to the great man and stepped aside.
Palpatine placed his hands on the rim of the podium, his shoulders noticeably sagging, his head bowed. The curious posture only heightened the tension, making the cavernous room seem even more silent, if that was possible.
'My esteemed colleagues,' he began slowly and deliberately, but even with that effort, his voice wavered and seemed as if it would break apart. Curiosity sent murmurs rumbling throughout the nervous gathering once more. It wasn't often that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine appeared rattled.
'Excuse me,' Palpatine said quietly. Then, a moment later, he straightened and inhaled deeply, seeming to gather inner strength, which was amply reflected in his solid voice as he repeated, 'My esteemed colleagues. I have just received some tragic and disturbing news. Senator Amidala of the Naboo system… has been assassinated!'
A shock wave of silence rolled about the crowd; eyes went wide; mouths, for those who had mouths, hung open in disbelief.
'This grievous blow is especially personal to me,' Palpatine explained.
'Before I became Chancellor, I was a Senator, serving Amidala when she was Queen of Naboo. She was a great leader who fought for justice. So beloved was she among her people that she could have been elected Queen for life!' He gave a great sigh and a helpless chuckle, as if that notion had been received as purely preposterous by the idealistic Amidala, as indeed it had. 'But Senator Amidala believed in term limits, and she fervently believed in democracy. Her death is a great loss to us all. We will all mourn her as a relentless champion of freedom.' The Supreme Chancellor tilted his head, his eyes lowering, and he sighed again. 'And as a dear friend.'
A few conversations began, but for the most part, the reverential silence held strong, with many Senators nodding their heads in agreement with Palpatine's eulogy.
But at that critical time, on this most important day, the grim news could not overwhelm. Palpatine watched, without surprise, as the volatile Senator of Malastare, Ask Aak, maneuvered his floating platform down from the ranks and into the center of the arena. His large head rotated slowly about, his three eyes, protruding on fingerlike stalks, seeming to work independently, his horizontal ears twitching. 'How many more Senators will die before this civil strife ends?' the Malastarian cried. 'We must confront these rebels now, and we need an army to do it!'
That bold statement brought many shouts of assent and dissent from the huge gathering, and several platforms moved all at once. One, bearing a blue- haired, scrunch-faced being, swept down fast beside the platform of Ask Aak. 'Why weren't the Jedi able to stop this assassination?' demanded Darsana, the ambassador of Glee Anselm. 'How obvious it is that we are no longer safe under the protection of the Jedi!'
Another platform floated in fast on the heels of Darsana's. 'The Republic needs more security now!' agreed Twi'lek Senator Orn Free Taa, his thick jowls and long blue lekku head tentacles shaking. 'Now! Before it comes to war!'
'Must I remind the Senator from Malastare that negotiations are continuing with the separatists?' Supreme Chancellor Palpatine interjected. 'Peace is our objective here. Not war.'
'You say this while your friend lies dead, assassinated by those same people with whom you wish to negotiate?' Ask Aak asked, his orange-skinned face a mask of incredulity. All around the central arena, shouts and cries erupted, with Senators arguing vehemently. Many fists and other, more exotic, appendages were waved in the air at that explosive point. Palpatine, supremely calm through it all, kept his disarming stare on Ask Aak.
'Did you not just name Amidala as your friend?' Ask Aak screamed at him. Palpatine simply continued to stare at the man, a center of calm, the eye of the storm that was raging all about him.
Palpatine's majordomo rushed to the podium then, taking the cue that his master must remain above this petulant squabbling if he was to be the voice of reason throughout this ferocious debate.
'Order!' Mas Amedda cried repeatedly. 'Senators, please!' But it went on and on, the screaming, the shouting, the fist waving.
Unnoticed through it all, yet another platform, bearing four people, approached the Senate gallery from the side, moving slowly but deliberately.
Aboard the approaching platform, Senator Padme Amidala was shaking her head with disgust at the shouting and lack of civility emanating from the huge gallery before them. 'This is exactly why Count Dooku was able to convince so many systems to secede,' she commented to her handmaiden Dorme, who was standing beside her, with Captain Typho and Jar Jar Binks in front of them, the captain driving the platform.
'There are many who believe that the Republic has become too large and disjointed,' Dorme agreed.
They came into the gallery, then moved slowly onto the main, central arena, but the Senators there, and those in the lower rows of the gallery, were too involved with their shouting and arguing to even notice the unexpected appearance.
Standing at the podium, though, Palpatine did see Amidala. His expression was one of blatant shock, for just a moment, but then he shook himself out of it and a smile widened upon his face.
'My noble colleagues,' Amidala said loudly, and the sound of her most familiar voice quieted many of the Senators, who turned to regard her. 'I concur with the Supreme Chancellor. At all costs, we do not want war!' Gradually at first, but then more quickly, the Senate Hall went quiet, and then came a thunderous outburst of cheering and applause.
'It is with great surprise and joy that the chair recognizes the Senator from Naboo, Padme Amidala,' Palpatine declared.
Amidala waited for the cheering and clapping to subside, then began slowly and deliberately. 'Less than an hour ago, an assassination attempt was made upon my life. One of my bodyguards and six others were ruthlessly and senselessly murdered. I was the target, but, more important, I believe this security measure before you was the target. I have led the opposition to building an army, but there is someone who will stop at nothing to assure its passage.'
Cheers became boos from many areas of the gallery as those surprising words registered, and many others shook their heads in confusion. Had Amidala just accused someone in the Senate of trying to assassinate her?
As she stood there, her gaze moving about the vast, circular room, Amidala knew that her words, on the
