Golden Age of the Republic: Secret Agendas/Part 5

Chapter 13
With the event on Seswenna having unfolded, the mystery of the scientific documents taken from the laboratory of Dr. Torrik Samit was resolved. Asana rifled through them once again, hoping to find something that she had missed. She was agitated that the chance to stop the outbreak had slipped through her hands. She was not a biologist, but surely there had to be something in this smattering of paper documents that could have indicated the intent. Each page was just a string of complex organic formulas that ranged from common or diagrams of the parasites. There seemed to be nothing of note otherwise.

About midway through the stack, Asana noticed a mention of the incredibly toxic compound hollinium chloride. Hyperbaride compounds such as this were very rare in the galaxy and highly costly. Turning over the piece of paper, she saw a chemical reaction outlined that crossed the hollinium chloride with a ammonium-hydrosulfide and carbon. The result was a very complex hollinium compound with nitrogen and sulfur, carbon-tetrachloride, and water. The Twi'lek paused for a moment and scanned the pages that followed. The next seven documents all featured complex chemical formulas and reactions. Deeming it important, she clipped the pages together and set them aside.

About ten minutes later, she noticed a series of numbers on the corner of another page. Notably, they were written in red ink, not the black or blue that had been used elsewhere. Was this a contact number? Was it a passcode? Once again, Asana set the page aside and kept surveying the paper documents.

"Asana," Delwynn said from the doorway, interrupting the Twi'lek's thought process. "We'll be landing on Eriadu in a couple of moments at the naval station. I want a full readout of where Avar Zranik is."

"Sure thing," Asana replied. "I'll start the second I can get a signal from the base."

"That would be now," the agent said with a smirk as the Twi'lek felt the vessel land.

Asana chuckled and stood. "How do you do that?"

Delwynn winked and walked out of the laboratory, leaving the Twi'lek to begin her search.

Without further hesitation, Asana ran to the computer terminals across the hall. Emra was already working the Eriadu City security cameras looking for Zranik. Seeing it best to not duplicate the droid's efforts, Asana opted to begin searching the Holonet for recent appearances. Only a moment later, a Holonet News article by Aulus Plinius popped up, stating that Zranik had been a guest of honor at a speech by B'Rhea two days prior. The speech&mdash;or, rather, political rally&mdash;apparently had ended violently with two B'Rhea supporters dead in a street a few blocks away. The mystery was unsolved, but police said that a witness saw a blue-skinned woman attack the men; the witness was spared, on his account.

Asana looked over her shoulder. Could this have been Shalli? Surely this was a misunderstanding of some type. More importantly, how did this effect Zranik's movements? The Twi'lek quickly pulled up footage from the rally. Skimming through it quickly, there was no mass dispersal of people from the square at any point. In fact, the event seemed to end calmly, with the dignitaries walking off the stage area together. There was nothing that indicated a severe incident had occurred. Perhaps a small fight broke out in the corner of the rally, but that must have been it, she thought.

Asana still needed to find out where Zranik had gone. He entered a secure speeder and departed the scene quickly thereafter. All footage from the area in that part of the city was gone. There was no way to trace the vehicle visually. On Eriadu, government vehicles had no tags on them to visually identify which speeder was which. Instead, they used electronic signatures. No tag number was traceable either. Nothing seemed to be proceeding well.

Emra interrupted Asana's deep pondering with a loud series of beeps. The Twi'lek turned to the automaton and spied what she had pulled up onto the screen. It was a photo of Zranik and B'Rhea eating a meal together on the patio of the governor's palace about two hours prior.

"Where did this come from?" Asana asked.

Emra beeped and pulled up the Holonet feed information. It had come across a secret Holonet feed of a dissident group called the "Arrain Makila."

"How reliable is this?" she inquired.

Emra once again beeped in affirmation.

"I suppose this is something to go on," the Twi'lek concluded. "I'll tell Delwynn we have something, at least."

Before departing the computer terminals, however, Asana did a quick scan of information about the governor's palace. Nobody has entered or departed for three hours. Perhaps Zranik was still there, leaving an opportunity to arrest him. Seeing the possibility, Asana ran out of the room and down the hallway toward Delwynn's office. While turning the corner, she ran into Delwynn, splashing her beverage onto the wall. Asana put her arms up and took a step back, frozen by Delwynn's icy stare.

"I'll clean that up," Asana said, hoping to melt the intense glaring. "Right after this bit of news, though."

Delwynn continued to glare, obviously unmoved.

"Zranik was at the governor's palace two hours ago," the Twi'lek explained. "There's no record of him having departed there yet. He may still be on the premises."

Delwynn nodded and then began walking in the other direction. Asana followed her to the lounge area, where the agent stood over the counter and grabbed another beverage.

"What do we need to do about it?" the Twi'lek asked.

"It was only water," Delwynn said with her back still toward Asana. "It will dry."

"I meant about Zranik," Asana clarified.

"Same premise," the agent chided, turning around. "We wait until he comes out; then we'll nab him. I'm not going to parade onto the grounds of the governor's palace when everyone in there could likely be arrested and well-armed. I don't feel like dying today."

Delwynn began walking toward the cockpit. She was obviously irritated by something, Asana thought. Surely the spilling of the water could not have done this. Had she found out about the HoloNet News story that seemed to implicate Shalli? Asana followed the agent into the cockpit, where Danstari was tending to the control panel of the vessel. She was unable to hear the quick exchange between the two, but it seemed that the lieutenant was displeased as well.

"Time to do some maintenance," he said as he got up from the pilot's chair. "We're going to want off this rock, no?"

Asana remained expressionless. Instead, she intensely watched Delwynn follow Danstari out of the port-side cockpit door. Whereas the lieutenant walked into the storage area, Delwynn meandered to the boarding ramp. As it was descending, Asana attempted to stay close.

"I believe you have things to do," Delwynn sneered.

"I believe I do," Asana replied, deciding it be best to leave the agent alone and continue monitoring Zranik's movements.

After Delwynn descended the ramp and walked out of sight, Asana walked back to the computer room and relayed the needs to Emra.

"Find whatever you can to make sure we know what is going on at the governor's palace," she instructed. "Nobody gets in or out without me knowing about it, okay?"

Emra whirred in response. Once the droid had begun scanning the Holonet for information, the Twi'lek walked back to the laboratory and grabbed the stack of papers and the two small piles she had set aside. Bringing them to the computer lab, she sat down at a desk and resumed her surveying.

&mdash; &mdash; &mdash;

Delwynn marched into the main building on the naval base, her arms rhythmically waving at her side. As she walked through the narrow colorless corridor toward the command center, she attempted to quell her burgeoning anger. There were two things that Delwynn hated most in her work: lawyers and media members. The former usually made it nothing more than incredibly difficult to effectively investigate. The latter made it nearly impossible. Media had begun to make this investigation into nothing short of a fiasco.

Before reaching the command center, Master Greystone appeared in the hallway. Once Delwynn approached, he quickly put his right hand over her mouth and gestured for her to follow him. She immediately knew that he was aware of her anger and had simply stopped her from lashing out. Further trying to gain control, Delwynn took a few large breaths as she walked down the corridor further. At the end of the narrow hallway was a stairwell that led down to the garage. The Jedi Master ushered the agent to the garage level and then stopped.

"Yes, Shalli made a mistake," Master Greystone said.

"That's not the biggest concern that I have," Delwynn replied.

"HoloNet News over-inflated the story," the Jedi added.

"I know," the agent responded. "I figured it was self-defense. An Omwati on Eriadu? Not a wise decision on my part."

"You know that I'm not Human either," he added.

"Of course, but you look Human enough," she sneered.

"So, what's the big issue?" Master Greystone inquired.

Delwynn sighed, "HoloNet News has broken the story that Seswenna and ten other planets are being effected by an incurable plague."

"I see," he said, shaking his head.

"I was able to get a call into Palt Bimwera to have Senator Moonflower's body get picked up," she added. "That's about as much as we can do. The borders to all these planets are being closed quickly. Chancellor Eddicus is likely going to have to act more dramatically soon, and I don't have the answers he needs."

"So you need to arrest Zranik," the Jedi Master stated in a matter-of-fact manner.

"You read my mind," the agent responded. "Literally&hellip;"

"No, I didn't, Evening," Master Greystone qualified. "I didn't have to."

"Asana's tracking him right now," Delwynn said. "What should we do about Shalli in the mean time?"

"Leave her with me," he instructed. "I'll handle her. We need to keep her off the streets right now. She's in danger because of who she is."

"I suppose you want to see the Jedi I brought back from Seswenna?" she asked.

"That would probably be a good idea," the Jedi Master replied. "We have some catching up to do."

"I'm going to need you to help me arrest Zranik tonight," the agent stoically spake. "We're going to bring him in no matter what."

"I better get on with the social end, then," Master Greystone stated as he turned to the stairwell. "Need anything else?"

"A vacation," Delwynn chided, following behind him.

The agent followed the Jedi Master back upstairs to the command center. Peeking into the room, Delwynn noticed Shalli sleeping comfortably in a wooden chair. Rather than waking her, she proceeded back to the Mally to retrieve Fay. Once back at the ship, Danstari appeared at the base of the boarding ramp.

"New fuel rods installed, boss," he said. "We're ready for a quick departure, if needed."

"Good," she replied. "Ready yourself for a raid. I'm taking you with me, but don't tell anyone else."

"Yes, boss," Danstari said with a salute.

Delwynn continued up the boarding ramp to the lounge area, where Fay was meditating quietly. Instead of explicitly interrupting the Jedi, the agent simply sat down opposite her and waited. Only a brief moment went by before Fay opened her eyes.

"I think there's someone you need to speak with," Delwynn said.

"He's waiting, I take it?" Fay asked.

"I'll bring you to him," the agent responded.

Fay followed behind Delwynn as she walked back down the boarding ramp and into the narrow corridor. The agent said nothing as she marched forward and to the command center. Once at the doorway, she entered the passcode and ushered the Jedi Knight inward. Inside, Master Greystone stood and looked at Fay straightly.

"Fay," the Jedi Master said.

"Father," she replied without emotion.

"Evening," Master Greystone called without looking at the agent. "Please give us a few moments. We'll meet you back at the ship in a little while."

Agent Delwynn understood. She nodded and walked back into the corridor, sealing the door to the command center. Delwynn knew the situation, but decided not to dwell on it. She was glad that they were able to see each other for a few moments again, knowing full well that both had resigned themselves to the separation required by the Jedi Order. Of course, the Jedi did not know that they were family. That secret was safely guarded, even though Shalli was likely still sleeping in the command center. Interestingly, she had not noticed the Omwati there.

Once Delwynn was back onto the landing platform, Asana came running down the boarding ramp. She was flailing her arms with excitement as she ran to the agent.

"I found him!" she shouted as she pressed her hands to the base of her lekku. "He's at a small one-story warehouse in the South Bypass Industrial District. Apparently, he keeps his office there instead of at the main EIE location."

"Good work," Delwynn affirmed, continuing her gait. "In five minutes, I want you to go into the command room we were using and break up the convocation."

"Huh?" Asana gestured as they walked up the boarding ramp.

"Master Greystone is meeting with Fay and Shalli in there," the agent clarified. "I want you to go get them in exactly five minutes&mdash;not a second more or less."

"Got it," the Twi'lek responded.

"Until then, prepare everything you can about the warehouse," Delwynn added. "We'll meet in the conference room in seven minutes."

Asana nodded and the two parted ways, with Delwynn heading toward the private quarters. Once she reached the room next to the lounge, across the hall from her office and quarters, the agent pressed a button and entered a code. The door whisked open, revealing a small bed chamber. A small lamp was on at a corner desk, but Dawn was sleeping on the bed. Delwynn gently sat on the bed and put her hand on Dawn's shoulder to wake her.

"Mom?" the girl asked, obviously still dreaming.

Delwynn ignored the question when she responded, "I need you to wake up for a moment, Dawn."

The agent shook the shoulder a little, rousing Dawn from her slumber. After moment of rubbing her eyes, the teenager girl propped herself up with her arms, pressing her elbows into the bed. Her brown hair was scrambled across her face, largely covering her eyes.

"I have to take care of something in the city," Delwynn said, brushing the hair away from the girl's face. "I want you to know, because I'm going to leave you here with Fay and Asana for a little while. They'll take care of you."

"Who's Asana?" Dawn inquired.

"She's the red-skinned Twi'lek you saw earlier," the agent replied. "She's someone I've had on my team for many years now. You'll like her, I think."

The teenager nodded and laid back down, asking, "Can I sleep some more?"

"Sure," Delwynn answered. "Just not too much longer, or your body won't adjust to traveling through space without a regular sunrise and sunset."

"Okay-uh," Dawn said, turning back onto her side.

Delwynn stood and calmly exited to the corridor, pressing a button to close the chamber door behind her. She had at least addressed the girl, hoping to keep her calm while the raid was happening elsewhere. Undoubtedly the teenager would not want to be left with strangers any more than those upon whom she was already relying.

At the same time, Delwynn needed to come up with a solution for Dawn. The teenager was a refugee and, although Delwynn could claim evacuation as a means for taking the girl away from Seswenna, needed to be reported to the authorities to follow proper order. In the chaos of the galaxy, however, she surmised that time was not pressing. The capture of Avar Zranik was the foremost priority. So, Delwynn shifted gears mentally and began thinking about the raid. She walked around the ship to the meeting room and sat quietly in the chair at the head of the table.

Delwynn grabbed her datapad from her side and pulled up the warrant for Zranik's arrest. There were no stipulations about Eriaduan jurisdiction, so it appeared that she was free to act as needed. Cross-checking with asylum rules, the agent noted that Eriadu did not have enough autonomy to be fully independent; therefore, Zranik was unable to plead asylum on those accounts. The excitement began to grow as Delwynn stared at the arrest warrant that was signed explicitly by Director Aiden.