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Jaina slipped in a dark puddle of mildew and cursed.
She picked herself up slowly, trying to brace her hands against the parts of the ground that were as clean as possible. The word "clean" really could not be used to describe any part of the environment, but Jaina was trying to look on the bright side.
She was in the lower levels of the huge city planet, and she was getting very frustrated with her inability to make sense of anything. Jaina had walked the distance between the lower exit of the Krakun Hematological Research Center and the site of Markis's murder a dozen times, yet she was still getting lost as she tried to cover the distance for the thirteenth time.
There were countless paths to take, none of which seemed any more likely than the other. This section of the underworld was so dense with construction and decay, that it was more akin to a forest than a city. When this had been the top layer of Coruscant several hundred years ago, the buildings had been so tightly packed that elevated walkways between buildings seemed almost pointless, as one could practically step out of one building window and into another.
Walkways had been built though, and as the general republic slowly retreated upward, the denizens of this lower level had also made their own. Buildings crumbled by age had collapsed into each other, allowing passage between the buildings without alerting the traveler to the fact that he was even moving between them.
Jaina was not wearing her best clothes and tried to ignore the dark stains that covered her cloak and pants. She was there to try and find something that could tell her more of what had happened a week ago when Senator Keld had been killed. She had revisited the bathroom where she had found the small vial and syringe, but there was little left there for her to learn.
As Jaina moved about the dark, dank concrete jungle, only half of her attention was focused on where she was going and what she was looking for. The rest of her Force attuned senses were on the lookout for predators. This area was not nearly as dangerous as the even lower levels of Coruscant, but it was not to be traveled lightly.
At this level, the inhabitants were scarce and almost exclusively human. The residents were mostly those who had failed above and had been forced to seek shelter in the weatherless underworld. They were all first or second-generation residents and most still had pipe dreams of returning to the levels above. All they needed to do was mug the right traveler or stumble upon a lost treasure and they would have their big break – or so they thought.
Jaina had seen very few of the underdwellers thus far, but, through the Force, she had felt many eyes peering at her, wondering what such an obvious outsider was doing in their realm. Jaina kept herself on edge as she moved toward the entrance of an old transit station. Her journeys between the research center and the murder scene were becoming longer and longer with each trip, as she further scouted the area in question.
The words identifying the station had long since crumbled and only the ancient turnstiles gave Jaina the information with which to identify the building. She moved quietly through the main floor of the station and headed toward the steps that led down into the transit tunnel.
The concrete steps were slippery with mold and mildew. The young Jedi focused all her concentration on the task of descending the treacherous path and was nearly thrown to the ground when an old woman attacked her at the bottom. Jaina scrambled for her lightsaber as she stumbled away from the woman, but stopped when she saw that the hag could not possibly prove threatening.
Despite her advanced age and hunched posture, her movements were quick and stealthy. She did not look where she was going, but instead her eyes were constantly on the move, scouting out the area around her. She had not meant to frighten Jaina, but her demeanor could have hardly done otherwise.
"A visitor to my home, and I greet thee. Would that thou partake of my services and I'd greet thee further."
Her voice was quiet and quick and had a gravely edge to it that reminded Jaina of the Jedi holocubes containing Yoda's teachings. Jaina wanted to keep moving, but something about the woman kept her from running off. She stood less than five meters from Jaina and waited patiently for the Jedi's response. Though Jaina never saw the woman's eyes look her way, she could tell that the hag was very focused on her.
Behind the old woman was her home. Blankets and boxes were formed into a functional sleeping space and could be disguised to look like a pile of useless garbage quite easily. "What kinds of services?" Jaina heard herself asking.
"Ah, my wares interest you, as they should, as they should. Please come, come. I shall show you."
The woman moved in the same fluid motion that she had surprised Jaina with as she went back to her personal belongings. She rummaged through them only briefly and was once again standing in front of Jaina, this time much closer.
"You would be looking for a good time, yes. Life is depressing, but I can change that. Take this and all your troubles will disappear." The hag held a small capsule in her wrinkled fingers for Jaina to see.
"Drugs?" Jaina asked.
"YES! YES! The young girl knows what this is. But does she know what it can do for her? Try it! Try it!" The woman shoved the pill at Jaina's face. "The first one is no charge."
Jaina shook her head and took a step back. The hag retreated quickly too, storing the pill in her voluminous coat. "Perhaps you are looking for something stronger, yes."
Jaina began to protest, but the words stuck in her throat as she saw what the woman produced next. It was a small vial of liquid. Jaina took a few steps forward and began to reach for the item. It was yanked away instantly. "Ahh, but I have interested the young lady. This is not free, no. Never free this one."
"Would I drink it?" Jaina asked, an idea quickly forming in her mind.
"Ohh, but then it would simply pass through you. No, this must be taken directly into the blood, yes. With a needle, yes."
Jaina knew that the vial she had found in the bathroom had been labeled by the Krakun Hematological Research Center and had not come from this woman, but the needle might have. "Do you have needles?"
"I might, I might, but we will be talking about money very soon or we have no business."
"I am looking for someone," Jaina said, and before all the words had even left her mouth the hag had hidden her special vial and was very defensive. As soon as she realized no sale was going to be made, she had switched from "profit mode" to "survival mode."
For the first time the woman actually looked at Jaina closely. It did not take her long. "You seek Caylin. Yes, you seek Caylin."
"I seek a man named Markis Keld," Jaina corrected.
"There were two men that night. Describe your Markis Keld to me."
Jaina gave the best description she could. The hag nodded. "Yes, Caylin was chasing him."
"Did he take a needle from you?" Jaina asked.
"This Markis Keld knocked me over, in such a hurry he was. I dropped many things. He might have picked one up. But you should not worry about him. It is Caylin you want." She looked Jaina up and down again. "Yes, you seek Caylin."
Jaina realized the old woman was right. She really was not looking for Markis. She knew exactly where his body was. This Caylin fellow on the other hand, was almost definitely the killer. "Where can I find him?"
"Caylin is in many places. How am I to know where to look?"
Jaina was knew to this game, but she soon realized she was going to have to pay for this information. She reached into her pants' pocket and produced half a dozen credits and tossed them at the woman. With quickness Jaina did not think her brother capable of, the woman snatched up all the coins as they bounced about on the concrete floor.
"Dianna, Dianna, you must go see Dianna." The woman was very excited about her new wealth, and her speech was even quicker than before. "Dianna knows much. She knows Caylin. She will know where Caylin can be found. Yes! Yes! You will go see her."
"Where is she?"
"Down the tunnel. Down the tunnel. Yes! Yes!" The hag pointed to the end of the landing platform where the old transit tunnel cut through the hollow. "Down the tunnel ten hundred paces, yes. You can not miss her. She is the one with the hiss, the hiss. YES! YES! Now go. GO!"
The woman had given her information and now retreated into her home to hide her money from anyone who might come looking. Jaina would like to have known more but clearly saw that she should be thankful for the little she had gotten out of the old woman.
She was happy, however, that she now had at least some direction. In fact, she even had a name for the killer, Caylin. Of course, Jaina was not so naïve as to think that a simple name would clear her brother. Right now, the name "Caylin" was no better than the name "Real Killer," and until she found the first and proved he was also the second, the information would do her no good. She started down the tunnel.
No transit had been down this tunnel in several hundred years, and that lack of use was fairly evident. The rails were twisted, rusted, and in some cases missing. Sections of the tunnel had caved in, revealing the gutted innards of the buildings that had been built above. Jaina tried to move silently, but rats and large insects scurried about as she passed through their homes. From above, alcoves of bats and mynocks fluttered about and made a few half-hearted attacks on Jaina. A few swipes from her lightsaber made sure the attacks did not persist.
A thousand paces was approximately one kilometer. As Jaina reached what she thought was one kilometer, she barely made out a red band that ringed the tunnel. The stripes marked off the kilometers inside the tunnel, and when this tunnel was in use, the trains probably passed three of them a minute.
Jaina began searching the area for some sign of this mysterious Dianna, but this section of the tunnel was unremarkable from the rest of it. A little further ahead, Jaina saw another cave in and moved closer to investigate. The right side of the tunnel had collapsed outward into a hollowed out building beside it, creating a crude slope down.
The rubble was unstable, and Jaina moved across it with Jedi coordination and soon found herself in a very old foyer. Great granite pillars supported the vaulted ceiling, and Jaina could see remnants of beautiful sculptures lining the parallel walls leading toward the long ago busted out glass entry.
Dianna was not in this room.
Jaina moved quietly through the grand hall, confident that this was the path she needed to take to find Dianna. To her left and right were stairways leading up and down. With the Force as her guide, Jaina chose left. The stairway down was only half there, and the darkness below was impenetrable. Light was not something that abounded in the underworld, but neither was it pitch black. After a few hours, your eyes got used to it. However, down the stairs was an inky blackness that no one could see in.
Taking care not to get too dirty or wet, Jaina got to her hands and knees, and crawled backwards to the drop off. Moving so as not to slip, Jaina was soon dangling from the edge of the remaining stairs, preparing to drop into darkness. She took a deep breath and let go.
The floor was only three meters below, and with a little help from the Force, she felt very little impact. Jaina had been prepared to roll with the landing, but as her feet splashed loudly in 20 centimeters of standing water (at least she hoped it was water) she quickly decided against it.
Fear was palpable in this room. It went beyond the fact that she was in a strange place in pitch-blackness; her Force sensitivity was also screaming at her. Jaina reached into her cloak to pull out a glow rod but decided for the lightsaber instead. The snap-hiss of her weapon illuminated the room in a soft purple light, and Jaina gasped. It was identical to the courtroom in which Jacen's trial was taking place. Well, it was not exactly "identical" to that courtroom, but Jaina imagined 200 years ago, it would have been. Now it was very evident that time had not been kind.
Water covered the floor of the old courtroom, but that much Jaina had already guessed. From the depth of the water on the crumbled seating that straddled the center walkway, Jaina assumed she was on an elevated portion of the room, and in the center, the water would probably cover her waist.
Anything that had been wooden was rotted away to nothing, causing the judge's bench in the front of the room to look like a rusty skeleton. There were open doorways on either side of the front of the courtroom. Similar granite pillars as the ones above held the ceiling in place, though these were much smaller and the ceiling was no more than four meters high.
Jaina did not see any signs of life in this room either, but the Force told her to look harder. Then she saw it. In the dim light, the water appeared black and motionless, but as the young Jedi looked closer, she could see a slight current moving between the pillars. It was moving toward her raised landing very quickly. The current looked like something a snake might make as it moved beneath the water.
As the word "snake" went through Jaina's mind, the huge serpent reared up suddenly, towering over Jaina only a few meters away. Jaina was frozen momentarily by the suddenness of the revelation and then by the size of the thing. It had to be close to ten meters in length, and from the surface of the water to the top of its gigantic hood was easily two meters.
Every fiber in Jaina's being told her to attack, but she held those emotions in check. Jaina had just witnessed this giant cobra's speed, and if she had leaped at it, it would have bitten her in half in the blink of an eye. Instead Jaina stared at it, following its slow sway back and forth as its black eyes penetrated into her soul.
Jaina remembered the old hag saying that Dianna had a "hiss." At the time Jaina had dismissed it as the excited woman slurring her speech, but now as the young Jedi heard the huge cobra snarling, she understood why the uneducated woman might call this a hiss.
"Ixyenra!" A scratchy voice came from the front of the courtroom. "Ixyenra, be gone!"
The snake's posture changed drastically as it took in the command. Its hood folded down and its tongue retreated. Slowly it sank back into the water, and Jaina watched with relief as the current of the snake slithered back into one of the side rooms. Out of the other one, a tall woman emerged.
The judge's podium was also elevated, and this woman barely got her feet wet. She and Jaina were now on opposite sides of the room and neither one made a move to venture into the deep water between. "Are you Dianna?" Jaina called.
"Come before me that we might talk properly," the woman responded.
Jaina moved forward slowly, feeling with her feet for the edge of her landing. She really did not want to wade through this water. As if the other woman could read her thoughts she called out, "Walk on top of it."
Jaina had not thought of that. She had never attempted the trick, but she had seen her brother and uncle do it before. The water was not totally unsubstantial, and combined with a simple levitation trick, Jaina moved out slowly. Her feet sunk slightly into the water, but with a little more effort she found she could move effectively across the top of it. She was a long way from being able to run, or even walk quickly, but after a minute, she was standing next to the woman.
Dianna, Jaina assumed, was not that old, or at least she did not appear so. She had long black hair that had no hint of gray at all. Her robes were of a deep green that matched the scales of her pet. Her face was thin and angular, and her eyes were piercing.
"You do seek Caylin."
Jaina looked a little stunned. "How do you know that?"
"You are much like him." Dianna obviously was not well schooled in the arts of conversation, and Jaina would have to prompt her for each piece of information.
"In what way?"
"You use the same weapon. You wear the same clothes. You have the same abilities."
"Caylin is a Jedi?" Jaina asked hopefully.
Dianna looked confused. Jaina figured the woman had never heard the word before. "Caylin is able to harness energy," Dianna responded.
"Do you know where I can find him?"
Dianna looked a little resistant. "Why do you wish to find him?"
Jaina could sense that this woman was protecting Caylin. Jaina wanted to catch him and hold him for trial. In essence, Jaina wanted to give him the death penalty. She did not think that would go over too well with this woman. "There are not many of us left," Jaina said, hoping this woman really did not know who Jedi were. "I am seeking out those like me so we might unite and work together."
Dianna smiled. "You would make a good pair. Go to the Rusty Rail. Ask for Imboyan. He will tell you of Caylin and where you might find him."
"Where is the Rusty Rail?" Jaina asked. She was not sure what it was, but she guessed a tavern of some sort.
"About two hours that way," Dianna replied pointing to the left and slightly up. They were pretty vague directions, but Jaina realized that down here places did not have addresses.
"Thank-you," Jaina replied.
Dianna bowed slightly and left through the darkened doorway from which she had entered. Jaina turned back to her entry point, wondering if she was ever going to meet this mysterious Jedi, or if each person she met would just send her to someone else. As she pondered this, the raised platform she was on, hidden by the thin film of water, suddenly ended, and Jaina tumbled forward. With arms waiving wildly at her side and a terrified shriek coming from her mouth, she measured her height in the filthy water.
Jaina was totally submerged in the shallow water and exploded up and out of it as soon as she hit bottom. She flung her head back and screamed in disgust as she spat out a mouthful of dark liquid that she was almost positive was not water. She stood waist deep in the filth and cursed herself out for her carelessness as she waded quickly to the other end of the room.
***
Jaina figured that a two hours for most people would only be one for her. She was wrong. Six hours after pulling herself out of the ancient courtroom, dripping wet, Jaina wandered into the Rusty Rail. She should have been able to guess that with a name like the Rusty Rail, the tavern was probably next to some ancient tracks, and if she had just followed the transit tunnel, she would have found the place much more quickly. Instead she wandered all over the place, asking anyone she could find for directions.
The tavern was actually not that far from the Coruscant Palace. It was only half a dozen levels from the top of the construction, but was in a very run-down locale. Jaina's clothes had dried during her journey, but the smell had remained, and whatever that water had been saturated with had made her clothes stiff and uncomfortable.
Jaina took a seat at one of the empty tables and surveyed the room. It was not a large place, but for where it was located, it was well maintained. A pair of waitresses wandered about the room, serving the few patrons who sat at the dozen or so tables.
Jaina looked at her wrist chrono and found that it was eight in the morning. Day three of the trial was just getting ready to take place, and Jaina saw with some interest that the broadcast of the trial was being shown on the one flat screen viewer in the establishment.
The time of day had little meaning down here where the sun did not exist and no one had any type of meaningful daily schedule. Therefore, the Rusty Rail did not make a habit of serving breakfast. Jaina ordered a burger and a drink. Even though she made no effort to disguise her age, the waitress did not even bat an eye at the drink order. Jaina did not usually drink alcohol, but she figured it was probably served from sealed kegs, while any water that they might serve here was probably scooped out of reservoirs like the one she had just swum in.
As she waited on her order, Jaina tried to figure out who she was going to have to talk with in order to find Imboyan. She was spared the trouble. "Excuse me, miss," a man said as he walked up to the table. He was tall and strong, definitely a survivor down here where life was harsh. "You are a bit out of place. May I ask why you are here?"
Jaina thought she fit in very well. Thanks to her recent bath, her appearance was ten times worse than some in the tavern. She looked and felt like she had been living down here for weeks. The smell that came off her could not be that complimentary either.
This man was too observant though, and he rarely looked at someone's outer appearance to gather information about them. Even though Jaina was tired, she had moved with strength and grace when she had entered. Her hood was down and though her face and hair were soaked in mud and slime, she retained a regal look that spoke of a formal upbringing. Her clothes also, though covered in dirt, were free of rips and tears, and if cleaned, the man thought they would be quite nice.
"I'm looking for someone, well, two people actually. I'm hoping the first can lead me to the second."
"And who is the first?" the man asked.
"His name is Imboyan. Do you know where I might find him?"
The man took a seat at the table, intrigued. "You've already found him. Now who is the second."
"Caylin," Jaina replied.
The man leaned back at that. "Caylin. Now there is an interesting fellow."
"Do you know where I can find him?"
Imboyan shook his head. "I have not seen him in three years."
"But I've talked with someone who has seen him just last week."
Imboyan nodded. "I've heard the reports that he has returned, but I do not believe them."
"Why not?"
Jaina's food arrived, but just looking at it removed any hunger she might have had. Imboyan took a look at the drink and then at Jaina's youthful face and shook his head. He continued with his story.
"The reports from those who say they've seen Caylin recently do not match what I know of the man. Caylin is not very big. He's half a head shorter than yourself, in fact. He also does not show himself out in the open that often. He prefers to work from the shadows without looking for attention."
"Who exactly was he?" Jaina asked.
"He was a guardian of sorts. I suppose he was a Jedi, though I never saw him do anything that spectacular. Just a few levels down from here, predators abound, both sentient and otherwise. Caylin was always the first on the scene if any of them tried to move up. Swindlers and criminals often tried to ransack this area, but Caylin was quick to remove them."
"Why would you think he was a Jedi?" Jaina asked.
"He had one of those laser swords Jedi always carry with them."
"Do you remember what color it was?" This would be key.
"I believe it was green. Why, have you seen him?"
Jaina shook her head and let out a frustrated sigh. She had been hopeful that she had finally found the true killer. Unless this Caylin had switched weapons, he was not the one who had chased Markis out of the research center. "Why do people claim that this new guy is Caylin if he doesn't fit the description? I mean wouldn't people know by just looking at him?"
"I've never seen Caylin's face," Imboyan said. "He always kept it hidden beneath his cloak. As far as this new guy, he claims to be Caylin. But he's not keeping a low profile. He's been asking questions and not focusing on protecting anyone. Besides, by all reports, he's bigger than Caylin."
Jaina remembered that the killer had been taller than Markis by the angle of the deathblow. Maybe Caylin jumped while he had swung to frame this imposter. Or maybe this new guy had come on the scene with the intention of ruining Caylin's reputation by no longer helping the people of this area and by killing the senator.
"Also, there is no indication that this new guy is even a Jedi," Imboyan continued. "He's been seen wearing the same black cloak as Caylin, but no one has seen him draw his laser sword or do anything remotely supernatural. Frankly, I think he is just pretending to be Caylin so people will respect him and answer his questions."
Jaina was listening, but her eyes were on the flatscreen viewer as Luke was center stage in the courtroom questioning his first witness. Luke had a parade of statisticians ready to show the court that the physical descriptions of the killer match millions of Coruscant citizens. The issue of the lightsaber was out there though, and Jaina doubted any of the jury would pay much attention to what Luke's witnesses had to say.
Imboyan noticed Jaina's attention was directed over his shoulder and turned to look. He saw the trial and quickly spun back around to look at Jaina, realizing for the first time who she was and why she was really here. Though the dirt and filth was thick on her, he could tell that she was the daughter of the Chief of State, and the sister of accused murderer Jacen Solo.
"What were his questions about?" Jaina asked, still looking at the flatscreen, and not noticing that her identity was known.
"He asked mainly about rumors. He wanted to know if any strangers had been in the area or if there was any unusual traffic. He never asked once about the senator."
Jaina's head was suddenly yanked away from the courtroom broadcast, and her eyes looked hard at her companion. "What did you say?"
"You think Caylin killed the senator, don't you? Or at least you thought that when you walked in here a few minutes ago."
Jaina nodded slowly, seeing no reason to lie to this man. He had provided her with the most information thus far, and if he was to give her anything else, she would need to be honest with him. "Of course now I imagine this imposter is the guilty one. Whoever it was, I just have to find him before tomorrow. Have you been watching the trial?"
"Off and on," Imboyan said. "That thing," he motioned to the viewer above the bar, "doesn't have any sound, so it is a bit difficult to keep up with what is going on. What was the deal with the laser swords yesterday?"
"The lightsabers," Jaina said, letting him know what they were traditionally called, "were Jacen's, and the prosecution linked them pretty convincingly to the crime scene. It was all based on color, so hearing that Calyin used a green lightsaber kind of puts him in the clear. You're telling me that this imposter did not have a lightsaber?"
"Not one that anyone saw. But then again, all he did was ask questions. He never got into a fight by all reports."
"And how long ago was this?"
"A little more than a week?" Imboyan responded.
Jaina nodded slowly. That would be right before the murder. Jaina sat there thinking for a while, trying to figure out how she could have this make sense. "How would this imposter know about Caylin? You said he disappeared some three years ago."
"I did not say he disappeared. I just said that was the last time I had seen him. During that span, I heard reports off and on that Caylin was still in the area, but they were sketchy. As to how this new guy would know about Caylin, all he would have to do is ask. Caylin is very popular around here. Whenever the subject of Jedi comes up, Caylin's name is always mentioned before people like Skywalker and Vader."
Jaina nodded, an idea slowly forming in her head. Imboyan watched her for several moments before speaking. "What do you think about it?"
"I've been researching this senator, and I know that he has likely created a lot of enemies besides Jedi." Imboyan knew nothing about Senator Keld and his anti-Jedi views, so Jaina explained. "I figure one of his enemies decided it was time to take the senator down. The research center is not too far away from here, and while looking for someone to frame for the murder, he ran into the tales of Caylin. As popular as you say he is down here, it was likely that this killer thought that he was popular everywhere. Instead, when the authorities looked for a Jedi to nail for the murder, they found Jacen, knowing nothing about Caylin."
"I never saw any Republic Guard down here even asking questions," Imboyan said.
"Of course not," Jaina replied. "Why would they when a Jedi that so closely matched the killer's description was sitting in the palace. Of course there is still one big hole in my theory ..."
"The laser sw- uh, lightsaber," Imboyan guessed.
Jaina nodded. "They are not that common."
"You are sure it was a lightsaber?"
"Positive. There is no debate. My uncle, Luke Skywalker himself, says so."
"Is there no other weapon that also uses that type of blade?" Imboyan persisted.
"What," Jaina asked, "you mean a variation of a lightsaber? I can't think of one. I mean other than a ..." Jaina slapped herself in the forehead. "Girl you are so stupid! A Forcepike!"
"What?" Imboyan asked, but Jaina was no longer talking to him.
"Of course. The killer went to Senator Keld's private office to kill him, but the old man eluded him. Somehow he knew to look in the weapon cabinet to get the Forcepike, or maybe Markis opened it to get a weapon, thinking his attacker was a Jedi and the killer took advantage of the situation. Of course this still doesn't explain the antics in the alley, though Uncle Luke did have a few ideas that sounded plausible, especially if this killer was purposely imitating a Jedi."
Imboyan was trying to follow this self-conversation but was getting lost. Jaina looked up at him. "Did those who talked to this imposter get any physical description off him? Did they see his face?"
Imboyan shook his head. "Not that I know of."
"Could I talk to them? Do you know where I could find them?"
"Yes, of course." Imboyan proceeded to give Jaina directions for and descriptions of the local residents who had spoken to him about this new Caylin. Jaina absorbed the information and left in a rush. Imboyan sighed. "Good luck."
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