Gaya was sulking. She considered this to be progress on her part. It meant she was diverting fear into anger; the quick, petulant kind that would pass through her and leave minimal emotional scarring.

Sitting curled on the bed in the rooms where the guards had left her, apparently having a meltdown, also gave Gaya the opportunity to surreptitiously check the security in the suite, at least the 'bedroom' part of it. She could see at least two undisguised security cameras, which Ardan could and probably would have argued were there for, well, security reasons. Still, they were invasive, and Gaya planned to cover them or short them out very soon.

And of course there were probably loads of visual and auditory monitoring devices she couldn't see. It was strange to think of Ardan spying on her, but in his current frame of mind, he'd probably rationalized that he was keeping her from hurting herself or making unwise decisions or something like that.

Did he ever spy on me back home, at the apartment? She realized with a sudden chill that there was no way to know.

She needed to get out of this room. She needed to be able to get out. She could try pretending she'd seen the error of her New Republican ways, of course…but she didn't feel confident of her lying abilities as far as Ardan was concerned. Besides, it was quite possible that he wouldn't buy it. Just because he was delusional definitely didn't mean he was stupid, and he'd known her since she was two years old. And he 'read' people way more complex than she was, practically for a living.

I need someone on the inside. Problem is, I'm supposed to be the one on the inside.

Just as she had begun to silently wrack her brain for ideas, there was a knock on the door of the front room. Gaya opened it to find a stormtrooper, and although it was difficult to be certain, it was possible- her instincts insisted on it, in fact- that he was the one she'd spoken to on the shuttle. "Hi," she said guardedly.

He was quiet for a moment, and seemed to shuffle a little. Then, he said, "Yes…greetings, Princess." Princess. That was going to take some getting used to.

"Our orders are that you should be under guard at all times, for your protection," he continued. He paused. "My men and I were wondering…it seemed to some of us that, since you are going to be here for some time, you should learn…where things are."

"Are you offering to give me a tour?" Gaya asked bluntly.

The trooper winced, slightly but visibly. Gaya wondered for a moment if clones could have Krandyn's Disorder. This was a level of social awkwardness she would have expected from…well, from herself. "You could call it that. We'll escort you. It won't actually be a breach of orders, per se." He sounded as though he was trying to convince himself.

Gaya nodded. "Thanks. That would be great," she told him, slipping out the door before he could change his mind.

"Where are we going first?" she asked, voice echoing faintly in the low-ceilinged corridor.

"Well, you were very disrespectful to his Imperial Majesty today," he told her matter-of-factly. "In fact, if I may be so bold, Your Grace, you were downright ungrateful." Gaya felt her anger flare, but she kept quiet, waiting.

"So," he continued, as the cloud of anxiety around him grew denser. "I want to show you where that sort of attitude will take you, here. So we've brought you to the cells."

Gaya felt a grin attempt to spread itself slowly across her face as she realized his game. She did her best not to show it, in case there were security cameras. "Uh, well, thanks, um…sir. I think I'm learning my lesson. Definitely."

"Of course, you aren't finished learning it yet, I expect, Princess," he told her pointedly. "I think it would be most effective if you were to come down here at regular intervals, to reflect on your good fortune. Maybe even a daily basis."

"Sure, that's a great idea," she agreed easily. "And you know what might really help? If I got to talk to some actual prisoners about what it's like in there. Maybe people I trust. Like my friends."

He nodded. "I'll just set up the console here so that you can read who is in each cell, Your Grace." He did this, and then left, along with his men, although Gaya knew they wouldn't go far. He wanted to help her, to repay her maybe for her concern for one of his own, but he had no interest in letting her escape.

She opened the small hatch in the door of the first cell. "Hey," she said, trying to sound cheerful. She did her best attempt at a dry, contemptuous Imperial accent. "You rebel scum."

"Gaya?" Jaina ran to the hatch. "Is it really you?"

"Of course, who else would it be? I mean, look. I'm clearly me."

"Well, you could be one of Palpatine's mindfreaks. I mean, he hasn't tried that on us yet, but they say he can do it. What did you borrow from me for Mom's reception?"

"Earrings. Crystal ones."

"Okay. And where were you and Cody planning to go on your upcoming date?"

Gaya bit her lip. "That's…that's a trick question. I mean, he didn't…we're not going on any date."

Jaina looked mildly remorseful. "Sorry. I wanted to ask one trick question, just in case. Anyway, you seem like you."

"Okay. So…what happened? At the Temple?"

"He hacked the security alarm and broke in. Mr. Teta, I mean. Well, obviously he's the reincarnated Palpatine, we know that now, Cody explained to us his theory about the clones. Jacen said he sent troops to the Jedi Temple, and it worked because the masters were away and nobody was expecting it. But he came to our Temple personally. Anyway, he got through Witicca and everybody without even breaking a sweat, but I don't think they're dead." She paused. "He killed Master Apathian, Gaya."

"What?"

"He just…did it. They weren't even dueling at that point. He'd disarmed him. He just looked down at Apathian, and he had this really freaky look on his face, just this really scary look…and then he just sank the blade into Apathian's chest. Really slowly. Almost up to the hilt."

"He was getting revenge," Gaya told her hollowly. "For me…well, really for himself. All the stuff that people did to me…I think he sees it as some kind of thing against me and him both. He killed Ms. Starkeller, and those boys who used to bother me back at PS 180; I'm sure of it." She shook her head. "I mean, thank the Force he didn't know about-" she lowered her voice- "about Cody not wanting to go out. Or else who knows what he might've done to him."

"I wondered about why he decided to nab Chad along with us, but not Linxo or anyone," Jaina admitted. "He might have something nasty planned for him. Is Linxo okay?"

"Yeah, she was helping some of the first-years hide. So who exactly got taken, aside from you?"

"From our Temple, it's me, Cody, and Chad. Then from the Jedi one, Jacen. But Gaya, there's something else." She took a deep breath. "He took Annie, too."

"Your brother? The little one?"

"Yeah. He's here…He ordered them to put us all in separate cells, but then Annie started crying and some of the stormtroopers came and put him in here with me, so at least that's good. He's asleep now." She looked as if she was about to cry. "Gaya, please make him let Annie go. I mean, it's different for me and Jacen, because, you know, we've had training and stuff. And we're older. But he's barely in primary school."

Gaya struggled for control over her sudden anxiety. Jaina had always been the one who was confident in her skills and didn't have meltdowns, and Gaya had always leaned on her. Now, her friend looked ready to crack, and that was the scariest thing yet. She wanted to promise Jaina that she'd get little Anakin Solo home, but she realized with dismay that she couldn't even guarantee that. "I'll…I'll try, Jaina, I promise. Look, Jaina, try to think. If there's anything you remember, or whatever, that could help me get us out of this…"

"Yeah. Absolutely. I'll try." Jaina seemed to pull herself together somewhat.

"Okay. I'm going to go talk to Cody now. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay." Now Jaina just looked worn out. "May the Force be with you."

It came to Gaya that she hadn't spoken to Cody since he'd rejected her offer. It wasn't that she'd been giving him the silent treatment or anything like that, because even though she'd felt disappointed, angry, and humiliated enough to die on the spot, she understood that it wasn't his fault he didn't like her the way she liked him. It was just that after their last talk she had understood that her hopes for the relationship were never going to materialize, and the feelings Cody inspired in her were based on nothing. So she'd avoided him, but without resentment, in the same way that a recovering spice addict might avoid the planet Kessel. It wasn't him, it was her.

Now she opened the hatch as slowly and carefully as she could. "Um. Hi."

His face appeared nearly immediately in the opening. "Gaya? What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm here to try to get you all out of here. Is everyone okay?"

"Yes, I think so. Gaya, listen to me. Get away from here. Ardan- the man who was your stepfather-"

"He's Palpatine reborn. I know. That's why I'm here. I'm…he's not just my stepfather, Cody, he's also…he's my biological one, too. They don't know how, but they did some tests-"

"That won't save you. Or us," he cut in. "Gaya, you need to get away. Tell them to blast this place into dust. I came into contact with the Emperor before, and he'll kill or give up anyone else to further his own plans. Because he's a father figure to you, you think there's good in him somewhere, and because you're related to him you think he won't hurt you. Gaya, there is nothing he won't do to protect himself and his power. You have to get off this planet."

"I can't. I surrendered to him and now I don't think he'd let me leave even if I fed him a story about it. Listen…what are his plans for you guys, exactly?"

"I think we're hostages to keep you and Chancellor Organa in line," he explained. "But after he's retaken the Empire and won back his old systems- and eliminated the New Republic leadership- I think he wants to make us Dark Side Adepts. You know, those old Force-sensitives they find working as bounty hunters or trapped in lab facilities or whatever. Not quite Sith, but almost."

She nodded. "By the way, there's a squad of st- of clone troopers assigned to protect me, and they led me down here and let me talk to you. How can they disobey orders like that? I thought it was in their genes."

He nodded. "It is. But it's possible to resist. Most people don't know that, but it's true. Bucking the Code. They must like you."

"I asked them to contact your old unit and tell them you were okay. What's the Code?"

"That'd do it." He leaned in slightly. "Listen, don't ever talk about the Code to anyone, not even Jaina. Except maybe Master Bane, because she already knows about it. Some Imperials do. Like, I'm pretty sure Vader knew about it. But most of them don't. We teach it to each other, older guys teaching younger ones, starting when we learn to talk. The Code is like…it's rules about how we live and how we fight and everything like that. Like what your responsibilities are to your unit, and to your commanding officer, and to civilians and even prisoners and everything. Most of the rules are just our gene programming put into words, but some of it is…extra. Every clone knows it, at least in part. Every clone with a name knows the Code." He shook his head. "Breeders…I mean, 'normal humans,' sorry…they don't understand. From their perspective we're just biological droids. They don't see why we need to have names and a Code and everything just among ourselves, when we basically don't have a choice in what we do."

Gaya shrugged. "I understand."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Everyone needs things like that. Like…paradigms, or something. To get them through the day, and to make them who they are. I mean, I figure it's like the Diversity Alliance. People think Krandyn's is just some disease, a disability like not having both legs or something. They don't understand why you need to feel proud to have it, why it has to be an identity thing."

He nodded. "I've begun to understand that. I realized it was like us and the Code that day at the rally. It…made me think a lot about life with my unit." He looked like he wanted to say something else, but didn't.

Gaya took a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry I've been…not very sociable since then. It's not because I was mad at you or anything. I just…didn't know what to say. And I'm not going to tell Ard- him about you and I; you know, I don't want to…to get back at you or anything like that. So don't worry."

"Gaya-" he paused, and then tried again. "Look, Gaya, you don't understand…about that day, the reason I said no…it wasn't because I didn't…I mean-"

"It's okay. I'd just rather not talk about it right now." Gaya wondered how much more time she had. She felt better with Cody here; the thought of going back to her quarters alone- or worse, meeting with this new personality wearing Ardan's face- made her stomach turn. "So," she said, to prolong the conversation (the first time in her life she'd ever actively sought to increase the amount of immediate socializing in her life). "How do you know Palpatine? You mean, like, personally?"

He looked down. "He's your father. I'm not going to-"

"It won't bother me, I promise. Please, I'm really curious."

He looked up into her face and sighed. "All right."