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| - Evening Delwynn sat quietly in her office, reclined in her chair. These moments were fleeting for her. As always, Mally entering hyperspace en route to some work-driven destination provided a few short moments for the weary agent to have some personal, quiet time to rest and refocus. It would not be too long before the ship, carrying the crew, would arrive somewhere within the Eriadu system and work would resume with force. Until then, Evening simply had a few moments to rest. Not just physical rest, however. Mental rest. Following her relaxation ritual, Evening rose after clearing her mind and walked toward the hallway door. Instead of opening it, however, she unlocked it and locked it again, insuring its security. Then, she sidestepped and looked at the holopictures upon the small shelf. The one on the right was an image of herself sitting with a small Human girl in her lap, both facing forward. The young one in the picture was only eight years of age, just shy of her ninth birthday. Evening recalled the moment she held the girl, her arms draped over the young one's shoulders, holding each others hands in the small girl's lap. The two were smiling in the picture, happy, the wind blowing Evening's hair, while the small girl had hers braided down on both sides, the wind not able to overcome the weight. In some ways, each passing case made viewing this image more and more difficult. The memory of the moment, etched so clearly in Evening's mind, had not faded even the slightest. But, it also seemed almost a touch more surreal with each adventure. The emotions in that captured instant had been so-long ignored due to the busyness of working for the GIN. Also, with more and more time separating that moment from her present, the event began to take on more mythical qualities in her mind. It was a moment that Evening pointed to with great care and happiness; it was one of the few that she chose to cling to. Of all her memories, this was one of her most dear. Nevertheless, each case also made viewing the image more easy, as it provided a measure of purpose. Deep within Evening's soul was a desire for vindication and justice. It was the engine within her that kept the agent working. In some ways, the little girl seemed to speak to her each time, reminding the agent 'to fight for all of us who cannot anymore.' Evening sidestepped again, moving once again to her left, and peered at the second holopicture. After a couple minutes of recollecting upon the three individuals in that picture, she turned to her left, engaged a door to her sleeping quarters and proceeded through it. Viewing the pictures welled up such sadness within the agent. Yet, it also reinforced her purpose: she was ready to bring the next "scumbag" to justice. She privately hoped the mystery man on the computer in the lab would be one of the next. That man has been a burden for eleven years. 'No more will he escape my grasp,' Evening thought. 'No more.' The agent took off her gray overcoat and tossed it on a chair, next to the bed. After using the refresher, she calmly laid on the bed and turned the lights off. She gazed down at her feet, shoes still on, the doorway to her office barely visible in the near-darkness. Evening was a bit anxious about the trip to Eriadu and simply clapped her feet together for a few minutes. While she almost regarded it as childish, she found the thick sound from the sides of the soft soles clapping together amusing. At that instant, the small girl from the holopicture snapped back into her mind, doing the same thing, in playful imitation. Evening smiled, then shed a tear. Deciding it better to sleep for a while, she kicked off her shoes and rolled onto her side. Clearing her mind of anything she could, the agent closed her eyes and fell asleep. — — — Beeping from the control panel woke Danstari as he napped in the pilot's seat of the cockpit. He had freshened himself, eaten a small meal, and returned to the cockpit. The boredom of hyperspace lulled him into a light sleep, but the beeping indicated that the ship was approaching the Eriadu system. He quickly surveyed the sensors to make certain Mally was prepared to exit hyperspace safely. Once he was complete, he sat at a ready position, hands on the steering column. The vessel exited hyperspace and a yellow star appeared in the transparisteel window with numerous celestial bodies around it. Still on autopilot, the ship veered to the starboard side, heading for a green and blue planet that orbited fourth from the primary star. As Mally approached the planet, Eriadu, Agent Delwynn entered the cockpit. A medium-sized space station was seen in orbit as the approached continued. "Danstari, casually head for that space station," Agent Delwynn commanded. "Right on it, boss," Danstari replied, taking the vessel off autopilot and taking control manually. He flew the craft toward the space station and sought permission to land in the landing bay. "I'm sorry, but your vessel is not recognized in our registry logs. We cannot permit you access to the station," spoke a monotone voice over the communicator. Delwynn quickly grabbed the device from Danstari and stretched the wire, which was attached to the dashboard, to its maximum. "This is Colonel Evening Cara," the agent spoke. "I am a Republic Official working on behalf of the Senate. We are returning to Coruscant from a meeting with various Republic officials on the fringes of the Outer Rim, including a member of the Jedi Council. We need access to the planet's surface so we can refuel, make some quick repairs, and tend to some business before proceeding." "One moment please," the voice responded. "Is our cover blown?" Danstari asked. "No," Delwynn responded. "I think I was vague enough." "You didn't exactly tell the truth," the lieutenant stated. "I didn't exactly lie," the agent retorted sharply. "Colonel Evening Cara?" Danstari asked. "Yes," she replied, smiling wryly. "My maiden name. I haven't used it in years." "Maiden name?" the lieutenant asked, turning his gaze toward the agent standing slightly behind him, to his right. "You're married?" "Not the time, Danstari," Delwynn retorted flatly. "Stay focused." "They are not going to give us access," Danstari replied. "Yes they will," the agent explained. "We don't need access to the space station, but we need unrestricted access to the planet." "I don't follow, boss," the lieutenant commented. "You'll see, Danstari," Delwynn replied, letting out a deep sigh. "Colonel Cara," the monotone voice finally responded after moments of silence. "You have been given clearance. According to the Republic ordinances, you are permitted to land at military installations and other Republic secure facilities except Level Eight and Nine facilities. The codes are being beamed to your ship. The Republic defense base outside Phelar is hosting war games. Land there at your own risk." "See, Danstari?" Delwynn said upon hearing the voice. "Did you set this up?" the lieutenant inquired. "No, I looked up Republic protocol for landing on Eriadu. That space station is a Republic monitoring outpost." "Oh. Still, why the pseudonym?" "What pseudonym?" "Colonel Evening Cara?" "Just head for Eriadu City Naval Base." "On it, boss." Agent Delwynn turned and left the cockpit, leaving Danstari alone to work. He calmly piloted the ship down toward the planet surface. He spotted the capital city and the naval base just outside of it. There, he slowly landed, on a landing pad about four stories above the surface. The pad was attached to was a silver-colored building, only about six stories in height, lined with six rows of transparisteel windows. It was square at its base and top, but the exterior walls were angled inward so the base was wider. The landing pad was along an outside wall that featured several others. Each pad looked more like an extended balcony than an isolated deck. Danstari parked the craft and secured its landing gear. He shut off the engine, grabbed his blaster, badge, and datapad and departed the cockpit. By the time he reached the rear of the ship, the other members of the team were already beginning to depart the craft down the port-side ramp. The lieutenant followed suit, walking behind the others, in a single file-line, Emra in front of him. Once stepping out onto the surface of the landing pad, the ramp rose back into the ship and locked. Agent Delwynn then silently lead the team into the building and down a sterile white corridor. Upon reaching the end of the corridor, which had no doors or windows and only a line of lights that bisected the ceiling, Danstari noticed that it intersected with another, identical corridor. The only difference was that this new corridor appeared to have doors every few meters. Delwynn turned to the right and the team followed suit. Danstari saw Shalli and Asana moving and quickly tried to follow suit, only to trip over Emra. The lieutenant lost his balance and fell against the hard, cold wall. The droid beeped and then fell in tow. Danstari, his back against the wall, arms extended to keep his balance, re-centered his body weight and followed the team as they progressed. After passing about three doors on the left, there finally appeared a door on the right. Delwynn stopped outside the door, not making a sound. Asana and Shalli huddled close, while Emra and Danstari caught up. With everyone near the door, Delwynn pressed something into her data-communicator. A light flashed from the screen against the agent's face as she looked at the device. Danstari turned his attention to the door, curious to their location and why no one seemed to be around. The place was hauntingly sterile: white walls with no ornamentation, plain beige tile floor, flat gray durasteel ceiling, a single row of lights in the ceiling which was continuous. The corridors were also narrow, only about a meter-and-a-half wide, the same as the corridors on the Mally. The door in front of him was nondescript, as well, with no special markings indicating any importance. In fact, there were no signs, or lettering anywhere that had been seen thus far. It was almost as if it had been abandoned. Danstari kept peering down the corridor to both ends, not seeing any droids, trash containers, computer ports, or vermin. The place was simply empty. Hauntingly empty. Delwynn had a sly smirk as she reached toward the top-right corner of the doorway. Not able to reach all the way, she waved her hand near it. A three red lights in the center of the door began to glow. The origins of the light were definitely within the metal of the door, but this portion appeared to have a special sensor. The agent reached toward the glowing lights, touching the left light first, followed by the right. After touching the right light once, she touched it again, then the center light, followed by the left light. Last, she touched the center light. With that, an unlatching sound was heard the and door whisked open. Inside was a small room, two meters by two meters wide. It was the same chilling sterile white color, with a door along the right wall which appeared identical to the one Delwynn had just opened. The agent walked into the small room and followed a similar procedure to open the second door. The lieutenant could not see the code, but saw the door open. He followed the rest of the team inside, as they followed Delwynn. The main room inside was a large expanse, with windows along the outer wall. The room had small cubicle dividers which were about one meter tall. The room stretched from the original entrance hallway to where they had entered. It had ten cubicles in the center of the room arranged in two rows of five, each with desks and chairs. Tables and computer equipment was laced along the similarly styled walls. A remarkable thing in this room, for the lieutenant, was the view of Mally on the landing deck. It could be seen clearly from the room, as the pad was immediately outside the floor-to-ceiling window. In fact, part of the landing pad connected to the building about one meter from the far wall, indicating that the entry corridor was in fact right there. Just like the rest of the building that had been seen, this room was empty and bland looking. That did not stop from Delwynn from taking a cubicle and unpacking the small bag she had. "Let's get to work," we said. "EIE meeting begins tonight. Emra, set these doors to unlock so we don't have to keep going through that madness." "What meeting, boss?" Danstari asked, walking toward the cubicles. "The business meeting for Eriadu Interstellar Enterprises," Asana answered. "Oh, Delwynn, I still can't track that name. It seems like he is trying to hide." "Trying to hide?" Danstari queried. "Is it even possible to hide anymore in the Republic?" "If you really wanted to," Shalli replied, staring curiously at the lieutenant. Danstari quit. He figured he would find out what was happening soon enough. He was more concerned with the vacancy of the building. "So, no one else is around?" he inquired. Silence filled the room. After a few short moments, Danstari chuckled. Silence from everyone about the building being empty. Humorous, in an ironic way. "Have nothing to do, Danstari?" Delwynn chimed. "No, boss," he replied. "Not at the moment." "Then, get back to the ship and change." "Change?" "Yes, you and Asana are going to the opera tonight." "We are?" Delwynn was visibly irritated at the exchange and walked over to Danstari, who was now standing next to a row of cubicles. "Fine, I'll brief you now. You both are going to the first part, then slipping out to help secure our surveillance of the meeting room. Shalli and I are going to search for Regueny within that complex while you both take in part of a show. While you're there, we need you to keep an eye on the dignitaries and follow them if needed. I want pictures of all the big-wigs sent to Emra so she can search for their identities." "I take it that this is our forward command." "Yes. Go back to the ship and change. You two will meet in the meeting room when she's ready to go. Get going!" Danstari turned and began walking out of the room, leaving his datapad and blaster on the desk. "Forgetting something?" Shalli inquired. Danstari stopped cold in his tracks and patted his sides. As soon as he turned around, Shalli tossed the blaster at him with the Force. The lieutenant reacted quickly and grabbed it mere a finger-width from his face. Shalli laughed, as Danstari glared harshly at the mischievous Omwati. "Shalli, you too." Delwynn said, pointing toward the doorway. "Asana and I can finish up here." The Omwati snapped to an obliging bow, then proceeded toward the doorway. Danstari, still unamused by the prank with the blaster, turned and walked beside the Omwati. The doorframes, too narrow for two provided Danstari a means of offering displeasing glares to the Jedi. Shalli just walked ahead of the lieutenant, ignoring his gestures and providing no facial expressions of her own. The pair walked back to the Mally. Pressing a button on a remote sensor, Danstari unlocked the ship and the port-side ramp lowered. "This place is kind of eerie," Danstari remarked. "I can't put my finger on it, but there is something evil in the air." "Maybe," Shalli replied, walking toward the ramp. "Maybe you are just anticipating something evil." "No," Danstari explained, "its not like that. It like the atmosphere is ghostly." Back inside the base, Asana had finished setting up a mobile command station with the computers available. Emra, at her feet, had linked the systems and brought them online. Delwynn was standing over the Twi'lek's shoulder, watching how it worked. Asana kept smiling as she finished activating the final computer. "These machines are now able to receive any remote signal we send it from anywhere within the city or base," Asana proclaimed. "Good," Delwynn replied. "We have the various cameras and imagers in the cargo hold, right?" "Yes, all that stuff is still there. I believe it is right next to your box of extra clothes. Speaking of which, you haven't looked in there for…" "Asana…" "Sorry. Anyway, this set up should operate remotely with no assistance." "Should Emra stay, just in case?" "That's your call, Delwynn. The room is properly secured?" "It is supposed to be. We are supposedly in a secure facility on a secure naval base." "Yeah, but where are all the defense personnel? They're is no one around at all." "Look, I'm simply trusting the Republic just as much as you are." "Yeah, well, I'm not sure. My paycheck was late last month." Delwynn laughed. "Fine, let's get back to the ship. Emra can stay here. After all, you have to get dressed for the opera."
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