A beautiful mind

by Mara-Amber

A threat in the Unknown Regions. One woman to deal with it, two geniuses trying to work together without killing each other, three conspirators behind the scenes. One of them is a traitor.

2. Chapter 1

Standard disclaimers apply, Star Wars and the Extended Universe is not mine.

A Beautiful Mind - Chapter One

From my comfortable seat in the cockpit I threw a last, farewell glance on the beautiful planet beneath me. White snowy and blue icy fields as far as one could look, the snow sucking in every sound if one dared the extremes of the surface, even a charric-shot was oddly dull in these vast, empty area. The air was refreshing freezing and clean, free of the various poisons that polluted so many other planet's atmospheres. Barren, a never-ending harsh wind was blowing ice-crystals across the landscape, building up as well as carrying away dunes over the years.

And as hostile as it was, there was life. And somewhere in this icy environment was the small city Ludgat, where two of the inhabitants were witnessing my leave from Csilla.

But there was no time for looking back and cherish pleasant memories that would become deceiving lies soon enough. I had a mission to accomplish, this was a time to look forward and to make plans.

With meticulous precision I checked the jumping vectors for my destination. Various direction changes were necessary, so that nothing hinted to my starting point in the so-called Unknown Regions. As soon as I had synchronised the jumping-vectors with the ship's nav-com, I made some minor adjustments and pushed the hyperdrive.

Once we had made the jump, I handed the controls over to the Pilot-droid P1D7, unstrapping myself. 'I am in the common room if there's a problem.'

It had taken all my persuasiveness to convince the involved Chiss to run THEIR mission with a Corellian standard ship and to have the Droid on board. But for the sake of protecting their privacy, they had accepted my conditions in the end. Not without modifying the ship themselves, of course.

Now, the reward of my verbal fights confirmed me with a rough, metal-resonance voice. 'Clear.'

Firstly, I got rid of my black cloak, my shawl and my polo-neck jumper on my way, I wouldn't need it where I was heading. My first stop within Imperial reach would be on a Mid Rim planet, Nar Shaddaa. It was there where Dierck Chaf, my companion, and I had set up the headquarters of our cover-business several years ago and what could I say? It was running smoothly. Far enough from the core of the rising Empire to attract too much attention. Close enough to the so-called Unknown Regions to work - and close enough to all the scum and dirt which was attracted by the Hutts.

Before I made myself comfortable in the common room, I checked the ship and the additions that had been made, there had been no chance without prying eyes on Csilla. The crew had done little wonders, updating and modifying my Corellian ship to latest Chiss-standards considering the tight timeframe they had had. The new weapons would come handy in time, I had no doubt about it, the tracking device wouldn't be found by anyone else but them.

Upon inspecting the small kitchen, I had to suppress a little grin. I had always complained about too few space, and Chiss-technology had effected a miracle. With care I prepared myself a tea within my new, spacious kitchen nook, adding a minimum Lumni to the brew – just enough to feel an effect taking it oral.

Once the tea was ready, I inspected the precious, carefully wrapped cargo, while sipping my hot, stimulating brew. Everything was held in place with straps, preventing the cargo from shifting and getting damaged even if the flight would get a little rough. Perfect.

There were several hours left before I would reach my destination and I could start my homework. I curled up in the armchair in the common room, placing a small, black cubus in the middle of the table, setting my tea beside it; and activated the cubus once I had found a comfortable position for myself.

With a little hiss a three-dimensional Tromask-playboard appeared in the air in front of me, consisting of hundreds of miniature cubes. It was the Chiss-variant for strategic games, designed for two players. In education it was used to pick the few extraordinary gifted tacticians among the young ones, later it was used to train strategic thinking.

The game originated several hundred years ago, being two-dimensional in the beginning and played with white and black round stones, which were placed on the junctions of the lines. For various reasons the advanced three-dimensional variant served my purposes better. [1]

For references I checked the existing data-base of moves and tried several possibilities. It was a challenging quest and only the hyperdrive alarm alerted me of the hours that had passed while I had set up the little game. Very contented with myself, I threw a last apprehensive glance on the playboard, before I switched the cubus off and hurried to the cockpit, almost jumping into the chair, strapping in and taking over the controls from our P1D7.

With long-practised haste I prepared for landing, contacting Nar Shaddaa's port control. With a little luck the person in charge knew me and spared me the trouble of bribing. 'Control, this is Ice-Eagle, Pilot Jule Mitth, sending identity-code now and requesting a landing corridor for landing pad 7492.'

Only few nano-seconds later, a voice speaking volumes of too few hours of sleep, too much coffee and pilots discussing, barked out of my com. 'Welcome back, Jule. Identity and landing pad 7492 is confirmed. Sending landing corridor vectors now. See you at Pit's later.'

'Roger. My treat, Kial.' Before she could protest I turned off the com and prepared the landing sequence.

I had a neat touch down on our landing pad and after unstrapping, I stretched myself. Too many hours of brooding in front of Tromask in an uncomfortable position had done nothing good to my back.

My ship's nav-com had been modified by myself already, still the P1D7-unit was another question and I removed its memory- and nav-chip without warning, putting it into my satchel while the P1D7 slumped down beside me. I'd let Dierck's program deal with it, as every time I spent Csilla a visit.

Before I left the ship I checked my plain black trousers and the plain burgundy, sleeveless dress I wore above it. It suited me perfectly, curvvaceous as I was, on a first glance there was no place to hide any weapon, for that purpose I had my black hard-nailed boots, the Blaster-holsters I wore visible over my dress and my belt harbouring various useful items. After my brief check, I adjusted the buckles on my boots and the leathern wristlets supporting my weaker wrists. Neatly. Underlining an arrogant and superior attitude that would keep the lower thugs in this place at bay, being the chilly, blonde girl I was on Nar Shaddaa.

Taking a last deep breath of filtered and antiseptic air, I opened my ship and stepped out, closing it with care behind me, putting all securities in place. Once I was done with my ship, I took a second deep breath tasting the polluted air before I stepped out of the docking bay, throwing futile glances around the place. Just another doomed town on another forsaken moon. Nar Shaddaa.

The next day I would spent Vogga the Hutt a courtesy visit, bringing one of my latest acquisitions along for his residue decoration, but first I needed to check up on my companion. It was early afternoon, so most likely he was awake and spending time gambling and betting; by the season it was most likely sandworm- and fist-fighting.

I strolled to the old cantina nearby, playing with the coins jingling in my pocket, the cantina was used for entertainment purposes of all sorts, pit-fights especially. On my way, I observed my surroundings closely and greeted some acquaintances. Besides the common brutality and dealing I saw nothing out of sequence that caught my attention.

Coming closer to the cantina I could hear the shouting from the inside, different parties cheering for their competitor in the ring. For a second I stopped at the entrance to check the program, indeed sandworms were scheduled today. Hence the place was crowded, who would want to miss a sandworm pit-fight with the chance of betting on a pleasure-focussed planet like this one.

I entered and grinned a warm welcome to the Duro watching the entrance. With heartfelt friendliness he grinned back, holding out a metal-box. 'Heya, Jule. I didn't expect you so soon. When did you come back?'

The air was filled with smoke, all known and unknown kinds of spice, old and fresh sweat from the various species in the gathered crowd and I wrinkled my nose in disgust, starting to lay my blasters accompanied by a clattering sound into the metal box. 'Heya, Horsk. I just arrived. Is Dierck here?'

'He's at the ring.' He nodded in the brief direction.

Playing our old, ritualised game I turned to walk in, but Horsk called me back before I could take even one step, demandingly holding out the metal box. 'Heya, Jule, your weapons.'

With a faked grunt, also being part of our ritualised procedure, I raised my dress and with a clattering sound a charric, been hidden between the inside of my thighs, landed in the box. His smile broadened. 'ALL your weapons.'

Shooting a glance that would have intimidated almost everyone else, I bend down and pulled the knives out of my boots. 'Your bloody damned correct today, Horsk.'

With an insouciance he didn't need to fake, he shrugged and let me confirm the sealing of the box with my ID-card. 'I'll let the little nasty things hidden in your bun slip, Jule.'

Since he didn't even bother to mention my hard-nailed boots, I blew a kiss in his direction 'You're a sweetheart, honey.' before I turned and went to check out today's sandworms.

They were kept in cages, neatly beaded along the back wall – and one particular sandworm caught my attention. It was curled into a small ball in the edge of its cage, baring its fangs as I scooted closer to inspect it. Strong, muscular, not nervous and intimidated by the aggressive atmosphere as some others who restlessly whirled around in their cage. This was my sandworm, an a-male.

It was worth a bet and I gave the cage-number along with my data-pad to the nearest bookmaker. It was an old acquaintance, a human spiv, whom I didn't trust an inch aside from betting. 'Good choice, Mitth. Chaf is already at the ring, his fight is scheduled third from now on. Want to back on him?' With the last words he handed me back my pad and I confirmed the transferred sum for the sandworm.

Snorting I checked the rates being displayed above the ring. According to the displays the chances for Dierck to win were 6:4. 'Sure. Who is his opponent?'

'Some dark horse, a Twi'lek named Lukgar.' He raised his chin an inch in the direction of a blue-skinned, role-model male Twi'lek, dressed only in a lose fitting trouser, leaning provocatively casual against a post of the cantina. His muscular, shaped arms and chest spoke volumes of extensive work-out, obviously he had to make up for a lack in other areas. My contemptuous look caught his attention and he moved slightly, letting the muscles on his upper arms and chest play and sending me a suggestive grin, baring his spiky teeth. Almost every other male would have been put off with my arrogant, dismissive attitude, I radiated from every pore of my body, but he was not.

The corners of my mouth moved down on their own account, there was nothing that turned me down more than men like him. I preferred them brainy. The bookmaker interrupted my train of thought, sending me an inviting stare. 'I give him ten minutes.'

Without my eyes leaving the Twi''lek I handed my data-pad back to the bookmaker. 'Might last fifteen minutes, I give him the credit of excessive work-out. Two hundred on Dierck.'

Whistling he booked the credits. 'Found some exclusive artefacts?'

I tugged the data-pad back in my belt. 'Dierck is a sure bet. The Twi'lek is too self-conscious.'

The bookmaker smiled widely turning to the next customer while I went ahead through the cheering crowd, borrowing, boxing and forcing my way to a place directly at the ring.

With arrogance indicating that this was where I belonged, I glanced boldly across the crowd, meeting challenging stares and undisguised interest, not batting an eyelid as I found whom I had been looking for.

There he was, Dierck Chaf. A tall, lean, handsome man, in a dusty brown coat, his long black hair gathered in a low ponytail, accentuating his sharp features. As I was used from him, he blended perfectly with the crowd, his cloths shabby, his beard stubbly and his posture not as upright as he usually carried himself.

I turned my attention back to the ring since the remains of the last fight had been carried out and my sandworm was next in line. I observed the fight of 'my' sandworm with great interest, it was watching its opponent who was cycling it with high alert. It was the nervous opponent who made a prudent first attack, my worm evaded it without any effort. I watched a few more futile attacks each one of them coming to nothing, until I noted a familiar smell beside me.

'Welcome back.' Breathing in my ear, Dierck acknowledged me, his sly, keen eyes glued to the fight in the small ring.

'Dierck.' I allowed myself to nod ever so slightly, and he remained so close I could feel the heat of his body and his warm breath on my shoulder. 'What is it this time? Pyrep?'

'Booster's Blue.' Unconcerned he observed the fight in front of us, my sandworm had its opponent in an tight bite by now, black, acidic blood tripping to the ground. 'You should spent less time on that ice-world, Jule. One day you skin will turn blue, your hair black, your eyes red and you won't be distinguishable anymore. What did they want?'

I frowned, the badly wounded sandworm had managed to stab my worm with its tail, draining poison into its system. This turned pretty ugly pretty soon, shrugging I answered Dierck 'Business as usual.' The implied undertone informed him that this time, it was anything else than business as usual.

'Sounds challenging.' The interest in his voice was evident and I glanced at him, his lips were tight and the look of his black eyes was tell-tale. He was bored to no end, seeking distraction with gambling, satisfaction with spice and self-affirmation with brawling.

My sandworm had caught its opponent in a strangling embrace, locking its jaw in its opponent's neck, the black blood began to trip from between its fangs, the end was near and the fight decided.

'Indeed.' The determination in my voice caught his attention and he let his hand wander over my arms.

While we watched the victorious sandworm tearing its opponent into tiny, little pieces I noticed his growing unrest.

The cleaning crew would take some more time to tidy the ring and I turned to face Dierck, placing a hand on his shoulder. 'Care about a drink?' As if he would ever refuse, but this was part of one of our rituals.

'Anytime, Handsome.'

We burrowed our way through the crowd to the bar on the back wall only serving hard drinks.

'Jule, Dierck.' The bartender greeted us, taking two water-glasses and filling them up to the rim with the cheapest Corellian whiskey available – it was the only one they had in store. In a place like this, even ice was considered as a sophisticated addition, only watering down the true taste. At last the high alcohol concentration prevented any possible nasty side-effects in a sparkling clean establishments like this one.

Casually Dierck leaned with his back against the bar and I joined him, observing the crowd while I filled him in, as much as I could risk in a place like this. 'It was the Admiral herself who made the request.'

He whistled and took a very large sip from his whiskey. 'If the old cunning fox is involved, this might get rough.'

Indifferently, I observed the Twi'lek coming to us, he wasn't giving up despite my openly displayed disinterest. It was strange, certainly I was the last woman to fit into a male Twi'lek's ordinary prey-scheme. In fact, this was so extraordinary that it wouldn't hurt to play along and find out what it was about. 'Indeed. We might find ourselves a worthy opponent playing Tromask.'

I had his full alertness and he stared at me. 'Don't tell me they finally asked to hunt HIM down.'

Hiding my smile behind my glass, I noticed the Twi'lek would be with us soon, demanding our attention. 'Yes, I do.'

He hissed and with a bang his emptied glass landed on the counter. 'I've followed his every move since his provoked exile, I'd thought they would never ask.'

'It is all water under the bridge.' I smiled smugly at the Twi'lek who had built himself up in front of us and I leaned over to breathe in Dierck's ear. 'Come as soon as you are done.'

Sending his waiting opponent a challenging stare, Dierck clicked his tongue. 'I won't take long.'

What earned him a sardonic grin from the Twi'lek in response.

To keep it simple I put my glass back on the counter and while passing the Twi'lek, I laid a hand on his chest, the muscles were hard, there was not a hint of fat on him. Dierck wouldn't get out of the ring without wounds. 'Keep up the work out. It suits you.' I complimented him.

I was rewarded with a disgusting predatory smile, he bared his spiky teeth once more and his hand on my upper arm prevented me from leaving 'See you around.' He whispered in my ear, his lekku provocatively wrapping around me. His sheer, close physical presence was overwhelming as well as his smell and I needed to escape the place, it was simply disgusting. He released me and I didn't bother to turn around, I knew that Dierck had a wicked grin plastered on his face while inviting his opponent to join him with the next drink. Being on Nar Shaddaa one had to do in Rome as the Romans do.

The cantina was in walking distance from our office and apartment. Since room was expensive on this moon, we had combined work and living, it saved us money and time. After retrieving my weapons I took the direct way home, furtively and cautiously observing my surroundings. Nothing major had changed and nothing suspicious caught my attention and without any incidents I reached my destination, facing a problem.

Once again Dierck, the security-freak, had changed the door-code. He did this in a frequent turn, and I knew the pattern he used. Nevertheless, it took some time calculating and my first result didn't grant me access. I had not noticed that I had been holding my breath until the door opened with a hiss, all nine Corellian hells would have broken loose when I would have typed a wrong number a second time.

I stepped inside only to stop short, I had expected a mess and exactly that it was. I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose once more this day. Here he was, the most brilliant and handsome man I had ever met and he let drugs rule his life to escape from reality. Brilliant as he was, he wasn't capable of living, of coping with his everyday chores, so he had given up.

Chaos, stench and dirt ruled the place. Used boxes, clothes and plates with food were scattered around, but what caught my eye were the two young, delicate, naked women sleeping on the extracted couch right in the middle of our office. I didn't get it. Wasn't taking drugs and betting not enough for him? I knew he consumed women like he consumed spice and I usually didn't comment on it. It was his funeral and since we weren't involved with each other's love-lives, I didn't care.

But for sure I didn't appreciate the sight of two naked – for once human – women on MY – antique - couch in our office when – I - came back from a journey and wanted to start – my - work.

Feeling more than annoyed, I marched through the room, carefully avoiding the scruffy food on the floor, grabbing one of the woman on the upper arm and jerking her up. She was more a girl than a woman. Her irritated and disorientated stare and the smell of spice around her told me all I would need to know and I threw a handy shirt to her. Through clenched teeth I managed to sound rather calm, to my own utter surprise. 'Get dressed.'

The second girl woke, rubbing her eyes and threw a puzzled glance around while I managed to utter a few more words staying rather polite for my standards. 'Get out of here.'

Insecurity reflected in their eyes, until the smaller, dark-haired murmured 'Who are you?'

Obviously spice and sleep still made their minds cloudy. Perhaps there was something usable left inside the empty shell commonly known as a skull, I had to give it a try. 'I am the second owner of this flat and that gives me the right to throw you out right as you are.'

I waited a few seconds to let it sink in. 'In a few seconds,' I waited a few more heartbeats to let the information proceed into their drugged accumulation of neural cells commonly known as a brain. 'If you don't speed up and walk out on your own.'

My eyes narrowing to slits, my jaw tightening and with my hands caressing my blasters, I increased their wake-up process visibly. Indeed they hurried to fetch their scattered cloths and I extended my time-frame a little to give them credit for their efforts. Their low brain capacity wasn't 100% their fault.

That was until they stood dressed in front of me, the dark-haired one staring with her puppy eyes up to me and holding her trembling hand out. I narrowed my eyes even more and barked 'What do you want?'

The trembling was evident in her voice also. 'Spice.'

All I registered was that my vision blurred and I saw red. I had left him alone for two months and he had managed to put himself into a complete mess, seducing two almost innocent girls to shag with him on MY couch for spice. With effort to remain calm, I reached for coins in my pocket and flicked them over to them, they caught them in the air. 'Out. Now. Immediately. Go back to school and make something useful of your lives.'

I must have looked intimidating enough because they did exactly what they were told and fled the room without any further discussion. It was their bad luck day that I was the one who had the blasters handy.

Once the door was closed behind them, I threw a closer glance around what had once been our office. As soon as Dierck's brain wasn't challenged, it was a complete mess, ruled by his addictions. This room only resembled the state of his mind at the moment.

The chaos was for him to clean and I spotted our desk at the opposite wall under used cloths and used dishes, only a small place was spared to access the com-terminal. Carefully pushing the dirt out of my way with the tips of my boots and paying attention not to step onto something undefinable I made my way to the desk.

The first thing I did, was switching on the screen, running bug-programs and triple-checking for hardware, indicating that our system had been hacked. Dierck was more than paranoid over his hard- and software, nevertheless a check was necessary any time. Once I had confirmed that the lines were not tagged, I checked my bank-account. The money from Dierck's fight wasn't booked yet, so they had either not started yet or they were still fighting.

I retrieved a data-chip from my satchel and put it in the slot, beginning to upload the data I had collected. Once the upload was started I took the data-chips from our Pilot-Droid and let Dierck's clearance program run over them.

The uploading would take some time and I pulled out the Tromask-cubus again, switched it on and checked the initial situation I had set up. I could spot no flaw and switched the cubus off, Dierck would have to solve it later. Brooding over the cubus I had once again lost track of time, without any announcement our door opened and Dierck entered, a breathtaking, welcoming sight as always.

His left eye was swollen, he was barely able to open it, his lip was torn somewhere, the blood made it impossible to tell precisely where. In addition he was carrying his arm in a slight awkward position and he was limping. All in all he looked like he did have a nice, refreshing time.

I swivelled back to the data-screen to check my bank-account while he let himself fall onto the couch accompanied by a satisfied groan. The money was booked, Dierck had won.

'Greetings from our friend, Jule.' He moaned once more and laid his feet on the couch.

'Which one?' The upload was finished and I checked if it was complete. It was and I removed the data-chip.

'The one who wants to shag with you after beating me into pulp.' Somewhere in between the trash he had found a first-aid kit and applied bacta on his lip, never leaving his comfortable position.

'Which one?' Frowning, I sorted through the miniature holograms. What was worth selling on an art-auction, what was less precious and could be sold via holonet?

'The latest addition to your never-ending list of desperate suitors.' Indeed, he was talking about the Twi'lek and he was suspicious, too. A dark horse in our favourite cantina, requesting a fight with the local fist-fighting champion, flirting with me on top. Maybe he wasn't just brawny.

'Unlike someone else, I do choose with whom I sleep.' The annoyance in my voice was evident while my eyes were still glued to the screen, sorting through data.

'Yep, nevertheless you should be less picky. It is very helpful to vent some pressure from time to time.' I didn't consider it worth an answer and he straightened, all of a sudden aware that something was at a miss. 'Where are the girls?'

'I sent them home.'

Rather relieved he settled back in the couch. 'Thanks. I hate the questions in the morning.'

'It is afternoon. And I'd be most thankful if you would not be using MY couch for your spice-addicted one-night stands.'

He had the grace to look embarrassed, unable to stand my stare. He had gotten my message, this wouldn't happen again. 'Anyway. What about Mitth'raw'nuruoudo? What do they want us to do?'

'Cleaning comes first.'

With a brazen stare he challenged me, fully aware that I wouldn't tolerate his state of depression. But I realised that his stare was becoming dull, he was low on spice. To get his brain back to working properly and being useful for me, I had to give him some drugs. 'Where's the spice?'

He nodded in the direction and following his nod I spotted it lying pernickety packed and sealed in a plastic box beside the data-screen.

I handed him a small potion he accepted and took eagerly. In order to get his life under control for this mission I would have to ration his portions for him, he couldn't work without it, but he tended to take too much. I grabbed his upper arm and stirred him in the direction of his refresher. He stumbled over some dishes in the way but didn't complain as I ordered 'Firstly, get a shower, Dierck. Secondly, you'll clean the place. We have an assignment and I need your attention and awareness.'

Without any further discussion he complied and vanished while I looked for trash-bags so he could start cleaning as soon as he was done. Sometimes he just needed someone to kick his butt around. While searching for the trash bags, I came closer to his room and I had to fight the urge to wrinkle my nose in disgust – for the forth time this day? For sure he hadn't changed the sheets since I had left. No, I didn't want to think closer about this, this was his private life and not mine.

I heard the swooshing of the refresher's door and looked up, only to notice that his eyes were a lot clearer now, so I shoved the trash-bag into his hands, pointing to his bed. 'Clean up and don't forget the sheets. Witnessing the remains of your affairs is simply disgusting,'

Without further discussing he started to collect the filth in the first trash bag. 'How about you filling me in now?'

My boot connected with something hard and I looked down, an empty bottle of Corellian whiskey. 30 years old. Without putting any effort in it, I spotted four more, spread across the floor.

'Pretty straight forward they expect us to do the dirty work going against their policies. Meaning you masterminding some foolproof plan and me executing it with you as a back up. Greetings by the way.' Rather carelessly I walked over where once our table had been, now hidden under piles of papers, used cloth and unfinished dishes. I shoved the stuff lying on it to the ground, catching a half empty bottle of exquisite whiskey before it hit the ground, not missing Dierck's delight upon noticing the brown liquid. All I needed to do was shake my head to wipe the delight from his face. I was here to control his addictions.

'Great.' he muttered in a way I knew that this was anything but great, what meant he referred to the question of whiskey. The problem of being raised by one of the ruling families was, that we had picked up their attitude towards honour and duty. 'Specify.'

With faked negligence I was far from feeling I shrugged my shoulders, uncorking the whiskey with my teeth and taking a swig directly from the bottle but not without sniffing at it first. At least he hadn't added spice to heighten the effect. The taste was exquisite, perfect. As usual he only picked the highest quality drugs. All the while he continued with his task and watched me with undisguised greed, I knew he wanted the liquid, promising him relief from his rampaging, disturbing thoughts, but this was about control, he wouldn't ask me yet.

'The Zumi want to be part of the Ascendency.' If he would not have been the composed man he was, he would have dropped the trash-bag to the ground, so he just raised his eyebrows.

He knew I wouldn't joke about such a serious matter, and I waited to continue until he had digested his first shock. 'They are asking for protection, in return they offer technology.'

Dierck was still chewing on the unexpected tidings. 'But they ARE aware of the fact that the Chiss won't accept?'

The Zumi had incredible insider knowledge of Chriss politics – I, personally, had been assigned to find the mole, but I couldn't spot him or her. They just knew how to push the right buttons. 'I think they are and they made the official request to stir up the Chiss.'

Frowning, Dierck put two and two together. 'His House Phalanx and the Mitth-family?'

He had hit the nail on the head. Since the Zumi were aware of Chiss politics, it meant they had had an ulteriour motive making this bold proposal – what had made the Chiss revolving around the matter. With one message sent, the Zumi had managed to stir up the whole Chiss population – what might have been one motive. 'Correct. Officially the Chiss refused the offer. Inofficially, Mitth'raw'nuruodo's House Phalanx and the heads of the Mitth-Family asked us to contact him.'

In the end, after all they had endured, there was the chance that with the aid of the Zumi they were able to establish another countable force in the sector with Mitth'raw'nuruodo as a leader and Dierck was aware of it. 'Do the Zumi still believe in him?'

Once the Zumi had witnessed one of Thrawn's battles near their territory and since then they were convinced that his military genius was unrivalled in the galaxy – and that he was the one to win a lost battle. As if one being could perform miracles, but it was the way their people believed. 'Yes, and the support within the military ranks of the Chiss is still high. If he calls, they will follow him.'

'Do you think their request is serious?'

The Zumi were a population never to trust, but they had an archenemy. Since I had pondered this question since I had first heard of it, I had answer. The answer was that I did not know. 'There have been two attacks on Zumi-territory by the Vong that are verified, these planets have fallen, but there could be more. One speculation is, that the Zumi and Vong have an agreement to lure the Chiss out of the safety of their Ascendency to fight them. Another speculation is, that the Zumi have enough resistance to hold the remaining planets. Since the Ruling Families agreed to wait for the outcome of these attacks, there is only one way to find out.'

He knew what I meant and his eyes began to gleam with excitement, this was his cup of tea.. 'And since the House Phalanx and a major part of the military forces side with Mitth'raw'nuroudo, this is a chance to install a force. And because they don't want to take such offensive measures, they have asked us to beat around the bush.'

'Yes. I have documents devolving Mitth'raw'nuruodo the right to conduct negotiations on the behalf of the Phalanx and several signed members of the military.' With a smug smile I leaned back in my chair.

'So there is no way to contact him through the official channels.' Again, Dierck had put two and two together.

'Correct. But what if there is finally a chance we might get out hands on classified material? Never before have the Zumi allowed anyone on their homeworld. It might be an enlightening experience. What if there is finally a chance to build up a Chiss Fleet outside the Ascendency? The proposal implied that we are welcomed for negotiations any time.'

Dierck had to smile noticing my excitement, building up a Chiss Offensive Fleet, not acting as strictly as the Chiss normally did. This would give us the chance to act without too much picky discussions once the time was nigh. To defend Csilla. This was like a dream coming true. 'They invited us to Nirauan?' He had an unbelieving undertone in his voice, what was hardly surprising.

I couldn't quite wipe the delight from my features, this had been a great honour. 'Yes.'

'What about Mitth'raw'nuruodo?'

'He will do anything that will help his people, he is an ambitious Chiss, only serving his people. Do you think he will turn down the offer of learning about the Zumi and the offer of establishing an own force?'

'What am I supposed to do?' Dierck threw the forth trash-bag into the refuse chute.

'Come with us, research about the Zumi, try to convince as many influential Chiss as you can manage to support us.' Satisfied I threw a glance around. The scruffy plates and food had vanished and the couch was relatively clean, so that the indignant cleaning droid dared to make its way out of the corner and started cleaning away the remains.

'How will we get in touch with Mitth'raw'nuruodo without alerting the whole empire?' Once the droid had cleaned and folded the couch, Dierck threw himself on it.

With a smug smile I placed the black cubus on the table, his expression turned wolfish as he switched it on. 'We could just contact him via holonet.'

'Come on. Where is the fun in this, Dierck?'

'Indeed.' I wasn't on the focus of his mind anymore, he was considering his moves on the playboard, this would take a little while.

I walked over to the door 'I am off to meet Kial at The Pit.' He was so absorbed already, that he didn't register my leave.

Two hours later I was back and Dierck still brooding in front of the cubus, he barely glanced up when I entered. 'That was fast, Jule.'

'I had a long day as well as Kial. We had only one drink, the place was crowded, but I met Cad Bane. He will drop by tomorrow, greetings by the way. What have you found out?'

He settled back in the couch, his hands crossing behind his neck. 'Have a look.' He leaned forward, reset the cubus to the initial point of the game and when he noticed me watching closely he started the simulation he had constructed in order to answer my moves. I had made eight moves in advance and he had answered each one of them correctly. In the end, the game stopped where I had intended it and he pointed to several points highlighting them red. 'Well done, Jule. A standard situation that can be found in every reference book, easy to find out. Eight moves later one has more or less a card of the Mid Rim, a few planets are missing and a few are too much, but one gets the general idea. Since you forced the focus on this region, especially around this stone, this has to be the meeting point. I backchecked, a Dejarik-tournament is held on this planet in four standard weeks. A simple, easy method to lure him there, he'll get it, even I solved it in less then two standard hours, and I am not a Tromask-master. I registered us already for the tournament eight standard-months ago and booked two rooms in the best hotel on planet. Nothing to worry from this part, but how will he get the cubus?'

Instead of answering, I smiled smugly and pulled my data-chip out of my satchel. His eyes wandered over to our com-term and he rose to check my uploads. 'Where are the artefacts?'

'Still on board of the Ice-Eagle, I took pictures and wrote descriptions, I'd be most thankful if you could put them for auction without making the source traceable.'

'Piece of cake.' Smirking he swivelled on the chair and started to work at his com-terminal while I threw a apprehensive glance around our office.

I didn't bother to hide the smug smirk that appeared on my face while he skimmed through the data, I had done a good job and I poured myself a whiskey while he checked the data back and forth again, stopping for some seconds for a closer look if something caught his attention. After what seemed a fairly short time to me, he had sorted the rubbish from the precious pieces, worth a little fortune. Some pieces he couldn't place were still shown in miniatures on his screen. My smile grew wider, as always he had picked the right ones.

Pointing with his thumb on the screen he swivelled with his chair. 'I have put the cheaper pieces in the data-bank for immediate auction already.' Silently I nodded my agreement, the amused sparkles in my eyes didn't go unnoticed by him.

'What about this piece?' He enhanced the image of a simple, green pot, plain without any decoration and the description I had added became readable:

ORIGIN: Unknown Regions, System and Planet unknown CULTURE: Unknown ARTIST: Unknown AGE: 14 years, affirmed by radioactive analysis MATERIAL: very rare green smeral INTENDED PURPOSE: Unknown

Dierck raised an eyebrow and I gave the questioning look back, along with the question. 'What do you think?'

He never looked back to the screen, he had already made up his mind. 'I know that it is Csillan design. The simple, plain design matches its purpose which is putting food in it. Still the material is unusual for Csilla, it appears to be a studying piece of a design student and since it is Mitth'raw'nuruodo we are talking about I'd say it is one of his pieces from his art-classes, before they decided to focus him on a military career.'

'Brilliant.' I breathed while batting my eyelids and we both shared a laugh. 'The Aristocra gave it to me, it is the study for the piece made of Beryll.'

'I assume you want to sell the Beryll piece first?'

I nodded. Beryll wasn't worth a fortune like Smeral and we had to make sure he'd be able to purchase the piece. Being made of Smeral the auction price would by far surpass his income as an Imperial Captain.

Dierck turned back to the screen and enhanced the next piece that had caught his attention. A sculpture of several wolfish bodies woven into each other so that it was impossible to tell clearly to which body the limps and heads belonged, carved out of a grey stone.

ORIGIN: Unknown Regions, system and planet unknown. CULTURE: unknown ARTIST: unknown MATERIAL: Granit AGE: 134 years confirmed by radioactive analysis INTENDED PURPOSE: most likely decoration

This time I was the first to raise an eyebrow and he shared his assumption 'Vaagri?'

'Yes.' I affirmed with a nod.

'Until now, I didn't thought they found time between conquering to carve sculptures.'

'Me likewise, but obviously they had.'

'Indeed. How did you get hold of this piece?'

'You wouldn't want to know.' With furrowed eyebrows he shot me a speculative glance, he knew me well enough not to dig any further, my smug smile already telling him that it hadn't been an unpleasant affair.

He turned to enhance the last piece he had sorted out. For a few seconds he stared at the picture on the screen, appreciating the unusual piece. It was a sculpture carved out of a red stone I hadn't come across with yet. What was intriguing, that it seemed to have no beginning and no end.

'Make a brazen guess.' I dared him.

His answer came immediately. 'Vong.'

'Bingo.'

'This can't be. This is truly amazing.' He stared at the screen again, trying to solve the insolvable problem. It was even more amazing and disturbing in reality, it was against all logic, defying the basic principles of physics. It was more than one, but it was one, one part was up while it should be down and at the same time it was at the back while it should be in the front. I let Dierck stare at the holopic of the sculpture while I outlined my plans.

'We are selling the Beryll pot via net first and send the Tromask-cubus along with the pot. Even a simpleton would realise that we are after him.'

'What makes you think that he won't bring a greeting committee along?'

'After all the effort we put into contacting him discreetly?'

'The Imperials will check his parcels.'

'He'll talk his way out. After all he'll buy his own pot in a Holo-net auction.'

'What about the other pieces?'

''These are studying pieces, gifts by the House Phalanx to be handed directly.' Yawning I stretched and went to the door of my room. Dierck had started to put the exclusive artefacts for auction on the official com-terminal for the great art-auction held on Naboo once every year, THE highlight for patrons of the arts. We made most of our money in this one week of the standard year. 'I am going to bed.'

'Good night.' His eyes glued to the screen, he continued his task, answering the questions that already came up and I couldn't help but shake my head.

One day I would have to find someone for Dierck to organise and sort out his life for me, he was evidently unviable alone. And one day I would want to have a life of my own, not playing the little sister anylonger. But I had a life-long service for the Chiss before me, it was a question of duty and honour.

[1] I thought of the Asian game 'Go'