“…cause of death, execution by blaster to the head. Stop recording.” Maeva glanced to the droid as it beeped and the recording stopped. She made sure her work was finished as she grabbed the sheet and pulled it up on the corpse.
“May you find peace if your soul was good,” murmured the Evereni as she took off the gloves and threw them away while she headed to her office to finish the report and submit it. It seems that murders had been on the rise and some kind of talk of Kriz Crime Syndicate. Maeva sat on her office chair and opened up her holo-screen and went to work. The work droid whirled and landed on the corner of her desk. Her black hair was up in a professional bun but her bangs were free. She had on a choker with a black kyber crystal at the end.
Save for the holo-screen, the keyboard and various technology, her desk was rather tidy and clean. On the walls, there were pictures. The first picture was of two people, with Maeva. Narman would recognize this was her main squad when she was in the military. Maeva was in the middle between a broody male Umbaran and a feminine-looking Togorian. The second picture looked like a group graduation picture of a school, Maeva looked younger. This would be her before she graduated and joined the military right after. The rest of the pictures were various critters and fishes that resided in Maeva’s aquarium and terrarium at home.
And the last picture was Maeva, dressed up with the same people that was part of her military squad, and they looked like they were going somewhere formal. The shy Evereni appeared to be smiling, something she rarely ever does. Her side tables had freshly picked black dahlias, moulin rogue sunflowers, black star calla lily, and Arabian night dahlias.
Turbolift doors opened with a soft hiss and Narman Losa stepped out into the sterile white hallway. Though he spent many years pacing hallways very similar to those in a doctor’s coat, today he required a different ensemble; his Taldryan Republic dress uniform, clean and pressed with medals on full display. Tucked under his arm was an encoded datapad with a biometric lock. While he strode down the hall, he allowed his mind to wander.
The Vice Chancellor had not been able to spend as much time at Gooi-Moord as he wished. Their mission of inclusivity was something he had strived for for a long time. He often wondered if things were different, he might be working here as a surgeon. Unfortunately his administrative duties, of which there were many, kept him occupied and off-planet frequently. Then there were the other duties, like his task today. Classified and off the record.
Narman closed the last few meters to the office door and pressed the button for the intercom.
“Vice Chancellor Losa for Doctor Maeva.”
Maeva blinked as she stared at the intercom. She silently cussed to herself in Evereni while rapidly going over her emails. Nothing about any meetings. Or that she was going to get a visitation from the Vice Chancellor.
Why would he want to- Did he wish to tour the Gooi-Moord?
“Come on in, Vice Chancellor Losa” Her eyes darted to the other room quickly and saw the patient was covered. Then she closed down her holo-screen for the time being and sat up from her desk. After she pushed the chair in, she hurriedly went to the door and almost bumped into Narman but caught herself.
“Ah! Sorry, sir, if I had known you were coming…” She extended her hand to her office where there’s also two chairs by her desk.
“Nothing to apologize for, Doctor.” Narman replied with a smile. He followed the direction of her hand and moved over to one of the open seats, adjusting the slight ruffles in his uniform. As he sat he moved the datapad into his lap. “I hope I’m not interrupting something important?”
“Nah, I just finished one of my…” Maeva looked at Norman with piercing amethyst eyes, sizing him up and down as he adjusted his uniform.
So it’s a bad idea for her to be unprofessional. She cleared her throat and realized she missed on the formality earlier.
Suddenly, she was worried about her appearance. She sat down at her chair at the desk and found it really weird that someone higher rank was at the other ends-
Her fingers went to the ends of her lab coat sleeves. To Norman, i would look like she’s adjusting them, but it was her finding her bracelet. She rolled it and used it to help ground herself.
“No sir, you are not.”
“Formality is not required, but appreciated always.” Narman replied, his eyes scanning around the room quickly before resting once again on Maeva. His expression was warm, but ultimately shallow. Any career military personnel would be able to recognize the practiced calm of an officer with orders to delegate. “I need to keep up appearances. My arrival here could never have been kept completely private, so I leaned the other direction.” He motioned toward the medals pinned to his breast. “I haven’t taken these out of storage since my appointment as Vice Chancellor.” Narman took the datapad from his lap and set it in the empty chair beside him and leaned forward, speaking now in a hushed tone.
“What is the level of privacy and security this office affords us? May we speak freely?”
Maeva raised her eyebrow and studied him a bit longer. She glanced to the droid. Due to patient policy and laws, it shouldn’t be recording right now, but still. If there was a room that she could give him an ease of mind… Maeva started to think of different spots in the hospital. Even the ones she had heard certain sounds coming from that made her not want to enter.
“It should be safe here, I can send the droid away. If you prefer, we can go into the morgue, the storage fridge room for bodies specifically. Technology, save for the cleaning droids at certain hours, are strictly off-limits.” But then Maeva grinned, her sharp teeth revealing, a true testament of her being an Evereni.
“Not many people are comfortable with it either.”
The Vice Chancellor nodded in response to Maeva’s suggestion to send the droid away, and sat patiently in silence until he was sure it was gone. He then picked up the locked datapad and held his thumb and index finger on two separate biometric scanners. A light on the side shifted from orange to white and a small mechanism clicked within. A moment later the case popped open and Narman removed the datapad from its housing. He set the disabled case back in the open chair and handed the datapad across the desk to Maeva.
“As I’m sure you have inferred, this discussion is highly classified. Officially, it did not happen. My arrival here was a routine visit as Vice Chancellor to inspect the facility and meet some of its staff.” The datapad came to life in front of the Evereni, displaying several different files. “How familiar are you with the actions of the Kriz Crime Syndicate?”
Maeva tapped the droid, “Go upload the recent patient’s autopsy recording to the system.” The droid beeped as it left the room.
Maeva’s shoulders dropped with relief when Narman had mentioned to why he was really here. So it was nothing bad. They can always take up the tour of the hospital afterwards to keep up with the show.
“That they are responsible for a lot of the bodies I have here. We don’t really have the space for a medical examiner work elsewhere so I get the patients here and … non-natural deaths. Just what’s on the news as well and what the police tells me. Sometimes you just have to be quiet and they just talking for some reason.” Maeva sighed as she goes through the files. Wait. Why was she seeing members of the Kriz Crime Syndicate?
“My… work can only go so far, I’m not sure to why you are showing me all this?” Maeva amethyst eyes glanced towards Norman’s green.
“Without the Kriz Syndicate keeping the pirates and thieves in line, it would be far worse. That much is a certainty.” Narman put pressure on the bridge of his nose and sighed, one of the first signs of genuine emotion he had shown since arriving. “ Unfortunately they represent a necessary evil. As both a veteran and a Doctor, I’m sure that is a concept you are well acquainted with.” He reached forward and tapped the datapad in front of Maeva.
“Contained within this datapad are profiles and histories of every member of the Kriz Crime Syndicate. We have those identities because we run the Syndicate. Or have been running it, until recently.”
Maeva listened while she looked back to the datapad and her fingers stopped scrolling through the information as it was obvious that things were clicking in her mind.
It was a surprise to her to hear that he and others was running the Syndicate. Who was the others on the Senate? The very same people that the people had voted?
But it dawned on her what he said earlier. A necessary evil. Kasiya was struggling overall with not just the tick in crimes but the xenophobia. She even had to get a human representative for them to deliver news or reports to the cops because of the lash she gets if she delivers it.
Her being an Evereni, one of the hated species, certainly didn’t help things.
Their eyes met again and there was some concerned behind her gaze. She was getting tired of the dance around and she was assuming the worse. Were they blaming her? Did they want her to investigate more than just the bodies?
The stress had her old attitude come out, “get to the point,” Maeva paused as she realized how harsh that may have sounded, “…Vice Chancellor.”
Narman refrained from narrowing his eyes at the Evereni. He had come here unannounced, interrupted her work, and was debriefing a lot of new information. She had earned a little grace.
“We need someone new to run the operation. This individual would stay wholly hidden from the rest of the Syndicate, delegating only through proxies. Their identity would be classified at the highest level, known only to Supreme Chancellor Bnar, myself, and OSI Director Farrow.” He replied tersely. “I believe you are an excellent candidate for this position.”
Maeva started to laugh. This was some high level joke. Did Vigo signed him up for this?
But Narman stayed serious, his gaze lingering on her. Her laughter slowed to nervous giggles and then she stopped.
Okay, Vigo wouldn’t go as far as asking the karking Vice Chancellor to do this.
“Oh kist. You’re… not kidding.” Maeva winced and she looked away. Her fingers went to the bead of her bracelet again as she started to twirl on it. She stared into his eyes.
“No dilated pupiles… so you aren’t on deathsticks or drugs of some sort-” She exhaled, her fingers shifted to tapping on the desk as she gazed over to the datapad, seeing the members of the Kriz Crime Syndicate.
“I… have to know. Why me?”
“A number of reasons. The circumstances of your youth in the orphanage, for one. Mistreatment and abuse by those in authority positions doesn’t generally lead to a life of service.” Narman kept his eyes locked onto hers. “But you not only enlisted in the military - and all records indicate you were an exemplary soldier, despite the obvious xenophobia - you have continued a career in medicine. The noblest of professions, especially in an inner city facility such as this.”
Maeva’s jaw tightened. She didn’t like the fact that he was able to read her like a book. He wasn’t wrong. She had her own reasons for joining the military as stupid as it was for an eighteen year old girl at the time.
Yet, there was no regret or she would never had met Barafu and Vigo.
Perhaps it’s best he doesn’t know why she chose this field and becoming a medical examiner at the end of it. Her arms crossed as she considered it for a moment. It would be good to control them from inside out and lessen them sending victims to their deaths sooner than later. And maybe, she could do enough to bring them down.
She hated this idea, it would mean she would have to do things that Evereni was known for. The very core she had been fighting for so long. Lying, deceiving, and manipulating.
At the same time, she loved this idea. Maybe it could help shed light on the Everenis, even if she was a hybrid.
“If you believe I’m fit for the job.. then I’ll do my best.”
“Excellent, I’m pleased to hear that. You will have free reign to run the Syndicate as you see fit, so long as it adheres to the overall goals of the Republic.” Narman replied, reaching forward over the desk and tapping the datapad a few times to pull up a secondary menu. A list of names with accompanying coordinates populated the screen.
“Here you will see a collection of the alias’ used by your predecessors as well as the locations of safehouses around the sector, each with their own proxy network for anonymous communication. If you would like to set up one here at Gooi-Moord, we can provide that equipment to you.” The Vice Chancellor thought for a moment, then added:
“You may wish to use your position to influence the criminal activity in a positive way; that is perfectly acceptable. That being said, this is an undercover position. Your role is the leader of a crime syndicate, be careful not to raise suspicion. Should you find yourself in trouble, it will be difficult for Director Farrow to get you out.”
“It may be for the best. I can use my position here to manipulate the Kriz Crime Syndicate by working into their favor with the promise of hiding some of their killings. With the additional understanding that I cannot hide all bodies to prevent me from being suspected. With that said, the ones I do cover up, I will submit a false report and a true report to Director Farrow and you. Does this include Chancellor Bnar?”
Maeva asked as she leaned forward, her crossed arms now resting on her desk as she was looking at the datapad. Then a soft chuckle as she glanced away to a random blank spot on her desk when Narman had brought up that it would be difficult for anyone to get her out if she encounters trouble.
A song she remembers for so long.
Apparently, a dance she has to continue. Her gaze moved to meet with Narman’s, “I understand.”
She raised her eyebrow, “alias?” That thought never occurred to her. She had used many fake names throughout her lifetime but this felt differently oddly enough.
“I will try to think of something unless that’s already been provided for me?”
“If you provide the reports to the OSI they will ensure it reaches the Supreme Chancellor’s - and my - desk.” Narman replied with a smile. Maeva was even more agreeable to the idea than he had hoped. Having a reliable source in the Kriz Crime Syndicate again was necessary to the security of the sector; he just hoped he made the right choice. The Vice Chancellor had always been a good judge of character.
“As far as your alias, I will leave that up to you. The encryption used to transmit your reports will confirm your identity on our end, but I suspect you would like one for your own security.”
Maeva stayed quiet for a bit longer as she sighed and nodded. This… she was going to need time to adjust and absorb everything in when she gets home. She always had been good a deception. Who knew it would come in handy?
“I will be going through the files today in private and set up a meeting with Director Farrow moving forward.” There was a distant beep as the droid had return. Maeva fluidly turned off the datapad as the droid perched itself on the desk.
Maeva then grinned, “Vice Chancellor Losa, you’re really handsome when you smile. I quite enjoyed showing you my work station and going over the policies we had down here. Would you like me to escort you to the rest of the premises or did you have someone else planned?”
Narman took note of the returning droid, but was caught off-guard by the compliment. He felt his cheeks begin to warm. Was he blushing? What a strange sensation.
“Thank you for the compliment, and the offer, but I would hate to impose. I’m sure I’ve taken up enough of your time.” He replied, standing and adjusting his uniform. “Besides, I have a trade meeting with a conglomerate of bantha wool merchants and I will have to brush up on the market estimates.” He smiled and waited for a beat then added;” A joke.”
Maeva’s grin only got wider but it more soft than teasing.
He’s really cute, Maeva nodded as she stood up, a military habit she can never get rid of. A soft laugh escaped from her lips as she shook her head.
“That sounds rather boring. I think I would try to herd the Banthas then go through such a meeting.” Maeva pushed in her chair and grabbed the data pad that Narman had given her. No way was she going to leave it out in the open. While she walked him to the door, her brows furrowed.
“A… question. Is it really a compliment if someone was just being truthful?”
The Vice Chancellor weighed his responses in his mind. This was their first meeting, the beginning of a hopefully long, albeit undercover, partnership. Professionalism was of the utmost importance. On the other hand…
“It was appreciated nonetheless.” He replied, choosing the former, as he usually did. He stepped through the doorway back out into the hallway, late afternoon sun streaming through the windows. Narman turned to face Maeva and held out his hand.
“Pleasure to meet you, Doctor. Thank you for the information. If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to contact my office.”
Maeva smiled, her hand reached and grasped his into a firm but gentle shake. Her black nails were trimmed. “Thank you as well, Vice Chancellor Losa.” She released her grip and watch him leave. Her eyes scanning his body and lingered on a certain region. Her head rested at the doorway for a moment, watching him.
Maeva turned and entered into her office. She calmly sat down on her chair and placed the datapad by the keyboard. Where she could keep an eye on it at all times. She would have to wait till she get home.
The medical examiner changed her focus and with a few clicks on the keyboard, her holoscreen appeared. Time to submit the patient’s findings and-
It hit her at once to what she had gotten herself into.
“Frack!” Maeva exclaimed, hitting her head on the desk.