The next few racers were strung out along the course. Getting by them was easy, just a matter of speeding up on the turns. Soon he was past all of the stragglers. The grandstand flashed by as he came up on the central pack of racers. Two laps to go. I can do this!
It took him most of the second lap to work his way through the pack. Finally, he came within sight of the leading Podracers.
There were only five Podracers ahead of him now. Anakin sped up—and rounded the next corner, right into an enormous cloud of dust. Somebody else crashed. He swung wide, hoping to avoid hitting any of the pieces of the smashed racer. One of them hit the Podracer anyway, setting it swinging. Anakin barely compensated in time.
As he came out of the dust cloud, Anakin saw that he’d passed three others. The only racer left ahead of him was Sebulba’s—there was no mistaking the odd shape of those engines. Now I’ll show you what a slave can do! Anakin thought. Leaning forward, he gunned his engines. As the grandstand flashed by for the second time, he came up even with Sebulba. One more lap. Just one.
Engine to engine, they raced over the rocky course. A flap opened on the side of Sebulba’s near engine, sending a stream of hot exhaust straight at Anakin’s engine. So that’s why those other Podracers crashed! Sebulba melted holes in their engines! Anakin pulled back just in time. Furious at Sebulba’s maneuver, he whipped to the inside on the next tight corner and took the lead.
Keeping the lead was harder than taking it had been. Sebulba stayed on Anakin’s tail, pushing him on every turn. Anakin clung grimly to his hard-won position. It’s the last lap. I only have to make it through a few more curves.…
Something felt wrong—the left engine. The main inertial compensator was shaking loose. Rapidly, Anakin adjusted the controls to use the backup system, but he wasn’t quite fast enough. While he was changing over, Sebulba passed him.
I’m not going to lose now! But every move Anakin made, Sebulba blocked. And there were no more convenient drop-offs coming up; he wouldn’t be able to play the same trick he’d used on that other driver, early in the race. Something else, then…
As they came around the final turn, Anakin pretended to dodge to the inside. It was the same maneuver he had used to pass Sebulba the first time—but when Sebulba dodged to block him, Anakin swung wide, trying to pass on the outside.
He did not quite make it all the way around Sebulba’s Podracer. Side by side, they headed toward the finish line. Sebulba swerved, deliberately slamming his Pod into Anakin’s. He swerved again, and his steering rods became tangled with Anakin’s. Anakin fought for control. He could see Sebulba laughing as the finish line drew closer and closer. He tried to unlock the steering rods by pulling away from Sebulba’s Podracer, but they were too tightly caught…and then Anakin’s steering rod broke under the strain.
The Podracer began to spin. Grimly, Anakin hung on to the power controls. No steering, no stability—but he could still change the engines’ speed. By instinct and feel, he kept the Podracer on course, heading for the finish line through the cloud of smoke and flame—smoke and flame? Sebulba crashed? Anakin crossed the finish line and brought the Podracer to a halt.
As the engines died, he heard cheers and saw Kitster running toward him from the crew pit. Looking back, he saw Sebulba hopping angrily about beside his wrecked Podracer. On the wrong side of the finish line. Sebulba crashed! I won! I WON!
Anakin unstrapped himself and stood up. I never knew winning felt this good, Anakin thought hazily. I like this! He had just time enough to hug Kitster, and then the cheering, chanting crowd swept him up and carried him off on their shoulders.
Watto was very unhappy about losing his bet. Qui-Gon had to threaten to take the matter to one of the Hutts before the blue alien agreed to provide the parts and release Anakin. While he waited for the junk dealer to deliver the hyperdrive generator, Qui-Gon arranged to borrow the two eopies to haul everything back to the ship. Though the race was over, he still felt uneasy. He wanted the Queen off planet and safely on her way to Coruscant as soon as possible. The sooner we get the parts back to the ship, the sooner Obi-Wan can start the repairs.
Obi-Wan was waiting at the ship to help unload, and the work went quickly. Padmé disappeared into the Queen’s quarters, presumably to report on her experiences. She took Jar Jar with her.
“I’m going back,” Qui-Gon told Obi-Wan as soon as everything was unloaded. “Some unfinished business. I won’t be long.”
“Why do I sense that we’ve picked up another pathetic life-form?” he asked disapprovingly as Qui-Gon mounted one of the eopies.
Trust Obi-Wan to pick that up right away. “It’s the boy who’s responsible for getting us those parts,” Qui-Gon said in what he hoped was a firm, decisive tone.
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. “Look,” Qui-Gon told him, “just get that hyperdrive installed so we can get out of here.”
“Yes, Master,” Obi-Wan said. “It shouldn’t take long.”
Still harboring a vague sense of unease, Qui-Gon rode into Mos Espa, leading the second eopie behind him. He visited one of the junk dealers and sold the Podracer for a considerable sum. Then he returned the borrowed eopies and went looking for Anakin.
He found him rolling in the dust with a green-skinned, fishlike Rodian boy. Several other children of various species were watching, wide-eyed. “What’s this?” Qui-Gon said.
The fighting stopped abruptly. With wary looks, the two boys climbed to their feet. “He said I cheated!” Anakin said.
“Well, Annie, you know the truth,” Qui-Gon said. “You will have to tolerate his opinion. Fighting won’t change it.”
Anakin gave the Rodian a dark look, but nodded. Then he turned and walked away.
As they neared the slave quarters, Qui-Gon took out the money he had gotten for the Podracer. “These are yours,” he said, handing the coins to Anakin. The boy stared, plainly not understanding. “We sold the Pod,” Qui-Gon explained.
Anakin’s face lit up, and he ran toward home, the fight forgotten. But how will he feel when he learns that he is free—and his mother is not? Slowly, Qui-Gon followed.
After all the excitement of the last day, cleaning up had a pleasantly familiar feel to Shmi. The Jedi and his friends would soon be gone, and the race—she tried not to think about the race. It had been wonderful to see Anakin win, but now Watto would want him to race more often. And she couldn’t forget the flames rising from the wrecks. It could have been Annie…
The door banged open, and Anakin ran in. “Mom! Mom, he sold the Pod!” He pulled a fistful of coins from his pocket and shoved them into Shmi’s hands. “Look at all the money we have!”
“Oh, my goodness!” Shmi said, staring at the coins. “That’s wonderful!” As she hugged Annie, she saw the Jedi standing in the door behind him. She straightened, intending to thank him, and he said quietly, “And Anakin has been freed.”
Shmi stared, her mind whirling. She heard at once what Qui-Gon hadn’t said. Annie was free, but she was not. While Anakin leaped joyfully and hurled excited questions at the Jedi, she struggled to control her feelings. This was what she had asked Qui-Gon, after all—that he help Annie. Now her son had the chance she had always wanted for him. She would have to do her best to see that he took it.
“Now you can make your dreams come true, Annie,” she said. “You’re free!” Turning to Qui-Gon she asked, “Will you take him with you?” She caught her breath as a dazzling new possibility occurred to her. “Is he to become a Jedi?”
“Our meeting was not a coincidence,” Qui-Gon said. “Nothing happens by accident.” He looked at Annie. “You are strong with the Force, but you may not be accepted by the Council.”
“A Jedi!” Anakin’s eyes grew round. “Mighty blasters, you mean I get to go with you in your starship and everything?”
Qui-Gon knelt so that he could look directly into Anakin’s eyes. “Anakin, training to be a Jedi will not be easy. And if you succeed, it will be a hard life.”
“But it’s what I want!” Anakin said. “It’s what I’ve always dreamed about. Can I go, Mom?”
Shmi looked at Qui-Gon, unable to speak. He gave a slight nod of understanding and said to Anakin, “This path has been placed before you, Annie. The choice to take it is yours alone.”
Anakin started to answer, then stopped, thinking. He looked at Shmi, then at Qui-Gon. Shmi held her breath. Finally, he said, “I want to go.”
“Then pack your things,” Qui-Gon said. “We haven’t much time.”
Elated, Anakin flung his arms around Shmi, then dashed for his room. Suddenly he stopped and looked back, his expression worried. “What about Mom?” he demanded. “Is she free, too? You’re coming, aren’t you, Mom?”
Qui-Gon looked at Shmi, then turned to Annie once more. “I tried to free your mother, Annie, but Watto wouldn’t have it.”
“But the money from selling—”
“It’s not nearly enough,” Qui-Gon said gently.
Annie looked stricken. Shmi sat down next to him and drew him close. “Son, my place is here. My future is here. It’s time for you to let go of me. I cannot go with you.”
“I want to stay with you,” Anakin said in a small voice. “I don’t want things to change.”
“You can’t stop change, any more than you can stop the suns from setting,” Shmi said with a sigh. “Listen to your feelings, Annie. You know what’s right.”
Anakin bowed his head, and Shmi could feel him trembling. Finally, he looked up with tears in his eyes. “I’m going to miss you so much, Mom.”
And I, you, every day and every hour. “I love you, Annie,” Shmi said, and hugged him tightly for a long moment. “Now hurry.”
She watched him run into his room, storing up the sight against the empty days ahead. Then she turned to Qui-Gon. “Thank you.”
“I will look after him,” the Jedi said. “You have my word.” He gazed at her with concern. “Will you be all right?”
Shmi gave a little half-nod and glanced back toward Annie’s room. “He was in my life for such a short time,” she whispered, almost to herself.
The first probe droid returned hours before Darth Maul expected it—an excellent sign. He checked its readouts with care, and grinned fiercely. It’s the Jedi, all right. On the far side of Mos Espa. Signaling the droid to use maximum speed, Darth Maul climbed on his speeder and followed it back across the desert.
It didn’t take Anakin long to pack. The only thing he really wanted to bring with him was See-Threepio, but the droid was far too large. He activated Threepio long enough to say farewell, then hurried out to meet Qui-Gon.
Kitster was waiting outside with Shmi, to say good-bye. “Thanks for every moment you’ve been here,” he told Anakin. “You’re my best friend.”
“I won’t forget,” Anakin said, feeling hollow. I have to go. I want to go. I’ve always wanted to get away from here, but…but… He gave Kitster a quick hug and ran toward Qui-Gon, trying to outrun the hurt, to forget about what he was leaving behind. Not just Threepio and Kitster, but all his other friends as well—they’re not here; I won’t even get to say good-bye to them. And his mother…He slowed. Stopped. Looked back.
His mother was standing in the doorway, watching him with a sad smile that was more than he could bear. He ran to her, and with tears starting in his eyes, he said, “I can’t do it, Mom. I just can’t.”
She knelt and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her tightly, and for just a moment everything felt safe and right and ordinary again. Then she sat back and stroked his hair. “Annie, this is one of those times when you have to do something you don’t think you can do. I know how strong you are, Annie. I know you can do this.”
Anakin nodded, not really believing it. “Will I ever see you again?”
“What does your heart tell you?”
“I hope so,” Anakin said. Usually, he was certain, the way he had been certain when he told Padmé he would marry her, but this—he wanted this so badly that he couldn’t tell. “Yes. I guess.”
His mother squeezed his arms. “Then we will see each other again.”
Anakin swallowed hard. “I…I will become a Jedi. And I will come back and free you, Mom. I promise.”
“No matter where you are, my love will be with you,” his mother said. “Now be brave…and don’t look back.” She gave him a little shake, and repeated, “Don’t look back.”
He gave her one final hug, then turned and marched grimly toward Qui-Gon. I won’t look back, Mom. Watch me. I’m not looking back. I’ll make you proud, Mom. I won’t look back.
Silently, Qui-Gon fell into step beside him. The Jedi did not speak until the slave quarters were out of sight behind a building. Then he gestured Anakin to the left. “We have to stop at Watto’s shop.”
Startled, Anakin looked up. “Why?”
“To get your slave transmitter neutralized.”
The process didn’t take long, but it left Anakin feeling odd, as if he had suddenly become an entirely new and different person. I never thought not being a slave would feel so strange, he thought as he trudged along beside Qui-Gon.
Suddenly, the Jedi spun. His lightsaber hummed out of nowhere. Anakin heard a loud crack, and saw a round, black droid drop in fizzing pieces to the sand. “What is it?” he asked.
“Probe droid,” Qui-Gon replied in a grim tone. Bending, he examined the droid more closely. “Very unusual—it’s not like anything I’ve seen before.” He stood up and scanned the street, then looked down at Anakin. “Come on.” He started running.
Qui-Gon’s long legs made it hard for Anakin to keep up, but he did the best he could. He was only a little way behind when the spaceship came into sight. It looked peaceful and normal, but Qui-Gon didn’t slow down. “Qui-Gon, sir, wait!” Anakin called.
Qui-Gon turned. His eyes widened and he shouted, “Anakin, drop!”
Without hesitation, Anakin threw himself facedown on the hot sand. He heard a high whine and felt a rush of wind on his back. When he raised his head a moment later, he was just in time to see a man in a black, hooded cloak leap at Qui-Gon from a speeder bike. Swinging a red lightsaber.
Another Jedi? But a Jedi wouldn’t attack Qui-Gon! Anakin climbed to his feet, watching in confusion as the two men slashed at each other.
“Annie!” Qui-Gon shouted. “Get to the ship! Tell them to take off! Go, go!”
Anakin ran for the ship, hoping he would reach it in time.
“Everything checks out,” Ric Olié said as he removed the last test wires. “We can leave as soon as Qui-Gon gets back.”
“Good.” Obi-Wan wondered why he did not feel more relieved. Something is very wrong.
Captain Panaka burst through the cockpit doorway, followed by Padmé and an unfamiliar brown-haired boy. “Qui-Gon is in trouble,” the captain said. “He says to take off!”
Olié flung himself at the pilot’s chair before Panaka finished speaking. The ship was airborne in moments, without even waiting to close the entry ramp. “I don’t see anything,” he said as he circled above the desert.
Peering anxiously through the cockpit windows, Obi-Wan spotted a small cloud of dust in the distance. At its center, he felt a great disturbance in the Force—and Qui-Gon. “Over there!” he told Olié. “Fly low!”
The pilot obeyed. The ship skimmed across the surface of the desert, barely a meter above the tops of the dunes. As they came closer, Obi-Wan caught a glimpse of lightsabers flashing amid the dust—two lightsabers? No wonder Panaka said Qui-Gon was in trouble! He swallowed hard, hoping that Qui-Gon would see the open entry ramp as the ship passed. He didn’t dare use the Force to let his Master know they were coming. In a fight as fierce as that one, even a small distraction could be fatal. He’ll see it. He has to see it.
As the ship passed over the battle, Obi-Wan felt a surge in the Force. In sudden relief, he let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He made it! “Qui-Gon’s on board,” he told Olié as the ramp closed. “Get u
s out of here!”
Without waiting to see whether the pilot obeyed, Obi-Wan started for the main hall. The young boy followed him. They found Qui-Gon in a dusty heap just inside the entry, covered with sweat and breathing hard. I’ve never seen him in such bad shape after a fight! If we hadn’t gotten to him when we did…
“Are you all right?” the boy demanded, voicing part of Obi-Wan’s worry.
“I think so,” Qui-Gon panted. He sat up, and slowly began to breathe more normally. “That was a surprise I won’t soon forget.”
“What was it?” Obi-Wan asked.
“I don’t know,” Qui-Gon replied. “But he was well trained in the Jedi arts.”
Obi-Wan blinked. A renegade Jedi? Impossible! He caught a look from Qui-Gon that meant “we’ll discuss it later,” and smothered his questions.
“My guess is that he was after the Queen,” Qui-Gon continued.
“Do you think he’ll follow us?” the boy asked. He sounded more curious than worried, now that he knew Qui-Gon was not injured.
“We’ll be safe enough once we’re in hyperspace,” Qui-Gon told him. “But I have no doubt that he knows our destination.”
“What are we going to do about it?” the boy demanded.
Obi-Wan could not help frowning at the boy. He shouldn’t be bothering Qui-Gon like that, especially now. But Qui-Gon did not seem disturbed by the boy’s insistent questions. “We will be patient,” he said firmly. Then, as if he knew what Obi-Wan had been thinking, he added, “Anakin Skywalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
“Pleased to meet you,” the boy said politely. As he turned to shake hands, he looked straight at Obi-Wan for the first time. His eyes widened. “Wow! You’re a Jedi, too?”
The boy’s enthusiasm was hard to resist. But what is Qui-Gon thinking, to get a child mixed up in the middle of a mission? And what will he do with the boy once we get to Coruscant? Obi-Wan studied Anakin doubtfully. I don’t know about this. I just don’t know.
This spaceship is freezing, Anakin thought. And the coldest part of it was the sleeping quarters. Nobody else seemed to mind; they were all snoring their heads off. But after shivering under the thin blanket for an hour without falling asleep, Anakin gave up. The main area was a little warmer. Surely no one would mind if he curled up in a corner there.
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Page 7
