Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order_ Dark Tide 02_ Ruin - Michael A. Stackpole [26]
He glanced at the droid. “Artoo, pull up the docking bay data on the Durastar. I want a list of ships—and their destinations—that took off from that docking bay within four hours either way of the Durastar’s departure.”
“That could be dozens of ships, Luke.”
“I know, Mara, but we have to start somewhere.” Luke took his lightsaber from his desk and clipped it to his belt. “We don’t need a rogue Jedi running around, and especially not one looking for a planet killer.”
An airspeeder got them to Docking Bay 9372 quickly enough. The cavernous enclosure bustled with activity. Loadlifters shifted cargo; passengers snaked through the chaos in long lines; idle workers clustered together drinking, laughing, gambling. Mara and Anakin split up to hit the ticketing offices for the commercial shuttles that would transport people from the surface to ships waiting in orbit. R2-D2 accessed a local terminal node to get the data Luke had requested.
Luke opened himself to the Force and wandered through the docking bay. A torrent of emotions poured into him. He smiled at the petty anger arcing between a couple whose sense of on time differed radically. He passed by people anxiously trying to remember if they had packed this or that. He nodded at ships’ captains calculating profit with each crate loaded or unloaded from their freighters’ holds. The excitement from folks heading into space for the first time broadened his smile, and the passion of a couple heading off on a honeymoon prompted him to blush.
As he strolled along he did his best to immerse himself in Daeshara’cor’s mind-set. She had an interest in superweapons and had access to fairly confidential files concerning them. She knew she was expected to be in Bimmisaari in five days, so she had that much time in which to operate before any alarm could be sounded. That narrowed down her choice of destinations.
Luke immediately rejected her having traveled to the Maw Installation near Kessel. The Durastar would have taken her to Bimmisaari, from which Kessel was a short hop. More importantly, the files she’d accessed would have left no doubt that Admiral Daala had destroyed the lab complex. While it was possible some portions of it still floated in space, the chances that anything useful still remained were minimal.
Before Luke could figure out what Daeshara’cor had been looking for, he felt something through the Force that seemed out of place. It began as curiosity, but spiked immediately into fear. Discipline immediately masked the fear, but did a fairly poor job of it. Luke looked to his right and saw a man hastily pulling up the hood on his cloak and turning away.
The Jedi Master gestured easily. “Wait, don’t go.”
The cloaked man halted in midstride as if he’d frozen solid. Though he fought against Luke’s suggestion, his torso turned and his head came up, letting the cloak slip back. “M-me?” the man stammered.
Luke nodded slowly and smiled as he crossed to where the man stood. “I think you can help me.”
“I don’t know anything.”
“Perhaps.” Luke shrugged easily. “The fact is that you are here often, and you make a living by spotting needs and fulfilling them, isn’t that true?”
“I, ah, I . . . I’ve done nothing.”
A security officer came walking over. “Is Chalco here giving you trouble, Master Skywalker? I will deal with him, write up a report.”
Luke casually waved a hand. “Thank you, not necessary. Nothing here to report.”
The security officer blinked once, then continued on his way, passing between Luke and the surprised docking bay denizen.
“What you do here, Chalco, is of no concern to me right now. I think you may be able to help me, though.”
The heavyset man ran a hand over his bald head. “How so?”
“You observe things. Two days ago a Twi’lek, a Jedi, was here. She was supposed to leave on the Durastar, but she did not embark on the ship. You saw her, yes?”
The man slowly nodded. “I find it convenient to keep an eye out for Jedi, you