Chapter 1

Kamino

31:4:24 ABY

The comm. panel bleeped loudly, interrupting the very serious conversation that the Prime Minister was having with his chief technician. He hesitated to turn and answer it at first, not when their guest was standing so obviously to the side of the room, his features obscured by the thick, black robes he wore, and the hood drawn so far over his head that the only thing visible was the pair of glowing yellow eyes.

One look over to their guest was enough to realise the error of choosing to ignore the incoming transmission. So, with an excusing nod to his chief technician, he turned and strode gracefully over to the chair in the centre of the office, held in place by a stem that extended from the top of the chair's backing straight up into the ceiling.

When the sound of the office doors closing after the technician's departure reached the Prime Minister's ears, he shot his visitor another pleading look and was regarded with a cold glare from those strange, glowing eyes.

Nervously, he ran a hand over the ridge along the middle of his scalp. He fingered the receiver button on the comm. panel at the same time that he sat in the chair in a single fluid movement. A holographic screen shimmered to life a few feet away and the Prime Minister blinked in surprise when he saw the face of a renowned Jedi Master come into focus.

"Jedi Master Skywalker," he said plainly to the Jedi. The visitor to the side of the room shifted and his glowing eyes narrowed. "It is a great honour to finally have the chance to speak to you. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Good evening, Prime Minister," the Jedi said with a wide smile. That he had known what time of Kamino's planetary rotation I t was when it would have been different at the Jedi's location spoke highly of his wisdom. "I do believe that the honour is mine."

The Prime Minister nodded and smiled. There weren't many humans could truly recognise a Kaminoan smile, but, it appeared, Skywalker was one of them.

"I am calling on behalf of one of my students, as a matter of fact," the Jedi said. The Prime Minister nodded and ignored the sudden movement from his guest, lest Skywalker pick up that he wasn't alone. "I have heard that Kaminoan scientists have added studies of the mind to their extensive repertoire of knowledge. Is this truth, or mere rumour?"

"It is truth, Master Jedi," the Prime Minister said with a nod. "The events of—and immediately following—the Clone Wars led us to the conclusion that if we continued on with only cloning projects, others would always find ways to abuse and exploit us." He shot a pointed look to the shadows that his guest was hiding in before returning his gaze to Skywalker's image. "When I was elected to succeed as Prime Minister, I decided that it would be beneficial for us to have another commodity to offer the Republic … something less exploitative."

The Prime Minister paused, and he waited for Skywalker to absorb the knowledge with all its implications. In the back of his mind, he hoped that Skywalker would even have seen that the Prime Minister had directed his gaze away, and that he would conclude that something wasn't right. Realistically, he doubted the Jedi would have that much foresight when there was no reason to suspect that anything would be wrong on Kamino.

It seemed that he didn't. "Then I, on behalf of the aforementioned student, would like to employ the services of your specialists," Skywalker said.

"How may we be of service?" the Prime Minister replied cordially.

"We had an incident a few years ago that resulted in my student … well, let's just say he wasn't quite acting himself."

"I sympathise, Master Jedi."

"Thank you, Prime Minister. Since then, the aforementioned student has been trying to recover his memories. He's made quite good progress in that department, but there are memories that continue to elude him. He feels that he has done all that he can on his own, and I was wondering if there is anything that your scientists can do to help him recover the rest of his memories."

The Prime Minister thought about the predicament for a moment. With his guest in the room, he couldn't exactly think aloud like he usually did when he was on his own, and so he couldn't discuss with himself the implications of having Jedi on Kamino. He chanced a glance over at those cold, glowing eyes in the corner and saw them narrow suggestively at him.

"Do it!" a low voice hissed from his guest, so low that he barely heard it, and he doubted that the wizened Jedi on the comm. screen would have at all.

"I think we may be able to help you," the Prime Minister said after another moment. He stroked his small chin and blinked. "Would you like for an appointment to be booked, or would you like to discuss the convenience of timing with your student first?"

"Go ahead and book the appointment," Master Skywalker said graciously.

The Prime Minister pulled a pad from his pocket and keyed in the appointment scheduling list. He picked the first free slot, and then looked back up at the Jedi on the holo screen. "May I enquire as to the name of your student?"

"Zak Arranda," Skywalker said. The Prime Minister entered the name into the list, and then sent the confirmation up to the techs in the control tower, who would then put the expected time and date into the main database so they could prepare for the arrival of the Jedi.

"I have booked Master Arranda in for an appointment in three days time. We will be more than happy to see what we can do to help him with his problem."

"Thank you," Skywalker said with a smile. "The Jedi Council will be in touch before then to discuss payment. May the Force be with you."

The Prime Minister bowed his head and bade the Jedi a good day before he switched off the screen and turned in his chair to face their visitor. Though the expression was subtle, he knew that the dark-clad man could see the regret on his face.

"Send for me when they arrive," the man hissed almost inaudibly again before he turned on his heel and headed for the door. He waved a hand before he reached it, and the door opened on its own, allowing him entrance into the corridor.

When the door slid shut behind the visitor, the Prime Minister slipped the pad back into his pocket, ran a hand nervously over the crest atop his head again, and then sighed in shame.