Fame and the Force

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

The next morning

Corran Horn and Chewbacca entered the Corellian VCX-100 freighter owned by Seep Nilub without requesting permission to board. The Sullustan pilot hurried around the corner holding a blaster, his large ears wiggling in stress over the intruders.

"How did you get onboard?" he demanded, waving his blaster between the human and the Wookiee, uncertain who he should train his weapon on.

"Turner was kind enough to provide us with the entry code," Corran replied with a smile.

Just like Luke, Corran also had quickly discovered Nexx Turner to be exceptionally weak-minded; the man pretty much spilled his guts at the slightest Force-nudge. It had also been a bit disconcerting when Corran found out that Evin was actually genetically related to him. His employer hadn't been very pleased when Corran had jokingly started referring to Evin as 'Uncle Evin' but it was certainly fun to tease Daysun, so he decided he'd continue calling him 'uncle' at every opportunity. He flicked on his lightsaber while Chewie pointed his bowcaster in the direction of the Sullustan's chest. "You won't be able to take both a Jedi Knight and a very upset Wookiee, so it's in your best interest to cooperate."

"Um..." the Sullustan muttered, knowing how small his odds were if he should try to fight. "Why should I help you?"

"Well, avoiding prison is the first reason that comes to mind," Corran said amicably. "And keeping some of those Hapan rainbow gems is another. So, which reason do you prefer? Greed or freedom?"

"Both."

"Lower your blaster, and let's have a nice, long chat," Horn said, making certain his tone remained pleasant. "You won't find this a very hard stim-tab to swallow, once you hear what I have to tell you."

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Leaving Jedi students Kip Durron and Teneniel Djo behind to guard Turner, Padawan-Jedi Cighal and Princess Leia Organa made a quick visit to the owner of the apartment where Doctor Nik had lived. They found the landlord to be quite distraught over his tenant's murder, and he was very willing to speak to Leia without any Force persuasion.

Unfortunately, the apartment complex did not use very high quality security vid-cams, and what visuals he did have turned out to be grainy and indistinct. The footage had already been turned over to the proper law enforcement authorities.

Therefore, Leia and Cighal made their way to the Coronet City Security Forces headquarters, and once there they found the authorities were rather in awe of Princess Leia and were quite willing to discuss the murder case of the old Imperial doctor with them. Leia and Cighal uncovered some very good news - the assailant had been a sloppy criminal. He'd left behind DNA evidence of several strands of dyed orange hair that did not match any known associate of Doctor Nik Belvolus. The Head Security Officer was pleased to hear that Princess Leia had a very good idea who the hair belonged to, and she promised him he'd receive evidence in a short amount of time.

Leia found it ironic that after all the time Turner had spent researching her DNA and Han's DNA, it would be the reporter's own DNA that would become his downfall.

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Coruscant, three days later

Tracking down the slicer known 'Breek Entwo" wasn't as difficult as Luke initially believed it might be. The young human needed access to the bank account where the credits from Nexx Turner had been deposited. The bank president had, somewhat reluctantly, provided Luke and Mara with their security vid-cam footage, thanks to fast intervention by General Carlist Rieekan and Chief of State Mon Mothma. The Chandrillian Stateswoman was still feeling guilty over her refusal to assist Leia over Isolder's nasty, public accusations, which had turned out to be quite false. So, at Luke's request, she quickly used her influence with the bank's president, hoping it would earn her Leia's forgiveness.