Chapter 7
Naboo
The next two weeks passed in spurts of activity for Palpatine. His rooms were in the same building as Freey's; a few floors lower, far less elegant, and considerably small. However most of his time that first week was spent in Freey's rooms getting the final report properly assembled, printed, bound, and embossed. While it would reside in government computers as bits and bytes tradition still required a bound copy for the Royal archives. The remainder of his time was filled getting Senator Freey's full regalia cleaned and repaired for his official audience with the Queen, along with being fitted for the formal garments he was required to wear as Senator Freey's aide during the audience.
The second week began with the high pageantry of the Official Audience. A dinner and reception lasting until the early morning hours of the next day followed. After all that Palpatine was the aide of Senior Administrator Freey. Senator Paz now represented Naboo.
The following afternoon as Freey and Palpatine were going over the few remaining items of business Freey's vid-phone rang and a short message appeared. Freey quickly left returning three hours latter.
"Senator Freey is anything wrong?" Palpatine asked when Freey enter his rooms.
"No, my new position has gotten a little more complicated that is all."
"If I can be of any help…" Palpatine said leaving out the obvious.
"Just keep you eyes open and let me know if you see something that strikes you as odd." Freey replied.
The end of the second week Freey assumed the office of Royal Liaison to the Government. A more prestigious post than the title would indicate. Under his control were the all Royal and governmental buildings, funds and any other assets.
It was in the funds section that Freey found a junior administrator's position for Palpatine. Overseeing the department that reconciled bills and payments.
"I know manual checking of reconciliation's is an anachronism in this day and age, A hold over from before if you wish. But you will get to know how the system functions at the Administrator level and in a year or two if things progress as I expect you will be ready for another challenge." Freey told Palpatine when he assigned him to the position.
The first few days on the job Palpatine found he was dealing with a rigid department. One who employees did only their job and if there was no work for him to do, they did nothing. The work rules were so restrictive that he was unable to assign them to assist others who were swamped with work. Palpatine had been viewing the Strands of Power regularly since the trip here and was quickly able to identify which of the senior clerks were really running the department. The lines didn't do a good job of revealing, which way the power flowed. Thus it took a few months of observation to identify which of the ringleaders was the key. Once Palpatine had identified the key person he walked up to him saying, "Kardon, We need to have a discussion. Let's go to my office." The person Palpatine had singled out started to protest but Palpatine had not neglected his Sith studies. The ringleader felt an overwhelming urge to follow Palpatine to his office. Once in behind closed doors Palpatine said. "You know what is going on here better than anyone else. Why don't you tell me all about it." Using his growing Sith powers Palpatine soon had knowledge of two different schemes for embezzling from the Royal accounts. One Kardon knew about and had a hand in was a small scale operation all most all within this department. The other, which Kardon thought was an offshoot of the same one, was a large scale operation being directed by and run for the benefit of individuals outside this department. All Kardon knew of the other operation was occasionally a messenger would bring him instructions to make a few adjustments for which he was well paid. Palpatine decided to bide his time and wait for the messenger to make his appearance.
It happened sooner rather than latter. Within the week his vid-phone rang then, before he could answer, stopped. Palpatine hit the trace button and Kardon's name appeared on the screen. Getting up from his desk Palpatine walked to his door. The layout was identical to the office he started out in. Standing at his door Palpatine could see all his people arranged in desks stretching across the large room to the windows on the other side. A stranger was stand beside Kardon's desk. Palpatine couldn't place him but when he switched to viewing the strands of power he noticed a thin dirty black strand ran from the stranger to Kardon. What Palpatine found truly interesting was a second and third slightly thicker strands running from the stranger to two others in his departments. One being one of the ringleaders with Kardon the other a low ranked female clerk. Taking a chance when the messenger left Palpatine sent a short text message to Kardon's vid-phone, "Do nothing. Others are watching you." He then sat back and contemplated what he knew. The same color dirty black line had linked several of the individuals that Freey had introduced him to at the party following Freey's Official reception. No lines of that color ran to Freey but did to an individual was on the Queen's advisory board, The real government of Naboo. Palpatine was still thinking when a voice called from his office door, "Time to go home."
"Your right Miss Nwon. By the way I've been meaning to ask you this for a while. Are you related to the Nwon who greeted the Senator and I when we returned?" Palpatine asked noting it was the same female involved in the main scheme.
"Yes, he is my father. But you could have found that out from the personnel records with no problem."
"I realize that, but it was a personal reason I wanted the information not a professional one. I try to keep the two separate."
"Oh, then on a personal level, do you have plans for this evening?"
"Tonight yes. Unfortunately they are unchangeable. Possibly another time in the near future?" Palpatine said.
"Possibly." She replied in a seductive way.
Palpatine walked down the rear steps of the building into the broad plaza that was behind the building where he worked. The building's front faced the ceremonial procession path to the royal quarters. It's ornate structure enhancing the path and while it was acceptable to walk out the front door and down the path Palpatine preferred the back with it's wide plaza and less ornate feel. It was crossing the plaza when he felt something not quite right. Tuning into his dark force he found he had someone following him. Palpatine went straight to his apartment a short walk away. Still just a few floors below Freey. There he found a message blinking on his Vid-phone, "7 p.m. dinner at Hecotor's."
Palpatine was familiar with the place having eaten there a few times, dimly lit but the food was passable. Not the bottom of the eateries in Threed but definitely in the lower half. The perfect place for a private meeting. Intrigued Palpatine cleaned up and changed clothes. A few hours latter he walked in to Hecotor's still being followed. Palpatine took a seat against the far wall facing the door and waited. A waitress was taking his dinner order as an unknown man entered and took a seat against the side wall situated so he was watching Palpatine. Palpatine did a quick check of the Strands of Power in the room. The unknown man who had just sat down had a dirty black line extending out the door. Obviously the person following him. Astonishingly there was a glowing black line running from a man by the door past Palpatine into the kitchen area. 'Sith' he thought. While waiting for dinner he reflected on his ability to view the Strands of Power. Until his encounter with the Jedi he would only see connections if the parties were in proximity, The same as it had always been. The colors were about the only new addition his Sith training had caused prior to his encounter with the Jedi. Now however this ability was increasing. He was starting to see connections over increasing distances. He would have to consult his Sith cube regarding filtering out unwanted strands. He was doubtful of success though His cube had been coming up short on answers lately.
"Palpatine, my master awaits you in the back." the individual he had previously identified as Sith said as he sat down beside him.
"I am under surveillance. Are you trained in mental deception?"
"Yes."
"Become me in the mind of that man against the side wall. I will go and meet your Master."
Palpatine detected the subtle focus shift of his follower. Taking that as his cue he left the table and proceeded into the kitchen. There a quick gesture towards a storeroom directed him to his meeting. A figure barely visible in the darkened space was wearing the light absorbing hooded cape of the Darth's with the hood up concealing most of the facial features. "Darth it is an honor." Palpatine said dropping to one knee to show respect.
"Sidious, Darth Mard asked me to check on you."
"Please inform my master I am well and continuing my studies."
"I have observed this. I will also tell Darth Mard you are neglecting your physical workouts."
"There is no place suitable."
"Make one! Remember when the confrontation with the Jedi comes, both mind and body must be ready."
"Yes Darth… It will be done."
"Don't trouble yourself that you don't know my name. All that is important is I know yours, Sidious. Now about the corruption ring you have uncovered. It doesn't concern the Sith, leave it alone."
'How does he…' Palpatine thought before remembering his coded messages to Darth Mard.
"Make no mention of this in your message to Darth Mard and I will not bother him with it now go."
"Yes Darth." Palpatine said as he backed his way out of the storeroom.
Palpatine was back in his apartment before the full impact of his visitors words registered. It was not his infrequent coded messages that had brought this visit. Somehow parts of this money was going into that Darth's private accounts. 'A lot more caution in called for if I continue, but first he was right about the exercise area.' Palpatine thought.
In order to appear busy during the three months he spent observing he had called up building blue prints, wiring schematics, and about anything interesting that he ran across on the computer system at work. All that information now came in to use. He knew his apartment had been initially designed as a computer room to hold the hardware allowing the senior staff apartments to have terminals. As time passed and equipment size shrunk this space became redundant and was converted. If memory served his closet was the original wiring trunk. A short time later Palpatine was smiling with appreciation. A worker had installed a trap door to close the trunk then carpeted over it. It was a simple fix to cut the carpet away from the closet walls and affix it to the door. It was during the cutting that Palpatine felt his first call to build a light saber. He ignored it remembering the words of the Sith Philosopher Ka-al-Ja who many years before had said. "The individual who wishes to become a true lord of the Sith must refrain from the use of a light saber. It becomes the focal point of the individuals force usage in their mind and cloud their sight of other possibilities."
With the trapdoor in working order Palpatine changed into his black pants and shirt outfit before descending down the empty cable trunk into the dimly lit tunnels that ran under Threed's capital district. Through his force connection Palpatine was aware he was not the only occupant of the tunnels, Just the only humanoid one. It was a short trip, a few hundred feet, from his trunk that he found what he was looking for. A side room off the main tunnel obviously built as a clandestine conference center. Looking around it in the dim light it was apparent it would be barely large enough for his workouts but there was a large amount fixtures from this and other rooms as well as a large amount of detritus from who knows were. All of this would have to be moved and cleaned out before he could use the space. Palpatine relaxed and focused on his anger. Anger at himself for being stupid enough to get caught by that other Darth. Anger at the Sith for dragging him from Coruscant and Sellan, Anger at Miss Nwon for thinking she could seduce him with her barely adequate charms. The anger feed him like a banquet. Palpatine worked all night moving and cleaning until, when he finally looked at his watch and realized it was time to clean up and go to work he had worked up a good sweat but wasn't tired at all. Palpatine emerged from the residence building having cleaned and changed. His mind noticing the not quite right feeling that his shadow caused. Palpatine took the short walk to the office building heading for the basement cafeteria and breakfast.
Sitting down at the table Palpatine started to mentally review today's activities and found he was at peace with a course of action regarding Kardon's schemes. Not all of the possibilities and resolved themselves but the main direction lay resolved in his mind.
That evening Palpatine left his apartment after dinner and went upstairs to Freey's apartment. "Palpatine, this is a surprise." Freey said after opening the door. "I was wondering who had gotten past the doorman without being announced."
"Senator when you assigned me this job you asked if I would keep my eyes open. I did and as a result I discovered some interesting things that I thought should be shared with you discreetly."
"Oh, come in then."
After helping Freey set out tea Palpatine waited for Freey to settle into his chair before he laid out the basics of the schemes leaving the individuals involved unidentified.
"Now you haven't named anyone yet." Freey countered.
"No I haven't and it is tied to the reason I came straight to you. I know there are more people involved than I am aware of especially in the case of the second scheme, Possibly a lot more given the amount of money involved. I wanted to verify this was what you were referring to and get your ok to begin indentifing the other parties involved."
"This is what I meant although I suppose I should get the queen's approval before I give you the go ahead."
"That depends on who she tells about this and who's listening when she does."
"You suspect it goes that high?" Freey asked.
"Yes and so do you otherwise you wouldn't be trying to reduce your exposure."
"Your very good at reading me Palpatine. Let's hope you're as good with others. Just make sure you can prove it all in a court of law."
"I doubt it goes that far. But the case will be good enough for the Queen to believe."
Palpatine was sitting at his desk the next morning looking over the heads of his workers and out the large windows at the beautiful blue sky beyond enjoying the way the sun was glinting off the various ornamental adornments of the buildings. It would not be until later in the day when he could un-tint the windows behind him and look at the splendor of the palace. Despise the appearance his mind was actively cataloging what he knew about the conspiracies into dark force acquired knowledge and knowledge he could present to Freey. Unfortunately the majority was dark force provided. What he could present he entered into the secure Digital assistant, a gift from Freey that had arrived moments before. The rest of his information he put into the back of his mind to work on later. Lunch at his desk enabled him to finish his day's work on schedule. Looking up he could see his staff tiding up from the day's activities. Getting up at the end of the workday he stood at his office door as they filed out. Making a point of speaking to all he could. Miss Nwon was one of the last ones and he asked her to wait a moment. "Are you free for dinner tonight?" He asked after the rest had left.
"I should say no after you turned me down a few days ago." After a moment's hesitation she continued. "Yes I am free." with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Good, Where should I pick you up?"
"Why don't we meet at Dongo's?" she asked naming a middle of the pack restaurant.
"Ok say seven p.m.?"
"Great I will see you then." she said then turned and walked away hips swaying seductively.
Palpatine, dressed casually, arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early having called for a reservation before leaving his office. He was at a table when a little after seven Miss Nwon arrived dressed in an outfit that superficially resembled the one that had caught his attention on the trip to Naboo. The difference was the wearer. When the lady on the trip looked elegant in it Miss Nwon resembled a… tart. Palpatine smiled as the archaic word sprang into his mind and naturally Miss Nwon completely misunderstood his expression.
"You approve?" she asked with a little smile and a little side to side rotation intended to show off the dress.
"I feel underdressed to be your escort tonight." Palpatine lied gallantly.
"Don't, I wore this because it was the first thing my hand found in the closet."
"Then your closet must be the envy of your girlfriends."
"Flatter." Miss Nwon replied as the waiter showed up to take their orders.
Palpatine took a moment and checked the lines of force in the room as she was ordering. There were the ones he expected linking families and the one he was looking for, a dirty black one linking Miss Nwon to two gentlemen dining together but seated so both could watch Miss Nwon and him. The dinner conversation was light to a casual observer. Palpatine let her think her occasional questions of his relationship with Freey were not noticed as anything out of the ordinary. He played down the relationship letting out only information that her group should either know by now or would be able to quickly verify. Leaving the restaurant Miss Nwon subtlety offered a longer evening but Palpatine ignored the offer at first. When it was repeated a little more obviously He agreed and led her back to his apartment with the two gentlemen following. The Doorman smiled as they entered and their two tails setup shop in a small doorway across the plaza. Once inside Palpatine made his first attempt at putting someone into a force trance. His rapid success brought a smile to his face. Looking around he realized that there was a risk of spillage into the halls and adjacent rooms if he used his force abilities in a high level probe of her mind. Lifting the trap door he directed her to climb down. Once he had her in his training room he felt comfortable unleashing all his dark force talents. Palpatine probed her mind as she first stood, then sat, finally ending up withering on the floor as he used the Dark Force to first probe for, then latter rip the information from her mind. When he finished he placed memories of an intense evening of pleasure in her mind. Not only would it cover the time they had spent together, it would also account for the various bumps, bruises, and clothing rips she had accumulated. Palpatine now possessed a clear view of how the money and goods purchased flowed on and off planet, along with an understanding of the relationships between the group members. All interconnected by either martial relationships or lifelong friendships. The only wild card was the other Darth. There had been no knowledge of him in Miss Nwon's mind and Palpatine felt quite sure there was nothing in her mind he had not examined in over the course of the last eight hours.
The rest of the work week passed with slow resolution of the case armed with the information from Miss Nwon he hooked the secure D/A into his terminal through the supplied fittings and proceeded to document the scheme from the records he was able to call up and copy into it. It would take a law officer to find the proof on other computer systems. Proof that would confirm the scheme and lead the perpetrators to justice. Palpatine's spirits picked up over these days. He found it humorous that one, who was becoming as skilled in the dark force as he, was going to be the one bringing these people to justice. He knew what he was doing was what the force wanted but still he saw great humor in it. Miss Nwon on the other hand found it necessary to call and take the rest of the week off. Although her conversation with Palpatine over the link was too intimate for a work relationship it was obvious that her evening with him was somewhat different that she had expected.
Palpatine's 35th birthday had passed while he was settling into his administrator's position. Now with his 36th rapidly approaching the evidence contained in the secure digital assistant was approaching a level that Freey felt justified bringing before the queen. Palpatine personally was being torn between competing forces. Darth Mard wanted him to take a 'vacation' travel to the Sith Sanctuary for training. Freey wouldn't hear of a vacation until the case was presented. For himself Palpatine wanted a chance to use one of the Sith Cubes held at the Sanctuary. His cube had tapped out within the last month and using it was like re-reading a well-loved book, enjoyable but frustrating. Up to this moment in his life decisions of this type had been easy. His path clear before him once he had mediated in the force. Now he found himself at a fork in the path to his future. Both of the options were Sith paths; going on vacation now he could clearly see becoming a Darth, Staying the future was not as clear but somehow it seemed to have greater depth. The intrigue of this uncertainty found a responsive cord in Palpatine. Palpatine had just sent a message to Darth Mard stating "In order to maintain concealment I must stay. I will come as soon as possible." when events on Naboo already underway surfaced and distorted everyone's timetable. An arrest at the spaceport for smuggling artifacts off Naboo uncovered a tentacle of the large embezzlement scheme. The next day Freey informed the Queen of the connection and She requested a full briefing immediately.
By royal standards it was immediately. It only took four hours to arrange a two-hour opening in her schedule three days from now. Freey spent the three days with Palpatine reviewing all the data and building a presentation of the relevant points that lasted an hour.
They arrived at the palace two hours early and were shown in to a large guarded meeting room. It felt like a collage lecture hall to Palpatine and they were at the focal point. "This doesn't look like the intimate briefing you talked about." Palpatine said to Freey as he looked around the hall with guards stationed at all doors.
"No it doesn't." Freey agreed keeping to himself the thoughts of their careers ending in trials if they were unsuccessful in their presentation. The not quite right feeling that warned Palpatine of his shadow, had gone from not quite right to full wrong in the last three days reaching a new level as they walked into this room. Palpatine had tuned into the Strands of Power with each increase unable to find reason for concern. This time it was the same until he noticed the guards. "Senator Freey do you have a connections in the guards?"
"Yes I know quite a few. Why?"
"Do you know any of the ones in this room?"
"No but that's not unusual."
"Leave the room under the pretense we forgot something and get every guard you trust here before the Queen arrives."
"What?"
"Trust me on this. Just get some guards in this room you trust."
"This is highly irregular." Freey said in a hushed voice that indicated he took Palpatine serious. Freey headed for an exit only to find his way was being blocked by a guard. "Is there something I can do for you." Freey asked the guard blocking his path in the frostiest command voice he could muster.
The guard glanced at his companions for support but seeing none gave way to Freey.
Freey decided that episode was all the corroboration he needed. When he returned the meeting room was starting to fill with various underlings. Guards he was sure of filtering in among them. "I hope your hunch is wrong Palpatine. Even though I will be apologizing for months if it is." Freey said when he reached on the platform his eyes still scanning the hall.
"As do I." Palpatine replied glancing around viewing the Strands of Power in the room. Freey had done well. There were people trickling in with ties to Freey the balance of power in the room while not good was a lot better than it had been. He was just starting to relax when the Queen's aide appeared in the door and announced "Ladies and gentlemen the Queen."
The entire room rose and didn't sit until she was seated in her box directly in front of the stage. Freey started the presentation, Giving a short history of how He and Palpatine became involved the turned it over to Palpatine who described how one sum had initially caught his eye as a very high price for an everyday object. The secure Digital Assistant provided the input for a display large enough to all in the hall to see. Palpatine laid the trail of the transaction the arrest had uncovered. How Nwon in his capacity as official greeter was receiving bribes to arrange the shipment of various goods through the spaceport. He progressed to expose Kardon and how he was able to hide various transactions that would normally activate software to cause a manual review of the transaction. Palpatine had saved his biggest surprise until the end. While he was wrapping up his presentation he exposed the involvement of the queen's advisor. An unseen signal flashed and guns were drawn. Palpatine dove for cover taking down Freey as he did. Using the Dark Force he was able to hinder the ability of the guards loyal to the Advisor to get a good shot at Freey or himself. While the guards loyal to Freey were doing their best to defend themselves and take control of the sutiation During the melee he heard Freey gasp. Turning slightly he watched with Freey from their sheltered position as the incriminated advisor drew a pistol and took aim at the queen from less than ten feet away. Reacting without thinking Palpatine using the dark force reached out and deflected the blaster bolt changing a deadly shot in to one that merely wounded her arm.
"How did he miss?" Freey wondered aloud as a human wave swarmed over the advisor removing him from sight. Things ended shortly after with all the major parties either dead or under arrest. A few guards had escaped but their peers were hunting them down.
It was two days latter when Freey and Palpatine were summoned to the palace. Three searches later, including one strip search, they were show into the royal apartments where the queen was resting and recuperating.
"Your Highness I feel responsible for your injury I should have anticipated their reaction and had you watch the proceeding from here." Freey said as soon as she acknowledged their presence.
"No need to blame yourself. I am told I have you to thank for the large number of off duty guards and staff in the room."
"Actually it was my former aide Palpatine that caused their presence."
"Really? Mr. Palpatine what do you have to say regarding those events?"
"I apologize for a decidedly incomplete thought process my queen. When we arrived I noticed that unlike previous visits Freey did not greet anyone of the guards. Normally he greets several. I was nervous and thought the two of us might not get to make the presentation so I recommended the action he took. Never did I think the danger extended to you."
"I thank you for taking the actions that saved our person. However I now have a problem. Conflicting groups are lobbing to replace the disgraced advisor with persons of their choosing. The one thing they agree on is that you Freey are an impediment to quick reconciliation." The queen stated.
"What are your wishes?" Freey asked.
"The chancellor of the republic has contacted us regarding your availability to serve as his special envoy. I am informed this is quite a prestigious honor. It will however require you to be away from Naboo for extended periods. Not a bad thing given the current circumstances. Do you accept?"
"Of course My Queen." Freey said as he bowed his head.
"Good, one problem solved. Now as to the fate of Palpatine."
"Yes, your Highness."
"Freey you will need an aide in this new position I assume?" The queen asked.
Smiling Freey replied "Of course your Highness."
"I thought so. Well Palpatine do you accept the position."
"It is a great honor to say yes."
"That solves both problems. Now leave the digital assistant here. It will go in the royal archives. Again thank you for all you have done for Naboo and us personally." The queen said in dismissal.
"For both of us let me say you are welcome." Freey said as he and Palpatine backed away from the queen turning only when a door closed blocking their sight of her.
Seeing Palpatine raise an eyebrow as they walked down the corridors that led out of the palace Freey shook his head saying, "Let's go find out just what we've gotten ourselves into."
