Chapter 19. The Tangled Web – Part II
Chancellor Palpatine surveyed the scene below him with contempt.
Fear and hostility rose and swirled through the vast Senate Chamber, infusing it with the eerie, crackling tension that precedes a violent storm. He cast the fine web of his awareness over the scene, noting every upheaval, every tug on the invisible strings, every roil of ill feeling and anchored himself more firmly at its center.
They were all so pathetic. So inefficient. So weak.
Pockets of security forces from various worlds were gathering at many of the entrances to the vast Chamber. The Republic's best and finest – their elected Representatives – stood in their pods trying to out shout one another. The Chancellor glanced at his monitors to observe the behavior of the cluster from the Outer Rim Territories. The sycophants, he called them. The toadies. He perceived their fear as a dense mist that drifted and clung wherever it settled. He scanned the room slowly. The arrogant ones from the strong and wealthy sectors fared no better. Their feeble passions fed his web and only served to strengthen it.
He waited.
The Senator from the Alderaan system took the floor and after several attempts managed to make himself heard.
"I call for a Vote of No Confidence in Chancellor Palpatine!"
You're a fool, Organa. You will never unseat me. Not now. Not ever.
The call was seconded throughout the Chamber, only to be countered by the Chancellor's staunchest supporters. The noise level rose yet again.
He looked at them all – his enemies and his followers, the weak and the strong – with the same eyes, and thought only of the time when he would finally be able to dispense with this mockery.
This is such a tedious waste of time.
Palpatine raised his arms and artfully augmented his voice so that he could be heard.
"Representatives of the Galaxy! Your distress is understandable! I share it in every detail. You may call for such a vote if you wish. It is your right within the freedom that we so fiercely fight to preserve. But you must be aware that another decision is simply not possible under the circumstances! No other Chancellor could do otherwise!"
Armed troops in the uniforms of several different systems began to advance to the center of the chamber in some kind of colorful coalition effort. He wondered where they thought they were going, or what they hoped to accomplish.
"My Lord, shall I call for more security?" Mas Amedda, the Vice-Chancellor, asked nervously by his side.
Palpatine stretched out with his awareness and found what he was looking for.
"That is not necessary. Reinforcements are on the way."
In the process he found something even more interesting. Skywalker was here, despite being been given a leave of absence. He narrowed his eyes and glanced toward the pod occupied by Amidala. She must have called him, and here he was, having rushed to the scene.
Almost at the same moment Senate Security forces in full gray-and-red battle armor poured in through every exit of the Chamber, taking up positions on the ground and in the air high above the pods on single-man repulsorlifts.
There he is, in Jedi robes. No helmet, no armor.
Anakin was far below on the floor of the Chamber, heading toward the pillar on which the Chancellor's dais rose high into the heart of the vast space.
The boy's instincts for loyalty and service were exceptional. His priorities, on the other hand…
But he is coming toward me. Securing my safety first. Excellent.
The rings of officers below him had held their position. They were armed only with side arms, which they drew. Otherwise they stood firm.
Protectors of the central authority. As it should be.
Zangan was nowhere to be seen. Anakin, however, apparently had negotiated his way through the ring of officers and reached the pillar, and was activating the lowering mechanism. Palpatine felt the slight shudder as the machinery engaged
No. I will remain here, where I can survey all.
The lowering mechanism unaccountably stopped operating.
A Senate security repulsorlift left its position and shot down toward Anakin. He changed places with the soldier, hurtled into the air and within seconds leaped onto the central dais next to the Chancellor.
"How fortunate that you happened to be here," Palpatine remarked with veiled irony.
Anakin nodded briefly.
"The pillar mechanism isn't responding," he answered. "I'm going to order the Chamber evacuated. You need to close the session, Sir."
Well, young Commander. You appear to be taking charge. You are going to order the Chamber evacuated? And where is Chief Zangan, I wonder?
His web of awareness told him that fights were breaking out at several different points in the Chamber. Sure enough, blaster fire echoed, raising screams and alarm. Anakin was on the COM link immediately. Within minutes the combatants had been surrounded by Senate troops and escorted efficiently out of the space with a minimum use of weapons. The boy's chosen Captain seemed to have perfect control of his forces.
"How will we get down?" Palpatine asked mildly, not intending to do anything of the kind until he was good and ready. The fear radiating from Amedda and his staff behind him on the dais amused him.
Anakin reached out with the Force to an empty pod, unlocked it, and drew it up to the dais.
"It's time to adjourn the session, Chancellor."
Palpatine surveyed the Chamber and observed a marked increase in the Jedi presence. They had taken up positions in front of many of the upper exits, and showed they meant business by engaging their light sabers all at once. The multicolored blades punctuated the shadowy edges of the chamber like small stars. There was a sudden quiet in the areas closest to the Jedi, as the Force mounted and surged between them into a calming wave and then began to flow downward toward the center of the space. Everywhere it touched, the noise and anxiety levels dropped.
How he despised them. All of them. It was their fault he had been compelled to tighten the noose ahead of schedule. Their operatives had uncovered his assassins and tracked the manufacture and shipments of the Force disrupter weapons. When he found out which of their Knights was behind that little fiasco he would see to it personally that he came to know the true meaning of suffering.
"Chancellor?" Anakin was insistent.
"One moment, my friend," Palpatine said soothingly, and made his voice penetrating once again.
"My friends! My colleagues! We must not allow our differences to tear our union apart! If we do not stand together and speak with the same voice, and act out of our shared convictions, how can we bring the Republic back into peace and harmony? We must stand together as one! Please, calm yourselves! Let us discuss this rationally!"
Anakin shuddered. He felt something odd in the Force, something that lapped him with ripples of disquiet, but he couldn't pinpoint it anywhere. Instinctively he reached out to Padmé with his feelings to make certain that she was all right. She responded reassuringly, and Anakin felt strengthened just by that brief brush with her presence.
Palpatine was suddenly alert.
He senses something. He shouldn't be able to. I have not chosen to reveal myself.
Carefully, in order to minimize the risk of unveiling his presence in the Force even more, he probed Anakin's feelings, and was not happy with what he found.
Amidala. Again, Amidala. He stands by my side but all of his attention is with her.
Adjourning the session immediately would successfully end the vote of no confidence, but Palpatine wasn't particularly worried about that. There were many effective ways to deflect such a clumsy move. He was suddenly much more interested in exploring the allegiance of the young Jedi beside him.
Let us see what you do now, my young friend.
With a shrouded movement like that of a conductor gesturing to the percussion section of an orchestra the central figure on the dais reached out through the Force and Section D12 of the Chamber experienced a sudden catastrophic failure of the pod locking mechanism.
As one a narrow section of pods from the top to the bottom of the Chamber broke loose from their anchor locks and began floating into one another like a Coruscant traffic stream gone out of control. The pods on the outside of the wedge managed for the most part to maneuver away from one another, but the ones in the center began to bump and crash together high in the air. Screams and shouts filled the Chamber.
The pods were designed for slow, sedate movement without any crowding. When they were pushed together in this way, their magnetic fields repelled one another, making the lumbering craft gyrate wildly. The closer they got to one another the more pronounced the effect. Pods at the center of the cluster began to spin out of control, tipping so wildly their occupants had to hold on desperately to keep from falling out. Two pods crashed into one another uncontrollably. One held steady, but the other careened to the floor in a sickening spin, only to smash heavily into several pods in the lowest rows. Panic filled the Chamber.
Palpatine could feel the intensity with which all of Anakin's attention was focused on the loose pods. The Force gathered around the boy in a mighty stream and flowed toward the disaster. Palpatine watched the pods at the center of the cluster begin to stabilize and hold their positions.
Amidala's pod was at the center of the cluster.
* * * * *
Anakin heard Padmé cry out in his mind.
Get down, he urged. Get down into the bottom of the pod! Cover your head.
No sooner had Anakin's thoughts come to her than Padmé felt herself pushed down to the floor of her careening pod with Typho's solid presence protecting her from above.
Anakin was completely focused. His Jedi training took hold, and all of his intention, every part of his mind was directed exclusively toward the task at hand. The Force obeyed his call unerringly and surged through him and beyond him like a huge wave. The tightly clustered pods at the center began to move gently apart, and little by little as they came free their occupants were able to maneuver them safely toward the chamber floor far below. His approach to the problem was unimpeachable, even though Padmé was in danger.
And then he felt something dark and powerful tug at him, making it harder to concentrate. He could feel his steady grasp slipping, and the pods began to careen again. His heart started to pound, and he experienced the dreadful feeling of failing, of not being strong enough. He fought the dark thing.
It felt like…it felt like spite.
The pods in the center began to fall in a crazy spiral. Anakin suffered a stab of fear that ricocheted around the Chamber.
Padmé!
Fighting a sickening sense of helplessness to try to regain his focus, Anakin became aware of the screams that echoed through the vast space.
From high above the dais in the shadowy edges of the Chamber the Jedi simultaneously reached out through the Force and combined their strength with his, bringing the pods back into a stable pattern. One by one they settled safely onto the Chamber floor, gently and safely. Padmé's was among them.
Anakin felt weak and shaky with relief. He didn't understand what had just happened. The voice of the Chancellor by his side abruptly brought him back to himself.
"You are right, my friend. This is a disaster. I will end the session." He raised his arms and called for a closing, although it was clear that many could not hear him over the din. It didn't seem to matter. Everyone in the Chamber already was trying to get out.
Anakin nodded and got back on the COM link with Pell, ordering assistance for the terrified victims and an immediate, systematic evacuation of the Senate Chamber.
Padmé? Anakin was shaking.
I'm … I'm all right. She was shaking, too. He could feel it throughout his body. I'm all right. See to the others.
Pulling himself together with a huge effort of will Anakin moved over to the pod he had called to the dais, tested its mechanism, and when he felt it was safe began to help the calm Chancellor and his terrified companions into it. He entered last, and piloted it safely down to the Chamber floor.
Battling a deep sense of failure, he was blind to the deeply shrouded thought that hung in the air around him.
I have you now. I have measured the depths of your weakness. In my hands it will become our strength.
* * * * *
It took a long time for the Chamber to be cleared and ramifications of the disaster to be evaluated, and as Acting Security Chief, Anakin had to oversee it all. There was no escape, even though he was aching to find Padmé and reassure himself that, despite his failure, she really was safe. Only when the maintenance crews arrived to check and re-secure the pods was he was able to extricate himself.
As he was leaving Padmé 's thoughts caught him. She was back in her office.
Anakin? Where is Balé?
Uh-oh. Now he was going to have to explain to her that he had left Balé the care of a young, inexperienced Jedi Padawan during the Senate's gravest crisis.
She's fine. She's under Jedi protection, he reassured her, saying the first thing that came into his head. I'll bring her to you shortly.
Anakin headed down to the barracks level. On the way he called Poulin on the COM.
"What happened?" the boy was incredulous. "It felt like a disaster."
"Nearly," Anakin confirmed. "But we averted it. Is Balé all right?"
Poulin laughed. "She's a wicked fighter, and lot of fun. But she seems to think that every Jedi in the Galaxy is at her personal disposal. I wonder how she got that idea?"
"Well at the moment, you are at her personal disposal. Stay where you are. I'm on my way."
He got there in record time, only to find the Jedi Padawan and the little girl sitting cross-legged in the corner of a training room, deep in conversation.
Balé smiled and waved when she saw Anakin, but didn't throw herself at him as usual. In fact, she went right back to talking to Poulin. Anakin felt a bit miffed.
"Hello, Warrior," he said to Balé, plunking himself gratefully down on the floor next to them. It felt good to have something else to think about than the afternoon's disaster. "It's time to go find Padmé. She's waiting for us." He couldn't wait to see Padmé, and didn't care if she was annoyed that he had left Balé with someone else. The urge to seek out her presence was overpowering.
Poulin gave Anakin a penetrating glance at his casual use of the Senator's first name. Anakin glared at him.
Balé seemed reluctant to leave, making Anakin wonder what they had found to talk about so animatedly. Poulin looked awfully pleased with himself. Anakin had the distinct feeling that they were talking about him.
Anakin held out his hand for Balé when his COM link sounded. It was the Chancellor's office, summoning him.
Anakin felt somehow crushed.
"I have to go to a meeting," he sighed. "Could you bring Balé up to the Naboo Delegation Offices for me?"
Poulin nodded and got up, holding his hand out to the little girl. She took it willingly. Anakin stuck his tongue out at her, and she laughed.
"I almost forgot," Poulin said, and handed Anakin a data chip.
"Thank you," Anakin said sincerely. "For everything. I owe you."
Poulin frowned. "No, you don't." He was affronted, and shook his head as he turned to go. "I'm your friend."
I just want to go home, Anakin thought, uncharacteristically, as he watched them leave. The image of "home" that formed in his mind had something to do with Padmé, and Balé, and laughter. And maybe cake. And a great deal to do with comfort.
He pulled himself together, wondering at his own weakness.
I am a Jedi, he told himself sternly. I serve.
* * * * *
Poulin stepped cautiously into the Naboo Delegation's outer office, feeling awkward. Balé seemed to be very familiar there, however, and greeted the flustered-looking young woman at the reception desk happily.
"Hello, Dellia! Is Padmé here?"
"Balé!" Dellia got up from her chair and came around her desk to give the little girl a hug. "We were wondering where you were!" She glanced up at the young Jedi, curious.
"This is Poulin Brith," Balé said politely, remembering her manners.
Dellia nodded and stood up to signal the inner office. Padmé immediately came out, followed by a serious-looking man in a uniform and another beautiful lady who looked a bit like the Senator. Poulin swallowed, a little intimidated.
Padmé recognized the Jedi Padawan whose hand Balé was holding so trustingly right away, although she had only met him once in the quiet halls of the Jedi Temple. It didn't take her long to piece together how Balé had spent the last few hours, or to understand Anakin's thinking in entrusting Balé to the young Jedi. She smiled at him.
"Well, Poulin Brith," she said, remembering his name perfectly and making him blush horribly. "It seems that once again I am greatly in your debt. Thank you for looking after Balé this afternoon."
Poulin nodded, tongue-tied.
"Poulin is the greatest swordfighter in the Galaxy!" Balé announced. "Anakin said so. He's been teaching me, and soon I'll be the greatest, too."
"Really," the other Lady said meaningfully. Poulin didn't think his blush could get any worse, but it did.
Padmé took pity on him.
"I'm sure he is, Sabé," the Senator said pointedly. The other Lady raised her eyebrows, but smiled at Poulin, too.
"Of course he is," she said, kindly. Her voice was as enchanting as the Senator's. The boy wondered briefly how Anakin could be so comfortable around these people. He found them… intoxicating.
Padmé reached out for Balé's hand and took possession of the child, relieving Poulin of his duty. He was almost sorry.
"Thank you, Poulin Brith," she said again in that lovely voice. "I am very grateful for your help."
Poulin bowed as well as he could and somehow made his way out of the office without stumbling.
He hadn't said a single word the entire time he was there.
* * * * *
Anakin arrived at the Chancellor's Office quickly, but then, unusually, was asked to wait in the outer office. To pass the time he helped himself to a datapad and began writing the incident report for the afternoon's events. To do it he had to re-live them, and the terrible feeling of failure and helplessness came back full force. And darkness. He wondered about the overpowering sense of darkness.
Finally he was called for and went inside.
Chancellor Palpatine sat behind his desk and observed Anakin without saying anything for a while. Well trained not to speak before he was spoken to Anakin went back to making entries.
"May I ask, my friend," the Chancellor finally said, "how you came to be in command of our Senate forces this day rather than Security Chief Zangan?"
Anakin continued to make entries into his data pad.
"Unfortunately Chief Zangan suffered an accident shortly before the crisis. Deputy Chief Tibbs is not a military man, and so I stepped in. I had just finished working out contingency plans for such an eventuality with Captain Pell as it was."
There was a brief silence.
Now Anakin looked up to meet his mentor's eyes. "I'm sorry if I overstepped my boundaries. But the situation seemed to require it."
If you had not taken command you would be of little use to me.
Outwardly the Chancellor's expression showed nothing but concern and acknowledgement.
"I have always said it, my friend. It is for your unswerving willingness to go beyond the call of duty for which we owe you our greatest debts of gratitude." He permitted himself a small smile. "You have done well, Anakin."
Anakin ducked his head in awkward thanks and passed the data pad to the Supreme Chancellor. "There is your completed incident report, Sir."
Palpatine looked at him in genuine surprise. "So soon?" Reports of this nature normally took days, if not weeks, to complete.
Anakin nodded. "I'm technically on leave, Chancellor. And I would like to get back to it, with your permission."
Palpatine considered the young man for a long moment, and then accepted the datapad. Anakin bowed to the Chancellor and fled, wanting only to find Padmé and Balé. Palpatine watched him go.
Running back to that little family, boy? Perhaps you should have listened to your Jedi Masters after all. Attachments of this nature can be a dangerous distraction from your true purpose.
Turning abruptly back to his desk the Galaxy's Supreme Chancellor summoned his assistant's holo-image.
"I understand that Security Chief Zangan has met with an accident. I want to know his condition and location immediately."
"At once, My Lord," Dar Wac acknowledged. Within minutes he entered the Chancellor's office personally with the news.
"Chief Zangan is in the staff infirmary. He suffered a broken collarbone and a mild concussion, but is expected to make a full recovery."
Palpatine thought for a dark moment.
And in that same moment, far below in the Staff Infirmary, Chief of Senate Security Zangan drew his last breath.
