III
Anakin awoke. Daylight streamed into the apartment. The weapons on the wall caught the sun and played it onto the floor in a kaleidoscope of light.
He sat up, looked around. He gazed at his mangled hand. Last night Padme had cleaned and dressed it, but it still burned. He heard stories about injuries like this—they either cut it off, or made you a new one.
Anakin noticed Padme standing in a far corner, fingering an axe. Anakin rose and went over to her.
"Good morning, Anakin," she said.
"Hi."
"Did you sleep well?"
"Well…" Anakin's back ached.
"Lord Maul will bring us cots when he returns," she said, all but emotionless.
"Returns? You mean he's gone?"
"He left earlier—"
"Let's go, Padme! We can escape to the Jedi Temple!"
"Anakin! Why do you show such disrespect to Lord Maul? He saved us from those rogue Jedi and gave us a place to stay. The reason he left was to get a doctor for your hand!"
"The Sith blasted my hand to begin with!"
"Lord Maul miscalculated the angle of the blaster bolt."
A shot of pain sprang through Anakin's hand as he recalled how he got the wound to begin with.
He was tired of arguing; he needed time to think. He went to the single window in the room and looked out. Coruscant teemed with life outside the thick glass. Anakin had listened to the starpilots on Tatooine talk of Coruscant—the home of the Republic, an endless city that covered an entire planet and stretched to the stars.
In the distance, Anakin saw a huge building, closer to the ground than the skyscrapers around it. It was pyramid-shaped, a hive of stacked boxes adorned with an enormous obelisk at every corner.
Anakin's instincts spoke to him. This was the Jedi Temple.
The front door slid open silently.
"Lost contact with Qui-Gon we have," Master Yoda informed the Jedi Council.
Master Mace Windu sighed. "Then we must send someone else. They can't force her to sign the treaty."
"Agree with you I do, Master Windu. But who to send?"
The Council erupted with suggestions and recommendations for the mission. Yoda listened to all of them and decided on one.
"Ki-Adi-Mundi, would you accept this mission?"
The old Cerean smiled. "Yes, my friend."
"All in favor?"
The vote was unanimous.
The doctor took Anakin's hand in his and unwrapped the bangages. He shot a sharp glance at the Sith; the Sith glared right back at him.
"What's your name, son?" the doctor asked kindly.
"I'm Anakin. Anakin Skywalker."
"Skywalker! The boy who won the Boonta Eve race?" he asked, suddenly excited. "A junk dealer named Watto convinced me to bet on you. I won a fortune!"
Anakin blushed. He had almost completely forgotten about the race.
"Tell you what, Anakin. I will build you a mechanical hand at no charge," the old doctor said. He got out a measure and gauged the distance around his wrist.
"A robot hand? Awesome," Anakin exclaimed, truly excited.
"It will be awesome, son, but there is a complicated operation to attach it."
"I don't mind," Anakin replied instantly.
"Very well, then." The doctor stood. With a curt nod to Lord Maul and a slight bow to Padme, he turned to leave.
"I'll be back in a few days, Anakin. Keep the wound clean and dressed."
And with that he was gone.
Maul left his prisoners later in the afternoon. It was time for an audience with Sidious.
Lord Maul took an air taxi to the residence of Coruscant's elite, 500 Republica. The Sith took the access stairs; he didn't need to call attention to his master.
The secret entrance to the home and office of Sidious slid open. The man himself sat at the desk, face covered by a black hood nearly identical to the one Maul wore. Darth Sidious beckoned him over.
Maul kneeled before the desk. "My master."
"Is the girl ready?"
"Yes."
"Good, good. Is there anything else?"
"Yes, my master. I have found a boy."
"A boy, Lord Maul?"
"He was in the company of the Queen, my lord. The Force is strong with him."
"You hid his presence from me, Lord Maul."
"I apologize, Master. I didn't mean anything by it."
"Very well. Take care that is does not happen again."
"Yes, my master."
"What do you want with this boy?"
"He is strong enough to be a powerful ally," Maul said carefully.
"There can only be two Sith at a time, Maul. You know this. Kill him."
"I wish to train him, Master," he pressed.
"The answer is no, Maul.," Sidious growled, anger welling at his apprentice's insolence.
A flash of crimson. The head of Darth Sidious tumbled forward off the shoulders.
"I will make the decisions now, my lord."
Anakin was bored. It had been hours since the doctor had left, and there was nothing in the apartment to do.
Padme slept on the hard floor. She hadn't done much besides sleep since he woke up. He realized she had never considered borrowing the cushion in the center of the room.
He started looking at the swords above him. He lifted one of its rack, tested its weight. He felt a strong feeling of déjà vu handling the sword—but the feeling soon passed.
Maul appeared behind him. "This is one of my favorites," he said. He took the sword from Anakin's hands, gazed at it. "It's Rodian. Few remember how to make real swords—everyone carries a blaster now. Except for those above the herd. Those who use the Force."
Anakin watched him examine the sword, explain its history. He didn't seem so bad now; maybe everything he had heard really was a lie.
"Teach me how to use it," he said.
Maul showed a slight smile. "Very well. But we'll start with something smaller."
He set the Rodian blade back on the rack and lifted a duller, but still outstanding sword. He gave it to Anakin. He selected a nearly identical blade off another rack.
Maul got into stance. "Do this…no, angle the blade higher…move your right foot up some…there," he instructed. "This is your default stance; you shouldn't need to deviate from it often. Go."
Anakin came forward, swung downward. Maul parried and pushed Anakin's blade away; he spun in for a stab to the chest—
Anakin dodged and rolled to the side. He blocked a slash, rushed his teacher. Maul swung, Anakin went under it—
The Sith Master found himself with a blade at his neck.
"Impressive," he said, stepping back from the boy's blade. "You've never done this before?"
"Never."
Most impressive.
Ki-Adi-Mundi docked his Jedi starfighter to the long-distance carrier. He entered the coordinates into the navicomputer. His astromech chirped.
"That's right, B3," he said. "Naboo."