Thank you Ann Jinn. Kaelir of Lorien - I would like to blame that on autocorrect but not sure I can. Thanks for reading!
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"The whole thing is shocking, absolutely shocking. I am utterly appalled at the depths to which sentient beings will sink for money. These are immoral times we live in my friend."
That Dooku failed to notice an appreciable lack of sincerity behind the Senator's words can be explained by two reasons, the first was that Taylar, being a politician, was well practiced in the art of expressing emotions he did not feel. The second was that Dooku was not even looking at the man.
Feeling old for the first time in his life, he sunk to a nearby bench, hunched forward and wearily contemplated the remains of his half empty glass. If Taylar lacked the surprise that he professed to feel, Dooku made up for it twice over. He was aghast at the level to which he had sunk. He abhorred gossip. And yet here he was not only prepared to tolerate it for his own ends, but actually inviting it.
"I am speechless, absolutely speechless." The insincerity of this statement proved false immediately by Taylar's continued rant, "That the Council would keep a Jedi of your stature in the dark on such matters is incomprehensible."
The Senator paused and poured himself another drink. "You will excuse me if I speak candidly for a moment, for you see I know certain things. Odd bits of information tend to come my way every now and again."
He paused again, flicked an imaginary piece of lint off his sleeve then studied his well manicured fingernails for a moment, as if he were hesitant to touch on a delicate subject. "I know that you are no ordinary Jedi. And it is your very history which makes you the obvious candidate to deal with such matters, for it has become apparent that even the Jedi are not immune to the temptations of great wealth. But you, my friend, are impeachable. Far be it from me to question the wisdom of the Jedi Council, but were I the fortunate owner of a large quantity of crystalline vertex you would seem to me the natural choice to safeguard such wealth."
Taylor would have continued along this vein, but Dooku interrupted, "I am afraid I don't follow you Senator."
But here Dooku hesitated, carefully choosing his next words.
Loyalty was not a quality that Dooku held in much regard. The very base of the sentiment implied trust in a person or principles often over one's own convictions or judgment, a misguided notion at best. Dooku had found very few things in his life that deserved such esteem, and the Jedi Code was not one of them. And yet an odd loyalty must have existed in Dooku in some trace quantity for he could not allow himself to use the word so ill-favored in that belief system.
"Are you implying that the Jedi have in their... keeping… a fortune in crystalline vertex?"
"Have your fellow Jedi told you nothing?" Taylar was incredulous.
"I, ah hmm," Dooku cleared his throat. "I have experienced some minor communications difficulties."
"Faulty equipment?" Taylar shook his head sympathetically, "Budget constraints, indeed! It's a sad state of affairs when the treasury of the Republic lines the pockets of corrupt politicians while our protectors are sent into the field lacking the barest essentials. I have half a mind to draft a petition of complaint."
"Pray don't trouble yourself Senator. But the vertex?"
"According to my sources, the Jedi Council secretly agreed to hold a rather large quantity of crystalline vertex until ownership of the fortune could be peaceable established. I understand there was enough vertex to buy an impressive amount of real estate, if you so desired, possibly an entire system or two if you are not too particular about location."
The Senator's nose wrinkled slightly as if he had just discovered an offensive smell, clearly expressing his views regarding less than ideal locations. In a moment he recovered himself and continued.
"Not a bad plan at all if you think about it. That temple of yours is a veritable fortress, not to mention the built in security force."
"Well, as unbelievable as it sounds, an attempt was made to steal the vertex from the very heart of the Temple, from under the very noses of the Council. And this is where I was hoping you might be able to confirm a detail or two, as it all seems rather too fantastic to believe. It is said that the thief was able to breach Temple security because he himself was a Jedi. Some sort of rogue Jedi if you can imagine such a thing. Really it is surprising the amount of information the Council has managed to keep hush over the years."
Rogue Jedi? For an uncomfortable moment Dooku thought the Senator was referring to Qui-Gon, until he realized this was ridiculous. He was not thinking clearly, in glancing down he was surprised to discover he was now holding an empty glass in his hand. He sighed. The whole thing was starting to give him a headache.
When Dooku made no response, Taylar continued his story. "Luckily for the Jedi, your former apprentice uncovered the plot, fought off the invader, and thwarted his plans to destroy the temple moments before disaster struck. It all is most impressive, due in part I am sure to your excellent training and example. "
"And the fate of this rogue Jedi?"
"He escaped. It seems he planned for every contingency. It now appears he plotted the destruction of the Temple from the start, the vertex was only an afterthought. They say that his real motive was revenge, possibly against Master Jinn personally. But I am rather disinclined to believe this part of the story, after all stealing the vertex is a much more understandable motivation, and revenge even in a former Jedi sounds a bit extreme. I thought it was not in your nature. Unless that is another one of those dark secrets you Jedi are hiding, along with the identity of the attacker."
There were moments when the Force brought clarity with such intensity that the impact jarred him to the bone. Insight turned to truth, and he found he knew the answer.
Xanatos!
Something inside of him untwisted and Dooku almost smiled. The truth was a curious relief.
How odd that until this very moment he had assumed that the threat had been political in nature. Oh, nothing so bold as an overt attack, nothing that could be tied back to the Senate itself, more likely some twisted offshoot of the greed and corruption that wormed it way throughout the system unchecked. That cancer so insidiously entwined around the Republic it was impossible to cut out without hacking off whole limbs.
But this was something else entirely.
That impudent self-serving whelp had actually stood up to the Jedi. For a moment, Dooku almost admired him for his boldness, but he knew the boy had no vision. At his center he was no different from the politicians and power mongers that Dooku despised. Xanatos was a fool, but a dangerous fool, and better dealt with at once. Dooku doubted the Council would agree.
He could almost hear Yoda extolling patience. Wait we must, impossible to see the future is.
"You are smiling, Master Dooku. Does my story amuse you? Perhaps you doubt its credibility, it is rather sensational. But I must say there is something about the persona of Qui-Gon Jinn that makes me believe him capable of all that I have heard and more."
"Do you know my apprentice?" Dooku could not imagine two people with less in common than Taylar and Qui-Gon Jinn.
"By reputation only. But just this morning I had the great fortune to encounter our hero himself as I made to leave Coruscant. We shared a landing platform at the central air terminal. It was not so great of a coincidence really. Reduced, you know, as we public servants are to flying commercial transport."
An expressive shrug gave you the Senator's true opinion of public transportation.
"I was quite impressed. The finest figure of a Jedi I have ever laid eyes on, present company excepted of course."
"The Jedi have always shown a certain disdain for style, but I must say after seeing your apprentice today, I was almost tempted to run out and buy myself something brown, but then there are so few who can really pull off that look. Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn is one of the few. He certainly looks the part of the mighty warrior, protector of the people, off to parts unknown, sent forth to battle the danger and darkness alone."
Dooku had stopped listening entirely.
And in another moment of insight that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, Dooku knew, he knew that Qui-Gon had gone in search of Xanatos.
And this was no mission sanctioned by the Council. This was action, clean, pure, Force-driven action, unfettered by the rule bound restraint and stumbling indecision of the Jedi Council.
It was revelation. Suddenly, Dooku's place of most gifted Jedi and favorite son of the Jedi Council had become too rigid a restraint. Unawares he found he had grown weary of such a passive existence. His growing restlessness had nothing to do with his missions. This fermenting discontent was the natural byproduct of an absolute stagnation.
Dooku longed to do more than merely what the Council deemed necessary and wise. He longed to exact change, to right wrong, to instill order in a disordered, unjust universe. There had been a time in his life when he had believed he was doing just that. And he had before him the means to go back.
He would go with Qui-Gon to hunt down an enemy who had not only threatened the Jedi, but who had done damage to one of their own. It took no Force knowledge to know where his padawan had gone. He would follow Qui-Gon to Telos and together they would bring Xanatos to justice.
His weariness dropped away and clarity took hold. Dooku carefully set down his glass and stood, ready again to be off, but this time with a sureness of purpose.
Qui-Gon would not face this enemy alone.
"Well, not alone exactly."
Dooku started until he realized that the Senator was merely finishing his account of what he had seen at the landing platform.
"There was the boy, of course."
"The boy?"
"His apprentice, although I believe you Jedi have another word for it."
"Padawan." Dooku supplied weakly as he sat down again, unable to decide what emotion to feel.
He took up his glass, poured and neatly swallowed the contents.
"Senator, I am afraid I might need to trouble you for a bit more information."
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