Chapter Four

"Name."

Leia didn't find it insulting that he didn't look up when he referred to her. She was able to disregard his generally bored voice. She could probably forget that she couldn't see his face behind that awful stack of papers. Registration Paper-Pusher Number Three just irked Leia to no extent because of his complete inability to solve her problems.

"Look here. I just need to get my ID." I guess that's what I need. "I've gone to the guys upstairs and they told me to head to the guys down there. Those guys told me to go here. So give me my ID and I'll leave you alone."

"Name."

Leia felt like screaming. I'm an expert bureaucrat. I have been my entire life, trained to be such since before I actually understood what it meant.

And even I could learn a thing or two from these registration procedures.

"Name."

Like how to properly kill myself by banging my head against a wall.

"Stribur, Rimmas."

"Stribur is your first name?" A head wafted out of the stack of papers to peer at Leia.

"No. My last. My name is Rimmas Stribur."

"Then why did you tell me your name was Stribur Rimmas?"

If I had my blaster . . . "You misunderstood. My name is Rimmas Stribur."

"Which is it?"

"Rimmas Stribur."

"Your first name is Rimmas?"

For the love of - "Yes."

"And your last name is Stribur?"

She grounded her teeth together. "Yes. Rimmas Stribur."

"Okay, first name Rimmas, last name Stribur, what is your date of birth?"

Hey, looking up her Alliance file turned out to be a good thingafter all."Yem, tenth day."

"Yem, tenth day. What year?"

"3024."

"So your date of birth is Yem, tenth day, year 3024?"

You've got to be kidding me! "Yes."

"You are an incoming new student?"

"Well, this is new student registration, right?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Sarcasm is not necessary, Ms., ah – "

"Rimmas Stribur!"

"Right. Ms. Stribur. Are you an incoming new student?"

Until I get incarcerated for murder . . . "Yes."

"Alright. Please continue on to your right to the next table."

"What?! What exactly do you do here?"

"I process."

"All I need is my ID."

"And you will receive it at the table to your right. Name." He called to the young, pecked face of the boy behind her.

Leia followed a ridiculous set of red arrows on her right to a table identical to the one she had just left. A young man who sat behind a stack of papers that obscured her view of his face seemed to be the authority.

"Name."

"What the hell is the matter with you people? All I want is my stupid ID!"

"Name."

She sighed. "Rimmas Stribur."

"Rimmas is your last name?"

Grasping the ID that had taken her three hours to obtain, Leia processed completely and was currently standing in a group of nearly thirty new, bubbling, and bubbly, students. She glanced around, attempting to find her pursuit in the myriad assortment of students, children and parents teeming around the registration building.

"Hey'a. What'cha name?"

Leia turned around to find a blonde girl gazing at her face from a few feet away.

"Uh, Rimmas. Rimmas Stribur."

She smacked something inside her mouth noisily. "Huh. Hey, Stri. Name's Nigaeh Ttem. Plez'ta meet'cha."

Leia nodded. "Likewise."

Nigaeh looked her up and down. "Hey, Sweetheart, don' need t' act all smart yet. No professa's 'round."

'Likewise' is considered smart? "Uh, yeah. Sorry." Let's dumb down the intellect a few thousand points, huh, Organa? "Uh, where are you from?"

"I, uh, I'm'a from Kuurbdneb. Where's you?"

"Uh, here. I'm from here."

"Yeah? 'sboring, if'a ya ask me." She nodded toward the other groups. "All of 'em. Goin' ta be all excited for stuff ta happen, ya know."

Leia continued her perusal of the groups. She answered distractedly. "Uh, yeah. Sure." She didn't see the man that had been following her, but she didn't feel comfortable leaving yet, either. I have to figure out a way to contact the corporation heads.

" – don't'cha think?"

Leia shook her head and tried to remember what the annoying girl next to her had been saying. "Um, no."

"No?" Nigaeh looked puzzled. "Then why?"

Great. "Uh, because of my family." I hope she just shuts up.

"Ya family? Ya don't wanna eat 'cause 'a ya family?"

Actually . . . "Yeah. Um. I don't eat on this day 'cause of them."

"Oh." She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

Stop, stop, STOP! "I don't want to talk about it." Leia turned her back to the blonde and hoped that the tours would stop and the mission begin.

"So, here's where ya're gonna live, Rimsie." Rimsie? "It's called Ycem. All girl." The leader nudged Leia with her elbow. "Though, with ya face, I doubt ya room gonna stay all girl fa long, eh?"

I have no idea what you just said, and I have the impression that I'm supposed to. "Uh, yeah."

"S'right, girl." She chuckled to herself. "Next ta it, and attach'd through a tunnel unda-ground, is Nuttas," another elbow to the ribs, "all guy. And next ta that is Nusbuh, also all girl. Ya're in room 1203, twelfth floor. Good thing ya ain't got much stuff, eh?" She looked down at Leia's one travel pack and then back to her datapad. "Oh, I get it. Ya sent ya stuff ahead, eh?"

I swear, you get that elbow anywhere near me again and it's coming off. "Yeah."

"'kay. Have a good year, eh?" And without any direction or help at all, the leader left. Leia sighed, desperately hoping she didn't have to stay here long, and began the climb up twelve stories of stairs.

La, dee, da, dee, da.

KR