by James Luceno
“But is there actually anything to the accusations?” Quarren Senator Tikkes asked, his facial tentacles quivering in prospect.
Taa’s enormous shoulders heaved in a shrug of indifference. “There is the aurodium, and there is the appearance of deceit. What else matters?”
“If it is true, then Valorum has become a danger to the general good,” Mot Not Rab remarked.
Tikkes affirmed that with an enthusiastic nod. “I say we shake him, before worse days endure.”
Others nodded in agreement, muttering among themselves.
“Patience, patience,” Taa advised in a soothing voice. “Baseless or not, the allegations have essentially crippled Valorum. We need only to rid ourselves of those senators who have buoyed him in the past, enabling him to remain afloat despite our best attempts to sink him. Besides, there may yet be some advantage to keeping him high and dry.”
“What advantage?” the senator from Rodia asked.
“With his influence further eroded, and the Justice Department stripped of some of its former authority, commissions will have to be appointed to render judgments and decisions he would ordinarily make. The power of the courts will increase. But cases will invariably take longer than ever to resolve. And yet Valorum will continue to suffer the blame.”
“Unless a strong vice chancellor is appointed,” the Rodian thought to point out.
“We must not let that happen,” Taa said firmly. “We need a consummate bureaucrat to serve as vice chancellor.” He leaned toward his circle of conspirators. “Senator Palpatine has suggested that we do our best to install the Chagrian—Mas Amedda.”
“But Amedda is rumored to be well disposed to the Trade Federation,” Tikkes said in disbelief.
“All the better, all the better.” Taa was gleeful. “What matters is that the more fanatical he is about procedure, the more he stifles Valorum’s ability to act.”
“To what final end?” Mot Not Rab asked.
“Why, to Valorum’s final end,” Taa said. “And when that time comes, we will elect a leader with fire in his veins.”
“Bail Antilles is already campaigning,” the Rodian said.
“As is Ainlee Teem of Malastare,” Tikkes added.
Taa noticed Palpatine standing by the terrace doors, engaged in deep conversation with the senators from Fondor and Eriadu.
“I propose that we consider nominating Palpatine,” he said, gesturing discreetly.
Tikkes and the rest glanced at the tall senator from Naboo.
“Palpatine would never accept the nomination,” the Quarren said. “He considers himself a supporting player.”
Taa narrowed his eyes. “Then we must convince him. Think what it would mean to the outlying systems if someone from other than a Core world was elected Supreme Chancellor. There might finally be equality for all species. He can restore order, if anyone can. He has the right combination of selflessness and quiet power. And don’t let yourselves be fooled: there is a strong hand concealed within those loose sleeves. He cares deeply about the integrity of the Republic, and he will do whatever is needed to enforce the laws.”
Tikkes was dubious. “Then we will not be able to play him as we have Valorum.”
“That’s the beauty of it,” Taa said. “We won’t have to, because he thinks like one of us.”
In all the years she had known him, Adi Gallia had never seen Valorum so despondent. He could be moody at times, and unjustly hard on himself, but the allegations of corruption had tipped him into a dark place from which he could not surface. In the month since she had seen him last, he appeared to have aged a year.
“The aurodium was the Nebula Front’s final stab at me,” he was telling her. “The terrorists were determined to take me down, along with the Trade Federation Directorate. That has to be the explanation. And do you know why my family members on Eriadu said nothing of the aurodium? Because they felt slighted that I had chosen to accept the hospitality of Lieutenant Governor Tarkin, who, it seems, has been something of a nemesis for them. I did so only as a courtesy to Senator Palpatine, who now feels that he played a guilty part in this whole wretched affair.”
Adi was about to reply, but Valorum didn’t give her the chance.
“Although I ask myself if certain senators weren’t involved. Those who would sooner see me disgraced than simply disempowered.”
Adi had come to his office in the senate, which had become a place of purposeful whisperings and innuendo. The entire climate of the senate had changed—and Valorum felt responsible.
“It will only be a matter of time before you are exonerated,” Adi tried to reassure him.
He shook his head. “Few are interested in seeing me exonerated—the media, least of all. And with the terrorist Havac dead, there is no one to say with certainty that the Trade Federation wasn’t trying to buy my influence.”
“If that was the case, why would you have pushed so hard to tax the trade routes? The tax alone is proof of your honesty.”
Valorum’s weak smile belied his sense of hopelessness. “My critics have an explanation. To offset the tax, revenue that goes to the outlying systems will simply find its way back into the deep pockets of the Neimoidians’ robes.”
“It’s all conjectural,” Adi said. “It will disappear.”
Valorum scarcely heard her.
“I don’t care what they say about me personally. But now, all that I have accomplished in the senate is in question. I am made to answer to Mas Amedda, who is so consumed with procedure that no new legislation will pass. Yet more commissions and committees will come into being, and with them, expanded opportunities for graft and corruption.”
Valorum fell quiet for a long moment, shaking his head back and forth.
“The assassinations on Eriadu, and now this scandal, will have wide-ranging consequences. It has already been made clear to me that the Jedi are not to become involved in trade disputes, without the express consent of the senate.
“But worst of all, is the disservice I have done the Republic. The citizenry take its cue from the head of state—even when that one has become little more than an ineffectual figurehead.
“I looked for the causes of corruption and found myself to blame. Did I conveniently forget all the deals I struck with malicious beings? Did I conveniently forget that I, too, had been corrupted?”
He put his elbows on the desk and pressed his fingertips to his temples, keeping his gaze downward.
“I had a terrible dream last night, that seemed as much a reflection of my present circumstance as a vision of the future. In it, I felt myself besieged by nebulous forces, by wraiths of one sort or another. Something was reaching for me out of the blackness, to crush me in its grip.”
“Terrible, but only a dream,” Adi said. “Not a vision.”
Valorum managed to summon the same weak smile when he looked up at her.
“If only I had more supporters like you and Senator Palpatine.”
“Better a few faithful supporters, than a wealth of false friends,” Adi said. “Perhaps you can find some solace in that.”
In the High Council tower of the Jedi Temple, the eleven Masters listened to Adi recount her meeting with Valorum. As ever, Yoda was in motion, walking about with his gimer stick cane, and, because of the part they had played in the events, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were present.
“The Supreme Chancellor is correct about one thing,” Mace Windu said. “The aurodium could only have come from Havac. Cohl delivered the stolen ingots to him, then Havac set up the blind account and saw to it that the aurodium was invested in Valorum Shipping.”
“But why?” Yarael Poof asked.
“By suggesting collusion, Havac hoped to bring down both the Supreme Chancellor and the Trade Federation.”
“Valorum, perhaps,” Depa Billaba said. “But the Neimoidians have much of the senate on their payroll. The Trade Federation hasn’t been touched by the scandal.”
“Indeed they haven’t,” Oppo Rancisis ag
reed.
“Too little thought we gave these events,” Yoda said. “All of us.”
Yaddle turned to face Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, who were standing outside the Masters’ circle. “You two: flying here, flying there, chasing clues … If stopped for a moment to listen to the unifying Force, see what was coming you might have.”
“I did what I had to do, Masters,” Qui-Gon said, without apology.
Yoda loosed a prolonged sigh. “Blame you, we don’t, Qui-Gon. But exasperate us, you do.”
Qui-Gon inclined his head in a bow.
“This scandal wasn’t the sole work of the Nebula Front,” Adi said. “The Supreme Chancellor has other enemies—hidden enemies, plotting against him. Trying to maneuver him into a position where he will err gravely, and be voted out of office or be forced to resign.”
“To be replaced by the likes of Bail Antilles or Ainlee Teem,” Saesee Tiin muttered.
Windu nodded. “He has been too trusting.”
“Too naive,” Even Piell remarked harshly.
Yoda paced, then stopped. “Help him, we must—in secret, if need be.”
“We must heed the will of the Force in this matter,” Windu said. “We must be open to ways to counter the treacherous vortex into which the Republic has been drawn. Perhaps we can help Valorum get wind of events before his enemies have an opportunity to stack those events against him.”
“He senses perilous times ahead,” Adi said. “As if some darkness has been awakened, intent on spreading itself across the galaxy.”
Yaddle broke the long silence.
“Tipping the balance is.”
Yoda looked at her. “Tipping, yes. But from troubled times to untroubled, or from bad times to worse?”
Windu steepled his fingers in front of his face. “And what unknown hand is doing the tipping?”
Darth Sidious visited Nute Gunray and his advisers by hologram, on the bridge of the Trade Federation freighter Saak’ak, known, in Basic, as the Profiteer.
“Congratulations on your promotion, Viceroy,” the Sith Lord rasped, in a manner that made derision sound like a compliment.
“Thank you, my Lord,” Gunray was quick to respond. “We did not imagine, when you said you would convince our competitors in the directorate, that you would …”
“That I would what, Viceroy? Perhaps you imagined that I would act with greater subtlety, is that it? Now there is no one to stand in your way of acquiring an army or directing the future course of the Trade Federation.”
Hath Monchar, Rune Haako, and Commander Daultay Dofine looked at Gunray in stark apprehension.
“I meant no offense, my Lord,” he stammered.
Sidious was briefly quiet. If only they could see his eyes, they might have had a hint of what he was thinking.
“Soon I will be taking steps to eliminate some of your other competitors,” he intoned a moment later. “But that does not concern you. Instead, I want you to devote your energies to becoming familiar with the capabilities of your newly acquired toys—your battle droids, and starfighters, and landing craft. Have Baktoid and Haor Chall Engineering been filling your orders on schedule?”
“They have, my Lord,” Gunray said. “Though at exorbitant cost.”
“Don’t try my patience with talk of credits, Viceroy,” Sidious warned. “There is more at stake than the health of your financial accounts.”
Gunray was close to trembling. “What would you have us do, my Lord?”
“We are going to put your new army to the test.”
Gunray and Hath Monchar exchanged fearful glances.
“A test?” Monchar said.
Sidious seemed to gaze at him for an uncomfortably long time. “I suspect that you are hardly thrilled by the senate’s sanction of taxation of the trade routes,” he said at last.
Gunray nodded. “The senate has no right.”
“Of course not. And what better way to demonstrate your displeasure than through a trade blockade.”
“Of Eriadu,” Gunray said eagerly. “Because of what happened—”
“Eriadu would respond with force, Viceroy. We don’t want a war. We want an embargo.”
“Which world shall it be?” Monchar said.
“I suggest we strike at the homeworld of the senator who was most responsible for championing the taxation bill: Naboo.”
“Naboo?” Haako said in genuine bewilderment.
Sidious nodded. “Senator Palpatine is adept at dissembling his real nature. You scarcely realize how much damage he has already caused.”
“But would such a blockade be legal?” Gunray asked. “Valorum will never sit still for it.”
“I have a surprise in store for feeble-tempered Valorum,” Sidious promised. “What’s more, the scandal surrounding the Supreme Chancellor has led many senators to rethink the taxation legislation. Few will grumble about a trade embargo of a world so distant from the Core.”
Monchar stepped forward. “And what of the Jedi?”
“They are already constrained from interfering.”
“But if they do, my Lord?” Gunray said.
“We will not be subtle in dealing with them.”
Gunray bowed his head. “Once again, we place ourselves in your hands.”
Sidious smiled faintly. “As I told you once before, Viceroy, you serve yourselves best when you serve me.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James Luceno is the New York Times bestselling author of the Star Wars novels Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, Cloak of Deception, Labyrinth of Evil, as well as the New Jedi Order novels Agents of Chaos I: Hero’s Trial and Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse, The Unifying Force, and the eBook Darth Maul: Saboteur. He lives in Annapolis, Maryland, with his wife and youngest child.
By James Luceno
The ROBOTECH series
(as Jack McKinney, with Brian Daley)
The BLACK HOLE TRAVEL AGENCY series
(as Jack McKinney, with Brian Daley)
A Fearful Symmetry
Illegal Alien
The Big Empty
Kaduna Memories
THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES
The Mata Hari Affair
The Shadow
The Mask of Zorro
Rio Pasion
Rainchaser
Rock Bottom
Star Wars: CLOAK OF DECEPTION
Star Wars: DARTH MAUL, SABOTEUR (e-book)
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos I: Hero’s Trial
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse
Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force
Star Wars: LABYRINTH OF EVIL
Star Wars: DARK LORD—the Rise of Darth Vader
Star Wars: MILLENNIUM FALCON
STAR WARS—The Expanded Universe
You saw the movies. You watched the cartoon series, or maybe played some of the video games. But did you know …
In The Empire Strikes Back, Princess Leia Organa said to Han Solo, “I love you.” Han said, “I know.” But did you know that they actually got married? And had three Jedi children: the twins, Jacen and Jaina, and a younger son, Anakin?
Luke Skywalker was trained as a Jedi by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. But did you know that, years later, he went on to revive the Jedi Order and its commitment to defending the galaxy from evil and injustice?
Obi-Wan said to Luke, “For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times. Before the Empire.” Did you know that over those millennia, legendary Jedi and infamous Sith Lords were adding their names to the annals of Republic history?
Yoda explained that the dreaded Sith tend to come in twos: “Always two, there are. No more, no less. A Master, and an apprentice.” But did you know that the Sith didn’t always exist in pairs? That at one time in the ancient Republic there were as many Sith as Jedi, until a Sith Lord named Darth Bane was the lone survivor of a great Sith war and crea
ted the “Rule of Two”?
All this and much, much more is brought to life in the many novels and comics of the Star Wars expanded universe. You’ve seen the movies and watched the cartoon. Now venture out into the wider worlds of Star Wars!
Turn the page or jump to the timeline of Star Wars novels to learn more.
Space is the perfect place to hide.
The Neimoidian freighter Saak’ak cruised ponderously in the uncharted deeps of Wild Space. It displayed its colors proudly, its cloaking device disabled, with no fear of detection. Here, parsecs away from the civilized Galactic Core and its surrounding systems, it could safely hide in plain sight. Even the Neimoidians, those past masters of paranoia, felt secure in the vast endless abyss between the disk and one of the spiral arms.
Yet even here the leaders of the Trade Federation could not entirely let go of their natural tendency toward subterfuge. They sought duplicity and guile the way a young grub seeks the safety and warmth of its sleeping niche in the communal hive. The Saak’ak was a good example of this. It was, to all appearances, merely a commercial vessel, its horseshoe shape designed to carry large amounts of cargo. Not until an unwary enemy had come within firing range would the heavy durasteel armor plating, blaster turrets, and military-strength communications arrays become visible.
By which time, of course, it would be too late.
Aboard the Saak’ak’s bridge all was silent save for the muted beeps and chimes of various life-support monitors and the almost inaudible susurrus of the air filtration system. Three figures stood to one side of the huge transparisteel viewport. They wore the flowing robes and mantles of the Neimoidian aristocracy, but their body language, as a fourth figure appeared in their midst, was deferential, if not outright cringing and servile.
The fourth figure was not really there with them in any physical sense. The robed and hooded form was a holograph, a three-dimensional image projected from an unknown source light-years distant. Intangible and immaterial, the mysterious stooped image nevertheless dominated the three Neimoidians. Indeed, they could not have been any more thoroughly cowed had he been physically present with a blaster in each hand.
