ACROSS THE STARS
Chapter Seven

Maira looked up as the door to Rosé’s room slid open and she stepped out, dressed in an elaborate blue and white gown accentuated by a glittering blue pendant. Her eyes lingered on the rare blue gem for a moment as Rosé bowed slightly to her in greeting.

"Rosé." Maira acknowledged the greeting.

"Maira." Rosé looked around. "Where’s Jack?"

"He’s gone ahead to the banquet hall where your dinner will be held to check the security and the guest list. I will be escorting you, your mother, and your betrothed there."

Rosé nodded, looking less than enthusiastic at the mention of Caledon. "Thank you."

Maira nodded, turning as the chime sounded on the entrance door of the apartment. When she opened the door, Caledon strode in, brushing past her without a greeting and walking straight to Rosé.

"Sweetpea!" he greeted her, sweeping back his lavish cloak and kissing her quickly, unmindful of the fact that both Maira and Ruth were watching. Stepping back, his eyes swept over her, noting her expensive jewelry with approval. "You’re looking lovely tonight." He turned to acknowledge Rosé’s mother. "As are you, Ruth."

Rosé stepped away from him, pretending to make sure her elaborate hairdo was still in place. "Thank you, Caledon."

"Are you ready, ladies?" Caledon flashed the DeWitt-Bukater women a broad smile, reminding Maira uncannily of a scam artist she and Jack had once been forced to defend when some of his more unsavory "clients" had decided to take the law into their own hands.

He headed for the door, Rosé on his arm and Ruth following close behind, only to be brought up short as Maira stepped in front of the door, holding up her hand.

"Wait," she instructed them, palming the door open and scanning the hallway before allowing the others the proceed.

Rosé nodded, understanding, but Caledon looked affronted. "Surely there’s no need for—"

"There have been numerous assassination attempts in this building, some of them successful—and not all of them easy to detect. For your safety, I will go ahead of you and make sure there are no threats."

"This is ridiculous," Caledon muttered, glaring at Maira as she walked ahead of them. "I told you before, Ruth—I can hire all the security you need. There’s no need to involve the Jedi in this."

"It’s only until the assassin is caught," Rosé reassured him. "So many have been targeted…I’m told the Chancellor himself approved the Jedi intervention."

Caledon gave her a patronizing look, as though she was speaking of something she didn’t understand. "Enough about this assassin, Sweetpea…tonight is our betrothal dinner, and there’s no need to discuss this now…I don’t believe you quite comprehend what is going on, anyway."

"I comprehend enough," Rosé murmured, but she quieted when Caledon tightened his grip on her arm warningly, her mouth setting in a tight line of discontent.

*****

Rosé’s spirits lifted somewhat when they reached the banquet hall in one of Coruscant’s finest restaurants, which Caledon had reserved for the occasion. Elaborately attired guests of various species mingled, talking and laughing, many of whom had worked closely with her father.

She couldn’t help but smile when one guest—who, by Caledon’s expression, she guessed had been invited only for the sake of being polite—came to greet her, nearly knocking her over in his enthusiasm.

"Rosie DeWitt-Boo-kata!" Jar-Jar Binks, Naboo’s Gungan representative, screeched in greeting. "Meesa muy muy happy to see yousa alive! Senator Amidala no can be here, ‘cause—"

"That’s enough, Jar-Jar."

Rosé looked up as another guest came towards them, rubbing her arm after the overexcited Gungan had shaken her hand just a bit too hard. She raised her eyebrows in surprise as Chancellor Palpatine put a calming hand on Binks’ shoulder.

"Oh…oh! Meesa go!" Jar-Jar turned to leave, tangling his feet in the legs of a chair and knocking over the chair and a waiter who had been circulating with trays of appetizers.

Caledon, Rosé, and Palpatine watched the Gungan in amusement for a moment before the Chancellor turned back to the couple.

Rosé was still surprised by the Chancellor’s presence—Caledon was indeed rising fast in the political arena if the Chancellor was attending the betrothal dinner of a mere Senatorial aide. She was also faintly disturbed by his presence—her father had never thought very highly of Chancellor Palpatine, regarding him as appearing just a little too perfect while many serious and growing problems in the galaxy went ignored.

Caledon, however, had no such reservations. "Chancellor Palpatine, I’m pleased you could be here." He smiled, bowing slightly.

"Congratulations, Senator Hockley. She’s splendid."

Caledon laughed, ignoring Rosé’s look of surprise and dismay. "Now, I’m not the Senator yet, Chancellor."

"Ah, but you will be. I’m sure of it." The Chancellor turned as someone called his name, nodding to Caledon and Rosé before disappearing into the crowd.

Caledon turned to Rosé, ready to lecture her for her less-than-polite response to the Chancellor’s congratulations, but she pulled away from him, her eyes scanning the crowd. "Excuse me, Caledon. I believe I see a friend over there…" She hurried into the crowd before he could say a word, leaving him staring after her with a faintly dumbfounded expression on his face.

*****

Caledon, Rosé, and their guests sat down to dinner an hour later. Rosé, keeping an eye out for the two Jedi assigned to protect them, noticed with surprise that they weren’t eating, but were instead posted on opposite sides of the room, watching closely for any sign of trouble.

She frowned, wondering if their greater vigilance was because of the public occasion, or because there had been word of an actual threat. Maira had just been switching off her comlink when Rosé had emerged from her room, but she had said nothing. Had someone made a threat, or had it been a simple conversation?

She was about to try to catch Jack’s eye when Caledon stood, gesturing to her to rise also. Lifting a glass filled with fine Arcadian wine, he waited a moment while silence spread throughout the room.

"Everyone, I would like to officially announce the betrothal of myself, Caledon Hockley of Arcadia, to Rosé DeWitt-Bukater, daughter of the late Senator Cleon Bukater of Arcadia." He turned to Rosé as she bowed her head, wishing fervently that her father was still alive, and wishing almost as fervently that she were not betrothed to this man. He smiled, tilting her chin up, mistaking the reason for her reticence. "Rosé and I will be married in the city of Telsni on Arcadia three standard months from today. All our guests here are invited." He emphasized the word ‘guests’ slightly, making it clear, as least to Rosé, that the two Jedi were not included in the invitation. "Now, may I make a toast to my lovely bride, and—"

The door to the banquet hall slid open, admitting four scruffy-looking beings—two humans, a Toydarian, and a Rodian. "Are we included in that invitation?" one of the humans boomed, raising a blaster as the two Jedi rushed to intercept the intruders.

"Get down!" Caledon pushed Rosé to the floor, glancing at Ruth, who was already ducking beneath the table. Cina followed her lead, as did a number of others.

Jack and Maira had managed to disarm two of the intruders before they could raise their weapons, but the human who had first raised his blaster had gotten past them in the sudden chaos and was firing at an elderly Senator. The old man went down, clutching his shoulder, but as the human assassin moved to finish him off, his hand found a glass of wine, flinging into the assassin’s face and distracting him long enough for Jack to tackle him, knocking him to the ground and using the Force to overcome the man’s greater weight and strength.

Jack almost had the would-be assassin restrained when a shot from another blaster narrowly missed him, instead severing the assassin’s bonds. The assassin took advantage of the split second of distraction and threw Jack off, grabbing his blaster from where it had landed a meter away and looking for his target, who had by this time been pulled away by several other guests and was hiding behind a table lying on its side.

Jack had landed on his feet and joined the battle again in an instant, his lightsaber deflecting blaster shots from attackers and guests alike. Maira’s lightsaber, too, spun around, deflecting the blasts while she pushed guests out of the way of the battle and fought the Rodian, who had decided to take her out himself.

A wave of Jack’s hand sent a half-filled wine bottle smashing into the human he had disarmed when the battle first began as she tried to get up and join in the fray, her unusually elastic bone structure having allowed her slip out of her restraints. She fell to the floor, unconscious, as the bottle broke over her head, reeking of the finest wine Arcadia had to offer.

"Jack!"

He turned, the Force speeding his step and vaulting him over scattered tables and chairs as he rushed to Maira’s aid. The Rodian had grabbed a Senatorial aide who had made the mistake of trying to help Maira was holding his blaster to the young being’s head, using her as a hostage while demanding that the Jedi put down her lightsaber.

"Let her go." Jack held his lightsaber to the Rodian’s back. "Give me the blaster and let her go."

The Rodian sneered at him contemptuously, giving the guest a chance to try to twist out of his grasp. Both Jack and Maira lunged forward, but the Rodian pulled the trigger, sending the young aide crumpling lifelessly to the ground. Almost as quickly, he turned the blaster on Maira, but before he could pull the trigger, her lightsaber sliced through his short neck, sending his head tumbling from his body.

A shriek sounded from halfway across the room as a table overturned, exposing Ruth, Rosé, and Cina. The Toydarian and the human who had been pursuing the elderly Senator before pointed their blasters at the three women, but even as Jack and Maira came running, Cina latched onto one of the legs of the Toydarian, pulling him out of the air and sending him crashing to the ground, almost dropping the blaster in his hand as he fell. In an instant, Cina was on him, pummeling him with her strong fists. He yowled in pain as his nose broke, his blaster discharging in the air and narrowly missing Caledon, who jumped out of the way with reflexes still remembered from his days at the Temple. He came running towards them, the blaster he had been firing wildly throughout the melee still in his hand, though now out of fuel.

The human had grabbed Rosé when Cina had attacked the Toydarian, taking advantage of the distraction. He grabbed her necklace, pulling her towards him, but the strength of the chain proved too great for him to be able to break it, leaving her face to face with him and staring at him with wide, terrified eyes.

"You killed my brother, you little…"

Rosé was staring at him, her mind reeling. She hadn’t wanted to kill his brother—she felt terrible about it, even after meditating on it—but she didn’t want to die, either.

A glimmer of an idea came into her mind as she remembered the way Jack had waved his hand as he had tried to convince her to come down from the balcony wall. Could the Force be used to convince beings of things? It hadn’t worked on her, but still…

"You don’t want to hurt me," she gasped, waving a hand uncertainly in the man’s face.

"What?" He stared at her as though she had lost her mind.

"You don’t want—"

Her words were cut off as Jack slammed into her attacker, knocking him away from her and breaking his grip on her necklace. He tackled the would-be assassin to the floor for the second time that evening, catching the restraints that Maira tossed to him and binding the man’s hands behind his back. He took the assassin’s blaster and put it into his belt, ensuring that the man couldn’t get it if he escaped a second time.

Rosé burst into tears in delayed reaction, running to her mother and clinging to her. Caledon tried to comfort her, but she batted at his hands, pushing him away. She wanted no part of him at the moment.

Cina let go of the Toydarian, who flew through a shattered window slowly and painfully, his wings looking as battered as the rest of him after Cina’s beating. Cina hurried to Rosé, making comforting gestures and looking at Caledon suspiciously.

The female human who Jack had hit with wine bottle had regained consciousness and slunk away before the battle ended, leaving only the dead Rodian and the male human in the banquet hall.

With the guests—all of whom but one had survived—gathering around them, the Jedi pulled the captured human to his feet and pushed him into a chair. Maira gripped the front of his tunic and looked him in the eye.

"Who sent you? Who’s responsible for these assassinations?"

The man looked at her but said nothing, his eyes shifting from her to the gathered guests, all of whom were staring at him with unmasked hostility.

Jack stepped forward, leaning close enough that the man tried to move away from him. "Who sent you?" He waved his hand. "Answer me now."

"I…it was—"

Before he could answer, Caledon stepped forward, grabbing a handful of the man’s greasy hair and pulling his head back. "And why did you put your hands on my betrothed?" He yanked on the man’s hair, drawing a groan of pain from him. "Answer me, you filth!"

"Mister Hockley, please let him go. This is Jedi business—" Maira began, but Caledon did not give her a chance to continue.

"I was doing what—" the man began, just as Caledon slammed his head forward. There was a sickening crack, and when he let go, the man’s head hung at an unnatural angle.

"His neck is broken." Maira’s voice was calm, but inwardly she was struggling not to strike out at the fool who had just killed their best chance at stopping the assassinations.

"I-I’m sorry," Caledon stammered, though his tone lacked conviction. "When I saw Rosé in his grasp…"

"He was about to confess!" Jack stepped forward, his eyes flashing angrily, but Maira laid a calming hand on his arm.

/Let it go, Padawan/

/He might have been able to tell us who was behind these assassinations/

/Perhaps, but there’s nothing we can do now except continue to protect the DeWitt-Bukaters and hope another lead is found/

/This isn’t right, Master/

/No, it isn’t—but now you know one of the many reasons why Caledon Hockley was never chosen as a Padawan. He was always too impulsive and foul-tempered. I know you’re angry, but release that anger into the Force. Sinking to his level won’t help anything, and it will get you in trouble/

Caledon was staring at Jack he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, reluctantly releasing his anger at Rosé’s betrothed into the Force. He opened his eyes, much calmer now.

"He was about to confess," he told Caledon, looking at the body of the assassin.

"I doubt that. Someone like him would never tell the truth, no matter what you did to him. All you would have gotten out of him was lies."

"Perhaps, but it was not for you to decide whether he lived or died, Mr. Hockley." Maira stepped in, quietly instructing her Padawan to find those needing medical treatment and do what he could for them.

"I didn’t mean to break his neck." Caledon looked at Rosé, who was staring at him in horror, and at Cina, who was eyeing him with contempt. Ruth was still trying to comfort Rosé, her back to him.

Maira turned away in disgust and went to help her Padawan, who was leaning over the elderly Senator who had been shot with a blaster. The man was talking and aware of his surroundings, though in obvious pain, but she knew that she could no more for him than Jack could, so she turned away, looking for others who needed help and putting some distance between herself and Caledon Hockley. As much as she had told Jack to release his anger into the Force, Hockley was one of those individuals who could rouse anger in the most serene of beings.

Caledon, meanwhile, was trying to talk to Rosé and explain his actions. She wouldn’t let him to come near her at first, shocked at his violent reaction to the man who had attacked her, but at last Ruth coaxed her into sitting beside him.

He took her hand as she stared at him, resisting the urge to wrench her hand away from his. "Rosé…Sweetpea…"

"Please don’t call me that."

He ignored her and went on. "When I saw him holding onto you, I couldn’t think of anything but that you might be badly hurt or killed. What if he had broken your neck? I saw the way he was holding onto your necklace." He traced the red line where the necklace had dug into her skin, holding her hand tighter as she winced and tried to pull away.

"Caledon…"

"Rosé, I can’t stand to see anything happen to you."

Rosé pulled her hand away, her eyes dry now. "He had been disarmed and restrained when you killed him."

"I was angry. I won’t deny it. But I was trying to get answers out of him, not kill him. Breaking his neck was accidental."

"But the result was his death, whether you meant to kill him or not."

"As was the result when you pushed those assassins out the window of your apartment."

Rosé stared at him, her eyes wide with shock. She hadn’t shared the story of how those assassins had died with him, and could only assume that her mother had told him.

"How—how did you know about that?" she whispered.

"Your mother told me—or at least she told me that you believe you pushed the assassins out the window. I don’t see how you could have, though, unless you can use the Force." He looked closely at her. "Are you Force-sensitive, Rosé?"

"I…not that I know of," she lied, instinctively keeping her newfound potential from him. "I would have been sent to the Jedi as a baby if I was, wouldn’t I?"

"Probably," he answered, but he eyed her intently just the same. She turned away uncomfortably.

"Mistress DeWitt-Bukater, Mistress Rosé, Mister Hockley."

Maira came back to them, Jack following. The restaurant’s host had called the authorities shortly after the four assassins had entered the banquet hall, alarming other diners who didn’t think the scruffy group belonged there. The Coruscant police had finally arrived, along with emergency medical personnel. The police were interviewing the guests and looking over the bodies of the Rodian, the human assassin, and the young Senatorial aide. Those who had been injured in the battle were being cared for.

"Once the police have spoken to you and someone has taken a look at Mistress Rosé’s neck, we will be returning to 500 Republica with you. After that, we must talk and decide what to do. After the incident tonight, I don’t believe it is safe for the DeWitt-Bukaters to remain on Coruscant, and perhaps not for Mister Hockley or Cina, either, although neither of you seem to have been targeted so far." Caledon began to protest, but Maira held up a hand. "This is not open to debate. This is a very dangerous situation, especially with no leads." She looked significantly at Caledon. "We will make no decisions here, but when we return to 500 Republica, we will discuss this and decide upon the best course of action."

Chapter Eight
Stories