OOO
Chapter Five.
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The cold siding of the shipping container bled a chill through Barriss' sleeve as she pressed her shoulder against the stack of crates in the Temple hangar, the patter of footsteps and the whirring of power-wrenches filling the passing seconds as she waited for an opening.
At the mouth of the hangar, Masters Kenobi and Windu stood with a handcuffed Aiden between them, silhouetted against the Coruscant skyline.
Aiden was being handed over to SBI custody today, which meant this was the last opportunity she would have to hear the uncensored story from his own mouth.
A story currently blocked by the form of a particular Korun Jedi master.
A slight glare snuck past her discipline and launched itself at the back of Mace's head. He made it abundantly clear in the detention center what he thought of her. As long as he was present, she wouldn't be speaking with Aiden.
A prison transport shuttle touched down on the landing platform, a technician running out to meet it.
Mace said something to Obi-Wan, and placed his hand on the other master's shoulder before turning and walking back toward the Temple entrance.
Barriss pressed herself harder against the containers as he passed, and a single flap of a butterfly wing tickled her stomach. Now or never.
She waited until he disappeared through the main doors, and then swept out from behind the containers and across the hangar, dodging workers and service droids. "Master Kenobi!"
Obi-Wan paused in his stride, bringing Aiden to a halt with him as she reached them. "Yes, Barriss?" He looked at her oddly. "Is something the matter?"
"I'd like to accompany Aiden to the detention facility, if it's alright, Master."
If possible, his look became even more odd. "Whatever for, Barriss?"
She glanced at Aiden. "While I'm sure there's a logical explanation for all of this, if what he says is true, his life could be in great danger. And with Master Unduli gone for the moment, I feel I would serve the Jedi better as a deterring presence during his transit, rather than twiddling my thumbs, waiting for my master to return."
It was true enough. Still, Master Kenobi didn't need to know her every motive.
"I suppose there would be no harm in it." He stroked his beard. "You can go if you wish, although I doubt anything will happen."
"Thank you, Master." She bowed, and took Aiden by the arm before he could change his mind.
He raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't say anything.
She ushered him up the loading ramp, and the technician by the primary thruster lowered his head, the brim of his hat hiding his face.
She secured Aiden into one of the seats not claimed by a guard trooper, and informed the pilots they were ready for takeoff before settling herself into the seat across from Aiden as the shuttle jolted, and the whine of the engines rose as they lifted away from the platform.
She studied him in the yellow lighting of the cabin as the minutes passed, until he noticed her watching him and stared right back at her.
"Somethin' to say?"
"Are you working for Dooku?" she said, finally.
"No."
No deception from him. The whisper in her belly swirled. "Tell me what happened."
He returned to staring at the floor. "It doesn't matter anymore."
"What do you mean?"
A sigh. "Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I was dead the minute they put these on me." He raised his cuffs.
She shook her head. "The Republic won't execute you. I promise you that."
His lip quirked. "I believe you."
She frowned.
In the forward cockpit, the pilot leaned over the readouts in the flight-panel, and tapped the display. "Are you getting weird readings in the power-flow on your end?" he asked the co-pilot.
"Yeah, it's been dropping since takeoff, but I don't see—"
The screech of a warning alarm tore through the shuttle. A burst of emergency light plunged the cabin into a blood-red glow.
Barriss flinched and looked toward the cockpit. "What's happening?"
"We've lost power to the engines," the pilot called, hands flying over the controls.
Aiden's brow lifted. "Bastard works quick."
She looked at him.
And then a shudder rocked the fuselage. The hull pitched forward. Unfastened troopers flew out of their seats and smashed into metal walls. The weak emergency engines screamed as the ship rattled so violently she thought it would break apart.
"We're going down! Brace for impact!"
The shuttle wouldn't survive impact at this velocity.
Her blood chilled, and she ripped off her safety harness and yanked her saber from her belt. "Look for any gaps in the spires! Any clear stretches with weak structures that will slow your speed without stopping it outright!"
It was all she could think of to give them a chance.
She ignited her saber in a burst of azure and plunged the blade into the hull, the metal bubbling a molten gold as she urged a jagged doorway into the steel.
"You can't be serious," Aiden yelled over the blaring of the alarm, and the whine of the engine.
She withdrew her saber, and slammed her boot into the center of the outline. Metal screeched and tore away. A howl of wind surged into the ship, swirling her robes around her like a vortex of living fabric. "I am serious. And you're coming with me."
His pupils dilated in widened eyes as she grabbed him. "What! What in the blazes are you—"
She pulled him from his harness, clutched him tight against her, and then launched herself through the breach.
He yelled. The transport burned a smoking trail behind them. Below, one of the kilometer-wide shafts dotting the surface of Coruscant like hungry mouths gaped larger and larger as if to swallow them.
"Hold on tight!" she said.
"I'm wearing handcuffs!"
They fell through the mouth, plunging into murky darkness. Levels zipped by faster than she could track. Neon signs blurred into continuous lines of shifting color as airspeeders and transports missed them by inches.
"Watch the traffic!"
The north wall of the shaft broke into a smooth surface, and she ignited her saber and drove the azure blade deep, carving a golden trail as they fell ever deeper into the belly of Coruscant.
Ozone singed and her shoulder screamed as duracrete scraped her side until the levels began passing slower, and she grit her teeth and waited until she could read the passing signs before planting her feet against the wall and launching them toward the closest warehouse stretching up from a protruding platform, Aiden shouting once more.
Her saber winked out and she enveloped him, spinning them around in mid-air.
Her back smashed through the glass ceiling of the warehouse. Metal support beams grazed the hem of her robes. Wooden boxes shattered and splintered as she slowed the fall as much as she could with his weight.
They hit the ground.
Dust flew up like a cough, curving in on itself and engulfing them in an amber cloud. Shards of glass rained down like daggers, splashing to pieces around them. Neither moved.
She blinked at the dust burning her eyes, and swallowed against the grit roughing her throat as it burned her lungs.
"I think you can let go, now," he gasped.
She looked down at him still pressed against her chest, and then averted her eyes as she unwrapped herself from him.
He rolled off of her, pushing himself to his knees with shaky arms. "Son of a…"
She ignored a stab of pain in her back and sat up. "Are you okay?"
He coughed, nodding. "I'm not the one who just took a building to the back."
"I am alright," she said, looking up as hazy light glinted through the jagged angles stabbing the amber above. The whisper inside her rolled over on itself, and spread through her like a breath. And her thoughts and feelings doubled for a brief moment like blurred vision.
She blinked hard against the dust, and shook her head. "We need to contact the Jedi, and they'll send—"
"The Jedi?" He looked at her. "Are you crazy?"
She stared back at him, and she didn't need to be a Jedi to feel the disbelief radiating off of him strong enough to echo within her.
"If you call them, Palpatine just gets another chance to finish the job."
Now she looked at him like he was crazy. "You believe the Chancellor was behind this?"
"What else do you think just happened?" he demanded.
"You heard the pilots, the engines malfunctioned."
"On the ship that just happens to be carrying his accuser?" He scoffed. "I thought Jedi didn't believe in coincidences."
She searched for a retort, but found none.
"Look." He rose to his feet. "If you take me back to the Jedi, I'm as good as dead. I'm not going back."
She gazed up at him, and the wail of distant sirens floated. A Jedi's duty is to uncover the truth.
She pushed herself up, and he widened his stance, preparing to run or fight.
Leave it alone, Padawan. It's not your place.
She came to a decision.
She waved her hand, and the cuffs fell from his wrists, clanking to the floor amid shattered glass.
He looked at her.
"Come with me," she said. "We're going to find out how honest you are."
OOO
Palpatine sat at his desk, skimming over reports as a holonet broadcast played in the background.
"The WeatherNet is considering an unseasonal rain to counter the effects…And now, breaking news. It's being reported there has been a crash near 500 Republica. A shuttle departing from the Jedi Temple has apparently lost control, crashing into the Vandar Memorial Walkway twenty minutes ago.
"No word yet on who was aboard, but there appears to be no survivors. Keep watching for more details as the story develops."
The door hissed open. "You sent for me, Your Excellency?" Admiral Tarkin entered, coming to stand in front of the desk.
Palpatine switched off the broadcast, and leaned back in his seat.
"I have a task for you."
OOO
Aiden walked beside Barriss through the dingy corridors of Sunset Heights.
The lights running along the ceiling flickered. Half the doors passing by were missing numbers. Muffled arguments spilled out from behind a few of them.
He wrinkled his nose. "Why are we here?"
"We're visiting a friend of yours."
"I don't have any friends. Much less any that live here."
She stopped at a door that once displayed a 482, but now only bore the faded outline of where the numbers used to be. The access panel on the door frame showed it was unlocked.
She pressed the call button on the panel, and waited.
Nothing happened.
She pressed it again. No response.
"Maybe they're not home?" he said.
She narrowed her eyes. "With the door unlocked?"
She looked from one end of the hallway to the other, and hit the panel again, the door sliding open.
A horrendous stench billowed out of the apartment, and Aiden gagged, the stench burning his throat with a sickly-sweet tang that twisted his stomach. What kind of cesspit is this place?
Barriss wrapped her fingers around the saber on her belt, and crept through the door.
He held his breath and followed.
The only light in the place was a faint glow seeping from the living room ahead.
"Dak Landon?" she called.
Silence.
The hair on the back of his neck raised. "This is starting to get really creepy, Barriss. Can we get out of here, please?"
She moved ahead of him into the room and then froze, covering her mouth with her hand.
"What?" He rushed to her side.
In the far corner, a man lie crumpled against a desk, two charred holes burned into his torso.
An unlocked data pad hung in his hand, bleeding an eerie glow that threw warped shadows across the walls.
Adrenaline prickled Aiden's veins, and he looked between her and the body. "Barriss, what's going on? Who is this?"
"This is... was Dak Landon."
He shook his head. "I don't know anyone named Dak Landon."
She looked at him. "Holoslug."
Holoslug. The three signatures in the Senate directory. He was one of the slicers who beat him into the system.
"Palpatine," he said.
She nodded. "I believe you."
"Then can we please get out of here before someone sees us?"
Voices and hurried footsteps echoed down the hall outside. "They said the shots came from this way."
He smacked his forehead. "You have got to be kidding me."
She grabbed his arm and dragged him out the door. "Quickly!"
They raced down the corridor, away from the voices. Barriss reached the end of the hall first, and shot around the corner before the patrol troopers appeared at the other end.
He wasn't so lucky.
"You there! Stop!"
The prickle of adrenaline surged into a roaring fire, and he dove around the corner as their footsteps pounded down the hall behind him. Thanks a lot, Barriss!
She stood impatiently by an emergency exit ahead. "This way." She waved him over.
He increased his pace as she disappeared through the door, and the voices behind echoed closer. Blast. He charged through the door into a dark alley, looking frantically through the shadows for where she went. "Barri—"
A green hand clamped around his mouth from behind, and yanked him back into a shadowed corner.
"Mmph!"
Warm lips brushed his ear. "Sh."
Two troopers spilled into the alley, one going left, the other right—directly toward them.
His eyes widened, and he fidgeted in her grasp. "Mmph!"
She squeezed him hard. "Quiet," she hissed.
The trooper stalked toward them, his flashlight sweeping across every nook and cranny, piercing the shadows that draped over the alley. He stopped in front of them, and the beam struck them like a spotlight.
Featureless lenses stared, and Aiden's gut clenched.
A whisper behind his ear. "No sign of him."
The trooper stood a moment longer. And then abruptly turned around, walking back to his partner and clicking off the light. "No sign of him. Must have got away."
The pair walked back into the apartment complex, leaving Aiden and Barriss alone in the alley.
His brow furrowed. "Mmph?"
She withdrew her hand.
"What... What was that?"
"It's not safe for you to be out here." She gently grasped his arm. "Come."
She gave his arm a tug, and he mutely followed as she led him out of the alley and away from the apartments.
What was happening to him? How did his life turn into this? A week ago, he was thinking about which new mod to install in his data pad next. Now, he was getting shot, jumping out of burning shuttles, and running around the underworld with a Jedi who could apparently turn invisible or something.
Oh, and trying not to get offed by the leader of the free galaxy, too.
After what seemed like hours of being dragged through alleys and sidestreets, a rundown motel in the seedier side of Uscru district broke the fog. The sign above the door flashed 'vacancy' in pink letters. A few twi'leks loitered under a streetlight, eyeing them as they passed.
Barriss pulled him inside, staring straight ahead while discreetly pulling her cloak over the hilt of her saber.
A nikto behind the desk looked up as they approached, glancing between them with what Aiden assumed was a strange expression. It was hard to tell.
"We'd like a room, please," Barriss said.
"By the night, or by the hour?"
Her voice could have frozen over Mustafar. "By the night."
"Fifteen credits per." he said.
She placed a credit chip on the counter. Aiden didn't see how much it was, but the nikto's eyes widened.
The chip disappeared into the folds of his clothes, and he handed her a keycard. "Room twelve."
Without a word, she grabbed the card and pulled Aiden down the hall. A chuckle followed behind them, and her grip on his arm tightened until he winced. Definitely gonna be a bruise there.
She pushed the keycard into the slot on the doorframe, and gears grinded. Panels in the walls and floor of the room were missing, exposing wires and pipes rusting within. A constant electric hum that seemed to come from nowhere filled the space.
Fifteen credits didn't get you much, apparently.
The door shut with another scraping groan, and she walked further into the room. "You're going to tell me everything that happened. Starting at the beginning."
"It's a long story," he said as she faced him. "Won't your master be looking for you? You did just leave a mile-long slice through Coruscant's infrastructure."
She folded her hands behind her back. "My master is away, and I'm currently tracking you through the lower levels after you escaped my grasp. I've got all night."
"You're a little scary, you know that?"
She smiled faintly. "I try."
He blew out a breath, and rubbed the back of his neck. "What do you want to know?"
She stepped over a missing floor panel to the couch. "Tell me what you saw in the Chancellor's office."
He described everything he told the Jedi, occasionally going into greater detail when she would ask about something—she seemed oddly interested in the glass-encased items stored in the niche.
"...They found me in the alley, and... well, you know what happened from there."
She paced in front of the couch. "And you told all this to Master Windu?"
"Of course."
"What did he say?"
Aiden huffed. "Nothing. He just walked out, and then a couple hours later, him and that Kenobi guy pulled me out of the room and threw me in a cell."
Her brow furrowed, and she gazed deep into his eyes, the same way the other Jedi he met did. It seemed to be one of their favorite things to do.
Finally, she spoke. "You're not lying. If I know that, they certainly would have, as well. Why would they then turn you over to the Chancellor without investigating? It doesn't make any sense."
"Maybe they're in for a piece, too?"
"No." Her hand cut the air sharply. "The Jedi would never betray the Republic."
"Not all of them," he said. "Maybe just some of them. I mean, I never actually got to speak with the Council, just that Windu jerk. What if he didn't tell them?"
"It's not possible," she said.
He shrugged. "If you can think of another explanation..."
Her eyes became distant, lines creasing her forehead.
Maybe she thought the Jedi were paragons of virtue who could do no wrong, but life in the underbelly of Coruscant cures a person of the idea that a kitchen can be completely free of rats.
She blinked, and looked at him.
A familiar sense of unease sprung in his gut. Yet something else whispered with it. "What?"
The conflict in her eyes melted away, and steely determination glowed behind her gaze. "You're going to help me expose the Chancellor."
"Huh-uh." He shook his head. "No way."
She narrowed her eyes. "I thought you wanted to expose him."
"I wanted to save my neck. Results have shown going after the bastard is not conducive to that."
"So you're just going to hide and hope he doesn't find you?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm going to do."
She took a step toward him. "I saved your life."
"You did." He nodded. "You also said I didn't owe you anything. Something about duty?"
"That was when I thought you were an innocent victim," she said. "And I've saved you twice more since then."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I only remember being blown out of the sky once."
"And then there were the troopers at Sunset Heights."
"That was your fault," he said. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have even been there."
"Right." She inclined her head. "Because you would have been lying dead in a pile of shuttle debris."
He made a sound in his throat.
"I'm going to pursue the Chancellor with, or without you," she said. "But your particular skills would be invaluable to me in uncovering the truth." She looked at him evenly. "Will you aid me, or not?"
He tapped a finger against his thigh.
When it came right down to it, he was still in the same spot he was that first night. Everyone would be hunting him. Nowhere would be safe. Even if he could stay under the radar in the lower levels, he'd still be looking over his shoulder the rest of his life. He'd still be crawling back to that bastard and his neon hell.
And the only way he could stay out of that cesspit was staring at him with a violet gaze.
Blast it. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, and finally met her eyes.
"What do you want me to do?"
END CHAPTER