Chapter Eleven
Jade's Fire - The lounge hours after the disaster
"I can't believe he did a reverse head-butt on me. I shouldn't have been that close behind him. The oldest kriffin' trick in the book and I fell for it. But he had me gloating. Serves me right."
Corran sat on the opposite sofa from Mara with his left leg suspended. He was still tending to a cut he received from the blast. Through his physical pain, he cried out his mental anguish at listening to Mara beat herself up. "I heard you twice the first time, Mara. Ow."
Mara looked at the long scrape along Corran's outer thigh. "Never took you as one who couldn't take pain, Corran, with all that you've gone through. I told you I have some stronger bacta patches."
"That's all right. I cleaned it well enough. Besides, I'd rather feel the pain right now. A reminder of our failure."
"Now who's crying in their ale?"
Before Corran could react, Luke came in through the door to the cockpit. He walked over to them and announced, "I've set the navi-computer for a jump to Bestine IV. We just have to set up a time when we're going."
Corran asked incredulously, "Mon Mothma's still meeting with us? She does know we don't have a prisoner anymore. And that he has I'hela."
Luke nodded. "She knows. She wants to meet us on Bestine in person."
Mara remarked, "That can't be good."
"It wouldn't be like that," Luke assured. "Mon Mothma isn't one to scold for failures. She learns from them." He paused for effect. "As should we."
Corran frowned and asked, "Any word on the surviving Vigo?"
"The Ithorian? Booster said he's critical. He may not last another day."
All of them fell silent as they thought about the people who they swore to protect. All but one were dead. The last remaining ex-Vigo was barely alive. Not to mention the loss of at least a dozen of Booster's own guards, including the one whom Mahc Tiernan shot dead to get to his ship. To say Booster was furious at them was redundant. He literally ordered the three of them off of his ship. With what they had put him through for nothing, they complied. Mara retrieved I'hela's SIE fighter and put it into the Jade's Fire hangar and they left.
Luke had to state the obvious. "We have to go forward from this. We have to figure out where Mahc would take I'hela. He took her for a reason. Maybe to kill her."
"No," cried Mara. "Not yet. I think I know where he's going."
"How can you know?" Corran asked.
"Because he has a mission he has to complete. The Broadwater's were Voxan's failure. The father and daughter escaped. They were supposed to be home but little I'hela got hurt. Voxan couldn't anticipate that kind of unforeseen accident."
"And now he's finally found the last Broadwater," Corran surmised. He looked at Luke grimly and stated, "Who knows what he'll do to her."
Luke replied, "I'hela's a trained NRS officer. She can handle herself."
Corran shot back, "She hasn't been trained to deal with a psychopath intent on violent revenge."
Luke breathed in and said, "We'll just have to put our heads together and find her before he..."
"Oh, kriff the Jedi positive assurance, Skywalker!" Mara snapped. "You've been underestimating Mahc this whole time. He's been trained to kill. And if he's been trained by the most notorious assassin in this galaxy's history then he has skills that you don't want to know about. Why can't you admit defeat? Mahc beat you. He beat us at his game."
Luke was taken back by her outburst and tried to explain, "I...I just couldn't believe..."
"And that was your failure, Skywalker. You couldn't believe he was better than a Master Jedi."
Her words reminded Luke of those spoken to him long ago on Dagobah when he once again admitted that he didn't believe. That is why you fail.
Mara went on. "Look, I'm not holding you alone responsible for what happened. We were all at fault at not seeing Mahc's plan."
Luke looked at her. "His plan?"
Mara stared back at him with an almost pitiful look. "Farmboy, wake up. Mahc knew which shuttle was large enough to fit all the Vigos. He knew Booster wanted them all off as soon as possible. He set a remote charge on the shuttle probably before he met with you. Maybe even before he had the droid kill Jarvis. He released the detonator after he took us out."
Corran questioned, "Where was the detonator? We confiscated everything on him down to his chrono."
"His tunic," she answered. "Probably disguised as a button or cuff link."
Corran considered. "Ingenious."
"Not really. Standard for an assassin to make detonators out of ordinary objects. I've had many hair clips made into detonators several times." After a pause, she turned towards Luke to continue her point. "He knew that you would eventually take him down in a duel. He was counting on it. Once he was captured, he knew Booster wouldn't waste any time in getting them all off his ship."
Corran sighed in frustration, "He meant to be caught."
Mara sounded self-mutilating. "And we provided him with his out. We got too close. Literally."
Luke took in her words as he thought about Mahc's escape. And taking I'hela with him. Why her? He crinkled his brow as he remembered something.
"What?" Mara caught his realization.
"Mahc knew I'hela was wearing the necklace."
Corran supplied with, "He probably saw it when she passed by him."
Knowing where Luke was going with his thought, Mara countered, "No. That necklace was under her uniform. He couldn't have seen it."
Luke asked, "Then how did he know it was there?"
Already ahead of what Luke was intending to do, Mara said, "The gem is over at the comp station." She went over and Luke followed her.
Corran announced, "Don't mind me. I'll just stay over here in my pain if you two don't mind."
Luke and Mara both ignored him as she took the gem out of a hidden compartment inside of the computer console. She reached over to grab the magnifying lens. "I've scanned this several times and nothing comes up."
"That doesn't mean anything, does it?"
"Not when you're dealing with two related assassins." She used a pick while keeping the lens stable to touch the ruby-colored gem. She poked at one of the six diamonds at each point of the star.
Luke warned, "Careful, Mara. You promised I'hela you wouldn't break it."
As soon as he said it, the diamond she fooled with had cracked and came out of its fitting from the jewel. The "diamond" crumbled into pieces.
"Great, Mara. Way to keep your promises."
She sighed heavily. "When are you going to stop being so naive, Farmboy? Guess you haven't been around many diamonds living on a desert planet. They're not supposed to break that easily. Hold on." She took the pick and started to run it across the ruby gem. An off-white scratch mark was left behind. "How many gems do you know of that can scratch that easily, too?"
"It's a fake," Luke concluded.
"Nice of you to catch up."
Corran said sadly, "Poor I'hela. Her father must have seen it on the HoloNet and thought it was his wife's."
"Unless hers was a fake to begin with. Or not." Mara started picking at each diamond in turn and nothing was under them. Until the fifth diamond. Under it was a small mechanism that was blinking rapidly. "Well, I'll be a ranchor's aunt."
"What is it?" Corran asked from the sofa.
"A recorder. One-way bandwidth. It records at a command remotely. Mahc records and then listens on a datapad later."
"Why wasn't this detected?"
She pointed. "See that flashing light? It's constantly transmitting on a low frequency. It's in a loop. It's always on. Or it's been recently triggered on."
Corran noted, "Low frequency. Means it acts like a comlink wave."
"Right. That's why it wasn't detected. The scanner mistook it as a comlink. No warning for that."
Luke straightened up. "So wherever I'hela went, Mahc could hear every word surrounding this."
"Pretty much. It prob
ably doesn't have a great range, but it would be passable for his purpose."
Luke uttered under his breath, "That's how he knew about my father. I told I'hela in private."
Mara eyed him from the corner and asked, "That is what you're worried about? I'd be more worried that he knew where we were going and that we were on the Errant Venture."
Corran added, "And how he knew it was the Anzati in the storage room. We told I'hela."
"And we essentially told Mahc," Mara supplied.
Luke thought again and asked, "How did he get this into the jewel?"
"It was probably in there all along," Mara answered.
"But that would mean I'hela's mother would have had this the whole time."
"I don't think it's the same one," she replied. Upon their looks of confusion, Mara explained, "Voxan never left any survivors on any given job. That's true of most assassins. But where most professionals wanted to avoid having their presence known, Voxan wanted the opposite. He wanted you to know he was there and what he was going to do. And he didn't stop until he was finished. There was an old saying about him that said if Voxan failed to kill you one day, he wouldn't fail on the next. The two Broadwaters, I'hela and her father, did mange to escape him. And his son."
Corran cried, "Are you saying Mahc was an assassin-in-training?"
"Perhaps," Mara replied. "Voxan would have sworn to find the remaining Broadwaters. He couldn't."
Luke stated, "A testament to I'hela's father for hiding them so well."
Mara added, "The only leverage Voxan had in finding them was through the jewel. Mahc did say his father took the necklace off her mother."
Corran tried to follow Mara's thought. "So Voxan makes a fake, places the bug in it, and sells it on the HoloNet."
Mara said, "It'd be easy enough. I've seen this design in jewels before. It's from a Coruscanti design maker. Star-shapes were their specialty. With the device hidden inside, he just waited for the right buyer. The one who would sell anything to get it."
Luke nodded. "Eran Broadwater. Why didn't Voxan follow up on Eran after he bought it from him?"
"That's unknown. Maybe he died before he could act on it."
Corran said, "Leaving his son to do the dirty work."
Mara nodded. "Mahc must have made a killing at being an assassin over the years."
Luke rolled his eyes at her and she smiled. "Cute. But he never made himself known like his father did."
"No," Mara replied. "He didn't want the publicity. That's the difference between father and son. Less showmanship."
Luke stated, "There may have been some tension between the two. Did any of you sense a difference in Mahc when I'hela mentioned his father?"
"Kind of a tough relationship, I gather," Mara figured.
"What father-son relationship isn't?" Corran flashed a grin at the son of Vader. "Right, Luke?"
Ignoring Corran's remark, Luke asked, "Would the HoloNet keep records of sales over the years?"
"I imagine so," was Mara's answer. "We don't have a direct time frame."
"We can look it up by item," Luke suggested.
"It'll take longer." Mara was at the computer typing. "Let me get all this data out of the way first." As she typed, flashes of data rushed by as they each were being copied to a file.
"What is all that?" Corran asked.
"Information I gathered on this case. Voxan, I'hela Broadwater, and Black Sun history."
Luke watched the images go by until one caught his eye. Something in the Force told him something. "Stop! Go back."
Mara did stop, wondering what Luke saw. "Where?" She started to click backward slowly.
"There." Luke pointed.
"But that's just..."
"I know. But look there."
Mara leaned closer as she followed where Luke was pointing. She immediately saw it.
Her mouth gaped open as she slowly uttered, "Great...Tarkin's...Ghost!"
The Paradox Fate
She was finally aware. She could hear the rumbling of a hyperdrive that sounded like it would break down at any moment. It wasn't deafening. The sound created a sonic rhythm that almost lulled her back to sleep. There was a smell of ancient grease combined with rust. It wasn't totally unpleasant but it kept her awake. What truly prevented her from sleeping again was the pain in her leg. It was a dull throbbing that seemed to have been filtered with something. Her immediate thought was that she had been sedated. She slowly opened her eyes to a drab gray steel wall. She started the motion of turning her body over to the opposite side. The dull pain quickly turned into a sharp stab. She cried out in pain.
"I wouldn't move so much if I were you," suggested a gruff voice nearby.
She did manage to turn her head in the voice's direction while keeping her body face up on her back. She spotted a elderly man sitting beside her bunk. His features were familiar but she couldn't place them. She refocused on his image and her memory caught up with her.
"Mahc Tiernan," she spat weakly.
"You know, that isn't my real name. It's just one of my most popular ones. Mara Jade must have told you I've used that name in the past."
"What...am I...doing here?"
"Right now, you're recovering from an injury to your back calf. A piece of shuttle caught your leg from behind. I suspect Corran Horn sustained a similar injury. I patched you up pretty good. It shouldn't be too bad in a few hours. You might walk with a limp for a few weeks."
She bent her head just enough to look down at her right leg to see something white wrapped around it. "Is that a...bacta bandage?"
"It is. I do have some experience in treating blast injuries." He chuckled a bit. "Especially when I'm doing the blasting."
She eased her head back down on the thin pillow and mentioned hoarsely, "The Vigos?"
"All but one are on their merry way to the afterlife. May their souls burn there forever."
His voice was colder than the artificial air inside the ship. She questioned, "One?"
"Yes. The Ithorian. He managed to survive. Barely. He won't last too long. Still, Ithorians are among the hardest to kill. They have such a strong will. Must be their peaceful nature. Well, this one wasn't too peaceful being part of Black Sun."
"You never answered my first question."
"No, no, no...you asked what you were doing here. I answered."
"Great. I have to be captured by a psychotic murderer who's into semantics. All right, why am I on your ship?"
He grinned creepily as he reached closer to her and replied, "You are here on my ship because I want you to be, sister."
She chuckled humorlessly. "What if I have a problem with that?"
"You don't have a choice. But I do."
She tilted her head to glare at him. "What do you mean?"
He reached closer to her. Too close. "Oh, you want a for instance? I did have the choice of gutting you and stretching your intestines around you. You wouldn't have felt a thing until it was too late." He whispered, "I chose not to."
A tear fell from her eye as she asked, "Are you going to kill me?"
He backed away from her and cheerily replied, "Now what fun would that be? After all, I've spent my life looking for you. It would be rather anti-climatic if I just killed you now. It would be over too quick. No, I want our meeting to last as long as possible. Just like our pain will. Father taught me that."
"Your father wasn't just a paid killer. He was a maniac."
Mahc nodded his head. "And? Is that all you can say about father?"
"What else is there to say?"
"He was a family man."
She almost choked from laughing. "Family man? A dysfunctional family at best."
Mahc looked down at the steel floor and said softly, "You don't know how right you are. For the first fifteen years of my life, I was my father's main concern. Well, at least second behind his work. He never let anyone hurt me. He was the one who could hurt me. He wanted to raise me on his own." He leaned closer and asked rhetorica
lly, "Want to know how badly he wanted to raise me by himself? When he finally found out I was born, he went to the brothel where the woman who gave birth to me lived. He stormed in, grabbed me...and shot her dead on the spot. It didn't matter that there were witnesses. They knew who he was." Mahc laughed maniacally. "So there we were. The two of us."
As Mahc started to reflect, she noted a sense of heavy emotion when he spoke. And maybe even a small hint of regret. He went on to reflect. "Father taught me how to fire a blaster when I was five. I had my first kill with a sniper rifle when I was eleven. Father told me once that a novice in our business always starts out killing from far away. The more experienced they get, the closer they get to the target. When you were as experienced as my father was, a sniper rifle was replaced by a vibroblade. Not only did he teach me the basics, but he told me his philosophy."
"Skarce Voxan had a philosophy?"
"Sure. If you don't have a philosophy, what's the point of living? He drilled his into me everyday. He taught me about pain."
She gulped. "Pain?"
"Yes. Tell me, what was the moment of your greatest joy?"
"I...well, I...guess.."
"Now that's something if you have to actually think about it."
She held her chin up and stated proudly, "The day I finally graduated from the NRS Academy."
"Of course. You were ecstatic. Joyous. You completed something that you worked hard for. You partied heavily after."
"I wasn't much of a partygoer. But I was at my most happiness at that moment."
"But it didn't last did it?"
"No. Nothing ever does."
"I beg to differ. Why was your joy at graduation cut short?"
She admitted with no small amount of sadness, "My father died before he could see me graduate."
Mahc nodded before he got up and tried to lift her leg from below. She immediately let out a yelp.
"What the kriff did you do that for?"
Mahc sat back down and calmly asked, "Do you still feel the pain?"
"Of course, you idiot!"
"Naturally. Your greatest moment of happiness came and went. Replaced with regret. But the pain in your leg will stay with you much longer, especially if someone tries to disrupt the healing."
"Then don't do it again! For the record, I remember that joy I felt at my graduation. It will stay with me for as long as I live."
"Correction: your memory of that joy will stay with you. Not the actual feeling."
"What's the difference?"
"Memories are just reminders sent to the brain so you can recall feelings you felt at one time. The reminders are mostly in the form of images. Images that you interpret. What if you interpret them incorrectly? What if events that happened to you didn't happen exactly the way you thought? Pain, on the other hand, is a direct signal to the brain that tells you something hurts. Pain cannot be interpreted incorrectly. It is always pure. Memories can lie, even if you believe them to be true."
She sighed. "Are you going to kill me anytime soon, or do I have to listen to your drivel?"
Mahc laughed. "You have some guts, I'll give you that."
"Was there a point to all of that?"
He leaned closer to her again. "You asked why you were here on my ship. You are here so I can teach you about perception."
"Could you be more cryptic?"
He chuckled as he said, "You'll see. Everything will be clearer soon."
She nodded absently and asked, "Where exactly are we headed?"
He smiled eerily and replied, "We're going home, my dear."
"Home? Coruscant is my home."
"You don't know how true that really is."
"What do you mean?"
Mahc took a moment before he asked her, "Your father worshiped you, didn't he?"
Taken aback by the question, she answered, "Of course. I was all he had left of our family."
"I suppose that was true at that time. But is that a good enough reason to love someone simply because they are the only one left to love?"
"It is in my book. I'm not so sure about yours. Or your father's."
"My father wrote his own book. Much like your own father, I suspect. Yet, with all of his love for you, there was something missing from your father. Wasn't there?"
She swallowed hard to answer, "Yes. My mother and brother."
"Brother." He stated it rather than question it. "What do you remember about...him?"
"Very little. I was too young. I remember distant images of us fighting a lot."
"As brothers and sisters will do. I never had the luxury of having a brother. Father wouldn't hear of it. He took care of me well." Mahc paused and then said, "Even when I made mistakes. I remember spilling my milk on the table once when I was just barely a teen. It went everywhere. He hit me so hard across my cheek I thought my head would come off."
She gasped, "Oh, my stars."
Mahc replied, "Don't pity me. I don't need it. Beatings after my failures were my discipline. It was always me and him. I always knew my place at father's side." His voice then grew into a softened rage. "Until he found her."
"Her?"
"Sweet young thing. She was going to sweep him off his feet. I would no longer be his boy. I would have been an outsider."
She stuttered in disbelief. "Your...father...fell in love with someone?"
"You could say that. He never loved me like he did her. Not that quick."
"Imagine that. Skarce Voxan had a heart."
Mahc erupted off his seat and shouted, "He didn't have a heart! Not for me! Not after he found her. I was going to be thrown out. He decided it all that night. I couldn't have that. So...I left him. In retaliation."
"What happened?"
He sat back down and his voice calmed. "It was the night I helped him finish a mission. I set the charges on a house for the first time. The people inside were already burned by father. Fingernails removed. Basic stuff. I detonated it. The explosion was glorious. Complete chaos. Nothing left but the charred bodies. But I knew someone was missing. So did father. That's when he told me that she was coming with us. She was going to be part of our family. We argued. I wasn't going to add her to our family. I reacted....poorly, to say the least. And I left him. He would have her all to himself."
She listened intently as he continued.
"The mission wasn't over. There was unfinished business. Over the years I searched everywhere. Father was too good to be found. By the time I did find him, he had already died. But he left me a message."
"A message?"
"Yes. Our mission from that night. He died before he could complete it. I don't think he ever intended to. He left it up to me. He died a poor man. He didn't have to. He had been betrayed by his employers. He told me to kill all those who were responsible." Mahc smiled proudly. "I did. Rather effectively too."
She whispered, "The Black Sun Vigos. Your father's last wish. They turned their backs on Voxan after the Clone Wars. They had a new Empire to impress. You set out to kill all who betrayed him."
"Not just betrayed. Escaped as well."
"The last remaining Vigos are dead and one soon will be. Your mission is over."
"Almost. All are dead." He leaned closer and grinned. "Save for one."
She could barely whisper her realization. "Me. My father and I escaped that night." She sat up ignoring the pain. The revelation was pain enough. "That night...you blew up my house. With my mother and brother inside. All along I had this image of Voxan standing before my burning house. I just had the wrong Voxan. It was you. You killed my family."
"Father did most of it. Your family was already dead by the time I set off the detonator. I just finished the job."
She took her finger to wipe away a tear. "How can you be so cold?"
He leaned in further still holding the grin and replied, "Genetics."
She looked down at her bandaged leg. The pain was lessening now. Her mind was in a whirlwind. One of her thoughts formed into a question that d
emanded an answer. "How did Voxan find me?"
"Oh, he knew all along. He was just too old to do anything about it. I wasn't in his life anymore at that time. But before he died, he told me how to find you. All I had to do was activate it."
"Activate?"
"A simple device. Small enough to conceal what it really was. Mara Jade has probably figured it out by now."
"The necklace," she gasped.
"Congrats on finally catching up."
"That's how you knew where we were going. And that we were on the Errant Venture. That's also how you knew it was the Anzati who was in the storage room."
"All correct."
"You used me."
"Oh, come on. Everybody uses somebody in their life. You should be used to it now."
The pieces were fitting into place. Her father found the jewel that her mother wore on the HoloNet. But it wasn't her mother's. Voxan made a copy and placed the bug inside. He put it up for sale and waited for the one buyer who was desperate to have it at any cost. Sentimental value had no price limit. A clever way for Voxan to find them. Too bad he died before he could execute them personally. But her father died not long after he gave her the jewel. Voxan didn't have to kill him. Nature did that. It made her mention to Mahc, "I'm the only Broadwater left. After you execute me, what then?"
"Like I said before, I don't intend to kill you. I need some answers first."
"Answers to what?"
"Let's just say I'm going to offer you some clarifications. And you're going to fill in the blanks."
"What in kriffing hell are you talking about?"
Mahc stood up and reached over her. "You'll see. All in good time." In his right hand was a hydro-syringe. "Right now, though, you need to rest." Once she saw the syringe she cried out in a struggle. He was too fast. He injected her arm with the syringe. The sedative was strong. It took effect almost immediately. She slowed her struggle and her eyes started to close. Her head automatically lowered onto the pillow. Within a few minutes, she was out.
Mahc looked over her and mumbled. "You're going to need it."
The Paradox Fate - several hours later
"Stand up!" Mahc demanded.
Her mental capacity was still in the groggy stage. She had been placed in a hoverchair with the repulsors locked. She looked down at her leg and it was still bandaged. The pain there was now reduced to a mild numbing. Her hearing was coming back as well.
"The engines have stopped," she noted.
"That's right. We've arrived at our destination."
"Where is that?"
"A place that may jog your memory. You should be able to walk now."
She began the action of lifting her leg and getting up. There was no sharp pain, but it was there. She took a step. And another. He was right. She could walk now. With each step on her injured leg she limped. "All right. Where to now?"
Mahc made a gesture that said, "This way."
She followed him through the main area of the flat, square-shaped ship to reach the exit ramp. The bright light emitting from the ramp was evident that they landed on a system where it was currently daytime. He walked down the ramp and she followed.
Outside of the ship, a bright sun shone on the vast area of forest. They were in a clearing. A line of tall green trees made the edge of the forest into a semi-circle. The wind was cool and relaxing. Ahead of them by several meters was what looked to be a pile of scrap. From the weeds and grass growing up through the wood and plasticrete debris, it looked like this site hadn't been touched in ages.
"What is this place?"
"Don't you remember?"
"Why would I remember here?"
"Guess you were too young. No one bothered to build over it. They took away the bodies, of course. Gave them a proper funeral. After that, people in the city left it alone. Treated it like a memorial. It's so far out from the city that no one comes out here anymore."
"What city?" she asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"Unlos Tagge."
She breathed out, "We're on Tepasi."
"More to the point, we're at the ruins of the last home to the Broadwater family."
She looked around the debris as she reached closer. She could now see pieces of wood and some metal that had been charred by a fire. She could see the faint outline of a foundation that at one time had been a house. Her house. She strained to find details about them deep into her memory but she couldn't. Instead, she murmured with a mix of fear, rage, and love, "This was where the memory of my family ended."
* * * * *