"Captain Marlene?"
"Yes."
"Request permission to go to the lower levels of the city."
Marlene, with a tired look, responded, "How many times am I going to have to hear you ask that? The answer is the same. It is too dangerous. The Jedi have warned us about Coruscant’s lower levels. It’s rough down there, Beth." After a short pause and a gentle hand placed on my shoulder Marlene said, "I just don’t want anything to happen to you."
Slowly a smile spread across my face and I said, "You will not hear me ask again."
Cause I’m going with or without your permission, I thought, as my smile grew even wider. I turned and started heading toward my room in the Jedi temple. The Jedi had been very hospitable to the LSW Elite Unit and had given us each a private room for as long as we cared to stay on Coruscant. As the door closed behind me I started reasoning the situation out loud to myself.
"The lower levels just have too many fascinating things to see for me to not go there. There are the scores of aliens, the unique lifestyle, the strange foods..." I trailed off as I paced the floor. Stopping in my tracks I said, "Oh, who am I kidding - it’s the only place I can pick up some rare slicing equipment that I’ve been dying to get my hands on! A Q34 Traffic Silencer would really come in handy, and so would a Backtracer. And it’s not like the equipment I want to purchase would have necessarily been stolen. There’s a chance it might not be, and as long as I don’t ask then I don’t know. Besides," I continued to convince myself, "I would only use the equipment for good. Whereas someone else might use it to steal or blackmail. By me having it, I’m stopping someone bad from using it, so really when you think about it, I have to get the equipment out of moral obligation," I concluded with a big smile on my face. Too bad nobody else would agree with my line of logic.
I wanted to act quickly, more from excitement than necessity. I wished I could talk with Becky about my plans. She being our Intrusion Expert, I knew she could help me blend in down in the lower levels. But I had learned my lesson with the last stunt I tried to pull, and I knew I couldn’t tell anybody what I was planning or they would find a way to stop me.
My first step was to get together the items I would need for my little excursion, starting with a weapon. I knew we had weapons stored on the LSW Athena that I could get access to, so I left my room and casually strolled in the direction of the landing platform that held our ship. As I approached the door that led outside I repeated to myself, "Remember, don’t look down. Don’t look down." It was a straight drop of over 300 levels from the platform. Don’t these people believe in guardrails? I thought to myself as I walked out and headed straight for the Athena. Climbing up the ramp into the ship I heard a noise come from inside, and my heart started to pound. I’m just here to pick up a book that I forgot, I prepped myself.
I quietly made my way up to the second level, past the kitchen and into the storage area at the front of the ship. The storage room was stacked high with labeled boxes full of supplies. I made my way to the far left of the room where the cabinet with our extra weapons was stored. I punched in the code to release the lock and quickly grabbed two small holdout blasters and a vibroshiv. I strapped one blaster to my right leg, the vibroshiv to my left leg, and the other blaster I stuffed under my shirt. As I left the storage room and walked back past the kitchen, I jumped at the sound of my name.
"Beth?" Lori shouted. "Is that you out there?" I kept walking quickly away from the kitchen as Lori stepped out. "Hey! Wait up. What are you doing here?"
I stopped and slowly turned around, keeping my arms folded over the blaster that was under my shirt and trying to look casual. I smiled and said, "Lori! Hey girl, what’s up? The food at the temple not tasty enough for you?"
With a smirk Lori answered, "I bought a couple of fun gadgets that I thought the crew might enjoy, and I was installing them. It was going to be a surprise so you better not tell anyone," she said as she pointed her finger at me. "And what are you doing here?"
"Me? Oh, I... uh... I just forgot a book in the library and wanted to get it."
"And you decided to hide it under your shirt?" Lori asked pointing to the bulge that my arms were folded over.
"Yeah, because... I too am working on a surprise for our crew," I said with a smile and feeling proud of my half-truth answer. I then started to slowly back away. "So I better get going." I turned around and walked towards the exit, restraining myself from breaking out into a dead run. "And I won’t tell anyone about your surprise, if you don’t tell anyone about mine!" I shouted back over my shoulder.
Phew! That was close. I hope she didn’t suspect anything.
I gathered the rest of the supplies that I thought I would need, which included a non-descript outfit. It came as no surprise that the Jedi had a full stock of tan tunics, brown boots, and brown ponchos. It was easy to find something in my size. I also found a small glowrod and "borrowed" a utility belt. Julia often joked that my datapad was permanently molded to my body, so of course that was on my list of necessary items as well.
I spent the rest of the day behind closed doors in my room. I sat up to the synthwood table that was against the right wall of my room and worked at the terminal there. I exercised my slicing skills to find the easiest way down to the lower levels of the city-planet.
After mapping out my route and double checking my supplies, I turned in early for the night. I wanted to get plenty of sleep since I planned on getting up very early the next morning.
You know it’s early when Yoda is still in bed, I thought to myself as I rubbed my eyes again and crept past the room of a thousand fountains where Yoda meditates every morning. My first line of business for the morning was to exit the Temple and get to the nearest Cred Kiosk.
Having assessed my financial investments the day before, I decided to withdraw 2000 credits, hoping it would be enough to purchase the slicing equipment I was looking for. I then made my way down through the varied levels of the city, following my mapped out route. After a series of lift rides and winding through walks that connect the buildings, I made it all the way down to the 98th level. Anything below the 150th level was considered dangerous, and in the newer buildings access was restricted.
As I got off the last lift I took a deep breath since the smell in there was vile. "How could that creature survive riding around in a lift all day?" My body shivered as if trying to shake the cootie feeling off of me. I was impressed that I had gotten down this far in just under an hour. I knew the sun would be starting to glow on the buildings overhead by now and people would be waking up to the new day, but down here everything was still dark and relatively quiet.
I heard a low "Grrrrow" and hoped it was just my stomach and not a hungry hawkbat hiding in the crevices of the duracrete around me. I determined that a good place to start my day in the lower levels would be to find an open Tapcafe to get a bite to eat. Graffiti and some substances I did not want identified stained the walls of the alleyways I passed through. I saw a light ahead and off to the left from where I was and decided to check it out.
Painted in black on the transparasteel window were the words "Black Caf Tapcaf /Always Open". I assumed there used to be an "e" at the end of Tapcaf where a couple layers of flimsiplast now covered a hole. Given the condition of this place, I decided to check the perimeter for signs of danger before entering. Once inside I made a thorough scan of the room. There were tables and chairs of various sizes and shapes covering almost every square inch of the floor. The low, black colored ceiling was embedded with lights that glowed dimly. *I wonder how bright those lights would be if the grease and slime were cleaned off them, I thought. Doing a mental headcount, I noticed a pair of Rodians talking in one corner of the room and a Twi’lek with tattooed lekku sitting predominantly in the middle of the room. A non-descript humanoid sat facing the wall on the far left of the room, and to the right by the door was a pair of Whiphids engaged in loud conversation sitting up to a table strewn with empty glasses and half eaten plates of cold food. I chose a table just opposite of the door from the Whiphids and waited for the serving droid to come take my order.
As the droid whizzed away from bringing me my food, I looked up to see a young human boy enter the Tapcafe. He was in filthy clothes, his hair was matted to his head, and he looked about 6 years of age. He carried a satchel close to his chest and sat down at a table, continuing to tightly hug his little satchel. One of the Whiphids, motioning for the boy to come over, shouted, "Hey you! Come and settle a bet for us!" The boy looked over his shoulder and then pointed to himself questioningly.
"Yes! You!" the Whiphid shouted.
I watched as the boy stood up and, clenching his satchel till his knuckles were white, went and stood by the two intimidating, though obviously drunk, Whiphids.
"He thinks your sack there contains something very valuable," said the larger of the two, pointing first to his friend and then to the boy. "I think it holds something sentimental. So show us what you got, boy!"
"Yeah! Let’s see what’s in the sack so we know if it’s worth stealing!" the other Whiphid exclaimed as he slapped the larger one on the back and let out a hardy laugh.
The poor ragged boy looked scared. He obviously did not want to let go of his satchel, and he just stood there frozen in place.
"What’s the matter boy? Don’t you speak Basic! Look Gewatt! We scared him stiff!" the Whiphid chuckled. He then threw a piece of his Muju at the boy, hitting him on his left shoulder and leaving a soppy mess on his clothes. "He didn’t even budge!" he shouted as he outright laughed and picked up another piece of his meal to throw at the boy.
The smaller Whiphid, Gewatt, started to join in the fun of throwing food at the boy and watching the boy’s already dirty clothes get caked with foul smelling, half eaten leftovers. I was appalled at the sad sight of these bullies torturing a helpless kid, but I was reluctant to get involved. Whiphids were known for their hunting skills, and I knew it was not wise to tangle with them. Besides, the boy wasn’t being physically hurt.
No sooner did that thought cross my mind than the bigger Whiphid shouted through his laughter, "Watch this!" He kicked his leg straight out into the knees of the small boy, who then collapsed to the floor, still clasping his satchel. The two Whiphids burst out into a fresh round of hard laughter.
I jumped out of my chair unable to tolerate this spectacle any longer. I walked straight up to the laughing hyenas and said, "You think that’s funny? I’ll show you something really funny!" Then before they knew what happened, I had my vibroshiv out and lopped off a huge chunk of Gewatt’s hair. The larger Whiphid pointed at Gewatt and laughed uncontrollably. I quickly pulled out my blaster, knowing Gewatt’s embarrassment would quickly turn to rage. When he stood up, I pointed my blaster at his head. Gewatt shifted his left arm as if going for a weapon and I fired a shot past his right ear. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but he needed to know I was serious. When Gewatt ducked to the left away from the blast, I quickly armed my other blaster and pointed it at the larger Whiphid who by this point had also started to get out of his seat.
"Leave." I demanded.
The two Whiphids looked at each other, then at me, then at each other again. The larger Whiphid was trying to suppress a grin. "Outsmarted by a human girl," he said with a chuckle. Gewatt, even more embarrassed now, stomped his way out of the Tapcafe like a child. The larger Whiphid followed his friend. "That was a funny one!" he said, laughing the whole way out.
With a huge sigh of relief, I put my blaster away and helped the boy off the floor. "I’m not going to take your satchel," I reassured him. "Let’s go get something to clean you up with." I approached the bar looking for a cloth when the barkeeper slowly poked his head out from under the counter. Seeing that the Whiphids were gone, he stood all the way up. "Thank you. They have been here for hours and have been driving my customers away. See how empty this place is?" He motioned to the Twi’lek, two Rodians, and the Human left in the room. "My name is Sorjik," he said as he thrust out a chubby hand. "Owner of the Black Caf Tapcafe." He was a heavyset human of average height and dark straight hair that hung down just past his eyebrows.
"My name is Beth," I replied as I shook his hand.
"You did me a great favor. Let me offer you something to drink, free of charge of course," he added with friendly smile.
"Thank you. I would like some blue milk please."
"Really? That’s all? Suit yourself." He shrugged as he got out a cup for my drink.
To my relief, the eyes in the room started to slowly turn away from me and back to their own business. "I guess they didn’t expect a girl of small stature like myself to stand up to two Whiphids," I commented with a slight smirk on my face.
"More like they were surprised to see anybody do anything at all," Sorjik replied.
"I don’t know," I said with a shake of my head. "That other human over there looked about ready to take action. Must be that us humans like to stick together," I joked as I patted the young boy on the back. With a smile, he looked up at me and then over at the other human who beckoned the small boy over before I had a chance to offer him my blue milk.
Something about what had happened was bothering me though. Why would Sorjik not do something to get ride of the Whiphids himself? It was his place, and I would assume that he would have some way of protecting not only himself, but his customers as well. I knew it was rude to ask, but that never stopped me before. "Sorjik? Why didn’t you do anything to get rid of those Whiphids? I mean, you were hiding behind your bar like a frightened Jawa."
"I’m not very good at confrontation," he said as his cheeks flushed.
"Then how did a guy like you end up running a place like this? You’re not exactly in the nicest of neighborhoods you know."
"Oh I know. But I don’t mind, because it is very profitable. In many ways," he added. "And as for me owning this fine Tapcafe," he said with pride, "It’s not about who you are, but who you know."
"Really?" I mused to myself, pondering on my current situation. "I don’t suppose you know anybody who is looking to unload some slicing equipment, do you?"
"I know some people," Sorjik said cooly. After a short pause for consideration he relented. "Since you helped me I will help you. A regular customer is due here for his morning caf any minute now. He could probably help you with what you are looking for. I will introduce you to him, but you will be on your own from there. And I will consider us even. Agreed?"
"Agreed." I smiled with satisfaction and took a big gulp of my blue milk.
The little boy came back over and gave a slight tug on my poncho to get my attention. "Thank you," he whispered.
"You be careful now," I said with motherly concern. "Here. Let me get you something to eat."
"It’s ok," the boy said. "That man over there has ordered me some food."
"And it looks like it’s on its way." I pointed to the serving droid carrying a tray full of food over to the table. "So you better go eat." The child looked up at me with big round eyes and went back to sit next to the man in the corner.
I stared the Shistavanen straight in the eyes. "I’m not falling for that trick. You think I was born yesterday? You tell me how much they’re worth, then I’ll tell you how much I can pay."
The Shistavanen named Vittog, ground his teeth together and let his fangs show.
"And don’t try to intimidate me," I remarked. "I know you want to unload this stuff so just give me a number."
"7000."
"What?" I was shocked. I had no idea that slicing equipment would go for so much, and I had only brought 2000. "What if I only got the Backtracer and Q34 Traffic Silencer and forgot the rest?" I figured those were the two items I really came down here for anyway, and anything else would have just been a bonus.
"4000."
"All I’ve got is 1800," I told him, figuring that I wouldn’t want to deplete all the funds I had on me.
Vittog just sat there for a minute. I glanced around the tapcafe now crowded with all kinds of alien life forms gathered around the tables and talking in strange dialects. I assumed Vittog was thinking it over, but Shistavanen’s expressions are very hard to read. He could have been playing holochess in his head for all I could tell.
"I presume," he started, "given the nature of what you are looking to buy, that you consider yourself a skilled slicer?"
"Only the best in the galaxy," I boasted.
"That I doubt," he returned. "But I would not have expected any less of an answer. You slicers are all the same - ego the size of all Corellia. I will accept your 1800 credits."
My face lit up.
"If," he continued, "you help me get back something that is rightfully mine." I slumped back down in my chair. "I will need your skills to bypass a security lock. You get me in, I take back what was stolen from me, and then I will get you the slicing equipment. And I want half the payment in advance," he added.
I carefully thought it over. The plan sounded simple enough. Besides, he just wants to take back what is his. It’s not like I’m helping him pilfer credits from account files, I reasoned to myself. I decided not to ask any further questions, feeling that I was innocent as long as I did not know exactly what I was helping to accomplish. I stuck out my hand. "It’s a deal," I said as we shook on it.
As Vittog and I stood up from our chairs to leave, I noticed from the corner of my eye the small boy that I had helped and the human he had been sitting with also stand up. With a shy little wave goodbye, the boy left the Tapcafe. As Vittog and I headed for the door, I felt a hand on my arm.
"Wait."
I turned around to see Obi-Wan Kenobi staring me in the face! I rubbed my eyes, trying to make the hallucination go away. It couldn’t be, I thought in utter disbelief. But when I looked again there was no mistaking it.
"Do not leave with this Shistavanen," he said.
I turned to Vittog, and with evident embarrassment said, "Please excuse us for just a moment. I will join you outside in a minute." Vittog didn’t say a word. He just turned and stepped outside.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded through clenched teeth as I pushed Obi-Wan back into a chair.
"Looking after you," he said, stating the obvious. "Do not leave with that Shistavanen."
"His name is Vittog. And I have to." I quickly filled him in on the situation and what was required of me.
"Slicing equipment?" Obi-Wan looked dismayed. "You risked coming down here by yourself for that? And do you realize that Backtracers are illegal on most planets, Coruscant included?"
"Yes, I know." I stared at the table. "That’s why I had to come to the lower levels."
"We will be returning to the Temple at once. You can tell Vittog that you changed your mind."
Scrunching up my face and biting my lip I said, "I kinda can’t do that. I already gave him half the credits in advance." Obi-Wan didn’t look convinced. "That’s 900 credits," I explained. I sat firm and looked Obi-Wan square in the eyes. "I’m going through with it, and you can’t change my mind. It won’t take long and I’ll be back to the upper levels before anybody even misses me."
"Things aren’t always what they seem," Obi-Wan retorted. After a short staring contest he broke the silence, "I will go with you then."
"I don’t think Vittog will like that," I pointed out.
"He can choose to like it or not. I am coming."
Vittog walked ahead leading the way to where I was to assist in opening a door. Obi-Wan hadn’t said a word since we left the Tapcafe. "Vittog seemed rather agreeable to you coming along," I said to break the silence.
"Yes."
"Why did you follow me?" I beseeched.
"To protect you."
Trying again to get some information out of him, I asked, "Does Kris know I’m here? I can just picture her grabbing her blaster, taking off to try and find me, and in her rush forgetting to put her boots on first," I chuckled.
"I don’t know."
His cool manner was making me crazy. I was anxious to learn how he knew to follow me, but he wasn’t being very cooperative at the moment.
"Alright!" I blurted out, throwing my hands in the air. "How did you know?"
"I didn’t," he answered simply.
It was like squeezing water out of a brick! "Tell me why you followed me or I’m going to have to scream," I said in frustration, trying not to raise my voice too loud.
Obi-Wan glanced at me with eyebrows raised. "Marlene had a hunch," he started. "She shared her notion with Lori, and Lori commented on your strange behavior aboard the Athena which heightened their suspicion. They did not have physical evidence that you would visit the lower levels. So your Captain, not wanting to accuse you of anything without proof, asked me to keep an eye on you. She requested that I observe unobtrusively, and if you did decide to come to the lower levels, that I not interfere. Marlene thought you just wanted to see what life was like down here. She thought that you might go for a short visit, realize what a dreadful place it is, and return having satisfied your curiosity. I was to make sure you didn't stumble into any trouble if you went." He paused to look me in the eyes. "Apparently I failed."
"Hey, it’s not so bad of a situation." I started to try and ease Obi-Wan’s worries.
"I should have realized that you would have had a deeper motivation. By looking to purchase slicing technology you were destined for danger. I would have stopped you immediately if I had realized that was your plan."
I started to feel bad for my decision to make this trip. It wasn’t Obi-Wan’s fault that I got tangled in a little side-adventure with a Shistavanen. I tried to think of something appropriate to say when Vittog stopped in front of a turbo lift. We entered the lift after him, and he signaled for the 20th level.
"We’re going down?" I asked with surprise and starting to get upset. "You never told me this place was on the 20th level!"
"You never asked," Vittog replied.
When we exited the lift, Obi-Wan put a restraining hand on my arm, indicating to let Vittog walk ahead of us.
"What else didn’t you ask?" he questioned.
"To be honest, I didn’t ask very much at all. I figured the less I knew, the less responsibility I would have. Besides, I’m just opening a lock. That’s all," I rationalized.
"It is always wiser to know what you are getting involved with before you make a commitment." Obi-Wan picked up his pace to catch up with Vittog. From this level the buildings and walkways overhead entirely blocked the sky from view. Dozens of varieties of aliens and creatures roamed the alleys. Granite Slugs clung to the walls, and an offensive odor lingered permanently in the air. I seemed to be attracting stares from some questionable looking aliens, and not quite sure if my imagination was playing tricks on me or not I quickly caught up with Vittog and Obi-Wan.
"She didn’t ask," Vittog said, pointing to me as I caught up to them, "so why should you? You are not the one getting me in, and I only agreed to let you come along so that we would not waste any time arguing."
"We need to know what you will be retrieving or else Beth will withdraw her offer to assist," Obi-Wan asserted.
My eyes grew wide with of look of ‘Is that so?’ Obi-Wan looked at me and with a little wink and nod of his head I decided to play along. "That’s right Vittog. I need to know what I’m getting involved with or I won’t help."
Vittog stared straight ahead and kept walking. After a moment he whispered, "I’m being blackmailed. I will be retrieving the disc with the incriminating evidence. You do not need to know any more than that." I was satisfied, but I could tell from Obi-Wan’s furrowed brow that he was not.
We approached what appeared to be an old section of boarded up housing. Chunks of broken up duracrete laid strewn along the front, along with old pieces of garbage. The lower half of the building looked like it had been used for target practice. I could not see any lights on inside, and the lights outside had all been shattered leaving the surrounding area very dark and uninviting.
"This is it?" I asked with surprise and disgust evident in my tone.
"Yes." Vittog certainly was not one of many words, I noted.
"I don’t see why you need my help," I pointed out.
Vittog then approached the door and popped open a small access panel to the right of the entrance. Shistavanen’s had excellent night vision, but it was too dark for me to clearly see what was behind the panel. I pulled out my glowrod and took a closer look while Obi-Wan watched my back. "This is a state of the art security system," I commented. "A very impressive show for a beat up pile of rubble." Vittog made no comment. I worked as quickly as I could without triggering any signals that would alert someone to our presence. Within 2 minutes the door gave a soft ‘Click’.
"Wait here. I won’t be long." Vittog slid silently inside the dark building.
"See, no problem." I said to Obi-Wan, trying unsuccessfully to suppress a self-satisfied smile.
"I still sense deception on Vittog’s part. He is not being completely honest with us."
"It doesn’t take the force to figure that one out," I remarked with a smirk. "Look where we are." I pointed to the boarded up windows and the dirty aliens huddled in the corners of the alleyway. "What did you expect? Fine Alderaanian Wine and a lovely piece of ryshcate all on a silver platter along with Vittog’s life story as to who is blackmailing him and why?" I was trying my hardest to lighten the mood a little, and it seemed to work.
A smile slowly spread on Obi-Wan’s face. "Yes, you have a point. But don’t you find it odd that Vittog was so willing to let me come along?"
"I do have to wo--" Suddenly the breath was knocked out of me as I felt a shove knock me backwards away from the door. Obi-Wan’s hand was outstretched in my direction. In an instant the door flew open where I had been standing and Vittog raced out with laser bolts flying past him.
"Run!"
Before I had even regained my breath, Obi-Wan had his lighsaber activated and was deflecting the laser bolts. We took off after Vittog and Obi-Wan kept up an amazing display of swinging his blue lightsaber behind him every time a blast would come near us. I fumbled to get my blaster out and let off a couple shots over my shoulder as we ran.
"I don’t think they are giving up!" Obi-Wan shouted ahead to Vittog. Vittog made a quick turn to the right and jumped onto a parked speeder bike. Obi-Wan made a graceful leap onto the other speeder, and helped me to climb up behind him. "Hold on," he warned as he revved the engine. The bike took off at incredible speed. We flew around the corner and quickly tilted to the left as a laser bolt nearly missed us on the right. Thank the Force, I thought in a most literal sense. Following Vittog, we wove around a virtual maze of alleys and quickly lost our pursuers.
Vittog stopped his speeder in front of a tall building. "We will need to hide for a short while to make sure we were not followed," he explained. He eased his bike around the corner of the building and hid it behind a pile of debris, with Obi-Wan doing the same. We entered the building, made our way up several stories to the 47th level, and found a small abandoned room that overlooked the streets below. The room was sparse with only a couple chairs, a table, and a few old crates lying around.
As soon as the door was locked behind us I grabbed Vittog’s shoulder and spun him around. "What was all that about!" I demanded. "You lying, cheating, stealing, no good son of a Sith!"
"What about you?" Vittog bit back. "You failed to mention that your friend here was a Jedi." Vittog eyed Obi-Wan with distrust.
"Oh drop the act, bantha brain! I think you knew all along that Obi-Wan was a Jedi and wanted him to come along! I think you wanted some extra protection. ‘Just open a door’ he says. Yeah, right!" By this point I was nose to furry nose with Vittog.
Obi-Wan quickly pushed himself between us. "Anger is not the way. We must not let our disagreements distract us from the more immediate danger we are in." Vittog let out a low growl and stood by the window, watching outside with his macrobinoculars for any signs of trouble. Obi-Wan went to stand next to him while I retreated to the far corner and pulled a chair up to the table. I should have known better. Obi-Wan was right. This Shistavanen was trouble. I could have gotten myself killed, and surely would have if Obi-Wan hadn’t been there. I’m in way over my head. Obi-Wan walked over to where I sat and pulled a chair up next to mine.
"We need to know what we are up against. Vittog was not much help. At least not that he knows of," Obi-Wan said with a lopsided grin as he slid out a disc from under the sleeve of his cloak. My jaw dropped slightly and I discretely took the disc. Obi-Wan stood up and went back next to Vittog while I used my datapad to access the information on the disc. It didn’t take very long to de-code the information and I sat there in shock at what I saw. I think Obi-Wan could sense the change in my mood because he immediately came back and asked what I had found.
"It’s not about Vittog at all," I whispered. "It’s an incriminating holo against Chancellor Valorum."
"It can’t be," Obi-Wan protested in disbelief.
"It’s a holo of the Chancellor accepting bribes from some Neimoidians. Wait. This can’t be right." I accessed the backcoding sequence and analyzed the patterns. "It’s a phony," I concluded.
Obi-Wan looked noticeably relieved.
"This was expertly put together. The interactions are seamless," I explained. "You would not be able to tell just by watching the holo that it was a fake. But this sequence in the coding of the holo definitely is not consistent. Though it would take a sharp eye to notice," I boasted. I had been so wound up in what was on the disc, that I had only just begun to realize the implications. Obi-Wan was two steps ahead of me.
"Vittog is not being blackmailed," Obi-Wan reasoned. "He is going to use this disc to do some blackmailing of his own." He had a hard time hiding the contempt in his voice.
"I can’t believe I helped that lying, no good, foul breathed, slimy haired..."
"Control your feelings, Beth," Obi-Wan interrupted. "We don’t want him to know that we have seen the disc. Do you have a spare disc on you?"
"Sure."
"I will give him that disc, and we will keep his. After you get your equipment, we will part ways and he will be none the wiser." Obi-Wan stood and walked back next to Vittog with the blank disc hidden in the sleeve of his cloak, and Vittog’s disc safely secured in his belt.
My legs were propped up on the table and I twiddled my thumbs. "They aren’t coming." I was bored out of my skull and getting very antsy, but both Obi-Wan and Vittog didn’t stir from their watchpost by the window. "When will you males ever listen. No - body - is - coming."
"It is getting to be mid-day," Obi-Wan said. "I think Beth may be right. We should go."
Vittog disagreed. "They aren’t going to give up so easily."
"You must think pretty highly of yourself if you think someone would go to such lengths to blackmail you," I chided, knowing full well what that disc was really worth. I knew, as I’m sure Obi-Wan knew, that it was very likely our pursuers were still out there searching for us. But it was in our best interest to get the slicing equipment and get far away from Vittog as quickly as we could.
Vittog turned around not quite sure what to say.
"Let’s go," Obi-Wan demanded more than suggested. "I think it’s time you paid up on the slicing equipment you promised Beth."
We made our way down a corridor, up one flight of stairs, and out to a series of walkways connecting adjoining buildings. We crossed to an adjacent building, took the lift inside back down to the 20th level, and circled around the back to where the speeder bikes had been hidden.
"The clutch relay has been cut, and the ignition has been blown. They won’t start," Vittog determined after examining the bikes.
"That means they must be close by," Obi-Wan concluded and did a quick scan of the area. "Quickly. This way." Obi-Wan headed further down the ally. As we rounded a corner into a slightly more open area, a laser blast zinged over my head and missed Vittog’s shoulder by mere inches. We all broke out into a dead run, this time with Obi-Wan in the lead.
I heard the sound of an engine getting closer and glanced back. "Swoops!" I shouted. "Four of them!" My heart raced as panic started to set in. Obi-Wan showed no sign of fear as he ignited his lightsaber, stopped running, and turned to face the oncoming swoops.
"Stay behind me," Obi-Wan said. I pulled out my blaster and fired off as many shots as I could. Vittog did the same. Obi-Wan stood in front and deflected the bolts aimed at us, swinging his lightsaber in a blur of motion. As the swoops closed in, Obi-Wan leaped up and slashed at the front control panel on one swoop, sending it swerving off to the right to crash in an alleyway. Obi-Wan then somersaulted and swung his saber in an arc that put a large gash along the underside of another swoop. Two down, two to go, I noted to myself.
Vittog managed to blast one rider off his swoop while Obi-Wan disabled the last swoop. The surviving riders quickly ran away. Obi-Wan stood gallantly in fighting position with lightsaber still ignited scanning the area for any further trouble. "I think they’re gone." He deactivated his saber and attached it back to his belt.
Vittog led us to where he said we could pick up the slicing equipment.
"Here?" I asked in astonishment as we approached the Black Caf Tapcafe. "You’ve got to be kidding me!"
"I never joke," Vittog answered.
We went inside, and Vittog and I approached the bar while Obi-Wan hung back and kept an eye out for any signs of further trouble.
"Sorjik!" Vittog said as the two clasped hands.
"What can I do for you?" Sorjik said with a smile.
"Could you please get this fine lady a Q34 Traffic Silencer and a Backtracer from my supply?"
"No problem." Sorjik disappeared through a door in the back wall and came out moments later with a box. I peered inside and couldn’t contain my giddiness.
"Yes! This is it!" I began inspecting the merchandise for signs of damage, not paying much attention to what Vittog was doing next to me.
Within an instant I heard the unmistakable sound of a lightsaber activating and felt Vittog’s powerful arm grip me around my shoulders, pointing his blaster to my neck.
"Where’s the disc, Jedi?" Vittog demanded. It was then that I noticed the datapad on the counter next to Vittog. He must have tried to access the blank disc we slipped him. "I know you have it. Hand it over or the girl dies."
I wanted to be self-sacrificing and tell Obi-Wan not to do it, to not hand over the disc but let Vittog kill me. But I couldn’t say it because I didn’t believe it. All I could do was put my trust in Obi-Wan and his skills to get us out of this situation -- somehow.
"Don’t hurt her," Obi-Wan pleaded. He deactivated his lightsaber and pulled out the disc. "This is what you want." Obi-Wan tossed the disc in the air toward Vittog, hoping Vittog would let me go and grab for the disc. Instead Vittog turned his blaster toward Obi-Wan and fired. Obi-Wan activated his lightsaber within a split second, ready to deflect the blast. But to my astonishment the laser blast impacted with the disc. The disc stopped in midair and clanked to the floor in a dozen pieces.
I quickly pushed away from Vittog and dashed to Obi-Wan’s side. Vittog pulled out a comlink. A voice answered his call.
"Yes?"
"It’s done," Vittog responded. "The disc had been destroyed."
"Good work. Thank you. Your account will be increased by the agreed upon amount." The connection was terminated.
Obi-Wan looked at me, eyes wide in surprise. "I recognize that voice," he said. "That was Chancellor Valorum!"
My head spun as I tried to take in all that had just occurred and what it meant. Vittog wasn’t going to blackmail the Chancellor. He was working for the Chancellor. My jaw hung open in astonishment.
Obi-Wan and I made our way up the stairs to the Jedi Temple entrance. As we got closer I saw Wendy running out the door, with Qui-Gon close on her heels.
"Are you ok?" Wendy asked and then proceeded to check me for bumps, bruises, and scrapes.
Qui-Gon approached Obi-Wan. "I’m glad you decided to return," he said. "We were beginning to worry about you two."
"I missed you too, Master." Obi-Wan gave Qui-Gon one of his rare full smiles, and they ascended the steps together. Wendy and I followed up behind them. Before we reached the entrance the rest of the LSW Elite Unit streamed out to meet me.
"Beth! You’re not hurt are you?" Marlene asked. "And I hope you didn’t get into any trouble."
"I’m fine," I answered after a quick salute. "And it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle."
Obi-Wan stopped and turned to face me. "Really?"
"Well, not without some help anyway." I gave Obi-Wan a huge smile of gratitude and he winked back at me.
"Although I must say," he added, "You did handle yourself rather well when you stood up to those two large Whiphids."
"Whiphids!?!" Becky looked about ready to burst she had so many questions. "You confronted a pair of Whiphids? And what possessed you to go to the lower levels in the first place? When did you leave? How far down did you go? How did Obi-Wan know you were going? What was it like down there? I want to hear everything and don’t leave out a single detail."
DISCLAIMER: Star Wars characters and universe belong to George Lucas. This story was written for fun, not for monetary gain.