Chapter Eleven

As I'd promised, I headed to town the next day to locate an assistant for the delivery. I was fairly confident I knew what to do, but to ease Padmé's mind, I'd do as she wished and find help.

There was a vendor in town Elda had mentioned a few times. Someone who didn't seem as paranoid and suspicious as most of the population of Tatooine. I found him chatting away with some customers and questioned him. Elda had been correct in her assumption of his friendliness. However I'd noticed those who were standing by had been studying me and started asking questions; mainly about my accent and origin.

I understood their paranoia. Most of the residents here had come to Tatooine to hide from something or somebody. They were very distrustful of strangers and newcomers, and I was both of those things.

As friendly as I could, I dodged their inquiries and excused myself. However, I had drawn their attention, and the crowd around that particular shop only grew. I'd have to be quick at my task and get out of town as soon as possible.

The young female apothecary I found was Morganian and quite attractive with her lilac skin and silver hair. I wondered what her crime had been to bring her to this place, but our meeting was destined to be short. Upon entering her establishment, my first thought was she was a conjurer of sorts, and a student of many different types of healing traditions. For someone so young, she had a rather extensive collection of tools and herbs.

"I'll be by to check on your wife by the end of the week," she promised me. "And whom shall I be calling upon?"

I had never offered my name or Padmé's to anyone in town before, and wasn't going to risk it now. Quickly I offered the first one that popped into my mind.

"Leia," I told her.

"Very well. Leia. And you are?"

"Ben," I announced pomptly. It was a name I had taken during a few undercover missions as a Padawan. I'd always believed it suited me.

"It's nice to meet you, Ben," she told me with a smile revealing straight white teeth. She was definitely a unique in this part of the galaxy.

"I'll look forward to meeting your wife. See you then."

I was pleased she wasn't a fan of small talk and I handed her the credits required and stepped out of her shop, only to come face to face with the growing crowd that had apparently followed me. I could easily influence the lot of them using the Force and wasn't entirely intimidated.

That is, until a particular armored Trandoshan stepped forward. Although we had never met, I recognized him as being a particularly notorious bounty hunter by the name of Cradossk. In one hand was a repeating blaster rifle, while on my waist was a single-action pistol. I was suddenly very much aware that my lightsaber was under the bed back home.

In his other hand he held a datadisk, and once activated, a familiar holographic figure shot up.

"You are the Jedi Protector, Obi-Wan Kenobi," he announced. "Protector or not, you will submit yourself to authorities and be inoculated, or else I will kill you where you stand. I get paid one way or the other. It makes no difference to me."

Once the hunter had put away the disk and brandished his rifle in both hands, the crowd quickly dispersed and the street was cleared. It was now only me and Cradossk.

As I saw it, I had two choices. To give myself up or to fight. Either choice would result in dire consequences. If I did fight, I'd have to do so without exposing myself to the populace as a Jedi. Perhaps I could convince them Cradossk had been incorrect in his assumptions. If I didn't fight, Cradossk would simply just take me into custody.

So, basically, I had one choice. I had to fight. However, I also had to win.

I quickly drew my pistol and fired. I didn't want to kill him, only deter him. Perhaps, once disabled, I could convince him I wasn't who he thought either.

My shot ricocheted off the metallic plate he had strapped onto his thigh, and I dove for cover into the alley next to the apothecary's shop. Cradossk pursued and I ducked and rolled as several rapid bolts skimmed by my head and planted themselves into a nearby storage container, revealing some of the Morganian's supplies. I quickly grabbed a bag of something I believed I could use for cover and tossed it into the air, blasting it in the process. The atmosphere was filled with a thick, pink powder and I took advantage of the situation to jump high onto the top of the building.

Blaster fire continued below while I ran from building to building, leaping across rooftops. Everything was quiet and I reached out with the Force, unable to tell exactly where Cradossk was located. Alarms were sounding in my head from several directions and I jumped down once I'd run out of rooftops, only to come face to face with the bounty hunter and his impressive weapon.

"You're wasting my time, Jedi. Although I have to admit, I didn't think capturing you was going to be this easy. The others certainly weren't. But you're hiding your powers. Why is that?" he continued, stepping a little closer, while jabbing my ribs with the barrel of his rifle.

"Unless, of course. You're hiding them for her. She's here with you, isn't she? Remarkably enough, the bounty on her head is even higher than yours. I'll be able to retire after today."

There was absolutely no way I was going to allow this bounty hunter to take Padmé. My life was nothing compared to hers.

"I don't know who you're talking about," I tried persuading him, adding the power of the Force to my statement. "You didn't find what you came for and decided to look elsewhere."

For a second, I thought my attempt had worked, although I suspected this Trandoshan was far more intelligent than I'd given him credit for. My suspicions were confirmed when his forked tongue slipped out and he hissed, which I assumed was his laughter.

"There you go. See? I knew you could do it, although I'm still disappointed. I was hoping for a better fight."

"Never hope for things beyond your reach. You'll only be disappointed."

The little bit of backward philosophy hadn't been spoken by me and I fell back to allow room for the battle I was sure was about to ensue. Although, it wasn't much of one. A blaster never did stand much of a chance compared to a lightsaber.

Without much effort, the Trandoshan was disarmed and Qui-Gon stood before him, the tip of his sword at Cradossk's throat.

"Don't have much to say now, do you?" I couldn't help but say.

"Bind him, Obi-Wan."

I did as my old Master suggested and tied the bounty hunter's hands and feet.

"I thought you left," I commented as I worked.

"Something told me to return. I'm glad I did."

Once assured the bounty hunter was completely immobilized, we turned to leave, only to realize another crowd was gathering. It wasn't as large as the first, but the damage had already been done. I could tell by their faces and their whispered conversations that our identities had been revealed. Even if Qui-Gon had killed the bounty hunter, we were no longer safe on Tatooine.

"We need to leave," my Master informed me.

"I'll hurry home and get Padmé," I announced as we hurriedly walked down the street, drawing more and more stares as we went.

"I have a ship waiting in dock three. Meet me there as quickly as you can."

I hurried my steps, reaching out through the Force.

/Padmé?/

/I'm already packing,/ she informed me along the bond. /I knew something bad was happening. I could just tell./

/Qui-Gon's arrived and we need to leave the system./

/I'll be ready by the time you get here./