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Synopsis:
Mara Jade attends a concert by the Coruscant Full
Symphony Orchestra on the Mid-Rim world of Chibias,
hoping for some warm nostalgia. All she gets are bad
thoughts of Skywalker, so she leaves the concert. On her
way out, she spots a shabby-looking youth being talked
to by three guys. One of the three, a man in formal
wear, slips a datapad in the kid's backpack! It's a
clear setup, and Mara can't help but investigate
further. Acting as "Litassa Colay," Director
of Offworld Special Events, Mara learns that the man in
formal wear is Counselor Raines of Governor Egron's
staff. With a little fighting action, Mara saves the kid
from arrest and runs out of the concert hall with him.
She takes him to her hotel room as stormtroopers fan out
around the theatre. The kid explains that he was offered
a job by a mystery man on the planet Sibisime to work
for Egron. But the guy didn't show up at the concert
hall as expected. Mara looks at the datapad and sees
Egron's seal on it. She figures the kid has something
they want, and she learns what when she tries to hack
into the palace computer. The kid takes over for her,
and does it in no time flat. Together, they look for
Raines in the personnel files. He ain't there. Mara
grabs her blaster and lightsaber and tells the kid - he
says his name is Ghent - to stay put.
Now posing as "Arica Pradeux," Mara enters the
palace and uses her Emperor's Hand codewords to force an
appointment with Egron. Instead of him, she's met by
"Raines." He reveals his name is Markko, and
he's an unofficial aide of Egron. She asks to know how
much Markko is willing to pay for Ghent's services. He
balks at 2,000 an hour, which tells her that Egron
didn't hire Ghent at all - Markko did because he's not a
good enough slicer and Ghent is. Markko, busted, admits
that he's trying to hack into a Rebel computer captured
from a sector command center. He reluctantly accepts the
2,000 fee, and she arranges a meeting at the palace in
two hours. As she leaves, she muses that something about
Marrko's story didn't fit. She also senses she's being
followed. She loses both her tails, and then tails them
to a private home where Markko gets the drop on her. He
drags her into the house and reveals he's a Rebel agent.
He was telling the truth about the computer, except that
he planned to erase the most critical information from
it when it was sliced. She tells him to meet her at the
appointed place and time and coolly leaves.
An hour and a half later, Mara and Ghent meet Markko at
the governor's palace. As Ghent starts to work on the
computer, Mara tries to get Egron aside to rat Markko
out - but Markko gets him in conversation instead. Ghent
does get far enough to reveal a logo on the computer - a
logo that reveals the computer to be from the control
node of a Star Destroyer. It hits her - Egron's planning
to join the Rebellion, and the computer is his admission
ticket. She warns Ghent that they're in danger and gets
him to stall the hack as best he can. She also gets him
to set off a loud noise from the computer while she
quietly slices through the room's support structures
with her lightsaber. She also cuts a quick exit out of a
wall. She then approaches Markko and suggests Egron's
about to double-cross him. The distraction works, and
she and Ghent suddenly rush through the hole in the
wall. The wall caves-in, smashing the computer. Mara and
Ghent fight their way through the palace, but are
eventually cornered by a furious Egron and Markko. She
guns down Egron, but Markko gets his blaster against
Ghent's head. She tells him she did her duty by
executing Egron, and has no grudge against him. He can
either let Ghent go and they can all walk away; or he
can play hero and only she will walk away. Markko lets
Ghent go and runs away. Mara gives Ghent some money to
get back home and then leaves herself.
As Ghent heads to the spaceport, he's approached by a
smuggler named Talon Karrde, who offers him a job. He
asks who the woman with him was; Ghent honestly doesn't
know. "Pity. Still, you never know. We might run
into her again someday."
Synopsis taken from Christopher
G. McElroy's Time Tales, www.theforce.net/timetales.
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