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Sal shrugged. “But then it would be too late—for the Emperor, at least.”

“Yeah. And maybe too late for I-Five as well.”

Sal shrugged. “So what? The handler simply reinstates the program. A clean-slate override.”

“Not simply,” objected Jax. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with here. If ever a droid was more than the sum of his parts, it’s I-Five. I don’t want to take the chance of a reboot causing him to lose whatever part of him might go beyond code.”

Sal stared at Jax. “You’re not seriously suggesting that I-Five has a soul?”

“I’m suggesting that he might not be the same droid we powered down. And that’s not all. Emperor Palpatine is the head of the Sith Order. If you think the Inquisitors are deadly, the Emperor is exponentially more deadly. Quicker, more focused, more powerful. In that split second that I-Five’s BPK goes offline, the Emperor could very well sense it and retaliate before I-Five has a chance to do anything.”

“You don’t know that. Palpatine won’t be expecting anything. And the droid doesn’t need to be that close to him—a laser shot from the gallery when the Emperor is on the floor of the Senate, for example …”

“Such a scenario might possibly work, but there’s always Darth Vader to worry about.”

“But the droid could—”

“The droid could fall apart from metal fatigue waiting for you two,” I-Five cut in. “Let’s assume for a moment that we can get me past surveillance.” He looked at Sal. “What were you thinking?”

Tuden Sal was suddenly animated. “It’s a simple plan. And because it’s simple, I think it stands a high chance of success. Palpatine attends the Senate ‘debates’—bootlicking fests is more like it—on the last day of each week. The number of protocol droids in the Senate Hall at those times is mind-boggling. They’re everywhere—interpreting, carrying messages, serving tea—we should have no difficulty getting in as attachés of whatever delegation I-Five tells the security system we’re with.”

“And as the handler, where would I be?” Jax asked.

I-Five reacted strongly to that. “Jax, you can’t. You’re a Jedi. A wanted Jedi. Even if you wore a skinsuit, you’d be in danger of being read. You’d jeopardize the mission.”

Jax thought about it. “I could be one of The Silent, perhaps. They travel heavily enrobed and no one notices.” Then an epiphany struck him. “Got it. I’ll go in as an Inquisitor. Totally appropriate as a Force-sensitive.”

“And where would you get an Inquisitor’s robe?” the Sakiyan asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure Rhinann does. And I think I may even know where I can get some taozin. I already have a Sith blade.”

Tuden Sal nodded. “Yes. It could work. The citizens’ galleries have an unobstructed view of the Emperor’s Senate platform.”

“Which is protected by a repulsor shield and an EM shield,” I-Five objected, staring at Jax as if he’d gone completely mad.

“I’m a Jedi. I can defeat both.”

“Perhaps. But doing so will cause you to light up like a supernova to the other Inquisitors.”

Jax shrugged. “There’ll be too much pandemonium because the Emperor will be dead.”

I-Five’s photoreceptors met Jax’s eyes straight-on. “I,” said I-Five, “am supposed to be keeping you alive. Remember?”

“Then you’d better make it your best shot.” Jax turned to Tuden Sal. “Are you convinced yet that I haven’t been trying to sabotage your mission?”

The Sakiyan didn’t answer that; instead he said, “Palpatine’s next appearance in the Senate is in two days. Will that give Rhinann enough time to get an Inquisitor’s robe?”

Jax stood up. “Let’s find out.”

“You want me to get what?” Rhinann was aghast. As he had long suspected, the Jedi had completely lost his senses.

“An Inquisitor’s robe. Can you?”

“Preferably without alerting the entire Inquisitorius as to its destination,” I-Five added.

Rhinann fixed the droid with a baleful glare. “They won’t even know it’s missing. When do you need it?”

“Within the next two days.”

Rhinann felt the building sway around him. “That soon?”

“If you can’t do it,” Pavan said,