The Trace Which Remains

Chapter 18: ...vicious forces...

"How are you today?" A young nurse, a Twi'lek with light yellow skin, asked Luke as she entered his room in sickbay, pulling on a pair of rubber gloves. "My name is T'Ayha Lusha."

"I'm well, thank you." He studied her cautiously, remembering Myka's warning to trust nobody. It was close to 19:30, and the first night of curfew was about to begin. It was suspicious that he would be visited this late at night. "I've been well taken care of by a skilled medical droid."

"Good to hear. Now, your recent medical reports indicate that you have sustained severe internal injuries from the... attack. How have those been healing?"

"I'm doing fine," Luke answered honestly. He was beginning to pick up the idea of a healing trance, after seeing Myka perform upon him. He was learning quite a bit from the young Sith.

Lusha recorded something on paper, then sat down in the chair at the foot of the bed. "Have you required any medication?"

"No."

"How difficult is it to walk?"

"It takes some effort." Standard questions, but Luke had never had much patience with doctors. And Myka's warning had him more than a little paranoid. "About as hard as walking after a long sprint."

"Has your med-droid detected any internal bleeding?"

"No." This nurse was behaving completely normal, and Luke wasn't sensing anything unusual about her. Her Force-sense was a bit stronger than normal, but Luke didn't feel any barriers in her mind. He could even feel a touch of, 'well, that's a relief,' coming from her.

"Are you new with the Alliance?"

"New to Home One. I had been aboard Home One when the medical frigate was destroyed- I guess it's lucky."

"So who assigned you?"

"I was asked to look after you by Dr. Severeth."

"Really?"

The Twi'lek nodded. "He said to tell you that he still wants you to keep your mouth shut- and he was hoping that you'd be mistrusting of me, because I'm a new face."

"Well, I hope you won't be offended if I do not trust you."

"Not at all, Mr. Skywalker." She smirked, her sharp Twi'lek teeth glinting, but it was a grin without malice. "That boy told me that you'd be difficult to work with. I think he was testing you- and I don't think he wants to get close to your family."

Warily, Luke asked, "What do you mean?"

"Dr. Severeth has always been a bit of a stiff. Even among medical staff, he's hard to get to know. And then you and your kin come along and he starts to care. Not just the blind, all-consuming passion he feels about saving lives indiscriminately, but actually caring about you as people." She shook her head, a wistful smile replacing her cynical grin. "I tried to get him to open up to me, when he first came to the Alliance. He seemed so hurt... but he shrugged me off and got to work. As always. He doesn't know how to do anything BUT work."

"I'm... sorry." Luke felt uneasy. Was this a trick? He could swear that the girl seemed sincere- but weren't Sith difficult to read? Well, excluding his father...

"Don't be. I'm the fool for getting my hopes up."

"Did something happen recently?"

She sighed. "It's... it's nothing."

"Okay..."

"It's just- he messages me finally, and I think that he's going to open up to me. The first thing he said in that STUPID message was, 'T'Ay, you're the only person here I trust!' And then he makes me- makes me BABYSIT some stupid patient of his!" T'Ayha was openly crying now, leaving Luke feeling awkwardly useless. She jumped to her feet, shaking with emotion, before Luke saw her bring herself together- almost like Leia, he thought absently. Her hands were still quivering, but she counted to ten upon her hands to focus.

"If you don't trust me, Mr. Skywalker, I have the recording from Dr. Severeth instructing me to medicate you with the red vial from his locked cabinet. He gave me the code, and here it is."

She held out a small vial labeled with some medical jargon Luke didn't understand, and he probed her aura for any clues.

She seemed clear, but to be certain, he asked, "May I see the message?"

****

Mon Mothma, Chief of State of the Alliance to Restore the Republic and former Imperial Senator from Chandrila, stood before a grey-haired human woman, wishing thoroughly that she could take a day off. Or at least an hour.

"Dr. Jaraya Devix, you are suspected of interference in the investigation of the assault of Luke Skywalker," Mon Mothma began, "as well as involvement with the murders of nine members of Alliance security. This is not a criminal procedure, it is a warning. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

A pair of stony grey eyes met hers obstinately. "I have volunteered to work for the Alliance for the duration of my stay here. I have my copy of my application right here- I was not aware that approval was still pending." The older woman slipped a sheet of paper from her case, handing it to Mon Mothma. "Also, I have four people who will confirm my location at the time of the murders." A list of names was handed to her, and Mon Mothma scanned it quickly.

"For the duration of the time until the murderer is caught, the approval of your volunteer's application will be suspended. If at any time you are found at a crime scene, you will be arrested for obstruction of justice." Mothma filed the papers in her desk. "For now, you will be free to stay, but once your testimony in the trial of Darth Vader is given, you have no need to remain here."

Rising to her feet, the tiny old woman replied, "Understood, your Excellency."

"I recommend you make your way to your quarters- curfew begins soon."

****

Myka sighed, running a hand over his bleary eyes. This entire situation was wearing him down badly. Maybe T'Ayha had been correct, the last time she had yelled at him in frustration. Maybe he did need to take a break.

But could he afford to? Leia had given him a good deal of help with the code-breaking aspects of his investigation- as had Fey'lya- but that still left the matter of READING the freaking thing. And to make things worse- the geneographs were all encoded, as well. Translated, line by line, into their molecular compounds.

Damn, he was never more glad he was a genius. Myka snickered as he contradicted himself. Perhaps he was a bit smarter than others in the medical profession- but in his personal life...

He wished that he wasn't so damn confused.

****

The recording was genuine- and T'Ayha had even given her identification and clearance card to Luke, to prove that she was who she claimed.

And so, reluctantly, Luke offered his left arm, so that the Twi'lek nurse could inject the medication into him.

His last thought before blacking out was, 'Oh, shit...'

****

Anakin was upset.

More than upset.

He was bouncing off of the walls with barely contained rage.

He didn't know what had set him off- nothing had happened, except for one little detail.

Something was different about Luke.

Anakin felt as though his bones were about to fly apart like a badly constructed machine when put under too much tension.

Strangely, Anakin felt...

... like Vader.

He felt as though he could kill, right now, without knowing why.

And that thought, perhaps, made him more enraged than anything else.

****

Darth Morata smiled, sensing the drugs making their way through the system of the younger Skywalker-

- and the effect those Sith drugs were having on the former Lord Vader.

****

T'Ayha Lusha stood, shaking in petrified terror, as her patient fell to the floor, writhing in agony and groaning in what sounded like sheer rage. She backed away, before opening the door and shouting, "Get Damnyou, someone! Get Dee-Emyou!"

The droid hovered into view, its lens turned her way. She waved the black droid into the room, and asked, "What the hell is happening?"

In a metallic voice, the droid replied, "The patient appears to be under the influence of certain drugs that Master Severeth has studied. What has he been given?"

Stammering, T'Ay responded, "I-I only gave him what Dr. Severeth told me to! It was supposed to be a nutrient supplement, as well as a sleep aid!"

"Let me analyze his blood." The droid lowered itself, inserting a needle into the Jedi's arm, and withdrawing it. "Interesting. The substance seems identical to one that was found in the bloodstream of Darth Vader at one point during the years of armor."

"What does this mean?" T'Ay was nearly in a state of complete panic.

"It means we sedate him. Now. And carefully."

****

Myka, his hands so firmly clenched around his knees he thought he might dislocate them, tried fiercely to clear his mind. These were familiar feelings! He had conquered his addiction to Sith control drugs before. He wouldn't fall back into that trap!

It was only the inspiration and strength he had gathered from the journals of Plagueis that had saved him the first time.

So he drew upon those words of wisdom, and recited the new Sith code.

"There is no hatred, there is passionate justice.
There is no greed, there is controlled ambition.
There is no fear, there is informed caution.
There is no pain... there is the power of the Force."

****

Leia came as soon as she was called- after showing her clearance to the security patrolling the halls. Kneeling beside her brother, she asked, "Who could have done this?"

The girl- a Twi'lek nurse- whispered, "I don't know. I did exactly as I was told. Dr. Severeth never tells me anything- not anything behind the scenes, anyway."

"You're probably safer that way."

The girl didn't seem convinced. She sat, desperately looking through her datapad's display of the various substances that Luke had been drugged with. "Some of these haven't even been known to exist for centuries! Some of these came from plants long extinct. And it seems like he'll be even worse coming down off of them than the beginning."

Leia bent over Luke, brushing his hair out of his face. Was this her fate, to forever tend her family, having only a minimal awareness of how to treat the problem? Three times, now, she had seen Luke severely incapacitated.

No. She had a way past her helplessness.

And she knew where to find him. "Keep him stable."

As she rose, the Twi'lek looked up in confusion. "Where are you going?"

Pressing her lips together in a grim line, Leia answered, "To learn how to stop this."

****

Myka opened his eyes, his lips still working the chant of the code, as a petite form strode up to him, shoulders squared and jaw firm.

"I need to know how to heal."

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