8 The Epic: PALPATINE'S DULL DAY
Marius found Eva where she said she'd be; target practice at the holo-gym in the bowels of the Dreadnought Eclipse. "So this is your idea of a night out?"
Eva held out her blaster for him to try.
"With a security detail following you anytime you're off base, do you think you need to keep up those skills?"
"You never know." She quipped while sprinting away to finish the round. She wasn't forced to log hours of marksmanship or piloting as required under Vader's authority. But there seemed something final to abandon the skills he deemed important. Her access to the facilities and the sought-after flight simulators had never been revoked. "I've found it best to consider all my circumstances tenuous."
Marius walked her back to her quarters. No changes still, he noted. The interior design felt 'otherworldly' just as it did in the time of its previous occupant, Petror. All the Greater Courtiers possessed lavish quarters, although the others were considerably more consistent in appearance with the rest of the ship. The craftsmen needed to complete the stylized built-ins of Petror's accommodations, would not have been allowed to board the Eclipse (it wasn't even common knowledge it was the Emperor's flagship), so Petror circumvented the obstacle by sending standard destroyer wall panels to his home planet to be veneered and embellished. They were then easily installed by the Eclipse's construction crews. The two story space was a perfect replication of an aristocratic, wood paneled, over-furnished reception room on Petror's home world Orocco.
Over dinner, Marius offered insight that extended back before his own tenure. 'Misunderstood genius,' he remarked of the Emperor. He explained that after the Chancellery, Palpatine worked out a way to step back and let those he appointed manage responsibilities, while no lessening the grips on their throats. As of late, he felt no pressure to maintain an actual presence to any ceremonial task.
Palpatine preferred the presence of military personnel over the civilians and military personnel less so than before. Civilian audiences had decreased from five a day, to once a week (and as Eva knew firsthand as a Lesser Courtier, the selection of that one seemed not of critical interest to Palpatine). He was increasingly self-isolated and even away to parts unknown unattended. The number of Courtiers had not decreased since their inception, but his use of them had. Marius lastly added, "You seem to be an exception. My sympathies." And he smiled.
Palpatine hated these days, when his desires were out of line with what was best for him. He had heard the argument years before and was cursing himself for not settling it then.
In the throne room, a group of 'Species Rights Activists' had the floor. "…It's easily argued that the typical Neimoidian practice of forcing their infantile grubs, their larva, to compete with each other over an unnaturally limited food supply, is a form of youngling abuse. The exception for its allowance should be discontinued."
The two Neimoidian ambassadors present had already articulated their side- of how their race came to have the strength that it possessed, the disease resistance, because of generations upon generations weeding out the weak. They conferred with one another in hushed Pak Pak as the Species Rights representative continued, "…Also underreported are other instances of outright murder…" he paused for effect. "Such as Neimoidian overseers assigning identical tasks to two teams of worker drones, with the incentive that the successful team can consumes the other." He looked to the Neimoidians with veiled repulsion and their musical cadence of guttural croaks subsided.
Eva was absorbed by the Neimoidians. She hadn't seen any in person before her appointment—Humanoid forms, orange eyes with zagged horizontal pupils, green-grey faces with no nose. Their obsession with status was evident in the ambassadors' complexly textured robes, and their cloaks, hats and collars all had particular symbolic meanings. The species' claim to infamy was the running of the Trade Federation and their hand in the start of the Clone Wars.
The activist went on, "This 'look the other way' attitude is inconsistent with prevailing laws. Now, you're an able statesman," he motioned to the Neimoidian who was the senior ambassador. "You've successfully defended your case before supreme jurisdiction for a…fifth time? How would feel if you were consumed by your cohort here, Ambassador Keyale, because he'd been just that more efficient than you?"
The senior Neimoidian's face exhibited no shortage of despair. He responded in accented Basic, "For the greater good," and his skin slightly pinkened.
It was not the answer the activist anticipated. Silence set in as attention focused more or less back upon the Emperor. Palpatine was still listening, but had turned his throne at an angle to the petitioners - a sign he didn't wish to be there. Eva imagined he didn't care a flit about baby grubs. At stake was the right of self-governance – the powers still held by the local Governors.
The flushing skin intensified, and the ambassador didn't look well at all. Eva understood it to be a Neimoidian indication of nausea, and considered approaching to whisper assurance. Don't worry- the Emperor has that effect on everyone. A couple of steps in his direction, and the Emperor spoke her name. She was supposed to be invisible, and yet all eyes were on her. Palpatine was motioning her over.
She approached to his far side, near the oversized viewport, so her face was would be obscured as she leaned over the throne. Long before, she learned to grasp the fabric that draped down from her headdress with a hand behind her back, so the hat would not fall into his lap.
"Even if he has been quarantined…" the words, spoken under his breath, emanated from behind the hood as he did not turn to her, "…disease is still rampant among their species. How does the saying go? 'The principal export of the Neimoidian home planet is Brainworm Rot Type C,'" he recited smugly. "Keep your distance."
Eva was incredulous he offered warning over chastisement. So she ventured hesitantly, "Your Highness…How does this exemption complicate your authority?" She said 'complicate,' but of course she meant 'weaken.' "When it's not necessary, as there is no shortage of resources now?" She added softly, "all the individuals of the Neimoidian species could survive."
To her amazement, Palpatine took up the argument. "No matter how distasteful their practices, why shouldn't they have the self determination to make their species stronger still?"
Oh, as Emperor, you're a master of 'self determination.' "Is the viewpoint of the Neimoidian majority inherently correct? That it should be imposed upon the helpless grubs? This is more than a cultural inclination we can't abide by. It's a precedent for the broader galaxy. The Neimoidians could be re-educated to understand."
"That would take generations and there will be no immediate credit. We're not even sure they'd ever embrace that point of view."
The two Neimoidians looked around haplessly. The clandestine conversation was becoming awkward, but Eva was now questioning herself, "Would it matter at all if this wasn't cultural? She added, "That is… if their behavior is hard-wired instinctual versus learned?"
"You mean where is the line between instinct and morality? Then there's the morality of one species imposed on another, but …well… that's at the heart of what governing is about…. It would be interesting to know, even if the legal applications were tenuous...
"Have it looked into - their preferences from the beginning of their recorded history. But back to the issue at hand," Palpatine's raspy voice continued, "Technology, medical advances, should not facilitate the weakening of a species." (and that bit was within earshot).
"Medical intervention, and food, should never be withheld." The strength in your rule, is kindness. She added, "All life, even the foul, is precious."
He turned and met her gaze directly. His face was unnervingly close. "And what if that 'foul' life was potentially threatening for the destruction of even greater numbers?" the tone of his voice had darkened. "Would you save it?"
"Would I save a 'bad' person, is what you mean?" She already knew. She'd been there before. "I'd only consider the one life before me. There's no 'fate' and to destroy the life would not be allowing for free will."
Both of them looked back over to the two perplexed ambassadors and Eva whispered, "Are you going to continue to let the Neimoidians make up their own rules?"
She had pushed too far. Challenging him brought out the worst (or rather to him, the most delicious). A roguish smile played at his lips. "There is an alternative you have not considered, Cescily…to address this quandary. With more creative use of the law and a re-classification, I could legalize murder."