Star Wars - Coruscant Nights 02 - Street of Shadows

by Michael Reaves

  Good. A challenging enemy was a worthwhile enemy. She would enjoy tracking him down.

  But such enjoyment would have to wait until she first completed her primary task: the capture of Jax Pavan for Lord Vader. She had no intention of going back to Oovo 4, and the easiest way to ensure that she never saw that hated place again was to fulfill the assignment she had been handed. Not that she had any intention of doing otherwise, even if she could have figured a way out of it. She would have paid Vader for the opportunity to stalk one of the last Jedi.

  The night was quiet, save for the eerie whistling of a breeze through the columns and rooms of the ruined Temple. Except for the endless stream of air traffic high overhead there was no movement. All seemed calm again, but Sing did not relax. She could no more stand down from her state of habitual alert than she could stop breathing.

  A slight movement behind her ...

  Michael Reaves 117

  In the space of a breath Sing's lightsaber was lit.

  The bounty hunter swung it in a deadly arc behind her, spinning about as she struck to face whatever foe might be lurking there.

  Its body cut neatly in half, a large armored rat writhed momentarily on the ground before her. It shuddered briefly and then lay still.

  With a grunt, Aurra Sing deactivated her weapon, clipped it to her belt, and strode off to resume her search for Jax Pavan.

  "Extreme discontinuity in Force convergent." Jax repeated the phrase to himself, then looked at Den and the Paladin. "Any idea what it means?"

  "Well," the Sullustan replied, "I've given it a lot of thought, and I'm fairly certain that I have no karking idea whatsoever."

  "You're a lot of help." Jax turned to Laranth. "I hope you've got something more substantive."

  The Twi'lek shook her head. "I wish I did. Unfortunately, I'm just as baffled as Den."

  Jax looked around the room. Present were Laranth, Den, and I-Five. Missing were Rhinann and Dejah.

  Jax didn't know where the Elomin was. The Zeltron was in one of the bedchambers sleeping off her con-cussive hangover. He sighed. "Anyone else care to venture a guess?"

  I-Five spoke up. "Obviously the concept that is being communicated has something to do with four-dimensional perception. We know that the Cephalon can to a certain extent see into the future the way we can see down a path. Unfortunately, it's a winding 118 Star Wars: Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows path that seems to meander through mist and clouds, rendering the final picture inconclusive."

  Den raised a brow. "Wow, that was almost poeti-cal. Almost."

  The droid peered down at his companion. "This from a representative of a culture whose crowning artistic achievement is a paean to the military-industrial complex." I-Five addressed his next remark to Jax. "It's clear that the Cephalon was trying to ap-prise us of some future event. It is up to us to figure out its meaning."

  Den rolled his eyes, the result being quite impressive. "Why, why, why do these sort of hints have to be all roundabout and mysterious? Why can't we for once run into a fortune-teller who's clear and up front about things? A week from now the Festering Plague will break out in the Blackpit Slums. Wear gloves.

  Like that."

  "I doubt that the Cephalon was striving to be orac-ular just for effect," the droid replied. "Attempts to reduce a four-dimensional tense into Basic are frequently less than completely successful."

  Jax was about to comment when a bulky shadow filled the doorway. It was Rhinann. His gaze swept over the others with monumental detachment and disinterest, to drop anchor upon reaching Jax.

  "There are, as far as I have been able to determine," he said lugubriously, "no lightsabers or components thereof remaining on Coruscant."

  "You're sure?" Den asked. "Did you look behind the couch?"

  Rhinann ignored this. "My investigation into the matter has been thorough and exhaustive. It is, of Michael Reaves 119

  course, entirely possible that in a city covering five-point-one times one hundred and eight kilometers squared, a weapon approximately one meter long

  when activated and rather less when not just might have escaped my notice. If you suspect that to be the case, I urge you to continue your own search."

  "What about crystals?" Jax asked.

  "No traceable signs of Adegan, Hum, or Dantooine crystals, either. Again," Rhinann added, "I cannot guarantee that someone somewhere doesn't have one sitting on their mantel as a curiosity. There is simply no way to trace such a thing."

  Jax nodded, thinking. Though the majority of Jedi had been slaughtered by the clones offworld, there had still been a respectable garrison at the Temple when Anakin Skywalker had initiated his one-man pogrom. Furthermore, Jax knew that Palpatine had ordered their weapons destroyed. If Rhinann was right, the troopers had been most thorough.

  Laranth said to the Elomin, "You're patently wrong in one instance. Darth Vader still carries one."

  "Vader's a Sith," Jax said before the Elomin could respond. "Or so gossip has it. I think it's true. It's the only way to explain his proficiency with both the lightsaber and the Force." His expression fell. "It would appear that you all were right. I'm not meant to have one."

  "Being a Jedi is more than just having a lightsaber,"

  Laranth pointed out. "Through the use of the Force one can become proficient in other modes of fighting that are almost as effective."

  "I know." Jax looked away. "It's just that I never really had a choice. I had only just graduated to full-

  120 Star Wars: Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows fledged Jedi Knighthood when Order Sixty-six was implemented. After that, my life was all about survival. A big part of that was keeping my head down and not using the Force." He offered a wry smile.

  "I've really only had the opportunity to use it once in a life-or-death battle, against Prince Xizor. And the irony is that be had the lightsaber and I was reduced to using a lightwhip."

  "Not to mention a somewhat sputtery connection to the Force," Den added.

  "Unless you have some reason for my continuing to pursue this chimerical task, I shall consider it settled. I have other matters to which I must attend."

  The Elomin's sepulchral voice said quite clearly that, as far as he was concerned, the subject was closed.

  Then to his surprise, Jax heard Den say, "Wait a minute."

  As he listened to his own mouth forming words seemingly independent of his brain, Den was somewhat taken aback by what he found himself saying.

  He was also a little nervous. It had happened before, this disconnect between his tongue and his head. It was as if the former was ruled by a semi-autonomous sub-brain, like one of the Cephalon's appendages.

  The results were seldom good.

  "Wait a minute," he heard himself saying. "I'm sure Rhinann has done an exemplary job trying to locate a lightsaber. But there's more than one way to gut a gokob."

  "How colorful," I-Five said.

  Den ignored him. "I was a reporter once, remember? A good one, back in the day. I can track a story over bare rock in a monsoon."

  Michael Reaves 121

  The droid clicked two metal fingers together.

  "There is a point to all this, I presume? The organics in the room aren't getting any younger."

  "Neither is your humor." Den looked at Jax. "If you really feel that getting your own lightsaber will help you function more effectively, then let me see what I can find out."

  Rhinann gave him an opaque stare. "What makes you think that you can succeed where I did not?"

  Den raised pacifying hands. "Hey, no offense, but I just have a feeling about this, y'know? Maybe it'll lead to something, maybe not. Either way, it's no hair off your ears."

  "That's enough," Jax interrupted. "Den, if you're serious about this, you're welcome to have a crack at it, but in your spare time. Our first priority is finding Volette's killer, and I need your fabled search-and-find abilities working on that foremost."

  "Whatever you say, boss." Den settled back
in his chair. He still wasn't quite certain why he had volun-teered to take on this extra task, although one reason was self-evident: he didn't like Rhinann. The tall, sat-urnine biped could bring the mood of any group crashing down faster than the gravity well of a neu-tron star. Besides, he hadn't flexed that particular set of muscles in quite a while. It would be a worthwhile As long as he didn't let his inquiries bring him too close to Vader's orbit...

  "We had no real friends," the sad-eyed Zeltron was saying. "Just acquaintances and professional associates. We hadn't been on Coruscant all that long. A little over two months, and most of that time was spent in 122 Star Wars: Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows making contacts that were invariably more business than social. We were ..."

  Dejah paused, setting her jaw momentarily, and Jax was surprised to see that she was overcoming the urge to cry. He had heard that, overall, the defining characteristic of the Zeltron species was that of hedo-nism. That they tended to be industrious and productive only with an eye toward that end, and were unwilling or unable to deal with negative emotions.

  Dejah, in contrast, seemed to be made of somewhat sterner stuff.

  She continued. "So you see that we were rather isolated. Save for Baron Umber, whom we saw quite frequently."

  Jax, Dejah, and I-Five were sitting in the bleachers of a local recreational park, watching a game of shock-ball being played between two young groups—mostly Rodians versus Haserians. The crowd was following the sport enthusiastically, providing plenty of ambient noise as cover for their conversation.

  I-Five pondered briefly. "The identifier Baron Umber is unfamiliar to me. The title naturally indicates a person of importance. Perhaps you could elaborate?"

  "I'm sorry," she replied. "I assumed most people around here were familiar with the name. He's a Vindalian. I understand that not too much is known about them. We heard that they're rather secretive.

  One thing that is known is that they tend to be great art fanciers. Certainly the Baron was no exception.

  He bought a great many of Ves's best light sculptures." She blinked in sudden realization. "I don't know if he's been made aware yet. Keeping to themselves, Michael Reaves 123

  Vindalians pay less attention to what's called the 'common' news than do many species. If he doesn't know, this is going to hit him quite hard."

  "I'm sure the sector police have notified him," Jax pointed out.

  Her lips compressed into a thin scarlet line. "That's right, of course." Her tone was bitter. "No doubt they delivered the information with all their custom-ary tact."

  "My impression is that Pol Haus is a pretty good cool," Jax told her. "Which is one way of saying that you can trust him as long as you don't cross him. But like anyone in his position he's not immune to either politics or pressure. He won't let anyone or anything jeopardize his job. My take is that he's only investigating Volette's death because your partner was a minor celebrity. I wouldn't be surprised if there's pressure on him already to wrap it up fast, stick any results in a tube, and bury it. He'll take any solution that seems reasonable and that answers most of the questions. I'm sure that his higher-ups don't want a big deal made out of a Caamasi case. Not when Palpatine took the political risk of having Caamas destroyed. If indeed he was ultimately responsible."

  Dejah looked grim. "So you would advise me to leave sleeping akks lie?"

  "It would seem the safest course, if we're to get you off world," I-Five said.

  Turning away from them, she watched the game for a few minutes. One of the Rodians scored, and the crowd went wild. Finally she said, with more assurance than she had exhibited in some time, "No. Ves wouldn't abjure justice for me if the situation were reversed. I 124 Star Wars: Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows can't leave this place until I'm convinced that everything possible has been done to find his murderer."

  Jax took a deep breath. "Well, I admire your determination, if not the decision." He looked at I-Five.

  "Next move: I suggest we find this Baron Umber and have a chat with him." He smiled thinly. "We can talk

  "His conapt is located at Seventeen Gallifrey Lane, Sector One-Oh-One-Seven in Manarai Hills," I-Five replied immediately.

  Dejah looked surprised. "That's his private address. It's unlisted. How did you ... ?"

  The droid tapped the side of his head with a metal finger. "Connections."

  Michael Reaves 125

  eleven

  The Manarai Hills district was one of the posher neighborhoods on Imperial Center, which was saying something. An eclectic combination of architectural styles, the luxury conapts that made up the majority of its domiciles had been designed by the renowned Benits Stinex, one of the galaxy's premier architects.

  The building Umber lived in was semi-autonomous, its exterior accented with smooth, streamlined chevrons and towers. Once again, Jax felt profoundly out of place.

  The melded chimes that made up the door were answered by a 3PO protocol droid, its silver chassis burnished to a high gleam. After an unmistakably disapproving glance in the direction of I-Five, it acknowledged Dejah immediately.

  "Please come in. My master will be most happy to see you." It ushered Dejah through the foyer as Jax and I-Five followed.

  "Please, rest comfortably," the droid insisted.

  "May I offer you beverages? No? Then I will inform the Baron of your unexpected and extremely welcome visit." It shuffled away across a vast expanse of burgundy carpet, leaving a flattened trail of scuffed carpet in its wake, and disappeared through an arch.

  126 Star Wars: Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows Jax studied his surroundings. They were expansive, with curved walls dimpled and folded to allow more space for the exhibition of paintings, friezes, ceramic floats, and other artwork. Tastefully displayed on slowly moving pedestals scattered around the floor were several examples of art that had to be the work of the late Ves Volette. Sculptures formed of animate light, they writhed and undulated hypnotically within their individual containment fields. As he looked on, they shifted spectra according to how they had been woven, cycling through various hues and patterns.

  Each was uniformly delicate, ethereal, and utterly beautiful.

  He glanced at Dejah. The Zeltron was looking at the sculptures as well, her expression forlorn.

  Approaching one of the sculptures, I-Five examined its undulant prismatic form closely. "Most intriguing. The energy signature is quite similar to the arc wave of a lightsaber. I would hazard a guess that its energetic source is a crystal—Adegan, Luxum, or something similar."

  Jax raised an eyebrow. "The same kind of crystals used to drive a lightsaber."

  "Quite right," said a new and commanding voice.

  Jax turned about to see a bipedal figure standing in the archway. He was tall and slender to the point of anorexia, dressed in flowing robes of shimmersilk.

  His features seemed quite human, although something about the shape of the face and the ears gave a subtle vulpine cast to his appearance.'As he came toward them he made straight for the Zeltron.

  "My dear Dejah." His voice was warm and buttery with compassion. "Such a shock. I was told of Ves's Michael Reaves 127

  fate not two hours ago by that thuggish police prefect." Reaching out, he took her hands and held them in both of his. "You must be devastated. I tried to comm you as soon as I was informed."

  "I turned my link off," she whispered.

  "Perfectly natural, and who could blame you? If there is anything you need, anything at all, you have only to ask." Looking to the side, he took note of Jax and I-Five, his gaze sharply appraising. "I see you've brought a friend." I-Five stiffened at the cavalier omission but said nothing.

  "I'm sorry," Dejah said. "Where are my manners?

  Baron Umber, Jax Pavan, captain of the merchant ship Far Ranger. Jax, this is Baron Vlacan Umber of Flavin Hold, Vindalia."

  In his all-too-brief tenure as a Jedi Knight, Jax had learned the Galactic Standard protocol for addressing nobility of various sp
ecies. He inclined his head and made the proper hand gesture. "An honor, Baron."

  He saw Umber's eyes widen slightly in surprise, and realized that his studied courtliness must seem incon-gruous coming from someone dressed so shabbily.

  "The honor is mine," the Baron replied, making the requisite response motion. He glanced briefly at I-Five, who stood in formal posture beside Jax, looking every centimeter the proper protocol droid. "One of the Orbots line," the Baron commented. "Something of a collector's novelty these days. Nicely restored." Jax repressed a smile as he thought of the acidic response that was no doubt crackling through the droid's positronic brain.

  128 Star Wars: Coruscant Nights II: Street of Shadows

  "Baron," the Jedi ventured, "if you don't mind, I have a few questions I'd like to ask. They concern your relationship with Ves Volette."

  Once again Umber could not quite conceal his surprise. He looked questioningly at Dejah, who nodded reassuringly. "It's all right, Vlacan. You can trust this one. He's bound himself to help me find Ves's killer."

  "I—see." Despite the Zeltron's assurance, the Vindalian's skepticism was obvious. He looked at Jax again, his gaze much more critical this time. "Are you—affiliated with the sector police?"

  Jax found himself more amused than irritated by the Baron's obvious disdain. "I'm an independent investigative agent. Dejah asked me to pursue this matter through unofficial channels."

  Keeping his eyes on Jax, Umber addressed his next question to the Zeltron. "Are you sure this is wise, Dejah? For one thing, I strongly doubt that any facts or evidence uncovered by this method will be considered admissible in a tribunal."

  It was I-Five who responded to that. "Actually, the law admits evidence submitted by outside sources on deontological grounds."

  The Vindalian's gaze narrowed as he regarded the mechanical. "I don't recall anyone giving you permission to speak, droid. Nor do I require instruction in legal proceedings from a nonspecialist device."