The Devils Inside the Walls/Part 5

"Do you have any idea how humiliating that was?!" Noryk Althos demanded.

Garrin cringed. "I know, Dad. I'm sorry."

"Hours of questioning by Judicials, like we're common criminals!" Noryk groaned, wiping the sweat from his brow. "And if that isn't bad enough, two Jedi walk through every room in our home looking for the dark side of the Force. I've spent my life studying the Sith and they both looked at me like an ignorant child."

"I'm sorry!"

"I can't believe you would do this to us, Garrin," Noryk's wife, Almaea, chided. "After everything your father's worked to provide for you, you're just going to throw everything away. And what about Manno, and Cylus, and your other friends?  Did you think about their futures, or their families?"

It was obvious Garrin hadn't; he put his face in his hands.

"You put in so much work on your grades, you had your internship with Eregar's father…all that talk about going to Anaxes, Garrin? That's all gone." Noryk shook his head. "You're lucky you're not in prison right now."

"I'm sorry!" Garrin sobbed, tears filling his eyes. "I know it was dumb, I know I should've asked—"

"Asked?" Noryk said, disbelief all over his face. "Do you think I would've said yes? Those artifacts were the university's property, Garrin!  I had to get permission from the dean to study them here, and now they've been confiscated by the Republic.  What are you going to do if I lose my job, Garrin?  How do you think you're going to afford your last semester of school, or those expensive jackets you like, or the datapad that—"

"Dad, I get it! I'm sorry!"

Noryk shook his head, and Almaea said, "You don't get anything. You're a spoiled little boy who's never learned to appreciate the value of the things he's been given.  Given, Garrin, not earned.  Go to your room.  I can't look at you right now."

He went, leaving his parents to grimace at each other.

"I think he's done going out at night," Almaea said. "For the rest of the time he's here."

"For a start," Noryk agreed, resting his elbows on his knees and his forehead on his clasped fists. "I can't believe I failed this badly."

"This isn't you, Noryk," Almaea said firmly. "We gave our son good things in life, and you've always been an attentive father. We've let him get by on too long a leash, but that's over now."

"I…you're right," Noryk said, trying for a smile. Sighing, he said, "I'd better go into the university. It's going to be a circus tomorrow, I need as much of a lead as I can get."

"Noryk, it's 0330," she protested.

"This is bad, Almaea. I have to get started on it."

She sighed too, but kissed him goodbye, and he was out the door in minutes and on the maglev not long after. En route to the university, Noryk kept revising what he was going to say, how he was going to explain this to make it right. He was depressed but not surprised to find that law enforcement agents had combed his office and were sweeping the department. He had time to write a statement for the dean and prepare a defense for the Faculty Committee before a red-garbed Judicial finally told him they were done.

He sat alone in his office for a while after they left, then finally closed his door and went over to his office's HoloNet system. Popping open the control panel, he was unsurprised to see a component that didn't belong; a bug from the Judicials. Using the tools he had been supplied, he carefully set a shroud over it to suppress it while allowing it to still read active. Then he drew a datacard from his wallet, plugged it in to the relay, typed a code, and waited.

It was a few minutes before the blue-white ghost resolved and Noryk knelt. The figure asked, "Well?"

"The boy took the bait, my lord, but there was a complication."

The system's speaker did its best to convey a non-Human hiss. "What complication?"

"Jedi, my lord," Noryk admitted. "They discovered the meeting. I don't know how, but they confiscated the artifacts."

"And the children of those we sought to influence?"

"I managed to get some information from law enforcement—my 'concerned fellow parent' act is most convincing," Noryk told him. "Unfortunately, none of them are seriously affected. The Jedi interfered too soon."

The silence lasted so long that Noryk looked up and saw the Sith Lord glaring down at him. "Are you suspected?"

"I was questioned, my lord, but they believed my answers, and there was nothing in my home or the office to find," Noryk said. "I gave the Judicials the contact information you provided for the broker, and, as you promised, it held up under the first round of scrutiny."

"We will arrange for it to continue to hold up. And the Jedi?"

"I remembered my training, my lord," Noryk promised. "The elder one, the Knight, had that look like he was trying to sense my thoughts, but I kept them clear. They're convinced my son stole the artifacts without my knowledge."

"Are you absolutely certain?"

"I am, my lord."

The Sith Lord was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke again, some of the disgust left his tone. "You may yet be of use to us, Noryk Althos. Take no further action for now; the Jedi will not ignore you a second time.  Continue to observer the developers and Commodore Ter'zaken and inform me if you discover anything of value."

"Of course, my lord."

The holo faded, and Noryk retrieved his datacard and erased the contact history before removing the shroud from the bug. Returning to his desk, he looked over the message to the dean again, then got to work on the next week's lesson plans.