Chapter 7
"It's good to see that you're alive."
Anakin couldn't help but grin at his former master's comment. After dinner, he had practically run up to his room, eager to be away from the Queen and everyone else in this awful place. Alright, it wasn't all that bad, but every time he saw one of the slaves he felt a stir of sadness and anger somewhere within him. It was so wrong, so horribly terribly wrong, for them to be forced to work the way they were. Not a single thought ran through his mind that hadn't before, but each time the thoughts were just as powerful as the first time. There was no way to express his pure dislike -hatred even- of slavery.
Hearing the familiar voice of his most trusted friend was something Anakin desperately needed, even after just two days on this planet. Upon reaching his bedroom, Anakin had shut the door, locked it, pulled down the window shades, and drawn a curtain over the large glass doors that opened onto the balcony. Then, he had pulled out a small device, and a small blue figure had leapt forth from the face of the device. Obi-Wan Kenobi was standing, arms crossed, with a smile on his face. He too was glad that Anakin had contacted him, as he had worried day and night about the mission- and more importantly, about Anakin. Was the young Knight holding out alright? Was he managing to control his emotions? Had he figured out how to find out information? Or had he blown his cover within the first five minutes of being on the unnamed planet?
"It's good to see you too, Master," Anakin responded.
"I assume that you have found a secure place to contact me?"
"Well, I think so," come to think of it, it probably would have been wise to find somewhere a little more secure to contact Obi-Wan. Someone could easily listen in to the conversation, just by pressing an ear to the door of the room. But Anakin would surely sense anyone approaching long before they got close enough to hear anything.
"You think so?" Obi-Wan asked, his tone indicating he was not convinced.
"It's fine, Master, nobody will hear a thing."
Obi-Wan sighed, hoping that Anakin was right. "Alright then. What news do you have? Surely, you have something important you want to speak to me about?"
"Yes, I do. First of all, from what I've heard and witnessed this planet is even more loyal to the Separatists than we expected. Droids and cameras are all over the city. The people here talk about the Jedi in a less than preferable light," Anakin informed him.
The older Jedi frowned at this, though gave a small nod. "I expected they would be loyal," he commented grimly, "if their actions were anything to go by."
It seemed that Obi-Wan was waiting for more information, and Anakin didn't exactly have much more to say. After all, it had only been two days. "That's about the extent of my knowledge, Master. Though, I am making a map of the palace, which I will send to you when I get the chance."
"Excellent. A map will definitely be of use. Is that all then?"
"There's one more thing," Anakin hesitated, not sure exactly how to phrase what he was about to say, or rather, ask.
"Well go on then, we cannot afford to talk for longer than necessary," This was a dangerous mission, and the longer their communications were open the larger the window of opportunity was for an enemy to catch them.
"Do you recall anyone by the name of Riksha?" Anakin finally asked.
"What is the last name?" Obi-Wan inquired. "And how is this relevant to the mission?"
"I don't know the last name," the look on Obi-Wan's face prompted him to explain why exactly he had asked about this. "The Queen has an unusual slave. This slave, she is a Force user, and I think a fairly advanced one. I've never heard of a Force using slave and I am suspicious of how the Queen managed to get one."
"You fear that there may be a Separatist plot involved."
"Yes. I was wondering if you knew of anyone by the name of Riksha, and thought that maybe if we got some information on her it would help us figure out if there is a plot or something involved."
Obi-Wan stroked his beard thoughtfully, as he searched his mind for any trace of the name. "The only Riksha I can think of is -or rather, was- Riksha Noabbaa. She was the young Jedi Knight who died on the first mission to the unnamed planet. I suppose that is not very helpful, is it?"
The younger Jedi shook his head. "Not really, no. I-" he stopped speaking suddenly, lifting his head and turning his gaze away from the small hologram.
"Anakin? What is it?" The tone of the man whom the hologram was of took on a concerned note.
"I think someone is approaching," Anakin replied quietly, as he reached out into the Force to feel for the presence of someone. "I've got to go, Master." With that, he turned off the hologram.
Riksha had noticed the way the trader, Arwyn Ghinkt, had hurried away after dinner. Over the course of the day, she had grown a bit suspicious of him and his peculiar behavior. When she was dismissed from her duties for the night, she decided to do a bit of... Snooping. She made her way up to her room, and then up to the palace roof. Here, she had an assortment of items, which she used during her training sessions. When she had a bit of spare time, she would practice both her skills in lightsaber combat and in the Force, to keep them sharp. There were several ceramic pots up here, which housed a fake lightsaber among other objects which she trained with. These pots were both to keep things tidy, and to keep the items hidden from view.
Riksha reached into one of the pots, pulling out a pair of pants and a t-shirt. They were tan in color, and not the nicest looking clothes, but they were perfect for what she was about to do. After all, she could not get any of her 'good' outfits dirty. A small smile crossing her face, Riksha leapt back down to her balcony and walked back into her room. She changed quickly into this set of clothes, while going over her plan in her mind. She planned to use the air ventilation system to spy on the guest, to find out if her suspiciousness of him was ridiculous or not. When Riksha had first arrived at the palace, she had done quite a bit of exploring using the ducts, and so she knew her way around them pretty well. She hadn't really used them in a while, since she had no need to, but the idea of crawling around in them once again was rather exciting. It reminded her of the old days, when she was a padawan on some sort of mission, and had to get somewhere without being noticed.
Unfortunately, it also reminded her of her final mission, at the droid factory.
Clearing her mind of those unpleasant thoughts, Riksha turned to the vent in the ceiling of her room. It was rather small, but large enough for her to get into the ventilation system. With a wave of her hand, the grate that covered the vent was removed and placed silently on the floor. Then, she Force jumped, and entered the duct that ran through the ceiling above her room.
It took her nearly five minutes to get from her room to the guest suites. The slave quarters were in an entirely separate tower, the middle tower, while the guest suites were in the second tallest tower on the left. When she did reach the floor with the guest suites, Riksha realized she did not know which room the trader was in. She paused at the intersection in the vents, where it branched off to each of the rooms. Closing her eyes briefly, she reached out with the Force, determining which room held a life form. Identifying room 7 as the one which housed the trader, Riksha turned to her left.
After crawling for several meters more, she saw light filtering up through the vent in the ceiling of the guest's room. She also heard the faint sound of hushed voices. Voices? Who could the trader be talking to? Anyone, she supposed, but for some reason this furthered her suspicion and peaked her curiosity. Silently, Riksha made her way over to the vent, until she was stationed almost on top of it. Peering down through it, she nearly gasped at what she saw. In the hand of the trader was a small device, and from that device a hologram was being emitted. A hologram of a Jedi, and one she recognized. The trader (though she was growing more and more certain that he was not actually a trader) was talking to Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Riksha watched and listened to the conversation, soon coming to the realization of who the man standing in the room below was. He was certainly no trader, in fact he was extremely far from one.
Anakin located someone's life force signature, and quickly zeroed in on it. Above him, in the air ducts, someone had been listening to his conversation with Obi-Wan. Without a moment's hesitation, he waved his hand, tearing the grate out of the ceiling and yanking whomever was up there out. To his surprise, (and Riksha's as well) Riksha crashed down onto the floor.
"You know, a warning would have been nice," she huffed, getting to her feet. The landing was so terrible, she was almost ashamed of it. Of course, it wasn't her fault, as Anakin had been the one to use the Force and pull her down from the air duct.
No sooner had she stood up than she was thrown up against the wall.
Anakin eyed her suspiciously, hand extended, pinning Riksha to the wall using the Force. "How much did you hear?" He demanded. This slave could blow the entire mission.
"Enough," she responded, surprisingly calm for someone who was just torn out of the ceiling and thrown against a wall. Riksha wore a neutral expression on her face, contrasting the anxious one Anakin wore.
His first instinct was to break out his lightsaber and get into aggressive negotiations, but Anakin refrained. Maybe he could use a mind trick to cause her to forget what she heard... No, she was a Force user, a mind trick would never work. "You must not speak a word of this to anyone," he growled.
"I didn't plan to."
"I mean it. If you tell anyone anything-"
"I already told you, I'm not going to tell anyone," Riksha interrupted. "I gave my word. Now, Skywalker, if you would kindly put me down, I would appreciate it."
Somewhat reluctantly, Anakin lowered his hand. Riksha dropped to the ground, but this time her landing was much neater. Instead of landing in a heap on the floor, she landed on her feet.
"Thank you."
The Knight couldn't help but notice how Riksha's entire demeanor had changed. No longer quiet and compliant, she spoke confidently and met his eye when she did so. It was surprising, this change. Even if she knew he was associated with the Jedi, slaves usually acted the same way as they would around anyone else; like lowly servants. So what was up with her?
Another thought occurred to him, as she smoothed out the wrinkles that had accumulated in her shirt after her first fall. "How did you know my name?" Not once during his conversation was his last name mentioned.
"I don't know any other Anakin who is associated with Master Kenobi, do you?" Riksha responded matter-of-factly.
"How did you know that was Master Kenobi?" Sure, Obi-Wan was fairly famous, but Anakin doubted that a slave like her had ever seen a holo image of him or heard much about him, especially way out here.
Riksha paused. Turning her attentions away from her attire, she looked up at Anakin. He was standing rather tensely, left hand instinctively hovering near his belt, where his lightsaber was probably hidden beneath his shirt. His expression was a mix of surprise and suspicion and confusion, as if he didn't know what to make of this young woman standing only a few meters away. She realized that even though she knew who he was, he still thought she was just another of the Queen's slaves. She had been so caught up in the fact that there was another Jedi standing before her (after all, it had been two years since she last saw a live Jedi) that she completely forgot about where they were and who she was thought to be.
With a small sigh, she contemplated what to say in response. "I know that was Master Kenobi because he and I have spoken before."
"What? How and when would you have spoken to Master Kenobi?" Anakin was completely baffled by her response. Obi-Wan had never been to this planet. Nor anywhere near here.
"I suppose there is no point in hiding it now."
"Hiding what?"
"Noabbaa."
"What?" Anakin was growing frustrated with her riddles and vague answers.
"My last name," Riksha took a deep breath, "Noabbaa."
Noabbaa... Anakin's eyes grew wide, and he stumbled backwards a few steps. Riksha Noabbaa... But it can't be... Yet here she was, standing right in front of him. Shock radiated from the young man in waves, filling the room, drowning out any other thought or emotion.
"You're a... Jedi?"
The moment you've all been waiting for! Anakin knows Riksha is a Jedi! :)
What do you all think? Did this happen at all the way you thought it might?