CHAPTER FIVE
"Pack your things, Padawan." Qui-Gon called after Obi-Wan who had just returned from lightsaber training with the initiates.
"Where are we going?"
"The council is sending us to a penitentiary. Pack your tunics, but don't wear them. We're going undercover as Republic investigators. Apparently, some of the prisoners there are disappearing."
"A prison? You don't mean…"
Qui-Gon smiled ruefully. "Raxus Prime."
Obi-Wan's could not stop his eyes from rolling toward the ceiling. It seemed he and his Master never got a break. He had just received quite a ribbing from his colleague, Knight Bant, about her recent mission to Tolandria – known for its glorious sunsets, pink sandy shores, and crystal clear lavendar waters.
He threw his sweat-soaked towel into the nearby laundry chute and proceeded to pack his bag.
Raxus Prime was basically a toxic junkyard, an example of a world poisoned by industry. The Republic had just recently converted the refuse planet into a prison camp, housing some 30,000 galactic criminals. These prisoners were supposedly being used to clean up the planet and recycle some of the garbage that had been dumped there. It had been rumored that a huge corporation, Seinar Fleet Systems, had gone into business with the prison to buy reusable or obselete machinery found there.
Obi-Wan crammed his tunics down deep within his duffle. Raxus Prime was hot, its atmosphere nearly caustic, and other than the prisoners and prison guards, its only inhabitants were Jawas. If Obi-Wan claimed any detest for one particular species, it most certainly was Jawas.
He was not looking forward to this mission.
One week later, his booted foot stepped off the transport and hit a durasteel walkway. His hand immediately came up to cover his face. "Master! What is that smell?"
Qui-Gon stood next to him, composed as usual, only the slight wrinkling of his nose giving him away. "Most likely the odor of toxic sludge from a nearly ruined ecosystem, padawan. You'll get used to it."
I seriously doubt that, Master. Obi-Wan thought to himself as he and Qui-Gon walked along the platform that rose slightly above the various useless materials jutting out from mounds of debris. In the distance, he could make out the points of starships buried amongst the litter. The whole scenery had the eerie feel of an industrial graveyard, a chemical yellow fog drifting about them only adding to the ghostly ambience.
Ahead of them, rising above the debris stood a tall square rusted building, its glowing lights barely visible through the haze. Coming out from each side of the building were suspended walkways, each leading to similar buildings in the distance. There were no walls or laser fences -- no energy fields to keep in the prisoners. This entire planet was their prison and Obi-Wan could not think of any worse punishment for their crimes.
Qui-Gon approached the single door at the base of the structure and pushed a nearby glowing red button. The door immediately opened revealing a large, strongly built guard, brandishing an equally large repeating blaster. The man eyed Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan up and down, his gruff voice calling out. "State your business."
"We are here to see Warden Grimes." Qui-Gon answered politely, standing his full height, Obi-Wan noticed, equally matching the size of the guard blocking the doorway.
"Follow me." The man turned quickly and led them through a small foyer and directly into an elevator. They advanced twenty stories to the top floor, the door opened, revealing a large room, rather extravagantly decorated for a prison, thought Obi-Wan. There was artwork on the walls that looked quite expensive, thick carpet, and metallic furniture. Either the warden was drawing a decent income, or he was supplementing it somehow.
The guard that had escorted them had moved back into the elevator and left them in the room alone with a petite woman sitting behind a silver desk. She glanced up at Obi-Wan, grinned slightly and then motioned with a stylus for them to sit down upon the black durasteel bench that was against the wall.
Within a few moments, the door opposite them swung open and a robust man came into the room, holding out his hand.
"Mr. Jansen and Mr. Kent! Well, what do you think of my planet?" The man's face jiggled with his words as he shook Qui-Gon's hand and Obi-Wan couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of the massive wiggling chin.
Qui-Gon answered in low even tones. "I see some improvements since my last visit here, warden."
"Ah! So you've been to Praxus before? How nice. I don't recognize you however. Must have been before my assignment here. Come…come. No time for idle chit-chat. I'm sure you need to get down to business. I have all the files that you need right here. My assistant will show them to you. Marian? " He turned to the young woman and she rotated her monitor into Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's line of sight.
"You might as well pull up a seat. There is a lot to see. We are the largest penal institution in the galaxy, you know." The man chuckled, his whole body shaking slightly with his laugh. "I'll be in my office if there's anything else you need."
Obi-Wan glanced up at Qui-Gon who shot him an exasperated look before they were offered two hard metallic chairs to sit in while the assistant began scrolling through the vast amount of prisoner records.
Two hours later, Qui-Gon leaned back and rubbed his eyes. "We've seen enough. Thank you."
Obi-Wan wondered at Qui-Gon's impatience. The records they had seen were complete and up-to-date. There was nothing that had even risen suspicion in Obi-Wan's mind. No mysterious disappearances, no sudden unexplained deaths – at least that was recorded. The deaths that had been recorded were due to mechanical malfunctions, toxic exposure, and suicides. All detailed and all verified. Was Qui-Gon already giving up?
Warden Grimes strolled back into the room at the sound of Qui-Gon's voice. "Find everything you need?"
"Would it be possible for us to take a tour of the facilities? I find it amazing that you have come so far in such a short time."
"Why certainly! Just follow me. You know it hasn't been easy with the little help that I receive from the Republic."
The warden kept droning on and on about his accomplishments as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan followed him through a door and into one of the walkways leading to another building. Qui-Gon leaned toward Obi-Wan as they walked.
"Padawan. Find a way to question some of the inmates here. See if there's anything that you can find out. I'll keep our host distracted." He whispered.
"Yes, Master."
Obi-Wan lagged slightly behind the other gentlemen. He glanced down through the transparisteel windows lining the walkway to view the prison workers below, some moving antigrav loaders, some using torches to cut through the chunks and pieces of equipment and machinery buried amidst the rubbish – all under the watchful and heavily armed guards that stood in several towers rising above the sea of metallic debris.
He looked back ahead and saw Qui-Gon put his arm around the heavy warden while pointing off in the opposite direction, obviously giving Obi-Wan his cue to slip away. He turned down the next open walkway, hesitating only slightly after the seeing the rusted sign that read FEMALE FACILITY.
He opened the door and entered cautiously. Only a few steps in, another heavily armed and rather husky-appearing female guard approached him. "State your business."
"I am here at the warden's request. You will let me pass." Obi-Wan stated flatly as his hand moved outwardly.
The woman repeated his words and moved to the side.
Once inside the cubicle structure, Obi-Wan made a mental note of the layout of the facility. The innermost part was apparently open from the top of the building to the bottom floor. The outer walkway was narrow, surrounded by countless barred doors. This was the obviously one of the prison living facilities. Obi-Wan walked toward the center, leaned against the metal bar and peered over to see the main floor, twenty stories down. He was suddenly startled by what felt like someone pinching his backside.
"Better watch it handsome. You wouldn't want to fall."
The buxom woman wearing a gray unisuit strolled seductively away from Obi-Wan, entering her cell down and to the right, shutting and locking the iron door behind her.
His eye immediately caught a smaller woman who was kneeling on the floor, attempting to scrub away the rust that was so evident everywhere he looked. Feeling a pull from the Force, Obi-Wan walked over and knelt down to talk to her.
"How long have you been here?"
Her large emerald eyes shot up and she seemed to shrink back into the shadows of the room.
"I'm not a guard. Don't be frightened. I won't hurt you. I just want to ask you some questions."
"No questions." She timidly replied.
"I would like to help you."
A slight snicker escaped the lady's scarred face. "Help me? You can't help me! And if anyone catches me talking to you, I'm done for."
"What do you mean?"
"They'll throw me in the gutter! Once you go to the gutter, you don't come back. Now go away!" She hissed at him, her large eyes moving up to look behind Obi-Wan and then back down to her task, her hands vigorously scrubbing against the durasteel deck.
"Mr. Kent? Mr. Kent!"
"Huh?" Obi-Wan stood up and turned to see the warden approaching, his usual jovial expression creased into a frown.
"Did you get lost? You wouldn't want to do that now. My guards are well trained, but the prison is still a dangerous place. Some of these girls look innocent enough, but if you only knew what they have done, you'd be more careful."
"What about that one? What is her crime? " Obi-Wan pointed back toward the girl on the floor vigorously scrubbing.
"Her? That's Rena. She murdered her entire family in their sleep."
Obi-Wan's eyebrows arched up in surprise.
"Come…come. It's nearly lunchtime. Mr. Jansen is waiting for us."
Obi-Wan could see Qui-Gon's face through the small window at the top of the exit door.
Suddenly, an alarm blared and Obi-Wan heard the simultaneous slamming of doors, metallic locks, and electronic buzzing. The prison's security system was locking everything down. Qui-Gon was quickly through the door and at his apprentice's side. The warden moved to a side wall and accessed a panel hidden there, entered a code and quickly scanned the system read-out.
"What's going on?" Qui-Gon questioned him.
"Riot."
"A riot?" Obi-Wan repeated.
"Not to worry. It's contained. Only one cell." The warden replied as he logged out of the computer terminal and closed the panel.
"You call a one-cell incident a riot?" Obi-Wan had already noted that each cell only housed one inmate.
The warden snickered. "For this prisoner, it's considered a riot. Come, follow me."
Obi-Wan glanced curiously at Qui-Gon as they followed the warden who used his security badge to access the elevator that led them three floors down to the location of the supposed riot.
When they approached the cell, Obi-Wan was taken aback by the ferocity shown by the woman in the cell. She was clawing, biting, and scratching any guard within her reach. Her hair was long, dark, and completely untamed. Her unisuit was dirty and torn and she was screaming obscenities at the top of her lungs. Her elbow landed firmly in the stomach of one of the female guards until another brought forth a stun rod that sent the female prisoner sprawling to the floor.
Another guard moved behind the woman, grabbing a handful of her hair and wrenching her head back for the warden to see her face.
"What do you want us to do with her warden?"
"This is your third offense, Liera." The warden sneered, leaning down toward the woman, his beady eyes fixed upon her. "I'm afraid it's time for the gutter. Take her away!"
The three guards lifted the limp body from the floor and dragged her out of the cell. But as they passed Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, the young woman managed to drag her head up and seek out Obi-Wan's face.
Obi-Wan gasped as his eyes met hers. Behind the sweat and grime was a beautiful face and a pair of dark brown eyes that seemed to prick his heart. Obi-Wan impulsively grasped the heart pendant he had hidden beneath the vest of his disguise.
"The princess!" He gasped under his breath.
AN: Woa...that was a long chapter! But I'm trying to speed up the story a little so I won't bore you guys too much. ; )
Don't worry -- there are still several twists to go in this here plot : )