After the trip to the hospital, we visit Prime Minister Almec in his office. After Satine and Padmé explain the situation to him, he asks, "What if it's not a poison? It must be Death Watch."
Satine doesn't think so. "I'm not so sure," she begins. "In the past, the Death Watch attacks have only been directed at myself and the administration, not the children."
"They are terrorists," Almec points out. Terrorists act towards a political gain in the hopes to gain support for their cause. Hurting innocent children will only drive potential support away from them. "Perhaps the senator's visit has inspired them." He looks accusingly towards Padmé, a look I did not appreciate.
It also gets a rise from the duchess. "Terrorists?" she repeats. "All minds should be on the sick children that are dying in the streets. What are you going to do to save them?" Satine slams her fist onto the arm of her seat as she glares at the Prime Minister.
Almec slowly rises. "I must speak to the ruling council about this matter," he says calmly before walking away.
Padmé and I both look to Satine. "I refuse to believe that Death Watch has anything to do with this," she utters quietly.
"I agree," Padmé replies. "His concern for the children-"
"Was practically none," Satine interrupts. "All he thinks about is politics."
"Well, we can't just sit here and do nothing."
Satine dons a conspiratorial grin. "My thoughts exactly."
Not sure how this will end up. I raise an eyebrow as I glance between the two politicians. "Will this require getting our hands dirty?" I ask with a small small. The duchess's own grin grows. "Then c'mon, Padmé. An outfit that you can actually run in is in order."
Padmé scoffs, amused. "You always know how to lighten the mood," she remarks.
The three of us meet back up in the throne room once we had changed into clothes more suitable for an outing. After discussing the intricacies of the plan, Satine sits on her throne after calling in her guards. Padmé and I stand to the side.
"Thank you all for coming," Satine starts once they've all fallen into line. "I suppose you're wondering why I asked you here. As my personal guards, you are the only ones I can trust to investigate this matter." Duchess Satine rises from her throne and marches towards the guards. "We have little time. That is why I have asked for your help. Padmé."
The senator straightens her posture and steps forward to address the men. "Each of you will be getting a special com-link and data pad, means of direct communication and locations you should investigate." Padmé explains, signalling the attendant to hand them out.
"This must be a closed loop affair," Satine stresses.
"Hundreds of children have been poisoned," Padmé reveals.
"They are our children. And they need our help." I spot a few slight nods among the group. "This is a Mandalorian matter, and we must find out who dares poison our children. Thank you. Thank you all." At Satine's last words, the guard dismisses to start the proceedings.
"So, where do we start?" I ask the duchess.
"The schools," she states matter-of-factly.
By the time we arrive at the first school, it's lunch time. Satine convinces the superintendent to allow us in to check the place out. He leads us to the lunch room to see the children. "Thank you for allowing us to inspect the school, superintendent," Satine says to be courteous.
"My pleasure, Duchess," he replies politely. Children mill about eating the food and socializing. Doctor Zaz is also present. We head over to him.
"We've cleared the food here," the doctor reports. "None of it is tainted." A child walks by holding a tray with a bottle on it while another walks by with a cup.
"What about what they ate yesterday?" Padmé asks as I look around the room. About half of the children were drinking what looks like an outside source of drink, maybe juice.
"The menu of food is pretty regular here," Doctor Zaz answers, rubbing his chin like Obi-Wan does. At the thought of my favorite jedi, I rest my hand on my stomach. What if this happens to our own child? I blink a few times and turn my attention back to the doctor. That is not a pleasant line of thought. "We would have caught something with our tests."
The food. They tested the food. "What about their drinks, doctor?" Satine inquires.
"No, they drink fresh water."
"What about the bottled drinks?" I ask. "Are they provided by the school?"
It is as though a lightbulb turned on in his head. "No, they are allowed through an outside vendor." The doctor stops the closest child, a young boy. "Excuse me, child, I must borrow your drink." Then we take our leave to a lab with the superintendent in tow.
A mechanical arm takes the drink and analyzes it's contents. Satine steps aside, obviously stressed, and Padmé follows her. I stay beside the doctor, looking up at the screen. A pie chart separates the contents, an extremely large portion of a toxin called slabin. That isn't good.
"Duchess, we've found something," the doctor interrupts. The two join us by the screen. "This tea contains a high level of slabin." He points to the percentage highlighted in red.
"I didn't know slabin was lethal," Satine says.
The doctor shrugs. "It usually isn't, but mixed with the tea and at this concentration, I'm certain it's the cause of the childrens' illness."
"The school must have an import log, correct?" Padmé asks the superintendent.
"Uh, yes, I believe so," he answers. That didn't sound very convincing.
"So we should be able to find out where the tea came from," Padmé continues, looking to Satine.
"Well, then let's get to the docks," Satine says.
The two are the first to rush off, but the superintendent is hesitant. When the doctor motions towards the duchess and senator, he follows slowly. I keep pace with Doctor Zaz to watch the school staff member.
The sun was getting lower on the horizon as Padmé looks through the log books. "Everything is here, Satine."
"Everything except the records for the tea shipments," Satine points out.
"It looks like the school's import log has been erased. There's no record of an outside vendor."
From the corner of my eye I stop movement from the superintendent, so I immediately step in his path. "And where are you going?" I question innocently. He glances behind me towards the speeders as Padmé and Satine look towards us.
"Superintendent?" Satine asks.
"I-I need to go to the hospital, so if you'll excuse me," he stutters out. "I have to go."
He ducks around me, but I reach out and grab his arm. "Hold it right there," Satine orders. "Guards."
The superintendent wrenches his arm from my grip and makes a run for it towards the speeders, but he doesn't get far as I kick in the crook of his knee, causing him to fall. I gently place my foot on his upper back as a warning for what would happen if he tries to escape again. Satine's guards hurry over and grab his arms.
I walk back over to Padmé's side. The whole way she looks at my with amusement and shock. "I've just about had enough of poison, milady," I tease quietly, watching the guards haul the superintendent over.
Satine looks sternly up at the man and places her hands on her hips, holding her chin high. "Tell me what's going on here, or else my guards will not be as conversational as I am," she threatens. Damn, Satine's got grit, I'll give her that.
Padmé plants her hand on the duchess's shoulder, placatingly. "Satine!" she exclaims, shocked that Satine would threaten violence. She may be a pacifist, but anyone can resort to violence.
"Padmé, please." Padmé backs off, and I rest my hand on her elbow, silently reassuring her that Satine is only trying to help her people. It's not like Padmé hasn't resorted to violence. "Where did you get the tea?"
The superintendent sighs. "Please, I never meant to harm anyone," he tries to reason. "I just-I needed to cut costs. The school's budget was too low."
"The school has received sufficient government funding," Satine counters.
"Look, they offered me a great deal," he explains. "I could keep some money for myself, too, but I didn't know that the drinks were poison."
That set Padmé on the same level of angry as Satine. "All of this because you were greedy?" Padmé notes.
"I am not the only one making money off this operation. There are others. More guilty than I am." Tell that to the courts.
"Was Death Watch involved?" Satine inquires.
The question shocks him, so I'm assuming the answer is no from his point of view. "Death Watch? I don't know. I dealt with a middle-man. An importer. His name's Siddiq. He works for a shipping company, not too far from here."
"Tell us where," Satine demands.
