Chapter 12
"Master Jedi, I don't think you understand what is at stake here." Senator Colelan Ridava stopped pacing and tugged at the front of his elaborate robes, rich blue silk with a gold sash. He turned to look out the transparisteel window overlooking the wintery cityscape below. "My people are dying of the plague and the only known cure is being held for ransom by the largest criminal organization in the galaxy. A cure they stole from my research facility. A cure for a disease they also stole and released in the first place." He turned to face the Jedi woman standing calmly in the middle of his office and resumed pacing.
Master Shadra Neise clasped her hands in front of her and took a calming breath. It had been a long week. She still wasn't sure where her padawan was, just that she was still in the city and, as of yet, unharmed. After days of meetings discussing relief efforts for those suffering from the outbreak of the Endregaad Plague in the outlying villages, she was finally getting to the source of the problem. The cure.
During the Exchange's attack on the Chodo Habat Quarter four years ago, the Crihl Medical Research Facility on the other side of town was robbed and the lead scientist, an Ithorian named Yarrom Nheqed was kidnapped. All of his research was taken along with a rare strain of the Endregaad Plague Nheqed had been studying. Everything else related to his research in the lab was destroyed and the authorities had no luck finding the scientist or those responsible for the attack. Now the Exchange was claiming to have the cure but was refusing to hand it over unless Senator Ridava paid an exorbitant amount of money.
"What aren't you telling me?" Shadra Neise asked.
The senator sat behind his desk, held his head in his hands, his elbows propped on the desk. "I'm ruined. No matter what I do, I'm ruined."
Shadra sat in the chair opposite the senator and said, "Tell me everything."
(Mariatu)
I stood at the window looking out through the transparisteel, watching the snowfall cover the grimy streets of the Lower Chodo Habat Quarter. I could feel Master Shadra's anxiety. I hoped that she knew that I was okay. I wanted to go to her, but when I suggested it the night before, Vesha and the bounty hunter, Braden, both refused. Master Shadra was supposed to be meeting with the senator and neither of them felt the authorities would listen to anything we had to say. And Zesha didn't stand a chance in court, not even with the best lawyers. Her only chance lay in helping Braden finish the job and splitting the bounty with him. But how could I just stand here and let them kill a senator.
"The senator is scheduled to return to Coruscant in five days." Z'rellia ran her fingers through her spiky black hair. "Are we really doing this?" she asked Vesha.
"I don't see that we have much of a choice."
I looked over at Braden. He was eating breakfast in the kitchen. If I had to guess, I would say he was probably in his mid thirties. His head was shaved bald, his skin tanned and weathered and his blue eyes were cold and calculating. He chugged his protein drink and continued cleaning his blaster.
I leaned close to Z'rellia and whispered, "Find out who hired him." I nodded towards the bounty hunter.
"Sure, but I don't see how…"
"Just do it."
She navigated the holonet, her fingers flying over her datapad.
An hour later I called the girls over and had Z'rellia show them. We crowded around the data pad showing the green tinted face of a Mirialan man.
"His name is Sivvi Tozc," Z'rellia said. "He hired Braden."
"But who is he?" Vesha said.
"He's the CEO of the Tethh Pharmaceutical Company." Braden leaned over my shoulder to look at the decrypted file on the datapad.
I tensed. "There has to be another way to make Zesha safe without killing the senator."
"There's something about that name…" Z'rellia's fingers flew across the datapad. "Tethh Pharm… Here it is. Look at this."
I peered over her shoulder at the news article she had brought up.
Archived NewsNet Report – Republic Daily Monitor
Date: 4 years ago, Cycle 118.04.17
Title: "Research Rivalry Ends in Tragedy as Crihl Facility Attacked"
By: Linera Vorsk, Senior Correspondent
Telos, Lower Chodo Habat Quarter — A long-standing pharmaceutical rivalry came to a sudden and violent halt yesterday when the Crihl Medical Research Facility was targeted in what authorities are calling a "coordinated raid" amidst the chaos of the Exchange's surprise assault on the Chodo Habat Quarter.
Eyewitnesses reported masked assailants breaching the Crihl facility just before local law enforcement was diverted by gang activity several blocks away. Several researchers were injured in the attack, and lead virologist Dr. Yarrom Nheqed, an Ithorian renowned for his work on rare diseases, is currently missing and presumed abducted.
Authorities confirm that all data related to Dr. Nheqed's current research on the Endregaad Plague was either stolen or destroyed. Crihl representatives declined to comment on the security breach or the nature of the ongoing project.
Speculation swirls around the abrupt cessation of the increasingly hostile rivalry between Crihl and corporate giant Tethh Pharmaceuticals, though neither organization has issued an official statement regarding potential connections. Notably, CEO Sivvi Tozc of Tethh Pharmaceuticals was unavailable for comment.
Meanwhile, officials continue to downplay connections between the Exchange's movements and the robbery, despite growing concerns that the attack was more than coincidental.
"This wasn't just opportunism," one anonymous official told the Monitor. "Someone knew exactly what they were after."
My gaze lingered on the name—Dr. Yarrom Nheqed. Something about it tugged at my memory. The plague. The villages. I could feel the Force connecting the facts. Then it hit me. "Z'myra," I whispered, the pieces falling into place. If anyone was in the middle of this storm without knowing it, it was her. I had to warn her—before it was too late.
"Look, this job is my ticket off this rock," Braden crossed his arms and leaned back. "And from what I hear, Senator Ridava isn't much better than his son."
I stood to face him. "Then we find proof and let justice take its course."
"Justice doesn't pay the bills, honey."
I turned to look out the window, watching the snowfall blur the city's harsh edges. The weight of our choices pressed heavily on me. The Jedi teachings emphasized justice, yet here we were, contemplating assassination. There had to be another way.
Turning to the others, I said, "We need evidence—proof of the senator's corruption. If we can expose the truth, we might avert bloodshed."
Braden raised an eyebrow. "And where do you propose we find such proof?"
I met his gaze, determination hardening my voice. "We start with the doctor. If Yarrom Nheqed is alive, he holds the key to everything."