Chapter 6
"Hey guys, want to try some pallies?" Anakin asked as he spotted a fruit stand that he often visited.
"Sure," Zane said, and the whole group went over to the fruit stand.
"How are you feeling today, Jira?" Anakin asked.
Jira smiled, her eyes lighting up when she heard her young friend. "The heat's never been kind to me, you know, Ani."
"Guess what? I've found that cooling unit I've been searching for. It's pretty beat up, but I'll have it fixed up for you in no time. I promise," Anakin told her happily.
Jira's eyes sparkled, "You're a fine boy, Ani."
"I'll take five pallies today." Anakin said and dug into his pocket for the trugets. As he pulled them out, one of them fell out of his hand when it brushed against his clothing. Anakin bent to get it, but paused when Qui-Gon went for it, causing him to see a lightsaber. Stunned, Anakin wordlessly accepted the truget back and placed the other trugets on the table. "Whoops, I thought I had more…Make that four, I'm not hungry."
Jira nodded and handed out four pallies before taking the trugets. "Are you sure you don't want one, Ani? You can pay me back later."
"I'm sure," Anakin replied.
The wind began to pick up in the street and shopkeepers started to close up their stands.
"Gracious, my bones are aching…storm's coming on, Ani. You'd better get home quick."
Anakin nodded and looked at Qui-Gon. "Do you have shelter?"
"We'll head back to our ship," Qui-Gon said as they began to move away from the stand.
"Is it far?" Anakin asked in concern.
"It's on the outskirts," Padme responded.
"You'll never reach the outskirts in time...sandstorms are very, very dangerous. Come with me. You can wait it out at my home – it's not far. My mom won't mind. Hurry!" Anakin said, rushing ahead of the group.
Following Anakin, they headed down a windy street that lead to the slave district and arrived where Anakin lived just before the storm became blinding in its fury. Anakin entered the hovel, his arm over his eyes, shielding himself from the sand.
Once inside, he brushed away the sand from his hair and shoulders. "Mom! Mom! I'm home!"
"Tis cozy," Jar Jar said, glad to have escaped the sand.
Shmi left her work area at the sound of her son's voice and entered the main room. She jumped slightly, startled, when she saw the room crowded with people. "Oh, my! Ani, what's this?"
"These are my friends, mom." He pointed at each of them as he made the introductions. "This is Padme, Zane, and…gee, I don't know anyone else's names."
"I'm Qui-Gon Jinn, and this is Jar Jar Binks."
Artoo beeped and nudged Padme's leg.
"…and our droid, Artoo-Detoo."
"I'm building a droid. You wanna see?"
"Anakin! Why are they here?" Shmi asked.
"There's a sandstorm, Mom. Listen."
Shmi listened – and sure enough, the wind was howling.
"Your son was kind enough to offer us shelter," Qui-Gon said.
Anakin tugged on Padme and Zane's hands. "Come on! Let me show you my droid." They followed Anakin to his room and Artoo went with them.
Qui-Gon pulled out six small capsules from his utility belt and handed them to Shmi. "I have enough food for a meal."
"Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. I'm sorry if I was abrupt. I'll never get used to Anakin's surprises."
"He's a very special boy."
Shmi looked at Qui-Gon and nodded. "Yes, I know."
~*~*~
Anakin led Zane and Padme to his workbench where a protocol droid lay. There was only one eye in his head and his torso, arms and legs still lacked coverings.
"Isn't he great? He's not finished yet."
"He's wonderful!" Padme said.
"You really like him? He's a protocol droid…to help Mom. Watch!" Anakin pushed a switch at the back of the droid's neck and he sat up.
"Oh, where is everybody?" he said, looking around.
"Oops." Anakin said and searched one of the drawers of the desk, grabbed the eye that he had finished adjusting and plugged it into the droid's empty eye socket."
"How do you do?" said the droid. "I am See-Threepio, Human Cyborg Relations. How may I serve you?"
"He's perfect," Padme said in a delighted voice.
Artoo let out a flurry of beeps and whistles.
"I beg your pardon…what do you mean I'm naked?" Artoo beeped and Threepio jerked back. "My parts are showing? Oh, my goodness. How embarrassing!"
"Sort of. But don't worry, I'll fix that soon enough," Anakin responded.
"What color plating will you use?" Zane asked, poking at one of the exposed parts.
Anakin shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever plating I can find. Threepio's not the only thing I'm building. When the storm is over, you all can see my racer. I'm building a podracer!"
"Really? Cool!" Zane said enthusiastically. "I've never seen a podracer up close before. Can I drive it?"
Anakin shook his head. "It's not finished yet – besides, I need to make sure it stays a secret. Watto doesn't know that I've built it.
Padme nodded her head. "I'm good at keeping secrets."
"Me too!" Zane grinned.
~*~*~
On the ship Queen Amidala, her two handmaidens, and Captain Panaka, along with Obi-Wan, watched a fuzzy transmission from Sio Bibble.
"…cut off all food supplies until you return…the death toll is catastrophic…we must bow to their wishes, Your Highness…Please tell us what to do! If you can hear us, Your Highness, you must contact me…" The hologram faded out and Amidala looked at Obi-Wan, her eyes full of worry.
"It's a trick. Send no reply… Send no transmissions of any kind." Obi-Wan stated and left the room to go contact Qui-Gon.
~*~*~
As everyone began to sit around the makeshift table, Qui-Gon's comlink rang. Unhooking it from his belt, Qui-Gon went over to the doorway as Obi-Wan reported about the transmission that had been received.
"…the queen is upset…but absolutely no reply was sent," Obi-Wan finished.
"It sounds like bait to establish a connection trace."
"What if it's true..." Obi-Wan asked, "...and the people are dying?"
"Either way, we're running out of time." Qui-Gon turned off the comlink and went too sit down at the table, where a discussion was already going on.
Jar Jar made a particularly large slurp of his soup, causing everyone to look at him. Jar Jar's face grew redder in embarrassment and looked down at his soup.
"All slaves have transmitters placed inside their bodies somewhere," Shmi said as she took a bite of her soup.
"I've been working on a scanner to try and locate them, but no luck," Anakin said in disappointment.
"Any attempt to escape…"
"…and they blow you up!" Anakin slammed his hand on the table, emphasizing his point.
Padme, Zane, and Jar Jar looked at Anakin with horrified expressions on their faces.
"How rude," Jar Jar said.
"I can't believe there is still slavery in the galaxy," said Padme. "The Republic's anti-slavery laws should--"
"The Republic doesn't exist out here," Shmi interrupted. "We must survive on our own."
Silence filled the room and Anakin looked around at them for a moment before changing the subject. "Have you ever seen a podrace?"
Padme shook her head no and noticed the concerned look on Shmi's face.
Jar Jar snatched a piece of food from a bowl at the other end of the table with his tongue, earning a dirty look from Qui-Gon.
"They have Podracing on Malastare. Very fast, very dangerous," Qui-Gon said before taking a bite of his meal.
"I watch them with Obi-Wan. It's so cool!" Zane put in, his bright blue eyes sparkling.
"I'm the only human who can do it," Anakin declared and saw his mother's disapproving look. "Mom, what? I'm not bragging. It's true. Watto says he's never heard of a human doing it."
"You must have Jedi reflexes if you race pods," Qui-Gon stated, smiling at Anakin. At that moment Jar Jar stuck out his tongue to snare another bite of food from the bowl but instead got a thumb and forefinger clutching his tongue. "Don't do that again," Qui-Gon told him. Jar Jar mumbled an unintelligible acknowledgment and then Qui-Gon released his tongue, causing it to snap back into the Gungan's mouth.
"I… I was wondering…something…" Anakin said, shifting a bit in his seat.
"What?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Well, ahh…you're a Jedi Knight, aren't you?"
"What makes you think that?"
"I saw your lightsaber. Only Jedi carry that kind of weapon."
Qui-Gon leaned back in his chair and slowly smiled. "Perhaps I killed a Jedi and took it from him."
"I don't think so…no one can kill a Jedi Knight.
Sadness crept into Qui-Gon's eyes. "I wish that were so…"
"I had a dream I was a Jedi. I came back here and freed all the slaves. I dreamed it just the other night, when I was out in the desert. Have you come to free us?"
"No, I'm afraid not…"
"I think you have…why else would you be here." Anakin said, probing for the reason why a Jedi was on Tatooine of all places.
Realizing that he had fallen for Anakin's bait, Qui-Gon decided to reveal the reason. "I can see that there's no fooling you." Qui-Gon leaned forward. "You mustn't let anyone know about us…we're on our way to Coruscant, the central system in the Republic, on a very important mission, and it must be kept secret."
Anakin's eyes widened, "Coruscant? Wow! How did you end up here in the Outer Rim?"
"Our ship was damaged, and we're stranded here in until we can repair it," Padme answered.
"I can help! I can fix anything!" Anakin offered excitedly.
"I believe you can, but our first task is to acquire the parts we need…" Qui-Gon responded.
"Wit nutten ta trade," said Jar Jar.
"These junk dealers must have a weakness of some kind," Padme added.
"Gambling." Shmi shook her head and stood and began clearing away the dishes. "Everything here revolves around betting on those awful races."
"Podracing… Greed can be a powerful ally… if it's used properly," Qui-Gon mused.
"I've built a racer!" said Anakin. "It's the fastest ever! There's a big race tomorrow, on Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod. It's all but finished--"
"Anakin, settle down! Watto won't let you race!" Shmi began to remind her son.
"Watto doesn't know I've built it." Anakin looked at Qui-Gon. "You can make him think it's yours and you could get him to let me pilot it for you."
Qui-Gon looked at Shmi and saw that she was becoming upset.
"I don't want you to race, Ani…" the mother pleaded. "It's awful. I die every time Watto makes you do it. Every time."
"But Mom, I love it! And they need help, they're in trouble. The prize money would more than pay for the parts they need."
"Wesa ina pitty bad goo," Jar Jar put in, trying to help Anakin out.
"Your mother's right. Let's drop the matter. Is there anyone friendly to the Republic who might be able to help us?" Qui-Gon asked.
Shmi shook her head no.
"I can do it," Zane said, drawing everyone's attention to him. "I have Jedi reflexes too, and I'm small enough to fit in the pod." He grew more excited with each word he said, already seeing himself racing in an actual podracer.
A surprised look crossed Qui-Gon's face as an image of Zane in a podracer racing around a track flashed into his mind. He shook his head of the image and looked at Zane sternly. "No, absolutely not."
"Please?" Zane pleaded. "I'll be careful."
Qui-Gon shook his head. "There is nothing careful about podracing, Zane. Obi-Wan would agree with me and if he were here, he would tell you no too."
"But I can help," Zane protested, crossing his arms.
"Zane." Qui-Gon gave him a warning look.
Sensing trouble if he continued, Zane settled for sulking.
"We have to help them, Mom," said Anakin. "Remember what you said? You said that the biggest problem in the universe is no one helps each other."
"Anakin, don't--"
"But you said it, Mom."
Jar Jar belched and once again the room descended into silence.
"We will find another way…" Padme began.
Shmi shook her head. "No, Ani's right, there is no other way. I may not like it, but he can help you…he was meant to help you."
"Is that a yes? That is a yes! Thanks, Mom!" Anakin said and went over to give her a hug.
