Hand of Fate

Chapter 16 / Sabotage


Deep below the ocean surface, Padmé's luxurious Coral City guest quarters were stunning and spacious in design, featuring Mon Calamari design metalwork and a two-level multi-bedroom suite. Each elegantly appointed room therein featured floor-to-ceiling transparisteel that showed off the cobalt depths and featured a gorgeous view of other parts of the underwater city. Fish and other sea creatures of all sizes could be seen passing by at times, and the master bedroom jutted out completely into the water, creating a nearly three-hundred and sixty degree experience.

In the sitting room, Padmé stood by one of the gigantic transparisteel views, her focus on anything but the stunning blue vista beyond. "I understand your points, Master Kenobi, Captain Typho, Sabé," she said tightly. "But the fact that someone tried to kill me only shows me the importance of this speech that I will give tomorrow. And now that we're aware of how serious the threat is, my security force will double its efforts to keep me safe." She was agitated in a noble sort of way, her eyes flashing and cheeks flushed. "These are cowards trying to deter me to run away. I will not." Her sharp eyes dared any of them to argue further.

With a resigned jaw clench and nod, Typho relented. "So be it."

Brooding, Sabé hung back with arms crossed in deep thought as Obi-Wan remained neutral and tranquil. Padmé drew a deep and steadying breath. They'd rushed out of the disrupted reception and down to their guest quarters by way of the bullet-lift, a superfast elevator. Two Naboo officers were posted on each entrance—there were both upper and lower entrances to the suites. While Padmé had been visibly surprised to see Obi-Wan, she hadn't really questioned it, only greeted him briefly. She addressed him now. "Thank you for your help, Jedi Kenobi. I doubt I'd be here if it weren't for you. I owe you many times over now."

He was polite and humble as usual. "You owe nothing Milady. I'm very glad I was able to help."

The door buzzed just then, and everyone present was immediately a degree more on edge at the unexpected hail. Veiled in a dark teal robe that obscured her features, Dormé quietly glided to the viewing panel to see who was there—Typho's hand hovered over his holstered weapon and Sabé looked ready to uncoil into action like a loaded spring. Dormé looked then turned to look at Padmé for guidance after seeing who it was. "It's Senator Tikkes, Milady."

A small beat of suspicious silence hung as everyone relaxed a slight degree. "No doubt here to attempt to convince you to leave," Typho said darkly. "He could be behind the attack for all we know."

Sabé was hard to read, except determined. "Keep him here talking as long as you can, will you?" she asked Padmé, her tone serious and significant.

There were questions in Padmé's eyes, but she nodded. "Of course." She smoothed her gown and cleared her throat, gathering herself for the unexpected visit from Tikkes.

"Come on." Sabé jerked her head, indicating Obi-Wan come with her downstairs to the lower level exit to avoid Tikkes. They left the sitting room, the doorway sealing shut behind them as they descended a generously sized staircase. At the lower level main area, a lounge area stood against another full floor-to-ceiling ocean view. Sabé glanced into one of the bedrooms off of the lounge where she saw that her luggage had been delivered. She headed that way and gave Obi-Wan a quick glance. "Wait here. I'll be three minutes." She shut the door behind herself without any other explanation.

He did as instructed since he seemed to have no other choice, folding his arms and leaning against the opposite wall with a soft, contemplating expression on his face. He watched some sea life floating by just on the other side of the nearby window wall. This was indeed a strange and surreal turn of events. Seeing the woman he'd worked so hard to distance himself from mentally and emotionally had thrown him off a bit more than he would like to admit. In memories, it was easy to forget and for the mind to grow fuzzy on the details. Today he'd been smacked in the face with everything he had set aside deep within the recesses of his mind: The sound of her voice, the curve of her smile, the easy way interaction and connection came when they were together. The memory of holding her in his arms in a way he shouldn't have. The things that dreams still reminded him of, from time to time.

He'd wondered long ago if their paths would cross again and decided that if the Force willed it, so be it, but otherwise, he had made peace with the thought of never crossing paths again. He was of two minds: one half believed it would be for the best if they didn't meet again, because something about her called him into a part of himself he didn't recognize or understand how to navigate. The other half of his mind believed something about her presence was meant to be in his life, and he had no real evidence of that feeling other than his intuition. He hadn't allowed himself the luxury of hoping to see her again, sensing that it would be too telling to admit to himself that he would like to know how her life was going and to see her face again. And yet here they were.

Perhaps she had been a challenge to overcome and lesson to learn in his youth. Nearly seven years had passed, and Obi-Wan had certainly grown and changed since then. She most certainly had too.

Sabé reappeared about three and a half minutes later in a different set of clothing: a rugged nearly-black jumpsuit, matching boots, and dark blue tactical jacket. A multi-weapon holster was slung across her hips. Obi-Wan contemplated her mildly as she re-emerged, and he let go of his deeper thoughts in favor of the present moment. "Outfit changes," he observed. "Reminds me of when you played the queen."

"If we get caught, I don't want Padmé or Naboo associated with this," Sabé responded, all focus and preoccupation. She was already headed across the plush carpeted floor toward the lower suite exit, leaving Obi-Wan to follow. They passed by two Naboo officers who guarded the way out, and with a nod to them and a quick check out the doorway that the coast was clear, Sabé led the way. "Let's go." She set the pace at a brisk stride down the hall to the antechamber where the lifts and main streetways were, casting watchful glances around as they went. "How much information did you get about the lead from the Jedi end of things?" she asked in a voice only loud enough for the two of them to hear.

"Something about a claim that someone is running a very illegal droid factory somewhere in the city," he said. Sabé confirmed with a nod. "I assume it was deemed credible enough to investigate by your department, otherwise we wouldn't be here," Obi-Wan ventured, looking for more inside intel. RDI was a separate entity from the Jedi Order, and while the two agencies did work together at times, there hadn't been as many collaborative efforts between the two until the past two or so years. He was fairly certain that RDI kept the Order on a need-to-know basis.

Sabé sent him a darting sidelong glance. "I don't do any of the analyst side of things, but they're rarely wrong when they send us out to follow up on leads like this." They entered into the antechamber, a large multi-level hub that connected the underwater roadways and halls and provided a way to travel up and down levels. She punched the lift call button and cast another careful glance around. Barely anyone was out and about. "Tikkes personal residence is twenty levels up from here, not far."

The lift doors opened and they entered. "How long have you been an agent?" Obi-Wan asked, curious. It made sense to him that she would work intelligence, and from what little he could tell, she seemed to have a certain confidence in the role that came with a more seasoned experience.

She looked at him as she keyed in the level they were going to, and he was struck by how she still had the softness of youth in her late twenties, but was still very much markedly different than when he'd last seen her: Older, wiser, more harrowed. "A few years now, about five."

He nodded, remembering a conversation from years past. "So you went through with it." She hesitated, visibly trying to figure out what he was referring to. "The career change," he prompted, waiting for her to remember. The lift wooshed upward at dizzying speed.

Her expression softened, surprise making her blink once and then smile in an off guard, touched way. "You remembered." Their conversation on Cilpar, where she'd said she was thinking of leaving her Naboo security forces job behind. He remembered all that and more clearly, as if it had been only a few weeks ago.

"I have an excellent memory, Milady," Obi-Wan responded lightly in contrast to how meaningful it actually was. Her smile turned fractionally more conflicted. The lift stopped and he gave her a look to keep the mood casual. "Or I suppose I should say 'Agent.'" He wasn't exactly teasing her, but it came out that way. She said nothing, but gave him a similarly teasing look back. The door chimed, slid open, and they exited. This level was markedly luxurious and felt larger—the business district. With about ten levels of open-air above them before a chrome ceiling domed over everything, there was a good bit of activity. A few nearby restaurants, bars, and nightlife spots were full of people and there was a good amount of foot traffic, especially for the growing lateness of the hour. Sabé stopped to key a couple things into her wrist comm—probably checking for communications with her still missing RDI partner. "I'm beginning to think your partner is imaginary," Obi-Wan commented cheekily.

Sabé made a face that gave away some very real frustration and aggravation. "Oh don't worry. If history's any indicator, he'll turn up at a very inconvenient moment and proceed to bungle everything up." A small map projected from her wrist and she scrutinized it for a second, then led the way onward. "Two streets down." They went quickly, moving from the busy bar scene to quieter residential streets. Sabé stopped them across and down the way from a several-story gray house with the lights on. All gray, it matched the style of architecture popular here: peaks were rounded, no sharply defined edges or points were featured. Windows were long and thin, wrapping around the entirety of levels. "That's it—Tikkes residence. Do you see any security cameras?" Sabé asked, her eyes starting at the top of the structure and moving downward.

Obi-Wan spotted a very small round indentation near the entrance. "Yes, there's one there, right above the doorway."

Sabé saw it too. "Good eye."

"You have a way in, then?" Obi-Wan asked. He was curious about her approach and content to see how she worked rather than try to take any kind of lead at this point.

Sabé gave him a daring little look, pulling a tablet-sized device out of her pocket. "There's always a way in, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan indicated she should lead on. "After you then."

They crossed the street and approached from the side, Sabé stopping short of where Tikkes property began. She began typing in some commands and swiping around on the screen of her device until it gave an affirmative beep. If Obi-Wan wasn't mistaken, it was a hacking datapad. Very rare to get your hands on something like that for common folk. Sabé keyed in more commands, then another beep beep. "System's looping the security feed and doors are all unlocked," she said, pocketing the device and casting a final hooded glance around. "Let's go."

The door opened readily to the touch of the side of her hand—leaving no fingerprints—and they went inside. Sabé locked it behind them as Obi-Wan looked around. The two-level, vaulted ceiling home was lofty and elitist in decor, cold and unwelcoming. Nothing soft was in sight, only polished hard floors, marble statues, and stone art. "I think this is his study," Obi-Wan said, coming across a smaller room toward the back of the main area where a desk and tech station were located in a rounded alcove. A large, ridiculous statue of a Quarren warrior sat in the corner of the room, a menacing expression on the amphibious face. A stone bar with many exotic bottles of dark liquor sat on the other side of the room.

Quickly coming to join him, Sabé nodded and began to boot up the system, using her hacking datapad again to gain access to the password locked computer. Obi-Wan looked through the desk drawers and a stack of datapads nearby.

"What are we looking for, exactly?" he asked.

"It's one of those you'll-know-it-when-you-see-it things," Sabé said, beginning to scan through Tikkes various logs, transfers, and downloads for anything that jumped out at her. About ten very unfruitful minutes later, Sabé shook her head and cast an anxious look around. The chance of being discovered was only increasing. A sudden off-key notification chimed as she attempted to access another drive—an error sound. She grew far more interested, squinting at the holo readout in front of her. Obi-Wan leaned close too, intrigued. "Ah ha. This drive's been recently erased," Sabé said. "Maybe we can parse some files back if I download the datacore."

She drew out a small data transfer and storage device and hooked it up to the console, beginning the drive information transfer. "Artoo's processor might actually be powerful enough to be able to explicate some of this data," she muttered, halfway to herself.

Just then, Obi-Wan's senses alerted him and he straightened up, suddenly tense. "Someone's coming."

"Now?" Sabé whispered, immediately clawing her fingers into the device and watching the progress bar with nervous intensity. The door to the house wasn't visible from the study, but it was exposed enough that they ran the risk of being discovered easily.

"Well yes now," Obi-Wan whispered back, not sure what else he would mean. "Can you hurry?" They heard the sound of the door to the house open, and the tension leapt up another couple notches.

"Kriff," Sabé breathed, not disconnecting yet, betting against the risk of being caught.

"Sabé," Obi-Wan hissed, indicating the large statue in the back corner of the room. Sabé still waited, tensed to move the second the drive was transferred. The tech station completed even as shadows loomed, indicated someone was about to come in, and Sabé all but ripped the device out and leapt into the hiding space provided by the statue where Obi-Wan crammed himself too. Pressed up against each other in the small space, their breathing sounded incredibly loud and despite the serious risk and danger of discovery, it was distinctly awkward with their faces a mere couple of inches away from each other. Sabé turned her head one way, and Obi-Wan the other.

Tikkes and an unknown Pydyrian came into the study, where Tikkes went to his bar and began to pour drinks. Sabé tapped a button on her chest, activating what Obi-Wan recognized as a recording device.

"And did she agree to leave?" the Pydyrian asked in a throaty, weak voice.

Tikkes scoffed aloud, disdain thick in his voice. "No, the Senator is as stubborn as she is ugly."

"And have you any idea if she has discovered any… incriminating information?"

Tikkes handed over a glass to his unknown friend. "Don't worry, Senator Wojaine." Sabé's eyebrows rose when she heard the title of the unknown Pydyrian. "Even if she has, I won't fail the Confederacy again. Within just a few moments, the whole disgusting lot will be dead, I've made sure of it." He chuckled lowly, and the two of them clinked glasses in a dismal cheers. "Let's see how long these landwalkers can hold their breath, hmm?"

Sabé looked at Obi-Wan in alarm. We have to go, she mouthed.

Obi-Wan nodded and closed his eyes, concentrating. Somewhere on the other side and upper level of the house, there was a very loud crash. "What was that?!" Tikkes exclaimed, reaching into his robe for a weapon and moving to investigate. Sniveling behind him, the Pydyrian followed, also reaching for a weapon. Obi-Wan paused, then pulled Sabé along with him. This time, he led the way out, and they were able to slip out undetected thanks to him making something else crash, this time in the kitchen, drawing the two crooked senators into another part of the house.

Once they were outside, they began to run back toward the lifts. Sabé keyed a channel into her commlink as they went. "Typho! Captain Typho!"

"Typho here," came the reply.

"Do a sweep of your quarters, now," Sabé barked urgently through heavy breaths."Tikkes is going to try to have Padmé killed again, do you hear me?"

Typho's reply was short, but his tone conveyed that he understood how serious it was. "We'll lock down."

"I'm on my way, we'll be there in two minutes," Sabé said. "Get downstairs. You may need to get her offworld, Gregar."

"Copy."

They reached the lift and Sabé punched the button to go down more times than necessary. Her hair had become a little mussed and her urgency was marked by focus, not panic. "What do you think they're planning?" she asked Obi-Wan.

"Any number of foul things," Obi-Wan said, because anything was possible at this point. Bounty hunter? Poison? Bomb? This was turning into quite the plot with two senators attempting to hide something now. "They really don't want Padmé to speak tomorrow."

The lift arrived. "And all over a speech at a rally," Sabé muttered darkly, keying in the level command. They began to zoom downward. "This really isn't adding up." She then attempted again to hail her partner, and cursed foully when he again didn't reply. "Maybe something's happened to him," she remarked bleakly as they reached their level.

Together they sprinted down the hallway and requested access into Padmé's suites, where downstairs everyone was gathered, weapons out and looking nervous. "What's going on?" Padmé asked, alarmed, even as Sabé went straight in and began looking in common places for devices that shouldn't be there.

"Should we move the Senator or is it safer here?" Typho asked, crowding in on Obi-Wan with Padmé close by.

"We overheard Senator Tikkes saying everyone here would be dead within a few moments," Obi-Wan reported. "So I assume he plans to make the attempt here. How, we're not sure."

Typho took two seconds to make the call, his gaunt expression left no room for argument as he turned toward Padmé. "I'm evacuating you, now." She didn't offer protest. "Everyone leave everything, we're going back to the ship until I know more," he said. Without a word, two of the four officers present drew their weapons and prepared to escort the Senator safely out. The group moved out quickly, almost at a jog, with Artoo taking up the rear and Obi-Wan watching to make sure everyone was getting out. That's when he began to sense a building, explosive energy. His eyes flew to a conduit unit on the wall that was quickly overloading—a bomb, effectively, that had been triggered remotely somehow.

"Sabé," he said sharply, a sense of urgency close to panic rising up in him even as she moved toward him. But even as he was about to shout at her to run, he realized it was too late. In one swift motion, he ran instead toward her, slamming her to the ground and covering her body protectively with his while flinging his hand out to Force-throw the device as far away as possible—toward the transparisteel wall. He used the Force as best he could to then shield them from the explosion that came not even a second later. A deafening roar and blast of heat came that rocked what felt like the entire world, making everything shudder as everything seemed to crumble and break. Alarms sounded and the doorway out sealed shut as the glass keeping the ocean out shattered apart—Obi-Wan threw his hand up, attempting to soften the surge of ocean water that came pouring in, shockingly cold as it slammed into what had been just a moment before a beautiful and luxurious room. Air ceased to exist as oceanwater took over, filling the entire space. The water was so powerful and fast that even though he held on tightly, Obi-Wan felt Sabé torn out of his grip as the ocean claimed the room and then sucked both of them out into the deep.


Head pounding from the explosion, Sabé felt herself rocketing like a ragdoll into icy open water. Confused and afraid, she was cartwheeling and desperately clawing for anything to hold onto against the powerful drag of wild ocean currents. Which way was up or down became unknown to her as she struggled to stop spinning in the brutal tide she was caught in.

Obi-Wan! Her mind seemed to scream—he'd been there a second ago. She struggled to comprehend what was happening. A moment ago she'd been giving a last look over the room for listening devices or traces of tampering or bombs. Then Obi-Wan had run at her, stunned her when he knocked her to the ground, then the explosion, then suddenly nothing but water. We're a quarter mile beneath the surface or more. Even if Sabé could somehow decipher which way was up or down, she couldn't swim that far without needing to breathe, and the pressure change was dangerous if too quickly done. Eyes open, blinking against salty water, she could see nothing but dark blue all around her and bubbles made by the way she flailed. There was always a solution, always. But here and right now… she saw no choice.

A terrible realization gripped her hard in an ice-cold fist:This is how I die. She immediately thought of her parents and how they died. They drowned, too. A strange, twisted symmetry. Her sister's face flashed through her mind's eye, the most important person in the galaxy. Her only family. Zana would be alone now, forever. With no goodbye, out of the blue. Heartbreak and regret for the way she had done things and not done things swallowed Sabé whole and she ceased moving, taken over by the strangest daze. She didn't want to die. She couldn't. Not yet. Not yet.

She closed her eyes, grief hard in her chest. Soon she would gasp for air despite her best efforts—the body would just react, lungs would try to get oxygen. And then she would drown. A thousand memories and feelings surged through her as she prepared to take her last breath of water and die. The thing she saw and felt last? That stolen kiss with Obi-Wan, and the tenderness it had left in her soul itself.

And then suddenly, she heard him almost as clearly as if he were speaking to her. Obi-Wan.

Where are you?

Her eyes snapped open. Suddenly giving effort again, Sabé reached blindly, straining wildly both physically and mentally, trying to catch hold of hope, trying to survive.

I'm here!

She flailed, lungs burning and screaming for a breath, hands coming into contact with nothing and no one, eyes unable to see anything but dark cobalt water all around her.

And then there was a sudden blur of motion in front of her and she felt his hands, warm in comparison to the frigid water, grab hold of her wrists, pulling her close against him where he held on hard with one arm. Then a second later there was something metallic against her mouth. She recognized the feel immediately: A respirator. She gasped in hard and unsteady, clutching into his clothes as water swirled around them, threatening to pull them apart completely. He held on, refusing to let that happen. One, two, three breaths and she was able to steady herself and calm down. Again, she felt him speak to her in a way she couldn't hear with her ears.

I have you.

Her wild heart beat began to slow down. Trading respirator turns to breathe, their arms remained locked around each other tightly. A veil of bubbles rose up from them as they ascended slowly at a controlled swim toward the freedom that the Mon Calamari ocean surface promised.


Author's Notes: Been excited to write this chapter for years, since I've had it drafted that long. I feel like this is really romantic and would be a really cool series of scenes in a movie, especially the last part! Don't forget to leave a review and let me know your thoughts ya'll! xoxo