Darth Plagueis - James Luceno [165]
“Another favor from Jabba?” Sidious asked.
“The Hutt has become an ally,” Plagueis said.
“With Black Sun headless, he’ll have free rein over the spice trade.”
“For a time,” Plagueis said. “The information about Senator Teem has been sent to Antilles, who has been trying for years to have him removed from the Senate. When the corruption inquest is announced, Teem’s support will disappear. And so will support for Antilles, whose ambitions have blinded him to the fact that no one in the Senate wants an overzealous reformer in the chancellorship. The Rim Faction will then flock to you, in the hope of being able to manipulate you, and the humancentric Core Faction will back you because you’re one of their own.”
Sidious regarded him. “Were it not for you—”
Plagueis waved him silent and came to a sudden halt.
Sidious walked a few more steps and turned to him. “You’re not going to accompany me to greet the Queen?”
“No. The Jedi are still with her, and our joint presence might allow them to sense our leanings.”
“You’re right, of course.”
“There’s one more issue,” Plagueis said. “The Naboo crisis has finally caught the fancy of Coruscant. If we could force a similar crisis in the Senate, your election would be guaranteed.”
Sidious thought about it. “There may be a way.” He looked hard at Plagueis. “The call for a vote of no-confidence in Valorum.”
“If you—”
“Not me,” Sidious cut him off. “Queen Amidala. I will fill her head with doubts about Valorum’s inability to resolve the crisis and fears of what Trade Federation rule would mean for Naboo. Then I will take her to the Senate so that she can see for herself how untenable the situation has become.”
“Grand theater,” Plagueis mused. “She’ll not only call for a vote of no-confidence. She’ll flee home to be with her people.”
“Where we wanted her to begin with.”
“I trust that the food is better than the view,” Dooku remarked without humor as he joined Palpatine at a window-side table in Mok’s Cheap Eats the following day. A small establishment catering to factory personnel, it overlooked the heart of The Works.
“The Senate is studying plans to develop housing projects in the flatlands.”
Dooku frowned in revulsion. “Why not simply build over a radioactive waste dump?”
“Where there are credits to be made, the lives of ordinary citizens are of little consequence.”
Dooku cocked an eyebrow. “I hope you’ll put a stop to it.”
“I’d prefer The Works to remain unchanged for a time.”
Dooku waved off a waiter and regarded Palpatine with interest. “So, a blockade prevents you from going to Naboo, and what happens but Naboo comes to you. Quite a piece of magic.”
Palpatine showed him a thin smile. “Yes, my Queen has arrived.”
“Your Queen,” Dooku said, tugging at his short beard. “And from all I hear you may soon be her Supreme Chancellor.”
Palpatine shrugged off the remark, then adopted a more serious look. “That is, however, part of the reason behind my asking you to meet me here.”
“Worried that you won’t receive Jedi backing if you’re seen with me in the usual places?”
“Nothing of the sort. But if I am elected, and if you and I are going to begin to work together, it behooves us to give all appearances of being on opposite sides.”
Dooku folded his arms and stared. “Work together in what capacity?”
“That remains to be seen. But our common goal would be to return the Republic to what it once was by tearing it down.”
Dooku didn’t say anything for a long moment, and when he spoke it was as if he were assembling his thoughts on the fly. “With perhaps your homeworld as the spark that touches off a conflagration? Clearly the crisis has benefited you politically, and that fact alone has certain beings wondering.” He scanned Palpatine’s face. “Under normal circumstances, the Council wouldn’t have subverted