I Want to be Your Knight - 37

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After a long, uneventful ride, we were separated and pushed into interrogation cells. Mine was a moderately sized room, with a one-way transparent window, a large metal table bolted onto the floor and two plastic, non-conform chairs.

It was as unappealing room as possible, one designed to affront the sensibilities as wide of a range of beings as possible.

I could feel the girls' Force presences. Their emotions were cold, black stains on the Force. A mixture of anger, frustration and impatience. They worried me a bit, but after a wait of two hours, I was less concerned about them, and more about what was going to happen. As the door opened, I brought my focus back to the here and now.

The being that entered through the door was another Chadra-fan. The diminutive alien laid a datapad onto the desk, as well as a folder thick with flimsiplast documents. He looked at his datapad for a moment, before focusing on me.

"Well, Mr. Skywalker, it seems that you have a problem."

I arched an eyebrow at that. As far as I was aware, I didn't have any problems at all. "And how do I have a problem?"

"Well, first there's the breaking and entering at the academy, the destruction of private property, and accosting Administrator Koo. Oh, yes, and I can't forget the counterfeit identifications."

I chuckled. "Now I know you're just reaching. I don't carry any counterfeit identities."

"So you're Ben Whitesun?"

"No, I am Ben Skywalker, but that doesn't make those identities counterfeit."

I felt a twinge in the Force from Seha, and looked off to my right where I could feel her presence. My danger sense suddenly shifted into overdrive.

"We'll see," the interrogator replied, as he consulted his notes again. "Tell me again, why you accosted Administrator Koo?"

i sighed, and leaned back slightly in my chair. I knew he knew all of this. I also knew that he was hoping that my story would change. "He was using them as navigation computers in order that he could find that legendary treasure that the school's founder had hidden."

"See, this is what I don't understand. Why wouldn't he just use his ship's navicomp?"

I laughed. "If you're trying to trick me, you've got to work harder than that. As planetary security you should be aware that all Navicomps are required to record the destinations that they travel to."

I fought to keep a frown off my face as Seha's Force presence twinged again.

"That's interesting, as the Investigators noticed that yours lacks that particular feature."

"And I'm sure that you noticed I have an Official Variance signed off by both the Director of Intelligence and the Jedi. Order."

The Chadra-fan grunted and opened up the folder as that twinge in the Force shifted to an inferno.

I focused on the interrogator, knowing that whatever was coming, was nearly here. "So, tell me why you're protecting Administrator Koo's abuse of those two girls?"

The Chadra-fan immediately started sputtering. "I-I resent the impli-"

"Enough!" I interrupted, as I pushed back in my chair.

The Chadra-fan's eyes widened at my sudden movement. Just as a blast of red plasma erupted through the one-way transparisteel slashing through where I had just been.

I felt a feral grin come to my face. "You resent the implications, huh?"

The Chadra-fan's eyes widened, and I flicked my fingers at him, sending him tumbling against the wall. Hard enough for his body to leave an imprint.

Then the Force wailed and Seha's Force presence erupted in pain.

Growling, I reached out with the Force and grabbed the being on the far side of the mirror. The one who had taken a potshot at me. Once I had him, I pulled him to me.

The Nikto arrived on my side of the mirror unconscious and sporting a dozen wounds bleeding freely. I dropped him, and then turned my attention to the door. With another flick of the Force it was off its hinges and I was running down the hall.

I turned a corner and saw two stormtroopers of all things, in dark, reddish armor, standing at the end of the hallway by the lift. One was carrying Seha.

The other one opened up with his repeater and realizing that I lacked my lightsaber, I dived back around the corner.

A few moments later the blaster bolts stopped. I peeked around the corner and saw nothing. Frowning, I reached out and found Jysella and went to get her out of her interrogation room.

She was standing there, her arms crossed, a bruise forming on her right temple and a scowl on her face as I ripped the door from its hinges.

"Took your kriffing sweet time I see," she snarled at me.

I shook my head. "Sorry, I was trying to get to Seha."

Pushing past me, she walked towards the lift. "And you let them take her?"

I followed, feeling my frustration growing. "It's not like I had a blaster or a lightsaber, and they were shooting at me."

She didn't even bother to look at me as she responded. "You're a Jedi, you shouldn't let something like blaster bolts stop you."

"Well, not all of us can absorb them you know," is what I wanted to say. What came out, was, "The next time someone's shooting at us, why don't you show me how it's done then."

We got on the lift, and she finally looked at me. The anger bright and clear in her eyes. "I just bet you'd like that. You'd finally get to finish the job that you started all those years ago."

I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach.

Actually, a kick in the stomach would have been a step up from what I was feeling.

"Jys..." I began, but let it trail off with the realization that there was nothing I could say.

With a ding, the lift doors opened, revealing a dozen planetary security officers circling around three idiots playing with our lightsabers.

I glanced over at her. "Should we save them before they cut something off of themselves?"

She glowered at me for a moment, before turning her attention to the guards. "Nope. Let them cut off a leg or something. They'll be more cautious for it."

I chuckled, and turned back to watch the three, just as the alarm, probably announcing our escape, blared. True to my expectations, one of the men slipped, and sliced off the leg of one of the guards as they panicked.

I pulled Jysella to the side, and hid us in the Force, as most of the guards rushed to the lift and the stairs. That left us with three to take care of, plus the injured one.

Two took up stations near the door, while the third was giving first aid to the idiot without a leg.

I glanced at Jysella, and nodded. Subtly I used the Force to bring us the sabers as she moved closer to the lift.

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I Want to be Your Knight - 36

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A voice intruded into my nice comfortable darkness.

"Ben!"

Groaning, I lifted my head and opened my eyes, frowning at how blurry the world was. Wiping my forehead, I pulled my hand away and saw it covered in blood. I looked over my shoulder and saw Seha and Jysella in the backseat, both safe and none the worse for wear.

"I'm okay," I mumbled as I pulled my lightsaber and slashed the gate which was wrapped around the driver's side of the speeder. I pulled out my comlink, clipped it to my collar and set up an autofeed to the Scion, programming the ship to send the data to the Jedi and Uncle Lando, if the com-connection shut off. Then I was climbing out of the speeder. As I rushed up the steps, I called over my shoulder, "Come on you two."

I kicked in the door, and there was the protocol droid, it's arm folding away to reveal a heavy repeating blaster.

My saber came up, as the blaster let loose, sending the bolts right back at the droid.

Then Jysella was dancing around me, her silver blade slashing in, and she cleaved the droid into two. I didn't give it a second thought, but instead reached out with the Force, hunting for Administrator Koo.

I felt her Force presence a short distance away, and began running down the hall. "This way," I called out, and then used the Force to really run.

Within moments, I had burst into a hanger. I noticed a few things as I entered. The first was the yacht that was obviously warming its engines.

Next was Casa and immediately to her right was another girl about the same age. Both were obviously frightened as they were sitting perfectly still in chairs, and right behind each were two security droids.

Droids which began shooting as soon as I stepped into the hanger.

I cursed, as I dove to the side with the realization that I couldn't risk deflecting the bolts back because they might hit the girls. I rolled behind some crates, and glanced at the door noticing that Jys and Seha hadn't come through yet.

I sent them an image of what I was seeing over our training bond, and hoped they'd catch onto what I was doing. Then Koo was standing on the edge of the gangplank, and called out, "Bring the girls, and kill Whitesun."

"No!" I screamed as I jumped to my feet and threw my saber towards Koo. The Chadra-fan yelped and dropped to the ground as my blade slashed through the support struts for the gangplank--knowing that would be enough for it to fail launch protocols.

I was running after the saber, when a series of bolts stuttered across my path. I threw myself backwards, and away from the bolts. Where are you two? I sent over the training bond.

To get a wave of amusement, tinged slightly with Jys' sense of humor coming back to me.

Then one of the droids let out an electronic squeal. I looked that way and saw Seha behind a droid the one immediately behind Cassa, her saber extending from its chest.

Then Jysella took out the droid holding the other girl.

With a grin, I stretched out my hand and flicked with the Force. The two remaining droids flew against the wall, slamming into it hard enough to break.

Recalling my saber, I turned on Koo. "Hello Administrator. It's a pleasure to see you again."

I forced myself to not laugh as the diminutive alien glared at me. Koo's gaze flicked from me towards the girls and then back. "How... who?"

I shrugged, ignoring her questions as I slipped a pair of stun-coughs on her wrists. Then I turned and walked over to Seha and Jysella. "How're they?"

Seha looked at me, concern flickering over her face. "Physically they're fine, but they just keep repeating hyperspace coordinates."

I sighed. "I was afraid of that. Apparently, Koo over there has been shoving, at least Cassa's head full of astronavigation programming instead of the standard primary education that she was supposed to be getting."

Both Jys' and Seha's faces hardened, as their eyes flickered over to the administrator. I chuckled as I felt Koo's Force presence flare in fear.

"Freeze!"

We turned and saw a squad of the planetary security forces entering the hangar, their blasters drawn.

Koo began to chuckle, and I shot a glance at her. She instantly quieted.

Jysella spoke. "Hello Officer, we're Jedi Knights."

The officer in lead didn't drop his blaster. "I know what you three are, what I don't know is why you're here."

"To find and rescue this child," I quickly explained. "Administer Koo filed an missing persons report on her, despite the fact that he had secreted her away from her parents. Additionally, he modified her education program, in effect turning her into an astromech."

Still, I found myself staring down the barrel of that blaster. "I think we'll just take all of you down to headquarters to sort this out."

"As you say, Officer," I replied as I nodded my head, and with the Force, shut off my comlink.

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I Want to be Your Knight - 35

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Let me let you in on a secret.

It's a secret to investigations which no one ever tells you about. A secret which is never shown on those crime holodramas. A secret that's glossed over in fictionalized accounts of crimes.

On an investigation, you spend 1% of your time doing stuff, 5% of your time talking to people and 94% of the time working on the computer, holonet or doing some type of forensics.

What all those numbers mean, is that after the thirty or so minutes I spent at the school collecting stuff, I had a good six hours of working through the collected data.

So, I was quickly engrossed in it.

First I looked at the forensics that were collected, and did not find anything.

Which I found really odd. Lando's reports stated that she had been disappeared at night from her quarters while she was in the learning pod.

There should have been something in the forensics, unless Cassa had left willingly. Or at the least with someone she knew well.

So, I opened up the data that had been on her console, and felt a frown forming on my face.

Cassa was at a high-end, primary education facility. One of those places where they take the kids for a few weeks, and when they return them, they know basic maths such as algebra, trigonometry and geometry, as well as how to read and had been given a dozen aptitude tests. The really good ones also tossed in a few languages onto the mix--and this was one of the best.

I should know, it was the same school where I had my primary education when I was four. It was three months of playing with other kids my age all day, getting information shoved into my brain at night, and finally going home and just knowing trig.

But what was causing my frown was the sheer amount of astronavigation theory that was on her console, as well as hyperspatial physics and starcharts.

I wasn't certain what to make of it.

All I knew was that there was something there. I could feel it, a niggle tugging at my memory, as my mind tried to bring something together.

I looked through the data that was on her console. One thing I was certain of, was that there was no way that that data should have been on her console, as even with the data imprinting of trigonometry, she shouldn't have enough higher-order maths to understand it. She would be able to plot a hyperspace course manually, but wouldn't know what that meant.

This was the data I was staring at when Seha commed me at 1300 hours.

I answered, "Whitesun here."

"Ben," came her response. "We've not found a single thing out here. There's no smuggling, no drug running, there's not even an unsolved murder for us to find."

I frowned, that bothered me, but I wasn't sure why. "No matter, why don't you two get back here. I think we need to get a closer look at that education facility."

"Did you find something?"

"I'm not sure. I'd like to get yours and Jys' opinions on what I'm looking at when you get here though."

"Copy that, Ben. Be there in ten."

Then the comlink went dead and I was once more watching the console screen, struggling to figure out what was niggling me at the back of my neck. What Seha had said on the com had made the niggle of unease worse. Something about there not being anything to attract a Jedi's attention.

Suddenly, everything shifted and I understood all the disparate parts: Cognos, Koo, an asteroid and astronavigation.

It all made sense. I jumped out of my seat and rushed from the room grabbing my saber as I did.

Instead of going to the gangplank, I ran into the cargo hold. With a flick of the Force, I opened the cargo doors, as I ripped the canvas off of my speeder. It was a sporty, open air model, and I jumped into it, quickly activating its repulsors.

The speeder's engine growled, and I feed it power. With a rush of wind, I was out of the ship. I saw Seha and Jys walking towards me, and I slashed to a stop in front of them.

"Get in," I yelled, and for once they listened to what I was saying, as they both climbed into the rear seats.

Once they were in, I stomped on the accelerator, and the speeder jumped forward. I knew I was breaking a dozen local speed ordinances, but I was past caring.

Jysella leaned forward. "I thought you wanted us to look at something."

I shook my head, and yelled back at them. "No time."

"Why?" Seha asked.

"Because I think I know what's happening, and I'm afraid that I might've spooked them by showing at the Academy earlier. It's already been hours since I left, I just hope it's not too late."

"Too late for what?"

I shook my head, and wove through the traffic, focusing intently on getting back to the academy. I didn't want to really think about what it could be too late for.

After all, I owed it to Cassa and Lando both to make sure that she was okay.

Then we were nearing the academy, and I noticed that the massive iron gates had been closed. Rather than breaking, I pushed the throttle harder. The speeder jumped forward again, gaining speed, and Seha and Jysella screamed as the speeder slammed into the gates.

There was a harsh metal squeal and I jerked hard against my restraints as the gate crumbled around my speeder.

The speeder continued moving forward until it slammed hard against the a waist high pillar in front of the steps that led up into the building.

As the front of my speeder crumbled around the pillar, there was nothing but darkness.

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I Want to be Your Knight - 34

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Seha left before I could say anything else, and I busied myself with the post-flight checks. One thing was certain, these girls were great at destroying anything resembling equilibrium.

I finally finished, and with a sigh leveraged myself out of the seat.

Instead of going to the common area, I stepped into my quarters and got prepped for the mission. Which involved changing everything about myself.

I needed to stop being Ben Skywalker, Jedi Trainee and start being Ben Whitesun, Private Investigator.

First I dyed my hair black, then I put a couple pebbles into my shoes to shift my walk. Next I slipped a pair of contacts into my eyes to shift my retinal patterns.

The last physical change was to spread a thin layer of an adhesive over my fingers to ensure I wouldn't leave any fingerprints.

I exchanged my Jedi robes for more Corellian style clothes. The jacket had been custom made to include a interior hook for my lightsaber, so that the only obvious weapon I carried was my blaster.

Finally, I picked up all the tools that my life as a spy had granted me; things like lockpicks, a forensics collector and a specialized, high-speed, datacopier.

My preparations complete, I went to the common area, and found both Seha and Jysella on one of the couches, talking quietly.

Seha noticed me first, and when she looked up at me, her eyes widened slightly.

Jys turned towards me, and arched an eyebrow. "I didn't realize that we were playing dress up."

I smirked at her. "Sometimes being a Jedi isn't the best thing for what you're trying to do."

"Don't you two start fighting right now, we have a mission," Seha replied. Then she focused on me. "So, do you happen to have a plan?"

I nodded my head. "My plan is that you and Jysella act like Jedi, being a bit conspicuous, but searching for some drug smugglers. I on the other hand, act all sneaky, and put that intelligence training that was drilled into me to good use."

Jysella's lips tightened for a moment. "I don't think I can see anything wrong with that plan."

I chuckled, and gave my head a sharp nod. "Great. So, we'll check in with one another at 1300 hours standard. Sound good?"

Both girls nodded their heads, and I gave a short smile for Seha before leaving the ship.

Part of me was happy that my plan for ensuring that I kept a low profile involved the girls working away from me.

Not only was I still worried about the girls sharing in the visions of the past I kept happening, but I also knew it was only a matter of time before Seha realized that I wasn't worthy of any happiness.

That I really wasn't worthy of her.

That I wasn't worthy to be with anyone.

Pushing the thoughts from my mind, I clenched my teeth, and headed towards Cassa's boarding school.

And before long, I was there. It was a bright cheerful structure, and having read the datapacket from Lando, I knew it was one of the best advanced education systems in the entire Alliance.

Patting my pockets to ensure that I had my "Ben Whitesun" credentials, I entered the school.

Within taking two steps into the building, a Tenandro protocol droid was standing in front of me.

"I am ZT-003, Welcome to Clorith School for Elementary Studies. How may I assist you?"

I knew about the ZT line. While they were technically a protocol droid, fundamentally they were a battle droid as well. Much like the nanny droid I had growing up, except for the "adult" world.

"Hello ZT, I'm Ben Whitesun," I replied, as I held out my credentials towards him. "I'm a private investigator hired by Lando Calrissian to look into his daughter's disappearance, and I'd like to talk to the administrator of this facility."

The droid scanned my credentials as I talked, and I knew that it should be talking to someone at the moment.

Then it seemed to focus on me again. "Please remain here, and Administrator Koo will be here momentarily."

I nodded my head, and finally looked around overtly. I wanted the security cameras to catch me looking at all the things that I had noticed when I stepped into the room. No need for them to realize about my eidetic memory.

I liked keeping things like that as a surprise after all.

Before long, a Chadra-fan was standing before me, and introducing herself as Administrator Koo.

"I'm Ben Whitesun, and as I hope ZT here told you, Mr. Calrissian has asked that I look into his daughter's disappearance."

Koo watched me for a moment, and then nodded her head. "Very well, Mr. Whitesun, how can I assist you?"

"I'd like to look at her room, if possible."

She gestured towards a hall. "This way, though I hope you don't mind my presence, it's against our policies to allow non-personal unescorted access. Safety and all, you understand."

I smiled at her. "Of course, Administrator Koo."

"That said, I'm not certain what you expect to find. We told Mr. Calrissian that it is our belief that his daughter ran away from our school."

I nodded again. "Yes, he mentioned that, but I have procedures I follow in this type of cases. You understand policies, I'm sure."

I fought to keep a grin off my face as I felt her Force presence tighten at my subtle jab. We passed a bust that I recognized as one of the school's founder, and I paused for a moment to look at it. The bust was of a female Ikotchi, and I knew I had seen a statue just like this someone before.

The Administrator noticed my attention, and began speaking behind me. "That's Sil Clorith, our founder. Rumor had it that she had an asteroid where she kept a small fortune."

When Koo said asteroid I suddenly remembered. It was one of the things that Jacen had mind-rubbed out of my memory on Brisha Syo's asteroid. But rather than being labeled "Sil Clorith," that statue had been labeled "Darth Cognus."

I smiled, thanked her for the information and we continued down to Cassa's dorm.

As i entered, I reached out with the Force, trying to get a feel for the room, and its occupant. Stepping over to her desk, I obviously flicked through the flimsies on it as I activated my data copier. I set the small sphere next to Cass' console as I pulled out an imager and scanned the room.

And while being overly obvious about taking pictures, I set the forensics data collector to working.

A few minutes later both the data copier and the collector had pinged my comlink with a short buzz to let me know that they'd gathered everything that they were going to.

Having everything I expected to get, I discreetly--and with judicious use of the Force--retrieved my copier and forensics sphere, and had Koo escort me from the building.

As I walked back towards the spaceport, I just hoped that Seha and Jys were having an easier time without me around.

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