Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (Volume 2)

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (Volume 2) — page 7
could not wait She shoved herself to her feet and ran toward the wreckage At the foot of the ramp lay several crumpled figures one was Cordé the decoy double who had been pretending to be Senator Amidala Amidala pretending much too successfully for her own good Padmé ripped off her pilot's helmet and gathered Cordé in her arms Cordé Cordé's eyes opened She stared blankly at Padmé for an instant then seemed to recognize her I'm sorry M'lady she gasped weakly I'm not sure I I've failed you Senator Failed No But before she could speak the words Padmé felt the life leave Cordé She gathered her de- coy's body close as if she could call her back by sheer force of will No she whispered No Not now not here not when we were safe on Coruscant But Coruscant was not safe Captain Typho had thought that any attack would come during the trip when an assassin would have all of space in which to flee That was why he had insisted that Padmé pilot one of the fighters instead of relying solely on her double A decoy is no help if you're standing right next to it he'd told her As long as you're on board anyone who attacks the cruiser will attack you even if Cordé is playing the Senator You have to be somewhere else So she had been and now Cordé had died just when they should all have been able to stop worrying at last 10