SCENE 5.
Aboard the Naboo cruiser and on the planet Coruscant.
Enter RUMOR.
Whilst cruelly doth the Federation find
Excuse to starve Naboo’s poor, conquer’d hordes,
Fear starts to rise within each troubl’d mind—
Look ye, and see how Rumor knots her cords.
Young Anakin by guilt is overrun,
Thinks he of her he left with sad regret.
Old Qui-Gon and the younger Obi-Wan
Consider this portentous recent threat.
O, how fleet Rumor does her labor—see?—
Runs to and fro to make them sick with fear.
Unsung is my impact on history,
Such times as these are wherefore I am here.
Catch all, I shall, within the net I threw
And witness each sharp pain they undergo.
Now, watch as one more cometh into view:
The maiden Padmé, full of care and woe.
[Exit Rumor.
By dark of night I come to hear what news
I can of my defenseless countrymen.
Would that I could be present with them there
To share in their torment and suffering
And be handmaiden to their ev’ry hope.
Yet since, for now, I am a traveler
And spinning through the echelons of space,
My path lies not with that of my dear ones.
Thus must I steal a hidden glimpse of them.
PADMÉ
turns on the computer.
Enter SIO
BIBBLE in
beam.
The death toll hath been catastrophic here.
Conform unto their wishes, Highness, please,
And contact me anon, ere more are dead.
[Exit Sio Bibble from beam.
Enter ANAKIN SKYWALKER.
Sweet boy, how dost thou fare?
—I’m very ill.
And how do you?
—Ahh, very ill, too, lad.
I find the depths of space turn my blood cold,
The blood that knows the heat of Tatooine.
[Padmé wraps a blanket around Anakin.
Forsooth, thou comest from a planet warm,
Belike too warm for mine own temp’rate taste.
In truth, space is a cold and empty place.
And you: why doth my lady say she’s ill?
Your visage could recite a thousand woes.
The queen is worried; her concern is mine.
The people of Naboo face pain and death.
The queen must make the Senate understand
That they must rise anon and intervene
To stop the cruel invasion, else all’s lost.
The outcome is beyond what I can see.
[Anakin removes a pendant from his pouch.
I fashion’d this small trinket for you, miss,
That you might oft remember Anakin.
’Tis carvèd from a snippet of japor—
Perchance it shall bring fortune to your path.
’Tis passing beautiful, kind Anakin.
Yet need I not a trinket to recall
The brave and solemn boy before me here.
Ne’er shall your memory be far from me,
Whether I am adorn’d with this or no.
Pray understand that many things must change
When safely we arrive at Coruscant;
What shall not change is how I care for thee.
My heart doth hold you in its care as well,
Though even this reeks of duplicity,
For how can one heart hold the care for two?
Thou dost yearn for thy mother kind, I know.
’Tis meet and right to do so, Anakin.
[Exit Padmé.
Attend, lad, we soon land on Coruscant!
Behold its lights and iridescent glow—
The planet whole is but one city vast,
Which giveth light at all times, day or night.
Below, ’tis Chancellor Valorum’s craft,
And there, upon the landing dock, doth wait
Sir Palpatine, an honorable man.
Enter QUI-GON JINN, OBI-WAN KENOBI, SABÉ dressed as Queen Amidala, PADMÉ, JAR JAR BINKS, CAPTAIN PANAKA, and, separately, CHANCELLOR VALORUM and SENATOR PALPATINE.
With humble mien, we greet ye heartily.
[Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi bow to Chancellor Valorum and Senator Palpatine.
And you as well, ye noble Jedi Knights.
[To Sabé:] Your Majesty, ’tis gift to see you well.
I fear’d the worst, but you are here: alive.
The dire communications breakdown did
Upset us quite, and have us all concern’d.
I shall with eagerness hear your report
Of all that hath befallen since Naboo.
Straight may I introduce unto your grace
The Chancellor Supreme, Valorum, he.
VALORUM Your Highness, I do bid you hearty welcome:
It is a privilege to meet your person.
All thanks, respected Chancellor Supreme.
Your situation is full well distressing,
The Senate is most strain’d by all the rumors.
I’ve call’d a special meeting of the Senate,
Wherein we may your circumstance consider.
Most grateful am I for thy deep concern.
A question of procedure did arise,
Yet I am confident we’ll overcome.
[aside, to Valorum:] Good Chancellor, I must anon address
The Jedi Council. All is not as ’twas,
The situation hath new obstacles.
[Exeunt Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Chancellor Valorum as the others move to Senator Palpatine’s quarters.
My queen, here is there no civility.
Aye, no civility: mere politics.
What once the strong Republic was it is
No longer: weak and feeble ’tis become.
The Senate’s rife with babbling delegates,
E’er greedy for their taste of power’s meat.
The common good’s become a most rare dish,
Unsav’ry to their growing appetites.
I would not lie to you, Your Majesty,
There is but little chance the Senate shall
Move to suppress or censor this attack.
The chancellor, it seems, would disagree.
He spoke of hope it may yet be put right.
And yet, the chancellor hath little pow’r.
He e’er by accusations is beset,
All whispering corruption’s damning name.
Full baseless, yea, but still he lacketh might—
’Tis bureaucrats who rule the Senate now.
I prithee, say: what options have we, then?
’Twould grant us greatest chance of Fate’s esteem
If we could push t’elect a chancellor
Who could be stronger, verily supreme.
Belike a one as this could then control
The bureaucrats and rule for justice’s sake.
If you put forth a vote: no confidence
In Chancellor Valorum, ’twould suffice.
Are you beyond all reason? He hath been
An ardent friend and patron of Naboo.
’Tis not the only course: we could, as well,
Submit a plea unto the courts of law.
Which would but take far longer even than
The Senate in its plodding, snail-like pace.
Our people groan and die, O, Senator:
The Federation must be quickly stopp’d.
If we bethink but realistically,
Your Majesty, it well may be our lot
To bear the Federation’s cruel control—
Not for eternity, but for a time.
Not even for a second, Senator.
I never shall accept their unjust rule.
Were we to let it be, e’en for a trice,
Their vicious claws would sink far deeper in,
And ev’ry day that pass’d would render their
Control o’er our most happy, peaceful globe
More palatable for th’Republic to
Take in: a moment would become a time,
A time would quickly turn into an age,
And all would soon forget that e’er Naboo
Had once been rul’d by its own government.
Seek not to make me hide their vice from view,
For this is something that I cannot do.
[Exeunt.