Chapter 8
The translator came to life as Anakin adjusted the last wires.
"Finally!" He tossed his tools aside. The room was already looking as much of a mess as his room in the temple.
Qui-Gon wasn't back yet, so Anakin decided to see what else he could find out about Beimeni. Maybe he could find something of use to the Chancellor.
The hallways were empty and surprisingly cool for how close to midday they were. The only sound he heard was the soft trickle of water running across the grooves in the floor tiles.
He made his way around the centre tower and ducked behind a pillar when he caught sight of two guards in front of Obi-Wan's door. There hadn't been any guarding the King's room. Was Obi-Wan back already? Then where was Qui-Gon?
Anakin waited to see if the guards would move. Just as he was deciding to try his luck elsewhere, the King stepped out of the room and Anakin slipped back behind the pillar. He pulled out the translator and listened to the King speak before the sound footsteps disappeared down the corridor.
The moment of truth. Did the translator work?
"Let me know the moment he gets back and make sure his guards give me a full report on his trip into town."
"Should he give you his report as well."
"No. The Zhelan needs to get ready for fifth hour. I'll be expecting him in my room."
Anakin scowled at the translator. He had a pretty good idea why the King would want Obi-Wan in his room. At least he knew the translator worked.
Even though he barely knew Obi-Wan, Anakin felt a strange kinship to him. Watto may have treated him kindly but that didn't make him any less a slave. Obi-Wan was a slave here too and he was determined to help Qui-Gon save him. If they took down the King somehow then they could save the boy and get Palpatine Beimeni in one go.
Once the guards were gone, Anakin snuck into Obi-Wan's room. It was lavishly decorated, much like the room he and Qui-Gon had been given, with the bed on a slightly lower level in the middle of the room. A white outfit was laid out and Anakin wondered whether the white colour had a meaning because Obi-Wan was the only one he had ever seen wearing it and he didn't seem to wear anything else.
He let his eyes wander over the outfit briefly, and he didn't doubt the King had picked it out.
Various books lay around and the translator told him they were nothing of importance, so Anakin continued to the other door that led out of Obi-Wan's room. This one took him down a small corridor to a large bathroom. The sound of rushing water filled his ears. Fountains spewed out continuous streams of water on either side of the room. Not even the Hutts were this careless with water on Tatooine. Anakin found himself wondering where the water was coming from.
He cupped his hands under one of the fountains and took a sip. The water here seemed sweeter than the water in the bathroom he and Qui-Gon used and even that water was better than any on Coruscant. And now he really was curious where it was coming from. He hadn't seen any water in town the night before, so it must be subterranean.
The door at the other end of the room led to the King's bedroom. Anakin pressed his ear against it and listened for voices. For a moment he thought the coast was clear but then the Force shot him a warning, telling him to retreat. Just as he closed Obi-Wan's door behind him, he heard the King open his. The Force had never warned him quite like that before, but he was lucky that it had.
o-O-o
"A friend of yours?" Qui-Gon asked once he had Obi-Wan's attention again.
"Yes."
"So, the King's jealousy is whimsical?"
Obi-Wan sighed. "You make him out to be unreasonable. I'm allowed to have friends. He knows exactly what Pjedro and I do, he has no reason to be jealous."
"I take it then, that he decides who your friends are."
Obi-Wan turned angry eyes on him but his silence told Qui-Gon he was right.
"So how can you claim to be free?" If only he could make Obi-Wan see, but it wasn't going to be that simple, it would seem.
"You should mind the way you talk about things you don't understand." Obi-Wan's voice was flat as he returned Qui-Gon's words back to him.
"Then we will talk about something else, hm? How about you tell me why I'm talking to a 15-year-old."
Obi-Wan's step faltered and the servant holding the umbrella reached out as if he thought Obi-Wan had stumbled.
"Usino," he said with a smile and the servant returned to his position behind him immediately.
"You thought I would forget?" Qui-Gon prompted.
"I hoped you would. And I'm 16, not 15."
"What's the difference?"
"At 16, you're of age on Beimeni."
Qui-Gon didn't need further explanation to that. Obi-Wan's reddened cheeks said it all. Although he was surprised the King would pay attention to details like that.
"So, the King has the power to stop you aging?"
Obi-Wan turned to him, panic rolled off him in waves even with his desperately neutral face. Qui-Gon knew he was testing him, especially in front of the guards, but this might be their only chance to really talk.
"No."
"Then who does?"
"I can't. Qui-Gon, please. You're messing with things far greater than you could possibly understand."
"There's something here on Beimeni, isn't there. Something the Republic could use."
"No, there isn't. There is nothing here for you." Obi-Wan busied himself by looking at the fruit on one of the trees nearby. Qui-Gon was impressed by how calm he was keeping himself. "Please believe me. It would be best if you left tonight. Go back to Coruscant and tell them that there's nothing here. Don't bring your war to Beimeni." He picked the fruit and handed it to Qui-Gon. "I know you can be a man of reason."
Qui-Gon looked at the juicy purple fruit in his hand and then looked Obi-Wan over carefully. "I will trust you if you answer this question truthfully."
"Alright."
"Can you forgive me for Melida/Daan?"
The surprise could have been expected but not the hurt. "I used to think it was me who owed you an apology. But I was a child, Qui-Gon and you have no idea what I went through because you were too stubborn to help me. So no, I can't, and I don't think I ever will."
Qui-Gon had asked for honesty and that was what he had got. He didn't know what he had expected to happen when he abandoned Obi-Wan on Melida/Daan, he probably hadn't given it much thought until he assumed Obi-Wan was dead. But he never would have thought this would happen. Obi-Wan was right, Qui-Gon hadn't earned his forgiveness, but he would. One day. Until then he could at least free him.
"I will inform the Chancellor that we will be returning to Coruscant then."
Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows but he actually smiled at Qui-Gon for the first time. "Thank you. We should head back to the palace for now. Noon is coming and you don't want to be out here when the sun reaches its peak. Since you have granted me your trust, I will talk to the guards about letting you ride to your ship this afternoon."
"You won't accompany me?"
"I have other business to attend to."
o-O-o
As they walked back to the palace, Obi-Wan finally had hope that things would get back to normal soon. He and Qui-Gon didn't talk apart from when Qui-Gon asked why the wells were being sealed shut. It was to stop the water evaporating. Soon they were the only ones left making their way to the palace. The streets that had been full, were empty now. Even the workers had abandoned the fields for the next 4 hours from 12 until 2.
"I suggest you and your Padawan get some rest until the heat dies down again. There isn't much else to dom and I can imagine Anakin has already done enough snooping around whilst we were out."
"Do you think he found anything interesting?" Qui-Gon asked rather boldly.
"Like I said, there's nothing to find here. Get some rest, Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan emphasised before heading up to his room.
He saw the outfit on his bed and pushed it aside to lie down. He didn't even want to take a shower, as ridiculous as that sounded. He just wanted to sleep. The relief of knowing that Qui-Gon was going to leave did nothing to soothe his mind of the memories he had already brought back. He had a feeling something was yet to happen that would bring everything in disarray again.
o-O-o
Qui-Gon was glad to see Anakin in their room when he turned up.
"Did you find anything interesting?" Qui-Gon asked.
The young knight shook his head. "Apart from the fact that the King has a thing for teenagers dressed in white. Nothing. Although I did find these." He pulled out the three lightsabers they had handed in the day before.
"Good work," Qui-Gon praised, clipping his and Obi-Wan's to his belt.
"What about you? Find out anything interesting?"
"Nothing valuable to this mission. It's time we told the Chancellor that we're coming back to Coruscant."
"And what about Obi-Wan? Did he agree to join us?"
Qui-Gon hesitated. He knew what he had to do but he wasn't sure how comfortable he was with it.
"Leave that to me. Do you still know how to remove slave chips? I think I know where Obi-Wan's is."
..oOo..
Hours bled into days, into weeks and then Obi-Wan lost all track of time. There was no way of telling time in the mines other than when sleep started and ended which never felt long enough. No one ever spoke, Obi-Wan didn't even know the others' names. He didn't have the energy for conversation.
The time before Kessel felt like a far away dream. Obi-Wan knew he was going to die in the mines, but he didn't want to. With no hope of rescue, he still wanted to live. How painfully human.
He worked day after day until everything hurt and then he worked until nothing ever stopped hurting. That was when he lay in what he called his bed but in reality was nothing more than a blanket on the floor, and looked at the red pulse on his arm. How far would he get before it blew him up? Would it go off if he tried to take it out? Even if he could, where would he go?
Restless sleep took hold of him before he could finish thinking and then work began again. His back strained under the weight of the rocks as they worked to build a new tunnel. Deeper and deeper, they went until Obi-Wan thought he might pass out. That was when he suddenly realised the chip in his arm wasn't blinking anymore.