Snips of the Future Chapter 5
Trust Count kriffing Dooku to have access to an Intergalactic Banking Clan luxury transport. The sleemo. Ahsoka knew she wasn't being fair, but at the moment she wasn't feeling in a particularly 'fair' mood. Her nightmares had been even worse than usual, and the third time the creche workers had woken her because her crying was starting to disturb the other younglings, they'd been rather insistent that she visit the Halls of Healing.
Fortunately her shields, which she'd trained up beyond pre-war Jedi Knight level during the Clone War, and even higher when running from the Empire as a simple matter of survival, had held. Otherwise, all the younger children in her clan, as well as probably those in the nearest other clans would all have been crying. It took a while for younglings to learn even basic shields, and the dreams that visited her at night spreading among a whole pack of unshielded projecting empaths was not something she was willing to contemplate.
Fortunately, the healer had confirmed that she was fine, if mildly dehydrated. She'd kept her shields even tighter than usual which seemed to have wrong-footed both Tor Dahni and the healer, but given that they hadn't been able to find anything wrong with her, and she'd kept insisting she was fine, they could find a reason to demand that she lower them. Ahsoka had meditated on her bunk for the rest of the night, as she had so many times after the war, but whatever anyone tried to say, it couldn't compare to real sleep.
Now she had a raging headache, and they were standing in front of Bay 238, which turned out to contain a BC-714 luxury transport in Jedi colors. Ahsoka couldn't remember having seen it before. That pesky part of her mind that insisted on considering all sides of an issue suggested that it wasn't Dooku's personal property, and was probably generally used to host negotiations when no handy neutral ground could be found. The very tired part of her mind snapped back that it was so typical of Dooku to commandeer the largest, most luxurious ship available.
Dooku entered the bay followed by droid pulling hover carts of luggage, just as the creche staff were shepherding the last of the younglings aboard, assisted by members of the ship's crew. Ahsoka had gotten very good at being quiet and unobtrusive, and had managed to hang back enough that she could join him as he strode up the ramp.
"You couldn't have picked something more conspicuous? Perhaps a yacht plated in chromium and gold gem studded buttons and loudspeakers constantly blasting fanfare?" Ahsoka hissed, and it was a hiss a depressurizing hull. "We're heading into Hutt space and you're taking us in something that practically screams 'Come rob me Mister Pirate!'"
Dooku's face twitched in what might have been a suppressed smile. "Please join me in my cabin, Initiate Tano."
He lifted a single bag from the nearest hover cart, and spoke to the droids. "Place these in the hold, and make sure they are tied down securely. Then clear an open space in the cargo hold."
Then Dooku strode away, with Ahsoka struggling to keep up on legs that were far too short. They quickly walked to the second best quarters on the ship before he looked back and seemed to notice her having to run to keep up. Then he turned, and nodded to her.
"My apologies, Initiate Tano. With the way you talk it is easy for me to forget your age, but a Jedi should always be mindful. Please come in and take a seat."
Ahsoka was surprised. She hadn't really thought about how she spoke, but she realized that she wasn't exactly fitting in with those around her. What was she supposed to do? It would be a challenge to try to keep her speech to a four year old level, and she needed people to take her seriously.
"Don't worry about it." Dooku seemed to have noticed her consternation. "There is a reason I generally only teach the older initiates. Please enter."
The door to the cabin whooshed open, and Ahsoka was surprised at the lack of decorations. The furnishings were obviously of high quality, as one would expect of a room often used to house planetary dignitaries, but there were no statues or carvings or trophies or exotic animal pelts like she'd seen the few times she'd been in the areas of the rich and powerful. There was simply extreme quality and comfort.
Dooku seemed to misinterpret her gaze. He directed her to a very comfortable-looking, though far too large, armchair, and sat in another across from her.
"A Jedi is not greedy or obsessed with luxury, but that doesn't mean we have to deliberately make ourselves less comfortable." He paused, possibly expecting either a child's 'yes master' or an attempt at rebuttal he had probably heard a dozen times, and from much more senior lips, but Ahsoka didn't know what to say, and after a brief moment he continued.
"So, young Tano. Do you have any new visions to share with me?" She startled, and it was clearly a smile on his lips this time. "Oh it's quite simple, and required no great mastery of the Force. I simply input into the temple computers that I was to be notified of any change in the status of members of Clawmouse Clan."
That smile was looking more and more like a teacher getting an opportunity to make an object lesson on a favorite topic.
"A Jedi must be mindful of the Force, and not neglect any of it's gifts. However, far too many Jedi seem to think all answers are found through the Force, and too often neglect the many mundane sources of support. Dedicating oneself to the Force does not mean the mundane world holds no place in our lives, and more Jedi would do well to remember that. So I repeat myself. Do you have any more information?"
"Not... anything directly relevant to what we're doing." She wasn't sure exactly what to say. Lying to Dooku wouldn't be smart, and she didn't want to undermine her credibility with the one member of the Jedi who was willing to take her seriously, even if she still couldn't trust him even as much as she trusted the Jedi.
"There's going to be a LOT of suffering in the next thirty years. Oh! Maul somehow survives getting cut in half and thrown down a reactor shaft. I have no idea how."
"Troubling. We will have to make sure that nothing of the kind happens."
And even more frustrating that the Jedi Council had apparently not bothered to follow up and recover the body of a felled Sith that they'd previously refused to believe even existed. Yan Dooku silently went through a quick meditative routine to center himself. He'd known the Council had lost touch, but he hadn't realized it was quite this bad. He had to remind himself that none of this had been confirmed as of yet.
Dooku recognized that young Ahsoka Tano still had things she was unwilling to share with him. He'd been sifting her words with the Force, and had sensed no lies. More than that, the Force seemed eager to confirm what she was saying, almost as if was as concerned as she was. Still, as an experienced investigator and diplomat, he was very good at telling when people were holding things back, and while Ahsoka was far more skilled at hiding her thoughts than any four year old had any reason being, she was not any kind of politician.
So Dooku made use of one of the oldest tricks of politicians teachers and gambler; sitting quietly with his entire attention focused on her, obviously waiting for Ahsoka to continue.
She squirmed a little bit, and then added "There's a vote of No Confidence in Chancellor Velorum."
Dooku nodded, not sure why that was important, as Valorum had been a friend to the Jedi order but not a particularly effective one, but wanting Ahsoka to continue. Personally, he felt that Valorum's friendship with Qui-gon Jin kept getting his former padawan into trouble.
This time the pause was much longer, and when Ahsoka continued it was in a barely audible whisper.
"There's a civil war coming." It sounded like she choked out a sob, and Dooku's heart went out to her, despite the detachment he strove to maintain. "It'll span the Republic. Trillions dead. Planets devastated, some with all life stripped from them. Soldiers little better than slaves. The Republic 'wins' by falling, replaced by an Empire." Her eyes were haunted as they looked up at them, and it almost seemed like in her eyes he could see burning planets, as tears streamed down her face. "And the Jedi die. Jedi are hunted. In thirty years, including former padawans that had escaped but never finished their training, and kids they'd picked up and given a smattering of training, the number of surviving Jedi could be counted on one hand."
Notes: Whew. I've been struggling with writers block a bit, but I'm glad to get some more out there. I hope you all enjoy.
Someone told me that Dooku seemed to be acting a bit underhandedly. I guess that is kind of true. He is convinced that if he tries to go through the normal procedures it will take far to long, even as a member of the Council itself, to get permission to interfere in Qui-gon Jin's mission. He's also rather upset with the Council in general. I also suspect that Sidious has also already begun working on him, encouraging his dissatisfaction with the Jedi, without yet revealing what he's doing or the fact that he's a Sith.
Sometimes it surprises me how few people in Star Wars make use of mundane technological solutions and planning to fix problems.
