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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