Golden Age of the Republic: Hidden Truths/Part 2

Aboard Mally, Rin settlement spaceport
Special Agent Evening Delwynn sat in her office, adjacent to her quarters. She was reclining in her desk chair, the back of her head against the wall, her eyes closed. Her office was plain, very few features that would stand out anywhere, let alone on the Mally. The only decor were three potted plants on a shelf, with two holopictures in between the plants. The shelf was opposite her desk, near the hallway access door. Delwynn sat, calmly, contemplating, attempting to connect the dots that she had been given.

Masters Greystone and Shalli quietly entered the office and sat in the two seats to the right of the doorway; the door whisking open and shut as the only sound that could aurally be of notice. Neither spoke initially, as Delwynn did not open her eyes. She was not phased by their entrance; and, she knew exactly who had come in because of the perpetual silence. Without opening her eyes, she pointed to a datapad on her desk. Although not a Force-user, but as a keen investigator who was trained in espionage at one point, she sensed Master Shalli rise and pick it up. The beeping on the datapad was the only thing to break the silence for three more minutes.

"Regueny has been abducted, Gallien is in a holding cell, Lind is dead, and I have a headache!" Delwynn stated.

"We can leave," Shalli responded somewhat unsympathetically, beginning to stand.

Master Greystone put his arm against the Omwati Jedi, forcing her gently back into her seat. "She doesn't mean a literal headache, Shalli," Greystone remarked.

Finally, Delwynn opened her eyes, staring softly and plainly at Shalli. There was no somewhat-callous façade hiding her true emotion. Still, Shalli could not read her thoughts or feelings. She was, in a general sense, upset, but everything else was veiled. Obviously, the Omwati surmised, she was troubled over the recent events. Perhaps this was the "headache." Nevertheless, something else seemed to be bothering Agent Delwynn: something much deeper, more troubling.

"Well," Delwynn added, "the tips we received on Regueny before led us to Gallien and Lind. Perhaps there is something else we are overlooking."

"Who did the tipster say they were working with?" Master Greystone asked.

"They didn't. Conveniently. All they mentioned was that Czerka was potentially involved."

"Evening, could our source have been on the inside?"

"Perhaps, Master. I think it was actually someone on the periphery, though. The details are too sketchy other than images of Regueny at various places, with various thugs."

"It might be more beneficial, then, to start with Regueny, himself."

"Possibly. I think we have Four options. First, we can interrogate Gallien and see what she knows. Although, right now I doubt she knows much at all. Second, we can simply let Regueny go and not follow after him. There is no logical reason for him to have been abducted, unless he was about to turn himself in or out other people. Since we have no indication that the latter part is true, this abduction makes absolutely no sense. Third, we can go after Regueny and interrogate Gallien. Then, we drop her off on Coruscant to be tried for criminal activity. Fourth&hellip; well, I have no fourth option at the moment."

Master Greystone chuckled at that, and stood. He moved toward the exit, but stopped in front of the holopictures. After a quick glance, he turned back to the Special Agent. "Any luck finding the man?"

Shalli was now completely confused. Who was this "man?" Did it have something to do with the case, or those holopictures that she just now noticed?

"No," Delwynn replied, looking away. "The computer is still searching. It has been searching for five years."

"That's quite a while."

"The galaxy is not a small place, you know."

"Yes, I know, Evening. I also know that he will be found."

"The irony is, Master, I don't even want revenge any more."

"That's a good place to be. Eleven years has helped that in some ways."

"No, Master, it hasn't. The last eleven years were a struggle to prevent such emotion from taking hold."

"And, in the end, you will be vindicated. The Force works mysteriously, Evening."

At that, Master Greystone turned and exited the room. Agent Delwynn dismissed Shalli, but the Omwati did not move. She was more stunned then anything else. The entire atmosphere of the office had turned to sadness. In those moments, Shalli sensed that the aura within the room reflected her superior officer. She attempted to glance up at the holopictures, but decided against it. These were Agent Delwynn's deep thoughts, in her own private sanctuary. It would be better to leave her be. So, the Jedi stood, faced Delwynn, saluted and departed, pondering what had been briefly shared. Eventually, she thought, she would learn the truth. Until then, it would simply remain hidden.

&mdash;	&mdash;	&mdash;

In the Maintenance Bay, alone, sat Asana Lani. The Lethan Twi'lek had her eyes closed, the side of her head gently pressed against a storage bin. She had not slept for hours and was in need of a break. After the team returned from the skirmish, she retreated to her favorite place on the ship. It was not the most comfortable location to doze off, but it was mostly private and in a familiar environment. In a way, this was her lab; Delwynn had given her permission to arrange it as the young Twi'lek saw fit. Now, on a small cushion, in the corner, she sat half-asleep. The near-silent humming of the computers and machines was of no bother to her, but when the door slid open, she noticed that her peaceful sanctum had been compromised.

"Asana?" Danstari inquired, not seeing anyone as he entered.

"Over here," she responded, waving her red hand; her eyes remained closed. "What do you want?"

"I have some more questions about the boss," Danstari said, peering around the room until he spotted the Twi'lek waving him over.

"Then, come sit over here. We'll talk."

Danstari obliged the Twi'lek and moved to sit next to her, to her right, on the floor. Asana neither moved nor opened her eyes as the Lieutenant adjusted his position and attempted to make himself somewhat comfortable. He touched her on the forehead with his right palm, gently, as if attempting to wake a sleeping child. Then, chuckling, he poked her twice above the nose.

"Stop that, you nerfherder!" she shouted, finally opening her eyes.

"Nerfherder?" the pilot replied with an almost silly-attempt to look offended.

"Yes, nerfherder."

"Come to think of it, I've never seen a live nerf outside a zoo."

Asana's annoyance subsided, and she laughed at the premise. "City boy, are you?"

"Oh, yeah. Born and raised on Coruscant. Never even left it until I entered the Judicial Forces."

"Interesting, city boy. So, what did you want to know?"

"Does boss always sneak up on people at random times?"

"You mean, like she did in the spaceport corridor?"

"Exactly. How did I not notice her."

"Ha! She didn't want to be noticed. And, while she's good at sneaking up on people, it is never random."

"Asana, it sure seems so."

"Nope. She only does it when she wants to."

"You think it would be hard to miss her since she seems so tight and tense all the time."

"No, Waron. Not 'tense;' ' Intense. ' "

"What?"

"I can call you that, right?"

"'Waron?' Yeah, sure. Nobody else does, but I don't care. Anyway, what do you mean, 'not tense?'"

"She really isn't a tense person. In fact, she seems quite relaxed most of the time. She just takes her work very seriously. She has very high standards and just tries to make all of us be the best we can be at investigating."

"Funny. I'm not an investigator, I'm a pilot."

"So, I'm a droid technician and chemicals specialist."

"Yeah, but you were trained in forensics."

"That doesn't matter when working with Delwynn. She makes you do anything and everything."

"Still, I really didn't sign up for this."

"I know, you were conscripted."

" ' Reassigned ' would be more accurate."

"Is that bad? What happened?"

"I was just a pilot for various government officials. I was with Senator Valorum for a couple of years, and he suggested that I would be good in investigative work."

"So?"

"Asana, I had never considered it before. Apparently Senator Valorum asked Delwynn if she needed a pilot. I guess that is how I ended up here."

"Are you unhappy about it?"

"No. I just never saw myself as an investigator before. I wanted to be a pilot in the Defense Force."

"Well, Waron, I'm glad you're here. As much as I love that little droid, you have been more fun to be around then Emra, already."

&mdash;	&mdash;	&mdash;

Master Shalli had made her way into the meeting room adjacent to the Interrogation Room. Along that adjacent wall was a one-way view screen which allowed the Omwati to see Catiene Gallien waiting. The young woman, only twenty-five years of age, was sitting in there quietly, fiddling with her long brown hair. Her white clothes had been lightly soiled by the purple dust of Mina during the attempted abduction. Her eyes were glazed, as if fatigued, yet Master Shalli sensed no emotion from the woman. In fact, as he had sensed nothing from Delwynn earlier, she once again sensed nothing from Gallien. Then again, the Jedi Master had never been successful at sensing emotions or intentions of individuals. This was her one glaring weakness that almost kept her from advancing through the ranks. Surely, she thought, someone as naïve and open-minded as this young woman could be read.

After a couple more moments of prodding the aura in the Force, Agent Delwynn entered the investigation room. She shuffled some papers inside a file, and tinkered with a datapad. The agent did not look up or regard the young woman in any manner. Other than her preparatory work, she seemed to be avoiding the young woman's eye contact. The delay was not just making Gallien nervous, but also Shalli. The Omwati finally began to sense something from the young woman. Fear. The fear penetrated Shalli's almost non-emotive soul. She had never seen an interrogation done by someone other than a Jedi. And, with Delwynn not bound to the Jedi Code, the Omwati did not know what to expect.