CH-35

"The first bounty hunters responded well to the Veritaserum, Master Harry." Harry's comlink chirped from his wrist, interrupting Harry from continuing, or Ahsoka from replying. "I have the coordinates of their ship berths and docking bays, as well as the codes to get past their security systems."

"What about the bounty hunters… Cad Bane and Aurra Sing? Were either of them present in that mess?" Harry asked after a few moments hesitation as he dragged the names of the bounty hunters the hacker gave him to the forefront of his mind.

"No sir, none of these bounty hunters are affiliated with either of those criminals thus far. Nor have any mentioned them." The droid's voice replied.

Harry frowned and shrugged a bit. "Okay, send the data to my comlink. Including the passwords and such. I'm going to get started on some galactic karma!"

He grinned and turned to Ahsoka, but she cut him off before he could say anything.

"How… did your droid get that information so quickly? How do you know whatever they told you is not leading you into a trap?" she demanded as she stood in front of him with her arms crossed, looking like she intended to keep him from leaving.

"Veritaserum." Harry said with a chuckle. "It's one of those potions I've mentioned to you. In the case of this one, it's a painless interrogation potion. Three drops and they truthfully answer any question put to them." Harry continued seeing the questions forming in Ahsoka's mind. "Wears off in about half an hour, and they're none the worse for the wear save for a bit of dry mouth, and right now that the least of their concerns."

Harry flashed Ahsoka another grin, when he answered her questions before she could ask them. "Go ahead and get started on that computer reboot. I'll be back in a little bit." He gestured toward the ship as he turned to walk away.

"Harry!" Ahsoka called as he turned away. He stopped and looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. She gestured at Aayla who was still silenced, and the younger woman had a slightly pleading expression on her face.

The Twi'lek, on the other hand, didn't seem nearly as upset as she had been just a few short moments earlier. Of course that was before Harry had accused her of being an assassin, but there was still an angry glare on her face as she gestured at her throat in an echo of Ahsoka's plea.

Harry was tempted to tell Ahsoka that, if the Jedi were so all knowing, they should be able to dispel a simple silencing spell without too much effort. But instead he sighed and relented "Fine. But if you leave the docking bay, you won't be able to get in until I'm back."

He turned, and as he walked away Harry absentmindedly waved a hand in Aayla's direction.

Aayla felt the small surge in the Force and opened her mouth "I.. can talk now?! How did you do that?"

Harry looked back over his shoulder and winked, "Well, according to you it certainly couldn't have been magic, Blue."

He he made no attempt to hide that the gaze from his eye that didn't blink was directed squarely at the Twi'lek's chest as he disappeared with a soft crack mid stride.

After Harry left, and after Aayla had spent nearly a full minute in silence as she stared at the spot Harry had just disappeared from. When she finally tore her eyes away from the space, Aayla turned to Ahsoka, only to see her friend eyeing her very suspiciously.

"So why are you here, Master Secura?" Ahsoka finally asked when she had the Twi'lek's attention.

"Like I said, I was tasked to investigate the Bo-"

"Don't lie to me," snapped Ahsoka, and for once, she actually felt fairly angry. She had wanted to deny Harry's words when he listed off the reasons Master Secura was there. But Harry had predicted the Order would send someone after them. He also had been fairly direct about his suspicions and hadn't seemed to have gotten much wrong since he had met her.

She met Aayla eyes, trusting in Harry's perception of events. "Don't you dare lie to me. I can handle the Council lying. I can handle that idiot prosecutor Tarkin along with the Supreme Chancellor! But now you're lying to me too? My trust in members of the Order seems like it's dwindling fast. I can't trust the Council, I can't trust my friends… and if I can't trust you, it looks like the only Jedi I can trust is Skywalker."

Aayla stared at Ahsoka, and desperately wanted to fall back upon the three rules of infiltration work, 'Deny Deny Deny', but felt that would only damage her case further. Ahsoka had obviously already placed a large amount of faith and trust in the erratic and crude bounty hunter.

The man was certainly dangerous, and for him to pick up upon the fallacies she spoke so quickly, meant she would need to go for full disclosure, or leave immediately to check in with the Council for further instruction. Which would take time even if she did have access to a long range communication device, which she did not have thanks to her ship being blown up. It also meant she'd likely lose their trail immediately, even if Harry had mentioned they were bound for Kashyyyk next.

In the end, it came down to Aayla's conscience. She felt she couldn't lie to Ahsoka, not after the Council had wronged her so badly. The Jedi Order had failed her, and she wouldn't allow the Council to compound that failure by casting aspersions upon her character just because of her now close proximity to a Force user whose motivations, goals, and history were shrouded in mystery.

Aayla sighed, "The Council ordered that I attempt to find out more about him. Master Yoda termed it a vergence, a shatterpoint even. So I am to figure out more about him and where he's from. What he did to the two masters to make the two of you disappear. I was also to ascertain if you were in any danger while with him, and to report my findings back when relevant."

"Well, if you haven't noticed, I'd be in danger with or without Harry." Ahsoka snorted, "And I certainly don't see the Council caring if their 'embarrassment' got waxed by the same bounty hunters we've put in prison multiple times, each."

"Yes, I see that now. I take it that's what the bounty you both turned in on Coruscant was about?" Aayla asked, the accusation against the Council completely ignored for the time being.

Ahsoka looked at Aayla carefully, before she eventually nodded. "Yeah, I didn't reclaim my lightsaber before turning down the Order's offer to return, so when that hunter had a gun to the back of my head, along with six others, it was Harry who stepped in and save me."

"He used the Force to do this, Ahsoka?" Aayla asked, her tone carefully neutral as she hoped to draw out information on Harry's abilities from Ahsoka, but his motivations as well.

Ahsoka shook her head quickly, "You can draw your own conclusions. But, I'm not telling you anything else, Master Secura,"

Aayla felt a brief pang in her heart when her old friend refused to call her Aayla like she once had.

"I won't betray him, not after he's saved me multiple times. Hell, at first I had to pester him for a while to even consider showing me what he has," Ahsoka lifted her chin slightly in a combination of pride and defiance as she met Aayla's eyes.

"What did he offer you, Ahsoka?" Aayla's tone was filled with caution now. That kind of 'offer' sounded too much like some sort of temptation to lure Ahsoka to the Dark Side. The idea sounded preposterous to Aayla, but she knew anything was possible.

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