Here it is, in the pre-dawn and I woke up feeling a little sick to my stomach. Getting up out of bed, I made my way to the refresher. As I walked down the small hallway, I kept feeling a small cramp in my left side, where I was wounded. Finally getting to the refresher, I walked into the room, closing and locking the door. Going over to the sink and looking into the mirror, I was shocked to see how red my face is and beads of sweat starting to form on my forehead. I grabbed onto the edge of the sink, when a sharp pain hit me. Bending my head downwards over the sink, I began to throwing up.
" Great, just what I need at this moment." I said to myself, as I felt more pain coming from the wound in my side.
Turning on the water, I began cleaning up the small mess that I had made. Looking around the sink area, I saw a small hand towel. Grabbing it, I put it under the faucet, wetting it with cold water. Putting the cool towel onto my forehead, I try to cool the heat that I was starting to feel.
" Padme, are you ok?" Anakin asked, as he was tapping on the door.
" Um... yeah... I'm fine." was all I could say, as I began to feel really dizzy.
" No, you're not Padme. So, please open up this door, or I'll open it up myself...PADME !" Anakin said, as he was starting to get light headed. He knew something was very wrong.
Using the Force, Anakin opened the refresher door and walked inside the room. He was only halfway in, when he saw me laying on the floor.
" Padme!" Anakin called out, as he raced over to my side. Kneeling down to get a closer look, he realized that I was unconscious.
" Anakin, what are you? ...." Obi-Wan said, at the entrance of the refresher.
" Something is wrong with her, Master." Anakin said, turning his head towards Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan looked at the young man and he saw that Anakin had total look of panic on his face. He also saw tears coming to his eyes.
" Let me see. Um... Anakin, go to the ship and active the medical droid. Also, get the bacta capsule ready for her." Obi-Wan said, coming up to Anakin and putting his hand on the Padawan's shoulder.
" Master, I can't live without her." Anakin said, cradling me in his arms.
" I know, Anakin. So, please get up and do what I ask, or we will lose her... Great, there is an infection the wound." Obi-Wan said, as he looked down and noticed that there was a yellow-greenish seepage coming out from the bacta patch.
Anakin got up and took off running out of the refresher.
" Anakin, what's wrong?" Shmi asked, as he rushed passed her on the way out of the house.
" Mom, it's Padme... I have to..." was all he could say, before heading out of the house.
Shmi put the knife down and headed for the refresher.She saw that the door was wide open and stepped inside the room.
" What is going on? ... Oh my ... what happened?" She asked, as she saw me laying on the floor and Obi-Wan next to my side, wiping the yellow-greenish puss from the wound.
" It seems that the wound is infected and we need to get her to our ship, in the bacta capsule or we are going to lose her." Obi-Wan said, looking up at Shmi.
" I thought I cleaned the wound completely out, before I stitched her up. So, you think it's something else that has caused this?" Shmi asked, watching Obi-Wan taking a sample of the puss.
" Yes... I have a feeling that it's some kind of poison... I believe that the Raider, who stabbed her, had some kind of poison on the end of his Gaffi stick." Obi-Wan said, closing the lid of the small jar that he had found in the cabinet.
" I see... I haven't heard of them ever using any kind of poison... Then again, there is very little known about the Tuskin Raiders." Shmi said, as she was trying to remember what she knows about the Tuskin Raiders.
" Well, it could be something new that they have just figured out." Obi-Wan said, before placing a small hand towel onto the wound, and bending down and picking me up in his arms. Obi-Wan carried me out of the refresher, down the hallway and into the living room, before passing Cliegg and Owen, who had just walked into the living room from the kitchen.
" What's happening?" Cliegg asked.
" Padme's wound is infected ... He believes that it's more than just an infection. Obi-Wan thinks that somehow she was poisoned." Shmi said, coming into the living room behind Obi-Wan.
" Poison you say ... You know what? One of the hunters told me that him and his son had found a couple of bodies of dragons that had stab wounds. They were oozing yellow-greenish puss." Cliegg said, as he remembered what his friend was telling him, when they went hunting a herd of Dewbacks.
" Do you think that the Raiders have gotten smart enough to realize that they could use some kind of poison that could take down their enemies?" Shmi asked.
" I don't know, but let's just pray that they haven't. It will be hell for us if they did, because we wouldn't be able to fight against them." Cliegg said, going back into the kitchen.
Obi-Wan carefully and with caution, crossed the desert yard to where the ship was, just passed the small garage area. While he was walking towards the ship, he reached out with the force and sensed where everybody was at that moment. One of the bodies that he could sense, was a very upset Anakin.
" Everything is going to be ok, Anakin. Go see your mother and tell her that we must be going. When we finish up this mission, we will come back to see her, and while you are doing that, I will be watching Padme." Obi-Wan said, as he walked passed Anakin and took me to the small medical bay that we have on the ship.
" Hello!" Shmi called out, as she stepped onto the ship.
, " Mom, Obi-Wan just brought Padme into the medical bay." Anakin said coming to his mom.
" Yes, Anakin. I know and he believes that she has been poisoned too. Come here, sweetie." Shmi said, pulling her son into her arms and held him, as he began to cry.
" I can't lose her, Mom. She is my heart, soul and life." Anakin said, as he just held onto his mother and cried.
" I know, baby. Right now, all we can do is wait and see what will happen to her. I can feel that she is a very special person and she is the right person for you, not only for your heart, but for your soul. I also believe that you too are her heart and soul, and you both need each other." Shmi said, as she let go of Anakin, but she held his head in her hands, so that way, she could see into his eyes.
" We are soulmates and now we can't be without each other." Anakin said, moving away from his mother.
" I know how you feel. Ok, now, the reason why I'm here is, to see if you guys want something to eat, before you go to wherever your next stop will be, on your mission." Shmi said, as she looked around the room.
" Um... sure. Breakfast does sound good. Oh, have you seen the ship yet?" Anakin asked, as he watched his mother look around the room.
" I already have it made, so all I have to do is pack it up for you guys. Obi-Wan, I was telling Anakin that I have breakfast ready, but before you say a word, I'm going to pack it up for you guys. You can have it, while you are on your way to wherever you are going to. Um... s,o do you guys want Tea or Caf or maybe both?" Shmi said, as she watched Obi-Wan take a seat on the small couch.
" Yes ,that would be great. To drink, I think Caf for me and I'm guessing Anakin will have Tea." Obi-Wan said, giving Shmi a very tired, but grateful smile.
" Ok, and I will even pack something for Padme, whenever she is able to eat and drink something." Shmi said, before heading off the ship and back to the house.
" Mom told me that you believe that Padme has been poisoned?" Anakin said, as he stood there running his hand though his hair.
" Yes, that is what we believe it to be. At the moment, am running a test on the puss that was coming from the wound, to see if it had some poison in it. I have also taken some of her blood too, so we should know in a couple of hours from now. Well, she is now in the bacta capsule." Obi-Wan said, closing his eyes and laying his head back against the back of the couch.
" Ok. So, why didn't the bacta patch work on her? Hello, Mr. Lars." Anakin said, as Cliegg came up the ramp and walking into the lounge area of the ship.
" Hello, Anakin and please call me Cliegg. Here are the drinks that your mother made. Wow, so this is what a ship looks like?" Cliegg said, as he looked around the room, while he was holding the drink containers that had both had Caf and Tea in them.
" Ok, sure. I take it this is your first time on a ship. Here, let me take one of those containers from you." Anakin said, as he came over to Cliegg and took the container that had the Caf in it.
" Thanks. Yes, this is the first time that I have ever been on a ship." Cliegg said, as he followed Anakin to the small kitchen area.
" Really? Well, if you like, I can give you a small tour of the ship, if you like." Anakin said, opening up the Caf-Tea machine and began pouring the Caf into the machine that held the Caf.
" Sure, I would really like that. Hey, sweetie, Anakin here, is going to give me a tour of the ship." Cliegg said, as Shmi came up to them in the kitchen area.
" That's great. I think that the only place that I have truly seen was the medical bay of the ship. I too would really like to see the rest of the ship." Shmi said, putting the food containers down on the small kitchen counter.
" Ok, let me finish pouring the Tea into the machine. If you can, could you put the food in the box, right there beside you and see that green button? Hit it and it will keep the food warm, while I give you the tour of the ship." Anakin said, as he slowly poured the hot tea, into it's side of the machine.
" Ok, but are you sure that I can put the food that belongs to Padme, in a cooler?" Shmi said, putting the two containers into the warmers, but she still held onto the one for Padme.
" Ok, you can put it in the cooler that is behind you." Anakin said, as he shut the lid of the Caf machine and nodded to the cooler behind his mother.
" The kitchen looks big enough to fix a big dinner or any kind of meal in here." Cliegg said, looking around the small kitchen, and dining area.
" Yes, it is a full functioning kitchen and we can cook full dinners that can feed up to six people. If you can follow me, we can head into the living area of the ship." Anakin said, as he lead his Mom and step-father out of the kitchen and into the living area.
" I see you guys are getting a tour of our home away from home." Obi-Wan said, getting up from the couch.
" Yes. Anakin is giving us the tour." Cliegg said.
" Ok. Well, I need to go and do a couple of things, before we leave here in about thirty minutes." Obi-Wan said, looking over to Anakin and letting him know that they need to be going soon.
Obi-Wan left the small family and headed for his sleeping quarters.
" Ok. Well, as you can tell, this is our living area or also called the lounge by some people. Here, we can watch the holo-net, play games and we even have a small communication center over here. So, the next place is where I like to be at the most of the time, and that would be the cockpit." Anakin said, as he started to lead them to the cockpit.
" You know, I remember you used to tell your friends that you were going to be a pilot." Shmi said, as she was smiling with pride that Anakin accomplished his dreams.
" Yes, your mom has told me all about some things that you used to do, while you were younger." Cliegg said, as they stepped into the cockpit.
" Gee, thanks, Mom. Ok, on the left side of the cockpit, is the pilot's chair and over here on the right, is the co-pilot's chair. If you at the consult, you can see the communication section, below that, is the navigation computer, or Navi-computer for short. This is the lever that will put us into hyper space. Well, that's about it in here, so now I will show you the four sleeping quarters that we have on board the ship, and the medical bay, which is where Padme is right now." Anakin said, as he led them to the back of the ship. Before opening up one of the guest rooms, Anakin stopped in front of the refresher.
" This is our refresher, and it's a nice size for any kind of ship that I have been on." he said, opening the door, so that way, they could see what the refresher looks like on the ship.
" Wow. You do have plenty of room to move around in the ship." Shmi said, as she saw that it was very roomy.
" Yes, it is. Ok and here is one of the guest quarters, and there is also a master room, which belongs to Padme, because the ship belongs to her. It also has it's own refresher in it too." Anakin said, as they walked into the guest room.
" Wow, it's nicely done. So, let me guess, she too has a bigger bed in the master room?" Shmi said, as she saw Anakin began to blush.
" Well, that's it for the tour. We do have a hull, where we store things in, but we would have to go outside to enter it from there." Anakin said, as he walked out of the guest room, and the older couple followed him.
" This is a wonderful ship and I can tell that you guys need to get going to the next place on your mission." Shmi said, as they came back into the lounge and stopped by the hatch door.
" Yeah, we really do need to get going, but we can stop back here, when we are done of our mission." Anakin said, as he saw tears well up in his mother's eyes.
" Ok. It's been wonderful to have you here, and it's great to see your friends again. I'm going to miss you, Ani. You take care, not only of yourself, but of Padme too. She is a very special girl." Shmi said, going to Anakin and giving him a hug and a kiss goodbye.
" I will, Mom. You and Cliegg take care too. Tell Owen that we will work on something else, when I come back here." Anakin said, hugging his mom, before going over to Cliegg.
" We will take care and you are always welcome here, son." Cliegg said ,as Anakin surprised him, pulling him towards him and giving him a hug.
The elder couple walked off the ship and Anakin closed the hatch door, just as Obi-Wan came back into the room.
" Thank you, Obi-Wan." Anakin said, as he went into the kitchen, grabbing his breakfast and tea, before going into the cockpit.
" You're welcome. I figured you needed alone time with them, before leaving for Nal-Hutta." Obi-Wan said, glad to have given Anakin time with his family, which he knows they will be coming back here, before going back to Coruscant.
Obi-Wan grabbed his food and Caf too, before going into the cockpit with them and sitting down in the co-pilot's chair.
" I'm glad you told my mother where we are going. It would only make her worry even more about me." Anakin said, opening up the food container and saw that it was his mother's famous pancakes, eggs and Nerf sausage.
" Yeah, I'm glad too. You know, who we are going to be seeing? If it makes you feel better, you can stay with the ship, that is if you want too." Obi-Wan said, as he too opened up his food container.
" I understand what you are saying, Master and Padme had said the same thing. I think I'll go with you, the both of you, because it's time that I show the Hutt that she was never truly my master and that am a free person." Anakin said, as he started up the engines and the ship begins to lift up and Anakin flies them up and out of Tatooine's atmosphere.
" Ok, the coordinates are in the Navi-computer and we should be ready for hyper space in about ten seconds." Obi-Wan said, as he pushed the enter button on the Navi-computer.
" Ok, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Hyper space, here we come." Anakin said, as he pulled the hyperspace lever and the stars in front of the them, begin to blur, as they enter the hyperspace.
" Now,it's time to just sit back and enjoy my mom's cooking." Anakin said, sitting back and began to eat his breakfast.
" Man, your mom is a great cook. These pancakes are so light and fluffy and the fruit is so very sweet." Obi-Wan said, taking a bite of his pancakes.
" The fruit comes from her fruit tree that she has growing. She makes the best pies ,with these fruits too. I wonder how Padme is doing?" Anakin asked, finishing up his pancakes.
" Yeah, your mom's pie was very great. While you and Padme had gone into town with your Mom, Cliegg and I had some pie. Padme is sleeping, while she is soaking in the bacta capsule. It was a bacterial virus that she has and it starts out as puss, before it starts eating the flesh around the wound. If it isn't treated, death will follow, and thank goodness, we have caught it in time too. I think that's why the patch didn't work and also it was an old patch too. I'll see you in a couple of hours." Obi-Wan said, getting up and headed out of the cockpit.
Anakin sat there and finished his breakfast. Then, getting up from the chair, he left the cockpit. Going into the kitchen area, he put his container in the washer, before heading for the medical bay.
" Master Skywalker, if you came to see how Mistress is doing, all I can say is, that she is doing a lot better. The bacteria has slowed down in growth and it's dying. So, by the time we get to Nal-Hutta, she should be better." the medical droid said, as Anakin came into the room.
" That's great to hear. Would it be ok, if I stay right here beside her?" Anakin said, as he looked over to the bed.
" Yes, you can. As a doctor, I do suggest that you too get some rest." the droid said, as Anakin went over to the bacta capsule and pulled the chair over to the bed, so he could sit down beside me.
Once he was sitting down in the chair, he began to doze off and then finally falling into a deep sleep. Four hours later, I was woken up by the sound of a loud beeping alarm ,coming from some where in the ship.
" Damn, someone needs to shut up that computer." Anakin mumbles in his sleep.
I just smiled and gently sat up, but only felt a slight twinge of pain in my side. I also noticed that the wound in my side was now closed. I slowly got out of the bed and slowly made my way to the cockpit.
" Padme you look a lot better than you did earlier this morning. Here, let me give you a hand to the cockpit." Obi-Wan said, as he came up to my side.
" Thanks, Obi-Wan. I do feel a lot better. There is still a small pain, but I do believe its the muscle." I said, as we walked into the cockpit.
" That is good to know. Yes, there will be some small amount of pain, when a muscle is hurt and has to heal. Well, are you ready for this?" Obi-Wan said, taking the Co-Pilot seat.
" Yeah, I know about those type of wounds. It takes just a little more time to heal. Hey, sleepy head." I said, as Anakin came into the cockpit. He motions for Obi-Wan to stay where he was, and he sat down the passenger's seat.
" Yeah, whatever. Hey, you look better, Padme. Oh great, we're here." Anakin said, as he notices that we were coming out of hyper space and Nal-Hutta was looming in front of us.
" You do know that you can stay here with the ship, if you want too. You really don't have to face Gardulla." I said, just as the radio began to crackle and a voice came over the radio.
" This is Jedi Cruiser and we are here to see Gardulla, the Hutt." I said, to the air controller.
" Hold your pattern, while we check with Gardulla about what you are saying, is correct." the controller said, before the radio went silent.
" Ok, holding my flight pattern." I said, before their was silence coming back over the radio.
" Jedi Cruiser, please proceed to your destination and Her Grace will be waiting for you" the controller said, as he came back on the radio.
" Thank you and Jedi Cruiser out." I said, before the com-link went dead.
I began to descend the ship lower into the atmosphere. I saw the beacon landing on the platform and also waiting for us, was a small group of people.
" Great, a welcoming party. They don't look to friendly either." Anakin said, as I shut the ship down, and he got up from the seat.
" Well, let's get this over with." I said, getting up and headed out of the cockpit.
Obi-Wan opened the hatch door and we all walked down the ramp together, to the waiting group of people at the bottom of the ramp.
" Welcome to Nal-Hutta and Gardulla is waiting for you. So, please follow me." one of the three men said to us.
We nodded and followed the three guys. We went into the huge stone building that Gardulla calls her palace.
" Your Grace, there are three Jedi here to see you." the head guard said, as we stopped in front of Gardulla.
" Padme, it's so good to see you... Oh my... I don't believe it. It's my ex-slave, Anakin Skywalker. You have grown up so very nicely ... I was hoping that you would be here with your Master Lily... She is five days late with my order." Gardulla said, as she licked her lips.
" Well, there has been a huge problem with your delivery." I start to say.
" You tell your Master, that if she doesn't show up here in the next three days, I will put a huge bounty on her head." Gardulla said, as she was getting very mad.
" Well, like I was trying to tell you, there is a problem about the delivery. You don't need to put a bounty on her, because I'm so sorry to say, she is dead. Everything that was on her ship was also stolen from the person who killed er." I said, as I saw what looks like sadness come across her face.
" I'm sorry to hear about Lily, but I want my money back. I had four cases of Carunum Spice." she said, looking straight at me and gave me a very dirty look, like it was all my fault that her Spice is missing.
" Ok, we will give you your money back." I said, glaring right back at her, and showing her that I wasn't afraid of her and she can't boss me around.
" Great. I paid $8,000 credits all together. I'm going to give you two weeks to get the money together and deliver it back here. If I don't get it, by the end of the last day, then I will put a huge bounty on all three of your heads." Gardulla said, looking at all three of us.
" Yes, Your Grace. We understand and I will make sure that you have your money by then." I said, bowing my head.
" Good. Now, you may leave and get the money together starting today." Gardulla said, as she waved us away.
We left the palace, headed back to the ship and getting on boarded.
" Well, that was easier than I thought it would be, and she did seem really surprised to see you, Anakin." I said, walking in to the lounge of the ship.
" Really and what else did you sense from her?" Anakin asked, as we walked into the cockpit, while Obi-Wan shut the hatch and went straight to his quarters.
" That she was really sad to hear about Lily. Hey, when we get into hyperspace, I need to go and lay down for awhile. So, you can either stay here or you can join me in my quarters, for a very nice long nap." I said, starting up the ship.
" A nap sounds very great to me." Anakin said, taking my hand and giving it a squeeze.
The ship lifted up, I pulled back on the throttle and we headed for the atmosphere. Once we were further out of the planet's orbit, I hit the hyperspace and sat there and watched the stars blur in the front of us. I hit the auto pilot, before getting up and headed to my quarters.
" Master, we are going to lay down. See you in about two hours." I said, as Obi-Wan came out of his quarters.
" Ok, have pleasant dreams." he said, before going to the lounge and sitting down.
I pulled Anakin into the bedroom. I kissed him, before going over to the bed and sitting down on the edge of it. Anakin sat down on the other side of the bed and we began taking off our shoes, before climbing into the bed and pulling the blanket over us. Anakin pulled me into his arms and held me, as we both fell into a peaceful sleep. In a few hours, we will be back on Corellia.