Joundi-Come-Lately

Iesha set the approach vector as Joundi brought the ship into orbit around Draxil. Both were hit by a wave of excitement as they entered the atmosphere which they each attempted to give over to the Force in their own way. Joundi had only been a Knight for four years, although he had been on many assignments and his assignment to Granger's team was his biggest thus far, being sent to Draxil on his own was huge. Huge for him, huge for any Jedi. Except he was not exactly alone, not yet. Iesha was here for a very specific task, but the overall mission was his.

Iesha also was a bit awed by the task at hand. Master Tarazin had specifically cited Draxil as an issue in his last briefing with Granger. She had been on missions by herself and with other members of the team several times before, but the fact that her Master trusted her with something this big was still astounding. Granger could have come with Joundi, or they both could have come, but he trusted her with this. Granger may have trusted her more than Joundi, perhaps more than anyone else on the team. She wanted to be careful to deserve that trust.

Draxil was unique, even for an Outer-Rim planet. Three of the four continents operated with their own governments. The fourth continent was still divided into even smaller nation-states. There was a planetary council, but in many areas, it existed in name only, and in some, not at all.

"Myriam's flat is in the capital on the Southwest continent," Iesha checked her records as Joundi guided the ship to the surface. "She's been gone a while. I hope it is still in one piece."

"We will know soon enough," Joundi commented as the landing thrusters fired.

Myriam's building was a short walk from the port. The manager, a local in modest garb, was surprised at the arrival of new Jedi. "Jedi Myriam was a couple months behind on rent, I had to let her flat go." He gestured behind the desk and led them to a small storeroom. "Kept her stuff though, what little there is." He pulled down a box, sliding it to the Jedi's feet.

Joundi hoisted the box to his shoulder. "I'll be staying a while. Got any other flats?"

The manager looked pensive. "Yeah, I can do that. Gotta get payment upfront, though. Nothing personal, just don't want you disappearing on me too."

"I can have the funds transferred tonight," Joundi reassured.

The manager led them to a modest one-bedroom flat with a decent view of the city. When he left, Iesha opened the box and began going through Myriam's belongings. There were no surprises, an extra robe, some small tools for cleaning her lightsaber, a training probe, a meditation mat, a datapad, lots of whiskey bottles and a couple of glasses. Iesha took the datapad and a bottle of Myriam's favorite liquor. She poured herself a glass, handed the datapad to Joundi, and sat on the couch.

Joundi looked confused at the datapad. "What do I do with this? And are you sure you should be doing that?" He indicated the whiskey.

Iesha shrugged. "We're in Myriam's territory. Gotta start thinking like Myriam. Her contacts and mission summaries are probably in there." She pointed to the datapad with her glass, then took a sip. She fought the urge to spit the liquid back into the glass.

Joundi knew the Padawan was correct, but still hesitated. "What if there is personal stuff in here?"

Iesha grinned. "Myriam fit all of her personal stuff in this one small box. She doesn't really strike me as a diary keeper, but maybe don't go nosing around anything that does not look official."

Joundi started to take a seat on the couch, then thought better of it and sat on another chair. He had never been alone with a female in his personal quarters before. He had no ulterior motives, nor did he suspect any from Iesha, but he chose to err on the side of caution. Not sure where to begin, he browsed Myriam's entries in the datapad. Iesha had been right. Myriam had a list of contacts and her official reports. After an hour or so, Joundi rubbed his eyes. It was not late, but it was night, and they had a long flight from Syllian. He got up, turned toward the bedroom, thought better about it, then turned back to Iesha. "So….sleeping arrangements?"

"You're going to bed already?" Shouldn't we get out and get a feel for the city or something?''

"There will be plenty of time for that," Joundi explained. "We'll go after your Neimoidian in the morning. Besides that bed looks really inviting."

"I'll be fine out here," Iesha said, kicking off her boots and stretching out a little farther on the couch.

Joundi shrugged. "As you like." When he reached the door, he was surprised by the size of the bed. "It's plenty big for both of us." Then he realized what he was implying and turned back to Iesha with a blush. "Wait….that's not what….I just meant you shouldn't have to be stuck on the couch." Although this was his first time alone with a female in his own quarters, he had been alone with females before, even intimately. Why was he making such an awkward mess of things now?

Iesha's face soured, but she was disarmed by Joundi's blush and she was not completely insulted by the unintentional suggestion. "I'll be fine here, really," she insisted.

"OK, fair enough," Joundi agreed, closing the door behind him as he entered the bedroom.

The next day, the pair made a trip to the local branch of the Planetary Archives. Being Jedi they were granted entrance with almost no waiting. They had the Neimoidian's ship registration numbers. Iesha was pleasantly surprised to find that the ship's last known docking registration was also on the Southwest continent. She then realized that she should not be surprised. Of course, Myriam would have chosen to live as close to the center of the action as she could get.

The information droid behind the window transferred the relevant information to Iesha's datapad. "Ship registered….to Zune Keleray….oh dear…." The droid's voice trailed off.

"Oh dear, what?" Iesha inquired.

"I'm afraid that ship has been scrapped after its accident about week ago."

"What accident?" Joundi leaned in close to the window next to Iesha.

"Explosion caused by a plasma leak….it's all in the file," the droid gestured to the datapad.

Iesha studied the pad for a moment before asking, "And this Zune Keleray?"

Whirling sounds came from within the droid as it processed the question. "We don't deal with beings only ships, but his last known local residence should be in the file."

Iesha frowned. "Yes, I see it. A hotel." She showed Joundi the pad.

"Well," Joundi said with a shrug. "It's all we have. Gotta start somewhere." He turned back to the droid. "Where are the remains of the ship?"

After more whirling sounds, the droid offered, "I can grant you access to our junkyard if you want to see the block of scrap. Its shield generator was salvaged and sold to a freighter out of Nar Hutta."

Joundi shrugged again at Iesha, then turned back to the droid. "Sure, we'll take a look at the scrap and could we also get the registration for the ship that received the generator."

An escort droid took them out to the junkyard. The metal cube that was once a ship was right where the file said it should be. "What do you think?" Joundi asked. "Our saboteur friend?"

Iesha was no expert, but she had known of Holden slightly longer than Joundi. "Plasma leaks don't strike me as Holden's usual style, but it does seem a little too convenient to be an accident."

"Problems with his employers perhaps?" Joundi offered.

"Perhaps," unconsciously, Iesha stroked her chin the way she had seen Granger stroke his for over a decade. She knew that this meant her Master was pondering his options, although she had little to ponder. "Let's go check out this hotel."

The hotel was no dive, arguably even nicer than the building housing Myriam's flat, but it was nothing fancy. The desk had a record that Keleray had stayed there. After the accident, his belongings had been confiscated by the local authorities. The hotel clerk obviously did not like dealing with authorities, but he was not about to cross the Jedi. "Will there be anything else?"

Joundi pondered the question. "Can you tell us anything about Keleray?"

The clerk hesitated. "Not really. He did not spend much time in his room. Usually, if he was here, he was sleeping or in the lounge." He gestured to the lounge adjoining the lobby.

"Did he do business in the lounge?" Iesha spoke up this time.

"Not sure," the clerk shrugged. "Staying out of our guests' business is hotel policy. I do know that he was not a drinker though."

"Most Neimoidians are not," Joundi agreed, glancing at Iesha. "Guess we should go check with the local police."

The local authorities were less receptive of the Jedi's presence. When they were finally granted admission to the investigator's office, he was not there. After another extended wait, the Claytou made an appearance. "Jedi? We don't get many Jedi around here. Are you associates of…..Myriam is it? She doesn't bother with us locals much. I'm Inspector Galunk, by the way." The older Claytou seemed more annoyed than helpful.

"We are associates of Jedi Myriam," Joundi confirmed, "but we are here for…."

"The Keleray case," the inspector interrupted. "Not much to tell really. Died in some sort of plasma leak explosion. Took most of his ship with it as I recall."

"You have his personal effects? And another ship bought his shield generator. We'd like anything you have on that as well," Joundi continued.

Galunk took the ship's information from Iesha as he annoyingly gestured for them to follow him to an equipment storeroom. The over-stuffed storeroom housed various gadgets, none seemed particularly interesting. The cage that was supposed to house Keleray's belongings was empty save for a few random tools. "As I expected," Galunk nodded. "Anything worth any value was probably sold on the black market. Anything of interest to anyone important was likely taken to them or destroyed. Such is life here on Draxil. The ship that bought his shield is still at the docks. Not due to leave until tomorrow, it seems. I can take you there, if you wish."

"We wish," Iesha agreed trying not to sound as annoyed as she was. "Did Keleray usually do business with the Hutts?"

Galunk shrugged. "Probably. I believe he officially worked for the Trade Federation, but if he did any side business….and he probably did….it was either with the Hutts or the Suns."

Joundi frowned. "You go with the inspector. I'll go see if there is anything interesting at his hotel lounge. Meet you there after?"

"Now you want a drink?" Iesha half-teased.

Joundi grinned. "Like you suggested, I need to start getting a feel for this place."

The spaceport was small, but Iesha was met with another wait upon their arrival. She tried to remember her youngling training about patience, but it was hard to get there. An escort droid finally showed to take her and the inspector to the ship. As they approached, they could hear the ship's engine's running. "I thought it wasn't due to leave until tomorrow?" Iesha inquired.

"It is not," the droid's response was cut short as one of the ship's blasters pivoted in their direction. One shot obliterated the droid, Iesha easily deflected the follow-up blasts with her lightsaber. She turned to Galunk, who had drawn his blaster, firing a shot at the ship as its thrusters pushed it into the atmosphere.

"This is unacceptable," Iesha protested to Galunk.

The inspector sighed. "I'll not your objection in my report to my superiors."

XXXXXXXXXX

When Iesha reached the lounge, Joundi was seated at the bar. She ordered a shot of Myriam's favorite whiskey. "Anything?" Joundi asked already knowing the answer.

"Straight poodoo," Iesha confirmed, downing the shot. "Anything here?"

"Not yet," Joundi sighed. "The droid bartender does not keep track of customer information. I suppose we'll just hang around and see if anyone gives us any unnecessary attention." The few customers in the bar seemed to be giving the Jedi a wide berth.

"I wonder how Myriam got anything done around here?" Iesha thought aloud.

"She has her ways, that's for sure," was all that Joundi offered.

"Guess it's your problem now," Iesha conceded. "Good luck."

Joundi smiled. "We're Jedi, we don't do luck."