Chapter 16

Daruc had already given out his orders of how to proceed next to his loyal factions. He had decided, after his little conference with Darth Sidious, that the only path open to him was one of direct action. The plan was for an organized attack on the palace, originating from their underground lair. They had no option other than success, for their base of operations would be given away with this bold move. Ideally, they would be able to capture Prince Raifen and coerce him into convincing his subjects that he was no longer capable of ruling and he was passing it on to Daruc. The thought of the Raifen crown being his made Daruc smile. This only encouraged him further as he went over variations of the plan that could occur.

We won't need the king, he thought flippantly. The old bugger's almost dead any how. As for the prince, well . . . he'll cooperate if he knows what's good for him. It's that pesky Jedi that I'm worried about. The last thing I need is for Coruscant to step in on this. Sidious hasn't even mentioned what he wants me to do when I capture the Jedi and his student.

As if on cue, a signal from the comlink at Daruc's waistband told him that he had an incoming signal. He excused himself from his "generals" and made his way to the enclosed room in the back. He securely closed the door and obediently knelt down on the floor grid. All of this groveling better be worth it. No matter what Sidious thinks, when I am in control he will never hold full reign over me.

The three-dimensional picture of the Sith Master faded into view. The robed figure wasted no time on greetings.

"I expect that your plan is proceeding accordingly, Spion?" the dark voice asked.

"Yes, my lord." Daruc hesitated for a moment, but then decided that it would do no harm to ask his question. "My lord, what should I do when I capture the Jedi?"

Sidious let out a low cackle at the thought of this man capturing a Jedi. "You will not capture Jedi Kenobi or his student Skywalker. I have other plans for them myself. Trying to capture them would only compound your problems," he explained nonchalantly. "You will not need to worry about that pair. My . . . connections . . . in the Senate are currently making arrangements for the Jedi to return to Coruscant."

Daruc bowed his head in thankfulness as the flickering, blue-hued man continued.

"Wait until nightfall to begin your attack, but no longer than that."

"Yes, my lord. I will obey." Daruc made a show of his so-called dedication. By the time he had brought his head back up from another bow, the holo was gone. He was about to exit out a door other than the one he came from in order to fix himself a drink, when a knock called him back. He strode over and opened the door to see one of his guard men standing there.

"Sir!" the guard said, saluting enthusiastically.

"What?"

"The Jedi and the Prince are investigating the main atrium room. Would you like us to do anything? They may stumble upon one of our entrances."

A new thought occurred to Daruc. "No, let them be."

This order obviously confused the guard, but he nodded in compliance and left.

What better way to capture the Prince, Daruc thought, grinning wildly, than having him walk right into our hands?

* * *

After searching other places that could have served as an entry point, the pair decided to try a new location. The atrium room was fairly empty as Obi-Wan and Cort entered it. Most people were either too scared to venture near the palace or too busy taking actions to alleviate those fears. The emptiness bordered on eerie.

"I wonder," Cort asked, "if it would be bad luck to say 'I have a bad feeling about this'?"

"Probably," Obi-Wan answered as he began walking along one wall and inspecting it. "Whenever I say or hear that phrase, something usually does go wrong." He rapped his knuckles on one part of the wall, determined it to be solid, and continued down its length.

"I thought Jedi weren't supposed to believe in luck," Cort replied, only half teasing. He began moving across the room to mimic Obi-Wan's method of inspection.

"Well, technically we don't," the Jedi knight spoke loudly across the room. "Everyone harbors some personal superstitions, though."

The prince nodded his head and kept moving down the wall. In a quiet voice, he said, "I guess that makes sense."

The pair scoured the walls surrounding the oblong room. It took them a good half an hour, and then each switched to go over what the other had done. Their search turned up nothing.

Finally, the two concluded their search over in the far corner of the room. They were frustrated and tired, with Cort even more so than Obi-Wan because the Jedi had managed to have a nap.

"Well, I'm stumped," Cort said, jamming his hands into his pockets and scuffing his boot toe on the floor. "We don't have any leads on this. Maybe that Spion character really is just what his records say."

"No, I strongly doubt that. I know that his was the face I saw in the garden." Obi-Wan shrugged his shoulders and shook his head in frustration. He began pacing in a circle. "Where else could he have come in from?"

Cort sighed heavily. "You go look, Ben. I'm exhausted." He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned back against the wall.

And with a startled yelp he disappeared from Obi-Wan's sight into the wall.

Obi-Wan rapidly moved to the opening in the wall. It was almost like a small tunnel, and he could see Cort at the bottom of it.

"Cort, are you all right?" he called down.

"Oh yeah. Just fine and dandy. I'm only exhausted and I've only just fallen down some tunnel that I never knew existed in my own palace and I've landed in a pile of sewer scum. I have never been better."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at the drama. "Hang on. I'll be right down." He slid into the opening and landed gracefully on the floor. Gracefully, that is, until his boot slipped on some sewer slime and sent him crashing into the same pile of trash that Cort was complaining about.

Cort was too tired to even try to hide his laughter. It echoed up and down the dark corridors.

"Whoo-hoo! Look at you, mister all-powerful Jedi! Oh, if I had a holo of this. . ."

The embarrassed knight stood up and tried to brush some of the slime away. "Well, it's a good thing you don't or else I just might have to leave you down here."

That only caused the laughter to double. "Oh-no! Whoo-hoo! Please don't hurt me Mr. Jedi! I'm so scared now, Ben! Ha-ha!"

Now Obi-Wan was just annoyed. "Come on, Cort, cut it out! Do you want to let everyone know we're down here? Just quit it and let's get moving."

The sharp tone in his voice quickly brought Cort to his senses. He stopped laughing almost immediately and stood up. "Sorry. But you know how I am. I can't help laughing when I'm tired."

"Yeah, well that's something you better work on or else this planet is going to think they have a lunatic for a leader."

Cort didn't reply. Instead he just began moving down the corridor. Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber, for they did not have a glow lamp, and followed after him.