by Ian Doescher
Who shall forge balance in the Force again,
And fix our cause as metal ’gainst the dark.
[Exeunt Yoda, Mace, and Obi-Wan.
Enter ANAKIN SKYWALKER, PADMÉ, and JAR JAR BINKS.
PADMÉ
[to Jar Jar:] A leave of absence I must take anon,
And thou must in the Senate take my place.
Come, Jar Jar Binks, my representative:
I know I may on thy good judgment trust.
JAR JAR
O, meesa pleas’d to take this burthen,
Accept with muy humility.
PADMÉ
My thanks, kind Jar Jar. I’d not hold thee here—
Well do I know the urgent nature of
Thy vital new responsibilities.
JAR JAR
’Tis so, my lady. Now I goin’.
[Aside:] And shall do what I may to work for right!
[Exit Jar Jar.
PADMÉ
[to Anakin:] This Jedi plan, which is to hide in fear,
Doth not conform unto my strong desire—
To stay and show my strength, e’en ’gainst this threat.
ANAKIN
Fear not. The Council hath decreed that there
Shall be a full investigation; it
Shall not be long e’er Master Obi-Wan
Hath caught the worthless bounty hunter who
Hath order’d this attack upon thy life.
PADMÉ
Shall it be all for naught that I have work’d
This bygone year against the act that would
Create an army in Republic’s name?
Are all mine efforts so in vain that I
May not be present when its fate is seal’d?
It is as though I run a vital race
And in the final moments have been forc’d
To wander off the track and forfeit all.
’Tis more than just unfair, aye, ’tis unjust!
ANAKIN
At times we must our errant pride release
And do that which is ask’d of us instead.
PADMÉ
Thy words do sting, yet show that thou hast grown.
ANAKIN
My growth is still by Obi-Wan ignor’d.
Pray understand: the man’s a mentor true,
With wisdom like to Master Yoda’s wit,
With power like to Master Windu’s strength.
’Tis fortunate I his apprentice am.
Yet hear me now, judge thou mine honest boast:
In many matters I exceed the man.
Prepar’d I am the trials for to face,
Yet he believes me unpredictable
And shall not let my Jedi rank advance.
PADMÉ
Thou must in this a deep vexation find.
ANAKIN
’Tis worse than mere vexation. He gives more
Of criticism than I do deserve,
He lends opinion freely, but doth not
So willingly give ear to hear my words.
In troth: the man doth understand me not.
When I am thusly clipp’d, how may I grow?
PADMÉ
Hath bud e’er blossom’d sans the watchfulness
A gardener doth skillfully extend,
E’en when ’tis time to wield the pruning shears?
Our mentors see the worms, the quick decay,
The stems that in the wrong direction sprout—
They pluck where ’tis most needed, such that flow’rs
As we may bear our fragrance to the world.
ANAKIN
’Tis true, I know ’tis true—I have my weeds.
PADMÉ
So let thy beauty flourish in its time,
And seek thou not to force untimely growth.
ANAKIN
Yet I am fully grown, and would unfurl
My petals to the wind—and to thy notice.
PADMÉ
Look not upon me with such seedy eyes.
ANAKIN
And wherefore not?
PADMÉ
—It drives my bud to rot.
ANAKIN
Apology I give thee, worthy rose,
For bringing such a stench unto thy nose.
[Aside:] Thus have I planted root of love too soon.
Enter OBI-WAN KENOBI, CAPTAIN TYPHO, DORMÉ, and R2-D2.
TYPHO
Most worthy lady, time has come to leave.
I pray, be safe until we meet again.
PADMÉ
Kind Captain Typho, thanks, and take thou care
Of Dormé, for the threat now falls to you.
DORMÉ
He shall be safe with me.
PADMÉ
—Whence come these tears?
I’ll warrant thou shalt be kept well secure.
DORMÉ
’Tis not for me I weep—nay, ’tis for you,
And for the fear I feel for your own sake.
What if your enemies discover you
Have fled the capital back to Naboo?
PADMÉ
Then shall we see this Jedi prove his worth
And show the skill that shall protect my steps.
OBI-WAN
Good Anakin, a word before thou goest:
Do nothing sans the consultation of
The Jedi Council or myself. Dost hear?
ANAKIN
It shall be so, my master.
OBI-WAN
[to Padmé:] —Senator,
I shall unveil this vicious plot anon,
So shall you hither make return at once.
PADMÉ
I shall most grateful be for ev’ry speed
You may deliver, Master Obi-Wan.
ANAKIN
We must away.
PADMÉ
—I follow; lead thou on.
OBI-WAN
The Force be always with thee, Anakin.
ANAKIN
With you as well, good master mine. Adieu.
OBI-WAN
[to Typho:] I hope the boy shall nothing foolish try.
TYPHO
’Tis she, not he, who makes me worry, though:
The young may work our older nerves some woe.
[Exeunt Obi-Wan, Captain Typho, and Dormé.
PADMÉ
Upon the moment shakes mine heart with fear.
ANAKIN
My first assignment ’tis: I fear as well.
All shall be well, R2 shall keep us safe.
R2-D2
Beep squeak! [Aside:] He makes this comment as a jest,
Yet I shall offer them my very best.
[Exeunt.
SCENE 1.
On the planet Coruscant, in Dex’s Diner and the Jedi archives.
Enter OBI-WAN KENOBI, WA-7, and assorted diners.
WA-7
What ho, Dex, here’s a man to speak with you—
A Jedi, if his look doth not deceive.
Enter DEXTER JETTSTER.
DEXTER
By my six limbs, ’tis Obi-Wan Kenobi!
OBI-WAN
Good morrow, Dex, ’tis well to see thee!
DEXTER
—Yea!
I prithee, sit thee down and rest awhile.
I’ll come within thy radius anon.
WA-7
Would you enjoy some Jawa juice, good soul?
OBI-WAN
Indeed, thou hast my thanks.
DEXTER
[embracing him:] —My longtime friend!
What knowledge may I arm thee with today?
OBI-WAN
I bid thee, Dex: pray tell, what’s this device?
[Obi-Wan shows Dexter the poisonous dart.
DEXTER
Zounds! Such a thing! I’ve not seen one of these
Since I did prospect on far Subterrel,
At the extremity of th’Outer Rim.
[WA-7 serves Obi-Wan his Jawa juice.
OBI-WAN
And dost thou kno
w, then, whence it comes? [To WA-7:]
My thanks.
DEXTER
This little thing, no more than pinkie’s length,
Belongs to cloners, they who live far off.
’Tis known as a Kamino saberdart.
OBI-WAN
Yet when I put it to analysis,
Our archives knew naught. Wherefore, wonder I?
DEXTER
These cuts upon the side, these members here,
Do tell the story of their genesis.
The droids that analyze such things but look
For symbols. Thus, they may not heed such grooves.
O, shame, good Obi-Wan! I would have thought
The Jedi would exhibit more respect
Toward the difference that one may find
Twixt knowledge and its older sister: wisdom.
OBI-WAN
Yea, yet if droids could think we’d all be lost,
Trapp’d in an abject matrix of machines.
But to the point: Kamino is a name
With which I’m unfamiliar. Doth it lie
Within the fair Republic’s boundaries?
DEXTER
Nay, ’tis beyond the fingertips of our
Republic, far beyond the Outer Rim.
Belike twelve parsecs past the Rishi Maze.
It should be simple to discover it,
E’en for those archive droids of thine, my friend.
Be wary, though, Kaminoans unto
Their own do keep—their own that multiply,
For they are cloners, sharply skill’d to boot.
OBI-WAN
These cloners, are they like to act as friends?
DEXTER
That doth depend. If I could future tell,
Or read the meaning to be found in palms,
Thou’dst find this Dex not in this diner here.
OBI-WAN
Well do I know. But thou hast said “depend”—
Depend on what, thou jolly knave? Speak on.
DEXTER
On how thou dost comport thyself, good man,
On whether they do feel they’ve elbow room
To test the limits of thy pocketbook.
OBI-WAN
My thanks, dear friend, thou art a helping hand.
[Exeunt Dexter, WA-7, and restaurant patrons as Obi-Wan leaves the diner.
A mystery’s afoot, with clues but scant.
We Jedi are protectors, wise and true,
Sent forth to champion Republic’s cause.
Detective work hath rarely been my call,
Yet now I find myself embroil’d in this
Most strange and enigmatic happening.
A poison’d dart, and hints of distant cloners:
These are the smatterings with which I must
Make sense of an obscure conspiracy.
The late attack upon the senator
Hath pointed to the bounty hunter fled.
The bounty hunter’s instrument of death
Doth point toward Kamino, far remov’d.
This foreign planet, of which I know naught,
Points me unto the Jedi archives now.
Mayhap ’tis thither I shall answers find.
Enter JOCASTA NU, as OBI-WAN KENOBI enters the Jedi archives.
JOCASTA
Let me my full assistance proffer, sir.
OBI-WAN
Indeed, I’d be most grateful if thou wouldst.
JOCASTA
Belike, Master Kenobi, you are here
Replete with questions dancing in your mind,
A problem truly difficult to solve?
Reveal it unto me; I’ll give you aid.
OBI-WAN
In this thou speakest well, for I do seek
A planetary system call’d Kamino.
No system thus nam’d holds the archive charts.
[Obi-Wan and Jocasta approach an archive computer.
JOCASTA
Such name I’ve never heard in all my years—
Are you most sure of its coordinates?
Review, I bid you, what you have been told.
OBI-WAN
Expected I the unknown planet should
Appear within this quadrant—yea, e’en here—
Which lieth just below the Rishi Maze.
JOCASTA
Except no system doth appear therein,
So it doth not exist: it must be thus.
OBI-WAN
O, marry, ’tis impossible, methinks—
Mayhap the archives are but incomplete.
JOCASTA
Existence hath it none declare the archives!
[Exit Jocasta.
OBI-WAN
The trail runs even colder, if indeed
The system I most keenly seek doth hide.
Perchance a wisdom far beyond mine own
Can help uncover what I would reveal.
Thus, onward, Obi-Wan, and Yoda seek—
Mayhap his sage, calm intellect may find
The answer to which I am thus far blind.
[Exit.
SCENE 2.
On the freighter to Naboo and on the planet Naboo.
Enter PADMÉ, ANAKIN SKYWALKER, R2-D2, A SERVING DROID, and ASSORTED PASSENGERS.
DROID
[to R2-D2:] Go hence, thou brutish knave, we serve
no droids!
[Exit serving droid.
R2-D2
[aside:] Belike he would appreciate
A serving of my fury on his pate.
We droids are e’er revil’d, e’en by our own—
Thus must I toil each hour to prove my worth
And show the noble soul that lies within.
[To Padmé:] Beep, whistle, meep.
PADMÉ
—Mine humble thanks, R2.
[To Anakin:] What thinkest thou, is’t difficult to hand
Thy life entire unto the Jedi order?
Thus mayst thou never visit where you like,
Nor things thou dost enjoy engage withal.
ANAKIN
Indeed, or be with those I truly love.
PADMÉ
Yet doth the Jedi code allow for love?
Methought that love was for the Jedi bann’d,
Forbidden by the order. Is’t not so?
ANAKIN
Attachment is prohibited, ’tis true.
Possession is prohibited as well.
Compassion, though—love unconditional—
Is central to a Jedi’s ev’ry step.
Thus from a certain point of view it may
Be said we are encourag’d to spread love.
PADMÉ
’Tis clear the words I spoke before did err,
The boy I knew those years ago is gone,
For thou hast chang’d so much in time’s swift stride.
ANAKIN
Yet thou art constant as the rising sun:
Unchanging, faithful, bringing light to all.
Thou art as I bethink thee in my dreams.
PADMÉ
[aside:] Such dreams of me he doth with ease confess,
Which doth both shock and move my lonely heart.
ANAKIN
Behold, it is thine home, for we arrive
Upon the verdant shores of sweet Naboo.
[Exeunt passengers as Padmé, Anakin, and R2-D2 make their way to the court of Naboo.
PADMÉ
My mother country, land where I was born—
Each time I see her, I am all delight.
ANAKIN
Thou heardest of my dreams, my lady—tell
Me, what was it like to be queen of Naboo?
PADMÉ
Though I was very young, I was not yet
The youngest queen elected in Naboo.
Yet as I do look back, I wonder if
I was prepar’d the task to undertake.
Belike I was not old enough to bear
The onerous responsibility.
ANA
KIN
And yet thy loyal people do believe
That thou didst serve them well. Did they not move
To so amend the law that thou couldst stay
A longer time as their belovèd queen?
PADMÉ
It was relief beyond all measure when
My double term was up and I was free.
When our new-minted queen did call on me
To serve the Senate, I could not refuse.
ANAKIN
Aye, she did judge aright, for sorely doth
Th’Republic need strong voices such as thine.
It pleaseth me that thou didst choose to serve,
As I work t’ward the fair Republic’s good.
Enter QUEEN JAMILLIA, SIO BIBBLE, and MEMBERS OF THE NABOO COURT.
PADMÉ
My queen, your humble servant hath arriv’d,
And swiftly shall I give you my report:
The vote is near and shall be ta’en anon.
I fear that if the senators do vote
To make an army in Republic’s name,
We’ll see a period of civil war.
SIO
It must not be! We’ve not seen war to such
Degree since our Republic first was form’d.
JAMILLIA
Do you see any way, good Senator,
That we through some negotiation may
Convince the sep’ratists to end this threat,
And join, once more, into th’Republic fold?
PADMÉ
If they feel threaten’d, they shall never join
The flock, but go astray like errant sheep.
They shall flee to the Commerce Guilds or to
Trade federations, which shall shepherd them.
