Reaching Through Darkness

Mirmo

I walked through the messy, narrow and short hall of the dingy apartment to the room where my apprentice was sleeping. The door was shut. That was strange. She had kept it open last night. The door opened, and closed a thought of worry within me. Inside was the ever still lump of quiet and peaceful looking young woman. The blanket was half off her body and her hair was its normal disaster. I called out to her in a not so quiet voice to wake up and eat her breakfast. She grunted, telling me she was awake before I had opened the door and was now testing me to see if I would give her five more minutes. This was a game I allowed to go on at the temple because there was time to be lazy, but not now, not on this trip. I sternly told her to get up, have a quick shower and put on the new set of clothes Nea provided again. The guy sorely needed a woman in the most desperate way.

I closed the door to give her privacy, but did not come back to the common room until I get large amounts of grunting, moaning, and things falling over, being followed with curses. Twenty minutes later she came out with wet hair, tight dark blue pants, a deep v cut, and red silk shirt with long expanding sleeves, with a black glossy belt made out of real reptile skin. Her hair was pulled back simply and she wore the black boots from yesterday’s outfit. She was not quite sexy looking, or beautiful, but came off as classic rich, screaming powerful and smart. Truth be told, it was the perfect outfit for today’s events, but Nea did not need to be informed of that information.

Nea gave her breakfast and I reviewed the day’s events so she would know exactly what was going to happen. She nodded every so often and to my surprise came up with a few modification of her own. For all the immaturity she can display at the worst times, she has a strong, confident mature side of her that reminds me why she will make a great Jedi knight. When she was done eating, we gathered our few supplies needed for the trip and headed off with Nea to his cloud car.

We took our time driving around the city, slowly heading up. I wanted Karen to see more of the city and understand what life is like here at the center of the galaxy. By now, some of the glamour was wearing off, though Karen still could not get enough of it. What was even stranger is she was clearly a nature lover and despised large concentrations of human contact. To distract myself from the boredom of our surroundings, I focused within myself and evaluate through a meditation process my current emotions and control over my mind and body. By doing the meditation, I can discover any cold developing in my system or become aware of hiding stress, fear, or anger. I have tried to get my apprentice to do this, but the attempts are merely attempts with little success. I put that thought out of my mind and solely focused on myself. My stress levels were doing well as well as my emotions, but the deeper I looked, the more of a feeling I got. Focusing on that feeling brought out a feeling of worry about the future. I labeled this as a warning provided by the Force, telling me there was danger near by in my future. The danger did not center on me, but someone close. There was no name or image to go along with the warning, leaving me mystified and thoughtful.

“Hey Mir, waking up from that nap of yours would be good at any time now”

Nea’s commanding voice drew me out of my meditation and to my surroundings. The vehicle was parked in a lot, in what I came to realize a government building. I stepped out of the car and looked around to gain a sense of perspective and bearings.

“Ah, do not even worry about it buddy. I have us covered. I have been here so many times, I could walk to any senator’s office with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back. Come on, follow me. Lady Nightingstar, if you will?”

Nea took Karen’s arm and I saw in a glance a glare of disapproval on her face. The look lasted for about a second as she jumped into character. I walked behind them with my head down, studying a data pad I brought along as part of my character. We walked through a maze of hall ways, taking various lifts until we reached Senator Delila Y’tul’s office. A busy woman sat in front of a metal table, busily talking into her comn link in a harsh, harassed tone.

“No, she can not see you right now. No, not in an hour either. I can squeeze you in between her meeting with the off planet taxing proposal and her lunch with the local school district eleven. I am sorry, but that is the best I can do. At best, you are looking at fifteen minutes. I am sorry sir, but she is a busy woman. Now, if you will excuse me, I have another call coming in. Bye.”

The lady put down the comn unit and rubbed her eyes, clearly showing how stressed and over worked she was. I waited for about a minute for her to acknowledge our presence and gave a loud cough.

“Oh, what? Yes? She is busy right now. She will be busy all day. Can I leave a message?”

Her sharp, quick words slapped me in the face and left me wordless. Nea grunted and took over.

“Yes, we are, uh, from the poor worker union and would like to arrange a meeting with the senator.”

It was clear she had never heard of this made up union and did not buy it either.

“Really now? Well, the best I can do is in a week and there is no promise she will accept your request for the meeting. Would you care to still try?”

Nea narrowed his large, dark eyes at her and drew to his full volume, a sight that would impress anyone.

“I, we, are a powerful group and too, are busy. It is most important we see her today. We traveled half way across the galaxy to talk to her and it would be a shame if word got out to the public.”

The lady was not showing any signs of being intimidated by his size or suggestion of a threat.

“I truly am sorry you traveled so far, but there is just no time in her schedule for your group until next week. Perhaps you could meet with a subcommittee leader if you are so pressed for time?”

While I was impressed with her nerves of durasteel, she was not going to refuse us. I stepped forward. I put my hands on the table and leaned forward. I explained to her that I was an under cover Jedi, trained and loyal to the Jedi Order and therefore a servant of the New Republic. It would look very bad on the senator if she refused the request of a meeting from a Jedi and if she did, I would go straight to Chancellor Leia Organa Solo to obtain the meeting. The lady’s eyes widen with the realization of who I was and what would happen to her and the senator if she did not comply with my wishes.

“Let me look at Dilela’s schedule. Well, if you can be here after lunch, I will give you thirty minutes maximum with her. Will this do?”

I nodded and slightly bowed to her. The lady picked up her comn unit and furiously started talking into it. I turned around and lead the group out of the office and to a quiet, empty hall.

“Well Mirmo, I have to say that was smooth.”

I nodded.

“Master, are you sure you didn’t use the Force there?”

I smiled at Karen and told her I was sure. Sometimes the power of identifying yourself was more useful and easier than trying to bend the will of someone as stubborn and strong as that lady. I changed the topic to doing a bit of shopping and touring the government center to get the buzz of the latest new and possible some lunch afterwards. Karen’s eyes lit up at the mention of food. I swore to myself that girl could eat a whole hutt and still be thinking of dessert.