LESSONS IN LOYALTY

Okay, maybe she was in over her head this time. Melaana hugged her knees to her chest, not that she had much of a choice. The closet, in which she had regained consciousness after her abduction, wasn't very big and was crammed with boxes to boot, leaving very little space for a prisoner.

The door didn't seem very thick. She might have been able to do something to unlock it but hearing her captor moving around outside she didn't dare try.

"Where is she?" The woman muttered in a posh, clipped accent. "She has to come out eventually."

Maybe she could figure something out if she listened to this woman. Mel closed her eyes and focused on the woman's voice.

"She's not at the medcenter or the museum so she has to be somewhere near the precinct. They'll comm her for a missing child."

Museum? Precinct? Melaana only knew of one person who worked at both. Was this the person who'd tried to kill Swain? She scooted closer to the door in an attempt to hear better but in the process accidentally bumped one of the boxes and knocked something to the floor.

"Sit down and stay quiet!" The woman bellowed, making her jump. The accent was gone but the threatening tone had doubled down. "Or it'll be the last sound you ever make."

Mel held her breath until she heard her captor resume whatever she was doing. She might have been too scared to move but she could still think.

This woman, whoever she was, was after Swain. Since the museum robbery couldn't possibly be her motive she had to know her. But who did Hannah know? The only person Mel had seen her with before was … was that other Imperial girl.

...

Melaana Satine Kryze was bored to tears. Of course this was her normal state of being during most of her school lessons. She simply already knew everything that the instructors were attempting to teach her. And if she didn't know it already she didn't see how it could possibly be that important.

She could already read and write in three languages: Basic, Mando'a, and Onderonian. And anything that she wanted to learn she could read from a holo or look it up on the net. Memorizing facts and figures was boring and she wished that she could move up a level or have momma teach her at home like she used to. But now momma had Pascal to look after and momma and Buir wanted their children to have as normal a childhood as possible, going to a real school with kids their own age.

Didn't they know that Melaana and her little brother would never be normal? They were a princess and a prince and Melaana was so far ahead of everyone her age that it would be impossible to fit in even if she were the child of moisture farmers on the outer rim.

"Children, children, attention please." The instructor clapped her hands and Melaana looked vaguely at the front of the classroom. At least this was something different. "Children, we have the honor of hosting two very special guests this morning."

Melaana perked up just a bit. She wondered where the guests could be from. They didn't have anyone visiting the palace and special dignitaries always came to see Momma and Buir before they met anyone else in the capital.

"In a few years each of you will have the opportunity to move on from our humble institution to one of the prestigious imperial academies in our system. Today our guests are cadets from one of those academies. One of the cadets is studying in the naval track and the other for the Imperial Security Bureau. I would like you all to give them your full attention and when they have finished speaking you will have the opportunity to ask any questions you may have in regards to their chosen fields."

Two young women entered the room then looking a little nervous or maybe a little annoyed that they were being forced to talk to children. One of the young women had warm brown skin and dark hair but the other had hair almost as red as Melaana's.

The princess barely listened while the first girl talked about what mathematics and physical and mental tasks were required to pass the exams for the Navy. She said her name was Iden something.

Then the second girl stepped forward, the one with the red hair. She spoke about investigating and catching criminals and keeping the galaxy safe from corruption and lawlessness.

Melaana was interested in spite of herself. It reminded her of some of her favorite stories about the con men of Onderon. Except the heroes of her favorite stories were just the sort of people who this Hannah person might someday be hunting down. She'd never catch them though. The Bonteris and the Gerreras were unstoppable!

Maybe she had noticed Mel smiling while she spoke. The young woman pointed her out after the speech was over and asked, "Do you think the ISB track is something you might be interested in pursuing after you're finished with your lower level exams?"

Melaana frowned at her like she was stupid. She was a princess and she wasn't likely to ever have to do something so mundane to earn a living. This girl obviously didn't know who she was talking to.

Then with all the dignity of her royal upbringing Melaana informed the uninformed aruetii, "I'm going to be a poet when I grow up like the Bard of Chandrila." At least she hadn't announced that she was going to be a thief like her momma and buir's friends on Onderon but her instructor still wasn't pleased with the answer.

"Melaana!" she admonished but she wouldn't dare punish the princess. Instead the instructor apologized to the guest. "Our Miss Kryze is the heir to the throne so I fear the intelligence bureau will be disappointed by her absence among their ranks."

…

The kids had just filed out of their classroom when Iden Versio's companion turned to her and announced: "We're dead in the water."

Iden rolled her eyes. Neither she nor Officer Swain had wanted this stupid assignment, talking to children, but it had been foisted on them nonetheless. She wondered who she'd ticked off to get stuck with this. "They're just kids daydreaming and making silly comments."

"They're establishing dominance is what they're doing," Swain said. "We rank lower than a substitute teacher as far as they're concerned. Don't tell me you'd never tortured one of those."

Iden had not. "That type of behavior wasn't tolerated at the academy on Vardos and I doubt it will be here. This is a top school. Where did you go that you got away with it?"

"Coronet City Public." Swain wasn't fazed. "Word's going to get out and then some other kid is going to try and one-up her. It's either going to be flimsi starships or spitballs."

Iden's face slipped into a mask of fury. "It'll be the last spitball they ever make." A split second later she realized that was the worst thing she could do. Making a scene would only cause someone to try and one-up the one-upper, and then she would be dodging food. "We have to get them to like us. Nip the problem in the bud."

Swain nodded. "How do we do that?"

"You're the one who went to public school."

"You're the one who had a normal childhood." Swain pinched the bridge of her nose. "Um, maybe we could make it a game?"

But Iden had hit on something else: "We bribe them with candy."

Swain looked up from her hand. "Candy?"

Iden nodded, now set in her plan. "All kids like candy and there's no risk of us coming off foolish or like we're trying too hard. We give it to them before we start our talk and they'll be too busy eating to do anything."

"That...that's perfect!"

"Now we just have to get some candy. It's not like we can borrow it from the commissary."

"About that," Swain pulled a slim black piece of plastic from her pocket. It was, to Iden's surprise, a credit card.

"ISB gives you a credit card?!" Iden couldn't even get an expense account approved.

"It's my training officer's," Swain explained somewhat sheepishly. "He said he wanted me to have money in case there was an emergency. Well if we don't reign this in, there's going to be an emergency."

…

Her class didn't get any candy! And what's more she had to go and mouth off in class in front of imperials and possibly make them doubt Momma and Buir's loyalty! Melaana knew she shouldn't have done it. But they were going on and on about all the options that Melaana's classmates had for the future and how far they could go with their Imperial Academy educations.

Melaana wasn't going anywhere. She would be right here in Sundari, in the same palace where her father and her grandmother and her father before her had ruled since before the Siege and the Clone Wars and the Civil War.

That's why she had run into the girls' fresher to have a good cry. It really didn't have anything to do with not getting any candy.

Once she thought she was alone the door swung open and someone else entered the girls' room. "I wouldn't believe it either Kallus, but I promise there's an emergency use for three bags of miniature candy bars...of course I'll pay you back, I kept the receipt for … wait, you want holos instead of the money? I'll have to see if someone else took any."

At the sound of the voice Mel fell apart once again. Of course it had to be her.

Hannah with the red hair came around the privacy curve, comlink raised to her ear. "We only have a few more classes to go, and then Iden and I are good to …" She spotted Melaana and stopped walking. "Can I call you back?"

Melaana didn't hear what the other person said but she watched in the mirror as Hannah put away her comlink. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She swiped at her eyes but only succeeded in smearing her tears.

"It's obviously not nothing kid." She looked Mel up and down and seeing no sign of injury, went with her best theory. "If this is about the candy I'm out, but I bet if you asked Iden nicely she would give you some."

"I don't even like candy," Mel lied but the tears were falling harder by the second.

"Well then did you get into a fight? Did someone say something?" Mel choked on a sob and Hannah nodded to herself. "What did they say?"

"You would know. You were there."

"Me?" The young officer's eyebrows nearly disappeared under her cap. "I didn't mean to crush anyone's dreams. I'll admit being a bohemian poet isn't a very stable career but if that's really what you want to do -."

"No!" Mel bent over the sink and, in spite of herself, spilled the beans. She didn't mention her worries for her parents, or that she would much rather be a thief than a poet, but everything else came out in a flood of frustration and disappointment.

When she was done she looked up and found Hannah staring at her.

"Alright then," she said slowly, in an attempt to buy herself time to think up a reply. "Splash some cold water on your face and let's get you cleaned up."

What else could she do? Melaana obeyed and Hannah gave her a fistful of flimsi towels to dry her face.

"You know where Coronet City is?" Hannah asked once she was cleaned up.

Of course she did. "It's the capital of Corellia, where the Empire makes its ships."

"They make ships sure, but their real speciality is crime. And it's also where I lived when I was your age." Hannah leaned against the wall with a sigh. "For the longest time I thought I was going to die there just like everyone else."

"Til you joined the Empire?" It came out with more sass than Mel intended and once she realized what she'd said to the ISB agent she felt like crying again.

But Hannah just smiled wryly. "Sort of. Mostly it changed because I decided to take charge of my own life. I knew what I wanted and I was going to do whatever it took to get it, so I did. Just because your parents are something doesn't mean you have to be it too."

Melaana nodded dubiously. It wasn't that simple, but believing it might help her not to cry.

"You want my advice? Stay in school, don't do spice, and find people who love you." Hannah's smile turned sad. "You never know how long you're going to have them."

"Momma and Buir love me. They wouldn't make me do something if they didn't think I was ready for it."

"Oh for sure." Hannah nodded. "But the galaxy's a weird place. It's bound to throw you a curveball when you least expect it."

"You alright in there?" Iden poked her head around the privacy curve. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Melaana.

"We're just fine," Hannah said and raised her hand for Mel to high-five. "Right?"

Melaana did. "Right," she said and left the room.

Iden watched skeptically as she went. "What was that about?"

"Just a scared kid." Hannah cleared her throat. "Are you ready to go?"

"Since we walked in the door. Let me drop off that half bag of candy bars to the front desk. They'll figure out something to do with …" She trailed off and patted her uniform pockets. "Do you have the candy?"

Hannah shook her head and then both women looked at each other as they realized where the candy went.

Hannah spoke first: "We ate it in the turbolift."

"Let's go with that."

…

Mel wished she had that bag of candy bars now. She was hungry and wondered how long she had been here. She strained to hear outside and keep her mind off her stomach.

Was that Iden Something behind all of this? She was Imperial and obviously proud of it; maybe she hadn't taken the transition to the New Republic well and was angry at Hannah for switching sides. Somehow that didn't seem right. They'd acted like friends back at the school, or at least whatever brainwashed Imperials had for friends.

But who else could it be? Mel winced as she heard her captor's footsteps come closer but it seemed she wasn't after Mel at all.

"Come out, Swain," the woman seethed. "I'm waiting."

Oh how had she gotten into this mess? She should have listened to Papa. Maybe if she had practiced harder when he was trying to teach her how to protect herself. And now she had disappointed him, allowing herself to be captured, and Hannah was going to get killed when she came to look for her. Well, at least she'd be out of the way for the new baby. But surely someone would miss her! She let out a quiet sob but it was loud enough for the woman to hear.

"I said, 'stay quiet'!"

Melaana pressed her hands over her mouth and felt the tears trickle down between her fingers. "Pascal!" she screamed in her mind since she didn't dare say it aloud.

…

On the other side of the city her brother startled with a gasp. "Melly!"