Post 5

Iella was just getting ready to go home for the day when her comm went off. It trilled a few times and she glared at it as she kept gathering her work. After seven trills, she finally huffed and picked it up.

"Iella here."

"Ella?"

"Jade?" She asked confused.

"Yeah. Do you have a minute?" To most people, Jade's voice would have sounded normal. Iella knew better. Something was wrong.

"Sure. Why don't you come over for dinner tonight?" The intelligence agent asked as she sat back down at her desk and hoped she was just being paranoid. The silence that greeted her confirmed that she wasn't.

"Jade?"

"I have something you need to see." The voice told her, a bit quieter than before.

Iella's stomach dropped as she closed her eyes and swore to herself. "How bout I stop by on the way home?"

"That's fine. I'll be here." Jade responded then dropped the line.

Jade was a carefree person, or at least had been for as long as Iella had known her. She didn't let many things bother her. The younger woman had once told her: "My job is stressful enough, I don't need any drama in my personal life." Jade definitely lived her life by that creed. Of course, her upbringing helped immensely considering she had been in the public eye for most of it. There also had to be something in the Storm genes too, because Jake was the exact same way. If there was ever anyone you wanted to be in charge in a chaotic situation, it was a Storm. Level headed, trustworthy, and decisive. Those were all words she would use for the two siblings.

Iella realized she was delaying the inevitable, so she picked up her comm and opened a line to home.

"Antillies."

Iella smiled. "Hey handsome."

"Hey yourself, beautiful. You on your way home?" She could hear the girls talking in the background. It was rare that both her daughters were home at the same time, so she had been looking forward to this weekend. Syal was in her second year in the military and she was very much her father's daughter. She had taken to flying and service just as well and as quickly as he had. Myri, on the other hand, was all Iella. Ironically enough, she had just graduated basic training and had put her application into Intelligence. As a mother, she was both proud and frightened for her girls. When she would have a moment and start to worry about them Wedge would simply remind her that they had raised their girls well and they had to have confidence in them.

Likewise, when Wedge and Iella had allowed Jake and Jade into their lives, they had also invited them into the girls'. She didn't think she would be able to repay either of them for the help they had given her and Wedge over the years. There had been days when neither one of them had been able to leave work because of one crisis or another and both Storm siblings had stepped in to help without thinking about it.

"Um…not yet. I need to stop by Jade's first."

"Why don't you just invite her? I'm sure the girls would like to see her."

Iella grimaced. "I don't know how long I'm going to be." She told her husband quietly.

Wedge paused. "Not good news I take it." He finally said.

"Well, when Jade calls me and she sounds upset, it can't be good."

"No, it can't. Call me when you start home."

"I will. I love you." She told him with a smile.

"Love you too."

/____________________________________\

Iella pulled her speeder up to Senator Mnaa's residence. The big mansion was set in an area that was highly protected and fairly isolated for being so close to the city. She had been here many times before to visit her friend, usually under happier circumstances. The sprawling house was one of the newer buildings on the planet. There had been a large majority of people who had screamed that the planet needed to be brought back to its former glory. A "living" planet where everything was utilized to its utmost and even at night seemed to glow with an artificial light. Fortunately that majority was not in charge. While some of the bigger buildings had been restored, most were razed. Now, instead of having blocks and blocks of buildings, there were more flora and fauna. More parks where people could go to relax and spend time with friends and loved ones. After everything the galaxy had been through, just in the last 30 years, it was decided that maybe tradition, in this aspect, wasn't so good after all.

As Iella stood at the door waiting for Jade to answer she tried to think about what the younger woman would present her with. Jade wasn't the type of person to get upset over nothing. Being a governor's daughter would do that to you. The door slid open and Jade stood there with tears in her eyes. Iella walked in and gave her friend a hug as the door closed behind them. She felt a tremor from Jade, which was uncharacteristic, before the younger woman stepped away from her.

"What happened?" Iella asked.

Jade motioned her friend to follow her and attempted to explain as they walked upstairs to her office.

"I found something on my computer that I know I didn't put there or receive from anyone I know." She said as they walked the short distance to Jade's office. Iella didn't push her to reveal anymore as she followed her through the doorway. The ambassador walked over to the console and sat down and Iella stood behind her as she brought up the information.

"Item579146?" She said quietly, more to herself than Jade. Jade clicked on the file and Iella was sure she couldn't hide her gasp. It wasn't that she hadn't seen anything like this before. She'd viewed this and worse more times than she cared to remember. What surprised her was who was showing it to her and that it was on something that this person owned.

On the screen there were various pictures of beings, alien and human alike, in multiple states of disarray. Some just looked as if they had just been woken up and hadn't been given time to make themselves presentable. Others looked as if they had gone five rounds with a rancor. To the right of each holo was a short description of the individual: where they were from, ages, attributes and so on. What caught Iella's eye was the last line of each description. It was a price.

"Slaves." She whispered.

At some point Jade had reneged her seat to her friend and Iella had poured over the data silently. She didn't have to worry about mindless chatter. Jade had watched the intelligence officer work before and knew that the silence from her wasn't meant to be insulting. She was simply focused on her job.

Jade walked over to sit on the couch that spread across a wall on one side of the room. Wrapping her arms around herself she closed her eyes and found herself asking the same question she had two hours ago.

"How could I miss this?" Not realizing she had spoken out loud, she was startled when Iella spoke.

"Whose file is this Jade?"

Jade looked up at her friend and forced herself to say the name. "Bela's."

Iella's eyes went wide. If it had been anyone else, she would have told them they were out of their kriffing mind.

"He had to borrow my console last week because his was broken and being repaired. I didn't think anything of it. That file has been sitting there for a whole week and I never noticed it." Closing her eyes to keep the tears at bay, she heard Iella get up and come sit next to her. As her friend pulled her into an embrace she finally let go of the tears.

"It's not your fault, honey." She told the younger woman.

Jade pulled back and wiped her cheeks. "Oh I know it's not my fault. I just keep going back and forth between being furious and not understanding how this happened. I married him for Force sake. How could he be doing this and I not know it?"

Iella grabbed Jade's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I don't know, but I will find out. I need to take the hard drive with me though." Jade nodded. "When does he come back?"

"Not for another week. He took his own console with him."

"We'll worry about that later." She told her as she stood up and walked back over to the computer. She closed the files and then started to separate the database from its console. "I'm more worried about getting this information processed and moving things along before he gets back." Iella paused and looked up at her. "And you."

Jade gave her a weak smile. "I'll be fine."

"You're right. Because you're coming home with me tonight."

"Ella…"

"No discussion." Iella told her as she walked over towards her and gave her the best motherly look she could. "I'm not leaving you here tonight by yourself."

/____________________________________\

Bela walked back to the room he had left the girl in and stopped just outside the door. He had just gone into hyperspace and it would be an hour before he reached his clients. There were still a few things he needed to take care of. One of the guards had taken the girl on board the ship and Bela had yet to see her again. His men knew they didn't get rough with the merchandise. That was the quickest way to meet their untimely end.

"Is she secured?" He asked the man quietly. A nod was his reply and he dismissed the guard. Taking a deep breath he palmed the door and walked in. Sitting on the bunk was a 12 year old Twi'lek girl he'd gotten from Shaw a week ago. Her lavender skin was near perfect, just as Shaw had promised and his clients would be very pleased. He sat on the bunk across from her and gave her a little smile. She didn't say anything, just looked at him with wide eyes. The sedative they had been forced to give her was still affecting her and Bela sent up a silent thanks. Apparently her family had traded her for a debt six
months ago and she didn't know what to expect. Shaw was an expert in subduing his items mentally without hurting them. Bela chuckled morosely. Shaw was good at mental abuse was what it boiled down to.

She had fought when they had taken the stun collar off of her in the warehouse. It was so hard to deal with that because his men couldn't just knock the person out. They had to be delicate to make sure it didn't affect the deal. Bela's clients were picky and if something wasn't delivered exactly as promised or wished, then they canceled.

"I'm going to take you to your new home. We'll be there soon, but there are some things I have to tell you first." She just stared at him, fear evident in her eyes and he continued. "Your new owners are very nice people. They've been searching for someone for a very long time and they will be very happy to see you. This is a good thing for you, as long as you do what you are told. If you follow orders, you don't have to worry about getting beaten or mistreated. Do you understand?"

The girl nodded slightly and Bela stood. "Good. I'll get you something to eat and we'll be there in no time."

He left the room and walked to the cargo hold where the galley was. That had been easier than he thought it would be. Thankfully. He hated it when they fought. This meant he would be able to get home to Jade sooner too. He'd been gone only a few days but he missed her already. That was one thing he hated about being a Senator. There was always something going on away from home. That would change soon though. Very soon.

/____________________________________\

Wedge looked up and smiled as the two women came through the door. It was five hours after he had gotten the call from his wife and he had been waiting as patiently as possible since then. He stood up and walked towards them and felt a pull in his chest as Iella smiled at him. She was still as beautiful as she had been when he had first met her. Pulling her into his arms he kissed her lightly, then turned his attention to Jade.

She smiled at him, but he couldn't see it in her eyes. That was not good. He noticed the bag over her shoulder and the pull in his chest intensified, but not in the good way it had before.

"What happened?" He asked quietly as he followed them into the kitchen. Iella got herself a glass of water while Jade perched on one of the stools at the island. Wedge waited and when his wife turned back around to look at him he raised an eyebrow.

"Are the girls asleep?" She asked quietly. When he nodded, she finished her drink and sighed.

"It's Bela." Wedge transferred his attention to Jade and moved to sit by her. He reached over to enfold her hand in his and felt her squeeze. "He's doing something illegal and apparently when he borrowed my computer last week he forgot to cover his trail."

"He's trading slaves Wedge." His gaze shot back up to his wife, hoping he hadn't heard her correctly.

"Bela? There's got to be some mistake. Bela wouldn't do that."

"That's what I thought. I saw it with my own eyes Wedge. My husband is in the slave trade, and apparently has been for a while. He left a trail, clear as day." Her eyes rose to meet his and he saw the pain and anger in them.

"I don't understand." He heard himself say. It felt like an out of body experience. He wouldn't say he was best friends with the man, but he knew him, or thought he had, well enough to know he didn't deal with this kind of stuff. "Why in the blazes would Bela deal in slaves? He doesn't need the money or the notoriety."

"You're guess is as good as ours." Iella responded. Silence reined for a few minutes as he tried to wrap his head around the idea. This was like finding out that Luke Skywalker was secretly teaching Sith at his academy. Bela Mnaa came from a planet that, up until 10 years ago, had itself dealt in slaves. His whole adult life he had fought to abolish slavery on his planet and elsewhere. He was extremely well respected throughout the galaxy and there was even talk about him becoming the next Chief of State. His ability to connect with the many different species that the government dealt with was something
that hadn't been seen in quite a while. To find out he was a fraud and a hypocrite was unthinkable.

"Something like this could shake what little stability we've managed to create in the past five years." He said quietly. Suddenly, he realized how callous that sounded. "Jade, honey I'm sorry. I'm worried about people being mad when I should be upset about how this hurts you."

A small smile graced her face and she squeezed his hand again. "I'll survive. The universe is not going to crumble because I got hurt. I won't either."

Wedge pulled her towards him and wrapped her in his arms. "I've been through every conceivable emotion tonight and now I'm just tired. I don't want to be rude, but I'm going to go and lie down if that's ok." She smiled a little as she felt him place a kiss to the top of her head and slid off the stool. Iella watched her as she left the room and fought to keep her anger under control for the umpteenth time that night. Looking over she found her husband watching
her.

"She'll make it through this, because she has to. I'm more worried about Bela realizing she knows something and doing something about it." Iella told him as she crossed her arms in front of her and waited for him to say something. Over the years they had used each other as a sounding board for their respective jobs. They were both relegated the highest classification they could be given so there was never any issue with secrets being given out. Not that it would have stopped them anyway.

"My first instinct is to say he wouldn't do that, but now I think I agree. How are you going to handle this?" He asked.

"I don't know. I want to stash her someplace safe until we can get this taken care of, but that could take years."

"Plus she wouldn't stand for it." He added as an aside.

"That too." Iella pushed herself off the sink and walked over to him. Standing between his legs she wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. "Right now, my brain hurts and I would just like to go to bed."

/____________________________________\

Two days later…
Security Director's Office

"Don't shut me out of this case Iella. You know damn well how hard it will be to plant someone into Bela's office or the house to try and catch him in the act. I'm already there and while I'm not one of your agents, I can do the job."

"I don't like it." She told her friend.

"And I do? You don't have many other options. I'm not stupid and I don't have a death wish, so I'm not going to give myself away."

"Not on purpose, no. But what happens when you slip up and don't realize it? There's got to be another way." She said as she turned to her boss.

"I hate to say this, but she's right Iella. We don't have any options here that don't involve months of preparation and years of work." Belindi Kalenda sat behind her desk, her fingers steepled, racking her brains for an alternative. Over the past 45 minutes she hadn't been able to come up with one. She was just as reluctant as Iella to allow the ambassador to do this, but she was finding she had no choice.

"That does not mean, however, we are not going to use every resource possible to keep anything from happening to the ambassador while this investigation is going on. I want surveillance on the house all the time, inside and outside. Regular sweeps will have to be done to make sure that we don't inadvertently give away the upper hand we have at the moment. That shouldn't be a problem with the number of times the Senator is absent. I would also like to have you trained in some basic intelligence knowledge and practices Jade, if that is ok with you."

"I would welcome any help you can give me, Director." Belindi smiled at her response. She had never met the ambassador personally, but she was highly spoken of and it was obvious why.

"I want to make it clear, also, that you are not to recklessly put your life in danger. If at any time you feel uncomfortable or unable to protect yourself, I want you to say so immediately. I will pull you out and place you in a safe house without your consent if I must." She waited for the young woman's acknowledgement and nodded when she received it. "Good. Iella, I only want a few agents on this case for right now. Go ahead and put a team together and then let me know when you're ready to present all the information you have."