Chapter 19. Secrets
*** 1 ***
Anakin and Padme cuddled in bed. They wanted to have some intimacy, but Imperius was sitting on Padme's head, kneading and purring.
"She is such a baby." Anakin waved a hand at the Loth-cat, trying to lure her away.
"It will not work, love. She is as needy as you," Padme teased.
"I am not needy. It is that you are too attractive." He touched her face with a hand. Imperius immediately started to lick it, which made Padme chuckle.
"Today, the Kaminoan senator needs to make a confession about the fake virus." His mind shifted to the issues that concerned him the most.
"No politics in the bed. Get up." She smiled at him. Her warm brown eyes always melted his heart. He wished they could stay this way forever.
They got up and moved to the kitchen. C-3PO had already prepared their breakfast, and now he was nowhere to see.
They started to eat. Another concern hit his mind. "I still don't like the idea of investigating Dooku's old contacts in the Senate," he grumbled. "You're just asking for trouble. Both you and my father were quite close to Dooku. Dredging up the past won't help you find his ally in the Senate. What is happening now is what matters, not the events in the past. Isn't that the point of the Senate surveillance program?"
"I don't support that program," Padme hissed. "Ever since the inception of the program, we haven't caught a single Dooku collaborator, instead, dozens of senators were indicted for offenses such as love affairs, conflict of interests, or even just saying controversial things. This program can incriminate everyone if your father sees fit."
"You can't speak ill of my father like this," he pushed back. "Don't forget that the Jedi supervised this program. My father just reviews the final reports."
"Tarkin was the one who did everything. The Jedi can't stop him. He is the closest ally of your father. A good friend of yours as well," she said with annoyance. "Think about your role in this."
"I am sorry. I can't choose who I am," he said dramatically.
Padme shot him a hard look, clearly unamused. "Yes, you can. You can choose democracy!"
If he could honestly speak his mind, he would say that democracy was a joke from day one. Democracy was designed to force the competent leaders to stand aside, and indulge the incompetent politicians who turned the Senate into a circus. All senators should have equal voices under the rule of democracy. But really? Padme clearly deserved more power than the Kaminoan senator. Shouldn't merits and moral characters have more weight on who can speak?
"Democracy almost killed the clone virus hearing, Ms. Chairwoman." He finally was fed up by years of democracy lectures. "You are enthusiastically chairing a hearing that was sanctioned undemocratically. What would you say about that?" he challenged her.
To his surprise, Padme became quiet. After a while, she said, "Let us focus on the virus issue and the hearing. It is the most important thing at the moment. Are you prepared?"
"I will do fine. My public speaking definitely improved in the past couple of years." He moved to Padme' side of the table and hugged her. "It is exciting that we are fighting in the same battle." And not fighting against each other, he finished the unspoken part in his mind.
"Indeed." She kissed him, an intoxicating kiss that lit up his entire day.
*** 2 ***
"These are all conspiracy theories, Ms. Chairwoman," Halle Burtoni, the senator from Kamino, launched another round of personal attacks on Padme. "You and your xenophobic special-interest group hate the Kaminoans. You claimed that we designed genetically flawed clones because you want to destroy our economy. Only humans deserve jobs, right?"
She didn't fall into her trap. Nowadays senators would not even care to call out these dirty tactics such as public shaming. Civility was long gone from the Senate. Whoever made a bolder accusation won the debate.
Burtoni moved on to attack Anakin. "Your boyfriend is the worst. He made up the story that the virus was not real. He did it out of hatred, because the Jedi work with us, and they love us, not him!" She turned around to glare at Anakin. "Don't pretend the Jedi are your friend now. I am no fool."
"Feel free to call me whatever you want. Human supremacist if you wish. The Navy demands a live sample of the virus. We are not going anywhere until the demand is met." Anakin commanded authority, which made Padme very proud. He looked really good in his naval uniform. As military leaders during wartime, the optics were important. Before they left home, she applied some makeup for him to hide the signs of his lack of sleep. It also helped to make him look a little less like the little boy too many people saw him as.
"Skywalker, for the last time, we had to destroy all the samples of the virus in order to control the spread. We already submitted the genetic information of the virus. You can research more if you wish. We don't have any live samples in our possession," Burtoni announced confidently.
"You destroyed the two bodies against all your own protocols. This is highly irregular. I am not alone in believing that the accident was not caused by a virus. I suggest the Senator from Kamino be interrogated for UnRepublican activities. Does the Jedi Order approve?"
"The Jedi Order has no specific opinion on this matter," the surveillance program's Jedi representative answered. That meant that, as long as Palpatine said yes, Burtoni would be arrested and interrogated. From what Padme knew, the Jedi's interrogation was like a children's game compared with what Dooku's operatives had done on Republic agents. Anakin called it chitchat.
Some senators looked at the Kaminoan with pity. They believed that the words of Palpatine's son were some type of decree.
All the eyes were on the Chancellor now. Padme anticipated Palpatine would approve the motion because the stakes were very high, and the cloners' behaviors were indeed suspicious.
"My dear colleagues, I heard passionate arguments from both sides. I am very concerned about the clone accident since my own life was under direct threat."
A few people in the audience shouted in agreement at his words. He raised a hand to quiet them.
"But I have to put my personal feelings aside. I don't see evidence of the Kaminoans conspiring against the Republic. Senator Burtoni has been a patriotic leader since the planet joined the Republic. She is an important ally for us. Let me set the record straight, without Kamino's support, we will not be this close to victory!"
The audience fell into a collective silence, shocked by his words.
"The separatists are retreating everywhere! If we work together, rather than fight among ourselves, we may be months or even days away from the Separatists' surrender." His voice became sad. "The Republic has already suffered so much damage. The war already lasted much longer than it should. Please do me a personal favor, unite for the common good during my final days as the Chancellor. Each of us must do our parts as a loyal Republic citizen! Then we will win!" He finished the speech with conviction.
The cheers in the Senate chamber were like thunder.
Padme and Anakin made eye contact. He clearly could not believe what just happened. This man was not politician material.
Palpatine was addicted to power and he didn't care about any other consequences imposed by the clone problem. But, to his credit, the war was indeed going well recently.
Like she just predicted, a senator put forward a motion to grant Palpatine more executive power. It passed almost unanimously. Padme didn't even try to intervene this time. She didn't have enough votes to stop it and she had better not antagonize Palpatine and his loyalists at this moment.
She would lead her delegates to request him to step down the minute the war was won. He might say the Republic needed to be rebuilt from the ground, so he was needed. But for Padme, it would be a job for the next Chancellor.
Anakin ran to her and grabbed her hand. His hand was cold.
"This is so wrong!" he exclaimed.
"More emergency power is wrong?" she asked sarcastically. He'd certainly never had a problem with it before.
"You know what I mean. The fake virus. My father must have good reasons, but I can't let the murder happen again," he said anxiously. As the media's Hero With No Fear, Anakin was always careful to appear collected in public. He must really be upset to appear so rattled in front of an audience.
"Each of us does our parts as a loyal Republic citizen." She smiled. "I am with you, love."
*** 3 ***
Palis' ship entered the atmosphere of Carajam, a lawless desert planet. It was where the last slave-freeing operations took place. Another ruthless slaughter of the slavers and their families, but salvation for the enslaved.
Her gut feeling was that the person with a white lightsaber was Anakin, despite the fact that the 15-year-old Anakin was a bit too young to lead these operations.
Yet, Anakin was anything but ordinary. He dared to challenge Ventress, a powerful Sith Acolyte. It was not something an ordinary person would even contemplate. He was very confident in the ways of combat. The Jedi thought that he was overly confident, and had won by luck, but she believed that he knew exactly what he was doing.
Most importantly, his resentment toward the Jedi was out of proportion. Anakin and the Children of the Force had lost their case in the Court. The next day they introduced their radical ideas in the Senate.
The so-called Children of the Force Freedom Act did not attack the Jedi Order directly. It talked about Force-based organizations in general. However, it went far beyond allowing parents to take their children back from the Order, or stopping the alleged discrimination against individuals.
It legalized the Order of the Sith without spelling out its name.
"If Force-sensitive people are not acting directly against the interests of the Republic, they have the right to organize without any other Force-based organization's interference and/or monitoring."
Translation? If the bill passed, the Jedi Order could no longer intervene to protect the Republic from threatening Force-tradition like the Sith, if they somehow convinced the politicians and judges that they were not against the Republic, but against the Jedi Order only. The Sith acting against the Jedi would no longer be illegal.
"The Senate of Republic shall not grant power to a single Force-based organization. All organizations shall be equal."
Meaning? The Jedi Order would lose all its authority to decide which Force-traditions were a threat to the Galaxy.
Anakin and Rackeli could claim that they simply borrowed language from other equal rights bills, but Palis did not believe it was coincidental. Anakin himself did not know how to use the Force, so he could not run his own Force-training school. Why did they even bother to write such things in the bill? Only Sith worshippers had the motivation to do so. They wanted the Sith's "rightful return."
Interestingly, the bill had a citizenship clause: a former member of a Republic-recognized Force-based organization shall be automatically granted citizenship.
She could imagine the expression on Anakin's face when he wrote this. It was a bribe designed for her. She still hadn't gotten her citizenship status worked out yet. They wanted her to drop her opposition for her own benefit, but she would not take the bribe. Instead, she wrote a letter to oppose every single line of it.
Regardless of how much she was frustrated and angered by Anakin's group, she did not hate them. Her heart had a soft spot for Anakin.
She befriended him when he moved to Coruscant when he was 10. They had met in a memorial ceremony honoring Master Qui-Gon Jinn after his death on Naboo. She could tell that Anakin had been close to Qui-Gon, but he was uncomfortable with being surrounded by numerous Jedi Knights and Masters. At that time, her master had just been expelled by the Council, so she shared a similar uncomfortable feeling.
She had sought him out and asked his adopted father's permission to take him to visit different places on the Coruscant. His father had reluctantly agreed. Presenting themselves as an older sister and a young brother, they had managed to participate in some pod racing in the Lower Level together. He had beaten her in every race.
They had shared secrets. He told her that he admired Padme and wanted to marry her one day. Palis told him that she just broke up a secret relationship with her boyfriend. It was quite surreal that a 10-years-old kid and an adult Jedi shared secrets about their love life, but they were a good audience for each other.
When she returned from the offworld missions, she brought small gifts to him. However, it did not last long. He left Coruscant after a vicious smear campaign in the Senate. Someone claimed that Palpatine had adopted the child for sexual exploitation. But where did he go? He had told her that he visited many places and studied with tutors, but what exactly did he do? Maybe he met a Sith without knowing the whole truth?
Despite all his troubling making, Palis wanted him to be happy. Doing all the anti-Jedi activism would not bring him happiness. His obsessions of "freedom" and the imaginary Jedi oppression would only hurt him. She wanted to knock him out of his crazy pursuit, so both of them could sleep better.
She landed her ship near the old slave quarters. Setting off into the surrounding neighborhood, she pulled up the hood of her plain brown poncho. She hoped it would help her blend in, but she immediately drew wary looks from the locals. Luckily, she was very good at making friends. Soon she was introduced to an older person. He was a former slave and the only one who had a glimpse of the person's face.
She showed a younger Anakin's picture to the older man, and asked him whether this was the person he saw. To her disappointment, the man's eyes had an infection at that time, so he had not seen the person's face clearly.
"He came to rescue his mother, but she was ill and dying," the old man told her. "She believed that she would see her son again before she died, and she was right. Shmi died in peace."
Shmi. That name sounded familiar to her.
"Do you know her full name?"
"Shmi Skywalker. Very interesting last name."
Palis felt that she was electrified and frozen at the same time. A big wave of sadness hit her. Her gut feelings about the slave freer' identity had been accurate, but the tragic story was beyond her imagination.
Padme mentioned to her that Anakin had a very unique perspective about freedom. Now Palis knew why.
"The son was also a slave?" She knew the answer, but she wanted confirmation.
"Yes. His mother said he was born on Tatooine."
"Did you see him with a lightsaber? I mean a bright laser sword." She needed more information.
"No, I did not." The man shook his head. "He killed all the masters single-handedly, and burned the house down. Everything was on fire. I do not know what weapon he used."
Other all former slaves nodded.
She still did not have enough evidence to prove Anakin was the person who had a lightsaber. Even if he was that person, then so what? He could have bought a lightsaber on the black market. She had heard stories about some Coruscant elites collecting lightsabers. Anakin was obsessed with the Jedi. If he brought a lightsaber, she would not be surprised.
If the Sith gave him the lightsaber, it should not be a white one.
The new revelation was shocking indeed, but it did not help her to find Darth Sidious.
What she knew, for now, was that Anakin had a lot of blood on his hands. However, in the lawless Outer Rim worlds, outside Republic's rule, the murder of slavers was something to celebrate. Justice was served for the slaves.
There were still many questions that needed to be answered. She wanted to tell Obi-Wan about the development, but she felt Force whispered to her, telling her that it was not the way.
Why did the Force start to speak to her after all these years? Was it really the Force speaking, or just her imagination? She knew what she did was a wild goose chase, but she had nothing to lose.
Then an old conversation flashed in her mind.
"Good luck with your search. May the Force be with you," Anakin had said before she embarked on the Sith investigation journey. She knew Anakin hadn't meant it. Maybe the Force took his words literally. If he was indeed related to the Sith, he granted her permission to be found.
"May the Force be with you too, but defeat your divisive agenda," she had replied.
Perhaps, the Force granted both of their wishes.
"Show me Shmi's grave."
*** 4 ***
"I am going to ask the Kaminoan senator a few questions myself. You secure a place where no one will see us . " Vader started to draft an encrypted message to Slick. He stopped in the middle and deleted it.
Too risky. He sighed.
He needed to extract as much information as possible from Burtoni, but not cause any harm to her. Because of Kamino's prominent role in the war, anything that happened to her would cause public scrutiny. If his Force-assisted interrogation did not go well and her memory about the event was not completely erased, Vader would be the first person to be suspected thanks to their ugly confrontation in the Senate.
He had been thinking about how to proceed with the "virus" case since the hearing. Sidious said he had already had things under control, and foresaw a victory of the war. No more questions were needed.
However, Vader had the feeling that there was a conspiracy with the Jedi involved. The Jedi knew more than what he was told. They refused to share all the information. Thus, the information had to come from the Kaminoan directly.
Forceful interrogation was off the table now. But, as Anakin Skywalker, the son of Chancellor and a military leader, he had plenty of tricks to play.
He went to the fresher, fixed his hair, put on fancy clothes that befitted his social status, then walked out of home.
He knew the senator was in the conference room in her own office, talking to her allies, discussing the possibilities of creating some clones as labor for the post-war reconstruction.
Interestingly, Vader himself was not so sure the war would be won in a short period of time. Palpatine said the victory may be just days away. Indeed, the Separatists were retreating. Intel said the Separatists senators were discussing a peace treaty. Again.
He was tired of this. Every time when the Republic was gaining ground quickly, Dooku would deliver a surprise and change the tide. It had been a pattern.
He had long suspected that the Jedi Council had traitors who shared intel with Dooku. The top suspect was Yoda, who had once been his master. Dooku stole knowledge from the Sith, then cut a deal with Yoda. Who knew what else was in their sleeve?
It seemed that Dooku had not told Yoda about Palpatine and Anakin's identities yet. He could do it at any moment when he believed it was the right time to negotiate a better deal.
This meant Palpatine had to be ready to arrest the whole Jedi Council and everyone else who defended them. With the newest emergency power, Palpatine could activate the Insurrection Act to crush any Jedi coup without a Senate vote.
If that happened, Vader would have a lot of work to do. Finally, he would be known for what he truly was. He didn't want to think about Padme's reaction. Probably it was the end of their relationship, all thanks to the galactic conflicts created by Dooku and the Jedi Council because they wanted to run the shadow government for another 1000 years.
The Sith would not allow it to happen. They had proved that they were much better at ruling the Republic during the crisis. No more Jedi shadow government. They would no longer be able to handpick planetary leaders in the name of unbiased negotiations. All the lies would end. Ironically, Dooku was a catalyst to make all these possible. Evil fought against themselves and justice finally would be served.
But how? Palpatine already had the power to disband the Jedi Order with a strike of the pen. Of course, Jedi could rebel against the decision. As the Commander-in-Chief, the Chancellor could command the clone army to fight the Jedi, but only if they followed the order.
What if they refused? There was a good chance that they would refuse because the Jedi created them. Troopers like Slick who saw Jedi as oppressors were rare. The Navy and newly trained Academy soldiers would be outnumbered and outpowered by a rebellious Clone army led by the Jedi.
This mysterious "virus accident" made matters more uncertain. What if the virus indeed existed? It could be a secret bioweapon created by Dooku or even the Jedi themselves to function like the infamous mind-control worms on Geonosis.
However, his instinct told him that it was more likely the "virus" was a cover-up for something else worse. Otherwise, the Kaminoans would not go that far to destroy evidence.
He asked Jedi Master Kenobi for more details about the clone's original creation, but he hadn't said much.
Some critical information was hidden, and Vader knew it.
Sidious was wise, but he didn't take the risk of the clone army seriously enough. Securing the loyalty of the Kaminoans was far from enough. More emergency power was still not enough.
This was exactly why the Sith Order needed a faithful Apprentice to cover all the angles. This was what Vader was doing now.
"Senator Burtoni, I came to apologize." He greeted the Kaminoan with all the sincerity he could muster. "I was wrong to suspect and insult you. I want to make things right with you."
"Oh, Stars. Skywalker." She looked at him with suspicion. "It sounds nice, but how could I trust you?" He could sense both suspicion and excitement within her. Actually, more excitement than suspicion.
"The draft of the Republic Defense Bill is in my hand." He smiled devilishly. "I can add one line or two. Senator Amidala would not mind if they are for reconstruction."
"Interesting. You knew about these closed-door talks so fast." She was genuinely surprised.
"Word in the Senate travels fast. And you know who I am." He extended his hand. "How about we discuss this matter further in my father's favorite restaurant? My treat."
Burtoni took the bait.
Over the dinner, he indulged the Senator with some of the First Family's gossip. The senator drank far more wine than what her body could handle. Of course, she didn't know he had quietly manipulated her midichlorians to intensify the intoxication.
"Now I believe the virus was the cause of the accidents. I want to know more about improving clones' health. What policy would you recommend?"
"Now you believed it?" She laughed.
"Of course. Why not?"
"I thought you were smarter than this, Admiral." She smiled at him conspiratorially. "There was no virus. You were right."
Her answer didn't surprise him.
"Then how did it happen?" he asked as nonchalantly as possible.
"It was a malfunction."
"Malfunction of what?" His heart was racing to a level that was dangerous.
"Of their brain-"
But the conversation was interrupted.
"Anakin, I didn't know you were here," Palpatine interrupted. He and Tarkin approached the table. "How nice to see that you and Senator Burtoni are friends now. I am very proud of you, son. May we join you two?"
"Father, it is great to see you and Governor Tarkin." He stood up and let Palpatine sit at his side of the table.
Vader sighed internally. Palpatine's agent had been monitoring the Kaminoan. He had said that every move of Burtoni should be watched. This was his way of telling his apprentice not to meddle.
Very disappointing, but Vader was one step closer to the truth.
Malfunction of the brain. There was a genetic flaw that could be exploited.
He made up an excuse, paid for the whole meal, and left the restaurant early.
He arrived home soon and locked the office door. He needed Slick to do more investigations, but before he could contact Slick, a blast of Force energy hit his mind.
Light side of the Force. He was dragged into a vision.