Part 22 (1/2)

”You can't help me.” He stared down through dozens of crisscross lanes of traffic, down toward the invisible bedrock of the planet. ”I'm trying to help you.”

He'd seen something in her eyes, when he'd mentioned the Council and Palpatine.

He'd seen it.

”What aren't you telling me?”

Her hand went still, and she did not answer.

”I can feel it, Padme. I sense you're keeping a secret.”

”Oh?” she said softly. Lightly. ”That's funny, I was thinking the same about you.”

He just kept staring down over the rail into the invisible distance below. She moved close to him, moved against him, her arm sliding around his shoulders, her cheek leaning lightly on his arm. ”Why does it have to be like this? Why does there have to even be such a thing as war? Can't we just . . . go back? Even just to pretend. Let's pretend we're back at the lake on Naboo, just the two of us. When there was no war, no politics. No plotting. Just us. You and me, and love. That's all we need. You and me, and love.”

Right now Anakin couldn't remember what that had been like.

”I have to go,” he said. ”The Chancellor is waiting.”

Two masked, robed, silent Red Guards flanked the door to the Chancellor's private box at the Galaxies Opera. Anakin didn't need to speak; as he approached, one of them said, ”You are expected,” and opened the door.

The small round box had only a handful of seats, overlooking the spread of overdressed beings who filled every seat in the orchestra; on this opening night, it seemed everyone had forgotten there was a war on. Anakin barely gave a glance toward the immense sphere of s.h.i.+mmering water that rippled gently in the stage's artificial zero-g; he had no interest in ballet, Mon Calamari or otherwise.

In the dim semi-gloom, Palpatine sat with the speaker of the Senate, Mas Amedda, and his administrative aide, Sly Moore. Anakin stopped at the back of the box.

If I were the spy the Council wants me to be, I suppose I should be creeping up behind them so that I can listen in.

A spasm of distaste pa.s.sed over his face; he took care to win it off before he spoke. ”Chancellor. Sorry I'm late.”

Palpatine turned toward him, and his face lit up. ”Yes, Anakin! Don't worry. Come in, my boy, come in. Thank you for your report on the Council meeting this afternoon-it made most interesting reading. And now I have good news for you-Clone Intelligence has located General Grievous!”

”That's tremendous!” Anakin shook his head, wondering if Obi-Wan would be embarra.s.sed to have been scooped by the clones. ”He won't escape us again.”

”I'm going to-Moore, take a note-I will direct the Council to give you this a.s.signment, Anakin. Your gifts are wasted on Coruscant-you should be out in the field. You can attend Council meetings by holoconference.”

Anakin frowned. ”Thank you, sir, but the Council coordinates Jedi a.s.signments.”

”Of course, of course. Mustn't step on any Jedi toes, must we? They are so jealous of their political prerogatives. Still, I shall wonder at their collective wisdom if they choose someone else.”

”As I said in my report, they've already a.s.signed Obi-Wan to find Grievous.” Because they want to keep me here, where I am supposed to spy on you.

”To find him, yes. But you are the best man to apprehend him-though of course the Jedi Council cannot always be trusted to do the right thing.”

”They try. I-believe they try, sir.”

”Do you still? Sit down.” Palpatine looked at the other two beings in the box. ”Leave us.”

They rose and withdrew. Anakin took Mas Amedda's seat.

Palpatine gazed distractedly down at the graceful undulations of the Mon Calamari princ.i.p.al soloist for a long moment, frowning as though there was so much he wanted to say, he was unsure where to begin. Finally he sighed heavily and leaned close to Anakin.

”Anakin I think you know by now that I cannot rely upon the Jedi Council. That is why I put you on it. If they have not yet tried to use you in their plot, they soon will.” Anakin kept his face carefully blank. ”I'm not sure I understand.”

”You must sense what I have come to suspect,” Palpatine said grimly. ”The Jedi Council is after more than independence from Senate oversight; I believe they intend to control the Republic itself.”

”Chancellor-”

”I believe they are planning treason. They hope to overthrow my government, and replace me with someone weak enough that Jedi mind tricks can control his every word.”

”I can't believe the Council-”

”Anakin, search your feelings. You do know, don't you?” Anakin looked away. ”I know they don't trust you . . .”

”Or the Senate. Or the Republic. Or democracy itself, for that matter. The Jedi Council is not elected. It selects its own members according to its own rules-a less generous man than I might say whim-and gives them authority backed by power. They rule the Jedi as they hope to rule the Republic: by fiat.”

”I admit ...” Anakin looked down at his hands. ”... my faith in them has been . . . shaken.”

”How? Have they approached you already? Have they ordered you to do something dishonest?” Palpatine's frown cleared into a gently wise smile that was oddly reminiscent of Yoda's. ”They want you to spy on me, don't they?”

”It's all right, Anakin. I have nothing to hide.”

”I-don't know what to say ...”

”Do you remember,” Palpatine said, drawing away from Anakin so that he could lean back comfortably in his seat, ”how as a young boy, when you first came to this planet, I tried to teach you the ins and outs of politics?”

Anakin smiled faintly. ”I remember that I didn't much car for the lessons.”

”For any lessons, as I recall. But it's a pity; you should have paid more attention. To understand politics is to understand the fundamental nature of thinking beings. Right now, you should remember one of my first teachings: all those who gain power are afraid to lose it.”

”The Jedi use their power for good,” Anakin said, a little too firmly.

”Good is a point of view, Anakin. And the Jedi concept of good is not the only valid one. Take your Dark Lords of the Sith, for example. From my reading, I have gathered that the Sith believed in justice and security every bit as much as the Jedi-”

”Jedi believe in justice and peace.”

”In these troubled times, is there a difference?” Palpatine asked mildly. ”The Jedi have not done a stellar job of bringing peace to the galaxy, you must agree. Who's to say the Sith might not have done better?”

”This is another of those arguments you probably shouldn't bring up in front of the Council, if you know what I mean,” Anakin replied with a disbelieving smile.

”Oh, yes. Because the Sith would be a threat to the Jedi Order's power. Lesson one.”

Anakin shook his head. ”Because the Sith are evil.”

”From a Jedi's point of view,” Palpatine allowed. ”Evil is a label we all put on those who threaten us, isn't it? Yet the Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power.”

”The Jedi's quest is for greater understanding,” Anakin countered. ”For greater knowledge of the Force-”

”Which brings with it greater power, does it not?”