Sanctuary - The Story of Saraya Ophil

Chapter 7

If Leia hadn't known better, she would have thought Han was in the Republic building. She sensed the aura even before the office door opened. The senator took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. Lately, she had found it difficult to make time for her son. She had the feeling that he was becoming more and more emotionally distant from her. On top of that, the last time she had spoken to him was when he had found out in an unfortunate way which bloodline he came from.

Just as he entered the office, she had collected herself and opened her eyes. "I'm glad to see you, Ben," she announced, putting down the pen she had been holding a moment ago.

A closer look at his posture told Leia a lot about his thoughts. He was worried about something. Still, he had decided to hide his hot-headed decisiveness from his mother. Besides, she was the last option he had. Otherwise, he wouldn't be here.

"The Sanctuary has disappeared from the radar. The last status report we received was several days ago when we started our journey home. There's been no sign of Senator Ophil and Saraya since then."

These facts were new to Leia, but it explained why Ben was acting so nervous. She got up from her desk and went to the holodeck. "Did you have their flight data checked?" Once at the holodeck, she scrolled through the various ship numbers to find the Sanctuary.

Ben also approached the table and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I've had a look at them. They jumped into hyperspace as planned, but the ship had a system failure beforehand," he explained to her.

Senator Organa found the outrigger freighter in the files and called up the flight data. The holodeck reflected his strong concerns and she sensed that her son was not simply acting carelessly. They both looked at the map of the flight data. The freighter's failure was marked. It then disappeared into hyperspace, but without transmitting the data to the base as usual.

"My recommendation would be to send a squadron to locate and rescue them." Ben's words made Leia look up from the recording.

"May I know why you think the senator is in trouble and it's not just a glitch in the system?" Her question was valid. From the flight data on the map, it could be assumed that the old outrigger freighter had malfunctioned and perhaps something else had come up, which was why they hadn't returned without further ado.

There was something the Padawan didn't want to admit. It didn't necessarily matter to her, which made him assume that Ophil and his daughter were in trouble. However, she had to give orders and send out a rescue party without a valid reason, was something she was reluctant to do. The New Republic had made peace with its mission. If she sent a squadron to free someone who had not been captured, it would raise questions and jeopardize agreements. At her question, Ben's gaze lifted from the map. He weighed up his options. Lying to his mother was one thing. But if she didn't believe him and just sent out a reconnaissance party, that would do more damage.

"I've seen a version of her," he said. Then he cleared his throat and clasped his hands behind his back. "Saraya is in a cell on a Star Destroyer."

The connection the young Padawan had with the girl sometimes frightened him. At first, he had wanted to ignore the vision that had overtaken him during his sleep. Perhaps it had only been an insignificant image. But something inside him had told him that she was in danger. Silence fell between mother and son.

Leia understood him in a way that no other member of the New Republic could. She pressed the button for the radio. "Captain, I want you to locate the Sanctuary. Senator Ophil and his daughter are on board. We haven't received any location information since they left Vodran two days ago, but they should have been back here a long time ago. As soon as you have more precise coordinates, please report to Commander Solo and his squadron." She spoke the last words while looking at her son.