In the City that never sleeps 1

“Do you have those figures I asked for?” Lord Vader asked as he breezed into my office.

I handed him the data chip. He paused to consider it then continued. “You will contact Xizor’s office and tell him I will meet him tomorrow at my personal residence. He may bring his usual entourage if he wishes.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“I am waiting for results from the latest test batch of personal combat droids, you will deliver it to me personally when it arrives. Outside of this I am not to be disturbed.” He growled.

“As you wish.” I said, and then an envelope which had arrived in yesterday’s post caught my eye. “Oh, this came for you.” I handed it to him. It was already opened as he had made it clear I was responsible for dealing with his mail.

“Is it important?” He studied the envelope for a moment then looked at me.

“It’s a personal invitation from the Director of the Imperial Opera Company and complimentary tickets to the opening show.” I replied.

“What drivel are they spewing out now?” he asked failing to keep the disgust out of his voice.

“It’s something called The Agony of Tarkin.” I told him.

He made a derogatory sound. “They made an opera about that pompous twit?”

I didn’t dare answer that. I had never met Moff Tarkin face to face before his unfortunate and rather explosive demise but I was well aware of Lord Vader’s opinion of him. I wondered if Tarkin had actually felt any agony at all since the Death Star’s explosion and his death were pretty much simultaneous. If the opera company wanted to write about agony they should talk to Vader. Burning to a crisp on a molten planet, sudden limb amputation and the death of one’s soul sounded a whole lot more like agony to me than instantaneous disintegration. I didn’t think it would be a show I wanted to see.

He tossed the envelope back onto my desk in disgust. “It is probably hilarious but unfortunately I do not have the time to indulge in such nonsense. If you wish to attend in my stead you may do so. Is there anything else?”

“No, your schedule is up to date, unless you have changes to make to it. The items you asked for will be ready by the end of the week. I expressly requested they be delivered here for security reasons as per your wishes. Janas Schenk has not yet returned with a time estimate for you on the renovations you wanted done on your office and I sent a reminder to him this morning. Also the replacement speeder will be delivered to the garage by this afternoon. And lastly, Grand Admiral Zaarin requested a personal audience with you at your earliest convenience but said that there was no urgency. Something to do with a computer core he has recent acquired, his words not mine.”

He nodded. “Very well, set up a meeting time, you know best where you can slot him in but check with me first before you finalise anything with him.” He said. “Oh and there is a possibility I will be heading off world sooner rather than later. You will remain here unless otherwise specified. However,” he paused to make sure I got his next point, “should I need you with me I expect you to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.” and with that he left.

I sighed. I always had a travel bag packed in my office ready to go. Over the last few years I had learned my lesson on that front. When Lord Vader said we leave in five minutes, he wasn’t usually kidding. I glanced at the space where Lord Vader had been and made a face, then began the process of dealing with Xizor’s office. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was little resistance to the meeting place change. Lord Vader often met with Xizor in his castle because there he had full control over the surveillance and he liked to keep a close eye on the prince. Xizor was an obsequious pest but he was a pest that the Emperor seemed to enjoy having around. While Lord Vader loathed the man, he kept his public ranting on the subject to a minimum.

Since returning to the Core, a few days ago, the game of jax and mouse between Vader and Xizor had seemingly become more complicated, more vicious, if that was even possible. Both men were at each other’s throats like a couple of wild panthacs. There had even been one attempt on Lord Vader’s life that had ended up totalling his favourite speeder, which lucky for him he had not been in at the time. It was not so lucky for his driver, however. He was convinced that Xizor was somehow behind it, never mind than he was not he most popular man in the galaxy and that at any given time on any given day at least a hundred death threats were registered against him with Intel. While it all made for good HoloNet news and Daily Digest gossip I personally found the whole thing tedious.

The mail runner stopped by the office and dumped a box full of post on my desk.

“Morning Miss Gabriel.” He said with his usual cheer.

“Thanks Remmy, say how’s the new baby?”

Remmy smiled. “Well, he’s doing just fine, thank-you for asking. My wife was thrilled with the card and the basket we know you sent, it was very much appreciated.”

I smiled and waved as he left. He had been delivering the office mail for a lot longer than I had been working for Lord Vader so he knew everyone by name but he had told me one day, when I had asked what I should call him, that most people didn’t even see him let alone speak to him by name. Since that day I made a point of saying thank you and asking after his ever expanding family. When his wife gave birth to their fifth child and first son I had made sure that, in Lord Vader’s name, they received a large gift basket, flowers and a card, guess they knew who had really sent it. Babies and presents were not really Lord Vader’s thing.

I took the green post box off the desk and sat it on my lap, sorting out the junk from the important mail. When I came to a small packet that was addressed to me I stopped to open it.
There was no return address on the padded envelope and the postmark was smudged to the point where it was unreadable. Inside was a small datacard wrapped in a piece of cloth. I got no sudden flash of memory from it when I touched it, but the hair on the back of my neck stood on end anyway. The datacard was an older model and it was dirty. I wasn’t sure it would work when I slipped it into the reader.

Welcome back to Coruscant, Mouse, or should I call it the Imperial city now? Did yer think that just because yer helped to murder Antygra that I would no longer know where ye’ are or what ye’ are doing? Did you think that simply because he was dead I would leave yer at the hands of that monster?

Ye’ are mine; yer told me that on Tatooine. Yer told me that yer would always love me. We are bound together for all eternity, Mouse. Yer belong to me and not the Empire. The sooner yer come to realise this, the better for everyone concerned. I know yer didn’t mean to hurt Antygra so I won’t hold that against yer. Next time we meet yer won’t need that body guard of yers, I’ll the one protecting yer.

My hands trembled as I listened to Jyrki’s voice. I had to fight the swell of panic and the barrage of flashbacks that clattered through my mind. What he had done to me on Mattri had changed me forever and no matter how hard I tried I could not seem to forget this, I hadn’t forgiven him either. Just breathe I told myself over and over until the sensation of drowning passed and the world of darkness his voice brought on receded back into a suppressed memory. I made two copies of the recording before I slipped the datachip out of the reader and back into the envelope it had been mailed in. Once my hands stopped shaking I realised that some thing he had said had jumped out at me. I sighed as I wrote to Shiv. I knew he was both online and working today.

>>>Hey, Shiv, what happened to Tygs?<<<

>>>He was sent to Kessel for life, why?<<<

>>>So he’s not dead?<<<

>>>Not as far as I know, but Kessel isn’t exactly the best place in the galaxy to be, why are you asking?<<<

>>>I just got a datacard message from Jyrki and he claims I helped to murder Tygs.<<<

>>Send it to INTEL, don’t mess about with that, he’s on their most wanted list. You could ask your boss about Tygs, I heard he was present at the final sentencing. The official word I got was life in the spice mines, but who knows for sure? Are you okay?<<<

>>>I’ll be fine.<<<

I sat back with a sigh. I had been glad that Tygs had been arrested but I hadn’t wanted him killed. My computer peeped at me letting me know that a flagged message was coming in, the results from the test droids. I downloaded the information to a data chip and went to deliver it to Lord Vader, as per his instructions. He took the information without bothering to say anything and it was only because I hesitated that he even looked up at me from his own desk.

“What is it, girl?” he asked.

“What happened to Antygra Zyllendel?” I demanded.

“That is none of your concern.”

“I’ll slice the data files if you don’t tell me.” My defiance startled even me.

He stared at me for a moment then stood up. I could feel his annoyance slowly becoming anger but he was also curious. “He was arrested, tried for treason against the Empire and he was sentenced accordingly.” He said as he paced around behind his desk.

“Was he executed?” I asked point blank.

“Yes.”

“Did you execute him?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because that is how we deal with traitors.”

“Then why does the official report say he was sentenced to life on Kessel?”

“Because, apparently, hearing that we execute spies and traitors to the Empire is bad for moral.” Lord Vader replied. “Why are you asking? Why do you care?”

I handed him a data chip. “I made you a copy; I thought you would want to at least see hear it. I'll pass the original on to Intel.”

“I take it this is from your mechanic friend?”

I nodded.

“Well he is persistent, I’ll give him that.” He said as he tossed the datachip down on his desk.

“You think this is funny?”

“No, I think he is unimportant.”

I didn’t really know how to answer that so I just turned to leave.

“I can assign a Noghri to you.” He said.

I looked at him. “Do you think that will help?”

“I think you need to kill this man yourself. I’ve trained you better than this. You know how this man thinks, you know more about him than anyone else, yet he terrifies you. Do you think I don’t sense your fear of him, sense your conflict?”

“How can I kill someone I loved, someone who was like family to me, who taught me and saved my life?”

“Easily, if you find enough hate.” He replied bitterly. I shivered. He knew what he was talking about.

I opened my mouth to say something but realised there was nothing left to say on the matter. I shook my head. “A Noghri bodyguard will not be necessary, but thank you anyway.”

He regarded me for a moment and then sat back down. “Don’t you have work to do?”

I didn’t answer him I just left and returned to my office. I sent the original of Jyrki’s latest message to Intel. The other copy I packaged in a secure courier envelope and sent it to my uncle along with a small terse message which said.

‘Zte’sa, your time on this is running out. If he comes near me again, I’ll kill him.’

And then I went back to work as if nothing had happened. I was in the middle of rearranging Lord Vader’s schedule for the next day when the inter office messenger blinked at me.

>>> Hey Rim Girl, you up for going out for a bite tonight? <<<

>>> Hey Shiv, not up for going out, but I happen to have an unwatched set of Holloway style holos sitting at home if you feel like ordering in?>>>

>>> Sounds great, will swing by your office in half an hour. What do you want to eat? <<<

>>> I know a great Zabraki place that delivers… <<<

>>> Excellent!!!<<<

This was something to look forward to at the end of a long and difficult day.