The Ducha's palace lay in the heard of Gallinore City, and while it lacked the scale of the Fountain Palace on Hapes, it definitely tried to compete in terms of grandeur. The ceiling of the vestibule hovered a good ten meters over Taryn Zel's head and glittered with the colors of Gallinore's famous rainbow gems. Elegant bas-relief carvings depicting tales from the annals of Hapan history adorned the green-stone walls while the floor itself was covered with tapestries of gold and silver silk, wound in patterns so detailed you could spend the whole day examining them.
It was a good enough place to wait for half a standard hour.
When Ducha Markessa finally appeared, she came with a half-dozen female guards, an equal number of handsome male retainers, and no apologies.
"Thank you for coming to Gallinore, Mistress," the Ducha said with a smile, though she didn't bow her head or give any sign of deference. This was, in fairness, the customary way to treat members of the Lorellian Court, as the old noblewoman surely knew. Still, to Taryn it seemed to smack faintly of insolence.
One of Markessa's retainers offered to take Taryn's cloak, and while the man was certainly winsome she politely refused. "Please, Ducha, I would like to speak privately. I assure you this will not take long."
"Very well. We'll retreat to the western reading room." Markessa snapped her fingers. "Leave us, all of you."
The retainers and guards all bowed and the processsional stepped aside so Markessa could lead Taryn down the long gilded hallway and into a side room. She closed the heavy wooden doors behind her, leaving them alone in a room where ancient shelves hosted rows and rows of even more ancient bound books.
As she sat down on a couch, Markessa asked, "Have you enjoyed your voyage to Gallinore thus far, Mistress?"
"Of course," Taryn said, sitting across the low table in a seat opposite Markessa's. "I aways enjoy Gallinore. It's one of the most beautiful worlds in the Consort-ium."
"I'm pleased to hear you say that." She waved a hand to indicate all her books. "We value history and beauty on Gallinore, as you can see."
History and beauty were valued all throughout the Hapes Consortium; Tenel Ka said too much so. Normally Taryn was inclined to disagree with her cousin's dim assessments, but the recent events- the attempted coup against the Queen Mother last year, Jacen Solo's sudden turn from friend to foe, the opportunistic schemes of Ducha Requud- where starting to change her mind.
"I'm afraid what I've some to talk about is neither historic nor beautiful," Taryn said.
"I know. Director Lovella warned me you'd be coming," Markessa smiled tightly. Taryn should have expected that. "She told me that you're looking for everything you can get about Sinsor Khal, especially his current whereabouts."
"That pretty much covers it."
"I thought so. I have to say, I haven't thought about Khal in a very long time. Years, perhaps."
"According to the Director, you were the one who removed him from his research post and erased all his records at the Institute."
"Technically, I gave the order to Director Lovella. She actually carried out." Markessa smiled politely, like they were discussing racing scores. "But yes, it was my decision. And I assure you, I meant nothing nefarious behind it, no matter what you may think."
"Do you know what I think?" Taryn cocked a red eyebrow.
Markessa kept manicured hands folded in her lap. "I know who you are and what you do. I know your job is to see enemies in every shadow because that's where the danger to the Queen Mother always lurks. But not every shadow holds danger."
"What does this shadow hold?"
"A Ducha who was simply looking out for the interests of her queen."
"You removed Khal from his post after the death of Ta'a Chume. Tenel Ka had already been on the throne for the better part of a decade."
"Indeed, and Ta'a Chume was under, ah, house arrest. But anyone who knew Ta'a Chume knew not to count her out until she was stone dead."
It was paramount to a confession of disloyalty, but Taryn had a feeling the Ducha was playing a game on purpose, trying to string her further away from her main concern.
"Tell me," Taryn leaned forward, "How was remov-ing Khal a favor to the Queen Mother?"
"She is, let us say, not the kind to countenance the secret research projects Khal was tasked with. It's the Jedi in her." Markessa said the word with quiet disdain. "I was faced with the choice of asking her whether she wanted to let Khal's research continue- which I'm sure she'd find offensive- or of ending it quietly on my own initiative."
"I'll be sure to relay your thoughtfulness to the Queen Mother," Taryn said dryly. "Director Lovella already told me what kind of research Khal was doing during the Yuuzhan Vong War. She also said you confiscated all his records. Do you still have them?"
"I do," Markessa said, shockingly blunt. "Do you want a copy?"
"No. I want the original data-files."
"Then you'll have it." She was being far too obliging, now. Taryn was sure she had extra copies of her own somewhere. "But that's not why you're really here, is it?"
"Ducha, I need to know where Sinsor Khal is right now."
"I can't help you. I simply don't know."
"What happened when he was removed from the Institute?"
"He was placed under house arrest on Gallinore, which was effectively what he was under while at the Institute. But now he had no laboratory."
Taryn fought a frown. "House arrest? Was he still considered dangerous?"
Markessa smirked, like she was talking to a foolish child. "Mistress, do you know what Sinsor Khal was before he came to Gallinore?"
Taryn frankly had no clue, but she wasn't going to confess ignorance to the Ducha. "Some of it. What do you know?"
"Khal was not Hapan originally. If you'd ever met the man you could tell it by sight; he's far from handsome. In any case, Ta'a Chume personally brought him to Hapes, to Gallinore, to do research for her. All very confidentially, of course."
"Where did she find him?"
"My understanding- and this is what she told me, a long time ago- was that Khal was kidnapped as a baby by the old Jedi and taken to learn their religion on Coruscant. Apparently he was not strong enough in the Force, and was simply expelled from the cult." Markessa shook her head as if the ways the Jedi had treated people was simply disgraceful. "He was still relatively young when Ta'a Chume found him. The Emperor was beginning his Jedi Purge at the time and apparently even wash-outs weren't safe. So he was eager for any route of escape."
Some of it was falling into place now, but not all. Hapan suspicion of Jedi ran centuries deep, but she didn't see that alone as a reason to imprison Khal within his laboratory. "Was Khal violent? Unstable?"
"Oh, no, he's a very stable being. Too stable, frankly. Too cold. That was what made him very… abnormal, but also useful." Markessa looked at her manicured hands and added, as if in afterthought, "Ta'a Chume always said Jedi were prone to insanity. I suppose our queen can be see as the exception to Jacen Solo's rule."
Taryn swallowed. The Queen Mother had been very close with Jacen Solo for a very long time. Though she'd never confirmed it, Taryn suspected Allana had been his child.
Markess may have heard those rumors. She smirked and said, "Suffice to say, Sinsor Khal was useful, but in the end, he was a man you wouldn't show your back to."
"You said you don't know where Khal is now. What happened to him?"
Markessa gave a frustrated sigh. "I'm afraid he left."
"Left where? When?"
"I can't say as to where, otherwise I'd know where he is now. But as to when, I'd say, oh…. About two weeks ago."
Taryn blinked. That was when the Imperials had launched their attack on the Dragon Queen. If Jagged Fel's intelligence was right, then the Imperial Moffs had struck out to utilize Jacen Solo's last weapon at the same time.
"How did he leave?"
"I'm sorry to say he was kidnapped. An armed shuttle broke into his compound and stole him. Our security was overwhelmed."
"What kind of shuttle?"
She didn't even have to think. "An assault shuttle. Gamma-class."
Taryn thought the odds were about even that there'd been a shuttle but no assault, and that Markessa had simply let the Imperials take Khal away on the condition that she'd get some of that bioweapon to use against Tenel Ka. "An enemy warship assaulted your world. Why didn't you report this to the Queen Mother and Admiral Baas?"
"Mistress, we both know they had bigger problems at the time. Besides, this was a matter of local security."
"But with clear import to the rest of the Consortium. Maybe the rest of the galaxy."
Markessa looked earnestly confused. "Is that so? Do you have any idea why Imperials wanted to kidnap Sinsor Khal?"
Taryn did, and she bet Markessa knew it too, but there was no point in making accusations of treason when she couldn't prove them. She could find proof later; right now she had to find Khal.
"We're looking into it," Taryn said simply. "As you must know, our relations with the Imperial Remnant are quite tense at the moment. Any sign of its involve-ment must be thoroughly examined."
"Of course." Markessa spread her hands. "I'll give you any help you might need."
It took Taryn a lot of effort not to laugh.
Taryn waited while Markessa's servants brought her what were supposedly the data-cores containing Sinsor Khal's research. She had no doubt Markessa kept copies of it all for herself but there was no way to prove it conclusively, especially not when Taryn was without Trista to help her on this mission.
After bidding Markessa a polite goodbye, Taryn was glad to leavet her glorious little palace. As she marched back to the spaceport she kept looking over her shoulder for a tail, but found none. When she reached her ship, she spent twenty standard minutes searching it for any sign that it had been tampered with, from bombs to listening devices.
When she was certain she was secure, she fired up the comm system and placed a call to her sister.
Wherever Trista was, she wasn't near a holo-projector, so the connection was audio-only. She asked without prelude, "What have you found on Gallinore, Taryn?"
"Some hints, but nothing concrete. Ducha Markessa says Sinsor Khal was kidnapped by Imperials around the same time as the battle at Shedu Maad."
"And I suppose she forgot to report this foreign attack on Hapan soil?"
"She considered it a matter of 'local security'," Taryn said mockingly.
"How likely was it she was involved?"
"I'd say very. She handed over data-cores containing Sinsor Khal's research without a fight. Right now we need to locate Khal. I can keep investigating here to find what Markessa is hiding, but I might need your help."
"Don't bother. You should come back to Hapes right away."
Taryn frowned. "Is that an order from Tenel Ka?"
"It is. I was about to call you anyway."
"I don't suppose you'll tell me anything else on the comm."
"Only in person, sister."
"All right, then. I'm in my ship now and I'll get to Hapes as quickly as I can."
"See you soon, sister."
"See you soon." Taryn flicked off the comlink and frowned to herself in her ship's small cockpit. Whatever Trista or Tenel Ka had learned, she hoped it wasn't what Taryn had just spent the past day ferreting out. She hated to think she'd wasted her time.
But there was only one way to find out. Taryn started warming her engines and prepared for liftoff.