In Command (#1 Post-Order 66 Series)

In Command - Part 9

"I'm so excited the two of you are finally going to take a proper honeymoon," Zea commented as she picked through the flowers the vendor had at her stall. "Any ideas on where you're going to go yet?"

"Well, we've talked it over a bit, but I think Lon has been missing the quiet of the countryside. We may just go camping out on the grasslands where he can get some peace and quiet for a bit and watch the stars." Senna smiled into the bouquet she was inspecting. "Every time I talk with Lon about it, he has new ideas of where he wishes to go. There's so much of this planet we haven't seen since settling here, and I think he's eager to explore. We may just play the whole trip by ear."

"Well, I think that all sounds spontaneous and romantic," Zea chuckled, paying for the bunch of flowers she'd selected. Senna replaced hers and Zea linked their arms as they strode through the market, side by side. "I do have one thing I've always been curious about though."

"Oh? What's that?" Senna asked.

"Why didn't the two of you go back to Naboo after the war? I've heard it's a beautiful planet."

"It is," Senna sighed, thinking of her homeworld. "We lost most of our family during the war. I'd lost my father young, and my mother fell ill while we were away. I wasn't able to get home in time to say goodbye. Lon's mother and father were older, and they passed within a few weeks of each other shortly after we got married. Neither of us had siblings, so it was really just the two of us left. Ultimately, Naboo didn't hold happy memories for us after that, so we decided to cut our own path and find a new world to make ours. We lost a lot, but we have each other, and we decided that was enough." Senna felt an inexplicable warmth settling into her stomach as she wove the story. We have each other.

"I'm so terribly sorry for both of your losses, but I'm glad you're finding your way together," Zea said quietly.

"It's all in the past now, and there are happier times ahead." Senna smiled lightly and leaned against her. Zea tipped her head to slightly rest on Senna's shoulder as they walked on. "Let's head over to that tech shop on the corner. Lon needs me to pick up a few items for a project he's working on for a client."

They steered their way through the crowd, making their way towards the building that housed everything Senna would need to complete her comm node and the equipment she'd been building for tapping into the conference feed. As they walked, Zea chattered away in her ear.

"I'm so glad we got to do this. Brak's been a bit on edge lately, and it's been bleeding over when he comes home."

"Problems at work?" Senna asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"Yes, that Commander Fisk has apparently been in a terribly foul mood lately, and he's making everyone around him miserable. Brak said he'd heard him muttering something about a date gone wrong."

Senna had to bite the inside of her cheek to stifle a grin. Good. "Well, I hope things turn around for him."

Zea sighed. "Me too. He's already been struggling with the fact that he wasn't selected to go to the conference they're holding in the capital next week."

"Oh? What's the conference for?" Senna asked, seeing if there was anything Zea knew that might be worth probing.

"It's a huge defense conference. There's a lot of focus on resource management, and with Brak helping coordinate the operation on Ilum, he assumed he'd get an invite to speak. No such luck, though."

Senna felt her heart skip a beat at the mention of the Jedi holy site. She did her best to steady her voice as she pushed on with her probing, trying to veil her urgent interest. "Ilum? I thought Brak was focused on Lothal's resources. Isn't that planet essentially just a block of ice anyway?"