Chapter Five (Patreon)

It wasn’t often that Tera Sinube left the temple these days. Well into his third century (when his people usually lived only two), Tera Sinube only rarely ventured to his old haunts below the capital’s surface. Even then it was to meet up with old contacts who refused to trust anyone else. But the Force called him, and Tera Sinube was a Jedi. Knights of the Republic, Servants of the Force.

He was at the 2000 level and still the Force pulled him down. Tera hadn’t been down here in centuries. Many on the surface called everything below 3500 the ‘underworld,’ but here, below 2000, was the true underworld. Millennia of industrial toxins, mutated predator animals, and neglect of infrastructure slowly chased out those who could afford to leave. Those who couldn’t were killed, even slower. Generation by generation lifespans decreased, food grew more expensive, medicine more expensive still.

Tera felt the pull move sideways as he passed level 1000. At level 114 he pulled the speeder horizontally. It was a dim place. Down here all lighting was artificial, and neither power nor light sources were cheap. The cheapest ones--fire, gas, and incandescent lightbulbs (though long abandoned by the surface)--could not be used this far down. They would ignite the toxic gasses in the air. To even move this far down, Tera had to use the Force to filter the air before reaching his lungs.

The pull came from a large pile of rubble. At least three stories had collapsed, though the Force sung of violence rather than tragedy. Were he still an investigator, Tera would have looked into it. But that time had passed. He’d give the message to one of the new investigators. Tholme or something, a human. All humans were young to him now, but Tholme was even young by their standards.

It was inside the rubble that Tera found the Force’s reason for calling him. A child, Togorian by the looks and size, under layers of rubble. Her presence sang with the Force. Tera hoped she was young enough. The Council had been getting stricter about that lately. He’d opposed the notion of cutoff dates when he was on it, but that was more than a decade ago. Long enough for the issue to be redressed, this time without him.

Tera levitated the child towards him. Her eyes blinked open as she moved.

“Huh?”

“There there little one,” Tera said, exuding comfort and calm into the Force.

“My--my parents,” the child sniffled. “My family.”

“They--”

“They were in there,” the child said. “Someone said something about Ebor, and then the place exploded!” She, quite understandably, burst into tears.

Ebor, Tera thought as he let the girl sob onto his robes. He knew that name. He’d started on Coruscant around the same time as that accursed Hutt. Ebor always stayed just on the right side of the law. His workers were paid (poorly). His products were pieces of old technology, not included under patent law (technically). His enforcers were always hired by contractors, which meant he was never criminally liable for their actions, and the profits made from the technology monopoly made up for any fines.

The girl stopped crying. “Where are you taking me?”

“To the Jedi temple,” Tera answered calmly.

“The Jedi?” the girl asked. She didn’t sound particularly excited.

“We will take care of you from now on,” Tera stated.

“Jedi don’t care about anyone under 3000.” Tera held back a wince. It was a common refrain. One he knew held more than a little truth.

“I used to work here,” Tera said softly. “Investigating things. Almost always below 3000.”

“Really?” the girl perked up, though Tera had an ill feeling in his stomach. “Can you help me find--”

“Jedi do not seek vengeance,” Tera stated. “I will pass the investigation along to a current Investigator.”

“But--”

“They will hopefully be found,” Tera said. “But that is not your concern. Do you think your parents would want you chasing down dangerous criminals?”

The girl sniffled. “Dad said he was going to send me to school next semester,” she choked on her tears. “Finally had credits for it. Now--”

“Now the Jedi will teach you,” Tera said. “We have one of the largest archives in the world.”

The girl nodded slightly. Tera made a note to get her a mind healer and a psychologist.

The flight up the levels took far longer than the one down. For obvious reasons, one couldn’t simply ride a speeder straight up. Nor did Tera trust the various elevators half-maintained by the local gangs. Instead he flew criss-cross across each level. Moving up and over, then turning around so he could go up and over again, and again, and again . . .

Truly it wasn’t so bad but when you had to do it for more than a thousand levels it was normally a multi-day affair. That Tera managed it in under eight hours would be a thing of legend if he bothered to tell anyone. Besides, he already had that record. Back when he was young and foolish, he’d sped straight from 100 to 5,000 in two hours, fifty-six minutes, eleven seconds.