"It's dangerous and unnecessary for you to go, and I won't allow it."
Padme turned. Her gaze was direct. Cool and composed. That always infuriated him.
"I think you know well enough how your attitude angers and upsets me. I don't respond to orders. I am a Senator. I have a duty to perform. So I am going."
"Padme, please." He wanted to give in to her softness, but she stood before him, ramrod straight. She wasn't wearing her ceremonial robes, only a soft sheath down to her ankles, but she might as well be costumed in armor.
He collapsed on his back on the sleep couch. "I don't know why it's so hard to talk to you."
"That's because you're not talking to me. You're ordering me."
"I'm just trying to keep you safe."
"This is not the way to do it."
He looked up. She was smiling at him. She came and sat beside him.
"I know you worry about my safety," she said in the soft tone he loved. "I worry about yours. We live in perilous times, Anakin. We're in the middle of a war. I'm in danger no matter where I am. We've both been in some kind of danger since the moment you arrived to protect me."
"Agreed. But do you have to volunteer for it?"
She took his hand and laced her fingers through his. "I offered to go because I knew I would be safe. I knew the best Jedi in the Order would be there to protect me."
He groaned. "Now don't start flattering me."
She grinned at him. "I meant Obi-Wan."
He tossed a pillow at her, and she shrieked in surprise. She threw it back, and he held it suspended in the air with the Force.
"Are you still trying that same trick on me?"
"It's worked in the past."
She lay down beside him. They faced each other, almost nose to nose.
"I'll be careful," she said.
"I won't leave your side," he said.
"Don't," she said, drawing him close. "I don't want you to."
Chapter 23
The planet Genian had so far managed to remain neutral in the Clone Wars. This feat had little to do with canny diplomacy, though the Genians were indeed noted for that particular skill, but more to do with the vast corporate holdings on the planet, the research laboratories, and the treasures locked in secure banks. One day, perhaps, Genian would fall, but it was not in a terribly strategic position and at this point in the war many Senators, both Separatist and Republic alike, found it useful to be able to slip in and out to sit with their wealth and make sure it was safe.
Taly was not the only one to take advantage of friendly laws and a large, educated workforce. Many businesses thrived on Genian, primarily in the technological and scientific sector. There were a number of large, prosperous cities, but Taly had chosen to site his complex in the vast desert that lay outside the city of Bruit. Mountain ranges ringed the desert, and the countryside was rugged enough that no towns or settlements were within hundreds of kilometers.
Taly provided for his workers by supplying them with a small city, with entertainment and leisure activities and luxurious dwellings that his workers would not be able to afford in the cities. The only thing he would not allow was families. Workers had to be single and childless. He said this was because personal connections interfered with work habits, but Obi-Wan had to wonder if there was a deeper reason.
The Jedi and Padme had traveled on a fast Republic cruiser. The journey had taken less than a day. Anakin flew low over the desert, lower than Obi-Wan would have liked, skipping over the boulders and rocks, some of them fifty or a hundred meters tall, then zooming down to hug the ground again.
"This isn't a Podracer, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. Siri grinned and Padme smiled.
"He does this to me on purpose," Obi-Wan grumbled. "I don't see the landing platform," Padme said. "I don't even see the compound."
"It's behind a holographic portal," Anakin explained. The Jedi had been thoroughly briefed on Taly's security plan. "The hologram mimics the landscape. It's hard to see."
Padme drew closer and leaned over Anakin's shoulder. "Can you see it?"
Obi-Wan watched them, her dark head against his shoulder. They had the ease of intimacy. Long friendship, he wondered, or attraction?
"When I use the Force, I can. See the shimmer over there, by that big rock?"
A craggy rock — at least a hundred meters tall — rose over the others.
"No," Padme said, half-laughing as she shook her head. "I just see a big rock."
In answer, Anakin flew straight toward the rock. Padme braced herself. Obi-Wan sat calmly. He wasn't about to admonish Anakin again. Let him have his fun.
Anakin did not slow his pace. The rock loomed, closer and closer. Just at the moment of impact, they passed through it, punching a hole through the image of rock, sand, and sky.
The landing platform lay ahead, a small, circular pad outside a larger hangar. Beyond it rose Taly's compound, a series of connected buildings made of stone that matched the desert tones of ocher and sand.
Anakin guided the ship to a featherweight landing. A male of middle years stood waiting. Obi-Wan recognized the violet-tinged skin of a native Genian. The visitors grabbed their kits and headed down the ramp.
Obi-Wan announced their names, and the Genian nodded. "You are expected," he said. "I am Dellard Tranc, head of security for the complex. Please follow me."
They followed him through the hangar. Anakin whistled softly when he saw the state-of-the-art cruisers lined up in the hangar bays.
"Very nice," he murmured to Obi-Wan. "He can get anywhere in a hurry, that's for sure."
The hangar door opened into a long corridor.
"We're now in the main building," Dellard Tranc said. "I'll escort you to the main business office."
The natural stone around them was like being in a cave. It was cool and dim. Obi-Wan was used to business complexes being built of durasteel and transparisteel, as if the corporations were trying to advertise their purity by using transparent materials in their buildings. He found the natural materials here refreshing.
They entered a large office suite, and Tranc left them with a bow. Two people stood in the center, waiting for them. A trim woman about Obi-Wan's age came toward them. Her skin was lavender-colored and her hair was white. "Welcome," she said. "My name is Helina Dow. I'm Talesan Fry's executive in charge of production and distribution." She smiled briefly. "In other words, his second-in-command."