Star Wars - Cloak Of Deception Read online

  more the moment Valorum emerged in the corridor.

  Wide as it was, the walkway was crammed with beings, who had been forced

  to stand shoulder to shoulder along both walls behind hastily erected

  barricades.

  The guards in front of Valorum closed ranks in a wedge formation,

  thrusting through a forest of outstretched arms. Still, some hands managed to

  get through, bearing messages meant for the deep pockets of Valorum's cloaks

  but more often than not ending up trampled underfoot on the polished stone

  floor.

  The corridor was loud with voices, as well, most of them entreating

  Valorum to attend to one urgent matter or another.

  "Supreme Chancellor, about the terms of the peace negotiation..."

  "Supreme Chancellor, regarding the recent devaluation of the Bothan credit..."

  "Supreme Chancellor, your promise to respond to accusations of corruption

  leveled against Senator Maxim..." Valorum recognized some of the voices and

  many of the faces. Crushed against the left wall he noticed the delegate from

  New Bornalex. Behind him, Senator Gre9ps and his trio of large-eyed, pudd le-

  footed delegates from Brodo Asogi.

  Off to the right, straining to reach to the front of the crowd in time

  for Valorum's passing, stood Malastare delegate Aks Moe.

  As they neared the exit to the plaza, the voices in the corridor were

  overwhelmed by the chants and bellows of crowds of demonstrators massed along

  the Avenue of the Core Founders, with its towering statues and sunken sitting

  areas.

  The Senate Guards pressed closer still, all but lifting Valorum off his

  feet and spiriting him outside the building on their shoulders.

  The chief of the guard detail swung to Valorum.

  "Sir, we'll be proceeding directly to the north hover platform. Your

  personal shuttle is already waiting. There will be no stopping along the way

  to respond to reporters or protestors. In the event of any untoward activity,

  you will submit to our custody and do as we say. Any questions, sir?" "No

  questions," Valorum said by rote. "But let's at least attempt to appear

  cordial, Captain." "You didn't mention you were inviting me to a political

  rally," Qui-Gon said, as he and Adi Gallia arrived at the expansive plaza that

  fronted the senate.

  "I didn't know," Adi said, plainly astonished by the sight.

  Mixed-species crowds extended from the pedestaled building itself, clear

  to the terminus of the Avenue of the Core Founders. The balconies there

  overlooked a sprawl of spired buildings, their close-set summits rising below

  the plaza.

  "Where are you supposed to meet him?" Qui-Gon said loudly enough to be

  heard over the periodic chants and general clamor.

  "Outside the north entrance," she answered, close to his ear.

  Tall enough to see over the heads of many in the crowd, Qui - Gon gazed

  toward the senate dome. "There'll be no getting to him--not if I know the

  Senate Guard." "Let's try, anyway," Adi said.

  "Otherwise, we'll go to his private office in the Presidential Tower."

  Qui-Gon took Adi's hand and began to edge into the crowd. This far from the

  building, there was no telling the pro-Valorum from the anti-Valorum

  protestors.

  Qui-Gon stretched out with his feelings.

  Beneath the current of anger and dissent, something else was in the air.

  Coruscant's usual howl was charged with menace. He sensed danger--not the

  vague sort that might emanate from any gathering of this nature, but specific

  and targeted. He closed his eyes momentarily and allowed the Force to guide

  him.

  His opened eyes found a Bith, standing at the leading edge of one

  gathering. The Force bade Qui-Gon look to his left, to two Rodians, lurking

  near the tall base of one of the statues. Closer to the senate's north exit

  stood two Twi'leks and a Bothan.

  Qui-Gon raised his gaze to the ceaseless traffic flow above the plaza's

  north end. A green air taxi caught his eye. Disk - shaped and open-topped,

  with a semicircle of stabilizers below, it was no different from most of the

  other taxis that filled Corus - cant's sky. But the fact that it was riding

  outside the denned corridor of the autonavigation lane told Qui-Gon that the

  pilot- - another Rodian--knew the skylanes well enough to have been granted a

  free-travel permit.

  Not far below the taxi, just at the rim of the plaza, hovered an eight-

  lobed repulsorlift platform, atop which sat Chancellor Valorum's personal

  shuttle.

  Qui-Gon swung to Adi. "I sense a disturbance in the Force." She nodded.

  "I feel it, Qui-Gon." He glanced up at the air taxi, then cut his eyes to the

  Rodians positioned near the statue base. "The Supreme Chancellor is in danger.

  We need to hurry." Unclipping their lightsabers from their belts, they

  began to thread their way through the crowd, their brown cloaks billowing

  behind them. They reached the north exit in time to see a phalanx of guards

  surge into the plaza. Behind them came Valorum and his young aide, at the

  center of six other guards, who were steering the couple toward the docking

  platform.

  Qui-Gon looked up. The air taxi reversed direction and began to hover

  above the plaza. At the same instant, the two Twi'leks began to hasten toward

  Valorum, their hands buried in the sleeves of their loose robes.

  The chanting rose to a crescendo.

  Suddenly, blaster bolts streaked from the crowd, catching two of the most

  forward guards and dropping them to the paving stones. Screams erupted and the

  crowd panicked, rushing every which way to avoid danger.

  Qui-Gon ignited his lightsaber and moved toward the Twi'leks. Weapons

  drawn, they fired, only to see the bolts deflected by the brilliant green

  blade of Qui-Gon's lightsaber. Additional bolts darted from the Rodians"

  blasters, but Qui-Gon moved quickly and managed to deflect those. He twirled,

  raising his weapon to parry fire, careful to divert the bolts above the heads

  of the scattering demonstrators.

  The Force told him that Adi, her azure blade ignited, had angled for

  Valorum, who was effectively pinned to the plaza by his guards.

  A muffled explosion sounded nearby, launching clouds of astringent white

  smoke and further terrifying the fleeing demonstrators.

  Qui-Gon understood at once that the detonation was only a distraction.

  The real danger came from the opposite side of the plaza, where two more

  assassins were racing forward, armed with small hand blasters. As another

  guard fell, one of the assassins fired into the gap that had been opened in

  Valorum's protective cordon. Adi turned two of the energy darts, but a third

  got through.

  Valorum grimaced in pain and toppled sideways.

  A Senate Guard advanced, his long rifle blazing, felling both assassins.

  Qui-Gon heard the air taxi begin a rapid descent, its rounded form

  trailing a trio of hauling cables. A Twi'lek and the two Rodians fought their

  way to a clear area in the plaza and grabbed hold of the cables.

  Qui-Gon prized a liquid-cable launcher from a pouch on his belt and fired

  it as he ran. The hook bit deep into the underside of the taxi, and the
<
br />   monofilament cable began to unspool. Qui - Gon hooked onto the cable, thumbed

  the winding mechanism, and rode it skyward, his lightsaber extended in his

  right hand.

  Coming alongside the two Rodians, he severed their cables with his blade,

  sending them plummeting back to the plaza. The Twi'lek, however, was still

  above him, and Qui-Gon realized that he would never reach him in time. The air

  taxi was already banking for the northern lip of the plaza, clearly hoping to

  shake Qui-Gon loose into one of the chasms below.

  Level with the tallest of the Core Founder statues, Qui-Gon let go and

  dropped, landing on the shoulders of the statue, then leaping to the pedestal

  base, and finally to the plaza.

  Backing away and firing steadily, one of the Rodians ran into the arms of

  two Senate Guards, who threw him harshly to the paving stones.

  A broken leg kept the other Rodian rooted to the spot where he had

  fallen.

  Qui-Gon spun on his boot heels and hurried for Valorum. Formed up into an

  unbreachable perimeter, the remaining guards stood with their feet planted and

  their rifles pointed straight out. Adi saw Qui-Gon approaching and told the

  guards to make room for him.

  The right side of Valorum's cloak showed a large blood stain.

  "We have to get him to the medcenter," Adi said in a rush.

  Qui-Gon put his right hand under Valorum's left arm and eased him to his

  feet. Adi supported him from the other side. With their lightsabers still

  ignited, they began to move the Supreme Chancellor back into the senate

  building, while the guards covered their retreat.

  It was theorized--by ^th who devoted themselves to such things - comt one

  could fall from the roof of the senate dome and land directly in the medcenter

  at which the delegates enjoyed exclusive privilege, assuming, of course, that

  the winds that blew through Coruscant's chasms were just right, and that one

  managed to miss being struck by passing vehicles during the plunge through the

  traffic lanes.

  A safer and more certain method for arriving intact at the Galactic

  Senate Medcenter was to ride a turbolift from the rotunda, or be delivered

  there by skycar, as Senator Palpatine had chosen to do.

  The medcenter occupied the top five stories of an ordinary building that

  rose precipitously to Coruscant's midlevel. Its numerous entrances were coded,

  by color and other means, to individual species, many of whom required

  specific atmospheres and gravities, as was also the case with many of the

  senate rotunda balconies.

  Sate Pestage piloted the skycar to an unoccupied lobe of a docking

  platform anchored to the entrance coded for humans and near-humans, by far the

  most adorned of all the rectangular admitting areas.

  "Waste no time," Palpatine said from the backseat, "but be discreet."

  Pestage nodded. "Consider it done." Palpatine stepped from the rear of the

  circular skycar, gave a smart tug to the front of his embroidered cloak, and

  disappeared through the entrance.

  In the lobby he encountered Senator Orn Free Taa.

  "I heard that you were here," Palpatine said.

  The corpulent Twi'lek gave his massive head a presumably mournful shake.

  "A tragic event. Truly terrible." Palpatine raised an eyebrow.

  "All right," Taa huffed. "The truth is that Valorum has been blocking my

  requests for reduced tariffs for the exportation of ryll from Ryloth. If I can

  ease that by visiting him in the medcenter, so be it." "We do what we must,"

  Palpatine said mildly.

  Taa studied him for a moment. "And I take it that your visit is prompted

  by genuine concern?" "The supreme chancellor is the voice of the Republic, is

  he not?" "For the moment," Taa said nastily.

  With Senate Guard sentries posted throughout the admitting area,

  Palpatine was made to show his identification no fewer than six times before

  being ushered into a waiting room reserved for Valorum's visitors. There, he

  exchanged greetings with Alder - aan's delegate to the senate, Bail Antilles--

  a tall, handsome man with dark hair--and with the equally distinguished

  senator from Corellia, Com Fordox.

  "You've heard who's to blame for what happened?" Fordox asked as

  Palpatine sat down on the couch opposite him.

  "Only that the Nebula Front appears to have been involved." "We have

  confirmed evidence of their involvement," Antilles said.

  Fordox's features reflected anger and confusion.

  "This is beyond comprehension." "An act that cannot go unpunished,"

  Antilles agreed.

  Commiserating with them, Palpatine firmed his lips and shook his head. "A

  terrible sign of the times," he said.

  Most of the infirmities that landed delegates in the medcenter were

  usually the result of overindulgence in food or drink, or injuries sustained

  on the scoopball courts, in air taxi accidents, or as the outcome of the

  occasional honor duel. Rarely were delegates admitted because of illnesses,

  and even more rarely as a consequence of an assassination attempt.

  Palpatine held himself accountable.

  He should have seen what was coming during the meeting with Havac. More

  than once the young militant had stressed that Valorum needed to appreciate

  just how dangerous the Nebula Front was. But Palpatine hadn't thought Havac

  desperate enough to resort to assassination.

  The fact that Havac was also a fool made him especially dangerous. Did he

  actually believe that things would go better for the Nebula Front with someone

  other than Valorum leading the senate?

  Didn't he realize that Valorum was the Front's best hope for restraining

  the Trade Federation, through taxation and other means? By attempting to kill

  Valorum, Havac had not only reinforced the Federation's assertion that the

  Nebula Front was a public menace, he had also given added weight to the

  Neimoidians' demand for additional defensive weapons.

  Havac would need to be reminded just who his enemies were.

  Unless, of course, there was more to Havac than met the eye, Palpatine

  told himself. Was Havac's pleasant but nondescript countenance masking a

  cunning intellect?

  Palpatine deliberated while Fordox and Antilles had their visit with

  Valorum. He was still mulling it over when Sei Taria entered the waiting room

  some time later.

  Palpatine rose and nodded. "How good to see you, Sei. Are you all right?"

  She mustered a warm smile. "I'm fine now, Senator. But it was terrible."

  Palpatine adopted a grave look. "We will do all we can to protect the Supreme

  Chancellor." "I know you will." "How is he?" She glanced at the door. "Eager

  to see you." Armed guards flanked the door to Valorum's room--a windowless

  corral of monitoring devices, overseen by a bipedal medical droid equipped

  with servogrip pincers and a rebreatherlike vocabulator.

  Valorum looked pale and grim, but he was sitting up in bed, his right

  arm, from wrist to shoulder, encased in a soft tube filled with bacta. A

  transparent, gelatinous fluid produced by an insectoid alien species, bacta

  had the ability to promote rapid cell rejuvenation and healing, usually

  without scarring. Palpatine of
ten felt that the wondrous substance was as key

  to the survival of the Republic as were the Jedi.

  "Supreme Chancellor," he said, approaching the bed, "I came as soon as I

  heard." Valorum made a gesture of dismissal with his left hand. "You shouldn't

  have bothered. They're releasing me later today." He motioned Palpatine to a

  chair. "Do you know what the guards did when they brought me in here?

  They cleared every patient from the emergency room, then emptied this

  entire floor, with scarcely a concern for the condition of the patients." "The

  security was warranted," Palpatine said.

  "Knowing you would be brought here if they failed, the assassins could

  have stationed a second team in the admitting area." "Perhaps," Valorum

  granted. "But I doubt the actions of my protectors earned me any new allies."

  He frowned. "Worse, I have to suffer the transparent concern of delegates like

  Orn Free Taa." "Even Senator Taa understands that the Republic needs you,"

  Palpatine said.

  "Nonsense. There are many who are qualified to fill my position. Bail

  Antilles, Ainlee Teem... even you, Senator." Palpatine feigned a startled

  expression.

  "Hardly, Supreme Chancellor." Valorum grinned. "I couldn't help but note

  how the delegates responded to you during the special session." "The Outer Rim

  is desperate for voices. I'm merely one of many." Valorum shook his head.

  "It's more than that." He paused briefly. "In any event, I want to thank you

  for the message your aide delivered to the podium. But why didn't you inform

  me in advance of your plan to propose a summit meeting?" Palpatine spread his

  graceful hands. "It was a spur-of-the - moment decision. Something had to be

  done before the taxation proposal went to committee, where it may have been

  crushed out of hand." "A brilliant stroke." Valorum fell silent for a long

  moment.

  "The Judicial Department has advised me that my attackers are members of

  the Nebula Front." "I've also heard." Valorum forced an exhale. "Now I see

  what the Trade Federation is up against." Palpatine said nothing.

  "But what was the Nebula Front's motive in attacking me? I'm doing what I

  can to find a peaceful solution to all this." "Your efforts are obviously not

  enough for them," Palpatine said.

  "Are they so convinced that Antilles or Teem would act differently?"