CHAPTER TEN

Anakin stayed in his chamber, turned out the lights, closed his eyes and sunk into deep meditation. In it, he could see the funerals on Coruscant, but could not reach anyone. He knew what had happened, he knew he'd been replaced by the clone, now he knew the horrible results. He had to find a way to reach Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan, but if they weren't meditating the same time he was it was going to be hard to contact them through the force that far away. Even in his subconsious, this upset him. He had to get back there and clear his name, and stop Palpatine! Something else came to him, a familiar feeling, but this one was much closer. This one came from the same area he was in. Why had he not felt it before? All the stress and misery of his situation had blocked this feeling, as the specially designed mask had distorted his vision and hearing so he couldn't recognize her face or voice. Padme was here, now, he had to go to her!

He immediately reached for his mask so he could go back out of the pod. Then, something told him, no, you don't need this and he realized it was only a trick to get him to wear it, to keep his face covered, just as it had been designed to keep him from knowing too much through his senses. Something about the suit had also been blocking his force sense too. Then he thought, what if it is true, what if his lungs are permanently damaged by the fumes that knocked him out in Palpatine's office and going out without the mask and suit would be deadly? He decided to risk it. He opened the pod and walked out. He was a bit apprehensive at first, but soon found he had no problem breathing. It was only a cruel ploy of Palpatine's to make sure his face stayed covered! He seemed perfectly healthy and fine. He left the large, dark stone room that contained the pod and ventured out into the corridors.

Then he remembered the droid! The droid had been kind to him, but he was probably programmed by Palpatine to report all activity back to him, or even to harm if it he tried to escape. He had to do away with it. Staying where he was, he closed his eyes and used the force to find the droid's location. It was headed his way! He only hoped it had not trasmitted anything yet!

"You must get back in the pod for your own good." He heard it say.

Anakin didn't argue, he was afraid this might cause the droid to set off an alarm or something. He simply raised his hand in a force choke like motion until he had drained all its power. Once the droid stopped moving and went limp, he dissassembled it to make sure it would not function without his knowing about it. That was one bullet dodged, were there more? Did Palpatine install cameras to spy on him? If he did, was he already aware of the situation and Padme's presence? He didn't see any, he hoped Palpatine was only depending on the droid to transmit. He scanned all the corners of the dark building, now that he wasn't using the mask anymore he could see in much more detail. No spy cameras as far as he could tell. Maybe Palpatine had felt they weren't necessary, he couldn't get off the island anyway and had no means of contacting anyone. He was meant to live out his life in this prison, kept alive for some reason known only to the Chancellor- Emperor.Feeling he need not hide his face, he ran through the castle yelling "Padme! Padme is that you? Where are you?"

Padme, hearing Anakin's voice, was in shock and fear. She believed him dead, Obi-Wan had told her he had slain him. Was this a trick, or could it really be him? She was too afraid to answer, and he had to use his instincts to find her. He swung open the door to the room where she lay, and she raised her head and looked at him. The moment their eyes met, they knew.

"Anakin!" She squealed. "Is it really you, or a clone?"

"It was a clone who was killed by Obi-Wan! The Chancellor really is a Sith Lord! He did try to turn me, and when I refused, he gassed me and sent me here, covering my face with that thing to hide my true identity. He replaced me with a clone he made from the finger I lost to Dooku!"

Padme reached out her arms to him. "Anakin! Is it really you, or are you the clone?"

He ran to her side and held her in his arms, and looked deeply into her eyes. "You tell me. You won't need the force to sense my love for you."

She began to sob and hold him tightly. "Oh, I thought you were dead! Obi-Wan said he killed you, I was furious and upset- I attacked him- I collapsed-"

Anakin now for the first time could see her clearly, and he studied her closely. He noticed that she had suffered awful injuries. "Padme, what happened to you?"

"I died, or they thought I did. I had the babies-"

"Babies?"

"Twins, Anakin. I was only semiconsious but I remember, a boy and a girl."

Anakin smiled with joy. "Are they all right?"

"I think so. They must still be in the med center."

For a moment, Anakin concentrated until he felt their little life forces. "They're alive, Padme, I can feel them!"

"We have to get back to them! Oh, Padme, how did you end up here, like this?"

"They thought I had died. The med droid made a mistake. They gave me funeral and put me on a burning pyre boat and sailed me away on fire!"

"Oh, no!"

"I woke up and saw what a bad situation I was in, and tried to jump off! My clothes and hair caught fire, so this is how I came to be injured. Do I look bad to you?"

All he could do was grab her and hug her. "It doesn't matter, you're alive, you're okay, you survived! The wounds will heal and your hair will grow again. You can get new clothes. None of that matters. You are alive and safe here with me!" He pulled her close and held her tightly, crying. She hugged back and cried too.

"Oh, Anakin, it is you, I love you. What are we going to do? We have to get off this island, and get back to the babies!"

"I know, and I have to let the Jedi know it wasn't me, and I have to stop Palpatine. Surely they know about him by now and believe it..."

"Oh yes they do and Qui-Gon has returned!"

"I thought I saw him in my visions as I meditated. It's going to take all of us to stop Palpatine. I feel so helpless. We could be here for years and no one would know!"

"Don't say that, we have to find a way!"

Together, hand in hand, they ran out of the room and began searching the entire castle. They went to its windows and screamed out. All they saw and heard were the waves crashing on the rocks, and endless sea fading into the horizon. They were alone and trapped. Still, they kept searching. Most of the rooms were empty, but at last they heard a humming and saw a small light inside one of them. Carefully, Anakin going first, they peeked inside. There was some machinery, small colored lights, and a large black stone figure of a man hanging on the wall. At first they thought it was only a sculpture, then they realized the terrifying truth. The man was alive and frozen in carbonite! Who was he, and why had this happened to him? Staring closely at his face, distorted as it had been frozen, they recognized a familiar form, they thought.

"He looks like, no, it can't be." Padme said.

"Who, what were you going to say, that he looked like Palpatine? I was thinking the same thing."

"Yes, that was it! I have known him all my life, I know his face well. This looks like him."

"It can't be. I know he's on Coruscant.I saw him leave when he dumped me here."

"Could this be his clone?"

Anakin got chills as he heard her speak these words. If he had been cloned, why not Palpatine? Was this a clone? Or was the one in Coruscant a clone? Did he have a twin brother? What was going on here? Knowing they'd have to find out, Anakin started fiddling with the controls in an attempt to thaw the man out.

"Maybe we shouldn't, what if he's- evil?"

"I would say if he's locked away here like me, he's not the bad guy. If he is, you stay back, I'll take care of it. He will likely be in a weakened state at first, he won't be able to harm us. Now, let me see..." he pressed the correct series of buttons, and the stone slab hummed, moved, and started to glow. Red and gold lights glowed from the edges of the man's form as the black carbonite melted away. Finally, his body was free, and fell flat to the floor out of the remaining slab.

Padme was a bit frightened, but she looked closely at his face and was sure it was that of Chancellor Palpatine, the Senator from Naboo who had come to executive power. Anakin stood over him as he shook and tried to wake up, breathe, and come back to life. He was covered in sweat and writheing on the floor. When he settled down a bit, Anakin spoke to him.

"Who are you and why are you here?"

The man was too weak to speak. It took him a long time to utter "Where am I? Who are you? I can't see..I don't..."

"It's me, Padme."

"Queen Amidala?"

"No, Senator. Don't you remember my term as Queen is over?"

:"What?"

"I am Anakin Skywalker. Do you know me?"

"The young Jedi they say is the Chosen One?"

"Don't you remember all the times we've talked?"

"No..."

Anakin and Padme stared at each other. They didn't know what to make of this. They were interested, but still very cynical and cautious. This was the face of Palpatine, Lord Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith. Or was it? Neither of them slept, they stayed with the man until he was in better condition. After awhile, his body had come out of hibernation, he could see and breathe and move about again, but was still very weak. As the sun came up, they questioned him.

"How did you get here?"

"I've been trying to recall, and now I do."

"Tell us, it's very important."

"I am Senator Palpatine of Naboo, I have recently been chosen to become the new Supreme Chancellor."

"Is that as far back as your memory goes?"

"That is when they kidnapped me, took me away and froze me. He knew I was about to assume the role of the highest political power in the galaxy, and he wanted that for himself so he replaced me and took my job, and my life!"

Anakin and Padme were stunned beyond belief. Padme spoke. "Are you saying, the man who has been in Coruscant these last few years is not the real Palpatine?"

"No! I am the real Palpatine!"

"You were cloned?" Anakin asked. "I was replaced by a clone and left here in a metal mask. Is the man running the galaxy a clone of you?"

"No."

Anakin and Padme were more puzzled now. "How can that be? If you are the real Palpatine and he isn't, who is he?"

Palpatine turned his head and stared at them as he revealed the bombshell. "Syfo- Dias."

Anakin was full of shock, awe and rage. "So that's who Syfo-Dias was! When Obi-Wan went to Kamino, they told him that the clones had been ordered by Syfo-Dias but we didn't know who that was. They thought Obi-Wan was him."

"I'm not surprised." Palpatine stated. "He is a changeling. He took the form of Obi-Wan when he ordered the clones. He can take any form he chooses. Now he's taken mine."

Cold chills went through Anakin and Padme. "You mean, the man everyone thinks is you is actually Syfo-Dias?"

"Yes. He is very evil. Before I was frozen, I found out he is what you Jedi call a Sith Lord, his Sith name is Darth Sidious. He was the apprentice of Darth Plaugeous the wise."

"You, I mean, he, I mean the man posing as Chancellor Palpatine, he told me about that Dark Lord of the Sith and how he was killed in his sleep by his apprentice."

"Syfo-Dias was his apprentice. Lord Sidious is the new Sith Lord. He has assumed my form and is doing evil in my name."

Anakin's blood went cold. Padme was shaking. "What are we going to do? How are we going to get out of here?"

"I don't know." Anakin said, staring out at the vast empty sea surrounding them. "All I know is, we must, and we will."