Darth Plagueis - James Luceno [57]
“He doesn’t know what he’s missing.”
“It has nothing to do with my talents.” Palpatine turned slightly in the driver’s seat. “When I was younger I was responsible for the deaths of two pedestrians. At the time, my father threatened never to allow me to fly, but he eventually relented.”
“What made him change his mind?”
Palpatine swung forward. “I wore him down.”
“I’m sorry,” Plagueis said. “I didn’t know.”
Although, in fact, he did know. With help from 11-4D he had learned that Palpatine’s troubled past had seen him bounced from one private school to the next, following incidents of petty crime and offenses that would have landed a commoner in a correctional facility. Time and again his father, who shared with his son a penchant for violence, had used his influence to rescue Palpatine and avoid the specter of family scandals. To Plagueis, however, the youth’s transgressions were only further indication of his exceptionality. Here was a youth who had already risen above common morality and had judged himself unique enough to create an individual code of ethics.
Palpatine pointed to the distant tree line. “There are some ancient ruins in there, but that’s Gungan territory.”
“Have you had any dealings with them?”
“Personally, no. But I’ve seen the ones that come into Moenia to trade for goods.”
“What are your thoughts about them?”
“Aside from the fact that they are long-eared, slimy-tongued primitives?”
“Aside from that, yes.”
Palpatine shrugged. “I don’t mind them, so long as they keep to their submerged cities and waterways.”
“Not get in the way.”
“Exactly. Humans deserve to have the upper hand here.”
Plagueis could not restrain a smile. “There are many worlds in the galaxy where the matter of who has the upper hand, as it were, is in dispute.”
“That’s because most beings are afraid to take charge. Think what the Republic Senate might accomplish under the leadership of a strong being.”
“I have given thought to that, Palpatine.”
“What does the Senate do in response to each and every crisis? It dispatches the Jedi to restore order, and moves on without addressing the roots of the problem.”
Plagueis found the boy’s youthful ignorance entertaining. “The Jedi could rule the Republic if they wished,” he said after a moment. “I suppose we should be grateful that the Order is dedicated to peace.”
Palpatine shook his head. “I don’t view it like that. I think that the Jedi have dedicated themselves to limiting change. They wait for the Senate to tell them when and where to intervene, and what to fix, when in fact they could use the Force to impose their will on the entire galaxy, if they wanted. I’d have more respect for them if they did.”
“Do you grant your father respect when he attempts to impose his will on you?”
Palpatine’s grip on the steering yoke tightened. “That’s different. The reason I don’t respect him is because he’s not half as intelligent as he thinks he is. If he could admit to his weaknesses, I could at least pity him.”
Bringing the speeder to a sudden halt, he turned toward Plagueis once more, his face flushed with anger. Between them, dangling from the rearview mirror, was the coin Plagueis had given him.
Before long, I will own this human, Plagueis told himself.
“House Palpatine is wealthy,” the youth went on, “but not nearly as wealthy as some of the other houses, and not nearly as influential with the King and the electorate, despite my father’s attempts to take a leadership position with the royals. He lacks the political acumen needed to elevate our House to a position of true entitlement, and along with it the awareness to recognize that the time has come for Naboo to exploit its matchless resources and join the modern galaxy. Instead, he and his cronies, in complete and utter political ineptitude, want to keep us caged in the past.”
“Does your mother share his views?”
Palpatine forced a laugh. “Only because she espouses no views of her own; only because he has made her subservient to him—as he has my well-behaved brothers and sisters, who