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Chapter Three
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Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Newest Part
Obi-Wan Kenobi climbed carefully down out of the escape pod. He looked at the long black box that was mounted on the end of the pod where it would attach to the ship. It was cracked open, and partly melted. "Looks like the beacon was damaged in reentry, Master," he called up to Qui-Gon as the older Jedi clambered out of the pod.
Looking around, Obi-Wan had to admit that Naboo was nearly as beautiful as his home planet of Alderaan. They had come down in a hilly region, forested with a mix of deciduous and evergreen trees that looked as though they had never heard human footfalls. In a small valley created by the cluster of hills, he could make out a lake shimmering in the midday sunlight. He thought he also saw the sparkling ribbon of a river in the distance. He could feel thousands of eyes on him, from the tiny to the large, and relished the cool, fresh air after the two hours in the escape pod.
"These hills must be rather metallic," Qui-Gon observed, standing close by his apprentice. "That or the nearest escape pod is outside the radius of the commlink."
"Which way, then, Master? I didn't see any settlements as we were coming down," the younger Jedi observed.
"Towards the west, I saw a region I expect was inhabited. It was perhaps a two day walk from here," Qui-Gon said. He picked up one of the packs that they had taken from the pod and set off.
They made it to the river late that afternoon and set a small camp near its banks. After a light dinner and a brief discussion of philosophy, the two Jedi went to sleep. A small proximity alarm would alert them to approaching intruders.
Obi-Wan woke late that night. At first, he couldn't tell why, but then he picked up the faint sound of a repulsor in the distance. Climbing the nearest hill, he met his Master, studying the eastern horizon with a pair of macrobinoculars. "What is it, Master?"
Wordlessly, Qui-Gon passed him the macrobinoculars. He nodded towards the east as Obi-Wan raised them. "Ships," he said quietly. "They look Corellian in design."
Obi-Wan saw his Master was correct - there were three freighters moving around, close to the horizon. Punching the binoc's zoom to maximum, he began to pick up some details. "All the vessels look yard-new, almost. Certainly Corellian design. What are they doing?"
"It looks like they're picking up a shipment."
"Did you see any settlements that direction, Master Qui-Gon?"
"No, I didn't. If I remember our earlier aerial view, there is a delta where this river meets another in that vicinity."
"Do the Naboonians use submarine vessels for trade?"
"Not to my knowledge, young Padawan." Qui-Gon's demeanor was somewhat distracted, his eyes closed. Obi-Wan could feel his Master reaching out with the Force. Obi-Wan followed that lead, feeling for the crews of the ship and whoever they were dealing with.
Their eyes snapped open simultaneously and as they turned towards one another, Obi-Wan said, "They're slavers."
Padmé supposed it had been too much to hope for that she would get a full night's sleep after the day's excitement, but she was still a little irked at being woken an hour after falling into a fitful sleep. She went to the comm unit and sat down.
"It is good to see you are in good health, my Queen," said the Naboonian Senator. Palpatine was a kindly-looking man, and his usual attitude was one of geniality, which seemed quite authentic. Padmé sometimes wondered how a man who had been in public service much of his life had managed to retain his good humor.
"Thank you, Senator," Padmé returned in the slightly deeper tones she used as the Queen. "How go things in the Senate?"
"Oh, very well," he said. "Thank you for asking. But I fear this is no pleasure call, my Queen. I hear dark tidings from Naboo. And," he added, a small smile touching his lips, "That something darker, in the way of Viceroy Gunray, is coming here to Coruscant. Do you have any information on this?"
"No, Senator," she sighed, weary. "Representative Mornay declared the negotiations to be at an end this afternoon, immediately before the attack began. He said something about a matter that would be brought to the attention of a different authority - I can only assume he meant the Senate, but I don't know what the matter might be."
"Oh," said the Senator. "I had been hoping you might shed some light on the situation. I am sorry for waking you at such an hour, my Queen."
"Think nothing of it," she told him. "I wish for us to have the closest working relationship we may, Senator. Your service does all of Naboo proud."
He bowed his head gravely, and the transmission ended.
Late the next afternoon, the two Jedi encountered four Naboonian guardsmen on the small, one-man repulsorcraft commonly called swoops. They had heard the group, some sort of perimeter patrol, coming for the past ten minutes, and had their hands well clear of their lightsabers by the time the group came into view.
The lead soldier, a young woman barely out of her teens, pulled her swoop in close than the others. "You are Jedi," she said, noting their lightsabers and their robes.
"You have us at a disadvantage," Qui-Gon observed, even though Obi-Wan recognized the insignia of the palace guard on the young woman's uniform.
"Were you the two Jedi that were aboard the Pax Corusca?" she asked, ignoring Qui-Gon's comment for the moment.
"We are," Qui-Gon confirmed.
"If you would, please come with us. Denié," she said, glancing at one of the other guards, "Double up with Aron and let our guests take your speeder."
"Yes, Lieutenant," Denié said, dismounting her bike.
Obi-Wan took the controls of the swoop, his master sitting calmly behind him. "Lieutenant," the older Jedi said. "How is it that Naboo Defense Forces come to be in the area?"
"Searching for unaccounted survivors of the Pax, Master Jedi. Fortunately, yours was the only pod whose transmitter was damaged in the evacuation."
In a few minutes, the four swoops were pulling up on the Lake Country estate of the Queen of Naboo.
