Alex Rider: Jedi Knight
Jedi Goat
Disclaimer: I don't own Alex Rider or Star Wars.
Author's Note: Thanks for the wonderful reviews! This chapter is mostly about Sabina; she's going to be a major character in this story.
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Chapter 2: Enemies
Sabina Pleasure walked leisurely down the sidewalk to the bus stop. Another day at school had passed, another lesson learned. The days just seem to blur together, don't they? she sighed mentally. Just the same old, same old.
She waited at the bus stop among a gaggle of other chatting students. Spotting one of her friends, Sabina paused to talk to her.
"Hi, Sabina!" chirped a girl with long brown hair and excitedly sparkling eyes. Jennifer was always a ball of happy, bubbling energy.
"Hi, Jen." Sabina rolled her eyes. "Was that a dull speech in French or what! First, second and third group verbs. Who cares? They're all just verbs!"
Jen laughed. "They're conjugated differently, I think." Shrugging, she added, "That's all I retained from that class."
A dark-skinned girl slipped through the crowd toward them, short black hair swishing in front of her face.
"Hi, Katie," Sabina welcomed, before Katie interrupted, eyes wide, "Oh, my God! My brother – he's at Brookland – just called. He said this bully picked on a kid and the kid like totally beat him up!"
"Talk about standing up for yourself," Jen commented wryly.
"Yeah," agreed Sabina absent-mindedly. Alex goes to Brookland. Maybe he knows about this, too.
At that moment, the bus pulled up and the doors squeaked open. Sabina and the others boarded. As usual, she and her friends snagged seats near the back. As Jen and Katie continued the discussion, Sabina zipped open her backpack and removed her pink cell phone. She quickly typed a text message:
Hi Alex
Heard there was a bullying incident at your school today
What happened?
Sabina
She clicked send and then tuned back in to her friends' conversation.
About twenty minutes later, everyone had left the bus except for Sabina. Her spot was the last, and over the years she had gotten used to the last lonely minutes on the bus. Today, though, she felt conscious that someone was watching her. Peering around nervously, Sabina noted that there was no one else on the bus except for the driver.
Blowing out a long breath, she checked that her bag was securely closed and then she curled up in her seat, staring out the window.
The urban surroundings rolled by outside: tall office buildings somehow secluded and aloof from the bright summer day, busy people hurrying down the sidewalk. Soon the bus would turn off onto a side street and the buildings would give away to apartments, yards bursting with lush green foliage.
The bus turned slowly, bulk maneuvering cautiously around the curb.
Realizing something was wrong, Sabina sat bolt upright. "Driver!" she called sharply, "You made a wrong turn. My stop is the other way."
Sabina saw the driver look up in the rear-view mirror. He was an old man, with dark eyes that were now examining her – and was that an evil smirk?
Sabina shivered slightly and regretted her exclamation. Finally the driver looked away, saying, "It is time."
Time? Time for what? Sabina was getting more and more creeped out. "You know, you could just let me off here," she squeaked.
Now the driver was definitely smirking. "I don't think so."
Then Sabina heard a clunk. She glanced around wildly, but could not see the source of the sound. Then she heard a zipper. Turning, she gasped in horror to see the abandoned duffle bag across the aisle slowly unzipping itself. Sabina gripped her backpack tightly, holding it in front of her like a shield.
What she saw next made her freeze in absolute fear.
A metallic clawed foot burst from the bag, followed by another. The feet rose up and legs extended beneath them, and the legs bent over so that the feet touched the floor. Then the rest of the robotic body unfolded and emerged, landing on the floor in a standing position, slightly stooped so as not to scrape its head against the roof.
All was silent except for Sabina's shuddering breaths as she stared at the monster. It resembled a human corpse in robot form, with evil, yellowish eyes staring out from its slightly angular head.
The bus slid to a stop. Sabina grabbed the seat in front of her to not fall down. The robot, amazingly, remained standing without aid.
Then it struck. A metallic fist shot out, aiming for her head. Sabina ducked at the last moment and the fist plowed into the window. Tinted glass shattered and poured down. Sabina dived out of the way, rolling behind the robot. She stood, taking a moment to catch her breath.
The monster turned, now lashing out with both hands. Sabina jumped onto a nearby seat, knowing that she had to avoid the robot at all costs; a single blow from that thing could be lethal.
A wheezing sound emanated from the robot. It took Sabina a moment to realize he was laughing. It unhooked something from its waist; Sabina thought that it looked kind of like a small gun. She prepared to leap to the next chair when a blazing blue blade extended toward her. She froze, staring in shock at the weapon.
"You are a fighter," the robot cackled. "But you are no match for the Sith."
A fist plowed into her and Sabina gasped before collapsing against the seat, darkness engulfing her vision.
Meanwhile, Alex stepped outside his school, taking a deep breath of fresh air. "Thanks for the help," he muttered to Obi-Wan. "If you hadn't come when you did – wait, why are you here, anyway?"
Obi-Wan hesitated slightly. "I'll tell you in the car," he said finally.
"Car?"
Obi-Wan nodded to a red sports car parked at the edge of the school grounds. Alex's jaw nearly dropped. "Where did you get THAT?"
"It's a rental," explained Obi-Wan calmly. "Get in the back."
Alex entered the car, gazing around in amazement. He finally noticed the other boy and nodded to him. "Hi, Anakin."
Anakin smiled and answered guardedly, "Hi, Alex."
He and Alex had never been the best of friends; everything seemed to become a competition for Anakin, and he always seemed to want to be the best in their Master's eyes.
Obi-Wan started the car. It was a moment before he spoke. "The Sith Lord we fought was not the only one, Alex. We think we might have found the others."
"And?" Alex pressed.
"We believe the Sith are on the planet Korriban. It is nearly deserted – there's only one city."
"It's also a desert," interjected Anakin.
Obi-Wan nodded. "The citizens of Korriban don't like outsiders. They have a spaceport, but they keep track of everyone going in or out. If the Sith are there, they are surely keeping track as well."
"But how do you know that the Sith are there?"
Obi-Wan sighed. "We don't. We received a message from a Darth Sidious, and we tracked it to Korriban. It's likely that he has moved on by now. But we should still look; we need all the information we can get."
Anakin added, "Korriban's also the home of the ancient Sith tombs."
"We might find clues there, too, then," Alex noted.
At that moment, Alex's cell phone rang.
To be continued...
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