by Cavan Scott
Atmosphere as before.
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
Braylon’s confession shook the Council to the core. I shared their dismay. We pride ourselves on being one with the Force, and yet none of us had sensed the deception in our midst. Cenevax was dismissed, while Qui-Gon and I had business to attend to in the Archives.
DOOKU:
Arath.
ARATH:
Dooku. I…what are you doing here?
DOOKU:
I’m afraid your secret is out.
ARATH:
I…I don’t know what you mean.
DOOKU:
Cenevax has confessed.
QUI-GON:
We know how you ran up debts with her, Arath. What was it this time? Sabacc? Pazaak?
ARATH:
Batana.
DOOKU:
The trickster’s game. Naturally. And then you attempted to talk your way out of it. What was it? You could bring her entire operation crashing down.
QUI-GON:
You have friends in high places.
DOOKU:
The Jedi Council, for instance. But for once, you weren’t lying. What did Cenevax do, Arath? Threaten you? Attempt to blackmail you?
QUI-GON:
Until you gave her a bigger target.
DOOKU:
Your own mother.
ARATH:
You don’t know what you’re talking about.
DOOKU:
Don’t I? It’s amazing what traits are passed from generation to generation. Mannerisms. Tics. Even emotional states. When confronted Braylon reacted exactly as you did on Station Zeta, before you were sent home, where she could protect you, as she has all your life.
QUI-GON:
How long have you known?
ARATH:
That I was hers? After Zeta, I suppose. I had always seen the disappointment in her eyes, but suddenly…
QUI-GON:
It made sense.
DOOKU:
You confronted her.
ARATH:
She was clever, I’ll give her that. A Seeker, away for years at a time. Who would question when she returned with yet another baby, strong in the Force? Nobody even batted an eye when she decided to stay, to join the teaching staff…
QUI-GON:
All so she could be near you.
DOOKU:
Her son.
ARATH:
What’s going to happen to her?
DOOKU:
She will face the Council of Judgment. As will you.
ARATH:
And Cenevax?
Yoda arrives with Temple Guards.
YODA:
None of your concern, Cenevax is.
ARATH:
(LAUGHS) You brought guards. Did you expect me to run?
DOOKU:
I’m sorry, Arath.
ARATH:
Somehow I doubt that.
The guards lead Arath away.
DOOKU:
Go with them, Qui-Gon.
QUI-GON:
Master?
DOOKU:
Make sure they treat him well.
QUI-GON:
As you wish.
Qui-Gon leaves Dooku with Yoda.
YODA:
No harm will come to him.
DOOKU:
Can we be sure? (LAUGHS) Can we be sure of anything anymore?
YODA:
You are troubled, old friend.
DOOKU:
I know what it’s like to keep a secret.
YODA:
Hm. I remember.
DOOKU:
She never told anyone, Yoda. All these years, and she kept it to herself.
YODA:
Yes. Worrying, it is.
DOOKU:
Worrying? It’s tragic. One of our own makes a mistake, and what happens? Does she come to us? No. Does she confide in us? No. She’s afraid. Of what we might do, to her. And to her child.
YODA:
Help. That is what we would have done. What we have always done.
DOOKU:
That’s easy to say now.
YODA:
Monsters, we are not. Feelings we have.
DOOKU:
Feelings we suppress.
YODA:
Trusted us, Braylon should have. Different things would be. Learn from this we must.
DOOKU:
And what of Cenevax?
YODA:
To the Citadel, the Jenet will be sent. Dismantled, her operation will be.
DOOKU:
The Citadel? Only Jedi are sent there. (LAUGHS BITTERLY, REALIZING WHAT’S HAPPENING) We’re not going to the authorities with any of this, are we? What am I saying? We are the authorities.
YODA:
Like this, I do not. But understand, you must…
DOOKU:
Oh, I understand, Yoda. I understand all too well.
YODA:
Meditate on all that has passed, I will. And as for you, sorry for your loss I am.
DOOKU:
My loss?
YODA:
Lene’s convor. Know how much the bird meant to you, I do.
DOOKU:
Yes. Yes, she did. But what is it you say? We should always let go of the past…
SCENE 100. EXT. ROOFTOP. RAIN.
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
Dooku’s gaze didn’t waver as he concluded his message…
DOOKU: (HOLO-NARRATION)
I understand that Ramil is being transferred back to Serenno. I wish him a speedy recovery. I sense much turmoil in him. Perhaps finally, he will find peace.
As for me, I have decided to accept a position on the Council. Change must come to the Order, and it must come from within.
May the Force be with you, Jenza. Always.
The hologram switches off. Ventress removes the disk.
VENTRESS:
Dooku on the Jedi Council.
KY NAREC: (GHOST)
Is it so difficult to imagine?
VENTRESS:
In all honesty, yes. But what do I know? I’m talking to a dead man.
KY NAREC: (GHOST)
You believe it really is me then?
VENTRESS:
I don’t know what to believe.
She notices something shifting on the roof. Servos whine on the street below.
VENTRESS:
But now isn’t the time.
KY NAREC: (GHOST)
What is it?
VENTRESS:
Someone’s finally decided to come home.
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
My quarry is trudging toward his door, servos whining so loud that I can hear them from the rooftop. I leap down, drawing my lightsabers as I land behind him.
Her lightsabers ignite. She thuds down behind the Crolute.
VENTRESS:
Glute. I’ve been waiting for you.
GLUTE:
Wha— Who are you?
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
The Crolute’s voice is little more than a gargle, his breathing labored. He jerks around, corroded cybernetics scraping as he moves.
This won’t be a fair fight.
VENTRESS:
Where is she?
GLUTE:
Who?
VENTRESS:
Neither of us has time for you to play dumb, no matter how much it suits you. The woman at the spaceport. Where did you take her?
GLUTE:
I don’t know what you’re talking about.
VENTRESS:
Really? Let’s see if we can jog your memory.
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
I sweep low, aiming to slice through Glute’s mechanical ankles, but the Crolute jumps into the air, my blade passing harmlessly beneath metal feet. He kicks out, catching me in the chest.
Ventress grunts as she is kicked back.
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
I’ve been played like a fool. The hissing joints. The wheezing breath. It’s all an act to lower my expectations. I won’t make the same mistake twice.
I spring back to my feet. Glute is running full pelt toward me, his metal-plated head held low like a battering ram.
I somersault over his back, pivoting to slash at his legs. This time my lightsaber meets armor plating and alloy tendons. Glute bellows in pain, toppling forward to land facedown in an oily puddle.
I use the Force to shove him down into the cracked sidewalk. Dooku may have shown mercy when facing the Jenet, but I have no such qualms. Bones and electrodrivers pop, bubbles breaking out on the surface of the water as he struggles to breathe.
VENTRESS:
Are you ready to talk?
GLUTE:
(MUFFLED) Mff gfff mfff.
VENTRESS:
What was that?
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
I flip him onto his back, holding the tip of my lightsaber to all four of his chins.
VENTRESS:
Try again.
GLUTE:
I can’t tell you. He’ll—
A sudden blaster bolt slams into Glute’s head, disintegrating it.
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
One second Glute has a head, and the next it is gone. I look up to see the barrel of a rifle disappearing over the edge of the very same roof I’d used as a lookout.
VENTRESS:
Son of a—
A rocket pack fires.
VENTRESS: (NARRATION)
I bound back up to the warehouse, throwing up a hand to shield my eyes from the glare of the rocket pack. The sniper is already gone, leaving nothing but a trail of acrid fumes and thick smoke. I give chase, leaping from building to building.
KY NAREC: (GHOST)
You’ll never catch him, not on foot.
Ventress slows and eventually stops, breathing hard.
VENTRESS:
I don’t have to. I know who they are…
PART SIX
SCENE 101. INT. FELLIDRONE’S APARTMENT.
A door slides open. Fellidrone enters, the door sliding shut.
FELLIDRONE:
(GROANS AS HE REMOVES HIS JETPACK) My back.
VENTRESS:
Those things weigh a ton, don’t they?
Fellidrone pulls a blaster on her.
FELLIDRONE:
Who’s there?
Ventress slinks into the room.
VENTRESS:
Don’t be coy, Portmaster. You know who I am.
KY NAREC: (GHOST)
Careful, Asajj. We can’t trust him.
FELLIDRONE:
How did you get in?
VENTRESS:
You need a new window, but thanks for not asking why I’m here. We’re both busy people. It’s better we cut to the chase. You hired Glute to abduct Jenza. I just need to know where she is.
FELLIDRONE:
Not why I did it?
VENTRESS:
I don’t care either way. Just tell me where she is, and I can kill you and move on.
FELLIDRONE:
How did you know it was me?
VENTRESS:
Your rocket pack. What is that? A Zim-500?
FELLIDRONE:
Five-Oh-One.
VENTRESS:
Impressive. Especially on a portmaster’s salary. Runs on what? Refined paralene? Such a distinctive smell.
KY NAREC: (GHOST)
(REALIZING) The village on Rattatak.
VENTRESS:
And to think I mistook it for aftershave. But it all came flooding back when I saw the Zim-Jumper.
FELLIDRONE:
So what happens next? You threaten me? I shoot?
VENTRESS:
No need. You’re going to drop the blaster.
The blaster clatters to the floor.
VENTRESS:
Good boy.
KY NAREC: (GHOST)
The mind of the weak. So easy to manipulate.
VENTRESS:
Now you’re going to show me where you’re hiding Jenza.
FELLIDRONE:
(DREAMLIKE) Behind a fake wall.
VENTRESS:
Through here?
FELLIDRONE:
Yes.
She hurries through to the next room.
VENTRESS:
Tell me how to open it.
FELLIDRONE:
A secret switch, behind the picture.
VENTRESS:
Where is that? Glee Anselm? I must go there one day.
She moves the picture aside to reveal a control panel.
VENTRESS:
And that’s more like it. See? That wasn’t so difficult, was it? Perhaps I won’t kill you after—
She presses a switch and electricity surges through her body.
KY NAREC: (GHOST)
Ventress! Look out!
VENTRESS:
(SCREAMS)
The electricity cuts off and she collapses to the floor.
FELLIDRONE:
I appreciate the sentiment, but it was never in the cards in the first place. (HE CROUCHES DOWN, CHECKS HER NECK) No pulse. I’m almost disappointed.
Fellidrone activates a comlink.
FELLIDRONE:
This is XD-Forty-Five. I need immediate extraction. Dooku sent an enforcer to recover the package.
He enters a code into the control panel.
FELLIDRONE:
No. She’s liquidated.
The wall slides back to reveal a secret compartment.
FELLIDRONE:
Copy that. I’ll prepare the package for transportation. Forty-Five out.
He cuts off the transmission and walks toward the bound woman he had hidden in the compartment. This is Jenza.
JENZA:
(WEAKLY) Please. No more. I’ve told you…I don’t know anything.
FELLIDRONE:
And I believe you, Jenza, but my superiors have gotten it into their heads that you’re going to be a valuable bargaining tool or something. It’s out of my hands.
A drawer opens and he removes an injector.
JENZA:
What is that?
FELLIDRONE:
The injector? Oh, don’t worry. We’re going on a journey. This is just a little something to make the time pass quick—
A lightsaber suddenly bursts through his chest.
VENTRESS:
You’re going nowhere.
The lightsaber extinguishes.
FELLIDRONE:
(GROANS SLIGHTLY AS HE’S RELEASED)
He slumps to the floor, dead.
JENZA:
You killed him.
VENTRESS:
Looks that way.
JENZA:
Good.
VENTRESS:
Jenza, I presume.
KY NAREC: (GHOST)
You can see the resemblance to her brother.
VENTRESS:
Dooku sent u
s…sent me.
JENZA:
Are you Jedi?
VENTRESS:
Not exactly.
She tries to release the binders around Jenza’s wrists.
VENTRESS:
We need to get you out of these restraints. What did that man do to you?
JENZA:
He…tortured me. Wanted me to tell him everything I knew.
VENTRESS:
About your brother?
JENZA:
I don’t even know who he was.
VENTRESS:
Republic Intelligence, if this equipment is anything to go by. It would explain how he could resist mind control.
JENZA:
Mind control?
KY NAREC: (GHOST)
You knew he was faking…
JENZA:
I heard a scream.
VENTRESS:
That would have been me. I spotted Fellidrone’s booby trap the moment I broke in. Needed him to think I was out of the picture.
KY NAREC: (GHOST)
So he would open the compartment himself. You could have been killed.
JENZA:
Didn’t it hurt?
VENTRESS:
I’ve survived worse.
She rattles the binders.
VENTRESS:
It’s no good. They’re stuck fast. I’m going to have to burn them off.
She ignites one of her lightsabers.
JENZA:
He’s in trouble, isn’t he?
VENTRESS:
Who?
JENZA:
Dooku.
VENTRESS:
He’s collecting enemies, that’s for sure.
JENZA:
You need to help him.
VENTRESS:
I’m trying to help you. Keep still.
JENZA:
I don’t care about me. You have to help him…like he helped me…
We hear the lightsaber burning through metal.
VENTRESS:
I said keep still! One false move and you’ll lose a hand.
JENZA:
I couldn’t get through to him.
VENTRESS:
Where?
JENZA:
On Coruscant. He’d done what he said he would. Joined the Council, thrown himself into the business of the Temple.
A restraint tumbles to the floor.
VENTRESS:
One down.
JENZA:
I tried everywhere. His holocomm. The Temple. Even the Senate. I’d seen him on the newsnet, addressing the senators. He was magnificent…
SCENE 102. INT. THE GALACTIC SENATE ROTUNDA.
ATMOSPHERE AS IN THE PREQUELS.
Dooku—now in his sixties—is standing on one of the Senate platforms, his voice booming around the chamber.