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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