"Oh, yes it is." Anakin looked over at his Master. "It's just like the Slams' ship. They knew how to hide secret compartments in tiny spaces."
Anakin was already reaching under the dash. Obi-Wan felt along the floor and the edges of his seat. He had found a few compartments on the Slams' ship, but Anakin had found all of them.
"Got it." A drawer popped out toward Anakin. He reached inside, then tossed an item to Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan examined the palm-sized datapad. He switched it on. "It's a map of the plaza," Obi-Wan said as he accessed the file. "With notations on street closings and space lanes." Obi-Wan pressed a few more indicators.
"And the water transport tunnels are marked."
"Omega, Zan Arbor, and the Slams are planning to heist the new Relief Fund treasury," Anakin said.
"That's what they're after. Not only will it give them a fortune to operate with, it will embarrass Palpatine."
"It will be a political victory as well as a personal one. That's most likely why Bog and Sauro got involved — they are looking at a way to strike a blow against Palpatine. And if they profit from it as well, why not?"
"With the help of the Zone, a small band like the Slams can get around the entire Coruscant security force," Anakin said, shaking his head.
Obi-Wan nodded. "And in his arrogance, Omega expects to defeat the Jedi, too. If the Jedi Order allows the heist to happen, they will be disgraced. That will help Bog and Sauro pass their petition — or win a no- confidence vote against the Chancellor."
His eyes gleamed at Anakin, and Anakin caught the spark. He felt a spurt of excitement. The pieces were falling into place.
"At last we are one step ahead of Omega," Obi-Wan said. "Now all we have to do is set the trap."
Chapter Thirteen
Anakin expected his Master to explode into movement. Obi-Wan never wasted time. Instead, Obi-Wan just looked at him.
"So?"
"So?" Anakin asked cautiously.
"What next?"
"You want me to decide?"
Obi-Wan nodded. "When you become a Jedi Knight, you'll have to strategize as well as act."
There were a number of things to be done, and at first, they crowded Anakin's brain so that he wasn't sure which to do first. But then a moment later everything was clear and he knew what to do.
"First, we should contact Siri and Ferus and tell them what we know, so that they can concentrate their study of the water system on the area around the plaza," Anakin said. "Then, we should contact-Master Windu. The Jedi Council needs to come up with its own plans to protect the vertex during the ceremony."
"Good."
"And we should request a meeting with Chancellor Palpatine," Anakin went on. "It's the only way we can get across the seriousness of what we think is going to happen. After all, it's just guesswork, and it could be easily dismissed. But we should be able to convince him to increase security and put monitors on the water systems. Though…" Anakin tapped his fingers on the dashboard"… if we do nothing and simply allow them to sabotage the system with the Zone, we have an advantage."
Obi-Wan frowned. "We do?"
"The Jedi will not be affected, but our enemy won't know that. Omega and the Slams will be lulled into the belief that they have succeeded. In other words, we give them what they want in the beginning. But we control the outcome."
"But Anakin, that means exposing thousands of beings to the Zone."
"It's not toxic. The beings will have an extraordinarily pleasant morning, that's all."
Obi-Wan's frown grew deeper. "We don't know that.
You experienced it early on. We don't know what Zan Arbor has done to it since then. Are you forgetting the four workers who died?"
"But we have every reason to believe the system has been perfected."
Anakin hesitated. He could see that he had displeased his Master. "But of course we don't know that for sure. So we must guard the entry ports to the system so the Zone cannot be deployed."
Obi-Wan nodded. "Anything else?"
Anakin thought briefly. "No. Not at the moment." "I agree. Let's go."
They headed for the Senate. While Obi-Wan called ahead to request a meeting with Chancellor Palpatine, Anakin brooded on his mistake. He had seen the uneasiness in his Master's eyes, though it had passed quickly.
Sometimes he made mistakes and wasn't sure why they were wrong. He knew that his Master's deepest desire was to capture Omega. Anakin wondered how much it was permissible to risk in order to accomplish that. How much risk was too much? Who was best to judge? He wished he could ask Obi-Wan those questions, but he didn't want to displease him further.
As soon as they arrived at the Chancellor's office, they were ushered in to see him. He stood at the large window behind his desk, ready to receive them.
"Sly Moore tells me this is urgent," he said. "She is not accustomed to such vehemence. I hope it's not bad news."
"Well, that depends," Obi-Wan said. Quickly, he filled Palpatine in on what they had discovered and what they suspected.
"Naturally," Obi-Wan concluded, "the best thing to do is to cancel the ceremony."
"I think not," Palpatine said. "This fund has been the result of years of steady work on the part of many worlds. It is a tribute to the very ideals the Galactic Senate was founded upon originally — cooperation and benevolence. I hardly think that canceling the ceremony would help us in any way."
Anakin wasn't surprised, and neither was Obi-Wan.
"Then security must be increased," Obi-Wan said.
"I assure you, the best measures are already in place," Palpatine said. "And I have every confidence in the Jedi's abilities to forestall these villains."
"Then the water system should be shut off in that quadrant."
"And disrupt thousands of lives?" Palpatine looked impatient. "We will monitor the system, of course. Place guards on the entry points. That won't be difficult. If we know there will be an attempt, we will be able to foil it. Now, I have the distasteful task of having to attend a procedural hearing with Senator Divinian."