Personnel are the key to everything

Keldabe greeted us with gloomy weather and endless checks before entering the space of the planet Mandalore. The pilot cursed, cursing schizophrenics, but she answered all the demands - to descend slowly, in a certain area under the control of air defense, remove the shields... I, sitting on the bridge, only whistled - rarely in the galaxy can you find such stringent precautions. Apparently, the attack two weeks ago had taken its toll on them. It's all there in the holonet. Three heavy Deathwatch fighters, packed with explosives, crashed into the Grandstand and the Royal Palace. The guards shot down one and it fell on the hangar with the royal yacht, killing two technicians, and the other two were well prepared - the attack took the life of an official from KMK and a dozen other people. The Watch, because of its, to put it mildly, radical views, was not popular even with the old mercenaries, and now it has become an official terrorist organization with all the consequences that entails. Who said what, but the bald man about the comb - Valorum pushed for a half-hour rally to expand the powers and the combat unit of the Justice Corps, which could suppress the activities of such organizations at the root. The loss of one of the leaders of the largest corporation in the galaxy has affected the shares of KMC, which have plummeted and are still not going to rise - a couple of points were cut off by our agreement to transfer the mine to the Mandalorians, and another dozen by the murder of one of the Board of Directors' bonuses. That led to some serious losses on KMC's part, but thank God they didn't blame me-I was sort of just getting out of it, and it wasn't my fault, especially since I was officially dead anyway. Technically, that was the case-I was as absent from the world of the living as I was from the world of the dead for two weeks. However, Valorum's initiative, on the sly, passed-correlia, which was one of the leaders of the financial world, strongly approved, immediately trying to push its services in the construction of warships. A polemics ensued-who should provide the Justiciars, and so on, and after two hours of "democratic" chatter, bidding, and bickering, no one remembered that the empowerment was a question, not an assertion...

The pilot took the ship down to one of the landing sites on the outskirts of Keldab. Deciding not to stand in her way anymore, I left the bridge. The ship's systems were already set up for me, so I didn't have to worry about my property-as soon as we opened the hatches, I took Shia in my arms and left the yacht.

I had to take a cab to the royal palace-I had no speeder of my own yet. I was able to relax in the cab - the Duchess had taken precautions, so it was unlikely that the patrol would be able to find me in such a short time - the work of their agents must be difficult.

- Papa, where are we going? - Shi'ai came to life at once.

- I'll introduce you to an acquaintance of mine," I grinned, "a good woman, only a little busy...

Shiay tried a few more times to get to the truth, but I answered evasively and looked around more and more. The streets were still extremely winding and more like animal trails. Architectural chaos and the frankly scowling faces of the passersby I managed to see from the height at which the cab flew...

It took about ten minutes to get to the palace, and then, after paying the cabbie, I let myself breathe easier. Shia was turning his head around, trying to see everything.

- Dad, where are we?

- Mandalore. The Duchess' palace," I looked for the checkpoint and went there. The guards here were fierce, too, and were in no hurry to let me through.

After five minutes of bickering with the guard, he still agreed to contact Satin Kreese, and in a minute the suddenly affectionate guard led me and Shiay into the palace. After checking my papers, of course. He paid no attention to the child-the Mandalorians were quite sensitive about children, and given their very unusual code that required every warrior to raise a new Mandalorian, having such a companion was not at all surprising.

The palace corridors were warmly lit this time, and the number of patrolmen doubled. The first time I'd come here, there had only been servants in token armor, but this time there was real armor-the servants were few in number, and the guards were clutching their blasters. The guard noticed my attention, but made no comment.

At a brisk pace we made our way to the Duchess' chambers. Nothing had changed here, not even the guards as in the rest of the palace.

The duchess was not inside - the guard stepped away from the door and let us in. We entered the room I was already familiar with-with a sofa and a window overlooking the garden.

- Dad, why did they let us in?

- I had some business with the Duchess... I think my sudden revival is confusing her plans, so she has to coordinate her plans for my land urgently..." I sat down on the couch and prepared to wait, watching through the force of Shiay's actions.

The boy went around the room - he stood and looked at the garden, climbed with his feet on the couch, then quickly moved toward the shelves on which there were several real paper books and tried to reach for them. Failing, he used telekinesis and several books hovered in the air above his head. It was at that moment that the Duchess quickly approached and entered the study. Satin and Shia caught sight of each other-I might not have seen the duchess's face, but I could feel the surprise through the force. The boy lost his concentration and the book rattled against his head, landing him on his heel.

Satin shook her head, but the boy didn't disappear, as much as she wanted him to, and then I intervened in the conversation, sitting on the couch until now:

- This is Shiai, my son. Shii, this is Satine Kreese, Duchess of Mandalore, and just a beauty..." My son immediately jumped up and quickly gave her the standard Jedi bow. Satine finally spotted me and turned around at the voice:

- Who are you? Is this a joke?

- Not at all," I turned to the Duchess, "I thought you said some time ago that my actions were the most daringly adventurous you'd ever seen... you have no idea how right..." I tried to grin politely. Speaking of which, I was a kid the last time we talked, and now I was her age. I got up from the sofa and made the girl even more confused with my appearance," Satin, sit down. I would like to tell you an interesting story..." I nodded at the chair next to me, and the duchess sat down, keeping the appearance of equanimity, but I could see that she was in a natural stupor. Shi'ai stepped aside and didn't look away.

- Anakin? - Satine tried again," Is that you?

- Я. Look...

I've changed the legend about traveling thousands of years ago. There was no point in spreading the word too much - what if the Jedi clung to it, demanding I teach them Juyo or something like that? So the story was the same, only the journey was seven years ago. I went seven years back, so as not to change the future I lived in the countryside and miraculously met Togruta, love, marriage, son, death in childbirth... may Toshi forgive me such liberties in defining our story, but technically she was already on the other side and I only minimized the lies. Satin listened to this with her eyes wide open. Apparently, I'd passed on the love story a little-it almost brought tears to her eyes. By the time I finished my return, she had already believed what had happened and began to ask clarifying questions. Shiay also was not left without attention - the boy was examined, stroked on the head, and given tea...

- That's how I ended up in this strange position..." I sighed.

- I understand ... but it's hard to believe, Satin said quietly, "To be honest, you never gave the impression of being a family man ...

- I don't have a family," I shrugged, "I have my mother, of course, but I just made sure that she lives on a peaceful planet and found herself a husband. By the way, a week ago I got a little sister," I told her the news.

- Congratulations," Satine smiled sincerely for the first time tonight, "So your son is older than your sister, and this... Toshi is older than your mother?

- Well..." I scratched my earlobe, "I guess so. And Shia is seven years older than her aunt...

- Yes, it's like a Corellian opera," the Duchess grinned. By the way, Correlia was famous not only for smugglers and ships, but also for its soap operas.

With a smile on our faces and a glance at an uncomprehending Shia, we moved on to the informal but formal part.

- Okay, let's not talk about family mishaps. You promised to help me, didn't you? - I looked at the duchess carefully, but found no displeasure-she immediately nodded.

- What kind of help do you need?

- I have a yacht at Keldab. A full-time crew of four hundred. I would hire them, but I don't trust mercenaries, not Mandalorians and your creed. And besides, the yacht should be armed by the first class.

- That's possible," Satine nodded, "what sort of armaments are required?

- Laser turrets, turbolasers, ion cannons, multiple torpedo tubes and missile launchers. With ammunition," I listed the standard armament of a warship, "it's true, lighter and smaller than on a military ship, but that no bastard would dare do something like that recently..." I grimaced unplayfully.

- It is possible," Satin repeated, "point out where your boat is and I will send a team and resolve the issue.

- Thank you," I thanked Kreese sincerely, "your help comes in handy when I have lost the foundations under my feet.

- That's all right," Crease smiled, "that's what friends are for.

As Armstrong would say - one small step for two people and a huge step for a relationship. I couldn't have hoped for such a development on my last visit.

- Thank you," I thanked again, smiling, "it means a lot to me.

- Oh, never mind," Satine brushed her off, "if you hadn't cooperated with me first, I'd be looking for work in Correlia or Alderaan somewhere...

- Well, don't tell me," I pointed out at the exaggeration, though really - I was the first one to hold out my hand to Satin. I've had friends before-Julian and Erdva. Both were adventurers.

We talked with Satine for another two or three hours-I wasn't counting. Only the sniffing of Shiay, who fell asleep on a nearby sofa while we were talking, made us end our long and pleasant conversation. Pleased with this view, Criz got up and invited me to stay at her palace. I could not refuse, as there was no choice. This time we spoke as equals - I was not inferior to the Duchess in education and knowledge thanks to the university. And I was right-neither architects, nor Jedi, nor Sith can teach me anything really important in life. They can help you know yourself, your abilities, and set a certain outlook on the world, but they can't teach you diplomacy, help you understand politics, economic issues, a Jedi or a Sith will never, even after learning everything their order gives you, be able to hold a conversation about corporate stock price swings or small business benefits issues... Maybe that's why they are so... limited. Not stupid, but fixated on their war and their confrontation, though on a galactic scale it looked like a Protestant-Catholic dispute to Earthlings - like it is, like there used to be some serious passions, but now it is somewhere far away and most of humanity doesn't care about their differences.

Having said goodbye to the duchess, I wished her good night and took Shia in my arms and carried her to the guest room. The guard saw me off.

And I myself fell asleep almost as quickly.

The morning was sunny and clear in contrast to the previous day - outside the window the birds sang in the crown of the garden trees. The windows automatically turned down the transparency to keep the room semi-dark. When I finally woke up, I felt full of strength and energy-positivity was flowing. I got up and stretched, and after spending half an hour getting myself decent looking, I could finally get some work done. Shi'ai was still sleeping sweetly when I took my tablet and began quickly typing out a list of things to do today-find servants, a speeder, practice power forging-the ship needed to hyperdrive faster than the one I was standing right now. This I could do-it was very much in my power-armed with the theory of hyperspace fields and power forging techniques, I could assemble a new wunderwaffle. When I was done with my sketches, I immediately woke Shiay up-it wasn't healthy to sleep for too long, especially since it had been a beautiful morning. The boy was nearly awake, so I got up quickly and got ready to go.

An hour later, when we were on our way out, one of the Mandalorian warriors, judging by his armor, caught up with me.

- Mr. Skywalker? - he asked me.

- Yes?" I turned around. The man stopped. A young man, about twenty-five years old, wearing gray lightweight armor made of a no-car-dural composite and with a military short haircut. Outwardly, he looked rather personable, and the Guard symbol on his armor spoke of good training.

- The Duchess has ordered me to escort you into town if you leave the palace.

- I assure you that won't be necessary," I nodded at him. - As a Jedi master, I can stand up for myself and my son.

The warrior was not only strong, but clever.

- This is an order from the Duchess; I cannot disobey.

- Well, if that's the case... I suppose I could use an escort, especially since it's easy to get lost in Keldab...

The Mandalorian nodded in agreement, and the three of us set off. On the way he couldn't stand it any longer and asked:

- Excuse me, sir, may I ask you a question?

- Yes?" I was in the mood for a conversation, so I immediately agreed.

- You said you were a Jedi...

- I am," I nodded.

- But don't Jedi take vows of celibacy? - he asked, not expecting to hear a truthful answer.

- Yes, they do. But it's where my views and those of the council differ. I will not spend my life alone if it seems right to a certain Master of the Order.

My bodyguard reflected, and we spent the rest of the journey in silence. He led us to the speeder hangar and got into one of them. Before he left, he asked:

- Where are we going?

- I don't know exactly where anything is. I need to hire a dozen servants of all kinds for my private yacht.

- Well," the bodyguard nodded and lifted the speeder into the air, "you've found a good place for it. True, it's easier to find bounty hunters or mercenaries, but you can hire regular staff, too.

The speeder moved to the gatehouse and through it flew out into the streets of the city.

The bodyguard enlightened me:

- Not everyone is looking for adventure, and Mandalore has no developed industry of its own, so the main livelihood for the local population is hiring. Of course, it is unlikely that the Mando'ade will accept such work, but there are enough reasonable ones - wives and children of Mandalorians who do not want or do not know how to hold a gun. There are also plenty of veterans who no longer take combat contracts, and who are not used to sitting still - they often go on ships and into aristocratic homes as servants. Of course, they don't do dirty work, they just watch over the household, the other servants, and if necessary, they can shoot a thief or give sound advice to their employer. It's better than just sitting on their gains and waiting to die, especially since no one has abolished compliance with the code and their employers may not fear betrayal. It's a pretty lucrative job.

- I see," I nodded. "I think I will need such a man, too, but only one. I'll need two cooks, a tutor for my son, preferably from Mando'ade. I can certainly teach him how to wield a lightsaber or power, but as my turbulent youth tells me, sometimes it's better just to knock his teeth out than to swing a sword...

The bodyguard supported me, and we walked the rest of the way in silence. Shi'ai was too busy staring around to ask questions.

The speeder arrived at some building of a purely utilitarian appearance. The bodyguard commented, "This is where those who want to find a peace deal usually gather. Not all of them, of course, but the place is pretty old.

The place turned out to be something like administration. Of course, not exactly - it was a mercenary guild. People in armor were completely absent-but in the corridors there was an entire galaxy in miniature-representatives of a dozen different races and all sorts of ages. The corridors were quite spacious, and there was no trace of formalism here - in spite of the unattractive appearance, it was cozy inside. Furniture, tables, where you could find both people and non-humans just sitting in their pants, as well as people talking languidly to each other.

The bodyguard went through a couple of corridors, up the stairs, and quickly led us to an office. Before entering, he told us that there were hired servants here. With a grateful nod I handed Shia over to him and went inside. I was about to acquire my first subordinates...

Inside there was an old gray-haired man, quite strong in appearance, but already very archaic.

- What can I do for you? - he looked at me with a rather keen eye.

- They say you can hire staff here," I stepped closer, "Anakin Skywalker.

- You're not fooled," the old man nodded, "Rose. What kind of staff do you need? We have a wide variety of specialists.

- I'm interested in a cook, an assistant cook, a teacher for my son in general subjects, as well as a specialist in droids and two stylists.

- All right," Rose immediately agreed, and quickly scribbled something on the terminal.

- How long is the contract? Terms of living?

- Terms - from three years. Terms - life and work on my personal yacht.

- On a yacht? - Rose was surprised. - Is there enough room?

- There is," I chuckled, "my yacht used to be a cruiser with a crew of five thousand people. So it's a comfortable place to stay.

- Is that so? - Rose raised his eyebrows. - It's a nice yacht you have. Just a moment, I'll be right with you!

He scribbled a little more on the terminal, and then asked:

- Would you like to see for yourself, or shall you leave it to the guild?

- No, I'd like to see the candidates in person. Oh, yes, I forgot. You wouldn't have any Tugrut women here, would you?

- Oh yes, there are," Rose nodded.

- I'll ask you to put them on the list, too. I'll just see what they can do, and we'll see what we can do.

- All right," the old man didn't argue, and I went to see the footage.

Everyone who was summoned immediately went to one of the offices. Rose sent me there, too. As I approached, I noticed people flocking to the office. Among them were the Togrutians.

The bodyguard followed me for a while, and before I approached the office assigned to me for interviews, he took me aside. Leaning over my ear, he whispered interesting tidings to me:

- "Mr. Skywalker, I must warn you that a broker suspected of hiring for... intimate purposes may pass such information on to the hires, and they have the right to complain to the broker if a client offers such...

- Don't worry," I reassured him, "I just need a maid, and I'd rather seduce the women myself...

The bodyguard smiled and said louder.

- I should have warned you.

- Thank you," I nodded and went into the office.

It was an ordinary little office - a desk, two armchairs, a window overlooking the street... nothing remarkable to be frothing at the mouth - office drabness. I sat down in a chair and started calling for candidates one by one. There were more than fifty of them, and four more togurts.

The first candidate was a man, middle-aged, with a sad look.

I did not get into the soul with words, but with force - very much so. The man was rather lonely and applied for the position of cook-not an easy job to find on Mandalore.

I looked at his portfolio - he worked in a local restaurant, then, judging by his story and what he wasn't telling me, he got into a fight with a waiter over a standard domestic love story. The male antics went nowhere and both were fired, but both were fired for fighting. Now looking for a place away from the planet. Leaving the unsuccessful donzhuen and making a few notes in the file, I invited the next. To his unspoken question, I said that I would invite everyone first. And then it went on and on.

By the way, excellent practice in the art of digging into other people's souls, both with words and force. The staff were fairly good - almost everyone was suitable for work, except for a couple of unscrupulous technicians who wanted to work with droids.

The survey took almost two hours of uninterrupted work - some came out quickly - that's when the results of the scan were certain. The usual question - do you think it's acceptable to steal any thing from the ship and lo and behold, the unscrupulous are culled. The rest are the same straightforward questions and that's it. Although there were difficult cases - when the man himself to figure it out, not that I, with force, understand something.

I left the Togrut for an appetizer. After all, it was nice to see familiar faces with white pigments on their faces - one was round around the eyes, the other was sharp...

The first two Togrutas were simply inhabitants in an uncertain situation who wanted to find a place in the sun. After marking them as neutral, I invited the next one, and then luck smiled on me. A girl of eighteen, with a rather pretty face, eyed me warily. Apparently this Rose had sent a hint of intimacy in the message after all, the old goat.

- Sit down," I nodded at the chair, "what do you know? What kind of education?

- School in Shealy," she answered, "I'm good at technology, I know how to deal with children...

- Oh, I see," I nodded, "why are you looking for work on Mandalore?

- Um..." she hesitated, "why not on this planet?

- You're right, it's a good contract market. Why did you leave Shealy?

She was nervous, though she didn't seem to notice it:

- Decided to see the galaxy, and to find a good job here after school is problematic, and I had no money for the institute.

- I see," I sensed that she was deceiving me in some way, and decided to take her out in the open. The Togrut rarely leave their clans except for the Jedi, officials, or those who leave for their own reasons.

On the Jedi and officials, the girl named, by the way, Mekoi, did not respond, but on her reasons became nervous, and I continued to gently press the party line.

- I'm recruiting those who will be completely loyal to me and have no dark past. A dark past counts on the presence of crimes, and hiding the truth from their employer. Of course, I will try to stay out of my personal life, but I don't want any problems. Of course, to get a good job is not so easy, if you hide any facts from his biography...

The girl cracked up:

- I'm sorry," she bowed her head, "it's just...

- Yes?" I feigned interest.

- My family... or rather, my clan is orthodox. You know, their culture, their smallholding... They live according to old custom. Two years ago, a man came to our settlement... a Mandalorian man. A bounty hunter.

Since the girl was clearly feeling a bit emotional, I took advantage of her calmness and continued to listen to her entertaining story.

- He was hunting some criminal. My father, the head of the clan put him in our house. I don't know why, but then... well, between you and me..." she was all embarrassed. I went on for her:

- Did something happen between you two?

She nodded, and then she sniffed her nose and continued.

- My father found out about it from one of the younger members of the clan and there was a big scandal. Reis defended me, but my father said that if I cared more about him than the Clan, I should go with him," Togruta hung her head sadly.

- And you did," I said affirmatively. - And what about what's next with what's-his-name?

- Flight. It turns out that he just followed the code and did not care about our relationship ...

- Was there a relationship? - I leaned back in my chair. - The Mandalorian might not have known your traditions, much less the traditions of your clan.

- But he! - The togruita was indignant and looked up at me, but I didn't let her get any further with her lecture on how men are all assholes:

- It wasn't his fault. Or did he not ask your permission? Or promised you something? As far as I know Mandalorians, they are men of honor, but their honor is Mandalorian. Casual liaisons are not uncommon, but they don't make promises for no reason.

- Still," she lowered her gaze to the floor again.

- Oh, well," I agreed, "but I suppose it's all your clan's fault for not explaining the ways of the Wraith. You must have felt a little out of place when you were brought up in the Clan, too, and I'm sure they taught you the rules of Mandalorean society..." She nodded.

She nodded.

- In that case, don't blame anyone but the carelessness of the person who invited that person into the house. You're a girl, it's natural for you, at your age, to... something like that.

The girl was already more relaxed about the continuation.

- Of course I understand that you were brought up in the clan, and that there's some kind of history involved. If you want the job, there's one cardinal rule: don't lie to me. It just won't work.

- I'm sorry, how did you know I was clan? - She didn't understand.

- It's very simple. The clan probably mostly speaks Togrut, so that the difference with the mainstream is not perceived. I've been talking to you in Togrut for half an hour now, and you still haven't noticed it-" I smiled as I saw the girl's eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. - I'll accept you, but it's a credit to trust, because I also do not like such traditions.

- Thank you! - She glowed.

- You're welcome. You will look after my son. Who else is there? - I nodded at the door.

- No one else. I'm the last one.

- Then go and wait while I select the other candidates.

The happy toad flew out the door, and I began to work with the resumes, putting them into folders and cutting off unnecessary things. Half an hour later, twelve people got jobs. So did Togruta.

I walked out the door and called their names. The rest left, with heavy sighs.

- So, to begin with, the terms of the contract," I laid out in front of me the datacards with the contract, which I downloaded right there and put in the items I needed, "work on my yacht 'Sacrament of Darkness', working conditions are standard, the schedule is floating, it will be determined by the manager. All the social guarantees of the standard Alderaan contract - payment for medical services, if necessary - extramural training," I cast a glance at Makoi, "paid vacation once a year. The duration of the contract is three years, with extensions for those who do not earn penalties or do not want to leave. You can terminate the contract at short notice. So, let's get to the personalities.

The contract was drawn up and now everyone was reading it on their datapads. After giving it a few minutes to read, I continued:

- Cooks, - I waited until the two named men and women step closer, - your task is to cook for us, as well as, if necessary, to serve guests, if there is a chance to invite them to a formal dinner. I warn you right away that you'd better have patience and learn all the protocols well, since the guests may be of all different levels. Next, the technicians..." two relatively young guys came out, "there are thousands of droids on the ship, but you will only work with those that work in my personal living quarters. They nodded in sync and I switched over. - Specialists... generalists," a large group of six came out, "your task is general maintenance - cleaning, 'household chores', keeping things clean and tidy.

- And the last..." I looked at Makoi, "you will be my son's teacher. Standard subjects, and you'll also keep an eye on him. I'm not always around, and given his temper, I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to saw a piece off the reactor, as a keepsake.

The workers smiled, Makoi was flattered by this confidence, and things moved quickly - I signed off, transferred my first paycheck and money for living outside the ship, since the ship itself is still being finalized.

The rest of the crew is up to Satin.

After saying goodbye to the hired men and promising that I would contact them, I went back to the speeder, grabbing Shia and a bodyguard on the way, who had been waiting for me for a long time.

Now it was time to think about what I would do after Mandalore. The plans were rather vague, but the first concrete hints of the center of the galaxy remained.