Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 01_ Outcast - Aaron Allston [45]
Jaina brought up the file of the next bounty hunter, the Rodian sniper, but her door chimed. Absently, she said, “Come.”
The door hissed open and her brother Anakin, dead these sixteen years, walked in.
Jaina froze, a chill running down her spine. This wasn't Anakin as she remembered him, sixteen and dressed in Jedi garments. He was older, fully adult, and taller, perhaps even a centimeter taller than Jacen had been. He wore street clothes in black and crimson and had a professional-quality holorecorder on a strap around his neck.
He also wore Anakin's smile as he advanced on her, hand outstretched. “Jedi Solo.”
“Uh.” She stood and automatically took his hand. When their palms came together she realized, with distracted embarrassment, that hers was sweating.
“You probably don't remember me. It's been more than fifteen years.” He absently wiped his palm on his tunic. “My name is Dab Hantaq.”
“Dab Hantaq.” Some familiar element in the name kick-started Jaina's brain. “I know that name.”
“During the war, the Yuuzhan Vong War I mean, I was kidnapped by Senator Viqi Shesh—”
Jaina sagged just a little in relief, the mystery solved. “—and you were used in her plot to try to kidnap my cousin Ben.”
“That's right. You might remember me better as Tarc, the name she gave me.”
“Right, right, little Tarc.” Jaina sat and made an effort to reassemble her shattered Jedi calm. “Have a seat.”
Dab glanced around. There was no other chair. He smiled again. “I'll stand, thanks.”
“What can I—what are you—”
“I've been assigned to you.” From his belt, he unclipped a small identification folder and opened it. On the left side was the circular shield of an Alliance marshal. On the right was an identicard with a holo of his face, name, and vital statistics. “I'm really a documentarian, but also a licensed investigator because that helps, and there was just a mad hiring scramble for people with certain skill sets and any experience with the Jedi—”
“You're my observer?”
He nodded and reattached the identity folder to his belt. “The whole Alliance marshal thing is a matter of convenience, really. They gave it to me so I could bully my way through all sorts of obstacles when following you around. I'm really more about capturing the moment—”
“This will never work. Never, never.”
He gave her a look of sympathy. “Because of my resemblance to your brother. I knew when your name came up for me in the random rotation that it was going to create trouble. Since it's going to cause you distress, I'll have myself put back in the pool.”
“Yes. I mean, no. I didn't mean it would cause me distress.” She clamped down on herself, uneasily aware that it had already caused her much more distress than she would ever admit. “I meant, this whole observer thing will never work. In general.”
“Oh.” He fingered the holorecorder on the strap. “Would you let me record a reaction from you on this whole observer program, something expressing your thoughts?”
“No! That's not part of your observer role, is it?”
“Well, no.”
“You aren't recording anything for personal or professional use, are you? Everything you record has to be turned over to the government, right?”
“Uh, sure.”
She glowered at him. “Look, I'm in the middle of some record keeping here …”
“I understand. Master Hamner has set up a waiting room for us observers in a chamber off the Great Hall. The old youngling lecture hall, he called it. Did he mean old younglings, or old hall? Never mind. I'll be there. You need to check in with me if you decide to leave the Temple so I can accompany you. And I have to check in with you at intervals to make sure you haven't, you know, wandered off. Sorry.”
Stunned, she just nodded. Dab waited a few moments to make sure no further words were going to issue forth, then retreated. The door slid closed behind him, leaving Jaina in merciful silence.
Until she spoke again. “Random rotation, my eye. This is somebody's idea of a joke, and whoever it is will find himself dumped in a garbage compactor.”
RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT NEAR THE JEDI