LITTLE RICH GIRL
Chapter Ten
Anakin and Padmé came outside,
laughing and holding hands. They came in close, and she put her hand on his
cheek.
"Ani, when you leave…when
you leave, I’m going with you," she said. He smiled.
"This is crazy."
"I know. It doesn’t make any
sense. That’s why I trust it." She smiled, and the two kissed. Obi-Wan and
Qui-Gon were walking by and saw them. Qui-Gon smiled, but Obi-Wan did not.
"Why aren’t you happy for
him?" Qui-Gon asked.
"You forget she’s engaged to
someone else."
"Doesn’t seem to bother them
very much." Obi-Wan nodded. The two Jedi were walking when they felt
something in the Force. Anakin, who was still kissing Padmé, stopped. He felt
it, too. The animals that were around the area left. Even the bugs crawled
away.
"Ani? What’s wrong?"
Padmé was worried. The ground started to shake a little.
"Anakin! Anakin!" It
was Qui-Gon. He came running towards them.
"Master!" Anakin called
out. They heard a crack, and the ground shook harder. The wind started to pick
up, and the calm night sky flashed with lightning. Padmé looked up at the bolts
of lightning. The lights of Naboo went dim for a split second, and the ground
stopped shaking, but the lightning storm was still going on, and it was windy.
"Padmé." Qui-Gon came
over. "I want you to get inside and go to your family. Anakin, come."
Anakin walked with Qui-Gon, and Padmé started to follow.
"Padmé, get inside,"
Anakin ordered her. She got inside and went back to her quarters, where her
family waited. Her father and sister didn’t seem to care, but her mother was
different. She walked in, and her mother grabbed her by the shoulder and threw
her on the couch.
"You stupid, stupid girl!
How dare you do this to Bail? Running off with someone in the night. It is
disgusting, and I will not have it in this house!" Jobal yelled.
"Jobal, stop it." Ruwee
stood up.
"You stay out of this. I
hate it when you stand up for her. She’s not a little girl anymore."
"You’re right. She’s not a
little girl. She never has been. She’s always been a woman. And she’s one hell
of a better woman than you ever were! At least she’s honest about her feelings.
And, dammit, I applaud her for sleeping with a Jedi!" The parents got into
an argument.
"She’s engaged to a
wonderful man…" her mother started.
"She’s engaged to the most
pompous, self-centered, egotistical asshole this galaxy has seen, and you know
it!" Ruwee said. Bail’s mouth dropped.
"She needs to
understand…"
"Nothing! She’s not happy!
You don’t see it! And when one of my daughters is unhappy, so am I!"
"What? You don’t enjoy life
anymore?" Jobal asked. They were in each other’s faces now.
"How can I enjoy anything
when she enjoys nothing? Tell me that, dearest! The real question is, how can
you prance around knowing your daughter is dying on the inside?"
"She will marry Bail, or I
will strike at her any way I can!"
"Please. Do you know what
she’s going through?" Ruwee was winning the argument.
"She is a courtier, and she
will be with someone of her class, not a Jedi!"
"Bullshit!"
"You’re out of line,
Ruwee…"
"No, you’re out of line. Do
have any idea what she has gone through in the past week?"
"What do you know about
love, Ruwee? Tell me. Tell me how our daughter should feel."
"All she needs to know is a
life without love is no life at all. So, if she walks down that aisle and
marries that man, she will have no life."
"Bail?" Jobal asked,
still looking into Ruwee’s eyes. "Anything to say to your future
wife?"
Bail walked over to Padmé.
"This is between them. Don’t even look.” Bail looked down at Padmé, and
she looked up with watery eyes. He smacked her right across the face.
"We have a slut on our
hands, now, don’t we?" Bail looked down at Padmé. "Look at me when
I’m talking to you!" He pulled her out of her seat. Ruwee had had enough
and walked over to Bail, grabbed him by the shoulders, and threw him to the
ground.
"How dare you touch my
daughter?" He pulled Bail to his feet. "Just wait until Anakin hears
that you touched his..." There was a knock on the door. A man walked in, a
servant.
"Mr. Amidala and Mr. Organa,
I have been asked to tell you to come to the hangars just outside the
grounds," the man said.
Ruwee literally had Bail by the
throat. "Not now. We are busy," Ruwee said.
The man gave him a funny look.
"I’m sorry to inconvenience you, but it’s the queen’s orders. Please dress
warmly. It’s a bit cold out," the man said.
Ruwee let go of Bail. "This
is ridiculous." Ruwee walked over to Padmé and took her into her bedroom.
*****
Meanwhile, the three Jedi, the
court, and the queen were in the throne room.
"Everyone has been ordered
to head to the hangar," the queen said. "What is going on?"
"Naboo is about to face an
attack by the Trade Federation, the Commerce Guild, the Corporate Alliance, and
Count Dooku," Qui-Gon said. "We need to get these people off the
planet."
"We can’t evacuate the whole
planet," a member of the court said.
"Then at least get them to a
safe place," Obi-Wan pointed out.
"The shielded areas,"
another member said. "Most cities have them. They’re located about an hour
away by ground. The transports can get them there in less than fifteen
minutes."
"Good, good," Qui-Gon
said. "If you have any military forces, get them mobilized."
"Wait. We’re being attacked
already. So, why should we launch an attack on those threatening Naboo?"
the queen asked.
"Your highness, if you don’t
do something, there might not be a Naboo left," Anakin commented.
"How many ships are
coming?" Sio Bibble asked. Qui-Gon pulled out a piece of paper.
"The storm that is going on
outside is part of their ships. It looks to me that they have that same number
of large-scale assault ships as the large cities like Theed. These ships can
still pull a storm to them, even in hyperspace. That’s how big they are."
"What’s going to
happen?" the queen asked.
"First they will send in
small fighters. These will take out the people on the streets. Then they will
send in larger ships to take out homes, buildings, and small cities."
Qui-Gon sighed.
"What about the ground
shaking? What was that?" the queen asked.
"We’ve just learned that
there are nuclear warheads under the ground," Anakin said. "The
Federation has been planning this for years now. The Federation is about to go
into a nuclear war with Naboo, wiping everything out, down to the last child.
These larger mother ships, whatever the hell you want to call them, will launch
these warheads. They will travel to one city and take it out. That city’s fire
will take out another one. It will be a chain reaction."
"Can we disable them?"
Sio Bibble asked.
"No, we can’t," Obi-Wan
said. "We won’t be able to locate them in time."
"What’s the closest
planet?" Anakin asked.
"Carpath. It’s more of a
moon. But it does have city life. It’s about a parsec away. Why?" a court
member asked.
"Contact that planet and
have them ready to take these people," Anakin told them. "But get the
transports to the shielded area."
"How strong are these
shielded areas?" Qui-Gon asked.
"They’ve been tested to
withstand just about anything, nuclear warheads included," another court
member said.
"How many transports are
there?" Obi-Wan asked.
The queen sighed. "Sixteen
to a city."
"Are you kidding me?"
Anakin asked.
The queen shook her head.
"Get on the Holonet and tell
everyone to get to a transport. If they can’t, tell them to stay inside their
homes, get to the lowest room, and try to ride it out," Qui-Gon said.
"We will get the women and children and any court members and their
families so the people will still have a government system when this is over.
We won’t be able to get these people to Carpath, so scratch that idea. Just get
them to the shielded areas. I’ve contacted the High Council and they are
sending every Jedi we have." Qui-Gon sighed. "They can be here in
about five to six hours. Let’s do this. When a transport is done unloading the
people into the shielded area, have them come back around to pick up more
people."
"How much time do we have
before the first ships come in?" Sio Bibble asked.
Anakin looked at Qui-Gon.
"Two hours or so. Three the most," Anakin said in a thick voice.
"And how many beings on this
planet, your highness?" Sio Bibble asked.
"About six billion,"
the queen said.