Entry V:
The Here and NowNo sooner had I reentered the cockpit than I was nearly knocked off my feet. Through the viewport, Trade Federation battleships gradually grew larger, filling our view of space. I reached my Master's side behind the pilot's seat as another blast shook the Nubian.
"Look, Master," I mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear. "Our old friends have decided to say hello again."
Qui-Gon peered at me strangely, as if I had just grown three more heads. It was the usual look.
"We should abort, sir! Our deflector shields can't withstand much more of this!" Ric Olié exclaimed suddenly. He was desperately fighting to control the ship as it rocked violently from every blast. The alarms that had been going off since I came in grew louder, if it was even possible.
My Master's face was a picture of calm. "Stay on course," he replied.
I could feel Captain Panaka glaring at our backs, waiting for an opportunity to rid him of us and take control again.
Such a pleasant man, I thought sarcastically.
Another blast buffeted the ship.
I looked to my Master, waiting for his plan to reveal itself. It was not what I had expected.
"Do you have a cloaking device?"
As Panaka yelled angrily at my Master, informing him of the obvious fact that the Nubian was not a war ship, and the Naboo a peaceful, nonviolent people, I turned my eyes back to the viewport. The Captain was right to feel angry and betrayed: He had ceased resistance when it became apparent he would not win. He had expected the Jedi to have a plan. I had been careless not to think up my own course of action as backup. After all, what good would a cloaking device do us if we couldn't even make it past the battleships?
The ship's power drive stalled for the briefest moment. Another alarm joined the cacophony already reverberating within my head.
"No weapons."
Qui-Gon spoke in a low whisper. I realized he had not expected this. He had been focusing too much on the living Force instead of the unifying Force. I regretfully had to admit I had done the same. I couldn't have chosen a worse time to obey my Master.
He turned his steely gaze upon me. I remained unmoving and strong, as I had been taught. Were we not to survive this…
Nothing happens by chance.
I suddenly recalled something from the briefing for this mission. Qui-Gon picked up on my thought lines.
"The Trade Federation uses pulsar tracking for its weapons. Spin the ship. It will make it difficult for them to get a reading on us."
An out of place thought occurred to me as the ship began a slow spin. What was Bant doing? As I clutched desperately for a handhold, was she swimming? Eating with Garen, who was taking downtime? Thinking of me perhaps?
You weren't going to say goodbye? You were just going to leave?
I've been assigned to the Agricultural Corps. I wanted to say good-bye, but…
/Obi-Wan/
My eyes refocused just in time to see the Trade Federation's battleship's hull looming dangerously close. I winced, expecting the two ships to collide.
"Shield generator's been hit!" Olié relayed.
An object, plucked from its place under a chair by the spinning of the ship, slammed into one of my shins. Somehow, I kept a groan from escaping. This was not turning out to be my day.
/Obi-Wan/ Qui-Gon called again.
I turned to my Master.
/Focus on the here and now./ He rebuked me lightly, having picked up on my wandering thoughts.
I stumbled over to a readout panel.
The droids that had been dispatched to fix the generator were being blown from the ship to space with unfortunate swiftness. "We're losing droids fast," I told the pilot.
We had no droids besides the ones already out there. Next time, maybe theQueen would better equip her ship. If there was a next time…
Another droid was blown from its perch.
Of course there would be a next time, I chastised myself, tightening my shields so Qui-Gon would not pick up on my thoughts again. Concentrate on the here and now!
I squinted at the small monitor. Just one droid left. Its blue-dome reflected the red light of blaster bolts wherever it was still unmarred by smoke and grit. One blast flew dangerously close. Without warning, the screen was filled with a shower of sparks. My heart skipped a beat. Oh, Force! We couldn't lose that droid! Captain Panaka was right: we would be sitting ducks.
My unwavering expression of calm began to drop away until the screen suddenly became clear again. The droid was headed for the air locks. As Olié announced the shields up and operational again, and piloted away from the battleship, I slipped into one of the copilots' seats to give him a hand, occasionally rubbing my sore shin. It was no one's fault but my own, I thought glumly. I should have been paying attention.
Ric Olié turned in my general direction to see if I had seen the same thing that he had. "There's not enough power to get us to Coruscant. The hyperdrive is leaking."
I nodded in agreement. Qui-Gon gave our only option. "We'll have to find somewhere to refuel and repair the ship."
"Here, Master. Tatooine," I said quietly after a moment of searching through the star maps Olié had pulled up. I glanced over my shoulder as Qui-Gon came to rest his hands on the back of my seat. "It's small, poor, and out of the way. It attracts little attention. The Trade Federation has no presence there."
Captain Panaka was not as easily convinced. "How can you be sure?" he asked urgently.
Qui-Gon did not turn to look at him. "It's controlled by the Hutts."
Panaka's eyes widened. "The Hutts?"
My chair creaked slightly as I swiveled to face him. "It's risky," I began slowly, "but there's no reasonable alternative."
I was beginning to wonder if my Master was rubbing off on me more than I had expected. Sometimes, I took one too many chances.
The Naboo captain was beyond disbelief. "You can't take Her Royal Highness there! The Hutts are gangsters! If they discovered her—"
Qui-Gon finally turned to face him as he interrupted the Captain's small diatribe. "It would be no different than if we landed on a planet controlled by the Federation, except the Hutts are looking for her, which gives us an advantage."
After a few commands, my computer transferred the coordinates for Tatooine to the pilot, who would input them into the hyperdrive. The corners of my mouth wrinkled, threatening to reveal a smile. I could sympathize with the steaming Captain; after all, how often was I on the receiving end of my Master's fierce logic?
More times than I preferred, that was for sure.
Qui-Gon whispered a job-well done to me as the ship blasted into hyperspace, then tapped my shoulder and headed for the door, Captain Panaka leading the way.
It was time to report to the Queen.
Briefly rubbing a still-smarting shin, I hurried after.
Various crewmembers that I didn't recognize slowed our walk to the throne room. They touched my cloaked arm or hand as I passed them, lavishly thanking me for rescuing them from the droids in the hangar back on Naboo. I bowed my head in return, but they continued to follow us, not knowing of our destination. Captain Panaka finally shooed them off.
"It seems you are quite popular now," Qui-Gon murmured.
I looked into his twinkling blue eyes and snorted, my displeased frown contrasting sharply against his amused smirk.
"Relax, Padawan," he told me. "You're always so serious."
Speak for yourself, I thought when an emotionless mask settled on his face as we walked into the throne room.
Despite what one might think, I was rather shy. It was years of practice and my dry sense of humor that prevented most from finding out. The crewmembers' praise had only caused my cheeks to burn bright red.
The Queen and her handmaidens appeared the same as they had previously. Despite the ship's earlier spinning, not one hair or layer of fabric was out of place on the young ruler. I couldn't help but wonder how she would react to the news of Tatooine.
Her quick agreement came as a surprise.
After an introduction of the droid R2-D2 that had saved us, the Queen assigned a handmaiden to polish it. It was the special handmaiden. Her name was Padmé. Though how the Queen could tell one servant apart from the other baffled me. They had been picked to be nearly identical in height and weight as the Queen. So to say they were impossible to tell apart with their hoods pulled low would not be an exaggeration.
With the droid taken care of, Captain Panaka, then my Master, stepped forward to inform Queen Amidala of our current situation. I wondered if she was able to fully comprehend our drastic situation. As such a young queen, I did not expect her to think about the possibility of the hyperdrive giving out before we made it to Tatooine. I remained in the shadow of my Master, however, silent and attentive. This was how I learned best.
"You must trust my judgment, Your Highness," Qui-Gon finally said in response to more protests from the Captain.
"Must I?" she asked.
I tucked my arms further into the sleeves of my cloak and shifted my eyes to look from my Master to the Queen. You must, I felt like saying. But blunt force against Queen Amidala so early in the mission would not earn us her respect.
The vivid brown eyes of the young Queen finally turned to Padmé. I saw the handmaiden give a subtle nod towards Amidala before moving to stand beside the droid.
The Queen complied.
Nevertheless, a deep frown distorted my mentor's aged face as he left the room. I bowed to the Queen, letting my eyes wonder briefly across Padmé's hooded face, then skirted past a Naboo guard to join my Master and question him about the seemingly important handmaiden.
I was surprised to find him already stopped, conversing quietly with a crewmember. With black hair and vivid green eyes, the young man held a striking appearance. We looked to be about the same age. I wondered how similar our lives would be if I weren't a Jedi. Another moment and he left us.
I waited quietly by my Master long after the young worker had left, giving him the time he needed to put his thoughts together. Finally he turned to me. "We have been assigned our beds for the night. I will share a room with Captain Panaka and Ric Olié. You will bunk with crew members."
Qui-Gon looked at me in such a way that I thought he expected me to be disappointed. I was not, however. I did not like being given false titles of rank or authority.
"It is already 2000 hours, Padawan."
I hid my surprise at his announcement of the late hour and turned expecting eyes upon him.
He smiled. "The evening meal is being prepared. Come let's eat. I'm starved," he added good-naturedly.
My stomach rumbled in agreement.
The evening meal was grand despite the fact that our transport had not had time to be properly stocked. There was a mixture of wonderful foods to choose from, all from the many different cultures that made up Naboo. My mouth watered at the sight of Thereol soup.
As a dish of royalty, I had not had the privilege of eating it since our mission to Ranefor when I was 19. Its delicate ingredients were made of rare herbs and plants. The slow roasted meat floating in the creamy white liquid came from a bird that was bred predominantly in the small town of Thereol, Naboo; hence its name.
Qui-Gon and I attempted to sit ourselves near the other members of the ship to reinforce our well-meaning intentions, but besides a few curious looks, we were left alone. Not even our earlier followers spoke a word to us. Qui-Gon saw it as a sign of uncertainty and a chance to practice patience. With that patience, we would earn their trust.
The Naboo traveling with us just needed time.
Jedi intimidated most people at first. Master Yoda said it was because they did not understand the Force.
But living in a time filled with greed and corruption made me wonder. Did they not trust the Jedi because they could not even trust themselves? Or was it an envious reaction? I could name many senators back on Coruscant who would gladly sell their souls to harness the mystical powers of the Force.
With these thoughts in mind, I stifled a yawn, bid my Master good night and retired to my quarters deep inside the belly of the ship.
That night I dreamt of an incident that had taken place many years before when I was a mere child on the verge of becoming a teenager.
I awoke in a cold sweat, rubbing a neck made sore by fancy delusions, and instinctively checking to see that my shields were still firmly in place.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Qui-Gon should not have been awakened by my nightmare.
Not bothering to pull my boots on, I slid off the top bunk I had been resting on and crept barefoot to one of the ship's small, round viewports. Behind me, the ship's crew slept peacefully.
I had befriended most of them before slipping into my bed. They now seemed happy to have Jedi aboard.
My eyes roamed down an adjoining hallway. Qui-Gon's room was meant for those with high rank. Physically, I shrugged and folded my arms over my chest. That my Master had been given rank and I was placed with the lower workers did not bother me. What bothered me was the old memory that had suddenly resurfaced in my mind.
I titled my head to look out the viewport at the stars streaking past one last time. Closing my eyes, I shook my head slightly and headed back to my bunk. They had long been dead, so why did I worry so? Why was I thinking such childish thoughts? Gardulla could no longer slither around a corner and choke me. Jemba could not taunt me.
I was a Jedi Padawan. My Master was Qui-Gon Jinn.
We were a team.
It would be a simple task to get the hyperdrive operational again once on Tatooine, right? The planet was renown for being abundant with Hutts…
They're dead, I told myself once more, pulling the covers up to my chin, fearful of the dreams that I was certain would come again to mock me in my sleep.
Qui-Gon had been there for me then.
Now, just a few weeks later, he is gone…and I feel so utterly alone.
I realize how odd that may sound, being on a planet such as Coruscant where one can step out their door and immediately come into contact with another living creature; where the airways above are always filled with ships of various sizes and shapes.
But I do feel so extremely alone.
And, oh Force, how it does hurt…
AN: Howdy again everyone! I hope you enjoyed this entry (and I hope you reviewed! ). But now I need some help from you, the readers. While working on Entry VI, which takes place mainly on Tatooine, I drew a huge blank about what Obi-Wan did or could have done while he waited for Qui-Gon. According to the Visual Dictionary for Episode 1, he watched over the damaged hyperdrive core, but I really do not want to write an entire entry about him watching it. I imagine it would be the equivalent of watching paint dry! So, any suggestions for what he could have done would be a huge help. Or, if you have the X-Box game Obi-Wan, information about that part of the game would be a big help too. Thanks!
May the Force be with you!
--Marie Kenobi
Page breaks now inserted where needed. (6/22/05)