Star Wars_ Labyrinth of Evil Part 18

After several moments of gazing at the monitor screens of his equipment and conferring with his a.s.sociates, he added: "The floor reveals traces of two beings who were here contemporaneous with the sloop."

Green light from one of the drifting droids played across the alloy floor panels. Dyne directed the droid to concentrate on certain areas, and studied the data again.

"The first being exited the sloop and walked to this point." He indicated an area close to the open gate. "Taking into consideration trace impressions and the length of the being's stride, I would hazard that being one stands one hundred and ninety-five centimeters in height, and was wearing boots."

It was Dooku! Mace thought.

The droid focused its lights on another area, and Dyne continued. "Here, being one met with being two, lighter in weight, perhaps shorter in stature, and wearing - - " Dyne consulted what Mace a.s.sumed to be some sort of database. "- - what can best be described as soft-soled footwear or slippers. This unknown being came from the direction of the building's east turbolifts, and accompanied... Dooku - - for all intents and purposes - - to a balconied niche above the docking gate. Following the same route, the pair returned to the docking bay and separated: Dooku to his s.h.i.+p; our unknown quarry, presumably to the turbolifts."

Tasking the probe droids to track the prints of the second being, Dyne began to trail them, waving for Mace, Shaak Ti, and the commandos to follow.

"Single file behind me," Dyne cautioned. "No straying out of line."

Mace and Shaak Ti took the point, with the Padawans and commandos strung out behind. By the time the two Jedi Masters caught up with Dyne and his droids, the Intelligence a.n.a.lyst was standing at the door to a dated turbolift.

"Verified," Dyne said, grinning in self-satisfaction. "Being two used the turbolift."

Turning to the wall, he pressed his gloved right hand to the call stud.

When the summoned car appeared, he affixed a scanner to the control pad inside.

"The car's memory tells us that it arrived from sub-bas.e.m.e.nt two. If we fail to discover evidence of our unknown quarry there, we'll have to work our way back up, one level at a time, until we do."

The turbolift was just roomy enough for Dyne, his a.s.sociates, Mace, Shaak Ti, the two team commanders, and two probe droids. Comlinking troopers outside the building, Valiant ordered them to make their way to subbas.e.m.e.nt two, but forewarned them to stay clear of the east turbolift and any nearby corridors or tunnels.

The probe droids were first to exit the car when it stopped, misting the corridor in both directions. One of the droids hadn't gone five meters before it stopped in midflight and began playing its detection lights across the floor.

"Footprints," Dyne said with enthusiasm. "We're still on track."

Stepping carefully from the car, he followed the probe droids to the entrance of a wide tunnel. After the droids had disappeared inside and returned, Dyne swung to Mace, who was waiting with everyone else at the base of the turbolift.

"The prints end here. From this point on the unknown used a vehicle - - certainly a repulsorlift of some sort, although the droids aren't detecting any phantom emissions."

Mace and Shaak Ti joined Dyne and his teammates at the tunnel entrance.

Shaak Ti peered into the darkness.

"Where does it lead?" Dyne consulted a holomap. "If we can trust a map that's older than any of us, it connects to tunnels all over The Works - - to adjacent buildings, to the foundries, to a onetime landing field...

There must be a hundred branches."

"Forget the branches," Mace said. "What's at the far end of this one?"

Dyne called up a series of displays and studied them in silence.

At last, he said: "The princ.i.p.al tunnel leads all the way to the western limit of the Senate District."

Mace walked two meters into the darkness, and ran his hand down the tunnel's tiled wall. Hundreds of Senators are now under the influence of a Sith Lord called Darth Sidious, Dooku had told Obi-Wan on Geonosis.

Turning to face Shaak Ti and the clone commanders, Mace said: "We're going to need more troops."

31.

In the Supreme Chancellor's Senate Office Building chambers, Yoda sat staring across the desk at Palpatine, silhouetted against the long window that overlooked western Coruscant.

How many Supreme Chancellors had he sat with in this office and others like it? he asked himself. Half a hundred now. But why with this one did discussion so often skirt the edge of confrontation - - especially when the topic turned to the Force. As ineffectual a leader as he was, Finis Valorum had tried to comport himself as if he placed the Force above all.

With Palpatine, the Force was not placed last. It wasn't even on the agenda.

"I understand your concerns entirely, Master Yoda," he was saying. "More important, I am sympathetic to them. But the Outer Rim sieges must continue. Despite what you may think - - and notwithstanding the extraordinary powers the Senate has deemed fit to bestow on me these past five years - - I am one voice in a welter. At long last the Senate is galvanized to end this destructive conflict, and it will not permit me to stand in the way."

"Exhort me, you need not, Supreme Chancellor," Yoda said.

Palpatine smiled dryly.

"I apologize if I sounded sermonizing."

"Galvanized by your State of the Republic address, the Senate was."

"My address was a reflection of the spirit of the times, Master Yoda.

What's more, I spoke from my heart."

"Doubt you, I do not. But too soon, your encouragements came. Celebrates imminent victory, Coruscant does, when far from ended the war is."

Palpatine's frown contained a hint of warning, of malice.

"After three years of fear, Coruscant craves relief."

"Agree with you, I do. But how from the seizure of Outer Rim worlds is relief sustained? Too many new fronts, the Senate urges us to open. Too dispersed the Jedi are, to serve effectively. A reasonable strategy, we lack."

"My military advisers would not be pleased to hear you categorize their strategy as irrational."

"Need to hear it, they do. Say it to them, I will."

Palpatine paused to consider the remark, then leveled a hard gaze.

"Master Yoda, forgive my frankness, but if the Jedi are indeed too widely scattered to coordinate the sieges, then the burden will have to fall to my naval commanders."

Yoda compressed his lips and shook his head.

"Answer foremost to the Jedi, our troopers do. Forged an alliance with them, we have. Forged in fire, this fidelity has been."

Palpatine sat upright, as if struck.

"I'm certain I misconstrue your meaning, but you almost make it sound as if our army was created for the Jedi."

"Not true," Yoda snapped. "For the Republic, and none other."

Appeased, Palpatine said: "Then perhaps the clones can be trained to respond to others, as well as they respond to the Jedi."

Yoda made a glum face.

"Trained the troopers can be. But wrong this strategy remains."

"May I ask that you think back to Geonosis? Do you not agree that we erred then by not pursuing the Separatists?"

"Unprepared, we were. New, the army was."

"Granted. But we are prepared now. We have the Confederacy on the run from the inner systems, and I will not allow us to repeat the mistake we made at Geonosis."

"No, a different mistake we make now."

Palpatine interlocked his fingers.

"This is the wisdom of the Council?"

"It is."

"Then you will challenge the Senate's decision?"

Yoda shook his head.

"Sworn by oath to uphold you, we are."

Palpatine spread his hands.

"That does not instill confidence, Master Yoda. If it's nothing more than an oath, then you are duty-bound to reconsider."

"Reconsidered we have, Supreme Chancellor."

"You imply no threat, I trust."

"No threat."

Palpatine forced a fatigued exhale.

"As I've told you on many occasions, I do not have the luxury of seeing this world through the Force. I see only the real world."

"No problem there would be, if thereal world,' all there was."

"Unfortunately, we who are not attuned to the Force have that on Jedi authority only."

Yoda wagged his forefinger at Palpatine.

"To end this war, more we will have to do than defeat Grievous and his army of war machines. More we will have to do than seize remote worlds."

"These Sith to whom you keep referring." Palpatine fell silent in thought, then said: "When you were believed killed at Ithor, Master Windu said as much to me."

"More attentive to his concerns, were you?"

Palpatine regarded him.

"A skilled duelist you are."

"When need be, Supreme Chancellor."

"You never fully described what went on between you and Count Dooku on Vjun. Was he at all inclined to return to the Order - - to the side of the Republic?"

Yoda allowed his sadness to show.

"From the dark path, no returning there is. Forever, the direction of your life it dominates."

"That may make Dooku difficult to rehabilitate."

Yoda raised his gaze.

"Captured, he will never be. Die fighting, he will."

"This Darth Sidious, as well - - should Dooku be found and killed?"

Yoda's eyes fidgeted.

"Difficult to say. Deprived of an apprentice, Sidious may withdraw - - to preserve the Sith."

"One person is all that's required to preserve the Sith traditions?"

"Traditions they are not. The dark side, it is."

"Then what if you should find Sidious first, and kill him? Would Dooku's power increase?"

"Only Dooku's determination. Different it will be, because a Sith late he has become." Yoda shook his head. "Hard to know if Dooku a true Sith is, or simply with the power of the dark side infatuated."

"And General Grievous?"

Yoda made a gesture of dismissal.

"More machine than alive, Grievous is - - though more dangerous for it.

But without Dooku's or Sidious's leaders.h.i.+p, collapse the Separatists will. Bound together by the Sith they are. Mortared by the dark side of the Force."

Palpatine leaned forward with interest.