Aphra was caught in a trap.
The damage to her reputation from academic fraud could be set aside for the moment; that was unimportant, and she had no reputation to speak of anyway.
Yet the association would certainly demand the return of the original grant money.
How was she to scrape together the funds to compensate the guild now? Not to mention that without her membership, to whom would she sell the treasures she dug up in the future? Not every organization had sufficient connections to reach the renowned collectors of the entire Milky Way Galaxy.
Thus she allowed herself to be dragged obediently into the office by her father, her entourage following closely behind.
The moment the door closed, however, her expression flipped instantly, and the laser pistol in her hand leveled at the bald head. "Hand over all your evidence! You only needed to threaten me, and I probably would have helped you anyway. Why go as far as reporting me?"
The man facing the muzzle raised his hands in surrender. "Would you have helped?"
"I—well, no, I wouldn't have." Aphra covered her face, shaking her head speechlessly. "But that's not the point. Aldu Aspetu is a myth; it doesn't even exist. What am I supposed to use to help you?"
The so-called Aldu Aspetu was a city from ancient myth, the capital planet of the Infinite Empire.
Legend held that it was ruled by deities and served as the source of all the Force. There, Sith and Jedi lived together like family, alongside five other kinds of Force users gathered in one place.
The Force back then was omnipotent, capable of granting people's every wish, and ten thousand years ago the Infinite Empire enjoyed unimaginable prosperity.
Until one day in later times, the city suddenly vanished into