[Dark Nest] - 3(27)

Lomi Plo thrived on doubt. If she sensed any doubt in a person’s mind at all, she could hide behind it in the Force and make herself effectively invisible. That was how she had nearly killed Luke the last time they met … and if he hoped to defeat her the next time, he had to cast aside all doubt-in Mara, in himself, in his fellow Jedi. To a greater extent than he had admitted to anyone except Mara, that was one of the driving forces behind his reorganization of the Jedi order. He simply could not allow any doubt in his mind about where it was going.

A few moments later, Ghent let out a sigh of relief and pulled the micrograbbers from the data compartment.

“Okay, you can breathe now,” he said. “The gate is attached to the sequestered circuit.”

He flipped Artoo’s primary circuit breaker, and the little droid came to life with a sharp squeal.

“It’s okay, Artoo,” Luke said. “Ghent has just been working on those memory problems you’ve been having.”

R2-D2 swiveled his dome around, studying the stacks of prototype parts surrounding him, then trained his photoreceptor on Ghent and beeped suspiciously.

“He didn’t add anything you need to worry about,” Luke said. “Now, show us what happened between my mother and father after he finished in the Jedi Temple.”

Artoo started to squeak a refusal-then let out an alarmed whistle. He spun his photoreceptor toward Luke and reluctantly chirped a question.

“Your parameters are too vague,” Ghent chastised. “He probably has a thousand files that fit that description.”

“I mean after the file he showed to Han and me in the Saras rehabilitation center.” Luke tried to remain patient; he suspected R2-D2 was just stalling to buy time to defeat the omnigate, but it was possible that the droid really did need a more specific reference. “It’s the record you stole from the Temple’s security system, where my father supervised the slaughter of the students.”

Though Luke had already told Jacen and everyone else in his family about the record, he still felt a jolt in the Force as Jacen and the others were reminded that the deaths and screams of the innocents had actually been caught on holo.

When R2-D2 still failed to activate his holoprojector, Luke said, “I think my request is clear enough, Artoo. Stop stalling, or I will have Ghent wipe your personality. You know how important this is.”

R2-D2 gave a plaintive chirp, then piped a worried-sounding trill.

“I’m sure,” Luke said.

The droid emitted an angry raspberry, then tipped forward and activated his holoprojector.

The veranda of what looked like an elegant, old Coruscant apartment appeared in the holo. Padme Amidala rushed into view, followed closely by a golden protocol droid that looked very much like C-3P0. A moment later, Anakin Skywalker appeared from the opposite direction and embraced her.

“Are you all right?” Padme asked, pulling back a moment later. “I heard there was an attack on the Jedi Temple … you can see the smoke from here!”

Anakin’s gaze slipped away from hers. “I’m fine,” he said. “I came to see if you and the baby are safe.”

“Captain Typho is here. We’re safe.” Padme looked out of the holo, presumably toward the Jedi Temple. “What’s happening?”

Anakin’s response was muffled as the protocol droid blocked their view of Padme and Anakin, then the droid asked, “What is going on?”

“Is that See-Threepio?” Jacen gasped.

Luke shrugged and motioned for quiet. He would solve the mystery of the golden protocol droid later, after he discovered what had become of his mother.

“You can’t be any more confused than I am!” the golden droid said, replying to a string of squeaks and beeps from R2-D2.

He moved out of the way, and Anakin and Padme came back into view.

“… Jedi Council has tried to overthrow the Republic-“

“I can’t believe that!” Padme exclaimed.

A furrow appeared in Anakin’s brow. “I couldn’t either at first, but it’s true. I saw Master Windu attempt to assassinate the Chancellor myself.”

The golden droid’s head filled the holo again. “Something important is going on. I heard a rumor they are going to banish all droids.”

R2-D2 beeped loudly in the hologram, and Mara hissed, “That has to be Threepio. No other droid is that annoying.”

“Shhhh . not so loud!” C-3P0 said in the hobo. R2-D2 beeped more softly, then C-3PO’s head disappeared from the holo again. “Whatever it is, we’ll be the last to know.”

Padme was seated on a bench near the edge of the veranda now. “What are you going to do?”