Sometimes Tenel Ka needed a reminder that, despite all she'd lost recently through deaths and departures, she was not totally alone on Hapes. She was glad, then, when her cousins Trista and Taryn Zel returned to the Fountain Palace.
The twins had become her most trusted agents since becoming queen, and after helping Ben Skywalker capture Tahiri Veila during the attack on Uroro Station, she'd sent them outside the Consortium to help Jagged Fel investigate responsibility for the attack on Dragon Queen. Any official cooperation, let alone conversation, between her Consortium and the Imperial Remnant was currently unthinkable, but through the Zel sisters she'd managed all the information exchange she'd needed.
"Head of State Fel is on his way to Selonia now," Trista explained as the three red-haired women walked through the same sound-dampened garden in which Tenel Ka had previously talked with Master Skywalker.
"So are Daala and Phennir. I've heard the Verpines and even the Mandalorians will be sending delegates," Taryn continued. "The conference is set to last one standard week. Now that the cease-fire has been stabilized, it seems like all parties are willing to sit down and begin hacking out a long-term agreement."
"So all those systems will be re-integrated into one union?" asked Tenel Ka,
Taryn shrugged. "It's still a little too soon for that. You can't clean up easily after a big messy war."
That was true in all kinds of ways. On Tenel Ka's own order, the Hapans were sitting out these peace talks in protest of the Imperial Remnant's presence. It was clear Hapes would have to take part in a final settlement, but right now the nobles wouldn't counten-ance anything that looked like a tacit approval of Imperial policies. Frankly, Tenel Ka didn't blame them.
She asked, "What about the attack on Dragon Queen? What else do you know?"
"After analyzing comm logs with Fel, it mostly verified our initial assumptions," said Trista. "Ducha Requud and her military wing weren't active in the nanovirus plot, but once they saw Dragon Queen was under attack, they immediately tried to capitalize on the situation."
As usual, Taryn easily picked up where her sister left off, but with a more breezy and casual tone. "That's why there was that big burst of comm transmissions between her Deserving Gem and the Imperial fleet. She was trying to make last-ditch negotiations to secure Imperial support for her rule."
"Needless to say, she was unsuccessful," Trista deadpanned.
The sisters had meted out swift justice to the traitors without Tenel Ka even having to give the order. At first it had disturbed her how easily her cousins could pass down lethal judgment, but as the years went by she'd grown to rely on it. It was one of many ways her rule had made her feel separated from her Jedi training.
"Is there any sign that other nobles were in contact with the Imperials?"
"Fel gave us access to all comm logs from his ships during the battle, and there was nothing," Trista said. "However, we can't rule out that some logs were tampered with, or that transmissions took place before the battle between different ships."
Tenel Ka restrained a sigh. Uncertainty often seemed the only certainty in Hapan politics; that, and the fact that someone somewhere was running some scheme against you.
"And what about the Yuuzhan Vong bioweapon?" Tenel Ka asked. "Master Skywalker already told me the basics. He said there might be a weapon that the Remnant was researching, but there was no clue as to where."
"We may have uncovered a small clue," Trista said. "According to comm logs, there was a heavy comm exchange between Anakin Solo and the star destroyer Gold Fortress after the battle at Roche and before they moved on Shedu Maad. After that, a shuttle departed Gold Fortress without giving its flight clearance. Then it jumped to hyperspace on a vector that would have taken them deeper into Hapan space, although we can't be sure of any destination."
"That Jag Fel was very helpful," Taryn added. "Shame he's taken."
Trista rolled her eyes. "You have such a short attention span. What happened to that black-haired Jedi were were on about?"
Taryn glanced at Tenel Ka. "What did happen to him? I heard he went MIA during the battle. Did you find him?"
Tenel Ka shook her head. "We searched the Mists for weeks. We didn't find his ship or his body."
Taryn looked genuinely saddened; a rare sight. Then she shook it off like she usually did, saying, "Anyway, Your Majesty, Fel said he was trying to track where that shuttle went and why but said it's been very difficult so far. However when he does find out, he'll let us know."
"I suppose that will have to do," Tenel Ka said. She'd hoped for something better, because she knew she'd never rest easy until she knew Caedus' last threat had been taken care of.
"We'll still keep looking ourselves," Taryn said. "We've put out the call to a few of our, ah, private contractors. If any of them find things, they'll let us know."
By private contractors Taryn essentially meant mercenaries. The Consortium itself had been founded by pirates, centuries back, and the use of privateers to do Hapan business was a longstanding tradition, but Tenel Ka had never liked relying on beings who were loyal to credits above anything else.
Still, for the moment, it would have to do.
"What would you have us do now, Your Majesty?" asked Trista.
Tenel Ka thought for a moment. "We should begin vetting the nobles to see if anyone else might have been in contact with the Remnant. You may have to obtain comm logs to see if any transmissions were made recently."
That was no easy task; each Ducha had a large degree of autonomy over her world, and they wouldn't take kindly to outsiders poking around their business- even if those outsiders were other Hapans.
But the Zel sisters, thankfully, knew their way around such obstacles. Taryn, cheerily, said, "That shouldn't be a problem, Your Majesty. Anything else?"
"Not for Trista. I have something else, however, for you."
Taryn bowed her head and waited.
"I've recently been told of a scientist my grand-mother used to employ named Sinsor Khal. Apparently he had a laboratory on Gallinore during the Yuuzhan Vong War where he used to experiment with their technology."
"Do we know where he is now?" asked Taryn.
She shook her head. "We don't even know if he's alive. But if he is, he might well be involved in the Imperials in their bioweapon project. Even if he's not, I'd like to know for sure."
"Of course, Your Majesty. I'll look into it. Is there anything else?"
It was, Tenel Ka decided, good to have some family left. "No," she said, "I think that should keep you both quite busy for now."