by James Luceno
more the moment Valorum emerged in the corridor.
Wide as it was, the walkway was crammed with beings, who had been forced
to stand shoulder to shoulder along both walls behind hastily erected
barricades.
The guards in front of Valorum closed ranks in a wedge formation,
thrusting through a forest of outstretched arms. Still, some hands managed to
get through, bearing messages meant for the deep pockets of Valorum's cloaks
but more often than not ending up trampled underfoot on the polished stone
floor.
The corridor was loud with voices, as well, most of them entreating
Valorum to attend to one urgent matter or another.
"Supreme Chancellor, about the terms of the peace negotiation..."
"Supreme Chancellor, regarding the recent devaluation of the Bothan credit..."
"Supreme Chancellor, your promise to respond to accusations of corruption
leveled against Senator Maxim..." Valorum recognized some of the voices and
many of the faces. Crushed against the left wall he noticed the delegate from
New Bornalex. Behind him, Senator Gre9ps and his trio of large-eyed, pudd le-
footed delegates from Brodo Asogi.
Off to the right, straining to reach to the front of the crowd in time
for Valorum's passing, stood Malastare delegate Aks Moe.
As they neared the exit to the plaza, the voices in the corridor were
overwhelmed by the chants and bellows of crowds of demonstrators massed along
the Avenue of the Core Founders, with its towering statues and sunken sitting
areas.
The Senate Guards pressed closer still, all but lifting Valorum off his
feet and spiriting him outside the building on their shoulders.
The chief of the guard detail swung to Valorum.
"Sir, we'll be proceeding directly to the north hover platform. Your
personal shuttle is already waiting. There will be no stopping along the way
to respond to reporters or protestors. In the event of any untoward activity,
you will submit to our custody and do as we say. Any questions, sir?" "No
questions," Valorum said by rote. "But let's at least attempt to appear
cordial, Captain." "You didn't mention you were inviting me to a political
rally," Qui-Gon said, as he and Adi Gallia arrived at the expansive plaza that
fronted the senate.
"I didn't know," Adi said, plainly astonished by the sight.
Mixed-species crowds extended from the pedestaled building itself, clear
to the terminus of the Avenue of the Core Founders. The balconies there
overlooked a sprawl of spired buildings, their close-set summits rising below
the plaza.
"Where are you supposed to meet him?" Qui-Gon said loudly enough to be
heard over the periodic chants and general clamor.
"Outside the north entrance," she answered, close to his ear.
Tall enough to see over the heads of many in the crowd, Qui - Gon gazed
toward the senate dome. "There'll be no getting to him--not if I know the
Senate Guard." "Let's try, anyway," Adi said.
"Otherwise, we'll go to his private office in the Presidential Tower."
Qui-Gon took Adi's hand and began to edge into the crowd. This far from the
building, there was no telling the pro-Valorum from the anti-Valorum
protestors.
Qui-Gon stretched out with his feelings.
Beneath the current of anger and dissent, something else was in the air.
Coruscant's usual howl was charged with menace. He sensed danger--not the
vague sort that might emanate from any gathering of this nature, but specific
and targeted. He closed his eyes momentarily and allowed the Force to guide
him.
His opened eyes found a Bith, standing at the leading edge of one
gathering. The Force bade Qui-Gon look to his left, to two Rodians, lurking
near the tall base of one of the statues. Closer to the senate's north exit
stood two Twi'leks and a Bothan.
Qui-Gon raised his gaze to the ceaseless traffic flow above the plaza's
north end. A green air taxi caught his eye. Disk - shaped and open-topped,
with a semicircle of stabilizers below, it was no different from most of the
other taxis that filled Corus - cant's sky. But the fact that it was riding
outside the denned corridor of the autonavigation lane told Qui-Gon that the
pilot- - another Rodian--knew the skylanes well enough to have been granted a
free-travel permit.
Not far below the taxi, just at the rim of the plaza, hovered an eight-
lobed repulsorlift platform, atop which sat Chancellor Valorum's personal
shuttle.
Qui-Gon swung to Adi. "I sense a disturbance in the Force." She nodded.
"I feel it, Qui-Gon." He glanced up at the air taxi, then cut his eyes to the
Rodians positioned near the statue base. "The Supreme Chancellor is in danger.
We need to hurry." Unclipping their lightsabers from their belts, they
began to thread their way through the crowd, their brown cloaks billowing
behind them. They reached the north exit in time to see a phalanx of guards
surge into the plaza. Behind them came Valorum and his young aide, at the
center of six other guards, who were steering the couple toward the docking
platform.
Qui-Gon looked up. The air taxi reversed direction and began to hover
above the plaza. At the same instant, the two Twi'leks began to hasten toward
Valorum, their hands buried in the sleeves of their loose robes.
The chanting rose to a crescendo.
Suddenly, blaster bolts streaked from the crowd, catching two of the most
forward guards and dropping them to the paving stones. Screams erupted and the
crowd panicked, rushing every which way to avoid danger.
Qui-Gon ignited his lightsaber and moved toward the Twi'leks. Weapons
drawn, they fired, only to see the bolts deflected by the brilliant green
blade of Qui-Gon's lightsaber. Additional bolts darted from the Rodians"
blasters, but Qui-Gon moved quickly and managed to deflect those. He twirled,
raising his weapon to parry fire, careful to divert the bolts above the heads
of the scattering demonstrators.
The Force told him that Adi, her azure blade ignited, had angled for
Valorum, who was effectively pinned to the plaza by his guards.
A muffled explosion sounded nearby, launching clouds of astringent white
smoke and further terrifying the fleeing demonstrators.
Qui-Gon understood at once that the detonation was only a distraction.
The real danger came from the opposite side of the plaza, where two more
assassins were racing forward, armed with small hand blasters. As another
guard fell, one of the assassins fired into the gap that had been opened in
Valorum's protective cordon. Adi turned two of the energy darts, but a third
got through.
Valorum grimaced in pain and toppled sideways.
A Senate Guard advanced, his long rifle blazing, felling both assassins.
Qui-Gon heard the air taxi begin a rapid descent, its rounded form
trailing a trio of hauling cables. A Twi'lek and the two Rodians fought their
way to a clear area in the plaza and grabbed hold of the cables.
Qui-Gon prized a liquid-cable launcher from a pouch on his belt and fired
it as he ran. The hook bit deep into the underside of the taxi, and the
<
br /> monofilament cable began to unspool. Qui - Gon hooked onto the cable, thumbed
the winding mechanism, and rode it skyward, his lightsaber extended in his
right hand.
Coming alongside the two Rodians, he severed their cables with his blade,
sending them plummeting back to the plaza. The Twi'lek, however, was still
above him, and Qui-Gon realized that he would never reach him in time. The air
taxi was already banking for the northern lip of the plaza, clearly hoping to
shake Qui-Gon loose into one of the chasms below.
Level with the tallest of the Core Founder statues, Qui-Gon let go and
dropped, landing on the shoulders of the statue, then leaping to the pedestal
base, and finally to the plaza.
Backing away and firing steadily, one of the Rodians ran into the arms of
two Senate Guards, who threw him harshly to the paving stones.
A broken leg kept the other Rodian rooted to the spot where he had
fallen.
Qui-Gon spun on his boot heels and hurried for Valorum. Formed up into an
unbreachable perimeter, the remaining guards stood with their feet planted and
their rifles pointed straight out. Adi saw Qui-Gon approaching and told the
guards to make room for him.
The right side of Valorum's cloak showed a large blood stain.
"We have to get him to the medcenter," Adi said in a rush.
Qui-Gon put his right hand under Valorum's left arm and eased him to his
feet. Adi supported him from the other side. With their lightsabers still
ignited, they began to move the Supreme Chancellor back into the senate
building, while the guards covered their retreat.
It was theorized--by ^th who devoted themselves to such things - comt one
could fall from the roof of the senate dome and land directly in the medcenter
at which the delegates enjoyed exclusive privilege, assuming, of course, that
the winds that blew through Coruscant's chasms were just right, and that one
managed to miss being struck by passing vehicles during the plunge through the
traffic lanes.
A safer and more certain method for arriving intact at the Galactic
Senate Medcenter was to ride a turbolift from the rotunda, or be delivered
there by skycar, as Senator Palpatine had chosen to do.
The medcenter occupied the top five stories of an ordinary building that
rose precipitously to Coruscant's midlevel. Its numerous entrances were coded,
by color and other means, to individual species, many of whom required
specific atmospheres and gravities, as was also the case with many of the
senate rotunda balconies.
Sate Pestage piloted the skycar to an unoccupied lobe of a docking
platform anchored to the entrance coded for humans and near-humans, by far the
most adorned of all the rectangular admitting areas.
"Waste no time," Palpatine said from the backseat, "but be discreet."
Pestage nodded. "Consider it done." Palpatine stepped from the rear of the
circular skycar, gave a smart tug to the front of his embroidered cloak, and
disappeared through the entrance.
In the lobby he encountered Senator Orn Free Taa.
"I heard that you were here," Palpatine said.
The corpulent Twi'lek gave his massive head a presumably mournful shake.
"A tragic event. Truly terrible." Palpatine raised an eyebrow.
"All right," Taa huffed. "The truth is that Valorum has been blocking my
requests for reduced tariffs for the exportation of ryll from Ryloth. If I can
ease that by visiting him in the medcenter, so be it." "We do what we must,"
Palpatine said mildly.
Taa studied him for a moment. "And I take it that your visit is prompted
by genuine concern?" "The supreme chancellor is the voice of the Republic, is
he not?" "For the moment," Taa said nastily.
With Senate Guard sentries posted throughout the admitting area,
Palpatine was made to show his identification no fewer than six times before
being ushered into a waiting room reserved for Valorum's visitors. There, he
exchanged greetings with Alder - aan's delegate to the senate, Bail Antilles--
a tall, handsome man with dark hair--and with the equally distinguished
senator from Corellia, Com Fordox.
"You've heard who's to blame for what happened?" Fordox asked as
Palpatine sat down on the couch opposite him.
"Only that the Nebula Front appears to have been involved." "We have
confirmed evidence of their involvement," Antilles said.
Fordox's features reflected anger and confusion.
"This is beyond comprehension." "An act that cannot go unpunished,"
Antilles agreed.
Commiserating with them, Palpatine firmed his lips and shook his head. "A
terrible sign of the times," he said.
Most of the infirmities that landed delegates in the medcenter were
usually the result of overindulgence in food or drink, or injuries sustained
on the scoopball courts, in air taxi accidents, or as the outcome of the
occasional honor duel. Rarely were delegates admitted because of illnesses,
and even more rarely as a consequence of an assassination attempt.
Palpatine held himself accountable.
He should have seen what was coming during the meeting with Havac. More
than once the young militant had stressed that Valorum needed to appreciate
just how dangerous the Nebula Front was. But Palpatine hadn't thought Havac
desperate enough to resort to assassination.
The fact that Havac was also a fool made him especially dangerous. Did he
actually believe that things would go better for the Nebula Front with someone
other than Valorum leading the senate?
Didn't he realize that Valorum was the Front's best hope for restraining
the Trade Federation, through taxation and other means? By attempting to kill
Valorum, Havac had not only reinforced the Federation's assertion that the
Nebula Front was a public menace, he had also given added weight to the
Neimoidians' demand for additional defensive weapons.
Havac would need to be reminded just who his enemies were.
Unless, of course, there was more to Havac than met the eye, Palpatine
told himself. Was Havac's pleasant but nondescript countenance masking a
cunning intellect?
Palpatine deliberated while Fordox and Antilles had their visit with
Valorum. He was still mulling it over when Sei Taria entered the waiting room
some time later.
Palpatine rose and nodded. "How good to see you, Sei. Are you all right?"
She mustered a warm smile. "I'm fine now, Senator. But it was terrible."
Palpatine adopted a grave look. "We will do all we can to protect the Supreme
Chancellor." "I know you will." "How is he?" She glanced at the door. "Eager
to see you." Armed guards flanked the door to Valorum's room--a windowless
corral of monitoring devices, overseen by a bipedal medical droid equipped
with servogrip pincers and a rebreatherlike vocabulator.
Valorum looked pale and grim, but he was sitting up in bed, his right
arm, from wrist to shoulder, encased in a soft tube filled with bacta. A
transparent, gelatinous fluid produced by an insectoid alien species, bacta
had the ability to promote rapid cell rejuvenation and healing, usually
without scarring. Palpatine of
ten felt that the wondrous substance was as key
to the survival of the Republic as were the Jedi.
"Supreme Chancellor," he said, approaching the bed, "I came as soon as I
heard." Valorum made a gesture of dismissal with his left hand. "You shouldn't
have bothered. They're releasing me later today." He motioned Palpatine to a
chair. "Do you know what the guards did when they brought me in here?
They cleared every patient from the emergency room, then emptied this
entire floor, with scarcely a concern for the condition of the patients." "The
security was warranted," Palpatine said.
"Knowing you would be brought here if they failed, the assassins could
have stationed a second team in the admitting area." "Perhaps," Valorum
granted. "But I doubt the actions of my protectors earned me any new allies."
He frowned. "Worse, I have to suffer the transparent concern of delegates like
Orn Free Taa." "Even Senator Taa understands that the Republic needs you,"
Palpatine said.
"Nonsense. There are many who are qualified to fill my position. Bail
Antilles, Ainlee Teem... even you, Senator." Palpatine feigned a startled
expression.
"Hardly, Supreme Chancellor." Valorum grinned. "I couldn't help but note
how the delegates responded to you during the special session." "The Outer Rim
is desperate for voices. I'm merely one of many." Valorum shook his head.
"It's more than that." He paused briefly. "In any event, I want to thank you
for the message your aide delivered to the podium. But why didn't you inform
me in advance of your plan to propose a summit meeting?" Palpatine spread his
graceful hands. "It was a spur-of-the - moment decision. Something had to be
done before the taxation proposal went to committee, where it may have been
crushed out of hand." "A brilliant stroke." Valorum fell silent for a long
moment.
"The Judicial Department has advised me that my attackers are members of
the Nebula Front." "I've also heard." Valorum forced an exhale. "Now I see
what the Trade Federation is up against." Palpatine said nothing.
"But what was the Nebula Front's motive in attacking me? I'm doing what I
can to find a peaceful solution to all this." "Your efforts are obviously not
enough for them," Palpatine said.
"Are they so convinced that Antilles or Teem would act differently?"