Part 34- Chances and Rumors
Mical's hail to the Sojourn came as somewhat of a surprise to Carth. He had not expected to hear from Mical so soon. Only last week he returned from Ossus with two months' worth of findings on the Jedi, but little that would help Carth in his own search for Ev, or any of the other Jedi. Upon receiving the message from one of his lieutenants, Carth immediately ordered for a shuttle to be sent down to Citadel Station to retrieve the young historian.
Mical arrived approximately an hour later at his office door. "Admiral Onasi, Mical Tarwellen is here to see you," the soldier who had escorted him announced through the comm system at the door.
"Let him in," Carth instructed. A moment later, the door hissed open and Mical stepped inside. He greeted Carth with a small, polite bow.
"Mical, good to see you," Carth said, standing to greet him, "How are you?"
"Fine thank you," Mical replied and stepped up to the desk. He waited for Carth to take a seat before he sat down in his usual chair across from it, "How are you?"
"Not bad," Carth admitted. He knew he looked tired. He was not sleeping much these days. The better he did at administrative work for the navy, the more they poured it on to him. The Sojourn was now his own portable office and command center. He coordinated seven other fleets indirectly through their captains on completely unrelated campaigns from Telos. One of these days, he would do badly on purpose, just so they would take one or two of those fleets out from his command. "What can I do for you today?"
"I have some news you might find interesting," Mical replied.
"Oh? What did you find this time?" Carth asked, "I didn't know you were out in the field again?"
"I was not," Mical replied, "I was simply surfing around the HoloNet and discovered this tidbit about a Mandalorian Wars Jedi General who seems to have returned to republic space after a long absence on the outer rim." Mical slipped a datapad from his satchel and slid it onto the desk in front of Carth, or as close as he could get amidst all the other management clutter.
As Carth took it in his hands and scanned over it, Mical summarized, "Bryony Thuvell, Jedi General most notable for the victory at Malachor V has been in exile all of these years, out in the unknown regions, and has just returned," he explained, "No reasons for her return are giving in the article, but I can only guess that she has heard of the trouble for the Jedi order had has come back to do something about it. Thuvell was a great leader, though the Jedi order gave her little credit for it after the war."
"This is from Galactic Personnel," Carth observed the source material, "That's a celebrity rumor monger magazine. Are you sure that's a reputable source?"
"In this case, it seems so," Mical replied, "The criminal circuit that has been placing bounties on Jedi in general just placed a bounty on her head twice as high as their general bounty. They take these rumors seriously enough to stake lots of credits on her."
"She is that important?" Carth asked.
"She was then, and history does not exaggerate," Mical replied.
"Then we need to find her and bring her here safely," Carth said, "The Republic Military can provide her with sanctuary."
"And you wish to ask her about her travels on the outer rim, no doubt. Maybe she has seen the one you are looking for in her travels," Mical observed. "It appears that she was last seen on Thila in the Illisurevimurasi sector."
Carth inclined his head in a slight nod. "I have a friend, a Captain Quenlin who pilots the Harbinger. He was close to the Mirial system last I heard. In fact, he is under my command, as of last week. I could make this happen."
"Then I will leave that to you, Admiral," Mical replied, "I have not seen you this excited in a long while. I hope she has answers for you."
"So do I," Carth replied heavily, "So do I."