The day, in hindsight, had none of the characteristics you would expect of a black-letter day. There was no odd-colored sky, failed attempts at making toast or mysteriously opened tea packets. It started out a normal day, only odd in its extreme normality. The bus was late (as usual), they'd forgotten parts of their homework (as usual), and there was even the normal amount of traffic around their lockers. It was hardly a more appropriate day for them to learn the truth regarding life, the universe and everything. Unfortunately, it did not involve any cute dancing dolphins.
"I really hate school sometimes," one of the pair said to the other, fighting through a crowd of pseudo-punks to get to her space.
Her friend laughed. "When don't you?" There was a pause as the first tried to think of something. She failed.
"Fine, so maybe I don't have your mad happy skills. But I do have mad puppet skills. Pierre could eat you for me."
"Oh, I'm so afraid! Katie's mad French Scottish marionette's going on a rampage!"
They continued their light-hearted banter down the hall, discussing topics ranging from sexual orientation, drug abuse and illegal activity. It was a good thing no one was listening, and that those who did didn't take them seriously. Or the local juvenile hall would be granted the pleasure of their frequent company. But before they could get to any of the punch lines, and before they parted company for classes, there was a most peculiar announcement over the out-dated intercom.
"Will all students please file into the nearest classroom with a TV. There will be a video presentation in all of the teacher's mailboxes. Watch it, and when it is done, proceed immediately to the auditorium for an audience."
Almost immediate anarchy began in the halls, as students tried to follow the directions. Of course, quite a few of them took the opportunity to hook up in the bathrooms, or to indulge in a quick make out session in a subsequently empty classroom. Katie grabbed her friend's backpack strap, trying to keep them from being yanked apart in the chaos. They finally found safety inside a French room, where at least fifteen other students crowded around the screen, waiting for what would explain this confusion.
"I bet the President got assassinated!" Called one excited sophomore. "You know, like Kennedy!"
"It's the Russians! They're going to nuke us!" yelled another, eyes shining with conspiracy theories.
"No, they've made contact with aliens! It's an attack, and we're all going to die." Observed another more morbid character. Theories were flying fast and thick, ranging from the probable ("it's a new safety procedure") to the highly unlikely ("They've found Bigfoot inside school grounds!"). As it turned out, it was our dark friend who was closest, as the screen finally crackled to life.
The picture was a bit grainy and ill-focused, more like an old movie picture than anything. It was a grey White House, a familiar place everyone could describe even if they'd never been to Pennsylvania Avenue. But the immense black oblong hovering about it was not. Glittering suspiciously in the glare, it descended upon the restricted airspace, bypassing the military's finest without a second thought.
"Independence Day!" Someone gasped. "War of the Worlds!" Another breathed. Katie found Mel's hand and grabbed it, fear twisting her insides. This was all too surreal to be actually happening, it just couldn't be. Aliens didn't attack on school days, not boring normal ones! Shouldn't there have been more of a… a feel to the day if the planet was to explode later on? Mel squeezed her friend's hand back, wondering where the rest of their pack was. They should be watching their doom together…
But obviously the aliens, or whatever they were, didn't feel like waiting for convenience. A hatch, much like an ordinary Lamborghini door, opened from the ship's side. A silver walkway extended, and a tall black-shiny figure stepped out into the light. The video's audio finally crackled to life, breaking the deafening silence. "September twenty third, two thousand and five. They landed at twelve oh six, local time." There was a collective mummer, as the watchers realized that this was actually footage from four days ago. An attack concealed for half a week? In this age of instant communications it was unthinkable.
"As amazing as this sounds," The reporter continued, sounding scared out of his life. He seemed youngish, and the universal plea 'I'm too young to die' was apparent in his voice. "The Earth is not alone. In fact, we've been part of an intergalactic republic for some time, though we've never participated." The footage zoomed in on the black semi-robotic figure as it raised a hand to one of the many Marines crowding the roof. "In a gesture of goodwill, the Emperor of this… this thing, has sent us his right-hand man to request our participation in person. I give you Darth Vader." The voice-over cut off abruptly, as the picture plummeted as though the cameraman has fallen out of the tree he'd been perching on. The view was reduced to a close-up of a few blades of grass, and a series of pairs of white, plastic feet. A crackle of static, a single noise like that of something from laser tag, and with a small grunt of pain the picture went dead.
The students had just begun to fill the void with shocked chatter when a deep, chilling voice took over the narration. "To all those concerned, your own forms of government are now null and void. The Republic will set up an alternate form agreeing with our standards, and all students of all ages with be screened for any signs of useful aptitude. Other than that, what you do on your own time is your own concern. Do not try to resist this takeover, force will be used as necessary and any damage will not be repaid."
Katie shivered, half out of fear and the other out of excitement. It was the most surreal thing that had ever happened to them. It seemed like something from a book, or a role-play they'd created, not something that could actually happen.
The announcements crackled to life again. "Will all freshmen please proceed to the auditorium. Do to size constraints; you will all be called down by year. All other students sit tight and prepare yourselves, you will be called down in good time."
Grabbing their bags, the girls left the foreign language room and began trying to fight their way through the throng to the staircase. The rest of the freshmen looked as tense as they were, except for the shallow groups that didn't really care either way as long as they kept Abercrombie open.
The auditorium was rather packed, as people tried to find their friends or romantic partners and seat themselves accordingly. Of course, there were the few left out by the masses, which grouped together in the back. Katie and Mel sat with the rest of their posse, and unfortunately ended up in the extreme front row. The chattering grew to a crescendo, the buzzing sounding much like a hive of excited bees. It was cut short by an appearance on stage.
He did not simply appear; nor did he walk on. He seemed to simply exist there, like he had done so for ages and they had simply not noticed him. But surely it would have been impossible to do so, for he was dressed outlandishly (or, outworldly, one supposed). The many layers of lighter and darker shades of neutral, coupled with an imposing air made him not someone you would pass lightly in a crowd. He was handsome; it was obvious, though he looked downtrodden. There were circles under his eyes and new lines at the corners of his mouth and eyes, as though he'd been working hard at a job he did not enjoy.
"I trust you've all been paying close attention to the happenings of the last hour. As the Galactic Empire currently employs me, I am here to begin a screening process. No, it's quite simple." His voice was even, and had an eerie resemblance to a British accent for someone from light-years away. "I trust you all have notebooks and pencils. You are to write an essay, with a minimum of two pages, about your personal feelings towards the governmental system of an empire." There was a pause, filled with many moans of irritation and quite a few groans of acceptance. "And yes, I will know if you do not hand one in by the end of the hour. And the same word repeated over and over again is not an essay, and I will personally see to it that you write one after school." There was another pause, as everyone digested that last threat. "What are you waiting for? The hour starts now."
The hour went surprisingly quick, the subject was actually rather interesting if you applied yourself. Katie's essay was a decidedly neutral one, she presented both sides and said not a single word as to whether she personally liked it or not, though she hinted towards the latter. Mel's was similar, but it was more out of character for a normally opinionated person. Katie, on the other hand, was rather notorious for never answering a question straight. Few others tread such a thin line; most everyone else's was openly damning of such a system.
Getting up to leave, the students formed a single-file line to hand their papers to the speaker himself. Mel was ahead of her friend in the line, and gave him a small, polite smile as she did so, and got a shock on the hand in return. Katie did not look him in the face, just sort of at his neck level. Apparently those many layers were of wool, as she too received a sharp shock upon touching his hand.
Later, as they compared notes, they found themselves the only two to have gotten the sting.
"Odd." Mel contemplated, rubbing her palm.
"Agreed." Katie stopped eyeing her hand suspiciously, and turned to her friend, quirking an eyebrow. "Something's not right."
It wouldn't have been very reassuring if she'd known how very right (yet how very wrong) she was at that moment.
- - -
"I think its without a doubt, one of the best (and might I add, only) options we have." It was a random techy, one of the unnamed 'red-shirt' employees there to keep the starship moving and under control.
"There is always another option." The other voice was unfamiliar. It had the same phrasing and accents as that heard on the tape that morning, but it was definitely not as deep. "And I did not ask for your opinion. I asked for the facts."
The techy tried to back away without being noticed, though he was now in the view of the doorway. "But, sir, Advisor Kenobi said-" Spontaneously and without being touched in any visible way, the youngish man flew four feet backwards and hit the wall rather painfully.
"I am the one in charge here, and I am the one you are to take orders from for now on." If possible, the other voice went even colder. "Now leave me, and go reconfigure the passwords."
"Yes, sir!" The man scrambled to his feet, bowing hastily as if he was afraid his master would change his mind. "It won't happen again, no sir."
Lord Vader, as this other was known as, merely chuckled chillingly. "And if it does…you won't be able to repeat it." As soon as the hapless hireling had left earshot, he stopped laughing and regained his aura of irritation. "If he interferes with my authority one more time…"
"You'll kill me?" It was the speaker from the school audience, looking like he was almost enjoying the liberty to piss off the dictator. "Might be a good idea, after all."
"And why might that be? You're no good to me dead." It was, uniquely, an opponent he couldn't simply toss against a wall and threaten.
"True. But if I'm gone I can't incite rebellion." Advisor Obi-wan Kenobi (as his full title went) grinned mirthlessly. "Or fulfill my dream of restoring the republic." And seeing you dead, he added mentally. No need to let him in on that.
"But you haven't done much to that alive, now, have you?" While Obi-wan was in the same outfit as earlier; Vader was sans armor and dressed instead in a similar style, but in monochromatic black. He too was handsome, though his hair was curlier and there was a roguish scar running through his right eyebrow. "Were there any potentials in your travels?"
"It's a static planet, in a static system. I've got two that seem rather strong, but that's out of nearly fifty thousand screened so far." Obi-wan tossed the essays onto his superior's desk. "Do you want me to make formal contact, Lord Vader?" He'd managed to imbibe the title with as much scorn as possible. "Or shall I wait on your word?"
"As soon as possible, once I review." Vader looked up from the papers, and gave his advisor a look of thinly veiled anger. "As I've told you before, call me Anakin."
Obi-wan just laughed. "Anakin Skywalker is dead." With that elegant parting shot, he strode from the room with purpose.
Sighing to himself, the man known once as the Jedi Anakin Skywalker looked back at the papers. Ignoring what ever was written there, he waved a hand over them. Slowly a small, flickering blue image of the authors rose from their words, showing what they were doing at the current moment.
Conveniently, they were in the same area. Namely, Katie's backyard…
- - -
Being a large area with more trees than it really should have had, Katie's yard was an ideal place to play their favorite game… 'Run around and whack each other with a stick'. Of course, being a highly technologically advanced and civilized game, it had some strict rules. Namely, that there were to be no damaging of the eyeballs, and that there were to be no other rules. Making an actual mark was discouraged, as it just screamed 'parental abuse'.
Katie was on her back under a bush, inching her way slowly towards the large pine tree. The pine needles did not provide a very comfy cushion, and her back itched abominably. Another foot to go… reaching up, she grabbed a low-hanging branch and flipped herself up on to it. It was a smoothly executed move that normally would have bordered on physically impossible, except for someone with far more muscles than the girl. With a small pant, she grinned with a flush of victory; she looked up and was about to each for Mel's flag…
"Not so fast." The knobby end of a stick poked over her shoulder, nudging her ear. "My flag, my tree… and I got you." The other girl seemed to have appeared surprisingly quickly, she wasn't panting or anything and there'd been no sounds of running.
Katie made a face. "You win to often, and when you don't you complain about how much I cheated." She hopped off the branch, leaning on her stick like a cane.
"But still you ask me back for more. Masochist." Mel's grin widened. She enjoyed winning, and was the sort of charismatic, driven person who generally did. She shooed Katie off. "Back to your own base… I want to play again!"
"Fine…" Katie looked a bit put out, and she slunk off to a tree on the other side of Mel's.
Katie always puts her flag in the same spot… in the little knothole, Mel thought, planning her attack. Suddenly, there was a sharp jab to her kidneys. "Ouch!"
"Got you now," Commented Katie smugly. "You're dead. So I win this time."
Mel sighed. "You really have no honor, do you? Backstabbing your best friend?" She should have seen this coming; Katie'd done it more than once before.
Katie shrugged, putting the stick down. "All is fair in love and war."
"Since when is this war?"
"Since you declared a tuft of pine needles a flag!"
Laughing, the two friends abandoned their game in favor of chilling down by a brook that ran by Katie's house. The sticks, however, were carefully stored in a special fork of the tree, so that they could find them later. Good sticks really took a long time to find…
- - -
They do look promising, the Sith thought to himself, closing the images. Obi-wan might actually have something here… Not surprisingly, he found himself favoring one over the other. He wasn't looking for a trainee with morals, and even simple everyday duplicity pointed towards the mindset he wanted. And having a pair was rather convenient. Obi-wan would have made a fuss over any apprentice I chose, and giving him his own just makes things easier. Besides, if I can turn one, I can do both.
Absently running his fingers over the papers, he emptied his mind. There was the evidence of power here; the hands that wrote these words obviously held more power than they knew. It was a good thing they did come from a static world, in the absence of schooling they both would have managed to cause some very memorable disasters.
Unformed, powerful and more than reasonably attractive… they were the ideal padawans.
It was nearly dark before they managed to finish putting up the tent. It had been already dusk before they'd started, and so they'd lost several poles, misplaced the pegs and accidentally used the rain cover as a ground cover. It was a small, blue, two-man tent; after all it was just the two of them out there in the night.
Stretching out on her sleeping bag, Mel wiggled comfortably. "You know… I'm not all that tired, and since it's dark and all… wouldn't it be a great time to play manhunt?"
"But there's only two of us…" Katie wasn't sure if she liked the idea yet, but she'd try most things Mel suggested once.
"Well, more like a sort of hide-and-go-seek… you get the idea, right?" Mel had an unfortunate habit of creating such mad schemes rather too often for anybody's well being. Even more unfortunately, there were enough people who trusted her enough to follow them.
"Ach, why not? I'm not ready to go to sleep either." Katie hereby renquilished her title of 'the smart one'.
It was completely and fully dark, the moon being new and the stars fainter than usual. An obnoxious street lamp kept the black from being absolute, but it was more than dark enough for their purposes.
Katie elected to be the first one to hide, creeping off as quietly as she could while Mel counted (in Spanish) to twenty-one. Fir once she was thankful of the early autumn chill, her sweatshirt was the right color for helping her blend with the shadows. The hood was useful as well, her violent paleness usually gave her away easily. Finding the large fire-bush she knelt behind it, averting her face and tensing to stay still. At least the coyotes were quiet; they sounded terrifyingly close when they howled so late at night.
"Veinte y uno!" Mel called, voice echoing slightly in the thin air. The average person, upon watching their game, would have wondered what chance she had at all. Katie had made nearly no noise at all when she'd moved, and the darkness was nearly absolute. But they hadn't won the attentions of the otherworldly government for selling Girl Scout cookies. They knew they had some unusual skills, but the extent of which (at least, on their home planet) was nothing to freak out about.
Mel took deep breaths, concentrating on the feel of the air. She could feel her own breathing and the swells of the air currents as they passed along. There wasn't much else out that night, a few late bats swirling around over her head. There! Breathing, a disturbance in the air. It was near the trellis, behind a bush swaying gently with the rhythm.
"Very nicely done. Now go find your friend, and come back. There's something of utmost importance I have to tell you." It was Obi-wan himself. He'd done his little appearing-trick again, this time two feet to Mel's right. "Go on."
Mel gasped belatedly, backing in the opposite direction. "What are you doing here? What do you want?" She paused. "Who are you? How do you know where we live?"
"All in good time. Suffice to say I'm not here to rape, murder, and torture or otherwise harm you physically or mentally. I found out where your friend Kathryn Abell lives by using that thing you call a phone book, and it was only a matter of time before I found the opportune moment to make contact." He supposed he needed to get away from Vader more often. He was having just way too much fun with this.
"Erm." It was the sort of highly articulate and coherent sentence that her friend, not her, was in the habit of making. But there were few that could blame her, after all how often did your world get taken over and mysterious strangers materialize in your best friend's backyard? In the dark?
He sighed. "Do you speak English poorly, or was that just an expression of your mind overloading?"
This time Mel's tongue obeyed her mind and she made a face at him. "How about I find out where you live, show up in your yard at midnight and let you try to talk. Now unless you have something very important to say you are going to go very far away, right now."
"How ironic then that I do have something very important to tell you. Both of you." He made a shooing motion with his hands. "Now go get your friend from behind the bush, she's probably confused to death. I promise I'll stay right here." He waved hand expressively at the mossy tree trunk.
Melissa stood her ground, crossing her arms defiantly. "I'm not having you at my back, promises or none."
He sighed, ceding victory. "Fine." Inwardly, he applauded. She was sensible enough under fire, if not particularly imaginative. But he had to give her credit for a most unusual situation.
True to Obi-wan's prediction, Katie was very confused. From in between the branches she could see her friend being accosted by some stranger, and she could hear faint scraps of conversation. So she'd been prepared for the worst when his head popped around her shrub.
She looked up, made eye contact… and frowned. "You again? What the hell are you doing in my backyard?"
He sighed. "Crude, but to the point. I was just about to explain, but I felt it would be best to consult both of you." He offered her a hand but she declined, using Mel's instead to pull herself up.
"See, after finishing the screening of your school I came to the conclusion that you two were the only possibilities. So, you both have been selected to participate in a sort of government training for those with special abilities."
"No." Mel's answer was her final one. "I have no idea what you're talking about, and I don't like it." She did actually have a bit of an idea, but it scared her more than the not knowing. It was much too Escape To Witch Mountain, Dean Koontz-esque for her taste.
He chuckled. "I'm sorry for phrasing it like a request. Its more of an… advance warning, as you really have no choice in the matter." He really needed to see some sort of therapist. He sounded nearly homicidal, and much, much too much like Anakin.
"Then why are you bothering to explain? Which you're nor doing a very good job of?" Katie looked very confused, and like she was being pushed (along with Mel) into some bad Communist-scare police-state movie. Without her knowledge.
"Because there's a greater truth behind all this you don't know about yet, but you're parents will not be notified of. They'll just get an acceptance from a free, prestigious government private school. Which they'll be obliged to send you to." This would be the hard part, explaining something which he did not completely understand but which was as much a part of the three of them as their bones.
"You understand the whole other-planetary systems thing, right?" They nodded. "In these… other systems, there are new creatures, new plants, and new laws of physics. For example, what you call the 'law of gravity' would be called a 'rule of gravity' on most of them. Laws imply a penalty; rules are much more bendable, as is this force holding us down. You've probably felt it before, a sudden jump or jolt that should not have been possible.
"Perhaps that's a bad example. To the average person, though I am but two feet from you, I would appear as an indistinct blob of grey. But you can see me, even though it's nearly pitch-black. In fact, I think you could tell my exact facial features, what expressions I'm making… things lost upon the majority of Earthlings."
"So you're saying we're genetic freaks from another world?" Katie sounded interested despite her cynicism.
"No. What I'm saying is that you've been born endowed with the power to bend these rules. It's termed, imaginatively, The Force and it is what will define your entire life." He sounded beyond serious to passionate. "But in order to properly learn to use this gift, you have to leave the surface of this particular planet. Its what we call a 'static'… that somewhere in its cosmic making there was a glitch that turned the rules to laws. Children can still be born with the Force, but it doesn't manifest nearly as dramatically nor can it be used properly. It doesn't mature until about your age, fifteen or sixteen. Then it will slowly drain, leaving you as you begin to conform to the status of adulthood and accept the burdens of your planet."
"If we're going to lose it, and its so much more common in other worlds, why are you bothering with us?" Mel's voice, much to her chagrin, was not steady. She did not want to lose this 'gift' or whatever it was, not when she'd finally mastered it.
"Because if the gift can survive to this stage, you are already uncommonly strong. And you won't lose it, not if you come with me. There are more hospitable planets, and even the reaches of space are far enough from the static aura." This was the difficult part, trying to convince them to go along. It would be almost entirely against the grain of their upbringing to trust his word, and it would be an unfortunate experience if they had to be forced. "I can teach you how to use it beyond your imaginings… once you're out of this place, you'll understand what I mean! There are worlds to be experienced you'll never elsewise see, and a great deal to learn that you'll never know if you don't just believe me." Somehow, somewhere, he'd gone from convincing to pleading. He could see the doubt in their eyes, but there was curiosity as well.
"What does this… entail?" She wanted to believe, she really did. It would be a chance of a lifetime, something that she'd never sleep well about again. If it was true, that is. She could see curiosity in Katie's eyes, as it competed with doubt.
"You need do nothing now." He'd rightly guessed that it was the night itself that dampened them, nothing good could ever come upon a midnight dreary. "I merely wanted to warn you… before the letters arrive tomorrow. From there a meeting will be arraigned-"
"But we've already met you." Katie was ashamed to note her voice was not half as steady as Mel's, she was half-hoping half-dreading that she was dreaming.
He grimaced. "I am not the only one interested in training such an… asset, as two such like yourself are. Lord Vader himself has expressed interest in assisting, as well as possibly taking one of you as his own personal apprentice." He looked a tad uncomfortable, as he'd been expressly forbidden to mention the Sith-Jedi distinction when explaining it to them. Even with as much freedom as he had, he didn't want to risk flouting a direct order. "But that doesn't matter too much, you'll still be in the same building."
This next pause was awkward, no one was quite sure of what to say next.
Obi-wan sighed. "Whether you actually believe me or not is irrelevant. That you understand that you can't speak a word of this, and that you'll have to comply with the official orders is." He raised a hand, palm inwards. "And don't try to use what limited powers you have. It'll only make the process worse."
He them disappeared. It was like his many appearances. There was no flash, winking lights or smoke, he simply seemed to have been there (not have not been there) for ages.
"Wish I could do that…" Katie sounded wistful.
Mel made as much of a grin as she could summon. "What would you do with it? Appear behind people then jump on them?"
- - -
If they'd thought the outside was dark, the interior of the tent was even darker. But they'd brought a lamp/flashlight to brighten the oppression, as they were obviously even less inclined to sleep than before.
"So. Mel. What do you think? Do you believe it? Do you want to believe it?" She sounded far away, not physically but as if her mind was still trying to process this rather eventful evening.
"I don't know. I mean, you can't disappear with out some sort of power, right? And if we believe that part, then we have to believe the bit about not having a choice. And if we believe that, then it doesn't really matter because it'll just sweep us up anyway." Mel paused for a moment. "I want to believe. But its all so impossible."
Her friend nodded. "But so was everything else that happened this morning. If aliens or whatever we're going to call them can come out of the blue and take us over in a morning, and suppress the media, than who's to say they can't fly? Or pop in and out of thin air?" She sighed. "But I agree… it should be interesting, if nothing else."
"If nothing else… why do I have a feeling that boredom is going to be the least of out problems from now on? Providing he was telling the truth…"
This time the pause was a friendly, mutual expression of love-type one. Katie broke it first. "Come to think of it, he never did tell us his name."
"You're right. He didn't. Wonder why that is. Maybe we couldn't be able to pronounce it?"
"Or it translates to sexy flower, or something equally embarrassing?" The rest of the half-serious conversation dissolved into much-needed laughter. Of course, despite the number of good questions raised, exactly how the intruders from another world knew their language wasn't one.
Perhaps they knew it didn't have much of a good answer.
- - -
Obi-wan sat down heavily, putting his head in his hands. Things were shaping up all too nicely. When things began moving conveniently, that meant that there was some sort of horrible disaster in store for him sooner or later. Usually sooner, though he'd prefer never.
There were a few rebellions brewing, mostly from his own doings, and here were a few padawans ideal for a little bringing about the balance. He was still alive, the sort of thing that never ceased to amaze him (due to the amount of dealings he was doing behind Lord Vader's back) these days.
"Oh god," he murmured into his hands, feeling weary and very old. "I'm what, twenty one? And yet I feel eighty." He sighed. And to think, three years ago today he'd thought his life was looking up. General in the army, leading forces against the Separatists… his best friend at his side. "Its over. All of it. And you know what? Its all Padmé's fault." That was a little unfair, but nearly true. Part of it was his own; part of it his friend's… No. Most of it was his old friend's fault, and the rest was bad coincidence. But even bothering to assign blame was childish, as it really didn't matter. What had happened, happened.
Throwing off the cloak and yanking off his boots he flopped down miserably onto the bed. The entire room was white, the bed encased in it and coming like a soft shelf from the wall. Sending a vindictive glare to the artificial lights above his head, he willed them to shut off. For once, they did.
It was times like these that he wondered why he even bothered to go on. His very existence was forced, and if the stupid girl hadn't come running in at the last moment, he'd be dead. Blissfully so, and unaware of the current hell gripping his galaxy. He could almost see it now, the so-close descending laser beam… and her throwing herself in to the fray, taking the fatal blow while crying out a name. She'd gotten the better deal, no watching the eventual slide into darkness.
As he continued his contemplation of suicide, a mental image of the two soon-to-be apprentices sprang unbidden to his mind. They were watching him, eyes wide with confusion and lips pursed in skepticism at his words. He focused in on the stronger one, her hair falling gracefully into a face that spoke both curiosity and defiance. She'd taken a stance slightly in front of her friend, the sort of person always taking charge of the protection of the ones she loved. There were hints of steel in her eyes, and it was exactly what he wanted.
Perhaps he did have a future.
- - -
Vader paced his own quarters. They had not been able to schedule a formal introduction for another week, due to the ships current location in the nation's capital and at least a day by 'car' from the girls' hometown. Drawing a curtain that screened an already one-way window, he could nearly feel the many cameras focused this way, even though they couldn't see him. The news had finally been leaked to the press, who was having a field day with it. Republicans and Democrats alike were publicly declaring allegiance whenever in earshot, while not quite as publicly damning the whole affair when far enough away.
This particular country ran on a time zone completely different from the one he was used to, making going to sleep even more difficult than it would have been. Personally, he would have liked to simply blow up the entire place when he was done with it, but that would be a rather bad start to any master-padawan relationship. Respect through fear was not what you looked for in someone so close, as it bred resentment. Speaking of resentment… his advisor had been looking a little under the weather lately. The usual hopeless rebellions had been springing up on some of the outer reaches, but would be quashed quietly as usual. This seemed to upset Obi-wan.
He attempted a grin and failed. The entire affair had called for one or the other's death, and had been thwarted. There was no love lost between them now, only necessity borne of circumstance. And if anyone had to die, it was not going to be Darth Vader, soon to be ruler of the galaxy himself.
This time, a fully sinister grin graced his features. The so-called Emperor of the republic, Darth Sidiuos (referred to less than reverently as Darth Hissing by Kenobi) had gotten lax lately. There'd been no real threats to his power, and of course good little Vader had been willing to cater to every whim… But not for much longer. The Jedi had an elaborate ceremony to decide when a padawan became a Master. For a Sith, it was whenever you managed to kill off your master.
Not that he intended to have that problem himself…
- - -
The letters arrived early the next morning. They were printed in a lovely, ornate calligraphy on good thick paper, and embossed with an intricate shiny gold seal. Mel began reading Katie's copy over her shoulder while Katie played with the light reflecting off of the overly impressive seal.
"To the parents or legal guardians of Kathryn Naomi Abell… They're really put some thought into this…" She scanned the rest of the dense, legal-looking document. "I really don't know how they're going to be able to say no. It throws in free, best education for gifted children, high society… all the sorts of things college promotions do."
Katie shrugged. "But from what our mysterious unnamed visitor said, there really isn't a choice." She paused a second. "He needs a name, even if just we use it so we know who we're talking about. I vote for Sexy Flower."
Mel laughed. "No. Just No. Why not… something dashing?"
Katie wrinkled her nose. "Him? Dashing? Not really. More sadistically amused, but that's harder to find a name for."
"So you're saying he enjoyed leading us on?"
"Of course he did. He was all laughing inside. I'd bet this shiny letter that he's on drugs. Creepy psychedelic ones. Like LSD."
Mel kicked her friend. "No way. How do you know these other planets even have drugs?"
"Because they look nearly human. And if there's humans, there's bound to be some sort of drugs." Katie tried to keep a cynical face.
"You sound like our health teacher."
"Hey! That wasn't fair! Take it back! Right now!"
"No." Mel stuck out her tongue. "Serves you right for thinking he was on drugs."
"Oh, defending him now?" Katie grinned. "I think Mel likes someone…"
"Hey! I just don't think he's on drugs, all right?"
"Yeah right." Katie dropped the matter anyway, feeling that it might not be the best of ideas to push her friend.
- - -
Katie sat down heavily on the hotel bed. It was still several hours before they actually had to be at the White House (though, interestingly enough, to see someone far more important than the President) and they were just hanging around till then. In the end both sets of parents had agreed, and now here they were, waiting for three o'clock that afternoon. When hopefully they'd finally get some answers and not secret whispers in the dark ones.
Her own parents had been slightly more open to the idea than Mel's, whose mother had been rather opposed to the idea when it was learned that Mel's twin could not attend (paying or otherwise). In fact, Katie's father had been quite happy with the idea that his daughter was going off into the middle of the science fiction books he read. But of course, neither set had quite liked the idea of complete and total separation. They'd eventually given in, though not without some (sort of) forced pleading.
Katie's mother, being the only of the foursome not restrained by a regular job, had elected to drive the girls' down. It had become a bit of a holiday, though a short one with a day to drive down, a day there and a day back. That is, assuming the girls were going to be driven back at all.
Katie sighed dramatically. "Mel, what should I wear? I mean, I've never had a formal audience with a dictator before."
Mel shrugged. "Do you think I have? Just go with… something nice. Not overly fancy or overly skin showing, but nice. Attractively nice. Maybe try to impress them a little?"
Katie made another noise of displeasure. "I meant… skirt or pants?" Of course, the whole effect was ruined as she was lying on her back staring at the fake roman ceiling.
Mel poked her friend on the stomach, causing her to squeal and roll over (and off of the bed with a thump). "How long is the skirt?"
"A bit below my knees." Apparently deciding the floor was safer she stayed there.
"Then go for it." Mel wasn't worried about her own apparel, she generally didn't. After all, if they were interested in her 'powers' than it shouldn't matter what she wore.
"Do you think fishnets would send the wrong message?"
"Katie, no. No, no and no. I forbid you to wear fishnets." But she was, however, worried about her friend's. Katie had a habit of being a little… overly exuberant when she found something she liked/thought she looked good in.