Chapter 10- Black Holes

Pernilla greeted the morning with a great deal of uncertainty. Of course Qui-Gon would speak to her. Who else would care about his message? She thought back to the man's ghostly figure. He was weak. He'd been fighting the call of the Force. For years he'd been waiting for her to come. She put down Captain Panaka's security reports and closed her eyes. Have strength my friend, I will find you. She hoped that Qui-Gon was strong enough to wait just a little while longer.

She sipped on a glass of iced tea and ate a few biscuits and a bowl of fruit as she sat on a spacious veranda that opened to a beautiful, verdant valley. Theed Palace stood on the edge of a great cliff and she could hear the crash of giant waterfalls below. Pernilla wore a pair of tailored dark green pants, her favorite pair of brown leather boots, and a jacket with long sleeves that covered her wrists. She needed to look professional, yet she wanted to put Padmé at ease. When the captain came for her, she tied her hair under a cloche hat and grabbed a small purse which held essentials like lipstick and a lightsaber. She looked like an upscale tourist.

"Aside from your dream, did you sleep well?" Panaka asked.

"Of course. This place is amazing." They were walking through the main hallway of the palace towards the Queen's chambers. Pernilla's heels echoed through the empty halls. The legislature was not in session today.

"As for our security, did you find it to be equally impressive?"

"It is indeed. There are very few things that I could recommend that you change."

"Thank you," he said as they walked into a large meeting hall with cathedral-style windows that let in warm, golden sunlight. Pernilla bowed as she came before the queen.

"Queen Jamilla," Panaka bowed, "This is Jedi Master Pernilla Antilles."

"Your Highness."

"Master Antilles, thank you for coming to Naboo. And thank you for convincing Senator Amidala to come with you."

"My only wish is for her continued safety and protection which will certainly be easier to accomplish here."

"Thank you Master," the queen said with a relieved sigh. "The people of Naboo love Senator Amidala and I lose sleep worrying about her. She's brushed everything aside, but the captain has told me about the threats."

"Your highness," implored Panaka, somewhat indignantly.

"Captain we must be honest if Master Antilles is to help us."

"Forgive me for being forthright, but what does your majesty and the captain intended for me to do? I hardly know Senator Amidala and suddenly it seems that I have become her protector. What's going on?"

"I'm sorry Master Antilles," the Queen relaxed a great deal and she dismissed her handmaidens. "The captain informed me that you had assisted the Senator before and as her situation became more threatening, he also told me that she had requested your opinion on her safety. The problem with the Senator is that she's a protected person. She doesn't let anyone in. She won't listen to us. When we saw that she trusts your judgment..." She looked at Pernilla with feelings of helplessness. "We hoped that you could help us to help her."

"I see your highness," she nodded, deep in thought. "Why do you think that she trusts me so much?"

"Senator Amidala has a knack for judging one's character," Panaka responded. "She sees you as a valuable ally and a worthy friend. We don't question her judgment and neither should you."

Pernilla laughed quietly. "I suppose that there's no harm in that. Senator Amidala is a wonderful person and I respect and admire what she has done in the Senate."

"As we and the people of Naboo do," Jamilla smiled. There was so much love for Padmé here which made the threats to her life even more unbearable.

"So what would your majesty have me do?"

"First off, enjoy your vacation on Naboo with the Senator. Secondly... we need to keep her here on Naboo. It's the only option."

"She will not want to miss casting her vote against the Military Creation Act."

"Just convince her to stay here until then. I cannot ask you to abandon your duty to the Jedi, but if you hear anything about her when you return to Coruscant..."

"I will be the first to inform you, your highness. I have already told the Jedi Council about this trip. They wish to help in any way possible. We applaud her pacifist activism."

"Thank you Master Antilles. If you are ready, Padmé and her handmaidens are planning on leaving for the Lake District in a half hour."

"Thank you, your majesty."

Maul looked out into the wilds of space. The large view screen of the Scimitar was not enough to contain the wonder that caught the young Sith's eye. He was about six hours out of Kessel and deep into Wild Space, what seemed like the final frontier for the captain of the Infiltrator-class ship, the man who seemed to have seen everything in his short life. Light purple and blue gasses, the afterbirth of stars and planets, glowed around several black holes as steady streams of the stuff was sucked into oblivion. Gravitational forces were strong enough to send arcs of electricity flying through the gaseous mass. Maul was struck by the beauty of it all, so complex and deadly. If Pernilla were suddenly transformed into a cosmological phenomenon, he imagined that she would look something like this.

A chime on his console beeped. A complex cartography scan had been completed by a pair of spy probes. There were two large black holes on opposite ends of the four parsecs that made up what had been called the Maw. Four other minor holes were scattered around and the whole area was riddled with abnormal gravitational and energy phenomenon. Looking out, he understood the name. The whole place was one giant maw, spread wide open to kill the unsuspecting. Maul rather liked that idea. It would suit his purposes well. He hoped his master shared his opinion. First however, the area had to be thoroughly explored.

A flick of a few buttons and the Scimitar appeared out of thin air, the cloaking device being forsaken in favor of shield reinforcement. Maul set the controls of his ship on manual and slowly pushed towards the gaping Maw. The sensors told him that he was about to attempt the impossible, but with the Force he knew anything was possible. He concentrated and picked an impossible path through gravity wells and space debris, passing three black holes. His piloting skills were superb, but Maul panicked when the asteroids he had been dodging suddenly fell into an energy storm and great blue-white fingers of electricity arced and exploded around the Scimitar. He was blinded by the light and thousands of pieces of debris. It was a complete sensory overload for the ship and its pilot. He needed a co-pilot, someone with his skills and foresight. Someone like Pernilla. Maul closed his eyes and reached out to her. He wasn't sure how or if she could help him, but he knew she was a superb pilot and with friends like Anakin Skywalker, it was worth a try.

Pernilla was about to leave her room at the palace when she stopped in mid-step and dropped her suitcase. Maul was calling her, he was in trouble. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, trying to reach him. She heard his voice and his desperate request. I need another set of eyes. Pernilla fell back onto her bed and focused all of her energy on helping her husband. He was so far away from her, would her Force sight work? The skill was difficult to use over long distances. She tried not to panic. If she doubted her abilities now, surely her husband was doomed. Maul needed another pilot. Could she do it? Pernilla's mind ran through the galaxy, rushing closer to her partner until at last, she was there! She saw his black form hunched over the controls of his ship, hands moving quickly, but not fast enough.

Pernilla looked beyond Maul's body and out into space. Let me guide your hands, she told him. She saw the lightening and asteroids precious seconds before he did and she deftly guided him across the control panel, as he worked to avoid what he saw. After five unbearable minutes, the Scimitar emerged out of the asteroid field and into a strangely calm expanse of space, filled with several small planetoids and large asteroids. Maul let out a sigh of relief. Thank you, he told her. Thank you. He stood up and turned around to embrace her, so sure was he that she was standing behind him. Pernilla wasn't there and a sudden sadness pierced his core as their sudden intimacy was lost.

Pernilla let out a terrible sigh as she lay on her bed, bathed in the warm sunlight of the Theed Palace. Maul had been in terrible trouble, but she had helped him and he was safe now. But that was not good enough for her. What would have happened if she couldn't have helped him? Would she be forced to watch him die? The thought was so unbearable she dismissed it immediately. She sat up and her head throbbed and her vision blurred. These were no small feats. Using the Force has its side effects. She secretly hoped that she would be able to return to Lamare with her husband for a few more lessons with Timo. They desperately needed to work on their long distance skills. It seemed that they would never get that chance. Pernilla took a moment to refresh her makeup and rearrange her hair under her hat. She took a deep breath and headed out for a vacation in the Lake District.

A shaky hand spilled dark green Toppelian minsk all over a dirty counter top. Even after a goodly amount of hallucinogenic alcohol, nothing seemed to calm the nerves of Logan Elena. He mopped up his mess with a rag and looked at Dax. How was he so calm? What was his plan? His vision blurred and his head ached, the after effect of the forbidden liquid confiscated in a raid that he had organized with Dax and their security forces. Dax's entire den was full of contraband—glitterstim, firearms, pharmaceuticals, plants, animals and other biological agents, and a host of other unmentionables. Collecting and swindling these goods had brought Logan and his friend a great deal of money and power in the underside of the galaxy.

Dax lit a long cigarette. "What's eating you man? You look terrible, like some burned out stim whore."

"What's eating me?" He shot Dax a look of incredulity. "Me? We just tried to kill someone, should have done it ourselves, she didn't die and now she's as good as turned us in and she's ready to slit our throats while we sleep."

"You see Logan, the beauty of being a Jedi is that we have this rather silly idea that every being has the right to live. There is no doubt in my mind that if we were to go to trial, they wouldn't have the nerve to even convict us. Besides, we're Jedi,we don't do things like that. You've got to get into the right mindset."

"I don't give a damn about the Council," the older man's eyes burned with anger. "I'm worried about her! I know you've felt it too. She's coming for us." Dax knew what Logan was feeling. He felt it too. He would attribute it to Pernilla's mental antics, but deep within he knew it to only be the machinations of a guilty conscious.

"So you see Logan, the simple solution to our problem is that we need to eliminate the little whore ourselves. It's pointless to do it alone, but together..."

"Yes, we should kill her." Blind paranoia filled the drunken man's head. Kill her. Kill her now. But then he had another thought. "So what do you think really happened to her? I mean, she fought the Sith guy and the place blew up." He pounded his glass against the table emphatically. "How the hell did she get out of there? We see him leave, there's no crew coming for weeks and it's freezing. You gotta wonder." And Dax did wonder. Logan's drunken ramblings had finally after all of these weeks, produced some useful grain of insight. Just what exactly had happened to her? She was unharmed. It was certainly possible that the lustful feelings he still bore for Pernilla had also been experienced by the Sith, who was by his very nature prone to satisfying those sort of desires.

"He took her with him. That had to have been the only way."

"And then what? I mean she came back stronger than when she'd left."

"Oh my, how nice it would be to have a beautiful captive Jedi, your own personal sex slave. But he would have hurt her. I would have hurt her," Dax's eyes lit up with power, amused by his own attempts to access the Dark Side, rollicking in his own memories. "But she comes back unharmed. Why?"

"Maybe you should ask her." A glimmer of hope flashed through Logan's mind. If they could somehow blackmail her, perhaps she would be persuaded to give them amnesty, leave them alone.

"Why my pathetic, drunken friend, I think that's a fabulous idea."

Pernilla took a deep breath as she drew the covers of her bed around her chest, uncertain what the night would bring. She was tired after a long day of hiking around the blue-green lakes of Naboo and still bothered by the previous nights' vision. She had never seen her mother before and she certainly didn't relish the thought of seeing her mutilated body again. But she needed to speak to Qui-Gon. This time, however, Pernilla didn't go to sleep. She fell into a Jedi trance that allowed her to fully employ her telepathic abilities. In her vision, she was drawn outside into one of Naboo's impossibly verdant gardens. She sat down for a drink at a small table and hoped Qui-Gon would come, doing everything she could think of to boost his power. Please, she thought, please come. A tired middle-aged man sat next to her.

"Qui-Gon," she said with relief. "I am so happy to see you."

"So you've met your mother. I am sorry you had to see her like that, but that is the most important thing I have to show you."

"It's all right. I needed to see that."

"You have questions."

"Who was she? It seemed like you knew her."

"Tai was a very good friend of mine. She worked with the Jedi Council very closely for a time. We valued her telepathic skills and we needed to protect her from the forces of the Dark Side." There was a twinge of sadness in his voice, as if he had failed in his mission.

"But you couldn't save her."

"No. The beautiful thing about your mother was that she was a very free spirit. That's why she worked for the Republic's Intelligence Commission. She liked the adventures, the danger." Qui-Gon smiled in reminiscence and suddenly his story came to life, his voice narrating a progression of scenes that played out between them like a holonet movie. "I could have really loved her. Then maybe you wouldn't have ended up… never mind. I will admit that I always loved her from afar. Nevertheless, she was always out flying around the galaxy, exploring, being a spy. We never knew where she went or what she did unless she was working for us. We had once thought she would fulfill the prophecy of the Force Union, but luckily for her she wasn't Force-sensitive. We spent many evenings together in the library, studying and talking and I even took her out for dinner a few times."

Pernilla's mother was so beautiful, with short blond, tousled hair and big blue eyes. She had an infectious laugh and an irresistible smile. Men fell in love with her on the street. She had many friends. Qui-Gon continued, "I always knew that she had many admirers, but I will never forget the day she fell in love in earnest. Her whole demeanor changed. She refused to tell me his name or where he came from, but she had given him her heart and soul. You could see it in her face. The only thing she revealed was that if was a very secret affair. Then she disappeared again. And then almost a year later, in the middle of the night, she sent me an urgent message. She was on Naboo and she needed my help. She told me she sensed a terrible danger and that she was in a vulnerable position."

"What did she say about me?"

"Nothing. I met her on Naboo. I stayed in the capital and met her for dinner. She didn't say anything about you directly, but implied that she was taking care of a very important person, a very powerful person. That person was you, Pernilla."

Pernilla saw her mother's frightened face, looking into Qui-Gon's eyes. She was scared out of her wits. She didn't dare mention Pernilla's father's name or anything about her baby. Pernilla knew what she was thinking, that she had to keep her baby away from her father at all costs. Pernilla had no idea why, but knew Qui-Gon couldn't answer that question. The older man placed his hand over hers and the story continued.

"I asked her how I could help, but she just wouldn't say anything. She was so quiet. She looked terrible and I was very worried for her, but she was a closed person and she kept me at a distance. That was the last time I saw her alive. The security forces woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me she was dead, exactly what you saw. I've been saving that for so long. I've waited here for you to come and I'm so glad to finally meet you. I have to help you solve her murder, help you solve the mystery of your family because I know you are the Chosen One. As soon as I saw the vision of her and the baby—you, I knew it was you and not her. You were the one destined to make the Force Union and it pleases me to know that your union has been made."

"Even if it was my husband who took your life?"

"It was our destiny to meet and my destiny to die. If he had not killed me, your life would have been threatened unnecessarily." The progression of images playing in Pernilla's mind stopped and she looked at Qui-Gon directly. She saw a great weight pressing down on his shoulders and dark shadows around his face. He was pale and his energy waned.

"I know who my father is," she said desperately. Surely her secret was safe in the Spirit Plane. "Palpatine. Elected Chancellor right before you were killed. Does that make any sense to you?"

"I can't tell you. I never sensed anything out of the ordinary from him. He's just a politician."

"But he is strong with the Force, surely that means something? Can you not sense it?"

"I don't know." Qui-Gon faltered and slumped over in his chair. He was fading.

"Qui-Gon!"

"The light of the Force is calling me..." he whispered.

"If you must go, who else can help me? Please stay with me, Qui-Gon!"

"Ask your... your..." His eyes closed and Pernilla shook him awake.

"Ask who? Stay with me just a little longer."

"Your... husband... He killed... me. Ask him why... why he killed me."

And with a brilliant flash, Qui-Gon Jinn finally let go. Pernilla screamed his name and beat the ground where he had fallen and her tears came hot and fast. Would she ever know her mother? Would she ever see her in a vision? The only man who could tell her anything about her was gone now. Her father would never tell her anything and as she stopped crying, she was left with only one other witness to the mystery of her mother, her husband. This story was becoming ever more twisted. As she returned to the real world, all sorts of questions popped into her head. What in the world did Maul know about her mother? Did he even know she was her mother? Does he know who her father is? Oh by the gods, Pernilla thought, he only knows me as Pernilla Antilles. What will he say when he finds out I am the Chancellor's daughter? She was filled with nothing but a sense of dread and was only able to fall into a light slumber that night with the aid of a few sleeping pills.

A three-dimensional map sprung to life in the cargo bay of the Scimitar. Maul stood amidst his creation, too large for the cockpit, smiling at his meticulous efforts and attention to detail. The gravity currents and wells came to life in various shades of green according to their direction and strength; the black holes and their particle trails and gravitational pulls came to life in purple; the asteroid belts were marked in pink with dangerous areas pulsing in red; and asteroids and planetoids large enough for use glowed in yellow. All possible entry routes were marked with a white line. He made sure to note in his report where it would be possible for him to clear a larger path. He re-read the entire document. Maul was an invaluable researcher and thorough beyond all expectations.

He smiled as he saved his report. He could now return to Coruscant and hopefully Pernilla, but first he'd have to pay a surprise visit to the installation on Geonosis. Maul had a sudden urge to check up on his master's other charges. Ever since he had made the Force Union with his wife, he had noticed an increase in his perception and telepathic abilities, and it was this sense that told him Dooku and Grevious were up to no good. He had known all along, but this time he sensed that they were actually doing something about it.

Mustafar. Dry, hot, dusty, red. Maul stepped out of the Scimitar and looked back to see that it had taken on a rusty sheen. Gods, I hate this planet, he thought. Fifty yards away from the ship and I'm sweating already. At least he had his speeder this time. He headed out into the desert and their presence stuck him like a search light. Dooku and Grievous were out together in a section of storage space they'd been using to perfect the programming of battle droids. As he flew closer to the opening of the vast cavern Maul could make out their shadowy forms. Whatever they were doing, it was suspect. He closed his eyes and willed his consciousness into the dark cave through the power of the Force. It was as he suspected.

Grievous retracted the blades on his four light sabers, their snap-hisses sounding in a unison no living being could produce. Dooku smiled as he belted his weapon.

"Grievous, you have exceeded my expectations, and this is only your third lesson."

"Thank you Count Dooku. I wish to become powerful in the dark arts."

"That is my goal in your instruction. I know how you—" Dooku turned a sly eye to the terrible Grievous. "How we both wish to eliminate the other."

"Darth Maul is no match for our combined strength!" The hate and effort Grievous put into this statement threw the creature into an insatiable fit of coughing and wheezing. Maul relished in the thought that both men feared and hated him so much.

"But he is strong, my student, stronger than he seems, which is why we must become stronger, faster more powerful."

"I've waited long—"

"ENOUGH!" Maul shouted. They were so weak, they hadn't even noticed that he had flown into the cavern and parked his speeder. "Good afternoon Count Dooku and General Grievous. I see things have changed since my last visit. My master has ordered me to oversee this operation and I am disgusted by what I've seen so far. I flew in unannounced, was not hailed by any sort of security; I've rode in here, not too quietly might I add, and I have walked in without either one of you noticing me. As to your conversation," he threw back his cloak and ignited both blades of his lightsaber, "I can address any of your concerns here and now."

It wasn't a threat, it was a promise. Dooku was smart enough not to move, but Grievous was cocky. He reached for his sabers and Maul hit him with a shock of Force lightening, something his android hands could never experience. The energy sent tingling shocks through Maul's body, adding to his feelings of pleasure and excitement. He hoped that they would fight him. He wanted them to fight him so that he could kill them both and prove once and for all that he is his master's one true apprentice. He wanted to kill them as much as they wanted to kill him. But that had not been his master's wish and he had other things to do.

The shock was enough to topple Grievous and burn a few of his circuits. He sat wheezing indignantly. Dooku glared at Maul with arms folded across his chest. "I have other things to attend to," Maul said with authority, "and I will return to check on your progress. My master will not be pleased. And if either one of you wishes to challenge my status as a Dark Lord of the Sith, I will be here, ready for your challenges... or lack thereof."

Maul rode back to the Scimitar, ready to get away from the infernal planet and its pathetic inhabitants.