Handmaidens, advisers, and guards were all about, and Padmé reflected that one of the side effects of being Queen, and not a pleasant one, was that one was never allowed to be alone.
Queen Jamillia, standing perfectly straight so that her headdress did not topple, rose and walked over to take Padmé's hand. “We've been worried about you. I'm so glad you're here, Padmé,” she said, her voice rich and with a southeastern accent that made her enunciate the consonants powerfully “Thank you, Your Highness. I only wish I could have served you better by staying on Coruscant for the vote.”
“Supreme Chancellor Palpatine has explained it all,” Sio Bibble interjected. “Returning home was the only real choice you could have made.”
Padmé gave him a resigned nod. Still, being sent home to Naboo bothered her; she had worked so very hard against the creation of a Republic army.
“How many systems have joined Count Dooku and the separatists?” Queen Jamillia asked bluntly. She had never been one for small talk.
“Thousands,” Padmé answered. “And more are leaving the Republic every day. If the Senate votes to create an army, I'm sure it's going to push us into civil war.”
Sio Bibble punched his fist into his open hand. “It's unthinkable!” he said, gnashing his teeth with every word. “There hasn't been a full-scale war since the formation of the Republic.”
“Do you see any way, through negotiations, to bring the separatists back into the Republic?” Jamillia asked, staying calm despite Sio Bibble's obvious agitation.
“Not if they feel threatened.” It amazed Padmé to realize how secure she was in these estimations. She felt as if she was beginning to fully understand the nuances of her position, as if she could trust her instincts implicitly. And all of her talents would be needed, she knew. “The separatists don't have an army, but if they are provoked, they will move to defend themselves. I'm sure of that. And with no time or money to build an army, my guess is they will turn to the Commerce Guild or the Trade Federation for help.”
“The armies of commerce!” Queen Jamillia echoed with anger and distaste. All on Naboo knew well the problems associated with such free-ranging groups. The Trade Federation had nearly brought Naboo to its knees, and would have had it not been for the heroics of Amidala, a pair of Jedi, a young Anakin, and the brave flying of the dedicated Naboo pilots. Even that would not have been enough, had not Queen Amidala forged an unexpected alliance with the heroic Gungans. “Why has nothing been done in the Senate to restrain them?”
“I'm afraid that, despite the Chancellor's best efforts, there are still many bureaucrats, judges, and even Senators on the payrolls of the guilds,” Padmé admitted.
“Then it is true that the guilds have moved closer to the separatists, as we suspected,” Queen Jamillia reasoned.
Sio Bibble punched his open palm again, drawing their attention. “It's outrageous!” he said. “It's outrageous that after all those hearings and four trials in the Supreme Court, Nute Gunray is still the viceroy of the Trade Federation. Do those money-mongers control everything?”
“Remember, Counselor, the courts were able to reduce the Trade Federation's armies,” Jamillia reminded, again holding her calm and controlled voice. “That's a move in the right direction.”
Padmé winced, knowing that she had to report honestly. “There are rumors, Your Highness, that the Federation's army was not reduced as they were ordered.”
Clearing his throat, Anakin Skywalker stepped forward. “The Jedi have not been allowed to investigate,” he explained. “It would be too dangerous for the economy, we were told.”
Queen Jamillia looked to him and nodded, looked back to Padmé, then squared her shoulders and firmed her jawline, looking regal in the ornate raiments—very much the planetary ruler obedient to the Republic. “We must keep our faith in the Republic,” she declared. “The day we stop believing democracy can work is the day we lose it.”
“Let's pray that day never comes,” Padmé quietly answered.
“In the meantime, we must consider your own safety,” Queen Jamillia said, and she looked to Sio Bibble, who motioned to the attendants. All of them, advisers, attendants, and handmaidens, bowed and quickly left the room. Sio Bibble moved near to Anakin, the appointed protector, then paused, waiting for all of the others to be gone. At last he spoke. “What is your suggestion, Master Jedi?”
“Anakin's not a Jedi yet, Counselor,” Padmé interrupted. “He's still a Padawan learner. I was thinking—”
“Hey, hold on a minute!” Anakin cut her short, his eyes narrowed, brow furrowed, obviously agitated and put off by her dismissal.
“Excuse me!” Padmé shot right back, not backing down from Anakin's imposing glare. “I was thinking I would stay in the Lake Country. There are some places up there that are very isolated.”
“Excuse me!” Anakin said, giving it right back to her, in words and in tone. “I am in charge of security here, M'Lady.”
Padmé started to fight back, but she noted then the exchange of suspicious looks between Sio Bibble and Queen Jamillia. She and Anakin should not be fighting in this manner in public, she realized, not without making others believe that something might be going on between them. She calmed down and softened her expression and her voice. “Anakin, my life is at risk and this is my home. I know it very well—that is why we're here. I think it would be wise for you to take advantage of my knowledge in this instance.”
Anakin looked around at the two onlookers, and then back at Padmé, and the hardness melted from his expression. “Sorry, M'Lady.”
“She is right,” an obviously amused Sio Bibble said, taking Anakin's arm. “The Lake Country is the most remote part of Naboo. Not many people up there, and a clear view of the surrounding terrain. It would be an excellent choice, a place where you would have a much easier time protecting Senator Amidala.”
“Perfect!” Queen Jamillia agreed. “It's settled then.”
Padmé could tell from the way Anakin was looking at her that he wasn't overly pleased. She offered an innocent shrug in response.
“Padmé,” Queen Jamillia went on, “I had an audience with your father yesterday. I told him what was happening. He hopes you will visit your mother before you leave. Your family's very worried about you.”
How could they not be? Padmé thought, and it pained her to consider that the dangers her strong positions were bringing to her were affecting other people whom she loved. How could they not? It was a perfect reminder of why family and public service didn't usually mix. Padmé Amidala had made a conscious and definitive choice public service or family. Some on Naboo juggled the two, but Padmé had always known that such a dual role as wife, perhaps even mother, and Senator would not do well for family or state.
She hadn't been worried about her own safety at all through these trials, willing to make whatever sacrifices were necessary. But now, suddenly, she had to remember that her choices and positions could affect others on a very personal level, as well.
She wore no smile as she walked with Anakin, Sio Bibble, and Queen Jamillia out of the throne room and down the palace's main staircase.
= XIII =
The largest room in the vast Jedi Temple on Coruscant was the hall of the Archives. Lighted computer panels stretched out in long, long lines of bluish dots along the walls, running so far that a person viewing them from one end of the room would see them converging at the other end. Throughout were the images of Jedi past and present, groups of sculpted busts done in bronze by many of the finest artisans of Coruscant.
Obi-Wan Kenobi stood at one of these busts, studying it, touching it, as if examining the facial features of the person depicted would give him some insight to the man's motivations. There weren't many visitors in the Archives today—there rarely were more than a few—and so the Jedi expected that his call to Madame Jocasta Nu, the Jedi Archivist, would be answered shortly.
He stood patiently, studying the strong features on the bust, the high and proud che
ekbones, the meticulous hairstyle, the eyes, wide and alert. Obi-Wan hadn't known this man, this legend, Count Dooku, very well, but he had seen him on occasion and he knew that this bust captured the essence of Dooku perfectly. There was an intensity about the man as palpable as that which had sometimes surrounded Master Qui-Gon, especially when Qui-Gon had found a particularly important cause. Qui-Gon would go against the Jedi Council when he felt that he was right, as he had done with Anakin some ten years earlier, before the Council had agreed to recognize that the boy's special circumstances, the incredible Force potential and the promise that he might be the one spoken of in prophecy.
Yes, Obi-Wan had seen this kind of intensity in Qui-Gon on occasion, but what he knew of Dooku was that, unlike Qui-Gon, the man had never been able to shut it off, had always been stomping around, chewing over an issue. T he lights in his eyes were ever-burning fires.
But Dooku had taken it to extremes, and dangerous ones, Obi-Wan realized. He had left the Jedi Order, had walked out on his calling and on his peers. Whatever problems Dooku must have seen, he should have recognized that he could better repair them by remaining within the Jedi family.
“Did you call for assistance?” came a stern voice behind Obi-Wan, drawing him from his thoughts. He turned to see Madame Jocasta Nu standing beside him, her hands folded together before her, practically disappearing within the folds of her Jedi robes. She was a frail-looking creature, quite elderly, and noting that brought a smile to Obi-Wan's face. How many younger and less experienced Jedi had looked upon that facade, the thin and wrinkled face and neck, the white hair tied tight, thinking that they could push the woman around, getting her to do their studying for them, only to encounter the truth that was Jocasta Nu? She was a firebrand, that weak facade hiding her true strength and determination. Jocasta Nu had been the Archivist for many, many years, and this was her place, her domain, her kingdom. Any Jedi coming in here, even the most exalted of Jedi Masters, would play by the rules of Jocasta Nu, or they would surely face her wrath.
“Yes, yes I did,” Obi-Wan finally managed to respond, realizing that Jocasta Nu was staring at him inquisitively, awaiting an answer.
The old woman smiled and walked past him to regard the bust of Count Dooku. “He has a powerful face, doesn't he?” she commented, her quiet tone taking the tension out of the meeting. “He was one of the most brilliant Jedi I have had the privilege of knowing.”
“I never understood why he quit,” Obi-Wan said, following Jocasta Nu's look to the bust. “Only twenty Jedi have ever left the Order.”
“The Lost Twenty,” Jocasta Nu said with a profound sigh. “And Count Dooku was the most recent and the most painful. No one likes to talk about it. His leaving was a great loss to the Order.”
“What happened?”
“Well, one might say he was a bit out of step with the decisions of the Council,” the Archivist replied. “Much like your old Master, Qui-Gon.”
Even though Obi-Wan had just been thinking the same thing, somewhat, to hear Jocasta Nu speak the words so definitively caught him off guard, and painted Qui-Gon in a more rebellious light than he had ever considered. He knew that his former Master had his moments, of course, the greatest of those being the confrontations concerning Anakin, but he had never thought of Qui-Gon as that much of a rebel. Apparently, Jocasta Nu, who had her finger as squarely as anyone on the pulse of the Jedi Temple, did.
“Really?” Obi-Wan prompted, wanting the information about Dooku, of course, but also hoping to garner some insight into his old and beloved Master.
“Oh, yes, they were alike in many ways. Very individual thinkers. Idealists.” She stared at the bust intently, and it seemed to Obi-Wan as if she had suddenly gone far, far away. “He was always striving to become a more powerful Jedi. He wanted to be the best. With a lightsaber, in the old style of fencing, he had no match. His knowledge of the Force was... unique. In the end, I think he left because he lost faith in the Republic. He believed that politics were corrupt...”
Jocasta Nu paused for a moment and looked at Obi-Wan, a very revealing expression that showed she did not think Dooku as out of step as many of the others apparently did.
“And he felt that the Jedi betrayed themselves by serving the politicians,” the Archivist stated.
Obi-Wan blinked, soaking in the words. He knew that many, Qui-Gon included—even himself included, at times—often felt the same way.
“He always had very high expectations of government,” Jocasta Nu went on. “He disappeared for nine or ten years, then just showed up recently as the head of the separatist movement.”
“Interesting,” Obi-Wan remarked, looking from the bust to the Archivist. “I'm still not sure I understand.”
“None of us does,” Jocasta Nu replied, her serious expression melting into a warm smile. “Well, I'm sure you didn't call me over here for a history lesson. Are you having a problem, Master Kenobi?”
“Yes, I'm trying to find a planet system called Kamino. It doesn't seem to show up on any of the archive charts.”
“Kamino?” Jocasta Nu looked around, as if she was searching for the system right then and there. “It's not a system I'm familiar with. Let me see.”
A few steps brought them to the computer screen where Obi-Wan had been searching. She bent low, and pressed a couple of commands. “Are you sure you have the right coordinates?”
“According to my information, it should be in this quadrant somewhere,” said Obi-Wan “Just south of the Rishi Maze.”
A few more taps of the keyboard brought nothing more than a frown to Jocasta Nu's old and weathered face. “But what are the exact coordinates?”
“I only know the quadrant,” Obi-Wan admitted, and Jocasta Nu turned up to regard him.
“No coordinates? It sounds like the sort of directions you'd get from a street tout—some old miner or furbog trader.”
“All three, actually,” Obi-Wan admitted with a grin.
“Are you sure it exists?”
“Absolutely.”
Jocasta Nu sat back and rubbed a hand pensively over her chin. “Let me do a gravitational scan,” she said, as much to herself as to Obi-Wan.
The star map hologram of the target quadrant went into motion after a few more keystrokes, and the pair studied the movements. “There are some inconsistencies here,” the sharp Archivist noted. “Maybe the planet you're seeking was destroyed.”
“Wouldn't that be on record?”
“It ought to be, unless it was very recent,” Jocasta Nu replied, but she was shaking her head even as she spoke the words, not even convincing herself. “I hate to say it, but it looks like the system you're searching for doesn't exist.”
“That's impossible—perhaps the Archives are incomplete.”
“The Archives are comprehensive and totally secure, my young Jedi,” came the imposing response, the Archivist stepping back from her familiarity with Obi-Wan and assuming again the demeanor of archive kingdom ruler. “One thing you may be absolutely sure of If an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist.”
The two stared at each other for a long moment, Obi-Wan taking note that there wasn't the slightest tremor of doubt in Jocasta Nu's declaration.
He looked back to the map, perplexed, caught within a seemingly unanswerable question. He knew that no one in the galaxy was more reliable for information that Dexter Jettster, unless that person was Jocasta Nu, and yet the two were obviously at odds here concerning their information. Dexter had seemed every bit as certain of the origins of the saberdart as Jocasta Nu was now. Both couldn't be right.
The puzzle of finding Senator Amidala's would-be assassin would not be easily solved, it seemed, and that troubled Obi-Wan Kenobi for many, many reasons. With Jocasta Nu's permission, the Jedi punched a few buttons on the keyboard, downloading the archive information on that region of the quadrant to a small hologlobe. Then, the item in hand, he left the area.
But not without one long, last look at the imposing b
ust of Count Dooku.
Later on that day, Obi-Wan turned away from the Archives and the analysis droids and turned within, to his own insights, instead. He found a small, comfortable room along the Temple's grand balcony, one of many such rooms designed for quiet moments of Jedi reflection. A small fountain bubbled off to the side of him as he settled on a soft but firm mat and crossed his legs. The water trickled down to a bed of polished stones, making a delicate sound, a background noise natural in its beauty and in the simplicity of its song.
Before Obi-Wan, a painting of reds, shifting and darkening to a deep crimson and then to black, a liberal representation of a cooling lava field, hung on the wall, inviting him not to look into it, but to surround himself with it, both its image and the soft warmth and hissing sound helping him to fall far away from his corporeal surroundings.
There, in his trance, Obi-Wan Kenobi sought his answers. He focused on the mystery of Kamino first, expecting that Dexter's analysis was correct. But why hadn't the system shown up in the Archives?
Another image invaded Obi-Wan's meditations as he tried to sort through that puzzle, an image of Anakin and Padmé together on Naboo.
The Jedi Knight started, suddenly afraid that this was a premonition, and that some danger would visit his Padawan and the young Senator...
But no, he realized, settling back. No danger was about; the two were relaxed and at play.
Obi-Wan's relief lasted only as long as it took him to realize that the continuing scene in his mind might be the most dangerous thing of all. He dismissed it, though, unsure if this was a premonition, an image of reality, or just his own fears playing out before him. Obi-Wan pointedly reminded himself that the sooner he solved the mystery of Kamino, the mystery of who so desperately wanted Amidala dead, the sooner he could return to Anakin and offer the proper guidance.
The Jedi Knight focused again on the bust of Count Dooku, searching for insights, but for some reason, the image of Anakin kept becoming interposed with that of the renegade Count...
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