mind." It wasn't like the bond Luke and I shared, but a Jedi was still a Jedi. Leia looked at me with an incredulous gaze, reading my feelings.
"Okay…" I gave in. "I do wish it wasn't so often. I mean, he always tries to get me to go with him. I know I should... I even said I would eventually, but I still don't feel all that cut out to be the teaching sort..."
"You make a fine teacher," she said matter of factly. "But not every Jedi has the same goals, I understand that."
She hadn't taken an exactly traditional path in her own training, so I thought she might get it. Either way, she didn't press it, and I appreciated that. One of Luke's biggest strengths and weaknesses was his insistence on guiding everyone to their true potential. For better or worse, Leia seemed a little too tired to try.
"This time he didn't bother asking though…" I admitted a little reluctantly. "I think he figured with…well the baby and all, that I didn't need any extra pressure. Honestly, I think Luke wants to sit me on a display shelf until this whole thing is over."
She smiled sweetly at me. "He should realize you can find your own trouble with or without following him around."
I smirked proudly. "That I can, and I just might. A week or two is a long time, after all."
I felt a little guilty, here I'd accused poor Jacen of having too much smuggler in his blood, but I was starting to feel restless myself.
"You and Luke must compare notes," I mumbled teasingly. "The woes of marrying riff-raff from the edge of the galaxy?"
She scoffed. "I tell him he has a better side of it than I do."
Han was such an admittedly sweet family guy now, it was hard to imagine him as anything else. But then, I guess I wasn't the trained Hand I used to be either…
"I suppose," I went on. "Time really does mellow you…"
She took another sip of her caf. "Time and three kids. But mostly…" She looked at me, a bit knowingly. "I think the rambling types are really just looking for a good enough reason to stay."
And when they finally found it…
No force in the universe could move them.
I got it. I was living proof.
"Luke is very lucky," she admitted. "And so am I for that matter."
"I thought there was no such thing as luck?" I whispered with a smirk.
It was an expression she mirrored, a certain clear understanding passing between us.
We sat there for at least twenty minutes more, lost in small talk and too sleepy to care if it was mostly pointless discussion. We were close to leaving when somebody across the cafe suddenly caught my attention.
A human guy, probably a few years younger than I was. He slipped out of the restaurant, leaving a sticky trail of deceptive emotions behind him. But a shady character alone wasn't enough to get my attention, no it was the tattoo on his neck. An insignia that ignited a burst of curiosity.
"Echo Drivers…" I whispered. My indifference toward Karrde's trinket had morphed into a vendetta to prove to Luke that I hadn't lost it yet. Mom or not, I still had it. The motive was utterly ridiculous, but most emotions were.
"What?" Leia asked, glancing behind.
"Just a little unfinished business Luke and I have on Tatooine…"
Except we weren't on Tatooine, which meant the little homebrew gang had apparently expanded its operations.
"Come on, I'll explain on the way."
Luke would have said it was reckless, and he would have given me that 'I'm not mad, just disappointed' look. But Luke wasn't here so…
Leia and I tailed the guy, using a little force assist to not lose him in the Coruscant crowd. I could feel that Leia had her own doubts about my forward approach, but she'd rather help me than try to convince me I was running off half-cocked.
Admittedly, I wasn't the easiest person to dissuade when I set my mind to something.
I knew there was a chance a member of the Echo Drivers was just away from home for any number of reasons, but my gut told me it was related to our rock somehow. When we followed him to a shady cargo shed, I felt all but vindicated.
He glanced around carefully before tapping in a code on the number pad. Slipping inside, he disappeared out of sight. Going down the alley next to the shed we ducked behind a stack of crates. I could sense only one person inside, but what else was in there? I wanted to know, and I didn't feel all that threatened with the odds of two Jedi against one random gang member. Five minutes went by in tense silence before the door to the shed slid open again. Out walked our suspect.
We waited for him to disappear out of sight before leaving the shelter of the crates. "How do you plan to get in?" Leia asked, reading my intentions.
"The code of course," I said with a self-satisfied grin.
"You noticed it when he entered it the first time?" she asked, seeming at least a little impressed.
"Of course I did," I mumbled to myself as if it were the obvious answer.
Tapping in the code the door slid open to reveal a dark cargo hold. Gray crates and containers were lining the walls straight up to the ceiling. The room was a little cramped, but the computer terminal drew my attention like a beacon. Pull some data and get some answers, simple.
Except, nothing ever is.
I started my assault on the mainframe innocently enough. But the data was unfortunately encrypted. Not that that had ever stopped me before.
"Give me a sec, Leia…" I whispered as I got to work.
"Take your time," she whispered sarcastically while keeping a wary eye on the shadows around us.
I chewed my lip nervously as the seconds ran past. But before long, I was grinning from ear to ear. "What is this, baby's first encryption? Pathetic."
But my celebratory gloating was a little overshadowed by the alarm sirens suddenly going off in both our Jedi minds. Two crates suddenly shook, as if some alien creature were pushing to escape its egg. But the only thing the crates gave birth to were two droids. And these looked a lot more impressive than the ones Luke and I had faced on Tatooine. They were anything but scraped-together junk.
"Look alive!" I shouted to Leia as we both ignited our sabers. The colored glow lit up the dim room brilliantly, but the last thing I felt like was mood lighting. The blasters in the droids' hands weren't a make I recognized either, and I didn't like that at all. I hated not knowing what to expect… And none of it made sense, I knew just about every droid model in the galaxy. Why were these making me come up blank?
The barrage of bolts came quicker than I'd expected, none of the predictable pacing the other droids had had. We managed to hold our own against them, but I felt the sweat breaking out on my forehead.
Did I still have it? Or was I too old and fat..?
It was a question I wanted to answer immediately, so I leaped forward and sliced through the droid harassing me. Leia took a bit more elegant approach and force pushed it before delivering the killing blow.
I was about to relax, but the alarm in my head wouldn't let me. I didn't get it at first, but the explanation came soon enough. Four more crates started to shake.
This was going to be a lengthy process, wasn't it…?
Before either of us could attack, the door exploded with a small detonator. Not enough to harm us, just a really overkill way of knocking.
Apparently, the three Noghri warriors outside didn't feel like guessing the code.
They leaped toward the attacking droids with a ferocity that I still found a little scary. But even with the back up, the battle lasted another twenty minutes, as crate after crate burst to life. Finally, when the last droid had fallen, the danger sense in my head calmed down.
Huffing to catch my breath, Leia looked at me in concern. "Are you alright, Mara?"
"Yeah…fine," I mumbled, straightening and ignoring the way my legs felt weaker than normal. But then, everything was different from normal these days…
"Are you unharmed, Lady Vader?" The warriors asked in real concern.
She smiled at them. "Just fine, thank you so much for the back up."
They bowed their sense of debit to her seeming to stop them from accepting the simple thanks.
Eyeing the last of the crates, I wondered what was in them. If not killer droids then what? At this point, even the patience I thought I had was gone. Igniting my lightsaber again, I cut a crate open with all the subtlety of a rampaging bantha.
From the glow of the blade, I could see strange-looking, clearly alien, objects. I wasn't an expert, but something told me they were artifacts, if not outright treasures from different worlds. I thought back to the trouble that one found bit of data had caused the galaxy years ago. A part of me wondered if these relics would be better off collecting dust. But then again…
I glanced back at Leia.
"Do you have a bad feeling about this too?"
She sighed. "Mara, at this point, that's just a way of life…"
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