Part 6 (1/2)
Cerulean, with pouty red lips and eyelids, Taa had a huge oval face and a double chin the size of a bantha's feed bag. He was a Twi'lek of Rutian descent; his lekku head-tails, engorged with fat, hung like sated snakes to his ma.s.sive chest. His gaudy robe was the size of a tent. Prominently on display was his Lethan Twi'lek consort, nubile and high-cheekboned, her red body draped in bolts of pure s.h.i.+mmersilk.
A member of the Appropriations Committee, Taa was a vocal opponent of Valorum, since his spice-producing homeworld of Ryloth had, time and again, been denied favored-world status.
Taa's guests in the box included Senators Toonbuck Toora, Pa.s.scl Argente, Edcel Bar Gane, and Palpatine, along with two of Palpatine's personal aides, Kinman Doriana and Sate Pestage.
”Do you know why Valorum loves to attend the opera?” Taa asked in Basic, out of the corner of his huge mouth. ”Because it's the only place on Coruscant where an entire audience will applaud him.”
”And he does little more here than he does in the senate,” Toora said.
”He merely observes the protocols and feigns interest.” Fabulously wealthy, she was a hairy biped with a wide mouth, a triple-bearded chin, and beady eyes and a pug nose squeezed onto the bony ridge that capped her squat head.
”Valorum is toothless,” Pa.s.sel Argente chimed in. A sallow - complexioned humanoid affiliated with the Corporate Alliance, he wore a black turban and bib that revealed only his face and the swirling horn that emerged from the crown of his head. ”At a time when we need vigor, direction, unity, Valorum insists on taking the tried-and-true route. The route guaranteed not to upset the status quo.”
”Much to our enjoyment,” Toora murmured.
”But a confidential bow,” Taa said, as he was maneuvering into the chair that had been specially made to conform to his girth. ”To what could we possibly owe the honor?” Toora gestured in dismissal. ”This nonsense about the Trade Federation's requests. Valorum needs all the support he can muster if he's to succeed in convincing us to enact taxation of the free trade zones.”
”Then it is even more curious that he should acknowledge us,” Taa remarked. He motioned broadly to other balconies. ”There, all but in Valorum's lap, sit Senators Antilles, Horox Ryyder, Tendau Bendon... Any of them, more than worthy of a bow.” Taa raised his fat hand in a wave when the group in the box realized that they were being observed.
”Then the gesture must have been solely for Senator Palpatine,” Toora remarked meaningfully. ”From what I hear, our delegate from Naboo has the Supreme Chancellor's ear.” Taa turned to Palpatine. ”Is that so, Senator?” Palpatine smiled lightly. ”Not in the manner you imagine, I can a.s.sure you. The Supreme Chancellor met with me to solicit my opinion as to how taxation might be received by the outlying systems.
We spoke of little else. In any event, Valorum scarcely needs my support to see the proposal through. He is not as ineffectual as many seem to think.”
”Nonsense,” Taa said. ”It will come down to partisans.h.i.+p-- a contest between the factions of Bail Antilles, and those who allow Ainlee Teem to speak for them. As ever, the Core worlds will stand with Valorum; the near colonies, against.”
”He's going to polarize the senate further,” Edcel Bar Gane opined in a sibilant voice.
Representing the world of Roona, Bar Gane had a bulbous head and eyes that narrowed and slanted upward at their outer corners.
Toora absorbed the remark without comment. Once more, she eyed Palpatine.
”I'm curious, Senator.
Just what did you tell Valorum, with regard to the impact of taxation on the outer systems?”
”Activate the balcony's noise cancellation feature, and I might be inclined to tell you,” Palpatine said.
”Oh, do it, Taa,” Toora enthused. ”I so love intrigue.” Taa flipped a switch on the balcony railing, activating a containment field that effectively sealed the box from audio surveillance. But Palpatine didn't speak until Sate Pestage--a trim human with pointed features and thinning black hair--had double-checked that the field was indeed functioning.
Pestage's actions impressed Argente. ”Is everyone on Naboo as careful as you are, Senator?” Palpatine shrugged. ”Consider it a personal flaw.”
Argente nodded soberly. ”I'll remember that.”
”So tell us,” Toora said, ”is the Supreme Chancellor embarking on a dangerous course by taking on the Trade Federation?”
”The danger is that he sees only half the picture,” Palpatine began.
”Though he would be the first to deny it, Valorum is essentially a bureaucrat at heart, just as his ancestors were.
He favors rules and procedure over direct action. He lacks judgment. The Valorum dynasty was largely responsible for granting the Trade Federation free rein decades ago. How do you think they acc.u.mulated their vast holdings?
Certainly not by favoring the outer systems. But by making gainful deals with the InterGalactic Bank Clan and corporations like TaggeCo. That this latest crisis should revolve around the Nebula Front is especially ironic, since Valorum's father had an opportunity to eradicate the group, and he failed, chastising them rather than disbanding them.”
”You surprise me, Senator,” Toora said.
”In a good way, I think. Do go on.” Palpatine crossed his legs and sat tall in his chair. ”The Supreme Chancellor fails to grasp that the future of the Republic very much depends on what occurs in the Mid and Outer Rims. As corrupt as Coruscant has become, the real corrosion--the sort that can eventually eat away at the center--always begins on the edges.
It progresses from the outside in.
”Unless Valorum does something to stay the tide, Coruscant itself will someday be a slave to those systems, unable to enact any legislation without their consent. Unless we placate them now, we'll be forced to bring them under central authority at some later date. They are the key to the survival of the Republic.” Taa huffed. ”Unless I misread you, you're saying that the Trade Federation is our link with those systems - comCoruscant's amba.s.sador, if you will--and that therefore we can't afford to alienate the Neimoidians and the rest.”
”You are misreading me,” Palpatine said firmly.
”The Trade Federation needs to be brought under control. Valorum is correct to push for taxation, because the Trade Federation already has too much influence in the outlying sectors. Desperate to conduct trade with the Core, hundreds of outer systems have joined the Federation as signatory members, yielding their rights to individual representation in the senate.
At the moment, the Neimoidians and their partners lack enough votes to block taxation. But in a year, in two years, they could have adequate backing to overrule the senate at every opportunity.”
”Then you'll stand with Valorum, ” Toora said.
”You'll support taxation.”
”Not yet,” Palpatine said carefully. ”He views taxation as a means of punis.h.i.+ng the Trade Federation and, at the same time, of enriching Coruscant--an approach that will alienate not only the Trade Federation members, but also the outlying systems. Before I cast Naboo's support with one side or the other, I want to see how the votes stack up. Just now, those who hold the middle ground stand to reap the most. Those who see all sides clearly will be in the best position to guide the Republic through this critical transition. If Valorum has sufficient support without the backing of my sector, so much the better. But I won't flinch in my obligation to do what is ultimately best for the general good.”
”Spoken like a future party whip,” Taa said, with a guffaw.
”Indeed,” Argente said, in all seriousness.
Toora appraised Palpatine openly. ”A few more questions, if you wouldn't mind.” Palpatine gestured toward the stage. ”While I'd be glad to discuss these matters at greater length, the performance is about to begin.”
Outfitted in lackl.u.s.ter tunics and soft boots, the Jedi students stood in two opposing lines, two dozen lightsabers ignited in brilliant cast, raised in twice as many hands.
At a word from the lightsaber Master, the twelve students comprising one line took three backward steps in unison and set themselves in defensive postures--feet planted wide and lightsabers held straight out from their midsections.
Custom-built by each student, to suit hands of varying size and dexterousness, no two of the lightsabers were alike, though they did share some features in common: charging ports, blade projection plates, actuators, diatium power cells, and the rare and remarkable Adegan crystals that gave birth to the blade itself. There were few known materials in the galaxy that a lightsaber could not cut. Fully powered, and in the right hands, a lightsaber could cleave duracrete or burn its way slowly though a stars.h.i.+p's durasteel blast doors.
At the next word from the Master, the second line set themselves in attack stances, giving their shoulders a quarter turn, lowering their center of gravity by bending slightly at the knees, and raising their lightsabers in two-fisted grips, as if to swat a pitched ball.
At the instructor's final word, the second line advanced in earnest. The students in the first line set their lightsabers to defend and, with ch.o.r.eographed precision, retreated purposefully as they allowed their opponents to hammer repeatedly at their elevated blades.
When the defenders had been driven halfway across the room, the lightsaber Master called the exercise to a halt and had the groups reverse positions.
Now it was those who had defended who attacked, the blades of light thrumming and grating riotously against one another, auras merging, filling the air of the training room with blinding flashes of illumination.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan watched from an observation gallery set slightly above the room's padded floor, deep within the pyramid that was the Jedi Temple's towering base. The exercise had been going on all morning, but only a few of the students showed signs of fatigue.
”I can remember this like yesterday,” Obi-Wan said.
Qui-Gon quirked a smile. ”It's a good deal of yesterdays for me, Padawan.
” Though separated by more than a score of years, they had both pa.s.sed their youths in the Temple, as was the case with all Jedi, whether students, Padawans, Jedi Knights, or Masters. The Force revealed itself in infancy, and most potential Jedi were residents of the Temple by the age of six months, either discovered on Coruscant or distant worlds by full-fledged Jedi, or delivered to the Temple by family members. Tests were frequently used to establish the relative vitality of the Force residing in candidates, but those tests didn't necessarily forecast where a candidate might end up; whether he or she, human or alien, might take up the lightsaber in defense of peace and justice, or pa.s.s a lifetime of service in the Agricultural Corps, helping to feed the galaxy's poor or deprived.