





                         COUNSELOR

                             by

                          Joe Doe


ANAKIN RECEIVES RELATIONSHIP ADVICE FROM A TRUSTED "FRIEND"  



Chancellor Palapatine stared thoughtfully out the window.  "I know 
that Obi Wan ordered you to go to Naboo," he said.  "However, your 
master and the Jedi Council are unaware of all the facts."

"What facts?" Anakin asked.

The Chancellor paused.  "Anakin, I know you're a Jedi...but you are 
also my friend.  I must know that what I am telling you will go no 
farther than this room.  If the secrets I'm about to reveal were 
known to our enemies, the Republic would be placed in great danger."

"I have always kept your confidences in the past," Anakin replied.

"Indeed.  You may be aware that Senator Amidala...Padme...has 
certain...urges, which, if known to her political enemies, might 
cause her an enormous amount of political embarrassment."

Anakin had seen the incriminating files during his routine security 
scan of the senator's computer.  Her pathetic attempts to encrypt 
her fantasies were no match for Anakin's Jedi powers.  

There were pictures of women of Centuri 7, after their planet's 
defeat, being rounded up and stripped by the Trade Federation, 
pictures of the slave markets on Tatooine, and numerous stories 
of humiliating and degrading strip searches that the senator had 
neatly retrieved, assembled, and sorted.

"I see from the look in your eyes that you know what I mean," 
Palpatine continued.  "Despite the dangers, Senator Amidala 
has become increasingly bold about her desires.  The Republic 
can ill afford a scandal involving such a prominent senator 
at such a crucial moment...which brings me to my request."

"I would do anything to protect her...I mean...for the Republic."

"Yes, I know," the Chancellor said softly.  "Your concern for her 
-- and your loyalty to the Republic -- make you the only Jedi I 
can trust.  I foresee you becoming a powerful Jedi, Anakin -- the 
most powerful Jedi ever."

Anakin fought the momentary surge of pride at his mentor's praise.  
Unlike Obi Wan, Palpatine never hesitated to hand him a compliment.

"I would like you to take Senator Amidala to Tatooine and sell her 
into slavery."

"What?"  The young Jedi couldn't hide his astonishment.

"I know it is an usual request," the Chancellor said.  "I have 
received intelligence that there are already assassins waiting 
for her on Naboo."

"I can stop any assassin," Anakin responded flatly.  

Palpatine smiled at his pride.  "Of course you can," he admitted.  
"But you will be helpless to protect her if her submissive urges 
go unchecked and her secret is revealed to the world.  By taking 
her to Tatooine, you will not only save her life, you will give 
her the chance to secretly explore the urges that might otherwise 
destroy her career.  It might also be interesting for you...."

"In what way?" 

"Padme has not always treated you with the respect you deserve.  
Mocking you as her 'little virgin.'  Teasing you.  Testing you.  
Wouldn't it be interesting to have such a woman kneel naked 
before you and call you 'master'?"

Anakin felt an incredible surge of power as he contemplated that 
scene.  "Did you say 'naked'?"

"Yes, she'll be quite naked, I'm afraid," the Chancellor said, his 
voice dripping with mock regret.  "They'll remove all her clothes 
at her enslavement hearing.  Slavery isn't legal in the Republic, 
of course, but the judges on the outer rim are always eager to 
curry favor with a Jedi.  I'm sure when the judge sees how lovely 
she is -- and hears how disrespectful she's been of your office -- 
he'll be more than willing to teach her a lesson...particularly 
since he'll be given a front row seat at her auction."

"Did you say, 'auction'?" Anakin asked.

"Patience, my young Jedi," the politician admonished.  "Let's not 
rush things.  We're still at the hearing.  She won't technically 
be a slave yet, so she will be allowed clothing -- a simple 
one-piece slave sack probably.  It is short at the top, and short 
at the bottom, and held up by a single string, typically tied in 
a bow around the prisoner's neck.  Her ankles will be chained.  
And she'll be wearing this."

The Chancellor pulled a small metal collar out of his desk, and 
handed it to his eager student.  Anakin examined it carefully.

"This is a Trade Federation collar.  The arousal setting has been 
pre-calibrated to ten, which will keep the slave girl highly 
aroused.  The obedience setting will be eight.  She will obey in 
all important matters -- but will occasionally make a pathetic show 
of petulance in an effort to earn punishment.  The humiliation 
setting will also be ten.  This will ensure that she is acutely 
aware of her true status and suffer the full indignity of every 
humiliation foisted upon her."

"Where is the key?" Anakin asked.

"Lost, I'm afraid.  If you snap it onto her it will remain 
locked...unless you use choose to employ your Jedi mental 
powers to unlock it."  

Anakin smiled as he fingered the collar.

"I imagine she'll be quite a sight," the Chancellor chuckled.  
"Naked, except for her scanty, dirty rag, with her ankles and 
wrists chained, and her hands on top of her head.  She'll be 
forced to stand barefoot and listen silently as you present her 
misdeeds to the court.  As you speak, the prosecutor and judge 
will casually review the records...and then strip her of her 
freedom.  Scandalously unjust, but also strangely intriguing." 

"Will she be allowed to testify?"

"Certainly not!  It is assumed the woman will only lie, and, in any 
event, the court doesn't have time to listen to a lot of feminine 
babble.  She will have no witnesses, and, since you are a Jedi, 
there will be no defense.

"Believe me, as she stands there, naked and barefoot, she'll 
finally respect your power.  She'll be aroused by it, too -- 
the collar will see to that.  She'll squeeze her thighs together 
as she listens to you recount her insolence and disrespect.  The 
humiliation of what she was, and what she is about to become, 
will burn in her mind like a fever.

"When you finish speaking, it will be the judge's turn.  He'll 
pronounce sentence -- after giving her the tongue lashing she 
so deserves.  It won't be easy for her, but she'll remember every 
word, forever.  They will be the last words she will hear as a 
free woman.

"In the end, the gavel will drop, and the sentence will be 
pronounced: Slave!  You will slowly tug on the drawstring, 
and she will stand there helplessly as the knot loosens  
around her neck.  In the end, the knot will slip, and the 
scanty garment will flutter to the floor.  She will stand 
naked for all to see.

"The bailiff will stick a finger between her legs, and she will 
squirm at his touch.  He will withdraw the probing finger and 
hold it up to the light.  The judge and the audience will chuckle 
knowingly as her juices glisten in the courtroom's unforgiving 
light."

"I can't allow her to be humiliated that way," Anakin said.

"Don't you understand, boy?" Palapatine admonished.  "It's what she 
wants.  It's what she needs.  If you don't give it to her, she'll 
attempt to find it elsewhere.  Padme lacks your Jedi skills, and 
her will is weak.  If she attempts to satisfy these urges outside 
of your protection, the consequences for her, and for the Republic, 
could be catastrophic."

"Yes, I must be there to protect her.  It is my duty."

"Indeed it is," the Chancellor agreed.  "But it won't be easy.  
She'll be dragged naked from the courtroom and marched through 
the streets to the slave processing center.  She'll be printed, 
and photographed, and measured, and probed.  She'll be handled 
like livestock, with dozens of hands squeezing and observing her 
most intimate parts.  And you -- may the Force strengthen you -- 
will have to watch it all.  You will be more than her friend and 
her protector, Anakin.  As the man who enslaved her, you will be 
her master."

Anakin swallowed, once again feeling power at that word.  Obi Wan 
was his master, and the Jedi Council were all Jedi Masters, of 
course.  But this was different.  Yoda was a master because of 
his wisdom.  Anakin would be a master because of his power.  Padme 
would call him "master" because he was her owner.

For a moment, he was ashamed at his feelings.  Hadn't he once been 
a slave?  And his mother?  Hadn't he once vowed to destroy slavery 
throughout the galaxy?

Palpatine sensed the conflict and immediately shifted gears.  "Of 
course, she wouldn't really be a slave.  You would be there to 
protect her.  On one level it would be a role she would be assuming 
in order to assure her safety; on another, deeper level, it would 
be a beautiful queen slumming through a role that offered her a 
secret, pornographic thrill.  Not real slavery at all; nothing to 
be ashamed of."

Anakin's spirits lifted.  Unlike Obi Wan, who always chastised him 
for his emotions, Chancellor Palaptine always knew what to say to 
set things right.

"After her registration, will I own her?" Anakin asked.

"Yes, but another layer of concealment would be best," Palpatine 
counseled.  "I suggest taking her to one of the large slave houses 
at Mos Eisley, where she can be prepared for the auction block."  

"The block?  But I could never sell her."

"Of course not," Palaptine said hastily.  "Never."

He smiled.  He would never separate them; nothing could be farther 
from his mind.  In fact, Anakin's feelings for Padme were part of 
his much larger plan....

"But, if you want her to explore her feelings, you must break her 
to her collar.  She must be slave-trained, taught to please her 
master with her bottom and tongue.  She must know how to dance, 
and serve, and present herself on the block.  She must squirm 
through the helpless humiliation of the showroom, where dozens of 
greedy hands will explore her cracks and crevices, as if she was 
a bantha, or a nerf...a piece of livestock up for sale."

"So I wouldn't sell her?" 

"No.  There would be no need," Palaptine reasoned.  "The traders 
can enter her in a mock auction, for practice.  One of their 
ringers will be on hand to outbid whatever price is offered.  It 
is a useful tool for allowing the slave to feel the humiliation 
of the block -- the knot of fear in her stomach as she mounts the 
steps, the sand beneath her feet, the crack of the whip, the 
knowing smiles of the women in the audience as she is put through 
her paces.  You will watch, of course, as she spreads, and bows, 
and pouts, and smiles, and prances, all for the audience's 
amusement.

"Will he crack the whip against her bottom?  Make her pee in a jar 
to prove that she is housebroken?  Rub herself to show the wetness 
of her sex?  Of course, as her master, you will be in the front 
row, to make sure she is properly displayed."

Palapatine paused.  The young Jedi was lost in thought.  Palpatine 
could sense Anakin's struggle with feelings previously unknown to 
him -- his resentment of Padme's treatment of him, his lust, his 
desire to exercise power over her.

"Remember, Anakin," he urged.  "You are doing this for her."

"Are you certain?" 

"Search your feelings.  You know it to be so.  You will know that 
I am right when you suggest it to her.  Her reaction will make 
the truth of the matter clear to you.

"The Force has many aspects, Anakin, countless facets that you are 
only beginning to understand.  We'll talk again when you get back."

		******************************

Later that day, Anakin shared the proposal with Padme as they sat 
alone in her apartment overlooking the city.  She put her head 
down and stared at the floor.  Sensing her shame and humiliation, 
for one horrifying moment he thought he had gone too far.

"I think it's a wonderful idea," she said softly.  "When can we 
leave?"

Anakin knew that the Force was definitely with him.



Edited by C. Lakewood

