After their confrontation with the Sith apprentice, Hope and Natasha returned to the guest quarters where Padmé was staying. They needed to evacuate the planet immediately, as the Neimoidians would discover them soon enough.
But when they arrived, they found Rush Clovis standing beside Padmé's bed while she lay unconscious.
"What are you doing?" Natasha demanded, her sudden voice startling the male senator.
"Pa-Padmé is ill," he stammered. "She's running a terrible fever."
Natasha approached the Naboo Senator and confirmed that she indeed had an elevated temperature. However, this seemed far too convenient. To verify her suspicions, she used her fingers to open Padmé's eyelids and observed that the pupils were dilated with slight discoloration.
"Senator Clovis, please locate a medical droid," Natasha ordered. "If the medical droid can't provide adequate treatment, then we need to get to a hospital or leave this planet for proper medical care."
Rush stammered and nodded frantically. "Yes, of course. I'll be right back."
As the Scipio Senator hurried out of the room, Hope spoke over Natasha's shoulder.
"It's not just a regular fever, is it?"
"Padmé's been poisoned," she confirmed.
"Clovis," Padmé whispered weakly, "I hope... he's not involved with them... we need to return to the Republic and report our findings."
"First, we have to get you stabilized," Natasha said.
"Really?" Despite feeling the poison's effects, Padmé was still the sharp and perceptive Senator of Naboo. She struggled to sit up, noticing the redhead's current condition. "How did you get injured, Natasha?"
"That's not important right now, Padmé," Natasha deflected, though she kept one hand pressed against her lightsaber wound. "Hope, try to find an antidote and get us to the ship as quickly as possible."
"Understood."
Hope left the room, maneuvered around the medical droids, and quickly headed toward where Clovis was having an intense discussion with the Neimoidian Senator. Rush then departed hastily as she observed a sinister smile cross Lott Dod's face.
She narrowed her eyes and flew after him, following him down the corridor. Eventually arriving at what appeared to be his private office, Hope watched him conferring with one of his aides.
It wasn't long before she noticed something suspicious on the man's desk. When she moved closer, she saw it was a syringe filled with some kind of clear liquid.
Waiting for the Neimoidians to leave the office, Hope returned to normal size, grabbed the antidote, and shrank back down. She quickly flew out through a nearby window and headed directly for the Naboo vessel where Padmé was being treated.
"I wish I could return with you. It's my fault for not protecting you properly, Padmé," Clovis said with obvious guilt.
"I don't want to burden you further," she argued weakly. "You have your responsibilities, and I have mine."
Clovis clenched his fists, then relaxed them. "You're going to be fine."
With the boarding ramp sealed, Hope returned to full size and quickly administered the antidote to the Naboo Senator.
"Rest now, Padmé," Hope said gently. "You performed admirably."
"I hope this was all worthwhile."
"It will be," Natasha assured her as the ship departed for Coruscant.
Meanwhile, on Cato Neimoidia...
"You're saying there were duplicate data files?" Dod asked a commando droid in confusion. "You reported that the data files were stolen."
"Correct, but our scanners indicate that the foundry copy was accessed earlier," the commando droid reported.
"This is all your fault, Clovis," Dod glared at the Scipio Senator. "Thanks to your pathetic sentimentality, the Republic now possesses two copies of the foundry plans."
"The theft of the droid factory schematics occurred the day before Senator Clovis arrived," a calm, feminine voice interjected.
They both turned to see Asajj Ventress examining the holo-table that had previously contained the plans for their droid facility on Geonosis.
"What do you mean?" Clovis asked.
"Someone else accessed the plans the day before your arrival and copied them," Ventress said in a calculating tone, though not directed at either man. "I examined the data logs and discovered this anomaly, though I nearly missed it. It was so subtle that I had to verify twice to ensure it wasn't some kind of system malfunction."
"I don't understand—this happened before Clovis even arrived?" Lott Dod demanded clarification.
"Indeed," Asajj confirmed. "This individual was operating right under our surveillance. Whoever they were has now escaped with a complete copy of the droid factory specifications."
"But who could it be?" Dod asked the question everyone in the room was thinking. "If not Senator Amidala and her associates, then who?"
Outside in the corridors, a patrol of commando droids moved through the hallways, passing by the chambers where the Sith apprentice and two Separatists were meeting.
Both droids' optical sensors flickered momentarily before they continued their patrol route, one of them emitting a low, metallic chuckle.