Golden Age of the Republic: Secret Agendas/Part 4

Office of the Supreme Chancellor, Coruscant
Chancellor Eddicus sat at his desk with his head in his hands. GIN Director Pelmar Aiden was sitting opposite him. The situation was getting out of hand, the chancellor thought. Another senator was dead, and he had no control over the Jedi order&mdash;who now, undoubtedly, would want to find out how Grand Master m'Ord Vinka died. He needed to think of something quickly before Holonet News or some other media outlet rocketed this story across the galaxy.

Fay had revealed the incident in detail to the chancellor via the audio portion of the holocomm. After a few moments, the Jedi had activated the entire device, allowing the two men to see her from the waist upward. The Jedi also took a moment to survey the now deceased insectoid creature, holding it up for the chancellor and GIN Director to see.

Looking up from his hands, Eddicus noticed the sedated visage of his long-time friend. Director Aiden was staring down toward the floor beside the desk, breathing slowly. Turning his head, his daughter, the senator from Taanab, was still soundly sleeping. She would need to be told first, the chancellor realized. Alta deserved to know before anyone else.

"One moment, Fay," the chancellor said to the hologram of the Jedi on Seswenna as he stirred from his seat.

The eleven steps from the desk to the couch where the senator was sleeping were arduous and cumbersome. The sheer burden of the moment's gravity weighed on the aging man. Surely this had gone from a conspiracy to a crisis.

"Alta," Eddicus said, gently shaking his daughter. "I need you to get up for a moment."

The young senator slowly opened her eyes and looked softly at her father's balding head.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"We have some news from the Jedi Fay on Seswenna," he said, sitting on the edge of the couch next to her legs.

"What kind of news?" Alta queried while rubbing her left eye.

"Look, Alta," the chancellor stammered. "Awa is dead. There's been some kind of outbreak on Seswenna. A lot of people are dying right now."

Alta Eddicus quickly sat up and grabbed her father's left arm. The look on her face was of sheer horror and surprise. The chancellor knew exactly what his daughter was thinking. Undoubtedly her mind was racing about threats, the pushing of the Seswennan to return to her homeworld, the seeming failure of the Jedi to protect a sitting senator, and so forth. There really was no solace at the moment. The Republic had just lost another senator.

"What are we going to do?" she asked with a tone of fear.

"We're going to figure this out and get justice," the chancellor said, standing.

Alta quickly stood and ferociously wrapped her arms around her father. She pressed her head into his chest, and he heard the sobbing. In empathy and with mourning, himself, he placed his right hand on the back of her head. For a couple of brief moments, the two remained in an embrace of silence. Across the room, Pelmar Aiden simply watched.

The young senator was the one who broke the consoling embrace, quickly walking toward the desk. There, the image of Fay still was broadcasting, but she was analyzing the insectoid being. Chancellor Eddicus followed, preparing to initiate conversation.

"Fay," he said. "Be prepared to evacuate Seswenna immediately. I am sending the GIN agent to you without hesitation. She will extract you from the planet's surface."

"I will wait for her," the Jedi said.

"I need to know," the chancellor added. "What is the threat here? What action do I need to do so that this doesn't spread?"

"I'm not certain, your Excellency," she replied. "These things seem like parasites to me. I'm not an expert, but I'd say a person is dead within thirty minutes of being infected."

The chancellor leaned forward on the desk, his palms flat and turned out from his body.

"Pelmar," he called to the GIN Director. "Pelmar, get your agent there immediately to get Fay out. I want answers, but I need that Jedi out safely. I'm closing the borders."

"What?" the long-haired man replied with shock. "Closing the borders?"

"Temporarily," the chancellor replied with little clarification.

Anwis Eddicus then depressed an orange button on the desk.

"Admiral Pruis," the balding chancellor stated.

"Yes, your Excellency," a voice replied.

"Admiral, this is a Level 5 emergency in the Seswenna sector," he ordered. "Close borders to Seswenna for inbound ships except for a GIN agent. All outbound vessels are to be held in orbit for two hours. If no one turns up dead or ill, they can proceed to a safety point you define. Make sure no one is ill or having symptoms of sickness. They must be carefully quarantined."

"Biological attack, sir?" the admiral asked.

"Yes," the chancellor simply answered.

"I will do it sir," the voice said with the communication being lost.

"I sure hope you are right about this, Fay," the elder Eddicus said softly. "At the same time, I hope you are completely wrong."

At that point, a buzzer sounded from the main door to the office. Looking through the viewscreen on the desk, Eddicus saw that it was Master Yoda. Depressing a button, the door swished open and the short green-skinned Jedi walked gracefully forward.

The chancellor intentionally let his guard down and allowed his mind to be flooded with thoughts of the unfolding catastrophe on Seswenna&mdash;the death of Awa Moonflower and the two Jedi at the fore of his thoughts. The short Jedi stopped his gait and glanced squarely at the chancellor.

"Terrible this is," the Jedi said with a bowing of the head. "I knew something was amiss. Please, explain to me in detail."

Alta Eddicus walked back toward the couches and sat where she had been sleeping. The GIN Director, who was frantically talking into a comlink, followed suit, sitting on the couch opposite the senator.

"Let's sit, Master Yoda," Eddicus said, grabbing the holocomm pad from the desk.

He walked toward the couches and set the pad on the table between them. He then proceeded to sit next to his daughter while Master Yoda sat opposite him.

"Fay," the chancellor said. "I hate to have you explain this again, but Master Yoda is now here. I think he will be most interested in what you have to say. Plus, it gives me a chance to reassess this one last time."