Chapter 5 Lost in the System

Breha Organa sat in a chair next to the examination table, Gemma stood next to her with a hand on her arm; her husband, the Supreme Chancellor lay on his stomach with his head turned toward her. His face was pale and his eyes, closed; a bacta-soaked pad lay across his back, covering him from his shoulders to his upper legs. A tube had been inserted into the back of his hand to administer fluids from a bag hanging next to the table.

"Is he going to be alright, Mama?" Gemma whispered.

"Yes, darling." Breha assured her.

As if on cue, Bail moaned, stirred and opened his eyes. Breha leaned forward and put a hand on his arm, "Welcome back, my dear." She said, smiling with relief.

Bail tried to moved, winced in pain and closed his eyes again, "Was…anyone else….?" He whispered hoarsely.

"No, thank the Maker; but we nearly lost you." She answered.

Bail started to laugh, moaned and opened his eyes again, "Where….where is….Boba?" He asked.

Breha hesitated, not knowing what to tell him, "Where…is…" Bail started to ask again.

"Why?" Breha asked, stalling.

Bail closed his eyes and licked his lips, "You…know him; I…I do not…want him to…to do anything…foolish." He explained.

"He will not." Breha replied firmly.

"Let…let me talk…to him…to be…sure." Bail said.

"Well, he is not here, Bail." Breha told him.

"Where…is he…then?" Bail asked.

Breha looked down at the floor; the last thing she wanted to do was to worry him further, but on the other hand, he was starting to become agitated anyway.

Bail sighed, "Gemma….where…is Boba?" He asked.

Gemma looked at Breha, not knowing what to tell him.

Breha put a hand to face and covered her eyes, "They have arrested him, darling." She admitted.

Bail tried to get up, "What?"

"Papa, you must stay still." Gemma said, putting a hand on his arm.

Bail looked at her and, seeing the worry in her young face, nodded and relaxed, "Why…Breh?" He asked.

"They think he was the one who fired at the platform." Breha answered.

"No, he would not do…where…where is….Mon? Tell her….tell her…." Bail replied.

"I have already tried; she seems to think they have enough evidence to prove he did it." Breha informed him tearfully, "I could not stop her."

"I…will…." Bail said and started once more to get up.

"No, you will stay right where you are; Anakin Skywalker knows what has happened, and he and Master Kenobi are going to unravel this. You, Husband, are going into a bacta bath to recover." Breha replied.

"Contact…Boba needs….my defender….they must….allow that. And be sure….be sure they…treat him…fairly." Bail instructed.

"I will take care of all that, if you promise to do what you must do to get well." Breha bargained.

Bail smiled and closed his eyes, "Yes, Wife." He answered.

Breha kissed him on the cheek, "And as soon as you are in the bath, I will go see him." She promised.

"Good…he must…he must know…that we…" Bail began.

"That we are on his side." Breha finished.

Bail nodded and drifted back into unconsciousness.

Minutes later, the med droid entered the room, "The bacta bath has been prepared; we are ready to move him now." It informed her.

"Yes, alright; does Master Skywalker know that you are moving him?" Breha asked.

"Yes, I'm right here, Milady." Anakin answered as he entered the room.

"Anakin, good; I was hoping you could take me over to see Boba when Bail is situated." Breha said.

"Well, I really should get back to the Temple; and I have Padme with me. And I do not really think it would be a good idea for you to go there." Anakin replied.

"I want to be sure they….they have treated him fairly." Breha told him.

"Well, I can understand that; but the Detention Center is really no place…." Anakin started.

"For the Queen of Alderaan; is that what you were going to say?" Breha cut him off.

"Well….yes." Anakin admitted, "Why don't you let Master Kenobi and I go see him?"

"Because Boba must know that Bail and I believe he did not do what he is accused of." Breha argued.

"Let…let her go…Anakin." Bail murmured as the med droid transferred him to a float.

Anakin sighed and shook his head, "Alright; but this is against my better judgment." He conceded.

----------

"Has he told you anything?" Mon Mothma asked.

"No, Vice Chancellor; he continues to claim that he hasn't done anything." The Mon Calamari answered.

"But we're sure that he will confess eventually; I don't know how he can deny what has been found." The Bothan added.

"Queen Breha seems to think it was not him." Mon Mothma pointed out, "What if she is right?"

"With all due respect, perhaps the Queen's judgment is clouded by her affection for the boy." The human suggested.

"Possibly; but she has always been very level-headed. I find it difficult to believe that she would take his part if she had any doubt about his innocence." Mon Mothma replied.

"Vice Chancellor, in light of the evidence, how could she doubt his guilt?" The Chagrian asked.

Mon Mothma shook her head, "I don't know; perhaps you are right." She admitted, "Where is he now?"

"We have him in an isolation cell; it might just loosen his tongue." The Mon Calamari answered.

"Proceed with caution, Acken; the Chancellor considers this boy his son." Mon Mothma warned.

"We are well aware of his ties to the Chancellor. We will proceed within the law." The Bothan assured her.

"Be sure that you do. I am going back to the Medical Center; contact me of any new developments." Mon Mothma instructed.

"Yes, Madam." Acken promised.

----------

"How could anyone think Boba had anything to do with it?" Zak asked as he and Ferri headed for the cordoned off area that had been the street fair.

"They have evidence to prove it." Ferri answered.

"Well, I know him, he didn't do it." Zak replied.

"I know him too, and I agree with you; but we have to prove that he didn't." Ferri said, "I'm hoping I can pick up something from that terrace, something that will tell us the assassin wasn't Boba."

"I hope you can too." Zak agreed.

Clones were everywhere as they entered the restricted area and headed for the building in question, "Can I help you with something?" The Clone guarding the door asked.

"Yes, my master instructed me to check the terrace in this building where the assassin was." Ferri informed him.

"And who, might I ask, is your master?" The Clone asked.

"Master Anakin Skywalker; you can contact the Temple and confirm that if you wish." Ferri answered.

"No, I know Master Skywalker; I'll take your word for it. I will allow you up there, but not your friend here." The Clone said.

"I'm Master Obi-Wan Kenobi's apprentice. We work together." Zak replied.

The Clone looked skeptical, "I think I will contact the Temple after all." He said.

"We don't have time; we have work to do." Zak told him with a wave of his hand.

A few minutes later, they were entering the lift, "We don't have time; we have work to do." Ferri mimicked, "You are good, Zak Perrin."

"Thank you; I learned from the best." Zak answered.

----------

"We have a problem; the Queen has just arrived with a Jedi Master, and she wants to see our prisoner." The human informed Acken.

"Well, we'll just have to stall her, Hannon. We need to keep the boy in the dark for at least another hour before we can question him again; he must be softened up first. Seeing her will take us right back to square one." Acken replied.

"Stall her? How do you propose we do that?" Hannon asked.

"This is a large facility; prisoners get lost." Acken reminded him.

"So you want me to lose Boba Fett for a couple of hours?" Hannon surmised.

"That is exactly what I want you to do." Acken confirmed, "In the meantime, I will have the boy moved to a more isolated cell….on the lower level.

"Yes, sir." The human said with a smile.

----------

As Boba sat in the corner of his pitch black cell, his thoughts centered on how this could have happened; he wondered if Bail was still alive, and how Gemma was taking this…and he wondered what the Queen actually thought. He wasn't sure how long he sat there before he heard the door latch turn and heard the door slide open. Assaulted by the bright light of the hallway, Boba turned his head and closed his eyes against the painful suddenness of it.

"Get him up." He heard the Mon Calamari order and immediately felt hands on his arms hauling him to his feet.

"Put this on." The Mon Calamari ordered, and he was blindfolded before he had a chance to become accustomed to the light.

"What are you doing?" Boba asked.

"Moving you." The Mon Calamari answered, "Bring him."

"Why?" Boba asked as the guards led him forward.

"You have no right to know." The Mon Calamari answered.

Boba shook his head, but allowed the guards to lead him down the hallway to what he quickly realized was a lift. After several minutes the lift stopped and he was led down a very long hallway before coming to a halt; he heard a door slide open and the guards moved him forward. One of the guards removed the blindfold and the door slammed, shut leaving him in the dark once more. With a sigh, he resigned himself to his imprisonment and sat down.

----------

"What do you mean you aren't sure where he is?" Anakin demanded.

"This is a big place, Master Jedi; we lose prisoners temporarily all the time. I know he has been processed, and I know he was questioned. But whoever assigned him to a cell, entered the wrong cellblock. According to this, he should be right down the hall here, but that cell is registering as being empty. We'll find him eventually, but you'll just have to be patient." The desk officer answered calmly.

"Boba Fett is the Chancellor's son; how could you be so careless?" Anakin asked angrily.

"He is accused of a serious crime; we certainly didn't want to lose him." The officer replied defensively.

"A crime he did not commit; if has been abused in any way, believe me, there will be repercussions." Breha threatened.

"I understand your concern, Milady; please, have a seat, and as soon as I find him, I will let you know." The officer promised.

"Why do I get the feeling something isn't right?" Anakin asked as he glared at the officer.

"I don't know; I'll find the boy, just give me some time." The officer answered.

----------

"This is something he's wanted to do for a long time." Ferri announced.

"How long?" Zak asked as he searched through the room leading to the terrace.

"I'm not sure, years, I think." Ferri answered, "He liked the way the crowd panicked; that's sick, isn't it."

"Yes, but you still can't tell anything else about him?" Zak asked.

"Nothing that could set him apart from Boba Fett. There's just not anything remarkable about him; I'm still not even sure what his motive is, except that I think he's working for someone else." Ferri replied.

"Great; that only makes the bounty hunter, Boba, look guiltier." Zak said.

"I'm sorry; I'm doing the best I can." Ferri told him and went back in.

With a sigh, Zak put a hand on his shoulder, "I know; I'm sorry. It's just so frustrating." He said apologetically.

"Tell me about it." Ferri agreed, "Let's go, I'm just not getting anything that we don't already know."

"Nothing about deliberately leaving the case with the weapon in it?" Zak asked.

"Only that he didn't want to be seen with it. Did you find anything in the apartment itself?" Ferri asked.

"Nothing." Zak answered.

"Well, let's just try following his footsteps; who knows, I may pick up something." Ferri suggested.

"It's worth a try." Zak replied as they exited the apartment and stepped back into the hallway.

"He's thinking about blending in with the crowd; he's excited because he'll get to be with all those panicking people..." Ferri explained and then narrowed his eyes, "Huh; that's strange."

"What?" Zak asked.

"I think Boba was up here." Ferri answered.