Chapter 12

Amara was walking toward the Senate building. She'd been casing the facility for three weeks now, trying to figure out the best way to plant her smoke bombs so she could get this job over with. Her plan was to plant the bombs in Lara Naberrie Skywalker's office while she was out to lunch during the day. She'd be disguised as a maintenance worker.

She kept a low profile, not calling attention to herself, so she could get this done as quickly and as painlessly as possible. She grabbed a HoloNet newspaper and sat down on a nearby bench to read. Suddenly she gasped as a woman matching the description of her target coming out of the Senate building. I thought she was still on her honeymoon, she thought frantically. I guess I'll be doing the job earlier than I thought.

Casually, she walked into the Senate building, slipping inside a public refresher and changed into her maintenance worker uniform, complete with fake ID badge. Stopping by the maintenance closet, she grabbed a full cart, hiding her smoke bombs underneath the cleaning supplies, and headed off to the lift that would take her to the floor where the Senators' offices were located. It didn't take her long to find Lara Naberrie's office. I guess they didn't change her name to her married name yet, she thought ruefully. Taking a maintenance passkey, she let herself in and planted her smoke bombs. They would only cause small firecracker-like explosions and release a lot of smoke, would be an annoyance more than a harm to anyone. And by the time anyone figured out who was responsible, she'd be long gone from Coruscant, retired to Bespin to raise her son.

Little did she know that Kent had been into her stash and switched her smoke bombs with real ones.

"I can't believe it's come to this," Padme said in dismay, her good mood about her pregnancy gone as she sat in Bail's office. Obi-Wan sat beside her, holding her hand. "Chancellor Palpatine was one of my most trusted advisors. He was ambassador for me during my term as queen. Once we've captured and neutralized Count Dooku, the war will be over and Palpatine will return emergency power back to the senate."

Even as she said the words, they sounded hollow to her ears. She'd been informed that morning that Palpatine wanted to speak with Anakin Skywalker once he came home from his honeymoon about making him his representative on the Jedi council. That move was very bold and unsettling even to her.

"I hate to say it, but I think we need to call Anakin and Lara home from their honeymoon," Bail said.

"They have more pressing matters on Naboo," Obi-Wan interjected. "They're needed there for the moment." He and Padme exchanged a look. She nodded and he went on, "Queen Jamilla has been ill for some time and is expected to die before the year is out. Lara is at the Theed palace helping her appoint a queen to finish her term on her behalf. They just sent us a transmission of the news. It may be a while before they can return to Coruscant…" His voice trailed off. He sensed danger.

"Obi-Wan," Padme whispered. "What is it?"

"We need to get out of here," he said in a soft, yet deadly, voice. "Now."

Jessamyn parked her speeder across from the Senate building. She'd been meditating when she got the sense that Obi-Wan and Padme were in danger. She knew from experience she needed to trust her instincts. She just hoped she wasn't too late.

When she got there, several senators were pouring out of the building. She scanned the crowd, but she couldn't find Obi-Wan or Padme anywhere. Taking a deep breath, she walked through the crowd of senators and entered the building. She slipped into the stairwell, taking the stairs, two at a time, to the floor where Padme's office was. There was no danger there, none that she could sense. The danger was coming from Lara's office. She ran to Lara's office door, only to find it locked. She didn't hesitate in using the Force to unlock the door. Once she was inside, she saw the bombs everywhere, on Lara's desk.

"You can do this," she told herself. "You've done it before. You can disable these explosives." To her relief, they were on a timer. She quickly set to work.

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan had managed to get the Loyalist committee, as well as other senators who had been working in their offices safely evacuated and they were all outside when he sensed another Force-user. It's not Anakin, he thought. Anakin's on Naboo with Lara. Blast! It's Jessamyn!

"Stay here, Padme," he said sternly and ran back inside.

Amara had been well on her way out when she got a call on her comlink. It was Mimi, who'd told her that Kent had punk'd her, switching her stash. "Double crossing son of a bitch!" she snarled as she switched off her comlink, running back inside so she could diffuse the bombs herself.

When she got to the office, she found a blond woman trying to disable the bombs. "Get away from those!" she yelled.

The blonde looked up. "I know what I'm doing!" she snapped and turned back to her work. She snipped the red wire and the timer stopped beeping and blinking. "So what are you doing here?"

Amara looked at her. "I planted them," she said simply. "They were supposed to just make smoke."

"What in blazes is going on?" a stern male voice asked. "Jessamyn, what are you doing here?"

Both women looked up to find a man with shoulder-length reddish hair and a full beard standing in the doorway. The blonde spoke up before Amara could get a word in. "I managed to disable the bombs when this woman came in, Master Kenobi. She says they're hers and they were just supposed to make smoke."

The man stared at Amara and the blonde. "Yes, Amara Solo," he intoned. "I should've known you'd be a part of this. Come on, both of you." The tone of his voice left no room for argument and the two women went with him. Taking the stairs, the trio made their way down to the main floor and outside. They were only a few feet away from the building when there was a huge explosion, knocking them to the ground.

Then all was quiet, deadly quiet.