Disclaimer: See Part 1
The Fallen Beginning
by
AJ Marks
Chapter 3
Jessica walked over to her captain after Tillis and his friend Ri-Jun left to ask him what he though of everything. Her captain watched as she approached and knew that he was in for something, and it would not be good. She had an unconventional way but she always got who she was after, that was why he was surprised when Lord Dugous had told him she was not needed to find out who was behind the attacks on the ambassador Wedge Organa.
"Jessica, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He asked the tall beautiful woman.
"I've thought of a theory about the attacks on the ambassador, I was going to come over sooner but I got delayed by Tillis." Jessica said not mentioning that his friend was the one who had suggested the idea.
"You know that you're not on the case Jess, but I'll pass on any information that you may have." He said with a sigh as the woman just smiled at him.
"What if we are in the middle of a cult war?" She said watching as the captains gray eyebrows went up into his hairline. "And for some reason one side thinks that Ambassador Organa is going to interfere with something that even he does not know he is willingly doing." She stated.
"Hmm, that's an idea, but if it's true, then no one is completely trust worthy Jess." He told her.
"That's why I want on the security team for the ambassador, I won't try to solve the case, but I do have better skills than anyone else in the field." She said having come up with that last one on the spur of the moment, and it would allow her to introduce Ri-Jun to the ambassador.
"What about the case that you are currently working on?" He asked her and was not surprised when she said that she had already finished it. He leaned back in his chair and thought about what she had said, and if she was right, then they would have to be quiet about it. "All right, I'll put you on as head of security, but you'll be working with their head of security, Petra, and he won't take being told what to do."
"That's not a problem sir." She said thanking the captain again and walked off to her new assignment.
The captain just shook his head and wondered where he could hide the next couple of weeks until this whole council thing was over with.
Petra was lounging on the sofa trying to tune out the boring drabble that Wedge was saying to the leaders of Alderaan about their position in the council. To Petra he thought that they were saying the same thing over and over again, but Wedge explained that there were minute differences in the wording that meant different things.
Petra gave up on the political and legal lessons and instead was not inspecting the walls, windows and ceiling thinking about possible ways to attack when the buzzer rang. He got up and motioned that Wedge could stay where he was as Petra went to answer the door. As the door opened the sight before him was not what he expected at all. There was a woman standing as tall as he was in one of the security uniforms, but it was her beauty that struck him first.
Jessica smiled at the man, who she guessed was Petra who was just standing there looking at her.
"May I come in?" Jessica asked breaking the spell the man was in.
"Ah, yeah, what can I do for you?" Petra asked mentally slapping himself for such a lack of discipline.
"I wanted to talk to you, at least I assume that you are Petra, right?" Jess asked.
"Yes I am, and you are?" He asked.
"Lieutenant Jessica Pamlis, new head of security for the ambassador, and I wanted to talk with you and the ambassador about something. Is the room clean?" Jessica whispered to him.
The news took Petra by surprise, he had not been notified that there was going to be a change in personnel and why was she wondering if the room was clean. Then he realized that she was not talking literally, but for 'bugs'.
"Its clean." He replied having done it after Lord Dugous had left. "Now what do you want to talk to me about?"
"I think that I have some information for you. I have reasons to believe that the attacks against the ambassador are done by a rogue group of mind readers that are at war with several other groups." Jessica told him and watched as his face went passive for a second.
"That's feasible, there have been a couple of groups on Alderaan that have been unhappy with the way things have been handled lately, but they have usually been quite peaceful." Petra said musing out loud over the data that he had been given.
"There is also something else that I would like to go over with you, I have encountered someone who would like to meet with you and the ambassador. He feels that somehow the ambassador is important in the struggle." Jessica said. "His name is Ri-Jun, and he can be contacted at this number." She handed Petra a piece of paper with Tillis' number on it.
"Why are you handing me this?" Petra asked a bit confused.
"I think that it would be a bit safer for all of us involved if I didn't know anything about it. There is someone in our organization who is working for them." Jessica answered.
"I understand." Petra replied
Ri-Jun sat in the corner meditating in Tillis' small apartment waiting for Jessica to notify him of a time and meeting place. He had tried to meditate on the upcoming meeting but he was not able to see anything about it, almost as if something was clouding his vision. He was not sure what this meant.
Tillis on the other hand was trying to be patient but Ri-Jun could tell that it was not his strong suit. He was a hands on person who wanted to be in on the action. Tillis looked again at his new roommate and he briefly wondered what it was about this person that he just happened to meet on the street and why he took him in.
Tillis thought back to this morning when he had noticed the man next to him as they were watching Lord Dugous' men do their work against another helpless person. Tillis had taken a glance at the man who had asked him a question and was immediately struck by the intelligence and strength of that was held behind the eyes that seemed to stick out from the cloaked figure.
Looking at the man now Tillis could still see the features as he did his meditation. The prophets on his home world of Osuss could do the same thing, or so he had been told. He still wondered as to what part this man would undertake as to shape the next several thousand years.
Tillis decided to occupy himself by working on a small project that he had been studying for someone on the side. He was researching a police force for a professor of history that worked for the local university. Many of them had come to him to help in research, it was a way to make extra money legally. This project really seemed to interest him, as it was a police force from Ossus and the weapons that they had been trained to use. A special type of baton that they could use called a 'light stick'. This defense weapon, in the hands of a skilled police officer could deflect laser fire ad cut through almost everything. It was a very useful tool for the time.
A knock at the door brought Tillis and Ri-Jun looking up at the door. Tillis looked to see who it was and was not sure who it was. The person was dressed like everyone else would be, but their demeanor was quite different. They were very alert and almost looked a bit uncomfortable in the surroundings.
Tillis opened the door up and asked what the man wanted. The man identified himself as a member of Alderaan's royal guard and asked for Tillis or Ri-Jun-Aldi.
"I'm Ri-Jun." He said from the floor where he was watching the interaction between the two men.
"Our King, and ambassador, Wedge Organa has asked to see you in a location of our choosing." The man said without any hesitation in his voice.
"Whenever he is ready, I'll be here waiting to hear from him." Ri-Jun said in a calm friendly voice.
"If you are ready then we can go right now." The man said without missing a beat.
Tillis and Ri-Jun looked at each other in a bit of surprise at the statement. Ri-Jun just shrugged his shoulders and quickly asked if Tillis still wanted to go.
"Want to go, are you crazy, and miss probably only the most exciting time of my entire life. No way!" Tillis replied walking for the door.
Ri-Jun looked at the guard and motioned for him to head out and Ri-Jun closed the door to the apartment.
The guard led the two men through the different streets of the local area. Ri-Jun felt completely lost but felt like he was able to trust the man leading them. Tillis on the other hand knew the streets that were around and wondered about their meeting place, because if they were headed to where he thought they were it was very public. He wondered if Ri-Jun would be comfortable there.
A few minutes later they arrived in front of a large fancy bar that the guard led them into. The bouncer at the front let them in when the guard mentioned that they were here for Wedge. When they passed the guard seemed to look at Ri-Jun and Tillis with a hard look.
Ri-Jun did not like the man at the door, but realized that he was just doing his job and making sure that no harm came to the people inside.
They were lead to a small corner of the bar that had two men waiting for them. A quick look around confirmed that Jessica was nowhere to be seen, and that made Tillis nervous.
"Where's Jessica?" Tillis asked when they sat down.
"She thought that it would be better for her if she did not know when or where we met, that way non one on the security force could point a finger at her for any reason." One of the men explained and Tillis found reason with it and he relaxed a bit.
"I'm Wedge Organa, and this is my body guard Petra." Wedge said introducing themselves.
"I'm Ri-Jun-Atda, and this is my friend Tillis." Ri-Jun said getting the introductions out of the way.
"Your Ossusian right?" Petra asked Tillis.
"Yes, I am. Will that be a problem?" Tillis asked the two men.
"No, it's just that they usually don't come out very often." Petra said wondering why someone from Ossus was here.
"You are in great danger your highness." Ri-Jun said getting back to business.
"We know." Petra replied hoping that this man would say the same things that Lord Dugous had said earlier in the day.
"There is someone who is trying to prevent this meeting from achieving success, and it will fail without his, or her, help. This government will be great one day, but there are too many distrusts right now. I feel that it is that person that wants you dead, because you will lay the ground work for what will become a Republic in later years." Ri-Jun said.
"So why does he want the meeting to fail?" Wedge asked a bit confused.
"I don't know." Ri-Jun replied.
"If your not there to provide a ground work then this person could shape the government differently using your death as a rallying point." Petra said. "Who gave you the most resistance in the council?" Petra said turning to Wedge, as he could not think of the person.
"The one from Thi'lik. He seemed quite upset by what I was saying." Wedge said.
"I think I can help you!" Ri-Jun said as the two men turned back to look at their visitors.
"You're one of those mind readers?" Wedge whispered so no one else could hear.
"Yes I am." Ri-Jun replied not knowing what to expect.
"Nope, not him." Petra said to himself as a thought came to him. "We need to talk later, I'll have one of my guards come and get you again." He said motioning for Wedge to leave and he placed some money down on the table to cover their tab leaving the two men there alone.
A short time later Ri-Jun and Tillis walked out of the bar and made their way back to Tillis' apartment. They were wondering what it was that Petra wanted, because he did not seem upset by anything, or at least by anything that Ri-Jun could sense.
They talked about it in hushed tones as they made sure to keep a close eye out for anyone following them. They were about a block away when they heard footsteps behind them. They quickened their pace only to have the footsteps increase along with them. Tillis took a quick look behind them and noticed three men taking blasters out of their coats.
"Run!" Ri-Jun said to Tillis. "I know where we are now."
Tillis did not have to be told twice, Ri-Jun would be better off alone than having to worry about him. He ran off towards some secret passages that he knew about as Ri-Jun ran the opposite way.
The three men went after Ri-Jun and blaster fire began to whiz by him. He ducked and turned according to what he felt from whatever force allowed to dodge the weapon's fire. A quick turn around a he sent a ball of energy toward the men and two were thrown back while the third took aim and fired.
Ri-Jun felt his arm go numb as a shot hit him. He turned and used his abilities to run faster than his pursuers and quickly leapt up a small building and watched as the three men rounded the corner. They looked puzzled as they looked around for their prey. They split up and walked away looking for Ri-Jun.
Ri-Jun waited about fifteen minutes before coming down off the building into a deserted street. He used the shadows to prevent from being seen by any passersby.
He knocked on Tillis' door and watched as it was opened cautiously and he was grabbed and thrown into the room and the door bolted behind him. Tillis looked at Ri-Jun and noticed that he had been hit in the arm and went to get some medical supplies.
"I'm glad that you made it." Tillis said returning with the supplies and motioned for Ri-Jun to expose the wound. "So what happened?"
While Tillis treated the wound Ri-Jun explained what had happened. It seemed to Tillis that they knew they would be there, somehow they knew. He would have to speak with Jessica again.
Petra and Wedge walked back into hotel room where Wedge was staying after an uneventful ride back. Petra quickly made a sweep of the room to make sure that everything was still clean before he would take with Wedge.
"Okay Petra, what's up?" Wedge said after Petra finished his sweep. "I know you enough to know that something is on your mind."
"I need that picture of the man who talked with the pilot. This Ri-Jun might know him, or seen him." Petra said. "That and I wanted to make sure that we weren't exposed for to long."
"Every table around me was taken up with our guards, so I wasn't to exposed." Wedge said knowing that it was not what Petra meant, but said it anyway.
"That is not." Petra started to say but stopped when he noticed the grin on Wedge's face. "If you don't behave I'll tell Kelly." Petra threatened.
"Okay." Wedge said, his five year old daughter did not need anymore stories about him, she already could talk her way in and out of just about everything he tried to do with her and she did not need any more ammunition.
"What did you think of Ri-Jun?" Wedge asked getting back to business.
"He's a mind reader, that much is for sure, but he doesn't seem like someone who would harm us, and he did not look anything like the one we saw on the security camera." Petra replied, wishing that he had taken the tape with him to the meeting. "I'll try and get in touch with him tomorrow morning, before the next meeting that you have."
Two men made their way down the landing docks looking around to make sure that no one was following the. They were nervous enough meeting the mysterious man who had been giving them orders without the added strain of recent events. They had been ordered to make contact with the leader and report their reasons for why the latest victim got away.
Rounding a corner they made their way into an alley to make their rendezvous. In front of them was a cloaked figure and they knew that this was the person they were to talk to.
"Report!" The cloaked figure said to the two men.
"We found a new one of them." The first one said when the second one interrupted them. "But this one was different, he could use his mind for telekinesis or something."
"Interesting, so why didn't you get him?" The cloaked figure said. "After all there were three of you and only one of him."
"We were running after him when we rounded a corner and he was just gone. He couldn't have been more than a couple of seconds in front of us." The first one replied.
"Did he look like this?" The cloaked figure said producing a holo of a man.
"Yeah, that him." The two men replied.
"Yes, he's more dangerous than most. Keep a close eye out for him. If any of you see him again call it in and follow him." The cloaked figure said then turned and melted into the darkness of the night.
"I don't know who scares me more, this guy we're after or him." The second man said nodding his chin in the direction that the cloaked man had just left in.
"I know what you mean." The other one said. "Come on, let's spread the word."
"Report my young apprentice!" Lord Dugous said.
"My Lord." Lord Beasta replied to his master giving a bow to his head. "He is on Coruscant My Lord."
"This is a most unfortunate turn of events." Lord Dugous said as his voice became cold again. "Has he met up with anyone?"
"My sources are out to gather information as we speak my lord." Beasta replied knowing his master.
"Very good, let me know when you have something." Lord Dugous said terminating the call.
Jessica sat down at her desk and wondered what today would bring. The previous day had been a nightmare, which she should have known when Tillis walked through her door. Last night she received a call that the Alderaan King and several of his guard had left the building and according to sources gone out to a bar.
Jessica wanted nothing more than to dismiss it, but she had to report any movement of her assignment to her superiors even though she was sure what they were doing at the bar.
"Jessica, do you have that report from last night ready?" Her captain asked from her doorway.
"Right here." Jessica said pointing to a file on her desk. "I was just putting the finishing touches on it."
"Good, for some reason I'm getting a lot of heat from up above on this one." The captain said.
Petra made his way down the street along with the guard that had gone down the previous day to where Ri-Jun was staying. They were wearing common clothing so they would blend into the crowd in case anyone was trying to follow them. Petra still felt uncomfortable in leaving Wedge but he had increased security before he left.
He did wish that he could have talked to Jessica before he had left, but he did not trust the lines of communications. He had a good feeling about her, but not who she worked for.
They finally made it to the building that Tillis lived in and made their way up the floors. Petra was a bit impressed by the building that Tillis lived in, he was really expecting a run down area, but this meant that Tillis was obviously doing well for himself.
They rang the bell and only had to wait a few seconds until Tillis answered the door. The Ossusian recognized Petra and invited the two inside. Ri-Jun looked up from where he had been sitting on the floor at Petra and the guard.
"Hello there." Ri-Jun said getting up off the floor to greet them.
"I hope that you don't mind me coming over but there was something that I wanted to show you." Petra said to Ri-Jun getting out the holo of the person. "Do either of you recognize this man?" Petra asked both of them, he was more interested in Ri-Jun's answer but would take any information that Tillis had as well.
"Nope, never seen him before in my life." Tillis said after a moment of studying the holo, but Ri-Jun looked at the picture a bit closer.
"He looks a bit like the one who was in charge of trying to kill me before I left for Coruscant." Ri-Jun answered.
"Seems then we may have a mutual enemy." Petra said. "I'd like to bring Jessica back into this."
"I don't have a problem with that, but you would have to talk to her." Tillis said knowing his former girlfriend's anger when a decision was made for her without her impute.
"I need to talk to her anyway." Petra said.
"Perhaps we should do this real soon." Ri-Jun said from where he was standing listening to the two men talk.
"Your right." Petra said. "I'll go talk to Jessica and my guard will take you back to where we are staying, and be careful."
"You don't have to say that again, we barely made it back last night." Tillis replied not thinking about what he said.
"What happened?" Petra replied.
Ri-Jun gave Petra a quick run down of the events of last night. Petra looked again and for the first time noticed the bandage on Ri-Jun's arm.
"Its alright now, the feelings back and I can move it without pain." Ri-Jun answered the unspoken question.
"Must have been a trank-blaster." Petra said, the shots would numb parts of the body, usually used in capturing someone alive for torture, or for slowing down a superior opponent. "It must have been a glancing blow."
"A glancing blow that required several stitches to sew up." Tillis said.
"What do you do?" Petra asked the man.
"I'm a part time nurse at the local first aid station and a researcher for the professors at the local university." Tillis replied.
"A well rounded person, we can use someone like you, can you come with us?" Ri-Jun asked wondering if Tillis would go any further.
"Are you kidding, and miss a great adventure that you only read about in the newspapers, count me in." Tillis said with finality in his voice.
"Here, this will help you out." Petra said handing Ri-Jun a guard's uniform to wear. "You two are escorting Tillis to meet with Wedge."
"How long are you going to be sir?" The guard said speaking for the first time.
"Depends on how long it takes me to track down Jessica." Petra said giving the question some thought. "If I'm not back by this evening execute plan three." He told the guard who replied and they watched as Petra left the apartment.
Ri-Jun quickly dressed and the three of them left to the hotel room.
Jessica brushed her hair behind her ear and continued to concentrate on the paper in front if her. She had quietly gathered everything she could get her hands on about a profile of who ever was behind the attempts on her charge. She had asked the guard that was on duty if Petra was around only to be told that he was in a meeting, so she asked to see him when he was free. That had been three hours ago and she was no closer to a solution than she was before she started.
Her stomach grumbled to protest her working through the lunch break, she finally decided to take a break from the work she had been doing all morning. She stretched out her neck and back then getting up went over to her cabinet and pulled out some money for lunch when she heard the knock on her door. Looking at the doorway Jessica saw that Petra was standing there.
"I need to talk to you." Petra said to her.
"That good, because I need to talk to you as well. I have a theory about who might be trying to get to your King." Jessica replied. "I was on my way to get something to eat, want to come along?" She asked him. He accepted and they went down the street to a local diner that Jessica visited often.
"Jessica how are you little girl." A voice said as the two of them entered the dinner. "And who is this dashing man escorting you in."
Petra was looking to see who would be calling this tall woman a 'little girl'. He spotted a short middle-aged woman walking towards them and Jessica's face that was quickly turning towards embarrassment.
"This is strictly business Kalili." Jessica said looking at the one person who she considered her best friend. "My usual table please and some privacy."
"Of course my little one." Kalili said with a smile on her face. She knew that Jessica and her companion would spend the next couple of hours talking about private matters. She led the two people to a secluded table where they would have some privacy.
"Thank you Kalili." Jessica said smiling at the woman before turning to Petra. "Did you receive my message?"
"Ah, no." Petra stammered before replying. "Actually it seems that there is a mind reader that is after Wedge Organa, and one of the people that you sent us to meet, his name's Ri-Jun."
"I remember him, nice guy." Jessica said at first. "I gave a theory to my boss that there is a war going on between these cults as a way to explain the recent actions."
"That would probably get him off the real case." Petra said. "A mind reader is probably the mastermind behind everything, find him, and we'll end this threat."
Jessica sat there and thought about what Petra had to say for a few minutes. It sounded like they were on the right trail, but there was a piece of the puzzle missing and she did not know where to start looking. They talked for another hour before they decided to head back to the hotel room that Wedge was at.
As they were leaving Petra's communicator went off. He activated it and was told that he should return as soon as possible. He asked what happened and was told that is was very sensitive material.
Jessica asked if there was anything that she could do and Petra hesitated for a second before deciding to invite her along.
Ri-Jun, Tillis and the guard walked down the streets with Ri-Jun being extremely cautious of everyone around them. After almost being killed everywhere he went Tillis determined that even he would be nervous. But looking at Ri-Jun, the man did not seem nervous, just alert like a well-trained guard would be.
Ri-Jun did not relax until they were in the hotel room. He noticed that there were several people around and that they seemed to be very worried. Wedge seemed to be broadcasting the emotion and it was all Ri-Jun could do to block it out.
They were told to wait and that they could sit down in the next room where several others were eating lunch. Tillis and Ri-Jun asked if they could join them and the people made room for the two men to set down and eat.
"I wonder what's going on?" Tillis said his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Whatever it is they are extremely worried about something. They weren't like this last night and the two that came to get us were not worried about anything, so something happened between then and now." Ri-Jun said to his companion. They did not have to wait much longer before Petra came into the room along with Jessica.
"Come on." Ri-Jun said to Tillis as he got up and walked over to where Wedge, Petra and Jessica were standing.
Tillis grumbled a bit as he had not finished his lunch yet and was still hungry but he decided not to push the subject. So far he had learned to trust Ri-Jun's judgment and was beginning to think of the man as a friend.
"I don't know why, but I believe that I can help you with what's happened." Ri-Jun said to the group.
"This is my problem." Wedge replied to the two men.
"Wedge, he might be able to help." Petra replied already forming a plan.
"Not only that, but he's perfect." Jessica said. "It would mean being undercover and sending them would not give away the intentions."
"Okay, okay, just do it." Wedge said. "Just sitting here isn't doing them any good."
Ri-Jun looked to Petra for an explanation of what was going on.
"His majesty's family has been kidnapped, I'll give you all of the details when you change." Petra told the two men.
"I'll go with you." Tillis said. "I have contacts with several underground connections that can come in handy for this kind of work."
"Okay my friend, but it will be dangerous." Ri-Jun said already knowing the answer, and that he would probably need the man's help. "I promise you that I will find your family, and I will rescue them." He told Wedge and went to change out of the guard's uniform.
End Chapter 3
Send comments to: AJMarks01@aol.com or AJMarks@ajstories.com