Chapter 2: Flight
Obi-Wan was not a boy for early mornings. On the contrary to his Master who was a real early bird, Obi-Wan despised getting up before sixth hour, but obviously senators young and elderly alike were even less fond of mornings. Departure from Coruscant Interplanetary Spaceport had been set to eleventh hour, which was unseeingly late for a Jedi.
That didn't give Obi-Wan a long, lazy morning. At sixth hour. "Why isn't it spelled 'sith hour'? " Obi-Wan thought, as Qui-Gon knocked on his door to check that he was awake. When that said, he was really glad to be back in business again and that he had been accepted back into the Order.
At eleventh hour sharp the two Jedi entered the spacecraft that was going to bring the senatorial delegation to Prakith. They immediately headed towards the cockpit to present themselves for the pilot.
The pilot was a young Bothan with sparkling green eyes.
"Wow, am I glad to see two Jedi on board," he greeted them. "We will follow the Byss run and I know from experience that it can be a bit…nasty when we have passed Iope. The gravity forces acting between the Starswarm and Kuar can be a real nuisance sometimes. By the way, I'm Shalk Coran, the pilot of this vessel. "
"We come to serve," Qui-Gon assured him, while bowing deeply. "We will do our best to help you find the safest and most comfortable route to Prakith."
Obi-Wan stood quiet beside him. His only reaction was to bow in synchrony with his Master, but his mind was elsewhere. There was something amiss, but he was not really able to pinpoint it.
I have a bad feeling about this. Master Qui-Gon always tells me to be mindful of the present when I get this feeling, but this time it's for real. It's not like we're heading into danger, it's more like…something hidden. Something that won't reveal itself. Like something…evil passed by.
He shrugged and did his best to shook off the eerie feeling that had made the tiny hairs at his neck bristle for a moment.
Soon I will see ghosts in full daylight. If I ever mention this to Qui-Gon he will never stop teasing me about it. This ship seems to be in perfectly good condition and the pilot seem to know what he's talking about. He has probably flown this route numerous times before. It seems like his knowledge was first hand. I'm acting totally ridiculously.
"Well, Masters Jedi" please take your seats and buckle in. The last senator just boarded so we're ready to take off. And with that he switched on his comm unit and gave instructions to the senators in the passenger compartment.
"Welcome on board this shuttle to Prak City. We will depart in a few minutes as soon as space control has given us permission to take off. Please fasten your belts. When we're out of the atmosphere you may take them off until we are entering the deep core at Jerrilek in about two hours from now, if the hyperdrive ship has an artificial gravity system, but when we're entering the core the route may be a bit bumpy so it's wise to keep the safety belts fastened. Very fastened."
The last sentence was pronounced with a huge grin, and mirth sparkling in his green eyes.
Obi-Wan refrained from giggling. Hopefully there weren't any airsick senators back there.
The small ship lifted off of Coruscant's surface and set off into the sky.
Two hours later, as predicted by Coran, they entered the deep core. This part of the galaxy was famous, or rather infamous, for it's number of dying stars and black holes, all with gravity fields strong enough to pull any ship away from it's preset course if they were to come to close. Obi-Wan could see from his Master's posture that the older Jedi was fully aware of the dangers lurking in this area. To a stranger Qui-Gon would seem completely relaxed, but Obi-Wan could sense the tendrils of the Force stretching from him towards the vaste space around the ship.
"I recommend pulling one degree to the right as soon as we have passed Jerrilek," he suggested calmly, yet his voice indicted that doing otherwise would not be a wise decision. Some minutes later Obi-Wan could feel the almost negligible movement of the ship as it pulled gently to the right. He tried to access the Force himself and vaguely, as the almost inaudible whisper of a breeze through the trees, he could feel the gravity pull from what had to be the combined effect of Iope and the Starswarm.
"Two degrees to the right would be a good thing," Qui-Gon suggested, and the pilot followed suit. Obi-Wan could once again feel the subtle change in the ship's direction.
That must have been to avoid Kuar. If I'm right we will now have to take a rather sharp turn to the right to avoid Koros.
A little while later he could hear Qui-Gon utter the predicted course change. The movement in the ship was just the tiniest little bit less soft than the previous. He could see Coran's shoulders slump a little. Now they were out in the more open space again and as soon as they had passed Keeara Major there should be no more direct hindrances. He knew from his hours of studying astronavigation together with Garen Muln that the leg fro Keeara Major to Prakith was blissfully free of black holes.
"Garen would have loved this," he thought, "Me? Not so much. I prefer the less dangerous flights."
Coran's excited voice interrupted his thought.
"This was wonderful, Master Jedi. The last time I flew this route I was almost captured by the black holes near the Starswarm and I almost burned off the hyperdrive in the attempts of pulling out of the gravity field. This is the smoothest and calmest flight I've ever had in this area."
The curiosity got the better of Obi-Wan: "How many times have you flown this route?"
A new grin from the pilot: "Three. No, three and a half. The first time I tried i got too close to the dead star behind Kuar. I had to use all the engine power I had, and then some more to pull away. The hyperdrive was so badly superheated that I barely made it out of the core."
"Oh," Obi-Wan swallowed. He had always enjoyed flying, but the thought of getting sucked into the gravity field of a dying star made him somewhat queasy. Somehow he didn't like the thought of being squeezed to death by the tremendous forces they created. It would have been such an undignified death.
As predicted by both Qui-Gon and the pilot (and by the blasted astromechanical books) the remaining journey was eventless and three hours later they were approaching Prakith and the spaceship landed with a soft "thud".
"Let's wait until the senators have left the ship," Qui-Gon suggested. "I do not want to draw any attention by politicians. I meet more than enough of them as it is."
Obi-Wan couldn't have agreed more.
Some minutes later the spaceship was blissfully senator-free and the two Jedi disembarked. Once again Obi-Wan had felt the slight chill which somehow seemed to be a warning of something… unpleasant.
I wonder why I feel this chill. I hope I'm not going to have a fever. it would be absolutely devastating ending up with a flu here, especially when we for once don't have the days filled with duties and can have a chance to explore the area a bit without any threats around.
Qui-Gon cast him a curious glance.
"What is it, Obi-Wan?" he asked gently.
"Nothing. I just felt cold for a moment. I'm probably just out of practice when it comes to space travel. After all the space is cold place."
Qui-Gon hid his smile well. The boy had been to some missions before…well, before Melida/Daan, but it would surely be an exaggeration to call him an experienced space traveller.
"Let's find our hotel room and then go and find something to eat. We're officially off duty for the next couple of days until the senators are to return home again. We may just as well enjoy it."
Together with Coran they left the ship and set off for the hotel in the center of Prak City.
Their luck ceased to exist in the moment they entered the terminal building. Their hosts had obviously been awaiting to bring them to the city center together with the senators. Qui-Gon drew an inaudible sigh and entered the quite luxurious shuttle that had been sent to pick them up.
Five senators of various races and genders had already found their place in the shuttle. One of them, a human male with reddish hair and some distinguished grey near his temples watched them with a keen blue glance when they entered.
Again Obi-Wan felt the weird chill running down his spine and looked around to see if he could find any explanation. He couldn't. It was a sunny day on the admittedly quite stony planet, but the air condition was not anywhere nearby him and the temperature was moderate.
The male senator spoke for the first time.
"So, these are our Jedi pathfinders and our skilled pilot," he said with a friendly, almost timid, smile, "no wonder that the journey went so smooth."
"We come to serve," Qui-Gon answered politely, "but the skilled pilot has more to do with the smooth travel than the presence of a couple of Jedi."
The drive into the city was short and a little while later the small group was gathering in front of the reception counter in the rather elegant hotel. The human senator was the last of the senators to check in.
"Name?" the receptionist asked politely.
"Palpatine," the senator answered, "Sheev Palpatine, Senator of Naboo."
Another chill ran down Obi-Wan's neck.