by Cavan Scott
COMMENTATOR:
This is phenomenal! Ramil is gaining once more. There’s nothing Thrar can do as they zoom down the straight. It’s into the Calocour bend and yes, Ramil takes the lead. There can be no doubt. Ramil of Serenno is minutes away from lifting the Dragonfire Trophy. It’s on to the Tyerell Ring, Ramil with a twenty-seven-second lead.
There’s an explosion on Ramil’s speeder.
COMMENTATOR:
And disaster strikes for the second time over Bindai. Smoke is billowing from Ramil’s T-22.
Ramil’s speeder drops from the sky.
COMMENTATOR:
The leader has gone into a dive and…
There is another explosion from the speeder.
COMMENTATOR:
Yes, he’s out of the race. Thrar has taken the lead, Drusan pushing for second place. The emergency team has activated a tractor web, but there is no guarantee that they can save Ramil.
On the hoverpod, Dooku races for a speeder.
GRETZ:
Master Dooku. Where are you going?
DOOKU:
Stay here, Qui-Gon.
QUI-GON:
That’s not going to happen. Ambassador, may we borrow a speeder?
CANDOVANT AMBASSADOR:
Fara-caneeva mareen? [Where are you going?]
QUI-GON:
We’ll take that as a yes?
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
We dropped away from the pod, the race thundering on above our heads.
QUI-GON:
(SHOUTING OVER THE DIN OF THE SWOOP BIKES) Do you think he survived, Master?
DOOKU:
(SHOUTING) There is no way to tell.
COMMENTATOR: (ABOVE)
And Thrar of Coachelle Prime has won the forty-eighth Dragonfire Rally. The crowd is going wild.
QUI-GON:
(SHOUTING) I see them. There. Looks like they brought him down safely.
Dooku and Qui-Gon zoom in, their speeder screeching to a halt.
There are sirens, and the sound of a burning speeder in the background.
POLICE DROID:
Please stay back. There is nothing to see.
DOOKU:
Not for you maybe.
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
With a flick of my wrist, I sent the security droid flying into its patrol ship.
POLICE DROID:
Hey!
QUI-GON:
Master!
The police droid gets up.
POLICE DROID:
Assaulting a security droid is a serious offense.
QUI-GON:
He didn’t lay a finger on you.
POLICE DROID:
So, what? I tripped?
QUI-GON:
(CALLING BACK AS HE RUNS PAST) Accidents will happen.
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
I ran up to the medics, who had already transferred Ramil onto a med-splint.
DOOKU:
Ramil.
MED DROID #1:
Careful.
RAMIL:
(WEAK) Dooku.
DOOKU:
How bad is it?
MED DROID #1:
Who wants to know?
DOOKU:
I’m his brother.
An alarm goes off on the med-splint.
MED DROID #2:
He’s going into cardiac arrest.
MED DROID #1:
We need to get him into a shock-cot. Stand back please.
The med-splint whines as it trundles onto the ambulance.
QUI-GON:
Master. We should let them do their jobs.
DOOKU:
Where are you taking him?
The ambulance’s ramp rises.
DOOKU:
Which medcenter?
The ambulance takes off.
DOOKU:
Why wouldn’t they answer?
QUI-GON:
We can find out.
DOOKU:
Something isn’t right here. You sense it, don’t you?
QUI-GON:
I’m not sure.
DOOKU:
We must examine his speeder.
The police droid hurries up, putting himself between the speeder and Dooku.
POLICE DROID:
Oh no, no, no. That’s evidence, that is.
DOOKU:
But you’re already moving it.
POLICE DROID:
If you wish to speak to an investigator, I suggest you submit a request to Jaffkee House.
DOOKU:
I’ll do more than that.
SCENE 92. INT. CSF PRECINCT HOUSE. RECEPTION.
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
I had never stepped foot in a Coruscant precinct house, and pray I never will again.
Doors slide open and Dooku and Qui-Gon enter.
DESK SERGEANT:
Can I help you, sir?
DOOKU:
A crashed airspeeder was brought in. A T-22.
DESK SERGEANT:
From the Dragonfire, yeah.
QUI-GON:
Where is it, Sergeant?
DESK SERGEANT:
In the evidence bay, but—
DOOKU:
You will buzz us through.
DESK SERGEANT:
I will buzz you through.
He presses a button, and a door slides open.
DOOKU:
You will forget we were here.
They hurry through the door.
DESK SERGEANT:
I will forget…Wait? Who the hell am I talking to?
The door shuts.
SCENE 93. INT. CSF PRECINCT HOUSE. CORRIDOR.
We hear them rushing through the corridors.
QUI-GON:
Are you sure this is a good idea, Master?
DOOKU:
No.
QUI-GON:
Interfering with a CSF investigation…
DOOKU:
We’re not interfering. Yet.
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
The doors to the evidence bay slid open to reveal three Trandoshans manhandling Ramil’s speeder onto a junk-skiff.
QUI-GON:
That doesn’t look like a CSF transport.
DOOKU:
And those don’t look like CSF agents. You, stand away from the speeder.
They ignite their lightsabers.
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
The Trandoshans took one look at our lightsabers and fired their repulsors…
TRANDOSHAN:
Lucumba! [Move out!]
The transporter takes off. Its repulsors are noisy, the chassis rattling.
DOOKU:
They’re getting away.
QUI-GON:
Not if we “requisition” a security swoop.
DOOKU:
Now you’re thinking like a Jedi. I’ll drive.
They jump on the back of the swoop bike and zoom out of the building.
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
Within seconds, we were running the gauntlet of Coruscant’s rush hour.
Traffic sweeps the other way, horns blaring.
QUI-GON:
Watch out. You nearly clipped that one.
DOOKU:
I’m finding it quite exhilarating.
Qui-Gon’s comm sounds. He answers it.
QUI-GON:
Qui-Gon here.
GRETZ: (OVER COMM)
Jinn. Where are you?
QUI-GON:
Chasing a gang of Trandoshans toward The Works.
GRETZ: (OVER COMM)
You’re what?
QUI-GON:
They’ve taken the crashed speeder.
One of the Trandoshans fires at them. Dooku avoids the blast.
GRETZ: (OVER COMM)
Was that blasterfire?
DOOKU:
I don’t think they like being followed.
QUI-GON:
They’re dropping into the lower levels.
DOOKU:
Then so shall we.
The swoop drops down after the criminals.
GRETZ: (OVER COMM)
The Council won’t be happy about this.
QUI-GON:
Sorry, Gretz. I can barely hear you. Must be interference from the foundries.
GRETZ: (OVER COMM)
You need to return to the Temp—
Qui-Gon kills the transmission.
DOOKU:
Technical problems?
QUI-GON:
What are the chances?
More blaster bolts whistle by.
QUI-GON:
They really don’t want to be caught, do they?
DOOKU:
We’ll lose them if they reach the pits.
QUI-GON:
Do you have a plan?
DOOKU:
You take the controls.
QUI-GON:
That’s it?
DOOKU:
Not quite.
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
I threw myself from the swoop bike, using the Force to propel myself down toward the fleeing skiff.
The largest Trandoshan opened fire as I landed on the back of Ramil’s flier.
Dooku ignites his lightsaber.
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
The blast ricocheted from my blade to strike the pilot between his scaled shoulder blades.
The skiff spun out of control, smashing into a factory ledge. I threw myself to safety as Ramil’s speeder tumbled into the bowels of the planet, taking the first Trandoshan with it. With his compatriots dead, the gang’s sole survivor ran into the derelict foundry.
DOOKU:
Stop!
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
I threw up a hand, knocking the Trandoshan from his feet. The brute scrabbled for his blast rifle as I pulled him toward me.
TRANDOSHAN:
Jolumba! [No!]
Trandoshan claws screech on the concrete floor.
DOOKU:
For your sake, I hope you speak Basic.
He lifts the Trandoshan from the floor.
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
His eyes bulged as I lifted him in front of me.
TRANDOSHAN:
How are you doing this?
DOOKU:
Have you never heard of the Jedi? Do you not know what we can do?
TRANDOSHAN:
Put me down.
DOOKU:
Only when you tell me what you were doing with that speeder.
TRANDOSHAN:
I can’t.
DOOKU:
You don’t want me to force you to talk.
Force lightning crackles over his hands.
TRANDOSHAN:
What is that!
DOOKU:
Something I’ve been fighting for years. Something I can control. Most of the time.
TRANDOSHAN:
Rek ka luradan. [The Storm of Nightfire.]
DOOKU:
Tell me who sent you.
QUI-GON: (OFF-MIC, SEARCHING)
Master?
DOOKU:
Quickly!
The Force lightning crackles.
TRANDOSHAN:
The race was fixed. The Serennian was supposed to lose.
DOOKU:
Why?
TRANDOSHAN:
Are you kidding? The bets were flooding in. The boss was going to make a killing.
DOOKU:
So what happened?
TRANDOSHAN:
The boss took out insurance, just in case the Serennian forgot his part of the deal. A detonator in the fuel tank.
DOOKU:
Who is your master?
TRANDOSHAN:
I can’t tell you. She’d kill me.
The crackling intensifies.
DOOKU:
And you think I won’t?
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
A siren echoed around the foundry, lights flashing through the broken glass.
Sirens blare across the factory. Police droids run in the distance and, with them, Qui-Gon.
QUI-GON: (OFF-MIC, CALLING)
Master!
DOOKU:
Qui-Gon! (SOTTO) For the Force is strong. For the Force is strong.
The crackling stops.
POLICE DROID: (AMPLIFIED)
Drop the Trandoshan. I repeat, drop the Trandoshan.
DOOKU:
You can have him.
Dooku throws the Trandoshan to the ground.
TRANDOSHAN:
(GRUNTS)
DOOKU:
He has just confessed to race-rigging and sabotage.
TRANDOSHAN:
Get me away from him. He’s fesssellis [crazy].
Qui-Gon runs up.
QUI-GON:
Master, the Council has been trying to contact us. They don’t sound happy.
Dooku’s comm chirps.
DOOKU:
They never are.
He activates his comm.
DOOKU:
Dooku here.
JOR: (OVER COMM)
This is Aerith. Where the hell are you, Dooku?
DOOKU:
In the underground. We have apprehended the saboteurs and are about to investigate the syndicate behind the attack.
BRAYLON: (OVER COMM)
No, Dooku. You are to return to the Temple.
DOOKU:
Braylon?
BRAYLON:
This is a matter for the Coruscant Security Force, not the Jedi.
DOOKU:
But—
JOR: (OVER COMM)
Dooku, why didn’t you tell me that the crashed pilot was your brother?
DOOKU:
I didn’t think it was important.
JOR: (OVER COMM)
Important? You’re emotionally compromised, Dooku. Return to the Temple immediately.
The comm cuts out.
DOOKU:
And it appears I am overruled.
Behind them the Trandoshan runs.
QUI-GON:
Master, the Trandoshan!
POLICE DROID:
He’s getting away. Open fire.
DOOKU:
No, wait.
A blast rings out.
TRANDOSHAN:
(DIES)
His body slumps to the floor.
DOOKU:
You could have stunned him!
POLICE DROID:
I thought we were.
DOOKU:
This cannot stand.
QUI-GON:
The Council said we weren’t to interfere.
DOOKU:
Then the Council is wrong.
SCENE 94. INT. CSF PRECINCT HOUSE. MORGUE.
Inspector Sartori
walks into the morgue, his boots clicking against the tiles. A mortuary droid—QC-ME—turns to him.
QC-ME:
Inspector Sartori. We don’t see you in the morgue very often.
SARTORI:
I wanted to examine the suspect, Q-See. What a mess.
QC-ME:
Death would have been instantaneous. I assume there is going to be an inquest.
SARTORI:
I’ve already filed the report. A malfunction in the police droids. I’ve had them sent for reprogramming.
The doors swish open behind them. Dooku and Qui-Gon enter.
DOOKU:
Tell me, Inspector, is that normal procedure when a prisoner is killed?
SARTORI:
What the— How did you get in here?
QUI-GON:
You have a very obliging desk sergeant.
DOOKU:
You will surrender the Trandoshan’s body to the Jedi.
QC-ME:
This is most irregular.
DOOKU:
So is this.
Dooku activates his lightsaber and slices QC-ME in two, keeping the weapon activated.
SARTORI:
That droid was Coruscant Security property.
DOOKU:
Then why don’t you send it to reprogramming.
Sartori pulls a blaster.
SARTORI:
I could arrest you, Master Dooku. You and your Padawan.
DOOKU:
A blaster. Really? You think that will work against this?
He brings up his lightsaber.
DOOKU:
Oh, and another thing.
He pushes out with the Force. Sartori is thrown across the morgue to crash into a wall.
DOOKU:
How do you know my name?
SARTORI:
You can’t do this to me. I’m an inspector.
Sartori starts to gag, caught in a Force choke.
DOOKU:
I’ll tell you what you are. Nothing. I could snuff you out in an instant.
QUI-GON:
(WARNING) Master…
DOOKU:
Tell me who was behind the sabotage. Who’s paying you?
SARTORI:
(BARELY ABLE TO BREATHE) No one.
QUI-GON:
Master, this isn’t right.
DOOKU:
You gave the Trandoshans access to my brother’s T-22. You covered up their crime, ordering your droids to shoot to kill. I want to know why. This is your last chance.
SARTORI:
(CHOKING)
QUI-GON:
Master. Stop!