Star Wars_ The Dark Lord Trilogy - James Luceno [62]
The Sith understood that the elitism and mobsterism of the Republic could be ended only by bringing the diverse beings of the galaxy under the control of a single hand. The galaxy could only be saved from itself by the imposition of order.
What fools the Jedi were not to see it. Blind to their own downfall, the coming of their endtime.
What fools—
The sound of soft footfalls made Dooku turn.
From off to one side of the docking bay a figure approached. Dressed in a hooded cloak of burgundy material, closed at the neck by a distinctive clasp, and so soft and voluminous that it covered everything but the lower portion of the figure’s face and his hands. Rarely was that hood lowered, allowing the wearer to walk unnoticed through the byways and plazas of Coruscant’s blurred underground, just another recluse or religious initiate arrived in the Core from some world beyond imagining.
Of his youth, Sidious had offered little these past thirteen years; of his Master, Darth Plagueis, even less.
More than once it had occurred to Dooku that Sidious and Yoda had certain qualities in common. Principally, that neither was entirely what he appeared to be—that is, made frail by age, or by the intensity required to master the Sith or Jedi arts.
On Geonosis, Yoda’s easy parrying and, indeed, handling of the Sith lightning Dooku hurled at him had come as a surprise. Had made him wonder if, on some level during the course of Yoda’s eight-hundred-odd years, the Jedi Master hadn’t delved into the dark arts, if only as a means of familiarizing himself with his perceived enemy. And on Vjun, only months ago, Yoda himself had admitted as much. Carry a darkness within me, I do, he had said. Yoda probably believed that he had defeated Dooku on Geonosis. But in fact, Dooku had only fled the fight to safeguard the plans he had been carrying—the technical readouts to what would one day become the Ultimate Weapon …
“Welcome, Darth Tyranus,” Sidious said as he drew nearer.
“Lord Sidious,” Dooku said, bowing slightly at the waist. “I spared no haste in leaving Kaon.”
“And took a great risk you did, my apprentice.”
Whether by nature or design, Sidious’s words came slowly, sibilantly.
“A calculated risk, my lord.”
“Do you fear that the Republic has become so adept at eavesdropping that they can now listen in on our private transmissions?”
“No, my lord. As I told you, the Republic has probably deciphered the code we have been using to communicate with our … partners, shall we say. But I am confident that the Intelligence division knew nothing of our plans for dealing with the Bith at Escarte.”
“Then my instructions were carried out?”
“They were.”
“And still you have come here,” Sidious said.
“Some matters are best discussed in real time.”
Sidious nodded. “Then let us speak of these things in real time.”
They walked in silence to a balcony that overlooked the desolate sprawl of The Works. In the far distance the glassy towers of the Senate District disappeared into clouds. One of Dooku’s previous visits had followed the assassination of a faithless Senator by Jedi Knight Quinlan Vos. Duped by Dooku on several occasions, Vos had managed to track Dooku to The Works, though he apparently hadn’t perceived just how deeply the dark side had taken root there.
“I suspect that the planned disappearance of Thal K’sar did not go according to plan,” Sidious said finally.
“Regretfully, my lord. He was taken into custody, but our guild confederates at Escarte failed to act quickly enough. Hours from execution, K’sar was rescued and spirited from the facility by a Republic Intelligence agent, who had the help of two Jedi.”
Dooku had been able to count on one hand the number of times