Star Wars_ Coruscant Nights 01_ Jedi Twilight - Michael Reaves [40]
If only a way existed for him to track Pavan through the Force. But that, Rhinann knew, was utterly impossible. What to do? If Pavan was not brought before Lord Vader in short order, Vader would—Rhinann shuddered. He couldn’t even begin to speculate on the tortures that the Sith Lord’s mind could conceive.
There was one last thing he could try. Vast amounts of data, personal and otherwise, had been confiscated from the Temple immediately after the Purge—including nearly complete genome records. Holding his breath, Rhinann programmed a wild match of the DNA signatures. It seemed a futile effort, because no splice job worth a decicred would neglect to falsify those records as well. But by now he was desperate. When the search came up negative, as he had known it would, he felt a moment of true despair. Aside from the fear of whatever reprisal Lord Vader might inflict, his heritage, both cultural and biological, demanded that he succeed. This sort of meticulous research was exactly the sort of thing at which he and his kind were supposed to excel. But it appeared that all the various tricks and skills he had at his command were useless in this case.
In desperation, he expanded the search parameter, looking for any connection that might prove fruitful. Anyone who might possibly have been associated, or been in contact, with a Jedi, no matter how tenuous. Such undisciplined research sent oscillations of anxiety rippling through his spanchnon; nevertheless, he felt he had no other choice.
A soft chime from the unit signaled a finding. Rhinann called up the information and studied the report.
It was a recent holo of several stormtroopers being bushwhacked by two men in a small resiblock in Sector 1Y4F. Rhinann felt a frisson of excitement run up his spine. Most of the incident had been caught by the building’s security cams. Only a quick flash of a face had been caught, but an identification match with a 74 percent probability had been established by the mainframe.
Major Nick Rostu, formerly of the Imperial Army, now a wanted murderer.
The other man’s identity wasn’t clear, but since he was seen in several of the images wielding a lightsaber, Rhinann felt fairly safe in assuming it was a Jedi.
His security clearance made it a simple matter to learn the identities of the resiblock’s tenants. Somewhat to his astonishment, he found that a Jax Pavan was listed among them.
Did the Jedi want to be found?
Of course not, Rhinann realized after a moment’s thought. Given the number of Jax Pavans in that area alone, and given that the Jedi had no reason to believe that he in particular was being hunted, he obviously had seen no point in disguising his identity. After all, this was Coruscant, with the densest population of any world in the known galaxy.
He noted, without any great surprise, that Pavan had moved out of his tiny dwelling place. Perhaps he had gone to ground for the moment, believing comfortably that he would be undetectable, one human among countless others. And no doubt he was sure that his connection with the Force would alert him to any impending danger. Perhaps it would—if Rhinann were foolish enough to come at him directly.
But there was another way.
Rhinann leaned back in satisfaction. It was a good start. He would find Pavan, sooner rather than later.
Lord Vader would be pleased.
Nick Rostu had not returned immediately to his former haunts in the Zi-Kree Sector. After the events of the past forty-eight standard hours, he’d felt he was due a little relaxation time, and he’d heard considerable praises sung of Tangor Square and the entertainments to be found therein. He wasn’t particularly interested in the various activities that went on behind most of the closed portals, but the area did have a shronker salon.
The salon was fairly lively; there were five spheres, all of them in use. Nick ordered a mug of Alderaan ale and sipped