Qui-Gon and Anakin took their lastmeal that night in their quarters. Of course as soon as Qui-Gon said they were going to, Anakin must have guessed what he wanted to talk about. He was mildly surprised his Padawan didn't launch right into it as soon as they had sat down with their greens and loaf. Maybe he was finally learning patience. Or maybe he wanted to not talk about it that badly.
He waited until both their plates were half cleared, before he said, "I know something happened yesterday which you remain troubled about, my Padawan. What about it is most on your mind?"
"The girl, of course!" It burst out from him, just as Qui-Gon had expected; the question had just been to get him talking. "I'm wondering where she is right now, if she's even alive...yeah, we can't even know that, can we? Look, I know we had to walk away, didn't even need Obi-Wan to explain, not really, but..." He sighed.
"Of course this has brought you pain," said Qui-Gon. "You would not be a good person if it did not. This is one of the prices of being a Jedi they don't tell you about until you're paying it. The guilt, especially when we are aware it is the system that is stopping us, the rules set for us by the Senate, rather than the Force."
"And you object to those, Master?" Anakin asked, with a hint of a smile.
"Certainly not in their entirety," Qui-Gon had to admit. "We do want to be of service to the people, after all. Indeed, if the Senate was a bit more of a reflection of their true will...but it may be the closest we can get."
Anakin hid his disappointment well; Qui-Gon could only faintly sense it. "There are no easy answers to any of your questions, Padawan," he said to him. "The best I can tell you is to try to figure out what is right, and to know there may be times when that will not be what you were told to do. You knew what the right thing to do was yesterday, after all, much as it was a terrible thing to do as well."
A nod from Anakin. He was now old enough to understand why that wasn't a contradiction in terms, and regret it. "We shall meditate further on this tonight," he finished. "I hope that will help you find peace with it."
But they ultimately wouldn't get the chance to. They were just gathering up the dishes when the comm chimed, and Master Yoda's voice came out, "Master Jinn? Padawan Skywalker?"
"That's us," said Anakin, with just a little cheek. Qui-Gon felt oddly proud.
"See you, I must, right away," and there was something odd about his voice. A line from Master Dooku ran through the head of his former apprentice: "On those occasions when he's obliged to do something he doesn't think is the best idea, he'll sound as impatient as he accuses us of being."
Anakin probably hadn't noticed. He was at the door even as Qui-Gon said, "We're on our way. Your interview chamber?"
They did indeed meet Yoda there, sitting next to the far wall so as not to have the ceiling lurking right behind and over Qui-Gon's head, waiting for him to bump into if he tried to move without paying attention. That at least got him a little more relaxed than his poor Padawan, and he tried to sound casual, as he asked, "So, Master Yoda, to what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Pleasure this may be, or may not be," was the reply, as Yoda turned towards Anakin. "Word, I have just received, from Chancellor Palpatine. He wishes to meet with you, Padawan Skywalker. Alone."
That was a very great demand to make at Anakin's age, even for the Supreme Chancellor. "What for?" he asked. "Did he say?"
"Say, he did not, only that he would like if within the next few days, this meeting would be."
"Right now, my schedule's open?" Anakin asked his Master.
"It can be very easily," Qui-Gon confirmed, but he knew they both would sense his displeasure and wariness.
"Refuse this, you can, Master Qui-Gon," Yoda reminded him. "He is your Padawan, and even the Chancellor of the Republic cannot meet him, or just cannot meet him alone, if nay, you tell him."
Qui-Gon had never forbidden any of his Padawans to meet with anyone, or even restricted the conditions under which they could. It went against most of what he believed in in life. But now he was besieged by a feeling he had never had before, a fear of what would happen to Anakin if he didn't step forward to protect him from those too powerful.
It was because Anakin couldn't get away with refusing himself, he told himself firmly. That didn't mean the decision couldn't still be his. Yet he still felt the vague dread as he asked, "What you do want to do, Anakin? It�s not right that you should need me to say no in your stead, but if you don't want this I'll do it."
Anakin didn't answer right away, but just sat there, his uncertainty strong enough for anyone to sense. After a minute or so, he asked, "What do you think would happen if Master Jinn insisted on coming with me? Would he agree, or refuse to meet with me at all?"
Yoda closed his eyes, and they could tell he was reaching into the Force, seeing if it would tell him. Finally he said, "Tricky, Chancellor Palpatine seems. Possible, it is it, that he will say yes, then attempt to separate you when you arrive."
Master and Padawan then needed only a quick glance at each other to confirm they were both thinking the same thing. "Tell him I insist on being present," said Qui-Gon.
"Tell him that, I shall," said Master Yoda, and he bowed. "May the Force be with you two. Need it, you may."
"Maybe this will even be fun," Anakin commented as they walked back to their own quarters. "I mean, if we're trying to get the better of the Supreme Chancellor." It was a weak echo of his younger self, and in spite of everything, Qui-Gon had to smile a little. They would, at least, feel some very real satisfaction if they pulled it off.
"We shall have to begin preparing for it immediately," he said. "It is a safe assumption that the exact meeting time will be at the Chancellor's pleasure rather than ours; we might even find ourselves roused for it early tomorrow morning. Tonight will we have to study the layout of his office and surrounding quarters. Also, I have a friend there who we'll contact; he may be willing to help, although he will likely ask for favors in returns, ones we may or may not be able to grant."
He also thought that so long as they were going to be in the Chancellor's suite, they might also do some investigating of the other goings-on there, at least if the opportunity provided itself. It would for him, perhaps, if Palpatine did succeed in separating them. Although if that was a back-up plan of action, it was probably smarter not to mention to his Padawan that he had it. There was still too much chance of him taking that the wrong way, hard as Qui-Gon had worked to get him to overcome his insecurities.
Rozitti didn't answer when Qui-Gon first commed him, in his bedroom, while Anakin waited outside. He was a very busy man. Anakin looked very curiously at his Master when he came out, but when Qui-Gon said, "He wasn't home," he didn't ask any questions. The two of them spent two hours going over everything they knew about the entire building, right down to what Anakin happened to know about the electrical system. ("I got curious about how they worked here on Coruscant after that adventure I went on in the Temple," he explained.) The two of them did meditate a little before Qui-Gon sent Anakin to bed, with him directing his Padawan to focus on what he could do in the immediate future, and let go of what he couldn't do.
A lesson he could've learned better himself, of course. Obi-Wan was busy that night, helping tutor a young knight of a more nocturnal species, so Qui-Gon could have no companion except his own all too agitated thoughts. He couldn't let Anakin know how much he, too, had been disturbed and deeply distressed by the thought of that poor woman they couldn't help, much as he had known countless people like her in his life. He spent extra time in meditation, keeping his mental state through several exhausting katas, which at least allowed him to drift off for a few hours. But his dreams that night were painful, and when he woke too early, it was just as well, since he needed more meditation to resettle his mind.
By the time Anakin woke, however, Qui-Gon, was more mentally composed. It helped that they took their first meal with Obi-Wan that morning, though the talk between the three of them that morning was entirely commonplaces. It was a busy day for both him and Anakin, the one still teaching lessons, and the other still learning them. Qui-Gon envied them that, wished the Council would let him take on some classes, though he supposed if he couldn't anyway if they did let them go to the Avvarbor System now.
He instead spent the morning doing more research. There was only so much more left to read about Palpatine and the goings-on of his circle and surroundings. With that subject exhausted, he went back to reading about dark objects. He'd found a book about experiments done by now-unknown practitioners, possibly Sith-affiliated, experimenting with ways to travel tens of thousands of light-years within moments by bending and twisting the Force. They knew it hadn't ended well for most of them, but there were a handful where their exact fate was unknown. Obviously if any of them had succeeded, the Sith hadn't received their knowledge then, but it was just possible they had somehow come to it, or part of it, now.
When just before lunch he got a comm from Master Yoda, he was pretty sure what it was about even before he answered, "Master?" and got the response:
"Agreed, the Chancellor has. To meet you both tonight, he wants. At 2000, or 2100."
"2000, then," said Qui-Gon. The sooner this all was over with, the better.
Then they got a few minutes by themselves, when they were left to wait to be called into the Chancellor's office. Obviously they had to be on camera at that point, so there was only so much they could even say to each other, but Master Jinn still leaned down and said to him, "Remember, Chancellor Palpatine is a very powerful man with maybe more responsibilities than anyone else in the galaxy. But he is also just another person in the end, to be respected as much as any other, but not seen as all powerful or more than that."
It wasn't Anakin's first time meeting a Supreme Chancellor. Master Jinn had a couple of times had cause to meet with Valorum, and Anakin had come with him once, when he'd been eight. Palpatine he'd seen images of, and his main thought had always been that he and Valoum didn't look all that unalike.
He still thought that now, but when Chancellor Palpatine actually stepped out of his office to greet them-which Anakin didn't think Supreme Chancellors usually did-Anakin did note they felt pretty different in the Force. It wasn't a difference he could even really put words to, but if he'd tried to, he probably would've said it was like Palpatine was just more there. He could've just been strong in the Force; politicians often were, though thankfully they usually weren't actually Force-sensitive. But Anakin also had the feeling that there was something important there too he couldn't identify. He hoped Master Jinn could figure that one out.
Whatever it was, he wasn't sure he liked it. But that could just be his already being suspicious of the Chancellor and the people around him. He wasn't even sure how much that was them, and how much that was his being suspicious of everybody nowadays.
"Padawan Anakin Skywalker." Palpatine's voice was warm and paternal. "Thank you for coming to see me, and on such short notice. And you, too, Master Jinn. I've heard so much about you both. I suppose you will insist on coming in?" He didn't sound entirely friendly there.
"I assume you must have something very important to tell my Padawan," said Master Jinn, perfectly placid. "Something I'll need to know anyway. This should be easier for both of us if we can just hear it together."
"It's not exactly that," said the Chancellor as he stepped into the audience, but made no further protest when Master and Padawan followed him shoulder to shoulder. "And in truth, Master Jinn, what I've got to talk about today is something the Jedi Council will be hearing about sooner or later. I suppose you two might feel the need to tell them about it now, but...I think I will leave that up to your discretion."
Did he know, about Master Jinn and the Council? Anakin wasn't sure how many people outside the Temple knew about that. Though if there was any kind of Sith influence in this place, they'd probably be spying on the Council as much as they could.
One way or another, he didn't like the way Palpatine was looking at Master Jinn, like he thought he could get something out of him. It made Anakin wonder a lot what he might want. They none of them had time to get tangled up in stupid politics, if it was just that, and if it was worse...well.
"To be honest, this is something I'm very worried to tell the Council about, especially as I fear they may take offense...or worse. You see, I am starting to think someone in the Order is plotting against me, the Republic's government in general, or both."
He looked at them as if he expected this news to send them both reeling. To be fair, it would have, if they hadn't already thought far worse could exist within the Temple.
Though Master Jinn probably would have remained easily neutral anyway, as he calmly asked, "And what makes you think that, Chancellor?"
"Call it a combination of whispers I've heard and circumstantial evidence I've seen piling up. I am aware, of course, of these Sith Lords that have done the Order such damage and even put you in dire conditions once or twice, and I would not expect you to do as much as you did before all that started. But suddenly I'm finding strange failures on some of my vital diplomatic missions. Just last week, for instance. Kit Fisto has always been exemplary in his negotiations with the Dac, but this time he suddenly couldn't get them to stay seated for five minutes even after he spent three weeks trying."
Well, that could potentially be caused by the Sith sabotaging Knight Fisto somehow. Anakin wished he could ask someone what missions Master Dooku had been even somewhat connected to.
"And after that mission, you see," Palpatine continued, "I found myself with five Senators, two of whom had never showed any sign of caring in the least, coming after me, three of them on the floor of the Senate itself, attacking my very capacity to serve as Chancellor. And when I looked into them, they all had ties to the Jedi Order somehow."
"Who were they, and how so?" Master Jinn asked. "Were all the ties all that significant?"
"Well, one of them, Senator Merks from Duzzkem, is actually married to a failed Initiate, which seems pretty significant to me. Two more, Senator Larkin Buffe and Avos Fullan, have distant cousins in the Order, though I admit I don't know if they�ve ever actually had much to do with them. The last two, Sborowsky Glitz and Ken-Oilt-Feras Gu, have worked with the Jedi multiple times on various diplomatic matters over the years."
"If their behavior is a coordinated effort against you," said Master Jinn, "then those Jedi and those Senators, or at least their staff, would have to be in a good deal of contact with each other. How much do you think they could conceal?"
"You would be amazed, Master Jinn. I know the Senate preaches transparency and letting the people know all we do. And yes, a good deal of spying and other dodgy monitoring goes on too. But I'm afraid it's all been going on so long that any Senator who's been on Corurscant for more than a few months has learned how much to let themselves be recorded and how to make sure, for an hour or so at least, that noone will ever watch what they are doing and who they are doing it with.
Of course, I don't pretend to fully know what kind of supervision the Jedi Order puts its members under, or even how much you people tend to just know about each other." A pause, and maybe all that work Anakin had done trying to learn how to read people was finally paying off, because it hit him that the Chancellor was silently suggesting Master Jinn tell him exactly what supervision there was.
Master Jinn, however, remained silent at first, then asked, "What do you know about their activities? Quite frankly, Chancellor, if you claimed not to be monitoring them as much as you are allowed, at least these past few weeks..."
"I can give you detailed records on that if you like. I will note immediately that Senators Fullan and Glitz have found themselves in the Temple District surprisingly often, though only Glitz has actually set foot in it in the past two months-to my knowledge, anyway."
"I'm willing to take that back to the Temple with me. Of course the moment the Council hears about it, they will want to see everything." When, of course, there was still the possibility one of them was working for the Sith.
Which was probably why Master Jinn kept a game expression when Palpatine kind of crooned, "Do they really need to hear about it, Master Jedi? I have heard that you and they have not always agreed on how to handle certain affairs, especially ones that might require a more unorthodox solution."
Yet he responded, "I shall have to tell someone, Chancellor. A matter such as this I cannot keep to myself. Not with the implications it has for the entire Order."
Palpatine looked gravely as him, then said, "If you feel you must, I suppose you must."
"Is this why you only wanted to talk to me about this?" Anakin asked. And now that he'd had that thought, well, he really hoped it wasn't true.
But Palpatine replied, "I did want to restrict this information as much as possible, yes, though I know we could never have kept you in the dark entirely, Master Jinn. You see, I was wondering if young Anakin would be willing to get just a little more information for me. Nothing secret, even, just...hard to obtain if you're not a Jedi. About the Jedi who have interacted with the Senate recently, and maybe which missions they were sent on, that sort of thing."
"That sounds like a lot of information," said Anakin, to quell his real reaction. "Don't Jedi and the Senate interact a lot?"
"Indirectly, more often than not. And I don't necessarily care about every routine diplomatic assignment request, especially ones that were denied anyway. I think if you start looking over everything, you'll be quick to spot where the more significant interactions are."
"That is no small task you are asking of one Padawan," observed Master Jinn. "Even if I aid him, it would consume much time for the both of us. If we were to do this, we would need further help. How would you feel about potentially bringing in my former Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi into this? Or Padawan Padme Naberrie? She's a good friend of Anakin's."
"Hmmmm." The Chancellor's face didn't say much, so Anakin looked at his Master's instead. Master Jinn shook his head only slightly, just enough to convey his opinion to his Padawan. "Naberrie is apprenticed to Master Windu, I believe?" A stronger shake of the head from Master Jinn.
Anakin decided to ask it: "Do you not want Master Windu to know?"
"I would think that would be obvious," he chuckled. "Not that I even suspect him of anything, mind you. But you must know how he is, especially if you're friends with his Padawan. Has she not told you how he berated her when she went and offended some Lord on Falsine while exposing two of his manservants for secretly working for his longtime rival, and when as I understand it, there's a chance that this saved the negotiations to end the civil war. He wasn't happy with her the time she ran out on a meeting to help put out a building on fire on Morgos Prime either. And then there was the time..."
"We get the point," said Master Jinn, and he was now sounding openly displeased, but meanwhile Anakin was reeling, because no, Padm� hadn't told him about any of that. "But I still do not think it likely the two of us could do this alone. At the very least, I know Obi-Wan to be free of any overbearing influences; even I haven't been one in his life for years now. If I was to tell anyone other than my current Padawan here, it would be him."
"If you feel you must, then," sighed Palpatine. "Shall we nonetheless keep this to the four of us for the time being?"
"Very well," said Master Jinn, and Anakin nodded too.
They didn't get the chance to do any real snooping. Barely had they stepped out the office when the guards were right there, making it clear they were to remove themselves immediately. Honestly, Anakin was a little relieved. He was still thinking more about what he'd just learned about Master Windu and Padme.
It was still the main thing occupying his mind as he and his Master headed back for the Temple. He didn't even pay much attention to his surroundings as they went, at least until they were nearly there, and Master Jinn commented, "You look at the Temple from the outside, you really don't see that much of it, all things considered. You see an outward structure, spires that have relatively little happen in them, a grand entrance, and a few more ways in if you look closely enough, and walls that go down far lower than most of this planet's inhabitants will ever travel.
I don't think most of the inhabitants will ever have any idea that we're having any special trouble right now either," he continued, as they disembarked and headed up the steps inside. "They never know all the trouble and complications the Jedi Order suffers from. They don't want to, and the Order doesn't want them to either. Of course there's no keeping it from the galaxy when we get openly attacked, but I don't know how much of the Order, even, knows of the rest of it. Even rumors only get out about so much, and then of course they're not always believed."
"That sounds like it's all true all the time," Anakin couldn't help but remark. "And not just about big scary things that where Jedi who do know about them know they have to put a stop to them, but also things where nobody does anything."
"You're right about that, Ani," said Master Jinn. "I daresay there are even many things even each of us hasn't noticed, much as we know about these big important things currently going on. We should keep that in mind."
Not too long ago, the thought of Master Jinn being oblivious to anything would've seemed absurd to his Padawan. But he was pretty sure he'd missed the obvious possibility of his own Master being the Sith, because surely if he had seen it, he would've also realized that Anakin, too, had seen it, and thus sat him down to discuss it by now. It left Anakin both thinking he really needed to point it out, and feeling like he just couldn't, though he supposed if Obi-Wan or Padme said they should do it, he would.
And now he had to think he might have missed a thing or two about his longtime friend Mace Windu, that his good opinion didn't necessarily mean there wasn't anything seriously wrong with him. That he didn't really know how he truly treated Padme. Maybe nobody really knew how a Master treated a Padawan besides the Master and Padawan themselves. Though he now wanted to talk to Padme about it, at least a little.