Whispers of Menace
A Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Alternate Universe
Chapter Fourteen:
Sticks in the Mud,
also known as
The Jedi Council
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were waiting for us, and we stepped into the lift silently. No commands were needed; its only stops were the Atrium and the Council's antechamber. As we began to ascend, I sensed a small but growing fear in my Padawan.
"I want you to wait for a bit, rather than going right in with us, Ani," I told him. "They're not expecting you, and they're like a lot of people when surprised; they can say things that they end up really regretting once they have time to think about it."
"They can be hurtful without meaning to be, can't they?" Qui-Gon observed wryly.
"Oh, quite," his pupil replied with great feeling. Then he looked at Anakin, a half-grin on his face. "When I was just a bit older than you are, Master Yoda had me thinking that no one wanted to train me," he explained. "But a couple of years ago, I found out that several Masters had asked him, and he told them no because Master Qui-Gon was being stubborn and wouldn't ask me."
"Yes, well, I didn't say they were the only ones," the older man admitted. "And I wasn't being honest with myself at that point, either."
"These two had to be forced to work together before they realized that their training bond had formed." I winked at the blond boy, and he stifled a giggle.
"They're old people," Obi-Wan said, pulling a face that wrinkled his nose.
"Master Yoda was old before I was born," his Master added with a chuckle. "He's older than all of us will ever get, combined."
With that, the last little bit of terror vanished from Anakin's Force signature. He was still nervous, of course, but it wasn't the pervasive fear he'd been projecting. He did give me a speculative look.
"Don't ask 'how old,' because you'll only get the answer he gives everyone," I warned.
"'Older than dirt.'" The three-person chorus got a full laugh out of him.
"He probably is, though," I added. "I've found mentions of 'Councilor Master Yoda' that are over two hundred years old." Sifo-Dyas had given me Council-level access to the archives when I was his Padawan, and it had allowed me to uncover more than just the old version of the Jedi Code.
"That doesn't surprise me one bit," Kenobi said wryly. "You can't get away with anything around him. Certainly not describing the way he looks to those who haven't met him."
"Shriveled little green troll," I muttered.
"That makes three things to be scolded about, at least." I turned a mock glare on him, and Qui-Gon reached out to tug on his elbow-length braid. "Just telling the truth!"
"Don't they like you, Serra?"
"Master Sifo-Dyas was the only one who didn't grouch at her much," Qui-Gon told Ani. "Your Master is a bit of a rebel in their eyes."
"That's okay, Mister—I mean, Master Qui-Gon. I like her." At least he'd stick up for me. It was going to be 'pick on Serra' time soon enough.
"Wait with the Padawan on duty for me. And please be patient… I'd rather have them yell at me for an hour than at you for five minutes."
"Why would you be in trouble?" he asked, worrying needlessly.
"Well, for starters, I sort of invited myself on their mission," I replied, pointing a thumb over my shoulder at our companions. "Don't fret about me. I'll call you when they've calmed down. You just tell me if the Padawan tries to stop you."
"How?"
Like this, I told him through the bond. Remember telling me you were fine at the end of the race?
I DID THIS? My wince was slight, but he noticed, immediately apologizing vocally.
"That will work just fine, Ani. They keep shielding on the Council Chamber itself so people can't use the Force to eavesdrop on Council business." The little squeeze I gave one of his arms reassured him more than my words.
"Are you sure you'll be able to hear a mental call?" Master Jinn asked. "The shielding doesn't block intentional calls out, but in…" He let the thought hang.
"Oh, I'll hear," I replied with fervor. Since I could hear him so loudly with my usual shields up, he would certainly be able to punch through artificial shielding if I held my end of the bond as open as I planned to.
~They can shove their doubting looks up their—~
A gentle empathic tug reined in my temper, and I sneaked a surprised glance at my Padawan. ~He doesn't even realize he's doing that,~ I thought wonderingly. That must have been why he hadn't feared facing Watto before the Toydarian agreed to our podracing scheme. He probably hadn't been in serious trouble since his subconscious learned to bleed away others' anger.
Aunt Shaak was right: I'd really lucked out, being chosen to train this special youngling.
Then the lift doors opened again.
"Master Jinn, Padawan Kenobi." I sighed inwardly. Padawan Tindlor had been on duty several times over the last year when I'd been called in for scoldings. "Knight Ti." He gave me a flat, disapproving look, then glared outright at the smallest in our group. "I've never seen you before."
"My Padawan," I growled, returning the glare with interest. Then I crouched a bit, making my voice and eyes deliberately soft as I fussed with Ani's tabards. "Remember, manners are a virtue."
"Yes, Master." He didn't even glance at the Devaronian, though one side of his mouth tried to twitch upward. It was as good as a slap in the face to the other youth. My colleagues picked up on what I was doing and why. Obi-Wan made his preference obvious by showing Anakin a comfy, sunny spot on one of the benches between the lift and the door. Qui-Gon turned a stern and disapproving frown on the older boy as he passed into the inner Council Chamber.
"Willful again you have been, Knight Ti," the Grandmaster of the Order said when the doors had closed behind us.
"I serve the will of the Force, Master," I parried. "When It calls, I obey without question." Any time I faced the Council, the capitalization of the pronoun was particularly clear. I often felt that they never understood what the Force truly meant to me.
"Be that as it may, Knight Ti, you were not assigned to this mission. Your disobedience will be addressed." Master Windu was, as usual, rather put out with me.
"Respectfully, Mace," Qui-Gon interrupted with startling informality, "without Knight Ti, the situation would be worse, not better." I blinked. "Had she not diagnosed the difficulty with the Queen of Naboo's cruiser as quickly as she did—which we would not have—we would have needed another day to do so. And were it not for her skills, we would certainly have gone over a waterfall before we even met the Queen."
~Now, wait a minute. The bongo wasn't that badly off.~
"Then tell us what happened, if she has been such a lifesaver." ~Ouch.~ Even Ki-Adi-Mundi, usually so calm, was upset with me.
Then Master Jinn and Padawan Kenobi were off, not letting me get a word in edgewise about either vessel, and going so far as to vastly exaggerate the tale of traveling through Naboo's core. As I watched them pull the nerf-wool over the Council's eyes, I wondered why I hadn't heard about their marvelous sabacc faces.
Then again, few Jedi participate in friendly sabacc tournaments.
"…and the only conclusion that we can come to is that the attacker was a Sith Lord," Qui-Gon finished.
"A Sith Lord?!" Master Windu was visibly disturbed by the idea.
"Impossible," Master Mundi added. "The Sith have been extinct for a millennium."
~Extinct. Riiight. So what, then, killed my Master two months ago?~
"The very Republic is threatened, if involved the Sith are." At least Master Yoda was willing to consider the possibility; he was usually one of the least open-minded Councilors.
"I do not believe they could have returned without us knowing."
"Hard to see, the Dark Side is." I'd never witnessed the two leaders of the Council so diametrically opposed about anything. "Discover who this assassin is, we must."
"How could a mere assassin have come so close to defeating a Jedi Knight in single lightsaber combat?" Obi-Wan asked pointedly. "Especially a Knight who spars with Master Dooku on a regular basis?" He paused dramatically. "I could feel him drawing on the Dark Side as they fought. He was stronger than I ever sensed from Xanatos."
~Yow. Pull out the big guns, why don't you, kid?~ Xanatos of Telos had been Master Jinn's first true Padawan, chosen after he completed an orphaned Padawan's training. The human male had been near my age. But something had gone terribly wrong, and the young man had turned away from the Jedi teachings. After Qui-Gon had taken Obi-Wan as his student, Xanatos had made numerous attempts to win the boy who should have been like a brother over to his side. Judging by the older man's wince, Xanatos' fall from grace still smarted.
The Council members paused for a moment, looking at each other.
"Be that as it may, reveal himself again, I sense he will."
"This attack was with purpose, that is clear, and I agree that the Queen is the target."
"With this Naboo Queen you must stay, Qui-Gon. Protect her," Master Yoda ordered.
"Then so must Knight Ti." The older human raised his chin, daring them to deny his request. "If the Queen herself does not ask first, I will lodge a formal petition that Knight Ti be officially assigned to her protection."
"Why insist you so?" Master Yaddle asked. She so rarely spoke during sessions I had attended that I was surprised to notice (not for the first time or the last) that she was a member of Master Yoda's mysterious people.
"Having witnessed the, ah, 'incident' just before we left Tatooine, I have doubts that my Padawan and I could both survive a pitched battle with the 'assassin' unless we had help."
I shivered at the echo of my Master's warning.
"Do you have something to add, Knight Ti?" I respected Master Tiin's lightsaber skills, but I definitely didn't like his scathing tone. A slight motion of my hand told the other two to let me handle the question.
"For six months, I have been requesting that the Council investigate the disappearance of my Master, one of your own members." I gestured toward his empty chair.
"I don't see what this has to do with the matter at hand," Master Gallia muttered.
"Yet two days ago, he was found on Nar Shaddaa, two months dead." I made the statement as cruel as I could bear. "You all know about his visions. Would you discount the final message he left for me?" Again, glances went around the room. "I have to go back to Naboo with the Queen. Without my assistance, one of them will die." As I spoke the words, I could taste their truth. The Sith would kill one of my new friends unless I was there to watch their backs.
"No… no, I can't…" The absolutely horrified whisper came from behind me. Master Windu's eyes moved to where I knew Master Jinn stood, his dark brow furrowing with concern. But what did the man mean? That he couldn't lose a second Padawan? Or maybe that he couldn't leave his Padawan in such an abrupt and traumatic manner? Either was as likely as the other.
"You would put your life at risk for them." Master Rancisis was appallingly detached, as though we were merely counters on a younglings' board game.
"With her, all three shall live." Unable to focus my eyes or stop the multi-tonal voice coming from my mouth, my knees trembled.
"Who Speaks to us?" Master Koth asked, recognizing that a higher power controlled me.
*They have not listened to subtlety,* that odd voice said in my head. *They were not concerned about Our prior message-bearer until it was too late. They do not properly hear unless Our will coincides with theirs. Rarely have We done this, and the burden is yours for but a moment. We ask no more than what you already freely offer.* The implications turned my joints to water, and I fell, distantly aware of the commotion that arose and the hands that caught my elbows.
"We are that which you claim to serve. You walk dangerously close to Darkness. Heed when We speak, or you will be truly lost." Then the presence ebbed, dimming to the pervasive energy I was accustomed to sensing. The uproar in the Chamber was audibly deafening, though the shielding kept the psychic noise inside the room.
"Confidentiality." The single word from my aching throat stopped eleven of the thirteen other people in the Chamber dead. The hands of my friends helped me regain my feet, supporting me in more ways than one. "I invoke Confidentiality on this issue, and one other that I will present before another being enters."
"Support the invocation, I will," Master Yaddle said after a moment. "Need to be known widely this does not." Slowly, nods of consent moved through the room.
"This is… this is unprecedented." I absently noted that Master Piell was the source of the murmur.
"Actually, it's not." Surprise: that came from the youngest person present. "They were barely within the limits of the Confidentiality clause, but I've come across two mentions of a Mouthpiece in the archives."
"Impossible with the Force, nothing is. Rare, but not impossible." I had already been reeling, and Master Yoda's statement sent me into a mental tailspin. "Assign Knight Ti to protect the Queen, I do."
SERRA?! Even held upright by two fit men, I swayed as Anakin's concern hit me. Every Councilor turned to look in one direction, where my young charge would be visible if the wall had been transparent.
"That would be the second issue," I said with a weak laugh. I'll be all right, little one. No need to shout.
"Did he just…" Obi-Wan began.
"Blow through the shielding like it wasn't even there?" Qui-Gon finished in a voice filled with wonder. "I think so. I do believe I'd underestimated the lad."
"What was it?" Master Gallia demanded.
"That would be the reason we were able to get off Tatooine at all." The Padawan supporting my right side was making his voice deliberately casual, like I did when I wanted to be most sarcastic. Only I did it to hide the sarcasm, not emphasize it. "A surprisingly talented little fellow. He won a podrace so that we could get the parts we needed to repair the Queen's cruiser."
"Mm, yes," Qui-Gon agreed. "What took three weeks to build between me and Obi-Wan after I acknowledged our bond took less than twelve hours between Serra and Anakin. I don't believe she knew the first thing about starting a training bond."
"I still don't." That drew an amused snort from my shorter friend. "He's a vergence," I added, loud enough to make sure they all heard.
"A vergence, you say?"
"A person?"
"A boy," Obi-Wan supplied. "His cells have the highest concentration of midi-chlorians I have ever seen in a life form."
"He was conceived by them." My voice almost echoed in the sudden silence.
"You refer to the Prophecy of Balance?" Master Windu asked. "You believe he is the Chosen One?" I finally regained my balance and made it clear that I wasn't physically relying on anyone to stay upright.
"I don't 'believe,' I know."
"Testing do you request?"
"No. If his count isn't proof enough for you, then the fact that he won the most dangerous podrace on the circuit and, in doing so, beat the Dug who was the champion until then should be." I stared down Master Windu, who seemed to be the one most against me at the moment. "Anakin Skywalker is my Padawan. And he's human."
Though some of the Councilors were asking each other if they knew what podracing was, I saw recognition in a few eyes. And they appeared to be calculating.
"Might I remind you all that Confidentiality has been invoked?" Obi-Wan was using that too-casual voice again. Now I understood why some called it 'infuriating.'
"You say you're bonded?" Master Gallia asked snidely. Maybe I'd missed the mark on who would be my greatest opposition. "Prove it."
Anakin, would you please come in now?
He won't let me in, he replied after a moment. Am I in trouble for yelling?
What? No! I told him. "Would someone please tell Padawan Tindlor that he can, too, open the door? He's keeping my Padawan out there when I've asked him to come in."
Qui-Gon frowned, then turned and hit the door's control panel without asking permission.
"Thank you, Master Jinn," I heard my little buddy whisper, and then he was squeezing in between Obi-Wan and my right elbow, trying to tuck his hands into his sleeves the way I'd seen the other pair do as we traveled. Personally, I couldn't manage it without a great deal of fussing, so I didn't bother.
"Anakin, this is the Jedi High Council." I stepped behind him and put my hands on his shoulders. "If you deny him, then you deny me, and I will leave the Order, and you, to the mercy of the Force."
"As will I." Our friends spoke in unison, closing in to flank me.
"Very well, then," Master Windu said after a long pause. "Word will be sent when we have heard from the Queen." It was a clear dismissal, and I bowed slightly before steering my Padawan out. Tindlor wisely kept his mouth shut as we left, though I did scowl at him.
"They kept you for two hours, I see," Aunt Shaak commented when she found us in the Atrium.
"But I only got one real rebuke, and they didn't even get around to finishing it." I grinned. "The Padawan on duty might be getting dressed down for keeping Ani out when I asked him to come in, though."
"Was it Tindlor?" I nodded. "His Master lets him get away with too much. The Council will make sure he learns to respect others, now that they've discovered the problem."
"Is my former Master in, Shaak?" Qui-Gon asked. I hummed thoughtfully. Surely Ani would be interested in watching us spar.
"Yes, but…" The Togruta Master paused, probably debating with herself. "He got in yesterday evening, and I've heard he's locked himself into his rooms."
"No Padawan Vosa?" I didn't particularly like the girl, but I didn't want to see her harmed.
"It's been decided that she won't be offered the Trials, that she wasn't meant to be a Jedi Knight at all."
"Yow. Harsh, but I'd have to agree with that assessment." I sighed. "I may go talk to him later." Both adult humans raised eyebrows, their expressions almost identical. "Locked doors are no barrier to me. You should have figured that out by now."
Obi-Wan lowered his eyes, then glanced through one of the tall windows. Only a sliver of the sun remained above the horizon, and the sky was painted orange, red, and indigo. A typical beautiful Coruscant sunset, with the city-planet lighting up below it. "I'd say it's getting a bit late for someone to be up," he said, cutting his eyes toward the boy pressed against another window. At least he was enjoying the view.
"Right. Where did they put us, Auntie?"
"Apartment 4531. Your things have all been moved, and you'll have a good angle for sunrise, if you can get him up in time to see it."
"Ani, time to go," I called. "I'm guessing no funeral tonight."
"No. They've put him in stasis pending autopsy. I suppose they'll hold it once this Naboo mess is over." Typical; none of the full healers would accept what I'd told Bant. By now, I'd gotten used to being ignored by some sections of the Temple. A small body leaned against me, and I looked down to find that my Padawan was yawning.
"Time to find our beds, little one," I told him. He responded with another yawn and a cool hand in mine. I said goodnight to our friends and led him away.