And there was thunder.

* Naboo, Teed, Tyber *

In order not to arouse suspicion, I had to stay on Naboo for another month under false pretenses.

Throughout the month, I was discreetly getting closer to Inga. Relatively imperceptibly, because the girl herself seemed to be immediately recording any victory on the personal front to her own credit-walking around so happy and content, as if her childhood dream had come true. And maybe it's true, but she wrote down on his account victories are not in vain - in a few weeks I managed to make sure that the customer was right - in the palace is not taken even a servant or ugly stupid - Inga was a rare erudite, beautiful, intelligent, and most importantly, had a great character.

On the second day after the conversation with the customer to the credit card came fifty thousand for a gift, which were given at the wedding of Shmi Riekan, through the droid, which lacked a long-term memory module. So there was nothing but "the two-legged man asked me to give it to him.

And then there was a month before work - I rested from work during the day, visited various interesting places, and at the same time prepared for the opening of my store, since that was what the customer had in mind. To tell you the truth, it worked out even better this way - of course, my dreams of fabulous wealth would have to be forgotten, but I would have stability and a decent place in life. The dates with Inga became regular: in the first days after the wedding, we spent quite a lot of time together, and then she suggested that we move in with her. And she was secretly so happy that you could see it with the naked eye.

All this simple and uncomplicated life ended a month later, when I took the Nabuan tradition of rings and invited the girl to the best restaurant, which we had definitely not been to yet. Not that I was a romantic, but if I was going to propose, I had to propose in a way that wouldn't make me feel bad about it. When she caught a serious note in my voice, the girl got worried, but she drove me out of the apartment and started to pack. Quickly, an hour later, already in her evening gown, she was a wonder how beautiful, but worried. It was understandable - I had made no secret of the fact that I was going to leave in a month - I always said, "I'm going to stay a little longer. Inga was sad, and she tried not to look me in the eye. I got into the speeder and arrived at the right place, where there was already a reservation.

Dinner passed in relative silence - usually Inga talks a lot and is distracted by food, but this time she was sitting with a rather fake joyful look and picking the local delicacy with her fork. Deciding to stop it, I took the rings out of my pocket and turned the girl's gaze to myself:

- Inga! Wake up!

- Huh? Sorry, Ty, sorry. What did you say?

- For starters, I just wanted to ask, why are you so sad today? Did something happen? - I didn't ask the most honest question.

- No, what are you... - she shook her head, what makes you think that?

- No reason... - I shrugged my shoulders, I asked a girl over to talk to her and you looked so sad you'd be buried in a coffin.

She was silent, and I smiled, took out the rings and watching the reaction of girls, clearly spoke:

- Well... Well, I thought about it, and decided that it's better for me not to leave Naboo. And the first reason is that I want you to be my wife, - I handed her the box with the ring, and watching the girl's emotions, I laughed at her directness. At first she did not understand at once what I was speaking about, then she did not believe me, and then she stared at the rings. And after a few seconds of staring... She threw herself on my neck, smiling happily. It seemed that only the presence of other people kept her from squealing with joy. Yes, sometimes it's nice to make people happy, especially girls. Especially the beautiful and intelligent ones.

- Ty, are you staying? - she asked hopefully, pulling away when she was already embarrassed by the stares of the other visitors.

- Of course I will. You still haven't answered my question," I scolded her.

- I have to... - she started to say, but then she waved her hand and continued. - I agree," I put the ring on her finger, and she immediately began to admire it. I did not skimp on the jeweler.

And then... the next thing was crazy. First, I had to work hard to keep the girl within the bounds of decency, then, after dinner, she quickly took off somewhere. According to local traditions, it is not allowed to have sex before the wedding. Although before the beginning of a formal relationship - it is quite possible, but once you've given a ring, be kind to tolerate. So I had an unforgettable month of abstinence. Immediately, the day after I proposed, the whole palace, from the queen to the droids who cleaned the cobwebs in the basement, heard about it. Inga wasn't shy about bragging about her accomplishment. And my legal troubles began - not only did I have to get my Nabuan papers, or rather turn in mine and report my intentions to get married to the proper authorities, but I also had to start thinking about a business that would be my cover. Since I had some connections in the smuggling community, it wasn't difficult to come up with an idea - I'd be supplying the locals with some little things from all over the galaxy.

Since the Naboans were particularly sensitive to art, after I had made my rounds of Tid's stores, I decided to open a shop with various artist's accessories. It wouldn't be hard to gather a number of these supplies around the galaxy - all I had to do was tell the smugglers that I was ready to buy some rare and obscure art supplies, and there would be someone who knew something, heard something, and could get something for me.

* Anakin Skywalker, Alderaan, Academy *

At first I had to explain long and tediously to the teachers, and most of all to the handler, exactly what happened and how exactly I was late. Not that there was a draconian order, but I wrote my equivalent of an explanatory letter and gave it to the academy's administration. After a short period of agonizing and giving me an exam, the curator made sure that I know the program for the first half of the year. What a laugh - I was late, but from the excitement and idleness, as well as with the help of meditation learned so much that de facto can not appear in a few months. Although, again, I will be punished for this, but the main thing here is to pass the exam, not to "sit the couples out. I could have passed the semester's exam and, frankly, I fell a little short. That's what the tutor told me:

- Your knowledge is almost enough to pass the first semester's exam. Anakin, if you can learn at this rate, that's fine, many students, though mostly non-human races can learn much faster, so you have the right to ask to take the exam at any time and to go over some study time. So I would advise you, if you're smart and hard-working enough to study over the vacations, to continue studying at your own pace and take the exam before anyone else. That way you not only get more free time, but you can start your third-year program as early as this year. Unless, of course, you give up your position... - said the supervisor. The curator of my group was an elderly Alderaan, a very nice-looking man, whose appearance spoke of several generations of "blue blood" ancestors.

- Won't that affect the possibility of further study? - I asked, thinking that one "high school" is good, but two is better.

- No, of course, after graduation you are free to study anything, - smiled the curator. - So, what, are you going to try and pull yourself up?

- I guess... - I hesitated, - what do I need to pass the exam?

- For the semester - you passed the necessary level in history, halapolitics and management theory, but fell short in languages, economics, finance and the theory of diplomatic relations. If you improve your level, I think you'll be able to pass the exam," the curator smiled. It is understandable, the success of students directly shows his management the quality of his work, and I have managed to jump over my classmates during my absence. It is understandable - three months of permanent study with super intensive in the last month. Besides, meditation is every student's dream. He learned the material, and while it is in his memory, carefully arranged on the shelves of the mind, not forgetting to sign everything, group it by type and leave it for long-term storage. A student's dream is to receive structured knowledge not by repeatedly drumming it in, but by reading and comprehending the material. And meditation.

- I suppose I can do that," I smiled, "as long as I can ask the teachers some questions about the subject.

- Of course, Mr. Skywalker, of course," the curator smiled again, "don't forget that the droid is a good teacher, but very... peculiar and cannot convey a lot of information hidden 'between the lines'.

- Yes, I remember," I nodded, "be sure to get up to the right level.

- And until you have not passed the exam, the obligation to attend the academy is not removed from you, - said the curator strictly. - So don't be late again. I'll wait for your success," he signaled with this that the audience was over. I left his office and immediately fell into the arms of Alessia, who was worried and was waiting for me at the door.

- Ani! Well?

- Hmm... - I offered to take the exam as an externship.

- How? - Surprised Ali. - Can it be so?

- The chief said that for the non-human races, who are faster or slower learn the material, there is no strict framework, and when you're ready, then pass. That's my understanding.

- How did he... - Alessia started, but I quickly interrupted her:

- And I'm human, so the rule applies to me, too. Everyone, in general, only few people want to learn the program on time, let alone get ahead of it.

Alessia realized there might be ears here, and she almost gave away my little secret. Not that I minded-it didn't bother me at all that I was a half-breed, because Miralukes differ so little genetically from humans that it makes no difference whether I'm half-breed or human. Though certain traits, like an innate serenity and benevolence, often at war with my free-spirited nature, did distinguish me from humans. I also inherited a saner and more rational outlook on the world, based on cold reason rather than emotion, which I inherited from the miraluk, and the unique ability to see not only everything around me but also the very near future. All together, it's a pretty good "bonus.

- Then, I'm happy for you," Alessia hugged me and kissed me on the cheek, which I missed so much... If I were a couple of years older, I'd definitely have an evening out with a girl tonight, if not sex. But as it was...

I was twelve. Biologically, but still, at that age, I noticed that I was already starting to grow up a lot. Kids and teenagers themselves don't notice it - but I, as an adult (okay, part of me), was used to having a body that was invariable and even small noticed changes in my own mascara made me smirk. Now puberty was just beginning. Humans in the galaxy weren't as degenerate as those on Earth, and at sixteen most worlds were already of age, and frequent meditations and bonding with the force spurred development. Now I felt that puberty had begun-if the moment I'd met Alessia I'd seen her as a girl, now my mind was filled with unchildish things... and spurred on by the experience of the other half of my soul, so the result was that there was much more in Alessia's kiss this time than the last.

Miraluki grows up earlier than humans, first, she's a girl, and second, she uses power all the time, just like me. The result of this is that Ali started puberty at about ten, and now I could see her small, or should I say distinct and neat breasts under her clothes, her waist a little narrower than her human counterparts, and her figure...

Ali couldn't see exactly where I was looking, but that didn't mean she didn't understand-when I took my mind off my thoughts and contemplation of beauty, her cheeks flushed dramatically, and she said:

- Have you seen enough?

- Have you? No. But excuse me, fool, for the past three months I've only seen woodland beasts, Corelian bandits, and ancient Sith droids. And women, one skeleton of a dead lady from 3,000 years ago. So...

Alessia laughed a ringing laugh at that and hugged me once more, this time kissing me firmly on the lips. After five minutes, we finally pulled away from each other to catch our breath, and she answered:

- I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Ani. You're my boyfriend, so you're kind of allowed.

- Allowed what? - I raised an eyebrow.

- You're allowed to watch. I'd have kicked the other guy so hard he wouldn't have made it to the infirmary," Ali grinned. - So...

- So are you coming over to my place tonight? I missed you so much, I don't know what to say.

- Just don't... without your... - ali turned pink again.

- I have practically no biological need for that so far," I shrugged. - Though, psychologically...

- Well, good," she wrapped up a very touchy subject Ali. - Then let's go to class. We'll be late," and pulled me toward the office.

After class, the evening was spent hanging out. I bought a decent dinner at the local restaurant, and Alessia and I rested, and then I began to talk in detail and color about everything that had happened to me. From Mandalore, and the bear-pig whose meat I was still finishing on Tatooine, all the way to my arrival on Alderaan. Alessia was very interested in the cruiser I pulled out of the sands, so she asked me about the ironclad for a long time. She was beginning to worry that I would have problems because of the warship, but I reassured her that if I wanted a real warship, I'd better design and order the newest cruiser myself, not a museum example, even a good, but conceptually outdated cruiser. There had been wars after its manufacture for almost three millennia, so that the military science had stepped forward, and the "forbidding" in its combat capabilities met only the requirements of pirates or Justiciars, but not of such a combative guy as me.

After dinner was over, we spread out my edited holoprojection of the cruiser and the two of us began discussing its structure and possible alterations. The local CAD systems were, to some extent thanks to the droids, understandable to any technically-savvy person. Sitting in the half-dark room, in the light of the holoprojection of the cruiser, I admired Alessia - I still lacked a girl. But there was a small and rather original problem: Alessia could not see the cruiser projection. At all. The beam of light didn't respond in force, so there was no room for Ali here. However, I, with my eyes closed, saw the projection so clearly that even the resolution of ten-ten-ten, that is, ten thousand "pixels" in length, width and height, considered standard in the galaxy for service programs, was grainy to me.

I found a way out of the situation quickly, but I had to work hard to implement it, which Alessia did not notice. The force that I was controlling clouded away from me, and filled the projection with itself. After a second, being a kind of ace of subtle manipulation, the subconscious mind bunched the force so that it traced the lines the projection drew. Alessia's power vision now saw the projection clearly, more clearly than anything else. At first I supported the force and guided it with a cloud, but then I noticed that without even realizing it, I was adjusting the projection of thousands of microscopic strands of force to the projection that Erdva had kindly made for us.

As soon as the force filled the cruiser's blueprint projection, Alessia exclaimed something indefinable and reached for it with her hand.

- Ani, how did you do that?

- Duplicated the projection with power lines. Can you see it?

- Yes," she nodded, "very clearly. I don't believe it. - the girl seemed a little overwhelmed by my little idea.

And we proceeded to discuss the ship itself. After all, I wasn't averse to sorting it out myself without any stressors like a month's confinement or having to do repairs, in a warm home environment, so to speak. The first thing that caught my eye were the reactors. There were five of them, but only two were needed to function. From what I could see, none of the reactors were physically damaged - only time had taken its toll. Figuring I definitely wouldn't need that much power, I removed the remaining three and left the two reactors.

- Erdva, find me reactors for large ships, ten gigawatts or more. And a size to fit our bird.

In a few seconds the search results began to appear above the drawing - pictures of reactors. And almost all of them came from a subsidiary of Kuat Drive.

- Is there anything Corellian? - I asked hopefully.

- Only low-powered ones. Corellia doesn't make big ships, and it's unprofitable to keep manufacturing large reactors for them," the droid squeaked. I'll have to buy a vocalizer for it, so as not to torture my hearing with a semblance of a Chinese alarm clock.

- Then... I poked pictures of a dozen gigawatt reactors into the blueprints. The ship, at the moment, needed five gigawatts of power to travel in hyperspace with a modern first-class hyperdrive. The pictures were touch-sensitive and recognized touch perfectly.

The blueprint immediately changed.

- Twenty gigawatts of excess power," Erdva reported immediately.

- It's going to get worse. Take off the anti-fighter nonsense and put modern multi-barrel rapid-fire systems in their place.

- But according to the law, they're not allowed to be manufactured or sold to private citizens. And if they're used in the armed forces they have to be registered with the Justice Department," Erdva squeaked.

- What does he say? - Alessia wondered.

- That you can't buy normal guns! - I explained indignantly and looked through the droid's photosensor, "Since when did justice become so concerned about that little detail?

- Since the law on the reorganization of the Justice Corps was passed," the droid squeaked. - You brought it on yourself, so you can have it," Erdva added.

Yeah... I'm a little confused here. After the Chancellor realized that the Republic, in general, is close to collapse, began to take care not only about the corporate sector, but also on the outskirts of the galaxy. After all, it was the fringes that were the basis of instability. The plot is somewhat, even very much, familiar from the unrest in America after Martin Luther King's death, when the Senate realized that even if blacks did not wear white collars, they still held the economy and production, the army, the navy. A lot of water has flowed since then, but many anti-racist laws were the result of the realization that someone was too arrogant and disliked other people's work. And unlike in the Middle Ages, you don't send an army of knights against barbarian tribes - the colt had already made people equal and the weapons in the hands of the population were... an unimaginable amount. And in both the American crisis and the galactic crisis, a separatist movement - the Black Panthers or the KNU, whatever you want to call it - could have emerged.

The history of the republic remembers about a dozen major crises that could lead to the collapse of the state, and about a thousand smaller ones that brought many problems. So the republic has had experience in this area, and we have necessarily and with great care studied this side of politics, because the current crisis is ranked as one of them, and it has lasted until now. After the biggest problems of the crisis, the Nabuan Affair and the Neimodian Affair, ended miserably for both sides, Neimodia and the Republic, the Chancellor suddenly became very concerned about life in the periphery of the galaxy, systematically convincing his allies from the central worlds that the outskirts, that is, the workers and peasants of the planet, were the basis of their well-being. The meticulous investigation, which the chancellor neither feared nor insisted upon, passed the attention of the general public, though there were still fools before the trial who thought it was all a hoax and there was no invasion army. And even the abandoned ships and battle droids on Naboo and Neimodia, as well as the word of the queen of Naboo and the chancellor, could not convince them. But control of the media was on the side of the Republic, as was the basis of interest. And this is what is called "realpolitik," areas where only power, power, and interests matter, not such nonsense as treaties, agreements, alliances, or even laws. A dirty game on the part of the chancellor, but it took place, with mixed success - many saw it as the chancellor's favoritism for individual worlds, but given that more than seventy percent of the Senate is a "minority"... In short, another endless argument began, with Finis Valorum as the instigator. And on the sly and with the help of the chancellor's allies, a reorganization of justice was announced. There was something of the same in America, with which I have sometimes compared the galaxy - after Vietnam, from which they left with a Pyrrhic victory, the rearmament of the army and police began based on experience and everything we saw in the Persian Gulf was the result in many ways of the bitter experience of Vietnam. And of course the sun-faced and godlike luminaries of democracy were suddenly very concerned about order in their country. Not that it was painless - both there and there, that is, both in America and in the Republic, the process was rough. Regularly in the news bulletins I read every morning there was information that somewhere a civil war had broken out, that somewhere pirates and bandits were getting so impudent that they were taking over entire planets. The fact that the unrest is permanent and regular only lazy knows, so the demand for illegal weapons has increased manifold. The Justice Corps, which was being reorganized and, according to the plan, would take at least ten years to recruit, train, and build ships, immediately found a lot of work, and given the expanded powers and requirements, the work of the people became really cumbersome. But they managed so far - by the end of my smuggling career they were already stinging our brother harder than ever before - new ships with advanced sensor systems forced smuggling to be carried in secret compartments, which automatically reduced the illegal traffic and income accordingly.

But the real galactic war was a long way off. Even Justice, getting kicked in the teeth by a parody of warships, ordered itself a dozen large cruisers and several thousand heavily-armed "marauders," with whom no one had any desire to argue. By the way, that was partly the basis of my Beskar plan-the clever Corellians were ordered ships for justice, so every corporation's coveted dream of sucking up to a military order came true for them. And beskar, even in the form of non-armor, will help them push their wares much more profitably and easily, because not every ship has such a rare metal in its construction. Even the internal coating of blaster barrels with beskar overlay will help increase the queue length by half, and the reactors... you can get a boost to the performance characteristics almost anywhere without changing the size.

That's why I played rough and tough with my terms. From the submarine, they can not go anywhere - they themselves have understood - "The cost of a spoon to the dinner.

- And what do you need arms for? - After thinking for a few minutes over my statement, Alessia asked.

- What for? The situation now is such that I'm afraid to let the gun go. And there are pirates, slave-traders, and other scum. It's better to have one last reason in case someone wants to bark.

- I see. - Ali protracted, "What will you do then?

- Someday I'll get some normal guns. Or I'll redo the old ones, but that will take time... - I was sorrowful, but went back to the blueprints. I wanted to enlarge the hangar - I don't need many fighters, but I might need a corvette about a hundred meters long to visit me. Expanding the hangar was impossible, since it was in the middle of the hull, in the thinnest place, so only a new one could be made. And I couldn't do that - then I'd have to rework all the schematics. But I did relax in the meditation and training rooms, because it was easy to get the halls in the top of the ship empty -- I had already made some changes, and Alessia and I did some changes together. The upper part of the ship was a big shell of armor plates which covered the vulnerable entrails, and under them I placed halls for meditations, trainings, including those of general warfare, as well as the armory. The lower claw had three small micro-angars that could hold small fighters, no more than fifteen meters in diameter. And next to them, escape modules, which came into use not so long ago.

The redesign, along with the arguments, took several hours, during which Erdva was almost red-hot from calculating and designing around our sometimes bizarre ideas. It was easy to enlarge the crew quarters by combining three into one, but recalculating the strength characteristics due to the creation of the hall took several minutes of panting.

Towards the end of this work, I also demanded a few dozen rooms with separate power feeds. They were to house laboratories for researching power and creating all sorts of gizmos. The last free part of the cruiser's lower claw was used for spacious laboratories.

The cargo hold at the very bottom was expanded by replacing the mammoth tusk-like gravity generators with gravity wells. These are just the basics of the repairs - there were countless details left to be worked out, but I think the Corellians are capable of hiring engineers for the job. De jure, a found ship belongs to the finder if the vessel hasn't been used in over a hundred years, so no registration problems were foreseen. Restoration was a pretty... a peculiar business. It was estimated that this ship would cost as much as two such new ships - because the work involved upgrading rather than building from scratch on an already mastered technological base.

At the end of the work, Alessia, already tired from the thought processes, yawned, and I voluntarily and involuntarily kissed her on the cheek and sent her to bed. The girl wrinkled a little, but quickly surrendered, seeing my uncompromisingness.

When the door closed behind her, I turned to the droid:

- This is just about what I've been missing, Erdva. A close friend, not bounty hunters, corporate bureaucrats, ghosts of ancient empires, and the rest of the galactic population.

The droid squeaked something offensively.

- I know, Erdva, but you're another matter. No offense, but all the same, we biological minds need companionship with the same kind. Loneliness... is depressing.

* * *

A week later, my agent from Naboo contacted me.

- A customer?

- Yes, Tyber? - I was surprised, having forgotten all about his mission. - Is something the matter?

- Nothing urgent. I proposed to Inga, as we planned, and got the papers drawn up. We are getting married in a week.

- Congratulations, - I answered, not knowing what to say in such an unusual case, - I also promised to wire you money. I remember, I remember. Wait for me today.

- Yes, customer," nodded the holoprojection of Tyber.

- Have you chosen which business will be your cover?

- The sale of art supplies. Paints, brushes, canvases, and whatever else the galaxy manages to use instead. I can spread the word among the smugglers, and they're a pretty diverse bunch, and they get in everywhere. I'm sure there's plenty of goods.

- You make a good point," I sat down on the couch in front of the droid. - How much money will it take to open a store?

- Thirty thousand will suffice, customer," Tyber answered.

- What's the matter with Aim?

- Gone to the local resort with her husband. I didn't dare approach, as I might arouse suspicion.

- That's right, your job is to watch, memorize, listen, pass it on to me. But not to spy.

Tyber didn't respond to that. While there was a pause, I thought about how Mom was doing. She must be happy with her Riekan. I hope she won't forget me at all. It's unlikely, though.

- In that case, that's all I wanted to pass on," Taber's projection indicated with a bow.

- Keep in touch in case anything happens. Over and out," I finished with the traditional phrase from the vocabulary of space travelers, and Erdva broke the connection.

It was morning time.

I sent the blueprints, which I spent two more days working on, to Corellia, after talking to the chief engineer. For a small bribe he agreed not to touch the ship's armament, or rather remove the excessive - I did not plan any combat operations. And the attack of a squadron of less than five corvettes, the main forces of the pirates, cannot be called combat operations, but even for such a case powerful turbolazers were available. Considering that the pirates had not yet been seen in large raids and action of more than one ship at a time, it was safe at all. The more so because only an idiot would attack a warship; they would have insufficient strength to overcome the reinforced shields. And installing the powerful capacitors, the fall of the shields' power to zero would be parried in a few seconds, and they could use up all their ammunition and it would be a fraction of what it would cost us.

The blueprints were sent to Corellia, where the engineers sighed and began to bring them up to date. Not with my amateurish knowledge of shipbuilding to pry into their domain. The last thing we talked about was the designers.

The design of the cabins and the entire inhabited non-service space required professional input. The utilitarian military stuff might not seem bad, but I got so bored within a month that I couldn't look at it. On the design and decoration had to splurge heavily - but promised that everything will be better than on the royal yachts. I was only able to insert my five cents about what I prefer and so on, and then they themselves began to work through this issue.

I've allocated a sector of ten cabins near the bridge with all conveniences, from a swimming-pool and a bath to a study and a conference room. And also two bedrooms, in case I invited Alessia - I could not send the girl, with whom I have a warm and close relationship, to guest quarters... of which there were also plenty.

The work was done-in a way, it distracted me from the main thing I had decided to do: work on my exams. After many hours of thinking over the thought of the proposal of the curator, I came to the conclusion that it was in my interest not to slow down with the training - in some way it would save me time, although as before, to parties and races, and communication with our riders will not have time at all.

But it was worth it - at a rough estimate, I will be able to overcome five courses in three years. At the same time, I would have to study more than intensively, although there would be some free time.

Having made up my mind, I went to the lectures and after the lectures I studied at a very intensive pace. Meditations, which are available only to Forsuzers, helped me to put everything in order and quickly absorb the material. At about the same speed as the Muuns, one of whom was in our stream.

Learning at this pace took all the time I had, so I could barely find time to chat with Alessia and have tea in the evening.

Time... its perception changes a lot. During many hours of meditation, with immersion in the power, the body does not age, but the mind works as usual. I mean, the body doesn't age, but it doesn't stop its normal development - on the contrary, that oneness with the force, which protects the cells from fission damage, spurs development. Now I could be fourteen years old by the standards of earthly adolescents. I didn't notice myself as I already had to go to the store for new clothes, in my size.

Alessia didn't stop there either, but the height gap was starting to form - I was a few centimeters taller.

Time... When I'm in meditation, time, whether it's an hour or a day, flies by in the same way-I just don't notice and lose my sense of time, and the force perceives time differently. Any force is a supporter of relativism in its own way, that is, it feels with its own skin that everything in the world is relative, both in the physical and in other planes. I feel it too.

One day of the month I spent on the ship was longer for me than a month of studies - I just fell out of reality in the continuous flow of information that I absorbed with great speed. The Force was also an indispensable ally to me, a powerful ally that responded to the needs of my consciousness. After a week of studying, the usual pre-session feeling of consciousness had changed, and I suspected that constant meditations with the same direction had somehow influenced my consciousness with the help of the Force. This, of course, is only a hypothesis, as I did not feel anything of the sort in myself, except a willingness to memorize and learn quickly and much.

If the process was the same as in Earth universities, then with such capabilities I would already be in the fourth year, but the speed of learning was limited by the inability to get exhaustive information from droids and books.

By the way, paper books were sold in the galaxy. For about a thousand credits apiece. This is despite the fact that rarely a datapad cost more than five hundred credits. But the rarity of this form, plus the need to cut down valuable forests, limited the ability to create paper - if every sentient in the galaxy bought a book, it would take the entire forests of a dozen jungle planets to do so. The scale of the galaxy was difficult for the uninitiated to understand.

The rarest and most ancient material was paper. Still, I bought a couple of paper books. Fiction, from local classics, but there was almost no time to read them, and they were not part of the program. Then.

I only "woke up" from studying when it was the end of the semester.

It was marked by the problems that came with it - money was sent from Corellia, and a solid amount of two hundred million credits. There was trillions worth of bescar in the raw earth, but it was difficult to mine the material itself-it was very difficult to smelt bescar out of the ore, much less other metals. I think it's called "refractory." It would take several hundred years for the deposit to be depleted, so it is too early to say anything about it. They sent me a catalog of the interior of the yacht, and the designers photographed the interiors of the cruiser and put their own decoration on it. I had to choose only three variants of decoration out of one hundred and fifty - for the bridge, cabins and non-residential premises. I wanted to consult with Alessia, but I remembered that her eyesight does not allow me to see such details of furnishings. Miraluk's vision was quite different, but not in that direction. The upgrade work was promised to be finished soon, within six months.

The exams were coming up.

I had to go to the curator and write an application to take my exam for the entire second year - I had learned it completely and even approached the middle of the third. Glad about it the curator quickly got me permission to take the exams and in the general flow of those taking the semester exam, I was asked for the entire course. But I passed the test - somewhere easily, somewhere with a stretch, I did not like some subjects...

Hell ended with a message from Mandalore.

I walked into my room after the exam. Alessia had already turned in everything that was required and was in her room, and I decided to rest in silence.

My plans were not destined to happen.

Just as I was relaxing, I got an interplanetary communication signal from Erdv. Someone was looking for me. I thought it was Tyber, but there was some tension in the force. It's hard to convey-as if the normal trill of the incoming signal had some unsettling overtones.

- Erdva, connect quickly! - I ordered, jumping up to him.

The image of a man appeared above the droid. A man I did not know.

- Yes? - I answered.

- Are you Anakin Skywalker? - he asked.

- Yes, I am. And you are...

- You're the head of maintenance for the Corellian Machine Corporation. Call me Claude.

- Well, Claude, is something wrong? - I asked a quick question. The man hesitated for a split second to answer:

- You could say that. There are some... problems with Mandalore, about your contract.

- Is the contract still in effect? - I asked. It was understandable, I had enough money now, even after paying for the repairs of the ship, but I could not miss such a source of income. And I needed the money, not for my daily bread, but for further actions. I had some plans for this life, and I did not want to cancel them.

- Of course you did," Claude pretended to be indignant. Very believable, good actor. Apparently a big official, not a small potato,

- Problems arose with the Mandalore government. They've made a claim against us for extracting beskar. Their beskar.

- I see... - ...I wondered if they'd decided to fight back after all. I was hoping the pacifists wouldn't make a fuss...

- The pacifists didn't make a scene. The root of the problems was the mandalmotors board and the public, not the government. They paid for a series of articles and news reports to discredit the government for "squandering our wealth," the man grimaced.

- I get it," I nodded. "What's the situation?

- We've launched a retaliatory campaign of information warfare. We're used to it, but the Mandalorians are a very... ... peculiar people," Claude hesitated. - So we might have some serious problems. Right up to overthrowing the Mandalore government and kicking us out of the system.

- And the Republic?

- Since you own the mines, it's a de jure internal problem between you and the government. And although the law is on our side, their outrage is justified. In addition, fueled by the opposition," Claude replied. - So I'm going to ask you to go to Mandalore immediately. If we're late... If we're late..." "I'm afraid it might be irreparable," Claude said, thickening the color artificially. I'm sure you've forgotten what department I'm in. Diplomacy is one of my subjects.

- I understand. I'll come at once. Is this your request? - I asked. It was important-if it was KMK who wanted to deflect the wrath of the Mandalorians from themselves, I'd still get something out of them, though it was in my interest, too.

- No, this is a personal request from the Duchess of Mandalore. Her position has been shaken due to the current problems, and she urgently needs diplomatic victories to regain her trust and show that her pacifism can protect the interests of the planet," Claude smiled.

I just hummed meaningfully.

- Then I'm going immediately to Keldab," I said as I walked to the closet where my traveling clothes were hanging.

As I hurried to get ready, I thought about what Claude had said. Something like that was to be expected, but I decided then to put my foot down and rely on the Russian chance. The "luck" didn't work-the situation escalated sharply, and some people were able to take advantage of the fact that KMK was stealing ore from Mandalore under their noses. It's logical to bite the enemy when he's weak. Politics is such a complicated thing, but I didn't like it at least because of the people who made the politics. Greedy, mean, cruel, human and nonhuman.

It took fifteen minutes to pack - I threw everything quickly into my bag and left the room. I felt Deja vu, six months ago I had left the room the same way after my exams. I slapped my forehead and ran toward Alessia's room. I hope she'll forgive me, but I'll have to leave her again and get into Mandalore politics for a while.