Chapter Six – Progress.
The rest of the night passed with minimal trouble. Ric Olié called upon some of Captain Panaka's troops to dispose of a small party of womp rats that began chewing on the hull of the ship, but there were no other problems. Sabé managed to get a few hours sleep. Less than she would have liked, but she was grateful for being able to sleep at all. In the morning she awoke to find that the red and white on her lips had merged pink during the night and Eirtaé had to repair it swiftly before anyone came to call on the Queen.
Qui-Gon's small party returned from Mos Espa late in the afternoon. Padmé entered the throne room still wearing the roughly woven peasant garb. Sand clung to her clothing and she left small sprinklings of it on the floor as she walked.
"Sabé, it's good to see you again," she said smiling.
"And you." The cousins shared a hug.
"So, what happened here while I was away?"
"Nothing much. We received a message from Governor Bibble yesterday asking us to contact him, but we sent no reply."
"Why not?" Padmé demanded.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi said not to. He said it was a trap and that sending a transmission would give away our position."
"Well, that makes sense, but what of Governor Bibble? Do you think it was trap?"
Sabé paused. "I'm not sure. The Governor knew that his message would be seen by me initially. I can't believe that he would send us a message like that unless he was under duress. He would know that sending a reply transmission would give away our position."
"I agree, but I'd like to see for myself. Where is the message now?"
"Panaka had it saved to the ship's computer. You can access it from any terminal."
Just then Obi-Wan's figure was seen in the doorway and he walked in and bowed. Padmé stepped back and stood to one side. Sabé quickly returned to her throne.
"Your Highness, we have the new hyperdrive, it is being installed as we speak. We can be away as soon as Master Qui-Gon returns."
Sabé frowned. "Returns?"
"He had to deal with some unfinished business back in Mos Espa."
"I see." Sabé rested her arms on the throne. "I would be grateful for your speed in fixing the hyperdrive, Jedi Kenobi."
Obi-Wan nodded. "I will do my best, Your Highness." Then he turned and left.
Padmé turned to her decoy. "Has he been doing that all the time?"
"What's that?"
"Coming in and updating you on what's been going on?"
"Oh. Yes he has."
"That's good of him," Padmé said with a frown. "When I've travelled in here before nobody told me a thing."
Eirtaé stepped forward. "He has been a great help, Your Highness. No-one else has told us anything, it's so frustrating."
Padmé nodded. "Well, I'm going to change. I'll be back shortly."
Outside she was accosted by Captain Panaka who gave her a full technical report on what had been happening. Padmé smiled to herself. Panaka was excellent at his job, but sometimes he was a little too thorough. The sound of hurried footsteps could be heard approaching and to Padmé's surprise the young boy who they had befriended, Anakin Skywalker, came into view.
"Qui-Gon's in trouble," he panted. "He said to take off!"
Padmé wasted no time in getting to the cockpit. Panaka opened the door where Obi-Wan and Ric Olié were checking the hyperdrive readouts.
"Qui-Gon's in trouble," he announced.
"Take off." Obi-Wan's sharp eyes picked up on a small cloud of dust in the distance. "Over there. Fly low."
He left the cockpit in a rush, Anakin trotting to keep up. Padmé, Panaka and Olié waited for a long couple of minutes, then Obi-Wan reported, "We've got him."
Olié took the ship out into the dark expanse of space and Padmé excused herself to change into her flame-coloured handmaiden's robes.
Inside the throne room, Sabé, Eirtaé and Rabé felt the ship begin to move, then they heard the familiar droning of hyperdrive engines. Shortly, Padmé returned.
"Well the trip to Mos Espa was worth it, the hyperdrive seems fine."
"You still haven't told us what actually happened in Mos Espa," Sabé reminded her.
Padmé sat on one of the benches and told them the events. How they had run into trouble with currency and met a slave boy called Anakin Skywalker who had offered them the solution by participating in a podrace, winning and therefore paying for the new hyperdrive. Also how the boy was now on the ship, freed from slavery. Padmé wasn't sure how had this had happened, Qui-Gon kept it to himself. All she knew, (and she relayed it to the handmaidens), was that Anakin was going to the Jedi Temple to hopefully be trained as Padawan learner.
Sabé listened, feeling envious. It sounded a lot more interesting than sitting in the throne room and walking around the ship. But then Padmé rarely got time off and Sabé couldn't complain.
"And there was something else that happened," the true Queen mused to her decoy and handmaidens. "Just now, right before we took off we had to rescue Qui-Gon."
"Rescue him from what, Your Highness?" Rabé asked with a frown.
"I don't know. He was battling someone. It must have been a dark Jedi or something, because he wore black robes. Jedi don't wear black, do they? And yet he must have been Force-sensitive because he was using a lightsabre." She paused to think before continuing. "Whatever it was it must have been strong. Word has it that Qui-Gon barely escaped with his life."
Sabé took in this disturbing news with the worrying thoughts of who had sent such a warrior after them and why. There was only one thing of value on board the ship and that was Padmé, the Queen of Naboo. The Trade Federation must have had something to do with it.
By the time Padmé had finished her story and discussions over Qui-Gon's attacker had ended, it was late and they were all tired. Padmé said she was going to listen to Governor Bibble's message and left the room. Sabé sighed and tried to doze, wondering if her luck would be any better this time. Eventually she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
A/N: I know a lot of these chapters are quite short, but the chapter lengths do get longer as the story progresses. Just bear with me for now!
