You know my name

[Eluna Thals]

Bothauwi

The trip from the Fourth Fleet rendezvous at Sullust had been longer than normal, if only to protect against blowback. The Jedi Zem Vymes was a fugitive from General Dan, and if the Jedi was to be believed, the reasons for this could potentially unseat the entire Rebellion. Taking care to plot an indirect course which doubled back several times, Eluna and Jane escorted Zem to a point where he could be clandestinely spirited away to the secret location of the Wheel, the Jedi convoy under close watch by the Rebels to protect it from enemy attack.

Once their paths parted, the two Alliance operatives returned to the beating heart of of Intel - Bothauwi. It made sense strategically to regroup and assess the variables from a position of strength. If they were about to seriously move against one of the most powerful men in the Alliance, their hand would have to be unseen, fast, and decisive. Already, Starborn was putting together a plot to clandestinely test the General's blood for midichlorians - the microscopic building blocks of force potential. From what Eluna knew, a high count wouldn't be conclusive evidence of a Sith in the midst, but it would be compelling when faced with other evidence against Dan.

There existed several options. The possibility of penetrating Dan's inner circle to find somebody to perform the extraction would be difficult. Eluna had been, at best, on the fringe of his network before being passed to Phoenix Cell. He carefully controlled access to himself. Other means involved potentially using insectoid-sized droids to potentially mimic a biting insect or something similar. This too would be a long shot. Of course, there was also a chance of mining old medical data, but the possibility of such data being doctored or simply deleted was high.

On top of that, there was still the issue of Byl. They'd found Zem while following Byl's trail, and their paths were connected. The chance was high that if they could uncover the Captain's whereabouts, then other pieces of the puzzle might come together. That was easier said than done, however. From her time working with Byl, she knew he was extremely careful and paranoid. He hadn't made following him easy.

As Eluna sat at a terminal in her Bothauwi apartment, disseminating data over all half traces of the Captain's last movements, she expected more of the same disappointments. Perhaps that's what made a nondescript byline on the Bothauwi embassy's comm scanner nearly cause her to double take.

In an instant, her hand was at the comm, pinging her most recent contact.

"Jane, get over here immediately!"

[Jane Starborn]

She was beginning to feel like a zombie. Jane scrubbed her face with a dry hand, flicking her hair out of her eyes, and held back a sigh. In her office on Bothauwi she could smell the faint odor of the Bothans' fur. It had a slightly musky scent that permeated the entire planet. Not unpleasant, but took some getting used to if you'd been away for a while.

Zem Vymes was with Dashiel and they had probably rendezvoused with the Wheel already. Wherever that was. Jane wasn't in the Need To Know, and didn't care to be. Director Van-Derveld had agreed with the urgent nature of the Jedi Knight's news (or rumor - it was still hearsay at this point), and the Wheel had been jumped to a new place and had a particularly virulent strain of the Corellian Flu that needed to be quarantined for the time being. Jane hoped that the Council was receptive to what Zem had to say, and would understand the need for the deception regarding the quarantine.

Task Force 42 was also reportedly on the move. General Dan had wasted no time after Jane, Dash, and Eluna had absconded with his secret prisoner, and was getting ready to - do something. Nothing had been recorded as far as a jump plan or orders. Not yet, anyway.

Jane stared at her screen, rubbed her eyes again (they felt dry, like her eyelids were sandpaper), and then pressed a button, activating the tracker she'd left in the care of James Prent. Hopefully the girl hadn't abandoned it on Copperline and had taken the card with -

The Senior Operative blinked bleary eyes, trying to clear her vision, and peered at the trace report. Within five klicks? On Bothauwi? She jumped as a ping sounded, and a red box appeared on her computer screen.

LAPROVIK ID TAGGED AT EMBASSY/FACIAL RECOGNITION CONFIRMS ID

Jane started up to her feet so suddenly that her expensive office chair crashed to the ground and a stack of datapads scattered all over her desk. Her commlink buzzed and she unconsciously answered it. "Jane, get over here immediately!"

"I have a better idea. Meet me at the embassy. Like, yesterday." Jane was already out the door of her office and running down the hall.

[Byl Laprovik]

This wasn't the outcome he'd hoped for, but it was certainly an outcome he'd expected.

Coming in from the cold to meet with the Alliance held many unknowns. He knew from James and other scraps of information he could dredge up that he was some kind of special agent in the Alliance. The double edged sword of trying to find out about his past was that even by looking, there was next to nothing he could turn up on the outside. He had to know. Not knowing meant too many unknowns. They couldn't keep running from both the Empire and the Rebels. The Empire was a known quantity in that they wanted them both dead. The Alliance could hold the key to their salvation...

...or it could lead to this dead end.

"Mr. Laprovik. I'm Assistant Consular Seregrin. You do know why you've been detained, don't you?"

Byl sat at the opposite end of a table from the man facing him. He was balding, dressed in a suit, and held a holoflimsy. At the midpoint between the two men, the table was bisected by a force field that cut the room in half. The half of the room Byl sat in was a holding cell. The table gave the illusion that this was simply a sit-down meeting between two men, but it was the thinnest of illusions.

From the question asked, Byl derived that his captor was every bit as lost as he was.

"My name was on a list."

It wasn't much of a guess. He'd shown up on Bothauwi with nothing but a face and a name. He'd even arrived on separate transports from James. She'd come in on the evening flight from Devaron. He'd given her an audio device with a playtrack on it, and instructions on when and how she was to come to the embassy. If he didn't contact her an hour after he stepped through those oversized front doors, she knew what to do. They'd been on the run long enough to know how to depend on each other. She was his lifeline.

Consular Seregrin's expression tightened into an attempted smile. Byl returned a small, but genuine smile. He knew the Consular was fishing for a hint. Even if Byl had one to give, he wouldn't.

"You could say that. A priority two name. I'm sure you know what that means, yes?"

"It means every open set of eyes in the Alliance is looking for me, but not enough for a death mark. What's wrong, Consular? Nobody up top cares to give you anything more than a name?"

The frustration on Seregrin's face became more pronounced.

"You'd make this a lot easier for yourself if you just started talking."

Byl leaned forward, his eyes glinting knowingly.

"I think we both want to know why my name's on that list."

"Don't be coy, Laprovik. I'm an Alliance Consular. If you cooperate, I have plenipotentiary authority within the confines of this Embassy. I can at least give you a fair shake. Once your out of my sight, you're likely to drop into an unmarked speeder courtesy of Intel, and I doubt they'll give you the light of day."

They both knew where Seregrin's authority began and ended. Right about where the force field cut the table in half.

"I can handle the light of day, Consular. I came to Bothauwi for answers."

Seregrin's forehead began to faintly perspire. He was getting stonewalled.

"Answers to what?"

Byl placed both hands palms down on the table.

"If I'm priority two, hanging off the Alliance's proverbial bollocks on Bothauwi, I expect someone from Intel to be along shortly with the right questions."

He glanced impatiently down at his chrono. Another ten minutes, give or take.

"If they dawdle. I'm leaving. I didn't come here for the free room and board."

Seregrin blinked at Laprovik's brazen response.

"I don't know what you were or you think you were in Intel, but you're behind a force field in an embassy held by a platoon of Alliance marines, on a planet with a spy behind every rock. You're gonna have to come to grips with that, and start cooperating."

Byl sighed.

"We're wasting each other's time, Consular."

The conversation was over.

[James Prent]

James Prent was terrified. Closing her eyes and trying to picture a quiet green meadow, or a stream burbling through rocks wasn't helping. And of course having her eyes closed only made her think that someone was going to be standing in front of her when she opened them, ready to shoot her or clap her in cuffs.

She fiddled with the small box in her inner jacket pocket, then forced herself to stop. Byl's time was running out, he hadn't contacted her, and it was time for her to get moving. James stood on the magtrain platform, waiting for the next commuter train to pull in to the station, a hood pulled up over her short hair and concealing her face from any security cameras.

The surge of bravado and backbone she'd briefly found just before Byl had hatched this harebrained idea was long gone. All that was left in it's place was a chilly sense of being watched. The train whooshed to the platform, and she casually shouldered her way through the other beings and found a seat.

[Eluna Thals]

Just as the magtrain doors were preparing to close, a familiar flame-haired woman in a casual tee and capris knifed a hand through the gap, pushing the doors apart. This wouldn't be like the last time. They were beyond pretending this was a social call. Fortunately, enough loose ends were up in the air to make sure that James Prent was a bit less disposable than she otherwise would've been considered.

Lucky her.

A large man dawdled a bit too close to the center aisle for Eluna's liking, and she checked him against one of the support poles, sending him sprawling. That was enough of an entrance to get James' attention.

"James Prent. Come with me."

[Jane Starborn]

Jane tried not to run as she worked her way through the layers of security in the embassy, but every second counted. What was Byl playing at? Why the embassy and not checking in with his direct superiors in Intel?

It was funny - she'd never met the man but she felt like they were on a first name basis now, after all she'd been through because of him. Maybe she'd wring his neck. Jane cracked a smile at that, and finally someone was opening a door and there he was, safely on the other side of a force field, with a consular getting to his feet and saying something.

Saying something to her. Jane ticked her gaze over to Consular Seregrin, and said, "Yes, thank you, Intel will be taking over from here. You may go." He looked vaguely confused, like what she'd replied with hadn't matched his question, but nodded and took his leave anyway.

Jane sat down stiffly in the warm, just-vacated seat. Byl Laprovik looked at her impassively, no flicker of recognition in his eyes. Of course, they'd never met before.

"You look just like your holo, Commander Laprovik." It felt awkward, like a first date at a middle school dance. "I am Senior Operative Starborn, and I have been looking for you for quite a long time."

[Byl Laprovik]

At last.

Byl's smile took on a small bit of assuredness.

"Should I be flattered or concerned?"

Now it was time to get to the bottom of all this.

"I came here to talk to an Operative. So let's talk."

[Jane Starborn]

She narrowed her eyes slightly, studying his careful sabacc face. "I assume you have a report to file?" He made no positive indications with his expression, a schooled response that revealed absolutely nothing - except for the fact that he wished to reveal nothing.

"What reason can you give me for disappearing off the grid for months and not reporting in? It better be good, or you'll be facing court martial for being absent without leave." Jane pursed her lips slightly. "Its no secret you have a long leash, Commander, but you are tied to Intel and we do expect you to check in and to go on missions with your comrades in Phoenix Cell."

[Byl Laprovik]

Phoenix Cell.

She was the first to disclose new information, even if it was just a name.

Mulling it over, he tapped a few times on the tabletop with a finger, before bringing his hand to rest, at last deciding to see how far he could get with being earnest.

"I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you with an underwhelming report. The earliest thing I can remember is coming to in a one man shuttle in the Figaro Favoura system, about nine months ago."

[Jane Starborn]

"Bullshit." Jane sat back in the chair and shook her head. "I'm not going to buy that. If you want to report to the Director instead of me, I can arrange that, but you're going to have to give me more than some line about having amnesia."

[Byl Laprovik]

That went about how he'd expected it would. Who would buy a line about amnesia, anyway?

"If that was the best lie I could come up with, I would've just stayed out on the lam, wouldn't I? You've been close to catching me, but not that close."

He sat forward a little, lacing his fingers together as he lowered his voice.

"I'm here to know who I am. Who I was. What that all means between me and you. I've spent too long chasing a ghost."

[Jane Starborn]

To someone with an eidetic memory, the concept of amnesia seemed impossible. Still - it was scientifically real. Jane could think of thirteen types of amnesia or memory loss and that was without trying. There were two different ways the memory loss occured, as well. Antereograde amnesia meant the being could no longer form new memories; there'd been a holomovie along those lines a few years ago. Retrograde amnesia was the loss of pre-existing memories to conscious recollection, beyond an ordinary degree of forgetfulness, and seemed to be what Laprovik was claiming.

He could have suffered the memory loss from a post-traumatic situation, or a dissociative episode after a psychologically trying experience. With his training it was unlikely he'd simply snapped or tried to repress some memory. A head injury was more likely, or...

I did not dare venture out to see. It was very heated and obviously violent. Some time later, I did see something peculiar out in the courtyard. Madam s'Ilancy carried a man out. I did not get a good look, you must excuse me. She carried him to a ship and put him in it. Minutes later, the ship took off.*

"Does the name Loklorien s'Ilancy mean anything to you?" She raised an eyebrow.

[Byl Laprovik]

"No, I don't bel..."

He paused in the midst of his denial, suddenly unsure. It wasn't a name he recalled from any memory or anything in his travels, no. But...

"...wait, this name. I'm certain I've never heard it, or never remembered hearing it at least. But I think this was in a dream I had."

Byl looked at the table, confused and unsure where this tangent would lead.

"Was this a mission I was on? To find this woman? To kill her?"

The dreams he'd had were so disjointed and made no sense. It didn't seem like a replay of a memory. It didn't seem like anything.

[Jane Starborn]

Jane shook her head. "No mission. Nothing on record." She looked around a bit, knowing that the room was secure, but slightly paranoid of listening devices anyway. She amended her statement. "You and the rest of your team were accompanied by Jedi s'Ilancy on a snatch-and-grab mission to Coruscant, where you ... liberated a scientist from the Empire. Colonel Karrnage."

As she spoke, Jane searched the man's hard face for any signs of recognition. "You left the fleet and accompanied the prisoner with General Dan Thrule, but that's where we lost track of you. I assume you went to Figaro Favoura IV where the General and his consort Loklorien s'Ilancy were retiring and ..." She spread her hands and shrugged.

"The last Intel heard from you you left a cryptic message about going after a traitor. You missed your check in, and here we are, months and months later."* Jane leaned forward, her elbows on the table. "I have been very generous with giving you this information, Laprovik. Right now the Alliance is balanced on the edge of a knife - you are the piece that will tip it one way or the other. Since you came in yourself I assume you are tired of not knowing, or you're playing some other game that I can't even guess at.

"I don't have time for games. Captain Thals is bringing in James Prent right now, and then we'll visit Medical and get you checked out. The docs should be able to tell me if what you're saying about your memory loss is true."

[Byl Laprovik]

"You think this...traitor...on Figaro Favoura, you think I found them?"

Assuming that someone or something out there had the ability to wipe minds, it still didn't make sense. That sort of information could be potentially damning if uncovered. Jane seemed to think it was an existential threat to the Alliance. Certainly big enough to kill over then.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to kill me?"

Unless, of course, they wanted to avoid someone finding a body, or a trace of foul play. A bit of dawning came into his eyes.

"No, why do that, if they could just make it look like I'd gone rogue. I wake up, ignorant as the day I was born, and to those on the need to know, it looks like I myself am the traitor. Bloody brilliant, that."

Of course, if that theory held...

Byl's face suddenly tensed.

"We can't stay here."

[James Prent]

"James Prent. Come with me."

James clutched at the little box in her jacket through the lining, her hand in the outer pocket, frantically trying to think if she was close enough for it to do any good and knowing instinctively that she was still too far away. The woman looming over her was one of the Alliance agents who had come to their apartment on Copperline, and she was looking even less friendly than she had then.

"Um, okay." She got to her feet shakily, the motion of the high speed train giving an excuse for the tremble in her knees. "No need to shove anyone else around, I'm peaceable."

[Eluna Thals]

"I know."

It was said with a bit of assuredness. The woman carried herself with a kind of hesitance that could reasonably draw conclusions that she was certainly fearful. Her dossier suggested some degree of force sensitivity, but no formal training.

As they stood, Eluna threaded her arm in the crook of James' own. To all onlookers, they appeared as two friends out on the town.

"Byl's safe."

She looked at the brunette, interested in what that revelation would reveal in her expression.

[James Prent]

James' heart beat faster at the mention of Byl, and worry and relief were all over her face. She licked her suddenly dry lips, shaking her head a little bit. "No, he isn't. I've been trying to protect him..." Her soft voice trailed off.

He just had to have answers. She knew she'd said too much, and chewed her lower lip, her eyes shining with an influx of emotion.

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna gave James' arm a gentle pull so that she faced her.

"Who have you been protecting him from, James?"

Seeing hesitation on her face, Eluna's own expression softened, putting an empathetic hand against the side of her face.

"You care for him, don't you?"

Eluna allowed her AI personality to express itself organically, and she shared emotions with James that were real enough from a certain point of view.

"I do too."

Even if Eluna was lying, it was still important to tease information out of James. She knew Byl well enough to know he would be a nightmare to crack. James was leverage.

[James Prent]

James flinched as the other woman touched her face, but forced herself to relax. "You don't understand. No one will."

She set her lips in a hard line, the train rocking slightly as it pulled into the next station. Still too far away. James tried to breathe slowly and easily, but her chest felt like iron bands were clamping tightly around it.