For eight months the door had been locked. Nobody had gone inside- not even to access a file or search for some lost
piece of flimsi. Three members of the BSP council could, if necessary, use their individual access codes to override the doors locking mechanism and gain entry
to Jay Mertaal's office. The BSP had, of course, a number of highly talented lock pickers and slicers who could also have gained access if it was deemed
neccessary or desirable to do so. But nobody had. The dust had been allowed to settle, and for eight months Jay's office on Asmeru. Now though, it was
about to be opened.
For a moment or two Jay hesitated, recalling his access code. Then though, without his mind recalling the digits the muscles of his hand remembered their work, and he activated the opening sequence. A retinal scan and DNA test completed the security sequence present on all important BSP locations.
Despite the time that had past, the room smelt much as it always did. There was, as expected, a thin layer of dust everywhere, but Jay hardly noticed. His desk was in the mess of data-pads, rods and flimsi he had left it. There was a blue tinted crystal glass too, with a hard, almost plastic residue of concentrated and evaporated Corvanni Rum in the bottom of it. The view was as breathtaking as ever. The brown-grey peaks of the Asmeru highlands laid out in front of him like a wall to wall canvas painted by the finest of the Alderanian Realists. He walked around the large desk which faced the door, swung his brown leather chair round to face the view, and sat. He sat for several hours, ignoring for a little while all the things he knew he should be doing. For just a few hours he was going to reflect on what it was like to be back, back in charge of his brothers and sisters, guardian of the pirates of the Blue Star- pilot on the vessel which sailed the four corners of the galaxy rejoicing in the fact that it answered to nobody, and ensuring that its members were truly free.
Because that was what life was about- wasn't it? Freedom. That was the battle they fought. That was the cup from which they all drank, and the cup they guarded against all who wished to subject them. They drank, and guarded it from all who hated them beacause they shouted so loudly in defiance. For a moment his life work was as clear as the view of the Asmeru mountains in summer- a clear day with no haze of precipitation or mist of cloud. It was a moment of perfect clarity, a revelation almost. All the things he knew and had thought and even argued when it had been neccessary came in to focus and blended perfectly to paint the scene in front of him. It was what he'd always known, but it had never made so much sense as it did now.
Now he was ready for work.
For a moment or two Jay hesitated, recalling his access code. Then though, without his mind recalling the digits the muscles of his hand remembered their work, and he activated the opening sequence. A retinal scan and DNA test completed the security sequence present on all important BSP locations.
Despite the time that had past, the room smelt much as it always did. There was, as expected, a thin layer of dust everywhere, but Jay hardly noticed. His desk was in the mess of data-pads, rods and flimsi he had left it. There was a blue tinted crystal glass too, with a hard, almost plastic residue of concentrated and evaporated Corvanni Rum in the bottom of it. The view was as breathtaking as ever. The brown-grey peaks of the Asmeru highlands laid out in front of him like a wall to wall canvas painted by the finest of the Alderanian Realists. He walked around the large desk which faced the door, swung his brown leather chair round to face the view, and sat. He sat for several hours, ignoring for a little while all the things he knew he should be doing. For just a few hours he was going to reflect on what it was like to be back, back in charge of his brothers and sisters, guardian of the pirates of the Blue Star- pilot on the vessel which sailed the four corners of the galaxy rejoicing in the fact that it answered to nobody, and ensuring that its members were truly free.
Because that was what life was about- wasn't it? Freedom. That was the battle they fought. That was the cup from which they all drank, and the cup they guarded against all who wished to subject them. They drank, and guarded it from all who hated them beacause they shouted so loudly in defiance. For a moment his life work was as clear as the view of the Asmeru mountains in summer- a clear day with no haze of precipitation or mist of cloud. It was a moment of perfect clarity, a revelation almost. All the things he knew and had thought and even argued when it had been neccessary came in to focus and blended perfectly to paint the scene in front of him. It was what he'd always known, but it had never made so much sense as it did now.
Now he was ready for work.
