Part 28 (1/2)
Padme hurried straight from the s.p.a.ceport to Bail's Senate office, where Minala Lodilyn greeted her with a strained, apologetic smile.
”I'm so sorry, Senator Amidala, but he's not here, ” she said, as her desk's comm console flashed with six-no, seven- incoming comms.
”He was pulled back to Strategic Ops for another holoconference. ”
Padme felt her breath hitch. ”New intel?”
”Yes, I think so, ” said Minala, guarded. ”I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be difficult, but...”
”You're not cleared to say. It's all right. I understand. ” Frustrated, she tugged on the end of her braid. ”Look. I appreciate how busy you are, but do you mind if I wait? I need to see him, and I need to catch up on what's happened, and I don't want to waste his time or mine playing tag. ” She patted her workcase. ”I've got my portable workstation with me, I won't need to touch his. I just need a quiet place to sit and get myself sorted out. ”
”Of course, Senator, ” Minala said, standing. ”I'll take you through. Can I get you anything while you work? A caf? Something to eat?”
Bail's personal a.s.sistant was a treasure. ”A pot of strong caf would be enormously appreciated, Minala. And after that I'll leave you alone. ” She nodded at the comm console. ”Clearly you don't need anything else to worry about right now. ”
Settled at Bail's tidy desk, Padme buried herself in answering the flood of messages texted to her workstation, and returning the voice comms left on her comlink. As Naboo's Republic representative she was required to draft an official response to the Chandrila atrocity for Queen Jamillia's approval, so she did that first. Next she put her own personal a.s.sistant Sovi on to coordinating with the Chandrilan senatorial offices regarding Naboo's partic.i.p.ation in the relief effort; thanks to her special relations.h.i.+p with Chandrila's Sisterhood of Ta'fan-jirah, Naboo enjoyed a range of special considerations. Now it was time to repay the favor.
And then, of course, there were the security issues.
Stuck on Bonadan, she'd missed the first round of security briefings. She'd he playing catch-up now for as long as this crisis lasted-and the handful of colleagues who resented her prominence, who thought Palpatine played favorites with her, who thought a woman from a nothing little planet like Naboo had no place in the senatorial spotlight, well, they'd be doing their best to see she was kept offstage.
Egotist gla.s.sblowers and their artistic temperaments. I'm going to throw a fancy vase at the next one I see. And as for my charming colleagues...
Well, they could try to keep her sidelined-but they'd fail.
By the time she'd finished wading through the messages and comms, setting more than a few people straight on their facts and reaching out to a couple of her own very private contacts to confirm or deny the first trickles of intel from Hanna City, nearly three 117 hours had pa.s.sed and she'd brewed herself a headache bigger than the Kaliida Nebula. Not even a fresh pot of cat' and a blocker could kill it.
Then Bail returned to his office, pale with temper and stress and his own enormous headache.
”Padme, ” he said, finding a smile for her. ”Sorry. Minala pinged me on the comlink to let me know you were here but I couldn't comm you and I couldn't leave the briefing and they wouldn't halt it so you could join us. Things were moving too fast. ”
”Don't worry about it, ” she said. ”I've been getting caught up. How's Mon Mothma? I've tried to reach her a few times but her comlink is diverted. ”
”She's... strong, ” Bail said, after a moment. ”She'll see her people through this. ” He glanced at his office chrono. ”She should be back on Chandrila by now. ”
Chandrila. Feeling suddenly helpless, Padme stared at him. ”This last briefing-are we any closer to working out how Dooku managed to pull this off?”
”A not-very-pretty picture is starting to emerge, yes, ” he said. ”It appears the weapon was incorporated into some mobile security cams. Of course n.o.body looked twice at them-the blasted things are everywhere these days. ”
”Security cams?” she echoed. ”Supplied by whom?”
”s.h.i.+eld Securities. ”
”s.h.i.+eld? But-Bail, they've got contracts with nearly every Core Worlds government, not to mention...”
”Alderaan. ” He grimaced. ”I know. ”
”And Coruscant!” Feeling ill, caf churning in her stomach, Padme took a deep breath. ”They cover almost half of the major residential annexes, six retail precincts, and the Bonchaka, Neldiz, and F'tu manufacturing districts. And aren't they bidding on the GAR docks complex?”
”They were, ” said Bail. ”The entire bidding process has been suspended, pending review. ”
The ramifications were almost overwhelming. ”So-are we saying s.h.i.+eld itself has been compromised? At the highest levels? Or is this a case of Separatist infiltration into a couple of key company areas?”
Bail shrugged. ”n.o.body knows-but that's where the investigation's focused now. s.h.i.+eld is eagerly helping us with our inquiries. ”
”It's a double strike, isn't it?” Padme murmured, torn between revulsion and a grudging admiration for the Separatists' tactics. ”We're hit by this filthy bioweapon and by having to investigate not only s.h.i.+eld, but every last mobile spycam in operation. Because if the Seps have infiltrated s.h.i.+eld, then who else have they compromised? And that's not something we'll be able to keep quiet. Which means there'll be more fear, more unrest, more erosion of trust in our ability to keep people safe. ” She flattened her hands to her face for a moment, then lowered them to stare at Bail. ”Stang. ”
”I know it looks bad, ” said Bail, dropping into his own visitor's chair. ”It is bad. But I can't help wondering if Dooku hasn't miscalculated. He had to have known we'd work out the weapon's delivery system and take steps. So why waste the element of surprise on only one attack? Why not launch a simultaneous series of a.s.saults on every Core World where s.h.i.+eld has a presence? If our good Count really wanted to bring the Republic to its knees, then that's what he should've done. ”
Padme sat back in her chair. ”I don't know whether I should be impressed or terrified by how you think. Senator Organa. You're right.
This attack is a pinp.r.i.c.k compared with the kind of grandiose plans of annihilation we've caught Dooku hatching before. So maybe it wasn't Dooku. Maybe our old friend Lok Durd has an itchy trigger finger. ”
Frowning, Bail considered that. ”You think he might be trying to prove himself to his master?”
”I think it's a possibility, ” she said slowly. ”I mean, thanks to Anakin and Obi-Wan there's every chance he knows we've found out what he's been planning. Letting two Jedi get so close to him-he has to be desperate to make up for that blunder. ”
Anakin.
She felt a familiar, unwelcome twist in her belly. ”By the way... Bail... have you heard...”
118.
”Sorry, ” Bail said. ”No. But the Temple's listening for them. If they so much as hiccup in our direction the Jedi will hear it- and they'll tell us. ”
He knew her so well. Too well. He'd figured it out, her terrible secret. And yet she wasn't frightened by that. He'd never betray her.
She could come right out and tell him and he'd never say a word. Not that she would. Telling him would be unfair. Besides, Anakin would never agree to it.
Bail was drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair, thinking. ”You know, if you're right about this, then maybe it'll play to our advantage. ”
”With the battle group?” she said. ”Yes. Maybe. If Durd and his people on Lanteeb are panicked, they're more likely to have further lapses in judgment. And speaking of the battle group-how big will it be? And who's in command?”
”Admiral Yularen. He's the most seasoned commander we have available right now. The repairs on Indomitable are being fast-tracked, and as soon as she's declared s.p.a.ceworthy she'll be joined by Pioneer and Coruscant Sky and they'll head best speed for Lanteeb. ”
Dismayed, Padme stared. ”Only three s.h.i.+ps? To retake an entire planet? Bail, even if Durd and his people are in disarray that's not...”
”You think I don't know that?” he said, shoving out of his chair to pace. One hand kneaded the back of his neck. ”Trust me, I know it-but we're trying to cover too many hot spots in the Mid and Outer Rims as it is. That's why we have to wait for Indomitable and the rest of Yularen's battle group. Pulling s.h.i.+ps from any one of our other engagements will almost guarantee us a new defeat. We can't afford it. ”
” But what about...”
”Oh, I argued myself blue in the face to get Master Windu and Dagger redeployed, ” Bail said grimly, ”but Palpatine won't hear of them leaving Kothlis, even though the situation there is well under control. It's hoped the element of surprise will be on our side.
Provided Yularen s.h.i.+ps out in the next couple of days there's a good chance his people will reach Lantech before the Seps have a chance to get organized against us. ”
”And if that doesn't work?” she said, her heart hammering.