DO NOT USE MY CHAPTERS TO POST ADS. I WILL REPORT YOU.
"And how did your talks go with Senator Organa and the merchant Selrieen?" asked Bayliss Ascaris.
Senator Pax Teem sat across from him, hidden under a cloak and hood, in the most out-of-the-way teahouse they could find on Kinyen. With his son and heir Trass by his side, cloaked and cowled themselves, Ascaris had taken a circuitous route, his own operatives watching and communicating by secure channel to be sure he and his son weren't followed.
His fellow member of the Trade Federation Directorate—and his older brother—Rominger Ascaris would spare no effort to hear the subject of this meeting.
Senator Teem sipped green rice tea and folded his three-fingered hands in front of him. "Rather well, I must say. I think the Trade Federation is pushing hard for this deal, but Senator Organa is quite high-minded, as you know. He thinks that we will offer both Alderaan and Malotrok the better deal. Which, if you can quietly divert the Federation resources you promised us, and 'cook the books,' so to speak, we can. It will take some time for the mining operation on Malotrok to get the necessary infrastructure in place, and by then, we will have secured the financing for additional vessels."
"Glad to hear that, comrade," said Ascaris. Out of courtesy, he touched the ornate Kinyen teacup to his lips, but did not drink. Kinyen green rice tea was the vilest stuff Bayliss had ever tasted; one hasty sip had proven that, and glancing sideways, he saw Trass do the same. Something there was in the Duros palate that did not like Gran food or drink. Even the music that played softly in the teahouse sounded discordant to Duros ears.
They could not afford to alienate their host. Bayliss Ascaris had a score to settle, and Senator Pax Teem was the perfect ally to help him do it.
"I trust you are making ample progress on the anticorrosion issue?" said Teem, digging into a plate of greens. The Duros had ordered tricots instead, Kinyen grain biscuits commonly served with the tea, and these were bland enough to at least be edible.
"A few more samples from the Alderaanian surface, and we should have it well in hand," said Trass, whose responsibility this was. "Simple water, yes, but who knows what minerals from the Alderaanian mountains may come with it?"
"Yes, indeed," said Teem, his jaw moving in meditative little circles as he ground his greens into a soft mat. "Not a problem. We do, however, have another potential problem in our midst."
Ascaris stopped chewing his biscuit.
"It would seem that Organa and Senator Palpatine have become quite chummy since they worked together to pass the Emancipation Act," said Teem, unfortunately showing them a good view of his masticated greens. He swallowed and continued, "Selrieen's asked Palpatine to his home, along with the consultant I keep trying to retain, who won't do more than edit a few speeches for me but who's joined at the hip to Palpatine, Valorum, and Organa. My source in Senator Organa's office tells me they're pulling out all the stops. A cozy meeting at Selrieen's with the Viceroy and the Queen, spaces in the royal box for the opera in Crevasse City, and a top secret agenda after that."
"Why do we care about this?" said Ascaris. "Do we even know what it's about?"
"Oh, I can tell you what it's about," said Teem. "Organa has to ready himself to petition the Senate for the shipping rights. If he's asking those two aboard, it's because he's planning to make the issue a grand humanitarian gesture. All that hoopla over the Emancipation Act we heard nothing else about for two days? With Palpatine flipping an obscene gesture at the Vice Chair and almost winning a Peace Prize for it? All orchestrated by Sereine Lumisol. Which is why I want her to run my campaign for Supreme Chancellor."
Teem frowned. "Not only does she seem less than amenable to that, she's attached herself professionally to Palpatine, and his appearance here can only spell trouble."
"Why is that?" said Trass.
"Obviously Organa and Selrieen want Palpatine to introduce the legislation. And he's a toady of the Trade Federation. The Trade Federation put Bon Tapalo on the Naboo throne, and he appointed Palpatine, gave him his Senate seat. If he advocates against the Trade Federation getting the rights to those shipping lanes, his monarch will come down on him hard, perhaps even recall him. Which means we need to be worried about Palpatine and Lumisol getting so cozy with Selrieen and Organa."
"Well, not so fast," said Ascaris. "Palpatine is riding quite the swell of popularity right now. Surely if the Naboo King recalls him, there will be quite the hue and cry."
"That might come too late to serve our purposes," said Teem. "Now, if you could speak to your brother … but, that's the entire reason we are here."
"Sadly," said Ascaris, "my brother is likely to lean on King Tapalo and bring about just the scenario you fear. If Palpatine poisons Selrieen and Organa against us …"
"Well, we can't have that," said Teem. He finished his greens, sipped his tea, and thought.
"We could try to break up the first team," he said finally.
Trass leaned forward. "The 'first team?'"
"Palpatine and Lumisol. She does a prodigious amount of work for some fifteen politicians, but any speech she does with Palpatine seems to fly right into the holonews, and in some cases even the history books. Take her out and we cripple the initiative at least somewhat."
"And perhaps send out a warning," said Ascaris.
"Yes …" said Teem.
"Of course, we'd have to be very careful to make this nontraceable," said Trass, making his father quite pleased. The boy had shown he could handle wet work, wasn't squeamish in the least.
"Never mind that," said Teem. "I know how to handle that angle."