***Chapter 8***
With the dawn of a new day, the storm has finally moved on. Tatooine's twin suns blaze down out of a clear blue sky. Anakin is the first one up and dressed, anxious to make the deal with Watto. Qui-Gon warns him not to be too eager when making the deal with Watto. He doesn't want the Toydarian to become suspicious.
"Stay calm and let me handle the bargaining," Qui-Gon instructs.
Anakin is so excited he hardly hears the Jedi Master's words. Qui-Gon knows it will be up to him to employ whatever mix of diplomacy and cunning is needed to achieve their goal. Greed is the key with Watto, the key that will open any door with him.
The group walks to Watto's shop with Anakin leading the way. They pass vendors working to clean up the mess left behind by the sandstorm so they can reopen their shops.
Qui-Gon and the others wait outside while Anakin goes to Watto to introduce the idea of Qui-Gon sponsoring him in the race. Jar Jar sits on a box in front of Watto's shop, growing more and more nervous. R2 stands next to the Gungan, beeping softly in an effort to calm him.
"Keep an eye on him," Qui-Gon tells Padmé. "We don't need him getting into any more trouble." He turns to head into the shop, but the handmaiden quickly stops him.
"Are you sure about this? Trusting our fate to a boy we hardly know? The Queen would not approve."
The Queen would not approve? Why does this handmaiden seem so much more confident than the Queen and presumes to know everything the Queen would decide?
He meets her gaze and replies simply, "The Queen does not need to know." He turns and heads into the shop, but still hears her mumbled reply.
"Well, I don't approve."
And if you don't, the Queen doesn't…curious…
Qui-Gon enters the shop to the sounds of Watto and Anakin having a heated discussion in Huttese. When Qui-Gon steps in enough to be seen, Watto quickly flies into his face.
"The boy tells me you wanta sponsor him insa race. How can you do this? Not on republic credits, I think," he laughs.
Qui-Gon can see the curiosity in Watto's eyes. "My ship will be the entry fee."
He reaches beneath his poncho and pulls out a tiny holoprojector. He turns it on and a projected hologram of the Queen's transport appears. Watto flies closer to study the projection.
"Oh, not bad, not bad. A Nubian."
"It's in good order, except for the parts I need." Qui-Gon waits for a moment, then clicks off the holoprojector and tucks it away beneath his poncho.
"But what will the boy ride? He smashed up my pod in the last race. It will take some long time to fix it."
Qui-Gon glances over at Anakin, who is clearly embarrassed. "It wasn't my fault really. Sebulba flashed me with his vent ports. I actually saved the pod…mostly."
Watto laughs, "That you did. The boy is good, no doubts there."
"Well, I have acquired a pod in a game of chance," Qui-Gon replies smoothly. "The fastest ever built."
"I hope you didn't kill anyone I know for it," Watto laughs. "So, you supply the pod and the entry fee, I supply the boy. We split the winnings, um, fifty-fifty, I think."
"If it's going to be fifty-fifty, I suggest you front the cash for the entry. If we win, you keep all the winnings, minus the cost for the parts I need…and if we lose, you keep my ship."
Watto ponders the deal while Anakin nervously watches. The deal was too good and Watto was suspicious.
"Either way, you win." Qui-Gon finishes.
"Deal!" Watto exclaims, pounding his fist into his open palm. Qui-Gon nods and exits the shop.
Watto lets Anakin leave soon after with instructions to make sure the pod is a good one and not something that will make him look foolish for entering it in the race. Anakin is excited to show his new friends his pod. While Padmé, Jar Jar, and R2 help to prep Anakin's pod for the big race, Qui-Gon moves to the porch and looks around to make sure he is alone. He takes out his comlink to contact Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan answers immediately and Qui-Gon fills him in on everything. "If all goes well we will have our hyperdrive generator by tomorrow afternoon and be on our way."
"What if this plan fails, Master? We could be stuck here a very long time."
"Well, it's too dangerous to call for help. And a ship without a power supply isn't going to get us anywhere. And, there is something about this boy…"
Qui-Gon switches off and puts the comlink away as Shmi comes onto the porch. Together, they watch the others working on the pod.
"You should be proud of your son. He gives without any thought of reward."
"Well, he knows nothing of greed. He has, uh…"
"He has special powers."
"Yes."
"He can see things before they happen. That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It's a Jedi trait."
Shmi watches Qui-Gon carefully. "He deserves better than a slave's life," she says sadly.
Qui-Gon keeps his eyes on the courtyard. "Had he been born in the Republic, we would have identified him early. The Force is unusually strong with him, that much is clear. Who was his father?"
Shmi is silent as she thinks of how to word her response. "I…I don't know," she finally replies. Her former master would often use his slaves to 'entertain' important clients. She has trouble remembering much from that time of her life, but she always has shrugged that off as a defense mechanism. Something she wouldn't want to remember anyway, so why worry about it. When she became pregnant, her master sold her. He didn't like having slaves who were so reckless. A few years later, she and Anakin were sold again, this time to Gardulla the Hutt.
Qui-Gon can sense her thoughts and discomfort with the question. He waits silently, not questioning any further on the subject. Finally Shmi answers, "There was no father…that I know of. I carried him…gave birth to him…raised him…I can't explain what happened. Can you help him?"
"I don't know," Qui-Gon answers gently. "I didn't actually come here to free slaves."
In the courtyard, the group is greeted by several of Anakin's friends. Kitster, a dark-haired boy who is about Anakin's age, Seek, a ten-year-old boy, Amee, a six-year-old girl, and Wald, a six-year-old Rodian. Anakin introduces the gang to his new, outlander friends.
Kitster is very excited to see a real astromech droid. Anakin brags that not only does he currently have an astromech staying with him, but he's also entered in the Boonta race. His friends laugh, knowing just how long he has been working on his racer. None of them, except for Kitster, stick around to watch him work on the racer.
Anakin looks over and sees Jar Jar nosing around the left engine's energy binder plate. Anakin quickly warns the Gungan that if he touches the beam, he'll go numb for hours. Jar Jar leans into the plate and is hit in the mouth with an electric current. He jumps back and tries to speak, but his mouth is numb and his words are more garbled than usual. Threepio comments on Jar Jar's oddness.
"You don't even know if this thing's gonna run," Kitster comments.
"It will," Anakin assures him confidently.
Qui-Gon approaches the boys and gives Anakin a small, bulky cylinder. "I think it's time we found out. Use this power charge."
"Yes, sir!"
"Come on, Kitster, let's move away," Qui-Gon says. He takes the boy by the hand and leads him to a corner of the courtyard.
Jar Jar's hand gets caught in the afterburner. He tries to tell Anakin to wait and that he is stuck, but with his mouth numb he can't get anyone to understand what he is saying.
Anakin jumps into the pod, puts the power pack into the dashboard, and gets ready to start the engines. Padmé walks over and frees Jar Jar from the engine. The two quickly move away just before the engines start.
"It's working, it's working!" Anakin exclaims excitedly. Shmi watches from the porch, her eyes distant and sad.
"You seem very distracted," Jedi Master Tahl Jinn comments. Tahl had been blinded years earlier during a mission on Melida/Daan, but that only served to increase her powers of perception.
"I'm fine," Lexi sighs. "I just have a lot on my mind. Bant, Garen, and I are supposed to work on saber drills together. I'm looking forward to the distraction."
"I sent Bant on an errand, and Garen is with Master Rhara. He asked me to let you and Bant know he would be a little late."
Lexi only half listens…she can't stop thinking about the nightmare, or vision, that she keeps seeing every night. "Have you heard from Master Qui-Gon?"
"No, but that's not unusual. You know the rules…mission first. He always coms me once the mission is over. Why, what's on your mind?"
Lexi knows she really shouldn't say anything about the possible vision until after 'Oru has spoken to the Council. "It's probably nothing," she mumbles. "Will you please let Bant know I'm waiting for her in the training arena?"
"How about while you wait, we talk about what it is you're not telling me?"
There's no way Tahl will let her out without a discussion of some sort, so Lexi decides to talk about something else that has been bothering her and hope that Tahl doesn't realize there is more.
"It's probably nothing, but Master 'Oru has been acting…odd…since our last mission. I don't know how to explain it. He's just not himself. I know he's hiding something from me, but…I just can't figure out what it is."
"Have you asked him about it?"
"Of course," Lexi smiles. "And he just tells me I think too much, or sends me off on an errand."
"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure he will talk to you when he is ready. Or when he feels you are ready."
Lexi sighs. All this waiting to find things out is wearing her patience thin. Not that she has ever been a very patient person to begin with.
Tahl laughs, "Ah, the impatient sigh. You could use some distraction. Get going…I'll send Bant as soon as she returns. You can warm up with a training droid while you wait."
"Thank you, Master."
Night seems to come quickly with all the work to prepare the pod. Anakin sits on the balcony rail of his hovel as Qui-Gon tends to a cut on his arm. Anakin leans back to look at the stars.
"Stay still, Annie. Let me clean this cut."
"There are so many! Do they all have a system of planets?"
"Most of them," Qui-Gon replies as he cleans Anakin's cut with a cloth.
"Has anyone been to them all?"
Qui-Gon laughs, "Not likely."
"I want to be the first one to see them all!"
Qui-Gon takes a sample of Anakin's blood, making the boy flinch when he is pricked.
"Annie, time for bed," Shmi calls from inside the hovel.
Qui-Gon quickly cleans Anakin's arm with some antiseptic. "There we are, good as new."
"Annie, I'm not gonna tell you again!" Shmi hollers from the doorway.
Qui-Gon scrapes the blood sample onto a comlink chip, arousing the boy's curiosity.
"What are you doing?"
"Checking your blood for infections. Go on, you have a bid day tomorrow. Sleep well, Anakin."
As Anakin runs into the hovel, Qui-Gon takes the chip with the blood sample and inserts it into the comlink, and then he speaks into the comlink.
"Obi-Wan…"
"Yes, Master."
"I need an analysis of this blood sample I'm sending you."
"Wait a minute," Obi-Wan replies as he waits for the information to transmit.
"I need a midi-chlorian count."
"The reading's off the chart," Obi-Wan replies in confusion. "Over twenty thousand. Even Master Yoda doesn't have a midi-chlorian count that high."
"No Jedi has."
"What does that mean?"
"I'm not sure." Qui-Gon shuts the transmission and looks up to see Shmi standing in the doorway, watching him. She quickly turns and goes back into the kitchen while Qui-Gon ponders the information.
Out on the desert mesa, Darth Maul's spacecraft lands, throwing up dust and scattering a herd of banthas. He exits his ship and walks to the edge of the mesa. With his electrobinoculars, he studies the landscape and picks out the lights of three different cities in the distance. He pushes buttons on his electronic armband causing three round probe droids to float out of his ship. He has them programmed to identify the Force presence of the Jedi Knights. The three probes head off toward the different cities.
Maul watches until the probes are out of view. He smiles faintly at the thought of killing off some Jedi. Then he walks back to his ship to monitor the probes' responses.
