Secrecy is Key
by Writer
She didn't look dangerous, the guard decided dubiously as a young woman approached him. Still, best to be on his guard he decided as she flashed a near-disarming smile and stood three feet in front of him.
"My name is Aryn Vexxlin," she said. "I had an interview scheduled with your boss in... five minutes?"
Frowning, the guard looked her up and down. "What position are you interviewing for?"
Aryn's brown eyes sparkled with amusement and she laughed. "Oh, no. I'm interviewing him. I'm a student at the University of Coruscant, and I wanted to write a research paper on his company. And who better to talk to when looking into Granndo Innovations Co. than Kaine Granndo himself?"
The guard's frown deepened. "I'm told Mr. Granndo never does things like this..."
Aryn grinned. "You're new, aren't you? Well here's a secret; when confronted by a pretty face, you'd be surprised what Granndo will agree to. Go on and ask his secretary about it, if you'd like. I've got the time... I feel I should remind you how he gets when something happens later than he expects, though. I saw his reaction just the once... and I'd like to avoid seeing it again, if you don't mind."
The guard nodded hurriedly. He had been on the receiving end of Granndo's 'reaction' once. "No need for that," he agreed, standing aside to let Aryn Vexxlin pass. She smiled and thanked him. Further into the building, she met with two guards she recognized. They greeted her with smiles and waves and told her the receptionist was expecting her.
"Aryn, what a delight!" the receptionist said. "What's this, your fifth interview? I would have thought you'd learned everything you could from Mr. Granndo by now."
Aryn laughed. "No, no. The man is a metaphorical library of information. I must do what I can to drain him dry."
"Well, he's not in his office just yet..." the receptionist began. Aryn nodded.
"Just let me into his office anyway," she said. "I'll wait for him there."
"Of course, dear."
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Kaine Granndo had just returned to the house when Aryn Vexxlin arrived, but he had asked that she be informed he was not yet available. Something struck him as very... wrong about that girl, and you didn't get to Granndo's level of success without a decent measure of caution. As the girl was let into his office, Granndo was in another, smaller office three levels above the office seen by the public. At present, he was reviewing every scrap of information they could find on Aryn Vexxlin. Unfortunately, there was quite a lot of information, and every piece of it pointed to her being exactly what she claimed to be. So why did Granndo have a bad feeling about her?
He'd checked with her school; there were six professors who claimed to have her in their classes. She was a straight A student with the exception of a single failing grade in a class entitled "Music Theory". Her instructor in that class had commended her for her love of music, but the failing grade was dealt due to her poor memorization skills. I light of that, he supposed it was to his advantage that she was recording their interviews together. If not for that, she might make serious mistakes on her research of his corporation.
With a sigh, he concluded he'd better get down to her before she began to wonder what was taking him so long.
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"Back for the fifth day in two weeks!" Granndo chuckled upon entering his office. Aryn grinned at him and stood.
"Can't get enough of the history behind your business," she said. "I find it especially fascinating how the history of the company goes back centuries before it was actually founded."
"Indeed," Granndo nodded. "Take your seat, Ms. Vexxlin. I assume you've got another round of questions for me?"
"Of course," Aryn answered. She paused for a moment and pulled a small datapad from the bag she carried. It had been scanned in every way possible before Granndo's security had let it pass and nothing dangerous had been found. After tapping a few buttons on the small device, she looked up at her subject.
"I'll get straight to the point, Mr. Granndo," she said. "How long have you been smuggling spice into Coruscant?"
Granndo laughed. "Oh, be serious, Ms. Vexxlin..." At that moment, he realized she was being very serious. "You... you can't be serious." He added anxiously. Her expression remained straight and he felt a pinch of fear. "Aryn?"
"Mmm, yeah, that's not my name," she answered, reaching down once more into her bag. "Are you so oblivious to history that the name 'Aryn Vexxlin' didn't ring a bell?"
"History?" Granndo scoffed. "You're not more than twenty."
"Am I?" 'Aryn' arched a single eyebrow. "Next question. How many young girls have you sold into slavery to wealthy entrepreneurs? How many have you sold into slavery period?"
Granndo wasn't smiling any longer. "Once this meeting is over," he growled, "that number will increase by one." He pressed a button beneath the desk. 'Aryn' grinned at him.
"Did you really think I'd ask questions such as this without first ensuring that your guards would not interfere?"
"What have you done to them?" Granndo demanded hoarsely.
"Oh, I just knocked them out," the girl answered. "Your secretary too, so don't try her either. They'll all wake up in about twenty minutes."
"What do you want from me?"
"I want all the information you have stored in your on-site databanks," the girl demanded. "In addition, I want the locations of your spice and slave warehouses. Granndo Innovations Co. is a front. I've known it for years... but this is what it took to finally get you to crack."
She pulled another, bulkier datapad from her bag and set it on the desk between them. "This was designed by a good friend of mine. Top notch slicer named Kayvan Meetnik."
Granndo cringed. "So that thing's been slicing..."
"Just sniffing off the surface files, the ones you're willing to send out to others," 'Aryn' replied. "Specifically programmed to look for bank records. And yours, I must say are quite fascinating, Mr. Granndo... oh, how unfortunate..."
Granndo had drawn a hold-out blaster from his desk and was aiming it at his 'guest'. He squeezed off a stun blast, but the girl had vanished. Abruptly, Granndo's desk flew up and back, shoving the man roughly against the wall behind him. The blaster came free and sailed across the room. Slowly, Aryn stood and faced him.
"I was going to spare your life in exchange for information," she said. "I may still. Tell me what I want to know and I may allow you to live. If not, I've got eighteen minutes to take everything from your databanks."
"Who are you?" Granndo asked desperately.
"You've really never heard of Aryn Vexxlin?" the girl asked him. "There's a Jedi legend about her. As the story goes, she flew around in this really, ridiculously small fighter, so small and old that it had to make use of a hyperspace ring for interplanetary travel. But when that little ship and ring came out of hyperspace, full fleets would turn and flee. The ship was very nearly indestructible, and Aryn was a good enough pilot to avoid what it couldn't take."
"Who are you?" Granndo asked again, trying to push his desk away.
"Mmm, just an innocent little college student," 'Aryn' answered mockingly. "Twenty years old? Ha! A likely story, I'm sure." The desk sailed away to one side and Granndo lunged for his blaster. 'Aryn' crushed it with one foot and sent Granndo flying after his desk with the other.
"Locations!" she barked. Terrified, the man scrambled for the door, hoping to escape. 'Aryn' turned and watched him pound the door release in mild amusement. Abruptly, the control sparked, sending a minor jolt of electricity through the terrified man. Then, the door opened and Granndo scrambled out. He tripped over his secretary's unconscious form with a yelp of fright and then his assailant was on him.
"Tell me where you keep the girls," she snarled.
"They're scattered!" Granndo exclaimed frantically. "It's a-all i-i-in the d-d-databanks!"
She stood over him, glowering at his cowering form. "You don't deserve life, Granndo. But you have it. Do something better with it." With that, she turned on one heel and stalked away.
"Th-that's it?" Granndo chuckled softly. "Somehow, when you started asking those questions of me, I expected more from you."
With unexpected agility for a man of his size, Granndo sprang to his feet and charged the retreating girl with a dagger. Almost as if she anticipated his approach, 'Aryn' spun out of the way. Too late, Granndo noticed the flash of light reflected off a shining object and then, a stab of icy pain lanced into his side and consumed his body.
"Aah!" he gasped. 'Aryn' released her knife and Granndo fell with it still in his side.
"That's ironic," she said. "After all these interviews, I expected more of you."
"Who... who are you?" Granndo found himself asking again, this time gasping for breath that would barely come. The girl laughed softly.
"Question of the hour, isn't it?" she said. "Tell you what, I'll whisper it."
She knelt by his head and whispered a name in his ear. "And you know what else?" She whispered a number. Granndo's eyes widened.
"Tha-that's im-imposs... impossible!" he gasped. She stood and shrugged.
"Just a little unlikely," she said. "And I'm sorry, Granndo. Dead men tell no tales..."
Turning to leave, she added, "And they keep secrets better than anyone I've ever met."
And Kaine Granndo collapsed lifeless to the floor.
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"Did you get everything?"
The Rodian, Kayvan Meetnik nodded, handing over a storage device. "It's all in there. His security was nowhere near as good as he boasted." He paused for a moment. "If you don't mind my asking... what do you need it for? And who are you?"
"One of the girls he got his hands on is extremely important..." 'Aryn' replied cryptically. "And the name Dana Vincent will do."
Meetnik sighed. "We've been over that. Dana Vincent..."
"I know you researched her," 'Dana' said. "Lives on Corellia with husband and daughter." She paused a beat. "Her fifteen-year-old daughter, Jana is one of the girls Granndo caught." Standing, she handed Kou a small handful of credits. "So I'm off... to Nar Shaddaa to rescue a teenager. Have a good life, Keyvan."
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Fifteen-year-old Jana Vincent sat with her back to the wall, cold and nervous. As best she could tell, it had been three days since she'd been kidnapped and dumped in this warehouse with nineteen other girls, aging anywhere from fourteen to twenty-five. On two different occasions, some of the older girls had tried to escape, rallying many of the other girls to their cause. Scowling, Jana called them fools. There was no way they could escape this early in the game. They'd have to wait until their captors had determined they would not put up a fight. Still, they tried. And failed.
"Jana, they're trying again," one of the girls whispered. Jana rolled her eyes.
"And they'll fail again," she hissed. "You'd think they'd learn from their mistakes... can't they give it a rest for a couple of days?"
"The way they see it, we may not have a couple of days," the girl answered. She hesitated. "I think I'm going to join them this time..."
Jana's eyes shot wide open. "You can't be serious. You know they'll fail. Reya, think about it."
"I have," Reya replied. "And I think they're right. It's only a matter of time before these guys sell us off, I think."
Jana nodded. "True, but getting caught time after time won't help us any. If anything, we're making them hurry up with their plans."
Suddenly, there were shouts of surprise. Reya turned to Jana. "The others have already started. I have to go..." She darted away.
"Wait!" Jana exclaimed, trying to catch the other girl before she could join the other girls. In doing so, she collided with one of the other girls and was carried along with the rush. "No, stop!" she cried, trying to worm her way out. Abruptly, the girls stopped at the sight of high powered rifles. Then, they recoiled as the leader of their captors lost his head to a brilliant orange blade of energy. The kidnappers moved to attack the stranger, a small figure wrapped in a dark robe, which concealed the face.
"Stay back," Jana urged. They watched as the stranger dealt with the kidnappers slowly and methodically.
"Red blade," Reya whispered fearfully. "In all the holonovels, those are bad Jedi... that being will probably do worse things to us..."
At that moment, the figure finished its work and turned to the girls. "I am no Jedi," it told them in a distinctly feminine voice. A voice Jana recognized. She stepped forward, eyes wide with shock.
"Arabelle?" she exclaimed. The stranger's focus shifted to Jana.
"Ah, there you are," she said, drawing back the hood. Shooting a scolding glance to Reya, she added, "And the blade is orange, if you don't mind."
"Your hair," Jana observed, blinking in surprise at a very familiar face. “It’s different.”
"Oh, I'm not Arabelle," the woman answered. "I'm her cousin... Aryn."
"Oh," Jana murmured. Frowning suspiciously, she shook her head. "She never mentioned family."
"Well, I do believe she thinks I'm dead," Aryn shot back. "Lucky for you, I'm not. At any rate, I'm told that watching over you can be quite the burden... not quite the proper timing for family histories and whatnot. Listen up, all of you. There's a transport waiting outside to take you home. Jana Vincent, I'll take you home personally."
"How do we know we can trust you?" one of the older girls asked. Jana turned to face the group.
"I trust her," she said. "Besides, it's the only way out of here, now isn't it?"
"It’s all well and good for you,” one of the girls spat. “You know who she is.” Aryn rolled her eyes as arguments broke out amongst the girls, some of them siding with Jana and the others planting themselves firmly against her and Aryn.
“Well, I did give them the option of coming along willingly,” Aryn sighed. Extracting a comlink from her robe she clicked it on and said, “Captain, you’ve got nineteen frightened and bickering girls to get home. Best of luck to you.” She rested a hand on Jana's shoulder and directed her away from the group.
"How did you find us?" Jana asked.
"I have my ways," Aryn answered cryptically. "Let's get you home."
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Who am I? How old am I? Those are the most common questions I get when people realize that not everything I say adds up. Funny thing is, the truth makes even less sense. I suppose that's why I've kept it so secret. I use many names, and so long as I don't give my age as much on either side of twenty, I manage without suspicion.
Why did I go through so much trouble for a teenager? Well, that was nearly twenty years ago and Jana Vincent's story is still playing out. Watch her and you'll see why I cared so much. You see, I have been a witness to the future. It comes to me in dreams. Very long dreams. This is how I set the path for my life, how I choose which lives to interfere in and which ones to leave alone. One day, the galaxy will understand my meddling and thank me for it.
Until then, I remain,
What? After all the false trails and secrecy I’ve just led you through, you actually thought I’d tell you my secrets? Back to your lives, fools...
I think the misunderstanding was mine, igyman. I did not write with the intent to reveal who and what 'Aryn' is. Her entire identity is the secret she keeps and she wasn't about to reveal it to a casual reader either :p
In time, I'll get around to writing up her story... or rather, her stories. There are many of them, to be honest.
The number she whispered in Granndo's ear is her age, and that I will share with you so you get the idea of just what a challenge it would be to record her history: 3942 years.
This means, she was born in 3969 BBY. To give a little perspective, Mission Vao was born a year earlier. In other words, I've got a lot of ground to cover... and a lot of names to reveal. The one that will help the most is one I have already mentioned: Reibe Vailar.
In short, my dear igyman, there are thngs about 'Aryn Vexxlin' that even I have not discovered yet :p