Dooku.
“Ring-Sol, please,” Dooku said in an imploring tone. “I sense your anxiety, but I beg you to not move.”
Because Ambase had already realized that he was immobilized, he found Dooku’s plea almost amusing.
“Your pulmonary system has been damaged,” Dooku continued. “I assure you that I am not responsible for your present condition, and that you are not my prisoner. I will even arrange for your immediate and safe return to the Jedi Temple, if that is what you desire. All I ask is that you allow me to explain how you arrived at my retreat.”
Dooku's retreat? Ambase did not trust Dooku, but also knew he was at the man's mercy. Keeping his eyes fixed on the renegade Jedi, he took a deep, calming breath, and then another. A moment later, the nearby machine stopped beeping, indicating that Ambase's pulmonary system had stabilized.
Dooku offered a sympathetic smile. “I know you don't trust me, Ring-Sol. You believe I was wrong to leave the Jedi Order. You told me so yourself at the time.” Dooku’s smile melted away as his brow furrowed. “You also believe that I’m responsible for the battle on Geonosis, and for all the terrible things that have happened since. I have no illusions that you think me a turncoat and murderer.”
Ambase thought, You can't imagine what I think of you.
Looking away from Ambase, Dooku stared at window. “I won’t waste your time with further explanations for my reasons for leaving the Jedi Order, or try to convince you that it was not I who started this terrible war.” Returning his gaze to Ambase, Dooku added, “If I could go back in time and change things, I would.”
Dooku stepped over to the window, his elegant cape shifting behind him as he moved. Looking back at Ambase, he said, “On Geonosis, I informed Obi-Wan Kenobi that hundreds of Senators have fallen under the influence of a Sith Lord called Darth Sidious, and that the Republic is under the control of the Sith. I had evidence that Darth Sidious was in league with the Viceroy of the Trade Federation, but betrayed him. I tried to warn the Jedi Council, but they wouldn't listen to me. I sought Kenobi's help to destroy the Sith, but he refused. I wonder ... Did the Jedi Council inform you about this?”
Ambase remained silent.
“Forgive me,” Dooku said. “I Forgot, your voice has not yet returned. I don’t mean to put any strain on you, Ring-Sol, but perhaps you could blink your eyes to respond? One blink for yes, and two for no?”
Ambase willed himself to keep his eyes open. “Were you told about Darth Sidious?”
Unwilling to yield any information, Ambase Continued staring at Dooku.
Dooku frowned. “As I told Obi-Wan on Geonosis, the dark side of the Force has clouded the Council’s vision. It wouldn't surprise me if they chose to remain silent about Darth Sidious.”
Moving away from the window, Dooku returned to Ambase’s bedside. “It was never my wish to fight the Jedi, Ring-Sol. Nor did I aspire to divide the Republic, or lead the Separarists. But in the end, if we don't choose our battles, the battles choose us. Ever since I learned of Darth Sidious, my goal has remained nothing less than to stop the Sith from conquering the galaxy. I can’t do it alone.”
Ambase was unable to detect whether Dooku was lying. All he could do was keep listening.
“I'm telling you all this,” Dooku continued, “because I Suspect you, too, may have been betrayed, possibly by someone close to you. But I don’t expect you to take my word for it. You should listen to the individual who brought you here.”
Dooku nodded in the direction of the wall that Ambase could not see. Ambase heard footsteps approach, and a moment later four BX-series droid commandos escorted a dark-haired man into the chamber. From where he lay, Ambase saw that the man wore a gray tunic and that his face was that of a clone from Kamino.
Ambase could barely believe his eyes. A clone? Is he allied with Dooku?
“General Ambase,” the clone said softly, “are you all right?”
Ambase only glared in return. The clone seemed to see the alarm in the Jedi Master’s eyes, and added, “I ... I’m afraid I can‘t remember exactly how we got here, sir.”
Dooku said, “I imagine you two have much to discuss. The droids and I shall wait outside.” Dooku's cape flowed behind him as he led the droid commandos from the chamber.
Facing Ambase and keeping his voice low, the clone said, “General Ambase, I ... I realize Dooku may have recording devices in this room, but ... you need to know what's happened. Maybe you remember the explosions after our freighter arrived in Kynachi’s orbit, how we went to the escape pods. Well, someone must have rigged the pods so they wouldn't eject, at least not immediately. The ones that managed to get away filled up with some kind of knockout gas. By the time I got a breath mask on you, you were already unconscious.”
The clone glanced at the doorway, then continued, “Our pod made it to Kynachi, but we were captured by droids. They took you away from us and threw us in prison.”
Ambase listened intently but felt himself fighting to stay awake.
“Fortunately,” the clone continued, “a few troopers had evaded the droids, and they came to get us. A young Jedi was with them, identified himself as Nuru Kungurama. Said he was your apprentice. I didn’t know how he arrived on Kynachi — not at the time, that is — but we were all relieved to see a Jedi. The Republic troops liberated Kynachi, sir. We tried to find you, but then ... I'm afraid something bad must have happened.”
Ambase watched the clone grimace. He did not require the Force to see the man was deeply troubled.
“I remember searching for you, and then I must have blacked out.” The clone shook his head, as if the motion might jog a memory. “When I came to, I had a nasty bump on the back of my head, and I was in the cockpit of a crashed Kuat transport. I have no memory at all of flying it, but I was seated behind the controls. I found you unconscious, Strapped down to a bunk in the the hold. The comm system was shattered. Distress beacons had already been launched. Unfortunately, the distress beacons brought droid commandos, who captured me. But before they arrived, I also found this.”
The clone reached to his belt and removed a small cylinder. “It's the freighter’s log, sir, the freighter that was destroyed at Kynachi. The log contains holorecordings. The droids took the log from me, along with my armor and weapons. I tried to fight them, but there were just too many. They must have handed the log over to Dooku because the next thing I knew, he showed up in my cell, asking me to explain what happened on the final holorecording. I think you should see it, sir.”
Holding the cylinder with one hand, the clone thumbed a switch and the cylinder’s top slid back to project a hologram in the air above Ambase's outstretched form. The clone then adjusted the angle of the cylinder so Ambase could see the hologram clearly.
Dark metal walls, blinking lights ... Ambase recognized the three-dimensional image as a representation of a comm station in a narrow corridor on the freighter that had carried him and the doomed troopers to Kynachi.
A bright burst of light appeared, and a split second later, the small cylinder produced the recorded sound of an explosion. Ambase realized he was viewing the corridor at the moment the Separatists had opened fire on the freighter. He heard an unseen clone trooper cry out, and then there was another flash, followed by another explosive noise.
The recording showed a utility closet door flying open, and then the image of a young, robed boy tumbling out of the closet. The boy had blue skin and red eyes. Ambase recognized him instantly.
Nuru.
Although the clone at his bedside claimed Nuru had survived the explosion, Ambase watched in horror as the flickering image of his apprentice fell toward a holographic trooper. The trooper reached for Nuru and shouted, “Hang, on!” Another bright light flashed, and then the hologram flickered out.
Ambase redirected his gaze at the clone who stood beside him.
“You saw where the boy was hiding, sir? That utility closet had access to the freighter‘s engineering station. Forgive me for askin
g, General, but ... Do you think it’s possible your apprentice might have sabotaged the freighter?”
Sabotage? Nuru?!
The clone noticed Ambase’s mouth tremble under the breath mask. Ambase lifted his head slightly from the cushion as he stared hard at the trooper and gasped, “Whuh ... What ...”
A health monitor began beeping again, followed by Dooku's voice. “Ring-Sol?”
Ambase had not even heard Dooku’s approach, but suddenly realized Dooku had already returned to his beside. Dooku said, “Perhaps we should leave you to rest.”
Ignoring Dooku, Ambase struggled to remain focused on the trooper's face and finally managed to rasp out, “What is ... your name?”
The trooper leaned closer to Ambase’s face and said, “I’m sorry, General. I shouldn’t have expected you to remember me. We were never introduced, but I was seated across from you in the freighter on the Kynachi mission. They call me Sharp.”
Ambase winced, and then his eyes closed as his head fell back against the cushion.
Dooku glanced from Ambase to the trooper, then consulted one of the diagnostic monitors. The health monitor stopped beeping. “He's unconscious again,” Dooku said, “but his condition remains stable. He will recover.” Then Dooku looked at the clone and said, “I trust you're doing well under the circumstances?”
The clone replied, “Never better.”
For Henry Gilroy.
Big thanks to Jason Fry, coauthor with Dan
Wallace of Star Wars: The Essential Atlas (Del
Rey, 2009), who generously plotted the hyperspace
routes used in this story.
NEXT:
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Secret Missions #3:
Duel at Shattered Rock
After the young Jedi Nuru Kungurama and the clone troopers of Breakout Squad leave Chiss space, they receive orders to escort new allies across space to Coruscant. But the diplomatic mission turns deadly when the identity of the mysterious saboteur is at last revealed, and Nuru encounters a deadly armored warrior with ties to Count Dooku.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
Star Wars - The Clone Wars - Secret Missions #2 - Curse of the Black Hole Pirates Page 11