FIVE:
"This ring…" said Padmé, handling the kyber crystal ring that Obi-Wan had obtained, "Who do you think it belongs to?"
Obi-Wan glanced down at her hands as he sat beside her in the bench at the back of the cockpit. Anakin guided them into docking with the Naboo shipping vessel.
"If I were to guess," he said, "I'd say someone in the Senate."
She turned it over in her fingers. It looked worn, well-used, but used for what?
"Do you think it's someone who can use the force?" she asked.
"Maybe," he said, and then added: "Probably."
She glanced up at him for his indecision and grinned at him. He returned her grin and shrugged.
"I suppose we'll find out," he offered.
"It could have just had sentimental value," she said, placing it on her pointer finger and looking it over. It was large and hung from her finger, clearly a man's ring. "I can't imagine someone would want it for ornamentation. It's not very nice."
Obi-Wan chuckled.
"Who are you to decide what's not nice?" asked Anakin distractedly as he aligned their transport with the larger vessel.
She rolled her eyes and chose to ignore the padawan.
Obi-Wan took her hand in both of his and lifted the ring closer for inspection.
"If I were to guess, I would think it's been used," said Obi-Wan.
"Used?" inquired Padmé.
"Yes," said Obi-Wan. "Used with the force."
"How in the world would someone use a kyber crystal like this?" asked Padmé, staring at the ring.
"I suppose anything is possible," said Obi-Wan, his eyes on the crystal.
Padme glanced at Obi-Wan.
"Why don't you try it?" she asked.
Obi-Wan stared at her.
"Try what?" he asked, though he seemed to know what she was getting at.
"Try to use it," she said, feeling a little smile tug at her lips.
He opened his mouth as if he didn't know what to say.
"He's not attuned to that kyber crystal, Padmé," said Anakin, deep in his docking maneuvers. "He can't use it."
She felt a twinge of annoyance at Anakin's intervention, but soldiered on.
"It doesn't look like anyone is," she said with a shrug, "so why not try? Maybe you'll learn something. Maybe you'll sense something."
Obi-Wan smiled at her, a small thing. He slid the ring from her finger, and it disappeared into his fist.
"Maybe," he said, without commitment.
There was a shudder and a large clunk as the sound of machinery and metal being rounded into place echoed through the cockpit. They were secured, docked against the Naboo ship.
Padmé drew a great breath and heaved it out, calming herself and telling herself this was just like all those times she had to speak in front of the Senate. She had been pretending to be something she was not since before she could remember, and she was good at it, or else she would have never been elected as Queen, or as Senator.
"Well, there we are," said Anakin as he stood, enlivened by the prospect of some excitement. He removed the cockpit transmitter from his temple and tossed it on the controls, secured his lightsaber, and grabbed his cowl. For a brief moment, she envied his wanton enjoyment of the type of situation she found to be extremely stressful.
Turning to Obi-Wan, she saw he was already watching her, perhaps with concern. She smiled at him in assurance and pulled his shroud up to hide his comely face.
-8—8—8—8—8—8—8—
At the docking port door, Padme stood in the center with Obi-Wan and Anakin flanking her sides, shrouded like the mysterious guards of a traveling merchant. She checked the braid, slung plebeian-like over her shoulder, and she rounded and laid back her posture unevenly, as if she were used to getting what she wants and bored with the prospect of standing.
The doors slid open with a hiss and mist streamed out between the ships, equalizing pressure and atmosphere. After a moment, she made out a couple of ship workers, one a security detail and the other appeared to be administrative, standing in the doorway.
"We've been messaged that you've come to check on our shipments, ah… Miss - er," began the administrative fellow.
Padme wasted no time approaching the ship and stepping aboard. She glanced around, taking it in. It was standard for shipping cargo, no frills, and none of the cargo was visible from where she stood, only a long hallway on either side.
"Kensky Wan, thank you," she clipped, as if she didn't have time for this. "Where are the shipments?"
"We will need your orders, if you will," said the fellow, though his voice was weak.
She approached him and glanced him up and down, and she watched as he wilted beneath her scrutiny. She wondered for a moment if he had something in his past he didn't want to come out. This appeared to be too easy.
"What is your name?" she inquired.
"Ah, Corjoh, ma'am," he said.
She gazed at him a moment, then said, "Well, Corjoh. My orders have been sent to you already, so if you would take the time to review them, you will see everything has been arranged. I'm to handle the negotiations once we reach port. Apparently, they weren't handled very well last time. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
"No, ma'am," he replied.
"Would you show me to my quarters, please?" she clipped.
"Yes, ma'am," said Corjoh, "right this way."
Her quarters were relatively nice, for a shipping vessel, and held a suite of rooms consisting of a working room with a desk and holo, a bedroom with a small 'fresher, and a servants' quarter. It was more than she'd expected.
"Will this suffice, Ms. Wan?" asked Corjoh.
"Call me Kensky," she replied, gracing him with a tight smile.
"Kensky," he replied, but seemed very uncomfortable calling her that.
"It will do," she said, dismissing him.
Once the door was shut, she noticed Anakin relax, but she didn't… not yet. She turned to them both abruptly.
"Search the quarters for eavesdropping devices immediately," she ordered, maintaining Kensky's character.
The Jedi understood and ransacked the place in search of bugs.
Padme sat down at the desk and began pulling up blueprints of the ship on the holo. As long as she had time, she was going to know the layout of the ship and what exactly it was carrying and where before anything happened with pirates.
"It's clear," she heard Obi-Wan call from the other room.
She let out a sigh of relief before she realized she'd done it. As Obi-Wan came into the room to join her, she noticed the blue of the holo reflected on his face as he eyed it with interest.
"Studying already?" he inquired.
She smiled.
"You were better than I could have imagined," he said to her, his eyes still on the holo.
"It was easy," she demurred.
He glanced at her.
"It wouldn't be easy for everyone," he replied. "I'm glad to have you with us."
Padmé felt like blushing, but she refused to do so.
"I guess that's right," said Anakin, loping into the room and plopping himself down in a chair on the other side of the desk to regard the holo. His eyes traveled intently over the ship's plans, appearing to memorize it all in one mental swoop. Distractedly, he added: "I mean, you did better than I thought you would."
"Thanks," said Padmé, hardly feeling it.
He shrugged, as if he'd done her a great favor.
Padmé stood and clicked off the holo, pretending not to notice Anakin had been studying it. Turning to Obi-Wan, she smiled.
"So, what do we do now?" She asked him, ignoring Anakin's grunt of protest.
Obi-Wan rubbed his chin in consideration. "Well, I suppose we could do whatever we want," he said. "We could stay in here, or wander the ship."
"Basically, we're just waiting for the pirates to arrive?" asked Padmé.
"Basically, yes," said Obi-Wan.
"What about food?" asked Anakin, switching the holo back on.
Padmé groaned in exasperation.
"Have you never been on a ship before?" She asked him. "Of course, they'll feed us."
"You know I've been on a ship before," he replied, glowering and flicking through blueprints stored in the holo database. "I was just wondering when."
Waving a hand, she said, "I'll go find out."
"Not alone, you won't," said Obi-Wan, interjecting himself.
"As you like," allowed Padmé.
"You can handle this, Master?" asked Anakin, who didn't seem to want to go anywhere with Padmé at the moment.
"Yes," replied Obi-Wan. "And I suppose you can study those plans while we're gone."
"Thank you, Master."
Obi-Wan nodded and glanced to Padmé.
"Shall we away?" he inquired.
Padmé chuckled and opened the door.
-/-:-/-:-/-:-/-:-/-:-/-:-/-
As the door shut behind them, Padme had a sudden feeling of being alone with Obi-Wan, even though she wasn't. There was a whole ship of cargo freight workers around, somewhere.
"Now, I wonder where we are to find whoever is in charge, here," murmured Padme, halfway to herself.
Obi-Wan glanced down the hall towards what looked to be an opening.
"Let's try that," agreed Padme, and they moved through it to find themselves in a cavernous space filled with aisles of supply crates.
"This must be the docking port," said Obi-Wan.
At first, all they could see were various droids working the shipments, moving boxes around, counting things, arranging wires, changing sockets, but as they wandered down the aisles, they eventually came into view of an observation deck. Through the window of the deck, the man spotted them and stood up. He pulled a comm toward his mouth and they heard a crackling over the system.
"Who are you?" he asked though his disembodied comm voice.
Padme glanced at Obi-Wan.
"How are we supposed to reply?" she asked.
"Yell?" offered Obi-Wan.
Padme rolled her eyes, and instead started walking towards the observation deck. Obi-Wan followed along with his shroud. The man watched her warily, and as she got closer, she noticed him glance at a rifle sitting near his chair. Padme lifted her hands in a peaceful gesture and came up to the door.
"I'm the negotiator," she said through the plexi-door, wondering if he could hear.
Apparently, he did, for he opened the door and welcomed them in.
"Well, why didn't you say that at the beginning?" he asked.
"Because you wouldn't have heard me," she replied.
"Ah," said he. "Well, how can I help you?"
"I need a list of exactly what you've got and where," she said, sitting in a chair and crossing one leg over the other.
"Don't you already have the docking files?" he asked.
"You know those are never accurate," she said, gazing out over the busy droids in the cargo hold. "I figured only you would know what we really have, here."
"Ah, yes," he said, perhaps looking a little puffed up over her words, "I suppose you would be right about that."
She gave him a tight smile.
"Do you have a holo I can look at?" she asked.
He sat down in the other chair and flipped a switch. A holo with charts flickered into view, and Padme fell to absorbing them as quickly as she could. After a few moments she noticed the man start to shift.
"So," he said.
"Hm?" she inquired half-heartedly as she turned to another page of holo, using the flip-knob.
"What's a pretty lady like you doing negotiating for a boring shipment like this?" he asked.
His question made her look up from her work and observe him properly for the first time. He was reasonably young, she realized, and not terrible-looking. Definitely not her type, though. She realized she'd have to cut this off at the head.
"All in a day's work," she said, finishing with the files and flicking off the holo.
"What about after a day's work?" he asked. "There's a decent cantina down on the mess deck."
She chuckled.
"Maybe I'll see you there," she said.
"Tonight, then?" he asked.
"Oh," she said, feigning ignorance, "You were asking me on a date?"
"Or… not?" he inquired, faltering.
"It's just that I don't think my beau over here would approve," she replied, indicating Obi-Wan with a vague wave of her hand.
Obi-Wan must not have expected this, for he emitted a vague choking noise from within his shroud.
"He's the jealous type and, as you know, works in defense and security," she said. "He's a mercenary."
"Ah," said the man, clearing his throat. "I did not mean to offend."
The man stood at once and moved further away from Padme, which she found a little amusing.
"Is that all you need, ma'am?" he asked, at once very formal.
Padme stood.
"Yes, thank you," she replied, and then gave Obi-Wan a little smile as they left.
Once out of earshot, Padme felt apologetic.
"I'm sorry," she said, "I felt it was the best way to shut him down."
"It only took me by surprise for a moment," he replied, "but it was quite a moment."
Padme laughed.
"But if you think about it, it makes it even less likely that they might suspect you for what you really are," she said.
"Yes, you're right," he replied. "But shall we visit that cantina?"
"I think we shall," she replied. "Wouldn't that be the best place to learn what's really going on around this vessel?"
"It certainly sounds like an interesting place," he said.
They walked in silence for a moment as Padme hesitated to bring up her next thought.
"Should we get Ani?" she asked.
"I think he would revolt if he knew we got food and left him out," said Obi-Wan.
Padme sighed.
"I suppose you're right," she said, though she wasn't looking forward to an evening of being antagonized by Obi-Wan's padawan.
It must have showed because Obi-Wan took her arm.
"Well," he said, "We could go and not tell him."
Padme stared at Obi-Wan.
"You would do that?" she asked.
"I'm just saying," he said, gesturing with one hand.
"Oh," she said, a thought occurring to her, "We could bring him take-away."
"We could," he said, non-committal, "Or just have it sent to our rooms for him."
"Or that," she said. "And send him lots, so he can't complain. Or at least we won't hear him complaining because we don't be there."
"I think you might be a bad influence on me," he said to her thoughtfully.
Padme laughed.
"No, please, don't tell me that!" she said to him, feeling as if the mere suggestion would fill her with anxiety. He patted her arm with his free hand.
"He'll live for one evening studying the holos and eating takeaway," said Obi-Wan, and his neglect of his padawan was final. "We'll make less of a stir, just the two of us. Our mission is to gather information that might help us find out who's behind the pirates about to attack. We're also to see if there's anyone on board who might be in league with the pirates. Keep an eye out for anyone behaving, I don't know, secretively."
"I can do that," she said.
o-90-06-90-06-90-06-90-06-90-o
The cantina was small and crowded, filled with a dense atmosphere that was equal parts humidity and smoke. Padme didn't think it was something that she normally would have liked, but tonight was rather exciting. She found she was enjoying the experience of subterfuge with Obi-Wan. Well, she was enjoying it so far, at least. Who knew what it would be like once pirates started shooting at them. "Not enjoyable" was her guess. For now, however, she was able to file future anxiety away and enjoy the moment.
She and Obi-Wan sauntered their way into the cantina and sat on one side of a booth in a good location for inconspicuous eavesdropping. As they began to watch and listen, a tall, narrow alien with a lap apron arrived at the small table.
The alien, who looked to Padme like a person-sized version of a stick-like insect from Naboo, asked more casually than any insect ever has, "What'll you have?"
"Whatever you're serving," replied Padme, as if she didn't care and had done this many times before.
"Eh, well, alright," said the stick-man, and he wandered off.
"Well, that might end up adventurous," said Obi-Wan, looking amused.
"We don't have to drink whatever it is," she said, leaning back and crossing a leg over the other.
"Unless we want to," offered Obi-Wan.
She chuckled. "Right," she agreed, "Unless we want to."
She blinked, realizing she'd already forgotten an extremely important element.
"Oh," she said, "we can't forget to send food to Anakin!"
"Definitely not," said Obi-Wan, "or he'll have our heads."
The barhand came back with a couple of tankards of something vaguely beige and alcoholic.
"There you go, two mugs of Corellian Hooch," he said, plopping them down on the table in front of Obi-Wan and Padme.
"I'd also like a couple of dinners sent to my rooms, if you would," said Padme, passing several credits to the barhand.
"Later, or…?" he asked.
"Now, if you would," she said, and then added: "and add a dessert selection, please?"
"What about Corellian Hooch?" Obi-Wan asked her.
"Ah," she said, wondering what Obi-Wan was about, "and I suppose Corellian Hooch, as well."
She tossed in another credit, assuming it was able to cover all that and a few more things.
The stick-barhand scooped up the credits and said, "Sure, where am I sending it?"
"I'm the negotiator for the goods, Kensky Wan," said Padme.
"Oh," said the barhand, glancing her over. Finally, he winked. "Right, the negotiator."
Obi-Wan gave him a second look at that.
"Yeah," the barhand said, "I'll have that sent right out."
As he left, Obi-Wan leaned into her shoulder.
"Okay," he said quietly.
"Indeed," she said, then glanced down at the tankard in her hands. "So… Corellian Hooch, huh?"
"Ever had it?" he asked her.
"No," she said, "and that's by choice."
He laughed.
"There's a reason it's sold elsewhere than Corellia, you know," he said.
"What's that?" she asked.
He glanced down into his mug, swirling around its contents. "Well, it's not taste," he said.
She leaned her elbow on the table and rested her head in her palm to look at him.
"If not taste, then what?" she inquired.
"You are aware that Corellians are renowned for being able to hold their liquor, aren't you?" he asked.
She laughed at that.
"So it's extra spirits?" she asked. "That's all it is? It just makes you extra sick in the morning?"
"Unless you're Corellian, I suppose," he replied.
"And you had me send that to Anakin!" she said, pushing his shoulder.
"He needed something to wash down all that food, I'm sure," said Obi-Wan, taking a drink of his hooch.
"Well, I suppose I'll have to try it, for the cultural experience, of course," she said, sniffing her tankard.
"Definitely for the cultural experience," he agreed.
Taking a sip, she grimaced at the harshness of the drink, and heard Obi-Wan chuckling at her reaction.
"My stars, who would drink that willingly," she muttered.
"People who have nothing else to drink, I suppose," he said with the shrug, turning his gaze out across the cantina.
They both went silent as they became embroiled in the same purpose: observing who was in the cantina and overhearing anything that might be said.
Padme looked over the suspects around the place. There were a few sullen fellows at the bar, not conversing at all; a few groups of two or three at tables, chatting high and low; and there was a rowdy group having a gamble at a table on the other side. That last group was the biggest and the loudest.
"I do wonder, myself," said Obi-Wan, breaking her out of her thoughts. She glanced over at him and saw that his eyes were on the big group, as well.
"Should we check it out?" she asked.
"Let's," said Obi-Wan, standing with his tankard in his hand.
They approached as casually as they could, coming to the back of the observing crowd and remaining unnoticed, as far as they could tell. Everyone seemed to be engrossed in a game of dice happening on the table between two men.
One of the men threw and, even though Padme didn't understand the rules, she could tell through universal language who had won. The other man cheered, and the crowd laughed as he pulled in his winnings.
"Well, if it isn't Madame Negotiator," said a slightly familiar voice from behind Padme. She turned and saw the youngish man from the docking bay grinning at her and raising his own tankard of hooch in her direction.
She gave him a sideways grin.
"You found me," she said.
"The negotiator, eh?" said another fellow from nearby, and then another called out, "The negotiator's here!"
Suddenly Padme had a lot more attention than she wanted.
"Oh yeah," said the docking bay man, "that's Madame Negotiator to you, and her, uh bodyguard."
Several observers laughed at the man's introduction, but Obi-Wan took it in stride, nodding vaguely and lifting his tankard a little in silent greeting.
Their attention made Padme nervous, so she evaded further inquiries into her and Obi-Wan by turning her eyes to the table.
"How do you play?" she asked, giving the dice a little nod.
The men seemed quite interested in the idea of having an inexperienced and also relatively wealthy player at their table and they moved right away to make room for her.
"Have a seat!" called one, dusting off a chair for her.
Padme only hesitated a moment before taking the chair offered. The crowd cheered.
"I'm joining as well," said Obi-Wan from behind her, bringing his own chair and strong-arming himself into being on Padme's right hand.
"Do you know how to play this?" she muttered at him under the din of the crowd.
"No idea," he said. He seemed amused, yet alert.
On her left was the man who'd just won a pile of credits, and dockbay man sat across from her. They explained to her the rules of the game. Each player would first make a bet, and then make a demand bet from his opponents. If they couldn't come to an agreement on the final bet, there was no deal and the game was over. If they did, they rolled to see who won.
The game was called "Negotiation", which caused everyone great amusement, what with Madame Negotiator in attendance.
"Alright, place your bets," said dockbay man.
Everyone threw in a few credits.
"And let the demands begin," he said, rubbing his hands.
The winning man from last round piped up first, pointing at Obi-Wan, "Ten extra credits from you."
Obi-Wan observed him and said, "No."
"Eight," said winning man.
"Five or nothing," he said.
"Fine," said the man.
Obi-Wan plunked five more credits on the table, then turned his attention dockbay man.
"Seven from you," he said.
"Only if you put in two more," said dockbay man.
"Fine."
Plunk.
"I think it would only be fair if you were to put in seven, yourself," said Padme to the winning man.
"Why should I?" asked winning man.
"To even it up, of course," said Padme.
"I kind of like it how it is," said winning man.
"Well, then, I guess we're done here," she said, and began to stand. It seemed all at once as if everyone was opposed to her leaving, as this was far more interesting than anything before, and they all started complaining at the winning man.
"Now, wait, wait," said winning man, "Fine. Fine, here."
He plunked down his seven credits with a mutter, cowed by the masses.
"I guess that's why they call you Madame Negotiator," he said. "You're cold as ice."
The crowd laughed.
"My turn," said dockbay man, and he was looking at Padme. "My demand of Madame Negotiator is a kiss."
The crowd roared with surprise and amusement over the audacity of dockbay man.
Padme lifted an eyebrow.
"Is that all?" she asked, as if amused. "Done."
Laughter and some scattered applause rose through the onlookers, and Dockbay shifted, looking as if he'd realized maybe he'd made a bad deal.
"Right, well, I can't buy another bottle of hooch with a kiss, but whatever," said Winning, picking up the dice. He rolled moderately well to the cheers of some of his friends and leaned back in his chair, satisfied, yet tense.
Dockbay grabbed the dice and, after a few seconds of rolling them around in his fist, he scattered them on the table to a moment of vacuum, then a roar from the audience. It was high; a few points off-perfect. Winning let out a loud groan as Dockbay pumped his fist and smacked the hands of a few friends. Dockbay gathered the dice and slid them to Padme's side.
"Madame Negotiator, I believe it's your turn," he said, with the glow of the victorious.
"Very well," she said, taking the dice into her hand. She rolled, and it wasn't enough, so she grimaced and ignored the excitement of the crowd and passed the dice to Obi-Wan.
"You're my only hope," she whispered to him.
He winked at her from beneath his shroud and took the dice. Clearing his throat, the began to shake the dice.
"So," he said, "How is this scored again?" he asked.
"The higher the marks, obviously, the better the score," said Winning, who was no longer winning.
"Do I throw them all at once?" asked Obi-Wan.
"Yes, of course," said Winning.
"Just throw the dice already!" said Dockbay.
The onlookers joined in with "encouraging" Obi-Wan to just get it over with and throw the dice.
"Oh, right, of course," he said, and he threw them down on the table. They scattered this way and that and every die fell on the highest mark except one, which teetered between the highest and second highest mark, and then landed on one point from a perfect roll.
The audience fell absolutely silent.
"Is that good?" asked Obi-Wan.
The crowd erupted in cacophony. Dockbay groaned in agony and sunk in his chair, and Winning grinned at Obi-Wan as if he was the most amusing thing he'd seen all night. Padme just laughed and pushed the credits over to Obi-Wan.
"You won," she said.
"Oh, did I?" he said, though she could barely hear him over the noise of the crowd. He had that smile on his face of feigned ignorance that she knew, and then she knew he'd made it happen.
Of course, he did. With the force.
"Collect your winnings!" somebody called. "Kiss her!"
There was some applause and laughter at that.
Obi-Wan blinked and glanced at Padme, seeming at once embarrassed.
"Ah, yes, well perhaps another time," he stammered.
He was promptly boo-ed.
"Madame Negotiator will not be denied!" called someone else, and everyone laughed.
"Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!" began the chant around them. Obi-Wan rose from his chair, she could only assume, to flee.
"Hey," she said to him gently, rising to his side.
He looked down at her, and she took his face in her hand and whispered, "It's only a kiss."
She gave him no time to react; she rose on her toes and kissed him. He received her at once.
The crowd cheered and clapped.
She ran her fingers through the soft hair on his jawline. His hands clasped her back for a moment, cradling her with strength and caution, and then, imprecisely, slowly, the kiss ended.
Padme found herself letting out a small laugh of embarrassment in which he joined as they fell away from each other.
"Well, I should hope you are all happy," she addressed the crowd, almost as a reprimand.
There were some laughs and some applause, and then Dockbay said, "Well, your friend here certainly out-rolled me."
"Beginner's luck," said Obi-Wan. "Though I wouldn't have let you kiss her, anyway."
Winning laughed at that.
"What about another game?" he asked.
"I think Madame Negotiator is negotiated out for the night," said Padme.
"Alas, then, good night to the two of you."
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