Chapter 6 – His Capture, My Undoing
What happened next, I think, was a punishment for my earlier miscalculation. Obi-Wan distracted me from my search and my search distracted me from Obi-Wan. The Jedi lost his opponent and Lord Kenobi lost his consort. In trying to be two men, I failed twice.
On the night of the twenty-third day, of the tenth month, the Jedi struck again, this time in Theed. He was in my capital while I was still wildly looking for him in Gunga. I think the escape could be seen as funny; at least it can be from a certain point of view. That night the Jedi made a fool of me, the Guards and the King.
He broke into the palace and liberated a man named Sio Bibble, who was being questioned by Palpatine's very own investigators, the Liberators, and I suspect Maul as well. Bibble was another believed to be a member of the League and he was the only prisoner in the history of Naboo to admit to as much, however, he refused to confess to treason and he would not give the names of the League or the ever-elusive Jedi himself.
The Jedi entered through the sewers, as he often does; we never thought to guard the palace. Who would be fool enough to try and enter, especially the most wanted man in the country? What fools we were; I most of all. I knew the Jedi almost personally; I knew his character. I should have known that he would save one of his own. I should have known.
I should have known.
He was in and out in a matter of minutes. The alarm went up immediately. The guards could not find him or Bibble. At the city's northern gate the following happened:
Officer Jar Binks stood at attention with ten other Guards. News of the Jedi rescue had reached them and the Guards on all the city's gates had been doubled. The King and the NIA knew the Jedi needed to smuggle the prisoner out of the city and if every cart and person was searched, it would be only a matter of time before they were caught.
"Halt!" Binks called to an approaching wagon. "Allow us to search your vehicle," he declared. The driver did not argue. No one argued with the Guards. Binks's men clambered all over the wooden cart, searching each of the crates and looking for hidden compartments. After five minutes or so, Binks gave a nod to the driver and the wagon was let through.
The Guards moved on to the next cart waiting to be searched.
They had barely begun when a group of soldiers came running down the street.
"Guard," one of them shouted. "Have you seen a baker's wagon?"
"Yes, we searched it and let it through."
"You fools, that was the Jedi." The speaker turned to the other soldiers and cried, "After him." The Guards let the soldiers through, to charged past and along the road and out of sight.
An hour passed. Maul arrived with a patrol of Liberators. He informed officer Jar Binks that he was to be taken to the prison to await execution. When asked why, Maul said,
"You allowed the Jedi through."
"But soldiers chased after him," he said in his defence.
"The soldiers were League members, Bibble and the Jedi. You are a fool and you will pay for it with your life."
-
While I was hunting for him on the coast, the Jedi was in Theed, up to his usual mischief. It took several days for Palpatine's messengers to find me and I was able to return to the capital.
I was angry and frustrated and I knew I was allowing my personal life to interfere, which was something that had never happened before. On the long ride I thought of Obi-Wan waiting for me in Coruscant, waiting for my return or at least some word. I thought of how lonely he must be and if he felt it as keenly as I did. I was sorry for the suffering I was inflicting upon him but there was little I could do about it now. I could have returned to Beli'ay after I had visited Otoh, yet I had not and now I could not because I had to look into the escape in Theed.
I had truly been an idiot and the level of my foolishness was only beginning to dawn on me. I no longer cared for the chase. The thrill had gone. I continued it only to please my King and so once the Jedi was caught I could return to Coruscant and the man I was starting to think of as My Obi-Wan.
When I arrived in Theed I didn't go to the palace; instead I went to the gates the Jedi had left through, and there I found Maul. The man was a hunter and as he paced the gateway, the other soldiers shrank back in fear as if they were his prey. I was never afraid of Maul, though he made me uneasy and I didn't trust him. He was Palpatine's watchdog and he saw everything. As I walked up to him that day, I felt a glimmer of fear, the same fear as all those who had met him before me. Would he be able to see my distraction? Would he be able to tell that it was Obi-Wan I longed for in my mind?
"Has anyone found the message?" I strode straight into the matter at hand, not allowing any time for questions of another nature.
"Not yet," he growled.
"Where have you looked?"
"Here, along the streets. The NIA are searching the Palace as we speak." Maul did not see any significance in the messages but I had a standing order to find it if there was ever an escape. I knew they were important. The Jedi was communicating with us and I wanted to know what it was he was telling us.
"I will go there now then." I turned to leave however I was curious about something and turned back. "Why are you still here?" I could have talked to any officer to get the information about the rescue but it had been Maul.
"His Majesty has ordered me to guard the city from the Jedi."
I tried not to smile. So Palpatine was punishing him, too. Good! I walked away before my smile angered him further. I stepped up into my carriage and journeyed on to the Palace.
-
The number of Liberators on guard at the palace had tripled since I had last attended. They patrolled the corridors as well as the walls and grounds. I was waved through immediately. The NIA agents had found nothing; no markings, no words, no message, not even the old one. I made my way to my office. It was deep within the palace and I rarely used it. I did not care to be within the palace walls with Palpatine so close.
I nodded to MacLeane as I entered the outer office. He sat at his desk reading through papers and reports.
"You should go home," I told him, remembering he had a young family. "Be back early tomorrow."
He nodded and started to clear away his desk. Leaving him to it, I entered my office and sat down on the large chair behind the vast oak desk. I was exhausted and I sighed wearily. I sat slumped, staring out the window for some time. I kept thinking of Obi-Wan and the loneliness I felt bit deep. I hated my office but for the moment it was the only refuge I had.
I looked up to the picture hung above the fireplace and that's when I noticed it. The picture was hung upside down. I jumped up and rushed around the desk. With great care I lifted the painting off the wall. What I saw made me smile.
"Son of a…" I mumbled and laughed. My nemeses had a sense of humour and he was clearly brilliant and brave. Painted on my own wall, on the opposite side of the Palace to Bibble's cell was the Jedi's message.
'Honour over hate.'
Leaning the painting against the wall I returned to sit behind my desk and stared at the words. I was beginning to get the sinking suspicion that the Jedi knew every move I made. What had I done and to who.
Honour; both the men I chased, the Jedi and Obi-Wan, had it and I had sacrificed mine because of my hate for the Jedi, or at least the remembrance of hate. I gazed at the words, unsure how I felt about the Jedi. I did not hate him I was surprised to realise. I had hated him, I had sought his death, and although these desires remained, I was left with a bitter taste. Hate once felt like that leaved a mark for a long time. Perhaps forever.
I fell asleep at my desk more lost than ever.
-
"My Lord?"
My head shot up.
"Yes, MacLeane?"
"They found him."
"What?" The fog cleared from my mind as I understood what it was he had said.
"They found him."
"Where?"
"They think they've found his safe house. It's on Roue Street. They've got it surrounded. They are waiting for us."
"Lets go."
-
"Well?" I asked the agent in charge of the siege. "Are we sure it's him?"
"It's been reported to us of a man from Coruscant staying here. He arrived shortly before the rescue."
"But how do we know it is him?"
"How many noblemen come from Coruscant to visit Theed?" the Agent asked. He was right. Ever since Palpatine began his rule, fewer and fewer people were travelling to see Naboo. I nodded in acknowledgment and signalled him to continue. "He's young and strong. Not overly tall, but he moves like a fighter. I believe he's our man."
"What colour are his eyes?"
"Sir?"
"You heard."
"Green, I believe sir. Or at least light."
"Alright," I said, taking control. "I'm going in, you and your men wait here."
I stepped up boldly to the house we believed held the man I had hunted for so long. With a feeling of foreboding, I turned the door handle and let myself into the enemy's lair. I crept along a dark hall, and at the end I could see a door left ajar, allowing a small patch of sunlight to infiltrate the dusty inner hallway.
I pushed the door open wide and stepped into blinding sunlight. Turning from the window so that the light was at my back, I looked around me. The room was bare except for a pair of chairs and in one of them sat a cloaked figure, hat pulled low, his face masked just like the man on the roof in Otoh.
I could see his eyes, the eyes of a cunning man. For the first time I was face to face with the Jedi.
"Welcome Lord Jinn, have a seat."
I gave him a measuring look. His sword lay at his side on the wooden floor. He could be carrying any number of concealed weapons, nevertheless I did not see a threat, just a man wanting to talk.
I sat opposite him and waited.
He didn't say anything and although I could not see his mouth I was sure he was smiling at me. As we sat looking at each other, for the first time I really noticed the colour of his eyes. Green like the rolling hills of Coruscant. Alive and merry like the free people of the nation across the sea.
"Your luck has run out Master Jedi."
"Luck?" he answered. "Is that what that was?"
I bit my tongue, stopping the angry retort. He was right; it hadn't been luck. Brilliance, skill and cunning had put him ahead of the game, so why was it we found ourselves alone in an empty house with the NIA waiting outside?
"You've been caught. Will you surrender to me?"
"I don't think so, Qui-Gon. You'll have to send your people in here."
"Those messages, they were for me, weren't they?" I changed the subject, asking the question I had always wanted to ask and never been able to.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I think you can understand. In fact I think you already do. You dislike Palpatine as much as I do, except I do not fear him. I fight for the Fallen and you, you fight your conditioning. After all these years, you are almost free. Just one more test and we will know for sure."
Realisation dawned.
"You allowed this, your capture."
"Yes. If you join the League, then that is a great victory, but if you do not and I go to one of your prisons, then it will not matter."
"How?"
"Because you won't be at my side. The chase had lost its fun, I wish to play a new game."
I gaped at him, completely dumbfounded. I looked into his eyes and could see his laughter and something more.
"There is another reason for this meeting," I stated.
"Of course."
"You're not going to tell me, are you?"
He shook his head.
"And if I don't work it out quickly it will be too late."
He nodded.
Oh yes, the Jedi liked games. He liked to play and in doing so put his life at risk. We sat together for some time not talking. Eventually he spoke again.
"You will have to go out side soon. Will you order them in here or will you allow me to escape and be ant my side as a member of the League."
"I can't." I stood and looked down on him. Even then he didn't look like a beaten man.
"I know."
As I left the room I heard him say,
"Live in the moment Qui-Gon."
Those words echoed in my mind. Those eyes that were all-seeing and understanding. Those eyes that were the colour of jade. Mortal terror gripped me. A fear I had no name for and a feeling I could now identify rose to the surface.
Love.
I loved Obi-Wan and I had just ordered his arrest. I had failed the final test. How had I not realised? How had it come to this?
You probably realised from the first and perhaps think it was obvious and now with the passing of time I can say you are right. Though there is a feeling you are forgetting, a feeling that took me time to name. Love. Love is blind and is blinding. Love is beautiful, mysterious and a many splendoured thing.
It carried Obi-Wan and me far, to the gates of hell in fact, we found ourselves further apart and closer together. We knew each other perfectly in a world and time that would not allow it. Two enemies, two kings, a hero and his nemesis. I should have guessed. I should have known but when he smiled and his green eyes sparkled, all I could see was the young man Obi-Wan was, not the masks he wore.
Oh, My Obi-Wan, for you are mine and I realise that now. My betrayal was worse than Travin's, for he never really loved you, but I did and now you are in a dark, damp prison with only the hateful guards for company. You put yourself there to test me and if I failed, you no longer wished to go on. You could no longer fight in a world where even love loses.
We all lost something that day, me most of all. I couldn't bear to wait for the agents to win the fight. I did not want to see the Jedi diminished, I did not want to see him shackled. I turned from the house and I walked up the street, not stopping until I was back behind my desk staring at one of three messages I finally understood.
'Knowledge over ignorance.'
'Strength over fear.'
'Honour over hate.'
Why did I not see it earlier?
I asked myself again and again as the Jedi was captured and I sat alone, ashamed.
-
The Jedi fought hard against the NIA agents who crashed into his safe house. He injured half a dozen and killed a couple more, but he was only one man and the overwhelming numbers of the NIA proved too much, even for him.
MacLeane entered the house and watched as the Jedi was shackled. One of the men went to remove the Jedi's mask.
"Leave it," MacLeane ordered. As the Jedi was led out, MacLeane leaned in close to him and whispered, "I'm sorry, Obi-Wan."
And so it was upon the arrest of the Jedi, that only I and those within his League knew who it was beneath his mask. The Jedi was taken to Bastle, Theed's most fortified prison and within one of its cells he awaited his fate.
I sat alone in my office and just before dawn an idea came to me. I could not allow the Jedi to win and I could not stand to win myself. Perhaps then, I could arrange a draw.