Believe 11

Qui-Gon picked up a second scanner and double-checked the midichlorian count the first scanner had given him. The numbers were the same. He set the scanner on the desk and did several calming exercises to bring his pulse back to normal. Then he called Anakin, to tell him the results. "So you say she passed the second level tests easily?" said Anakin.

He had chosen to stop by Qui-Gon's office personally to see Sam's results. "Yes and she even told me what I had in my pockets" said Qui-Gon "what was her midichlorian count?" said Anakin "see for yourself, you won't believe it otherwise" said Qui-Gon. He handed the scanners to Anakin. "Why two scanners?" said Anakin "I wanted to make sure it wasn't scanner error." said Qui-Gon.

Anakin frowned and looked over the results. "I can't be seeing this right?" said Anakin "you are, or were both in need of optics" said Qui-Gon. "That's impossible isn't it" said Anakin "well apparently not" said Qui-Gon. "How could she possibly have a higher count than I do?" said Anakin "I don't know but a few more parts per million and she is a midichlorian" said Qui-Gon. "You think she's the prophesied one?" said Anakin "its entirely possible" said Qui-Gon. "What should we do about it?" said Anakin. Qui-Gon looked pained for a moment "she said she wanted to go home" said Qui-Gon.

"That's no longer plausible, besides it would place her in unnecessary danger" said Anakin "I concur but how do we keep her here" said Qui-Gon. "Simple we arrange for those coordinates to get lost" said Anakin "that might tip her towards anger" said Qui-Gon "it is for her own good, besides I'm confidant my son can keep her interest" said Anakin. Qui gon nodded, "so I take he's interested in her as well?" said Qui gon

"Yes and I have every intention of encouraging that interest" said Anakin. "We do what we must," said Qui-Gon "yes we do" said Anakin. "Han will be here in a few hours, I'm going to talk to him" said Anakin "do you think he'll do it?" said Qui-Gon "he will when I mention how likely it is for maul to track her to her home" said Anakin.

"She could lose anyone she had back there" said Qui-Gon "I know, and it pains me to do that to her, but as she stands now he'd kill her too easily" said Anakin "we can't afford to lose a hope like that" said Qui-Gon "no we've lost enough for a lifetime" said Anakin. "Thank you my old friend you've given me hope today" said Anakin

"Your welcome, are you going to tell Luke?" said Qui-Gon "privately I think, I'll want to enlist his aid teaching her" said Anakin. "I heard he wants her to be a pilot just like him," said Qui-Gon. Anakin shrugged "she has the natural talent perhaps it's her path, it won't hurt to let her learn" said Anakin. "One last thing though" said Qui-Gon "yes?" said Anakin

"I had her hold Yoda's saber, she picked up where he hid the rest of the library and perhaps some more of the younglings" said Qui-Gon. "Good I'll send Corran and Kam to retrieve them, maybe they can take Han and keep him away a while longer" said Anakin

Sam stared at Luke in shock. He had kissed her, actually kissed her. "C'mon, I've got something I have to show you," said Luke he grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the door. They started to run after they left the med ward. "Luke slow down" said Sam he slowed somewhat, she was right they would get in trouble if they were caught running. He was just so excited to be out of there. He rounded a corner and stopped in front of a door. He smiled at Sam and punched in the door code. The door slid open and Luke called for the lights to turn on. They came on and Sam stared. In the center of the room was a huge object under a sheet.

Sam approached it, curious about what it hid. Luke walked right up next to it and pulled the sheet off. The sliding fabric slowly revealed a ship. Sam stared at it in shock. "I've been working on this for months" said Luke "its beautiful but what is it?" said Sam Luke laughed "man I love that about you" said Luke "love what about me?" said Sam "that everything's so fresh with you, even turning on a light" said Luke. Sam snorted and crossed her arms over her chest, she didn't know if she should be flattered or insulted. "Its ok I'm not trying to insult you, I just find it fascinating that our technology is so new to you" said Luke. Sam was still frowning at him but at least she no longer felt insulted. "So what did you name it?" said Sam "it's called a stealth x 313" said Luke.

Sam looked at him funny "that's really a dumb name" said Sam "oh really what would you call it?" said Luke Sam walked around the craft. It looked a lot like the explorer had, at least in the same design structure. "What did you design it to do?" said Sam, her hand was resting on its surface. Like she was caressing it almost. It was a strange thing, Sam had the impression the ship was somehow alive.

"Mostly to spy and get our people in and out of tight situations, " said Luke "then call it a shadow or something that is naturally stealthy," said Sam. Luke pursed his lips and thought about what she was saying. "A lot of ships where I come from are named after animals, that show the same attributes they want in the object," said Sam

Luke smiled at her "so what's a stealthy animal where you come from?" said Luke "well there are quite a few, there's the wolf, which is both stealthy and intelligent or any number of big cats such as the puma or panther or if you like aquatic life the shark is also a good bet" said Sam

"What's a wolf look like?" said Luke "well it's usually black or gray to shades of brown and some of them are about so high" said Sam she held her hands almost chest level. "They hunt in packs, and actually strategize their hunts, they run on four legs and have very powerful jaws" said Sam "so its not a cat?" said Luke "no it's a canine" said Sam "then it's the Shadow Wolf" said Luke.

Sam smiled, that was sweet. "Your letting me name your creation?" said Sam "yes you gave me some good advice, besides I never really liked the name anyways" said Luke Sam blushed and looked away. Luke was definitely nothing like Josh. Luke was watching her reactions.

He could pick up her emotions but not her individual thoughts. His dad said sometimes the force denied other force users the ability to read one another. It was as it should be, no one should know another's innermost thoughts. Luke approached her. "Sam what are you thinking about?" said Luke gently. He touched her arm and she turned towards him. "Luke you're real sweet, and please believe me if I wasn't already seeing someone else I definitely would be interested, but I just can't do that" said Sam

"Its all right you don't have to do anything, I just want us to be friends Sam, will you let me do that?" he said. "I, I suppose that's all right just no more kissing and stuff" said Sam. Luke smiled he knew she was fighting her attraction to him out of some loyalty to a boy still at home. A sudden horrifying thought occurred to Luke. "Sam what were you doing when you found R2?" said Luke "R2?" said Sam "the small robot I was retrieving" said Luke. Sam blushed again, oh great how do I say that without looking, well you know.

"I was with my boyfriend Josh, why?" said Sam "at the inspiration point?" said Luke. He smiled at her answering blush. "Yeah, why?" said Sam. "and you took the droid home with you, where did your boyfriend go?" said Luke "to his house probably, he dropped me off first, why?" said Sam. Luke looked upset and looked away from her.

"Sam, Maul obtained the location of your home from somewhere, who do you think told him?" said Luke. Sam backed away from him "no your lying, Josh would never do that to me" said Sam "he may have had no choice" said Luke softly "your wrong he's ok, I know he is" said Sam. Sam was backing towards the door. Tears had sprung in her eyes as she retreated from Luke's words.

A resounding hollow spot with in her told her he wasn't lying but she refused to listen to it . "Sam please let's talk about this, please," said Luke. Sam shook her head no. "your lying to me to get me to stay, aren't you?" she practically yelled at him. "Sam, I do not have to lie to you, you may be stuck here anyways, but I just wanted you to know the truth" said Luke "the truth? What truth? That you're an asshole, got it thanks" said Sam.

She ran from the room and down the hall. Leaving Luke to stare after her retreating figure. He hadn't wanted to hurt her, but she must face facts, Maul was known for taking that kind of action in a situation. He ran his hand through his hair, let out a few choice swear words, and then took off after her.

Sam kept running but the words refused to be out ran. They kept echoing in her mind; to the point they made her want to hurl. She was running headlong now, not even looking where she was running. At this point she didn't care if she ended up on the other side of the base. Instead she ran headlong into a group of people and knocked them sprawling.

She hit the ground as well, when the unexpected stop knocked her backwards on to her ass. She sat there in a daze for a moment; tears were still flowing down her face. One of the people she hit was slowly climbing to her feet. So were the others "are you all right my dear?" said the woman Sam started to nod yes then nodded no instead. She climbed to her feet slowly, and wiped at her eyes. "Easy child, whatever is the matter?" said a voice she recognized. Sam sniffled and wiped at her eyes again. "Anakin stop you're frightening her, it's all right my dear you just come with me," said the older woman

"I'm Mon Mothma, you must be Samantha am I correct?" said Mon Mothma. Sam sniffled and nodded yes and allowed the nice older woman to lead her away. "Now easy there sweet heart tell me what's got you all in a tither" said Mon Mothma