Death of Youth

The new round began immediately after the exams. I can describe the time leading up to it in one word: business. Studying pulled me in with renewed vigor-so much so that I didn't even notice how spring came. Snow never fell on Alderaan, and the winter was quite warm. Spring was remarkable for two things-the mating season, which manifested itself in a spontaneous increase in the sexual concerns of my fellow students, and, of course, the beginning of exams. It was already summer, though. I was studying the third-year program and was ready to take my exams-if everything went well, the number of problems with my studies would decrease dramatically. Teachers couldn't be happy about such a student as me, though the others shunned me. Relatively shunned - I stopped all dealings with my classmates, I only spent time with Ali sometimes, nothing more.

The year was ten months long. Now the third was coming to an end, so my exams were not far off.

While studying, I occasionally found time to go to Linh's workshop-the hyperactive and active guy never missed an opportunity to brag about his accomplishments or ask about mine. The invention of the scanner put him in a stupor for a long time. He spent a long time looking for a catch in my invention, but when he gave up, he suggested that I patent it. I did not refuse, but hired a lawyer for this case, as I myself had no time to deal with inventions. Here came another problem of insuperable force - I could not technically describe the scanner I had created. I understood how it worked, I could see and feel it, but I couldn't describe my feelings. I couldn't - I even had trouble making a drawing - the drawing showed that it was just a bunch of stranded wire made of different metals, with a sensor inside the skein. It's... it's not real. When I tried to explain my invention to Lin, he told me it couldn't be, and cited several physical laws that my scanner violated. True, I had been granted a patent based on the idea and a working sample, but how it worked, or rather, why it could work at all... Lin Riekan, who was already quite good friends with me by that time, could not explain. This called for an expert on force fields, but I waited - I had no plans to develop this topic. It is impossible to create such a scanner in an industrial version - you need to be an archrival of the force. And according to my knowledge, a Jedi can assemble his sword in two days at the most. Needless to say, I can do the same thing in about twenty seconds, given the parts. That the Jedi understand the structure of hyperdrives and fields, that they can configure their own devices based on similar principles-not heard, not seen, and not confirmed in the movies!

Simply put, something manifested here that I simply put down to my "special", unique capabilities and chose not to waste my time. To make a fortune and fame by producing scanners... nonsense. I created such a tool for Erdv, but only as a friend, and the question of replication was left open until I finally decided to wrap it up. There was another problem here - I would not be able to create such scanners for all the droids in the galaxy, and if, say, a team of droids with scanners repairs a starship, it will change a lot in it, because in the process of modeling will create other circuits, already optimized. They will be different from the blueprint in normal droids, meaning the ship will become unrepairable. An ordinary droid will freeze up when it sees that one drawing comes from the database, but in fact it sees a completely different one. In short, this invention is way ahead of its time. However, it is nice to see that the resources of the galaxy are not exhausted, and the peak of evolution has not passed. I once thought that the galaxy had technically passed the period when it could still evolve, and had fallen into the swamp of stagnation, but I was wrong. The ancient pre-Republican races probably thought so too, but if you look at it this way - half the galaxy hasn't been explored yet, no ships have been sent to other galaxies, which means we're in the same period as Earth was before the discovery of America - we haven't explored our own home yet... and the "Age of Discovery" is still waiting to happen somewhere out there in the future...

The scanner is still a unique Erdwah gadget. And it also comes with restrictions in the program, which I put - optimization is allowed only by replacing old parts with new ones or by optimizing the repair process itself, but not by redrawing the ship's units at the request of the droid.

The end of schooling was marked by exams. The exams in the galaxy are surprisingly similar to their Earth counterparts - we enter the classroom in several batches, then the droid's artificial intelligence gives us tickets based on some random number algorithm of its own and gives us half an hour to prepare. I took the exams for my third year, while everyone else took the second. Since the auditorium was far from where my classmates were taking their exams, I couldn't see Ali, but I could feel in the strength of her excitement. A strange sensation at the edge of my consciousness.

When it was my turn, I walked proudly into the auditorium and, taking my ticket, sat down to prepare. Sitting at the desk, I plunged into a light trance and quickly scribbled the answers to all the questions - this way the maximum results were achieved, because the memory in such a state is sharp to impossibility and to remember anything becomes quite easy.

Having passed the test and answering to the professor a few questions in detail, I got my highest score and was sent away. I wasn't happy about it-I didn't doubt my meditation, but I was worried about Ali's results. A lot of it was because Ali herself was worried-a lot had happened this year, and I knew from experience how dangerous it was for students to go on binges, periods of fun, sex, serenity, and everything else. That was what I was trying to avoid.

When I approached that auditorium, I didn't find my sweetheart in the audience.

- Have you seen Alessia? - I asked through muffled whispers.

- There," someone nodded at the door, and everyone started whispering again.

We didn't have to wait long - Alessia came out five minutes later. Her emotions were either negative or positive.

- Seven," she said sadly, and then stepped away from the group of students, closer to me. Some grinned understandingly, and some did not notice and mentally prepared for the execution.

- Well, Ali, shall we go? - I nodded, and the two of us headed toward the dorm. On the way, my friend kind of recovered from her worries, and by the time we flew into the dormitory, she was quite a lively and cheerful girl. The exam was the last one, so the summer ahead was good for both of us. I was finally paying attention to my finances. Ali kissed me as soon as she left the turbolift and ran off to her room, while I went home and unfolded the financials. All the deductions to the Mandalorians for land, Tyber, parking, paying bills for repairs and whatnot.

Just the other day I got a report from the Corellians about the cruiser, i.e. the yacht now-the repairs cost me a hundred million, and the balance for the nine months of production was two hundred and twenty million, not including what they had taken for repairs. With that in mind, the balance was a hundred and five million.

If you think about it, the most expensive thing about maintaining a cruiser is the crew. I don't care about size or cost-the average wage is one thousand two hundred credits a month. That's not a bad salary by the standards of space - in ten years of honest work you can save up for your own cargo ship. And if you take into account the seniority bonus, even in five years, because the more you work, the higher the pay. The Corellians told me that the crew would not exceed one thousand people, so a month's pay for the crew would cost me a million and two hundred, and if you take into account the price of minor repairs, droids, fuel and other things, it would be about a million and a half a month.

I've been getting twenty-five million a month from Mandalore--fifty tons of Beskar are worth that much, according to our contract. So far the payments had never been delayed, and the transaction list showed a receipt of twenty-five million every thirtieth of the month.

When I'd finished with the accounts and transferred half a million credits to Tyber, in connection with the discovery of his wife's pregnancy, I closed all the banking programs. A generous gift is supposed to create a kind of attachment-it's my way of showing that I care about his problems and joys, and this in turn will ensure my loyalty. This is what the powerful do when they want loyal subjects.

The Corellians promised to finish the modernization of the yacht by the end of the summer - I had already approved several design options, which in turn greatly increased the cost of the work. Now they were decorating.

When all the work was finally finished, the call came... from Satin.

I had already forgotten to think about it, and she must have remembered that I was a student and found out when the exams.

- Erdva, put her on.

This time the figure of Satin appeared beside Erdva, full-length, extremely clear, as if she were a ghost... only in color.

- Yes, Satin, what can I do for you? - I began, when the duchess's gaze fell upon me. Erdva pulled the sensors so that they coincided in their position with the eyes of the Duchess' projection, thus removing the "Skype effect", when you look at the interlocutor and he looks in another direction, i.e. at the screen.

- Hey, Anakin. How did the exams go?

- Not bad, thank you," I replied dryly, "did you want something?

- You think I can't just reach out to see how your exams went?

- I didn't think you'd waste your time on such trivial matters, Satin. You've got a whole planet to run, a very turbulent one, mind you, so yes, I don't believe you'd contact me to ask about exams or health or wish me a good vacation," I tried to maintain a cold, but not dry tone.

- You're right," she closed her eyes for a second, "you're right, let's leave it at that. I need your help.

- I wonder..." I leaned forward, closer to the image, "what could you possibly need from me?

- It's very simple. Three days ago, one of the old clans that joined the protests last year was defeated. They insisted on taking Beskar off the planet until last, though after the restriction we agreed on, the public seemed to have calmed down...

- What's that got to do with me? - I interrupted her.

- It's just that in this case, I need to support the policy of the party and to conclude a treaty, which will be mutually beneficial to us. Just for show, even if it's not that much.

- Do you want to signify an alliance? - I smiled at the corners of my lips. - Yes, I can do you that little favor. By the way, KMK is almost finished with the cruiser, ugh, the yacht, so it takes about a thousand people to crew. Can you help?

- That's no problem," the Duchess nodded.

- What about the CMC? Have you made arrangements with them, too? They're the ones who do the mining, always in sight, I'm just the landowner, that's all," I thought of the KVMK officials, who are supposed to be doing this.

- Yeah, I contacted KMK first and they agreed to a couple of contracts with MandalMotors and the government, to order armor for their ships.

- So that's good. I think we can find out the rest when we meet. When's the meeting, by the way?

- The treaty is due in a week, and the KVM officials have already left Corellia.

- That's good," I nodded, "in that case, I won't sit still.

The Duchess passed out.

Something like this, I assumed - she needs to maintain credibility and make not just unsubstantiated announcements, but concrete evidence of our arrangements. This is the perfect opportunity for me to get something else of sufficient value out of the Duchess, or just to get a couple of contracts with MandalMotors to arm my "yacht."

The first thing I did after finishing my negotiations was to go to Ali's room. The girl's room wasn't too far away, so I knocked and went in.

From the looks of it, she was in a bit of a time crunch-her hair all messed up, things scattered and all.

- Ali, what's going on? - I walked around the couch and got closer.

- Huh? Yeah, I'm going to. There's nothing to do in the dorms in the summer, you know.

- I know, I know. It's going to be harder to get through the summer break this time.

- Don't remind me," she got a little pink and pouted.

- And I was just talking to Satine. I have to go to Mandalore. I'll make a few contracts, just to show my alliance and goodwill.

- So..." Ali seemed upset. But there was also a strange prick of jealousy, for some reason. Strange. Very strange.

- Yes, exactly. And then taking the yacht away from the Corellians, and many other things...

- I'll go with you," Ali told me, "don't even try to talk me out of it.

- But they are waiting for you at home," I tried to prevent the inevitable.

- They can wait," she said, and, throwing some clothes on the pile, came closer, "when do we fly out?

- Now," I had to give in, "right now.

The flight to Mandalore really wasn't that urgent, so Ali had time to pack her things and we took off only the next morning.

Ali wasn't aboard the Corona yet, so I left her to explore the delights of the VIP boat, and jumped into the pilot's chair and started the reactor.

The droid-secretary stayed with Ali, and Erdva was in the cockpit with me, directing the preparations.

We broke away from the surface of the spaceport and crawled upward into orbit. While I relaxed in the pilot's seat and watched the instruments, Erdva supervised the whole preparation process. Theoretically, on a normal flight I could have left the cockpit alone and left everything to Erdva, but it took nearly four days to get to Mandalore, and about two days to go around, through the wilderness. So to save two days, I had to pilot myself. Both were almost equal for me, but after flying in a cruiser I got a speed complex, and I didn't want to sit in hyperspace for too long.

But this time my trip was brightened up by Alessia - the girl, who had been crawling around the boat and found a lot of interesting things to do, such as the gym, immediately wandered into my cabin and laying on the couch, reading Alderaan fiction.

After climbing into orbit, Erdva turned on the sublight engines. I reported out of planetary space and, once we were at a safe distance from the orbit, turned on the hyperdrive. I took control of the ship from the first second and steered it in a trance-like state towards Mandalore.

I came out of the trance when I was already tired to the point where my eyes were falling asleep and my hands were letting go of the steering wheel.

The ship came out of hyperspace when I had the hyperdrive hard down. There were stars all around me, and an absolute void-no planets or star systems or anything.

I turned to Erdwah:

- Watch the parameters for now. I'm going to sleep.

- Aye, Captain! - he answered. - I'll be waiting!

- And well..." I glanced at my watch. I spent more than ten hours in hyperspace.

Then I had enough strength to reach my cabin and collapse on the bed, disregarding Ali, who was frightened by my dead look.

I woke up to the fact that Ali, who I realized was asleep on my shoulder, was awake. She gave me another hand, but that was nothing.

- Morning," she stretched and yawned widely, "how did you sleep?

- Fine," I opened my eyes and looked at the girl's back, and finally woke up. It turns out that I was undressed, and even laid like a human, while I was out. I'm not used to this kind of care.

- If you're so tired, why do you torture yourself so much? And why are we in normal space? - Ali glanced at the large porthole, or rather the whole window halfway up the wall, next to our bed.

- We're in wild space. And it takes almost twice as long to fly the route, so I'm leading the ship through wild space.

- Wow..." - the girl was surprised, and finally stood up. She was, of course, wearing nothing but rather pretty lace panties, and I, while she walked around the room in search of clothes, began to get turned on. A little more and...

As I expected, I came up behind her and, embracing her, pulled her back to bed, but for something more useful than sleep.

I didn't get back to piloting until two hours later. Ali stayed in the cabin, to lie down and rest, and I, having received a charge of vivacity and a snack of the local analog of hamburgers and coffee, returned to the first pilot's chair.

- How was the night, Captain? - Erdva turned the video-sensor to me.

- I slept fine. And the morning was even better," I smiled.

- I turned off the video recorder when you woke up.

- Erdva, you've got a lot of tact," I said.

- I try, Captain. Shall we go back to hyperspace?

- Yeah, go ahead, warm up the reactors. Get the systems ready.

- I did it while you were making breakfast," Erdva reported. I opened hyperdrive parameters in the holographic interface. Indeed, the numbers above the console indicated that the ship was ready to jump at any time.

- Thank you, Erdva. Let's go! - I pressed the appropriate lever, and the ship jumped into hyperspace. And yesterday's execution of permanent Force Navigation continued. Perhaps nothing less spectacular - just sitting and steering the helm, occasionally slowing down due to the difficulty of passing even with the Force, in some places.

Arriving on Mandalore was not long before I was finally tired. As my eyes were beginning to slip, the ship approached the Mandalore sector and I, cutting off power at the last minute, leaned back in my chair. The ship had landed directly in the Mandalore system-not far from the planet. We reached Mandalore in two minutes by sublight engines and entered the planet's orbit. As usual, the air defense contacted us, clarifying our destination and telling us the way to the Duchess' palace in Keldab.

Ali, who noticed that the ship entered the planet's atmosphere, came out to me and sat in the co-pilot's chair.

- Are we there?

- Yes, Ali, this is Mandalore," I turned to her. - How are you?

- Better than ever," she smiled. - How long will you be here?

- Not long at all, I guess. There's nothing much to do.

- If you say so.

- We're going to Keldaba, to the Duchess's palace, so get ready to meet her.

- You didn't say? - Ali was surprised and jumped up from her seat. - I have to get dressed up, and I have scarcely anything at all.

- I don't mind," I smiled as I nodded at the frivolous nightgown she wore most of the time on the ship.

- Fool," the girl was not offended, but went to the cabin. To get dressed.

It was unlikely the Mandalorians would appreciate the outfits and stuff, but the girl had trouble explaining it.

The ship was descending over Keldabe, and I went to get ready, too -- after two hard flights, I looked... bad. After a shower, which was supposed to cheer me up, I felt even more sleepy. We must have arrived before the KMC directorate, so there must have been time to sleep it off. The ship went down and landed at the Duchess' spaceport - right in the palace, in a separate, dedicated hangar for ships.

Ali had time to put on her usual clothes, and over them a purple-colored, hooded robe, so it was hard to recognize her as Miraluka and not human.

As the ramp opened, we saw Satine, who came out to greet us in person.

- Mr. Skywalker, you are, as usual, faster than I expected," she scolded me. - Are you sure it's you?

- Don't doubt it, Duchess," I bowed. Satine was escorted by a guard-two armored Mandalorians with blasters in their hands. They didn't seem to move at all.

- But as I recall, it's a long way from Alderaan.

- But my ship's fast enough not to have to wait," I retorted, "let's go to the palace.

Satin smiled politely and we went to the palace. There, when we reached the residential wing, the Duchess let the guards go and led me and Ali to our apartments.

- Anakin, won't you introduce me to your companion? - The duchess darted her eyes toward Ali.

- Alessia, my girlfriend. Ali," I turned to her, "this is Satine Kreese, the Duchess and the local boss.

Satin my interpretation of her position caused a smile, but Ali - bewilderment.

- I was in the middle of a conversation with my sister, and she was in the middle of a conversation with me.

- I was in the middle of a conversation with the duchess, and I was in the middle of a conversation with the duchess," she said.

- Yes, I'll have your rooms allotted at once," the Duchess said animatedly.

- Tell me when the KVMs are coming. Who will come?

- They've promised to send one of the board of directors," she shrugged, "so I'm sure Semetrius, one of the big owners, will be there.

- Maybe, maybe..." I frowned, "why would he arrive, given the scale of the deal?

- I don't know. Probably also to negotiate with MandalMotors. Well, and because of Galapolitics," the Duchess shrugged her skinny shoulders again.

Alessia was silent, apparently unsure what to talk about at all.

- In that case, I'll take advantage of your hospitality and get some sleep before the important business," I said confidently.

Satine contacted someone on the comlink and after a few minutes, which we devoted to an exchange of unimportant details, the servant came.

The servants, as Mandalorians should, wore armor, though in this case it was cloth armor, not much different from the usual thick clothing. Except for the high-strength ballistic fabric and the layer that protected against blaster fire, but tradition is tradition.

- 'Allocate Mr. Skywalker and his companion to the guest quarters,' the Duchess said haughtily. The servant bowed slightly. But then Ali spoke:

- One bedroom is enough for us.

The Duchess looked at me in surprise, though her emotions were dominated by playfulness. But Ali, who was a little jealous of the duchess, was celebrating her victory.

I, on the other hand, with a look full of equanimity, agreed, accepting Ali's game.

- Only I would sleep a sound sleep.

The servant immediately escorted us to the spacious rooms, where I, barely undressed, plopped down on the bed and, after a few seconds of dozing, did not notice how Ali lay down next to me. She has a habit of sleeping on my shoulder, which always makes it rest in the morning.

I was dreaming... something disturbing. Something I didn't like at all, but I remembered absolutely nothing. In the morning, when I saw Ali's hair in my face, I calmed down and was the first to slip out from under the covers. While the girl was dozing peacefully, I warmed up, took a bath, drank a cup of coffee, and even waved my lightsaber in the middle of the living room. It should be noted that carrying weapons into the palace is strictly forbidden without permission - only for the duchess, guards or Jedi. But the latter, in view of their moral principles, were not restricted, and the Senate gave them special permission to carry a lightsaber with them at all times in this regard. As I was finishing my sword warm-up, the same Quartermaster who had checked us in yesterday walked into the room, attracted by the sounds. He stared in surprise at the sword, which I immediately turned off, and turned to him and asked:

- Yes?

- Her Highness invites you and your companion to breakfast.

- When?

- In thirty minutes in the small dining hall," he said.

- 'In that case, we shall be there.

- I have been ordered to escort you,'' the servant insisted.

- Don't bother, we'll find our way," I began to get annoyed. I knew that Ali walked around almost naked at home, so I didn't want that prick staring at my girlfriend. Yes, I'm possessive, but purely out of love!

The servant understood my movements with the hand, in which was a lightsaber, correctly and proudly walked away. I didn't want to tempt fate, but went back to the bedroom. It was soundproofed, so it was unlikely Ali heard anything.

She was sprawled out on the bed, her blanket pulled down in the corner, and she was snoozing. I had to wake her up.

- Huh? Ani?

- Morning, sunshine. Come on, get ready, we're having breakfast with the duchess in half an hour.

- Could she have said later? - The girl was indignant and immediately jumped up on the bed and went to get dressed. It didn't take long to find the clothes-I'd preferred to hurry her when we were getting ready-I'd bought the clothes in half an hour, but it would have taken me two hours to get her clothes. And it simply wasn't cost-effective to waste energy - on our last night in the dorm, we preferred to get a good night's sleep.

Ten minutes later, the girl, already fully dressed, came out of the room and announced:

- I'm ready! Lead the way.

And off we went. Navigating in an unfamiliar place is like navigating in hyperspace - I just have to trust my intuition and formulate what I want, and my legs seem to carry me in the right direction. It was as if I had lived all my life in this palace and knew it well.

We reached the small hall after ten minutes of walking, and just in time - the Duchess came through the door from the other side of the hall.

- Ani! You were here in seconds," Satine smiled. The Force can do that, too, so I just smiled back and changed the subject:

- So, Satine, when are our Corellian friends arriving?

- They promised noon," she walked over to the table that had already been set and continued. - Come in, sit down, how was the night? - Satin asked playfully, glancing at Ali.

- Terrible, - I answered, - something bad was dreaming.

This changed the mood of the Duchess, but she remained outwardly as cheerful.

Next, we proceeded to breakfast. For breakfast the rugged Mandalorians served steak, a side dish of local vegetables, desserts, sweet and savory, and, of course, drinks. The Mandalorian tea had a very unusual flavor, but I liked it. Ali, on the other hand, apparently did not. She put the cup aside and took another. When everything had been eaten, Satine started a conversation unexpectedly for Ali:

- We are supposed to contract with the MMC to refurbish some of their ships with armor and weapons, in return for helping with the hyperdrives for the patrol ships. Along the way, we'll place an order for several hundred light transports to trade with our main customers.

- Is signing a contract really that important? - I gave her a hint about the situation.

- It's all about clans," Satine nodded, "people need proof that my policy is working. Now we have resolved the Beskar problem without a single shot being fired, and in our favor. If it hadn't been for you...

- Let's drop it," I interrupted Satine. - Let's talk about the treaty. The Corellians said they need a thousand men on my boat.

- That will do," the duchess nodded.

- Salaries, ammunition, arms, supplies, that's on me," I said at once.

- In that case, I'll allocate you specialists from the army. We have an army of five million men, and I think I can give you a thousand of those not yet assigned to their ships.

- As an ally, then," I concluded.

- If you wish, they will give you an oath, as they should. Mandalore does not betray alliances, much less military ones.

- It's a matter of how you look at it. I'm not sure I'll be using the boat for military purposes, but an oath wouldn't hurt," I knew from my training at the Academy that the Mandalorian warriors took their Mandalorian code of honor seriously.

Breakfast was over, and the duchess briefly told me the details of the future treaty before she and her guards departed. We had free time before noon and I, in the company of Ali, took her to the garden, which I had noticed during my last visit to the palace.

The garden was found quickly - it was internal and quite varied. Some of the plants I recognized, as I had seen them when I lived in the forest, looking for beskar. Ali was curious, too, and she examined the plants, the flowers, and even some of the insects flying around the flowers and pollinating them. There were local butterfly counterparts, too, though with a different pattern of brightly colored wings. Ali liked them best of all.

Noon came unnoticed - no sooner had the two of us walked around than it was time to go and meet the guests. One of the largest co-owners of the KMC had promised to fly in, since, from what I understood, the disputes between Mandalore and Corellia were also on a political level.

The path to the hangars was quick - I was able to intuitively find the shortest way, thanks to the Force Navigator.

The hangars were quite modest, similar to the ones the Naboans had, but only open areas, with large metal hangars. At the appointed time, I saw the Satin delegation approaching from the other side, accompanied by advisors and guards. My procession was me and Ali, no more needed.

A small dot appeared in the sky, which rapidly increased in size. After another minute, Ali and I approached the duchess. It was indecent to stare at the sky, as the ship's video sensors could see us.

But Ali and I were being watched by the Duchess' advisers and guards.

The ship lowered and landed - remarkably, it was the same modified "crown" as mine. The duchess cast a brief glance at me and straightened her dress, getting ready to meet me. The meeting took place...in working order. There was no press here, so no politeness.

A stout man, rather fat and balding, stepped out of the ship. He stood on the ramp, looked around, came down, and then was a typical meeting of two politicians - nothing significant shuffling. It took the man about thirty seconds, after which he introduced himself to me and introduced himself as Semetrius, a member of the KMC Board of Directors. He treated me as a small but still important partner of KMK, since I was the only supplier of beskar.

For half an hour, the Duchess and Semetrius debated-they haggled, while Ali and I just listened to them, not really paying attention. After a brief final debate, and apparently several rounds had already been completed earlier, they moved on to the signing of the treaty. Here was the signing of the strategic alliance between the KMK and the Mandalore government, and we made our way to the public. A press conference was scheduled with the signing of the treaty. Contrary to my expectations, we didn't go to a conference hall, but concluded the treaty in the open air - there were several hundred guests and journalists waiting for us in one of the palace gardens. This garden, or rather a courtyard, apparently served for public events when everyone didn't fit indoors.

The duchess took the podium and made a speech that was broadcast on local television, and then the same thing about peace, friendship, and gum was repeated by Semetrius. I did not have to say anything, I was simply introduced to the audience as a land owner, but I also left my signature on the document, according to which KMC would not produce more than fifty tons per month. Judging by the fact that Semetrius didn't look upset, that was enough for the corporation, and smelting beskar was a complicated process.

Ali sat in the front rows.

Everything changed in an instant-I sensed danger and immediately made my way to the Duchess' guards.

- I sense danger," I said to the guard who drew my attention to me.

- I beg your pardon, sir? - he did not understand. I had to speak as I was to make him understand:

- I am a Jedi. We sense danger beforehand," I explained, "I sense that something is about to happen. Take the duchess and the guest away at once.

The guard believed me, and reported over the comlink to the chief of security. The audience almost didn't notice my stirring.

And ten seconds later, while my sense of unease was growing, an alert was issued. Apparently, the head of security knew who the Jedi were.

A group of heavily armored soldiers approached the Duchess and, taking her in a "box," led her away from the press conference. The guards immediately picked up all the guests and led them in small groups into the building. I, sensing that danger was approaching, snatched Alessia up and said:

- Something's going on. Danger is near," I'd been in deadly situations before, but now, the forgotten feeling of adrenaline was coming back to me.

- What's the matter? - The girl looked confused.

- Let's run to the hangar, - I decided at once, feeling that the movement of the guests had no effect on the danger.

So we ran. Ali ran after me, and after five minutes we arrived at the hangar where our ship was standing. I took out my comlink and shouted to the droid:

- Erdva, take the ship out!

- Yes," the droid answered through the comlink, and five seconds later the ship crashed into the hangar gate. The gate was of thin metal, and the ship crushed it as it flew into the hangar deck. A ramp opened immediately, and Ali and I ran inside. The girl was confused and I asked her:

- Ali, stay in the cabin," I checked the weapons and sat in the pilot's chair. The droid was already ready to work and the ship took off upward.

I sensed danger - after a couple of seconds I noticed sensors picking up an approaching ship, a small interceptor that was approaching us at breakneck speed. I moved the hyperdrive tension lever - you can only jump off the planet's surface once, but it was destroying the hyperdrive. In the next moment, two events occurred that affected my life more than anything else.

The charge released from the turbolaser hit the ship right at the moment when I moved the jump lever and the hyperdrive field began to unfold to pull the ship into hyperspace.

The ship shook violently after the hit, but something happened... something I really, really didn't like. The red symbols lit up on the console in a second, and the whole cockpit lit up with alarming messages. Erdva said:

- Depressurization. Severe damage to hyperdrive. One engine is torn off...

Not listening to his monotonous voice, I unbuckled and jerked back toward the cabins and ran as fast as I could toward the main compartment and came upon a sealed door that would not open.

- Erdva, what's going on?! Open the door at once! - I knew Erdva could hear me. Ali had stayed exactly in the main quarters, so I began to go crazy with a premonition that something terrible had happened. Erdva informed me of the sentence over the speakerphone:

- The compartment is blocked due to depressurization.

- What??? What did you say? Open the door now! No, get some air into the compartment now!

- Yes," the droid replied. I reached out forcefully and sealed the compartment, sealing the horrible hole in the hull.

- Open the door!

- I can't, the system is blocking the compartment," the droid's monotonous voice came through the speaker. I drew my sword and repeated Qui-Gon's trick, cutting through the door and forcibly pulling out a piece of metal. I ran inside. No, I didn't see Alessia's corpse, but the things scattered all over the cabin made my legs feel padded.

I listened to myself-the connection to Alessia, which had appeared after the night at the hotel, was not answering. She wasn't there at all! I searched frantically for Ali, thinking she might be under the overturned couch, but to my dismay I found... clothes.

A purple hoodie, a bandage, underwear inside, shoes...empty. I switched off the sword I had used to shred the couch, and dropped to my knees, picking up Ali's blindfold, which she had never taken off.

- What happened here? - I shouted, knowing that Erdva heard me.

- She disappeared," the droid said.

- What do you mean disappeared, damn you?

- After the depressurization, Alessia disappeared. I don't know how. It was like she went into hyperspace.

- That can't be..." I said, and I said it a few more times. It can't be. Ben Kenobi in the movie disappeared. Why? Because that's how the Forsusers died.

My thoughts were finally confused. All I could think about was that I should go back and slice and dice everyone involved! Who did this?

I didn't notice how I cried, and a power surged in all directions that I could not contain with my consciousness-a small storm of power rose in the cabin, and ran lightning through me, knocking out the electricity, hitting the hull.

- Erdva-" I asked, "why? How?

- I... I don't know," the droid said in a sad voice.

I stood up, as the thirst to kill all those involved in Alessia's death gave me strength. I couldn't believe that Ali was gone, though. I didn't notice as I ran into the deckhouse and asked Erdw in a gruff voice:

- Where are we? Coming out of hyperspace!

- Yes," The ship darted back into normal space.

- Let's go back immediately," I demanded.

- "I can't," Erdva replied, "the hyperdrive was almost destroyed by the launch from the planet and a direct hit on the circuit.

- Backup, damn you!

- No beacon signal," the droid replied.

- How? - I asked in response. The hyperspace beacon signal was also receiving well in wild space, away from the hyperspace routes.

I didn't notice, but I still had Alessia's blindfold in my hands, which I didn't let go of.

- Where are we? - I asked the droid.

- I don't know. No navigational signals.

My emotions finally let go, and I closed my eyes, looking at the blindfold in my hands, and was finally confused. Yes, I was a thirteen-year-old boy, so I couldn't do anything but cry as much as I could, since I wasn't used to such displays of emotion after all... Lost in unknown places and alone again...