Hapes Consortum: Tenel Ka's Command Ship, Dragon Queen

Queen Mother Tenel Ka Djo sat on the couch in her private quarters watching her daughter play. The young redheaded girl looked up at her mother and smiled before her attention went back to her toys. She was having fun, but Tenel Ka could feel the underlying nervousness her child still projected through the Force. She had fully recovered from the blaster wound after a few days in a bacta tank, but the psychological scars remained. This was Allana's first injury from an assassination attack and it resulted in anxiety in the little girl. Since her recovery Allana refused to sleep alone and had remained in her mother's quarters since she was discharged from the infirmary.

Allana's injury also greatly upset her grandfather, Prince Isolder. He demanded that his daughter and granddaughter remain on the Hapan Battle Dragon until things settled down on Hapes, especially when it came to the anti-Jedi sentiment that he was sure his mother, Ta'a Chume, was dredging up.

Tenel Ka sighed inwardly. Commander Tavik was right—Luke's call for the Jedi to put the order above all else was being used by her political opponents to discredit her. She immediately tried to quell the rumors. She made a formal address to her subjects making public her decision to step down from the Jedi Order and reaffirmed the Jedi Order has no authority over her or the Hapes Consortum and although they are part of the Galactic Alliance the Hapan military will never be placed under Galactic Alliance operational control. Nor would the GA impinge on Hapan sovereignty. That appeared to pacify most of the Royals, but there were still grumblings and the threat level was still high.

Her security team was working on split half-cycle shifts. She had guards stationed inside and outside her quarters, with the remaining on-duty security personnel patrolling the Queen's deck, along with the deck above and below. Right now the guard on duty inside her quarters was a short, stocky man named Sergeant Rycus. He was a highly decorated former Galactic Alliance Explosive Ordnance Disposal expert and Void Jumper. He was probably handsome in his youth, but a nasty battle scar running from his forehead to his chin now gave him an ominous look. His disfigurement in no way bothered Allana, his laidback personality and jovial manner made him one of her favorite protectors.

The sergeant's comlink beeped. He reached up to where it was secured to his ear and pushed the button on the device. "Rycus here."

She couldn't hear the conversation but she could tell the soldier's alertness spiked. "I'll let her know." He stood to address the Queen. "Your Majesty, a Jedi Jacen Solo has entered Hapan space and requests permission to board."

Tenel Ka sighed and closed her eyes in frustration. She was hoping for more time to quell the anti-Jedi sentiment before officially requesting Jacen's presence. It appeared that he grew impatient and decided to show up unannounced.

Sergeant Rycus must have noticed her irritation. "Do you wish me to send him away?"

"No, grant him permission to dock and have one of my guards escort him here."

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Jacen sat nervously in his StealthX as he powered down within the Dragon Queen's hangar. He had recently picked up the antidote and virus created by Dr. Draco and was anxious to inoculate his family before Ta'a Chume realized Lumiya wasn't going to follow through on the assassination attempt and found somebody else to do the job. The doctor said the antidote was guaranteed to protect his family from the virus he created, but could not guarantee it would provide protection from another strain constructed by another geneticist. It didn't matter. Jacen was sure that once Ta'a Chume was dead the main danger to his family would be gone.

As he unbuckled his crash webbing he pulled the antidote out of the pilot storage compartment. The drug was militarized, meaning it had been ground down until it was the tiniest possible spore form and could be easily transmitted via air. A person inhaling the spores into their lungs would be inoculated from the virus. All he needed to do was scatter it over a common area that Allana, Tenel Ka and hopefully Prince Isolder would use, exposing them to the spores.

He placed the small vial in his pocket, then opened the canopy of his fighter and hopped down to the deck. A large blond man in his late forties or early fifties wearing a dark blue Hapan military uniform came through the docking bay doors and marched up to Jacen at a quick gait. He recognized the man as Commander Tavik from Tenel Ka's personal security force.

"Welcome Jedi Solo." The officer motioned his arms toward the door. "I will escort you to the Queen."

Jacen followed the man down a maze of corridors and turbolifts until they arrived to the Queen's private quarters. Commander Tavik talked into his comlink and then pushed the door entry panel and walked in.

Jacen had to smile when he saw his daughter on the floor playing with toy interlocking blocks, which she was using to create some type of building. The young girl turned and smiled upon his entry. "Hello Jedi Solo."

Jacen gave her a small bow. "Hello Princess Allana. It is wonderful seeing you again." Jacen turned to Tenel Ka who was standing near her daughter. He gave a formal bow of the head. "Queen Mother, it is good to see you both in good health."

Jacen could see the flicker of a smile on her face. That was a relief; he was afraid she would be angry at his unannounced visit. "Jedi Solo, what an unexpected pleasure."

"The pleasure is mine." The Jedi walked up to his daughter and knelt down beside her. "What are you making?"

Allana beamed at Jacen as she showed him the building she was constructing. "It is Kliffen Palace." She motioned her head to the guard. "Sergeant Rycus read me a book about it. It's on Comm..Commaen…" She hesitated and looked at the sentry.

Sergeant Rycus smiled warmly. "Commenor. It's on the planet Commenor."

Allana turned back to Jacen. "Yes, Commenor. It was in a storybook. I like it when he reads to me." She said enthusiastically.

Jacen forced a smile. "That's wonderful. I'm glad you have people to play and read to you." He stood and took a step toward the Queen while projecting through the Force his desire to be alone with her.

She gave a small nod of understanding as she turned to the guard standing in the corner of the room. "Sergeant Rycus, you are excused."

The soldier bowed with a click of his heels. "Yes, Your Highness."

Tenel Ka turned to her other guard. "Commander, please escort Allana down to her playroom until I call for her. I would like to talk to Jedi Solo in private."

The soldier nodded and walked up to the little girl and knelt down while offering her his hand. The man gave Jacen's daughter a tender smile. "Your highness, if you would be so kind to accompany me."

She grinned happily at the guard and wrapped her tiny hand around his and stood. As they walked out the door she turned and waved at Jacen. "Bye, Jedi Solo."

Jacen more than anything wanted to scoop her up in his arms and hold her tight, but he knew he couldn't. "Goodbye, Princess Allana," he said with a sad smile.

When they were gone a pang of melancholy hit him. He should be the person reading stories to her; he should be allowed to walk and hold her hand. Time with his daughter was slipping away. She was growing up fast and without a father. Jacen already lost four years with his daughter. He didn't want to lose another minute. The situation was breaking his heart.

He turned to his wife and wrapped her in a warm embrace. "I missed you." His voice was husky with emotion. He leaned in and kissed her softly, lovingly, savoring every second of her touch.

"I've miss you too," Tenel Ka said as she leaned back from his embrace and gave him a questioning look. "Why have you come?"

A spike of frustration surged through Jacen. He pulled out of her embrace with annoyance. "Why have I come?" He gave a caustic laugh to her question. "I came to see my family. You said you would request my presence. I would like to occasionally see my daughter…and my wife. It's been weeks."

Tenel Ka sighed as she went and sat down on the couch. "Jacen, the situation on Hapes has deteriorated. My grandmother is causing political unrest concerning my association with the Jedi."

Jacen gave a sarcastic roll of the eyes. "When is your grandmother not causing trouble?" He paced the room agitated. "You could have at least let me know of the delay."

"Jacen it was best to avoid all communications to the Temple or other Jedi. There has been a motion of No Confidence within the Royal Court. Debates are going on now within the Palace Court."

Jacen stopped and frowned. "I didn't think that was a political possibility?"

She gave him a wry smile. "Usually an unpopular Queen is merely assassinated. My enemies are having a problem accomplishing that objective, so they opted for a nonlethal solution."

"That's ridiculous. They couldn't find a better leader of the Consortium."

She smiled softly. "I appreciate your confidence in my ability. I doubt my enemies believe they will prevail in their political endeavor. They are simply trying to lure me back to the planet so another assassination attempt can occur."

Jacen's eyes narrowed. "Who called for the vote of No Confidence, your grandmother?"

Tenel Ka shook her head. "I am sure it was her idea, but she convinced her distant cousin To'a Docha to bring forth the motion. This week the members of the Royal houses will discuss the issue prior to a vote at the end of the week."

"What are you going to do?"

She gave a quick gesture of disgust. "I am required to be present for the vote. Hopefully I will be able to survive the encounter."

Jacen fought back a sour taste in his throat and he could feel a flush rising in his cheeks as he clinched his fists angrily. "This is insane! This needs to end. What kind of life is this?"

"What would you have me do?" Tenel Ka asked, her voice a mixture of frustration and sadness.

Jacen squared his shoulders. "I'll tell you what you should do. If you insist on remaining Queen, then we announce our marriage and reveal Allana's paternity. The royals are already trying to kill you; we might as well be a family working together to survive. Allana needs her father. Your security personnel are more of a father figure to Allana than I am." Jacen struggled to hold his temper, but was failing miserably. "I want to be her father and I want her to know my parents, my brothers and sister. My mother and father are grandparents; they should know."

Tenel Ka stood and put a hand on his shoulder. "I can't do that, not now."

Jacen shrugged her hand away. "No, you won't do it." His eyes hardened. "I love you Tenel Ka, but I don't believe I am a priority in your life."

She buried her head in her hand in frustration. "Jacen, my grandmother won't live forever. She's an old woman. When she is gone… the biggest threat to Allana will be gone also...it would be much easier to implement change then. You need to be patient."

He fought to keep his voice steady. "I am tired of being patient."

"I'm sorry," she said in manner that told Jacen her mind was made up.

He sat back down on the couch bristling with frustration and looked up to his wife. "I could use a stiff drink. Do you have anything?"

She gave him a confused look and Jacen understood why. He rarely drank alcohol, but he thought it would be more suspicious if he asked the Queen Mother to fetch him some water. He didn't know where the alcohol was kept, but he hoped it was somewhere out of the room.

"I keep a bottle of whiskey in case my father stops by," Tenel Ka said as she moved to the kitchen. As soon as she was out of the room, Jacen jumped up and grabbed the vial out of his pocket and quickly unscrewed the ampoule. He sprinkled the vaccine spores across the carpet and returned the vial to his pocket and sat back down. A moment later Tenel Ka returned with a tumbler with whiskey.

Jacen took the glass from his wife and tried to smile, but was having problems doing so. "Thank you."

He chugged the contents of the glass down in one shot. He looked at the glass thoughtfully and considered asking for another round, but decided he didn't need to drink and fly.

He put the glass down on the caf table then stood and took a pensive posture. "I'm sorry I lost my temper." He wrapped her in his arms giving her a tender, lingering kiss before he dropped his head so their foreheads were touching. "I don't want to make things worse for you and Allana. I'll leave and wait for things to calm down on Hapes."

She hugged him back fiercely and Jacen could feel a wave of warm gratitude coming from her. "Thank you."

He reached out to caress her face lovingly before he turned to leave. "I can find my way back to my ship."

Tenel Ka simply nodded as he left. As the door closed behind him a cold feeling of foreboding crept up her spine. She had never seen Jacen act like this before. She could feel the frustration rolling off him in waves…frustration and anger.

For the first time since their marriage, Tenel Ka truly worried that she was losing him.