DeathTalker: Chapter 3

Senator Amedala yawned sleepily. "Hello R2, hi Anakin." Anakin was watching so intently that he didn’t even notice the smug beeps from R2. Naboolian nightgowns were one of the fashions that Anakin actually followed. The Jedi poked the boy in the ribs. "The room!" Anakin looked around somewhat distractedly. "Very nice." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "Will the thermoptic sensor work?!" Anakin snapped out of it. "Lemme just hit the lights." Anakin snapped off the lights and R2 dutifully scanned a bit. Trying to keep his attention on the droid – Padme really did look nice in those sheets lying back with the moonlight spilling in from the window – Anakin watched R2 go through a few sweeps. "No problems with that corner?" "Bwop" "Well OK then. I could run a few more tests to up the sensitivity…" "Good night gentlemen." The senator flopped back down. Obi-Wan pushed Anakin out of the room. Padme chuckled a bit and stared thoughtfully at the ceiling. Arriving back in the sitting area, Anakin was hoping for a quick exit when Obi-Wan broke in. "Since you are here, I was wondering if we might chat for a bit." "(Crap)" Anakin turned to him and tried to put a brave face on the situation. "Umm…shouldn’t you be watching the monitors or something?" "Actually, the Force allows me to sense what is going on in that room from here." "Really?" "Yes, but it requires a great deal of training to be able to do that." "What? Oh, right… Just one of things I missed out on when I decided not to become a Jedi." Obi-Wan smiled ruefully. "Yes, I know Qui-Gon wanted me to become a Jedi, but it was my choice. I’m sure he would have understood." "Yes, yes, we’ve been through that. I just wish I had been a bit more…persuasive." Obi-Wan looked off into the distance. "You’re a good man Obi-Wan, and a good Jedi. Besides I’m happy with my life – I get to pilot and tinker to my hearts content. Every now and then I even fix things!" The two of them chuckled together. "You’re a pretty good man yourself Anakin. I’m sure Qui-Gon would be proud of us both." The two men stood in silence for a while. As Anakin remembered Qui-Gon, he could almost see him, standing beside Obi-Wan. Dressed in the simple robes of the Jedi, he had a quiet look of confidence that he always seemed to posses. But something was wrong. Despite Anakin’s feelings of the moment, Qui-Gon was frowning. "I wanted you to become a Jedi!" Anakin cocked his head sideways. "What?" "You heard me!" "What is it Anakin?" "What?" "And you just ignored me!" "Huh?" "Anakin!" The young man looked back at Obi-Wan, then to where Qui-Gon was standing, or at least where he had been standing. "Why don’t you get some sleep?" "Umm…yeah, sleep…" As the two men were talking, a small droid pulled up to the window outside where Padme was sleeping. Soundlessly, it emitted a field that dampened the external sensors, and then cut through the window. The droid opened a small hatch and deposited two strange worm-like creatures into the room. "Braaaaap!" "R2!" Anakin and Obi-Wan raced into the senator’s quarters. Obi-Wan drew his light saber and neatly diced the poisonous worms. "You’re alright!" "So am *I*" Anakin rose from R2’s side and grinned sheepishly. "Yeah…I was just going to check on you, your er…senatorness…er…" "Look" Padme pointed to the window where the droid was pulling away. "Let me grab a tracking device! I’m sure we can…" Obi-Wan crashed through the window and grabbed the droid. The two flew off into the night. "I suppose that works too…" "Shouldn’t you try to help him?" "R2 is fine." "I meant Obi-Wan." "Oh…good idea!" Anakin raced towards the door and then seemed to think of something. "R2!" "Beep?" "Guard the princess!" "Bwraapp" Anakin dashed off. "Senator…whatever…" Obi-Wan clutched the assassin droid fiercely. "Ha! Gotcha!" The droid swung about, trying to dislodge the Jedi. Obi-Wan noticed that he was a long way from the ground. "Oh my…" Anakin arrived at the top of the building. He ran to a speeder and jumped in. After a moment’s thought he got out and jumped into a speeder near the first one. With a roar, the speeder took off. At that moment, Anakin realized he didn’t know which direction the droid had gone. Obi-Wan considered his options. He could use his lightsaber, but that would involve a long drop. He could also try using his communicator, but that also involved meeting the pavement. As he was mulling things over, the droid headed towards a building, nearly dislodging the Jedi. "(OK, maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea after all…)" Anakin sped off in a random direction, dodging to avoid traffic. Just then the speeder’s comm system beeped. "Speeder THX1138, what the hell are you doing?" Anakin looked nervous, but then his face brightened. Hitting the communicator, he put on his best drill sergeant voice. "This is speeder THX1138, in pursuit of assassin droid who just tried to kill senator Amadala; I’m assisting Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, who the hell is this?" "Oh! Sorry!" "Sorry?!!" "Sorry sir! This is Corscant ground control! We are monitoring the situation! There is a target heading North West, 500m from your position, at high speed sir!" "Right!" Anakin swerved, causing several other travelers to dodge and fling insults his way. Realizing that for once in his life he did not have to answer to ground control, Anakin grinned like a shark entering the kiddies’ wadding pool. At the same time that Anakin was closing on the droid, Obi-Wan was eying nearby buildings in the hopes of finding one that he could jump to. As fortune would have it, a blaster bolt chose that moment to hit the droid, destroying it. "Not good…" Obi-Wan plummeted towards the ground. Previous Chapter, Table of Contents, Next Chapter