Hi guys! My, the chapters have gotten amazingly long haven't they?
KenobisGirl: I haven't actually seen Swordfish, it's now on my 'to do before i die list'....
Annabellea: Have you gotten round to reading any of Cassia's fics yet? If so, what do you think of them?
****Pictures hanging in a hallway
And the fragment of this song
Half remembered names and faces
But to whom do they belong?
- The Windmills Of Your Mind
****Obi-Wan clenched his eyes shut and waited for something to happen. He waited for guards to start screaming at him, for the computer to explode or something. After 10 seconds he cautiously opened his eyes. Nothing. The computer was back to it's old, strangely comforting screen. (Strange, I don't remember getting back to my old screen………)he looked down at the keyboard where his fingers lay still, trembling slightly but still for the first time in over 4 hours.
A siren went off and Obi-Wan physically jumped, scared. (They've found me, they know it was me. I'm so dead. They're going to kill me. They're going to----)
"Beginning of mooncycle. Get going you slaves. Get your rations." The guards voice cut through the boy's frantic thoughts like a hot knife through butter. (M-mooncycle?) He looked up at the clock and was amazed to see how late it was. According to the chronometer he had spent around 2 ½ hours in the mainframe, and another 2 hours just trying to access it.
(Far out, no wonder they detected me. I was in there for heaps long. 2 hours and I didn't even notice. Too long.)
Obi-Wan shoved the maps up and under his tunic and kept his legitimate work in his trembling hands. He got up and tried to act normal but once again, just that task seemed elusive. It seemed to him that everyone that knew what he had done. (Yeah, it's fine. I'm just 456. I haven't done anything that I shouldn't have. I'm innocent, totally and completely innocent. Look at me! Do I look like I would break the rules? Do I really? I mean, seriously…..) His thoughts trailed off into silence as a guard approached him. He didn't realize that he had stopped breathing until the guard walked straight past him without even a second glance. Obi-Wan let his breath out in a whoosh and had to lean on the door to try and stop panting.
"Oi! Keep moving if you want to get your rations!" The guards voice cracked like a whip causing several slaves to glare in Obi-Wan's direction and mutter quietly about losing their food.
Obi-Wan gave a curt nod and then nearly ran down the hall to get to the cafeteria in the quickest time possible. (I wonder what Billy will say? I'll bet that she'll be heaps impressed! I got the plans! I got our escape route! She'll be stoked!)
****"YOU DID WHAT?!?!" Billy almost screamed the words and then ducked her head as everyone turned to look at her. "You idiot!!! You stupid IDIOT!!! How could you be so dumb?!?!?"
(Well, ok, it wasn't the reaction that I was aiming for but……)
"That whole time??? You could have been detected at any time!!! And then what would have happened?? And the guards? How do you know that they weren't keeping tabs on you? Do you have ANY IDEA how easy it is to view someone else's workings on a computer while being on one yourself??? 456!! How could you possibly?? How could you???"
(Blah, blah, blah)
"456!! You stupid &$*#*&^$*&!!"
(That wasn't very nice………I wonder what it means.)
"You stupid *&^#*&@#*&^(*&!!"
(Maybe shes coming around and starting to give me praise in her own language or something like that)
"I can't believe that you could be so NAÏVE!! How old are you??? 10???" With that she gave him a resounding whack behind the head, "Let THAT be a lesson to you!"
(Ok then, maybe not…..) He ruefully rubbed the back of his head and gave her his best 'sad-puppy-dog-look'.
"Look, I'm really sorry Billy, but I couldn't just pass up a chance like that. Not when it practically drops into my lap like that. Isn't it strange the way that I suddenly just knew? Almost like a godsend don't you think?" he looked optimistically at Billy's face and his own drooped. (No? Ok then, so it wasn't a godsend. So maybe it was the devil tempting me and I failed miserably.) "But seriously Billy, I couldn't pass up a chance like that. The maps that I got could be the deciding factor for a successful escape. Know we can finally work out how to get out of here. Tonight we can plan the route. Er……"
"So, is there anything else you should be telling me?" Billy raised her eyebrows, she knew that the boy was stalling and that couldn't be a good thing.
"Er……well, uhm. You see, what happened is……..if I-I was to tell you that……."Obi-Wan knew that he had to tell her but now that it was time he just couldn't say the words.
"Out with it 456." Billy's voice had a dangerous edge to it.
"Wehavetoescpereallyreallysoon." The boy's voice tumbled over itself and in his rush he had forgotten to separate each word.
"Huh? What?"
"Weneedtogonow!"
"Calm down! Speak slower, I can't understand a word that you're saying."
Obi-Wan took a deep breath, "Well, when I was on the computer, I was…uhm….."
Billy narrowed her eyes, "I'm not going to like this am I?"
"Uhm, no. I was detected."
"You were WHAT?!?" Billy's voice screeched even louder this time. She stopped herself from punching the boy's innocent face in front of her and breathed carefully, "456. Tell. Me. The. Whole. Story. From. The. Start. Now." She carefully enunciated each word making sure that Obi-Wan knew how serious she was.
Obi-Wan did know. He swallowed fearfully and started his story, "Uhm. Well, I was just working away when suddenly I was in the mainframe."
Billy's eyes narrowed even further, "Suddenly in the mainframe?"
"Uh, yeah. I was just working away and suddenly I was just in the mainframe. I truly don't know how it happened."
"Right, don't tell me. Your fingers suddenly got a mind of their own and started typing their own commands, without you having any knowledge of it." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Uh, yeah." (How did she know?) The sarcasm was lost on Obi-Wan.
"Fine. Go on." Billy's eyes were looking extremely dangerous. Obi-Wan gathered up his courage and tried unsuccessfully to drape it around his shoulders. He gulped and continued.
"Well, when I found out I was in the mainframe I decided to do some exploring. I had lots of time and no one seemed to be paying any attention. So I went off searching for anything that could help us in the escape. I found the maps." Obi-Wan thought over if he should tell Billy about disabling her systems but decided against it. (Don't want to give her another reason to yell at me. Besides, she'll have another fit and I don't want to get her hopes up in case it doesn't work….)
Billy caught him hesitating, "And then…..?"
"Well, then that's when somehow the system detected me. It chucked me out."
Billy closed her eyes and tried to stop herself from screaming with frustration, "456. Do you realize that they can trace your trail back to the console that you were on?"
Obi-Wan gave a wicked grin that split his face in two, "Well, you see. Before the system had a complete lockdown, I managed to lay a false trail making appear that someone offworld had tried to access secret files."
Billy gaped, "And, pray do tell, how did you manage to do that?"
Obi-Wan shook his head softly, "Actually, I have no idea. It's like my fingers started whizzing around by themselves. I just knew, like instinctively, knew that that was what I was doing and I knew that I had to do it. But I still don't know how I did it." The young boy turned wide eyes to the girl seated next to him, "I'm scared by it Billy. I don't know how I can do this stuff. It doesn't make any sense. I don't know what I'm doing, but I do know what I'm doing. I don't get any of it. The layout looked familiar, like I'd seen it many times before. My reflexes just take over and I just do this stuff without knowing how. I don't understand why Billy."
Billy felt her heart melt and tried her best to console Obi-Wan, "I don't know either 456 but it sounds like you're starting to get flashes of your memory back."
"Yes, but what if I don't like what I did in my previous life? What if I was like a bounty hunter or a horrible person?" Obi-Wan was coming to the core of his fears.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is now. You should---"
(Keep your focus on the here and now. Don't center on your anxieties Pa----)
Billy noticed that Obi-Wan's eyes had become glazed, "456? Hello? Anyone home?" For emphasis she waved her hand slowly in front of the boy's face – with no respone.
"Huh?" Obi-Wan woke up, "What were you saying?" (Where did that come from? Where did I hear that? I've never heard that in my life! Who said that? Who says stuff like that?)
"I said, that don't worry about what happened in the past. You're you now and even if you were a horrible person I don't see why you can't change. Forget about it. Let's get back to the original subject." She waved her hand.
Obi-Wan found himself mesmerized by her waving hand until he gave himself a mental shake, (Get over it. It's a waving hand. Big deal. As if that means anything. Billy's right. Center on the escape. Everything else can come later). "You're right Billy. Sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry about. So, you reckon that you laid a false trail. Is a good one?"
Obi-Wan grimaced, "No, if they do their job properly they will find faults in it and ultimately find out that it is fake."
"So they could possibly trace it back to you?'
"Yes. It's highly possible."
Billy let out a breath through clenched teeth and muttered a very un-ladylike remark. "Well, then. That just means that we have to get out of here sooner. How long do you think the red herring will last?"
"If they're dedicated to their job, no more then 2 days."
"Great." Billy couldn't keep the sarcasm out of her voice, "Wonderful. So we need to leave really soon."
"Uhm, yeah. I guess that's what I've been trying to say."
Billy straightened her shoulders and her eyes hardened with resolve. "Fine then. We leave in two days. Tonight, we plan our escape route. Actually, we'll do that now. C'mon, let's retire to the dorms while there's still light." She got up and Obi-Wan followed. Billy grinned back over her shoulder, "It's going to be a long night. Hope you got some coffee!"
(What's coffee?)
****Qui-Gon sighed as he crossed another planet's name off the list. (Nothing once again.) He put down the clipboard and moved up into the cockpit. River wasn't back yet. He had gone to the other auction which was practically on the other side of the planet. He had taken the swoop bike but as Qui-Gon watched the sun continued to fall, casting wonderful shades or red, orange, yellow and ochre on the quickly fading landscape.
(Obi-Wan would've loved seeing this) The older man quickly shook himself, "Have to stay strong. There's no point breaking down halfway if I'm to get the Obi-Wan back." He drilled the lesson into himself then sadly thought, "I can't believe it's nearly been 6 months. ½ a year. ½ a year since I've seen my Padawan." Qui-Gon reflected the years that he had been glad of never seeing a Padawan, the betrayal of Xanatos too much for his tender heart and grinned at life's little ironies. (Last year, I would've given anything to never take a Padawan again and now? Now I would give anything to get my Padawan back.) "The way things change over time." Qui-Gon gave another sardonic grin.
Pushing aside his thoughts he picked up his comm.-link and spoke quickly into it:
"River?"
"River here. Yes Qui-Gon?"
"Did you find anything?"
"Sorry, nothing." River knew how much each negative response hurt the older man.
Qui-Gon let go of a breath he had been holding, "That's alright. It's getting dark. I'll meet you ½ way with the ship. I want to keep moving."
River nodded, he didn't expect anything. They had been on the move ever since River had known the older man, "Right. I'm on my way now. I'll turn on all the lights, so you know where I am. Also activating the beacon."
"Right. See you soon. Qui-Gon out."
River clipped the comm.-link back on his belt. He didn't know if he was glad or sorry that Obi-Wan hadn't been found yet. He truly did love Qui-Gon. The man had treated him better then River could remember and he knew that once Qui-Gon found his Padawan that although the caring between them wouldn't be completely lost it would be severely reduced, being focused on Obi-Wan. River sighed. (It doesn't matter. You're just helping him locate his apprentice. That's all. Keep it simple stupid.)
River gave another sigh and swung his leg over the swoop bike and sped off to meet Qui-Gon.
**** ****Review!! It gets better, just you watch.......(well, sort of better. You know towards the end i really started to hate this story.....)