Star Wars_ The Dark Lord Trilogy - James Luceno [108]
Having boarded the mag-lev at its 500 Republica platform, he, Kit Fisto, Shaak Ti, and Stass Allie were in the car the Supreme Chancellor’s Red Guards had commandeered—second in a train of some twenty cars. Through a gap in the protective circle the guards had forged, Mace caught a glimpse of Palpatine, his head of wavy gray hair lowered in what might have been anguish or deep concentration.
How had Grievous known? Mace asked himself.
Many Coruscanti knew that Palpatine resided in 500 Republica, but the location of his suite was a well-kept secret. More important, how had Grievous known that Palpatine wasn’t to be found in either of his offices?
Not everything could be traced to Dooku.
It was conceivable that Dooku had furnished Grievous with data on hyperlanes that skimmed the outer limits of the Deep Core. That much, Dooku could have pilfered from the Jedi archives before he left the Order, presumably when he was erasing mentions of Kamino from the data banks. Similarly, Dooku could have supplied Grievous with the orbital coordinates of specific communications satellites and mirrors, or with tactical information regarding the location of dedicated shield generators on the surface. But Palpatine had only just been elected Supreme Chancellor when Dooku left Coruscant to return to Serenno, and back then, some thirteen years ago, Palpatine had been living in a high-rise tower close to the Senate Building.
So how had Grievous known to go to 500 Republica?
Sidious?
If it was true that hundreds of Senators had, for a time, been under the Sith Lord’s influence, then he may have had access to the highest levels of confidential information. As many on the Jedi Council feared, Sidious’s network of agents and assets might have infiltrated the Republic military command itself. Which suggested that the sneak attack on Coruscant may have been years in the planning!
Mace caught another glimpse of Palpatine, insulated by the flowing red robes of his handpicked bodyguards.
This was hardly the time to question him about his closest confidants.
But Mace would make it his business to find the time later.
Briefly, he wondered what had become of Captain Dyne’s team. Surmising that Dyne had called off the search for Sidious shortly after the attack had commenced, Intelligence hadn’t dispatched a second search team—aimed at locating Dyne and Valiant—until neither of them had been heard from, even after communications had been restored to the Senate District.
Shaak Ti hadn’t seen them when she and Palpatine’s protectors had whisked the Supreme Chancellor through 500 Republica’s sub-basement.
So had Dyne and the commandos fallen victim to Grievous’s attack? Were they trapped somewhere under a crashed cargo ship or tons of ferrocrete rubble?
Yet another ill-timed concern, Mace thought.
The mag-lev’s other cars were packed cheek-to-jowl with Coruscanti attempting to flee the Senate and Financial Districts. Palpatine’s guards would have commandeered the entire train if Palpatine hadn’t intervened, refusing to allow it. Shaak Ti had told Mace and Kit about the Supreme Chancellor’s earlier reluctance to leave his suite. Mace didn’t know what to make of it. But now at least they were on the way to the bunker. The mag-lev line didn’t run past the complex, but the first stop in Sah’c was close to a system of skyways and turbolifts that did.
Light filtering into the car through the tinted windows dimmed.
The mag-lev was entering the Heorem Skytunnel, a broad burrow that accommodated not only the speeding train, but also opposing lanes of autonavigation and free-travel traffic, passing through several of the Senate District’s largest buildings. Lanes leading south—away from the district, and off to the right side of the mag-lev—were crawling with public transports and air taxis. By contrast, the northbound lanes were almost empty, the result of traffic having been rerouted well before it reached the Senate District.
A blur of light off to the left-hand side of the car caught Mace’s eye, and he hurried to