Chapter 10: Life Aboard Ship

Padmé did not leave the bedroom after Vader left. She had no reason to do so, since she was imprisoned within these few rooms. She decided to see what was on the Imperial Networks. Sitting on the sofa, she turned on the holo screen with a small remote and began flipping through channels. However, all she found were a couple news channels and a sports channel that only featured podracing. Padmé refused to watch the news channels because their stories were highly biased in favor of the Empire. She did not think the podracing was biased, but she did not know anything about the sport, so she decided not to watch it either.

Standing from the sofa, she walked over to Vader's collection of holovids. He had a vast collection of dramas, war epics, and much to Padmé's surprise a few comedies. Padmé mused that perhaps the comedy holovids were to compensate for Vader's own personal lack of a sense of humor. Padmé smiled at that thought, but then returned to the task of selecting a holovid. In the end she selected a drama where a Jedi Knight and Government official fall in love, but their relationship ends in tragedy. After placing the holovid in its player, Padmé sat back on the sofa to watch the film.


Meanwhile, on the bridge of the ship, Vader was directing his crew.

"Are there any new developments in locating the rebels since the reports you sent me earlier this week?" Vader asked to an intelligence officer.

"No my lord."

"Very well. Inform me immediately if you receive new information." Vader said, and then turned to his Admiral. "Admiral, set our course for Dantooine."

"Dantooine? Why Dantooine?"

"That is the rumored location of the rebels according to our latest intelligence. Why is there a problem, Admiral?" Vader said with a hint of menace.

Shakily the Admiral responded, "No, no problem my lord. It shall be done." The Admiral finished by bowing to Vader.

"Good."

Turning his attention to a group of captains, the Admiral said, "Set our course for Dantooine."

"Yes sir." They responded in unison.


Padmé was nearing the end of her holovid. The Jedi and the government official had confessed their love to each other, but were now hiding their love from the public. Padmé found the premise interesting, but knew that in reality it would never happen. Jedi were trained from birth to avoid attachments, so you would never see a lovesick Jedi like the one in the film. No Jedi would ever obsess over one person like that; it was not in their nature, but Padmé conceded that it did make for an interesting holovid. Caught up in her holovid, Padmé did not realize that C3P0 and R2D2 had entered the bedroom.

"Miss Padmé, is there anything that you require?" C3P0 said.

"Huh?" Padmé replied as she quickly paused the holovid. "Oh, 3P0." She said as she looked up at the golden droid. "What time is it?"

"Late evening milady, R2 and I were wondering if you were hungry."

"Boop beep boop beep beep." R2 interjected.

At that moment, Padmé's stomach growled. "Yes, I think something to eat sounds good. I'm going to go to the kitchen and see what is available, you two can help if you want."

Padmé stood up from the sofa and walked out the bedroom door to the kitchen on the other side of the main sitting room. While she rummaged through the kitchen for something to eat, she asked C3P0 some questions.

"3P0, what do you know about your master?"

"Oh! Well he's commander of this ship and seems to be very knowledgeable in mechanics." Replied C3P0.

"How did you end up in his possession?"

"He built me when he was very young."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Has he always been called Lord Vader, or did he ever have another name?"

"Not that I am aware of milady."

Padmé fell silent in disappointment. She had hoped Vader's declaration that he would wipe C3P0's memory was only a threat. However, she should have known he would go through with it since he had been avoiding the question with her since they first met.

Padmé pulled the stuff she needed for her evening meal, and set to prepare it with 3P0 and R2's help. When she had finished C3P0 asked, "Is there anything else you require, Miss Padmé?"

"No 3P0, thank you." Padmé replied. Then she took her meal back to the bedroom to finish watching her holovid.


Vader walked into his quarters late in the evening after spending the entire afternoon and early evening directing his crew. He walked into his kitchen to get a quick bite to eat, and then walked to his bedroom to check on his houseguest and get some sleep.

When Vader entered his bedroom, he noticed the holoscreen was on, but was not playing anything. The holovid that had been playing had finished, but had not been removed from the player. Looking down at the couch, Vader saw that Padmé had fallen asleep. Her head was resting on one of the couch's throw pillows. Vader smiled, he liked her when she was asleep. She was peaceful and did not ask him annoying questions. Just as Vader was about to walk away from her, she shivered slightly in her sleep.

Using the Force, he opened the closet and floated a blanket toward him. He then gently draped the blanket over her, careful not to wake her up. Once he was sure she would not awaken, he turned off the holoscreen and placed the holovid back on his bookshelf. Then, he went to change into his own sleepwear and went to bed.