[Legacy Of The Force] - 03(40)

“No worries.” Luke flashed a roguish grin. “Nothing in there I haven’t seen before.”

Mara shot him a look that could have melted a comet, then waved him into the kitchen. “Get busy. This woman is after our son, remember?”

Luke went into the kitchen and began to look through processing units and storage containers. He quickly learned that Lumiya lived almost entirely on juice and protein drinks-not too surprising given the challenges of maintaining a body that was as much cybernetic as flesh. But he found nothing to suggest how she had known Ben Would be in Fellowship Plaza last night-no eavesdropping equipment tucked away in a cabinet, no electrobinoculars hanging from a drawer knob, no holocam recharger sitting on the counter. Nothing.

Luke turned back toward the living room and saw Mara’s reflection staring at him out of a mirror. She seemed more beautiful than ever, her hair a deeper red, her face a little fuller and less lined.

“Notice anything?” She was speaking from the bedroom, but thanks to the reflection, Luke felt as though he were looking directly into her eyes. “About the mirrors, I mean.”

“Of course,” Luke said. “They’re everywhere-and you can see the entire apartment from anywhere.”

Mara appeared disappointed. “Not that,” she said. “They distort your image-make you appear more attractive from every angle.”

“Okay, now I see it,” Luke said.

“Like you said, Sith are all about illusions and deception,” Mara said. “Even when they’re alone. Know what else I found?”

“Her datapad?” Luke asked hopefully.

“Sorry.” Mara emerged from the bedroom empty-handed, and he turned to face her-the real her, which he thought was even more beautiful than the enhanced reflections. “Nothing. No luggage, no power cells, no tool kits.”

Luke frowned. “No replacement parts?”

Mara shook her head. “Not a one.”

“Replacement parts?” Raatu asked from the door.

“Cybernetic replacement parts,” Luke answered. “Lu-miya is as much machine as human, and that means she; needs to maintain herself.”

“Exactly,” Mara said. “All Luke has is one mechanical hand, and he has to keep half a kilo of parts handy or risk not being able to cut his own nerf steak. Lumiya must carry a small workshop around.”

Tozr raised his brow. “So if her tools aren’t here…”

“Then neither is Lumiya.” Raatu let out a vile Rodian curse. “Someone warned her we were coming!”

“No.” Mara went into the bedroom, then returned with an elegant taffeta skirt-and-tunic set. “She intends to come back sometime. No woman would take her luggage and leave this behind-at least not one who has so many of these mirrors.”

“So she’s just taking a trip somewhere,” Raatu said. “That means she had to arrange transport.”

He entered the room, took the datapad from Luke, and went over to the entertainment wall. He started to jack it into the central comm port-then suddenly stopped and looked over his shoulder for reassurance.

Luke did not sense any danger. “It’s safe,” he said. “But I don’t see what…”

“The Law Enforcement Tools Provision,” Raatu explained. “I can recall all data accessed from this origination point anytime in the last month.” He jacked in, then began to punch the keypad furiously. A moment later a section of the entertainment wall activated, displaying a record of data accesses from that location. He selected TRAVEL, and a map showing the location of the Bothan embassy appeared.

“What the blazes?” Tozr cried. “That doesn’t make any sense!”

“It does if Lumiya killed the ambassador,” Mara said. “See what other locations she’s looked up.”

Raatu tapped a few more keys, and a long list of addresses in the Bothan quarter appeared. Before Luke could request it, Raatu had already asked for a list of corresponding names.

As soon as names started appearing, Tozr gasped, “It’s her! She’s the one who’s been killing Bothans!”

Luke and Mara shared a glance, silently asking each other if they needed to share something that Omas had told them the night before about the Bothan murders.

As Raatu continued to scroll through the long file, Tozr pulled out his comlink and started to open a channel.

Mara reached over and stopped him. “You might want to wait until you’re back at headquarters.”

Raatu craned his green neck around, the lips of his green snout pulled back into a threatening snarl. “This is a law enforcement matter.”

“It’s also a political minefield.” Luke pointed at the names on the screen. “Those dead Bothans were all members of the True Victory Party.”