Traits Of Descent

Chapter Four

The planetary system of Vesper

"Are you sure this is the place?" Corran asked Luke as he came up beside him after he paid the air-taxi.

"Unless Karrde's coordinates are incorrect."

Corran checked the datapad again. "They're not. Does this look like the home of a former Black Sun employee to you?"

"He's probably using it for obscurity." Luke stared at the run-down shack that stood before him. It was well outside of the city perimeters. "Looks like the perfect hiding place."

"Right. This would be the last place anybody would look. Black Sun certainly didn't leave any kind of severance pay. I don't know, Luke. Don't know what we can find here."

Luke stated calmly as if he were talking to one of his students, "It has been my experience that looks can be deceiving. Come on, let's get this over with."

The two men approached a rusted door that looked like it would fall down with so many cracks in the permacrete. Luke chimed the alert. It took a few moments before the door slid open with a shrieking metal on metal sound. In the doorway stood an elderly man of at least a century old. He had wrinkled skin, his head bent down at the neck from back problems, and he walked with a cane. He wore the thickest spectacles that Luke had ever seen. Before either of the them could greet him, the man spoke first.

"You Karrde's men?"

Corran answered, "We're not his men. But we are in need of your assistance."

Luke spoke their greeting. "I am Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and this is Corran Horn. I assume you are T'ryas Dane."

"All my life. So far. I wait for you since Karrde tell me you were coming. I was busy digging up old holovids from my old employer, Black Sun. Come in." He turned back inside as Luke and Corran followed. Luke detected an accent that was definitely not Coruscanti. His speech pattern was more relative to a Neimoidian with a higher pitch.

The inside was not any better looking than the outside. Pieces of flimsi, broken equipment, and other nondescript debris were scattered randomly. They came through a small kitchen off of an even smaller hallway. T'ryas ended up in a small room beyond the kitchen.

As Luke entered, he muttered to Corran, "And I thought the Falcon was a mess."

Corran added, "I've seen garbage mashers cleaner than this." He stopped in front of T'ryas within definite earshot and quickly said, "But it's still lovely."

"It is not much, but is suitable. Here, sit." They sat on an old sofa that had seen better days as T'ryas stood. The man said, "I'm afraid I don't have refreshment."

Luke said, "That's all right. Thank you." On the other side of the room, he spotted a large shelf full of nothing but holovids. They were too numerous to count, but Luke estimated at least five hundred. "Are those all holovids of Black Sun?"

"Oh, yes. I collected them after the suicide pact. I had access to them in their headquarters on Coruscant. There are vids of secret meetings, unofficial transcripts of various cases, and many other sensitive materials. They were all placed in my protection. After Xizor died Black Sun never fully recovered. Even the Black Nebula didn't last long."

Luke and Corran gave a knowing glance since they knew who essentially ended Black Nebula. Luke asked, "How did you end up out here on Vesper?"

"I gathered all the incriminating evidence and took off to the farthest and most obscure system I could find."

"Mission accomplished," Corran noted.

T'ryas seemed to ignore him. "Yes, everything you want to know about Black Sun is on that shelf. Karrde sometimes contacts me for information and pays handsomely. He seemed to believe that I could help you too. Do not worry, I am charging this through Karrde."