LITTLE RICH GIRL
Chapter Eleven
Padmé followed her family into
the massive crowds of people. They were in the hangar outside of the palace.
Sola saw a crewman walk by and stopped him.
"Hey, you’ve got us all
dressed up, and now we’re cooling our heels," Sola told the man.
He looked at her. "I’ll try
to find out what’s going on," he said, and left.
Padmé saw Qui-Gon rushing by. She
grabbed him by the arm and stopped him. "I saw the storm at the same time
you did. Please tell me the truth." Padmé looked into his eyes.
He held her hands. "In about
two hours or so, the whole planet will be devastated by a nuclear war," he
said. Her lips parted. "Get on a transport. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and I will be
fine. We’re at the palace, getting updates and getting people out. But you go
with your family. Don’t wait, all right?"
Padmé nodded her head and watched
Qui-Gon leave. She turned around and saw her family waiting. Her father and
sister’s family got into a transport. Her mother was standing outside, trying
to talk to an officer.
"Will the transports be
seated according to class?" Jobal asked. "I hope they’re not too
crowded." She laughed.
Padmé shook her head. "Oh,
Mother, shut up!" Padmé grabbed Jobal and looked her in the eye. "The
warheads will be launched soon, and there are not enough transports. Not enough
by half. Half the people on the planet are going to die."
"Not the better half,"
Bail said as Jobal walked on board. Padmé looked up at him. "It’s a pity I
didn’t keep that ring. It’ll be worth a lot more by morning." He smiled.
Padmé looked at him hatefully.
"You are an unimaginable bastard," Padmé told him.
Jobal held out her hand to Padmé.
"Get in the transport, Padmé," Jobal said. Padmé looked at her
father, and he was giving her the okay. "Padmé!" Jobal scolded.
"Get on board." Padmé started to back up. "Padmé?"
"Good-bye, Mother. I love
you, Father." Padmé walked off.
"Padmé!" Jobal called.
Bail went after Padmé as Jobal
called out to her daughter. "What are you doing?" Bail grabbed Padmé.
"To him? A whore to a gutter rat?"
"I’d rather be his whore
than your wife." Padmé pulled away, but Bail tried to keep her close.
"No! I said no!" he
yelled at her.
Padmé hocked up a huge glob of
spit, spat in Bail’s face, and ran. The transport doors closed, Jobal still
screaming for her daughter.
Padmé ran through the people and
down to the palace grounds, where masses of people were waiting. She ran up the
long flight of stairs and went inside, where people still were. But the farther
she got into the palace, the fewer people she found. She came to a dead end.
She turned the corner and went down a different hall, opening every door she
could open.
"Anakin!" She decided
to call for him. "Ani!"
Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon were
in the throne room, watching a screen and timing when the first ships would
arrive. As Anakin sat there, he heard a noise.
"Ani!" It was faint,
but he stood up and looked around, as did Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. "Ani!"
the voice called out again. "Ani!" It was louder now, and Anakin knew
who it was. He left the room and, as he had known, it was her. She turned,
faced him, and ran into his arms.
"Why are you still
here?" he asked, then kissed her.
"I didn’t want to leave you
behind."
"We should go anyway,"
Qui-Gon said, coming out of the throne room. "Come." And the group
ran out together.
They made their way outside and
saw that the gate that led most of the city to the hangar was closed and
thousands of people were trapped.
"Let us out!" Tony
yelled. The lower class and the common people were stuck behind the gate, but
not only that, military men were ready to blast anyone who came through.
"Tony!" Anakin called
out, and the man came from out of the crowd. "Is there any way out?"
Anakin asked.
"They won’t let us through.
Not even the women and children can go." Tony was panicking.
"Whatever we do, we need to
get out of here. The ships are picking up speed. We have less than two
hours," Obi-Wan said. Anakin had his arm around Padmé and noticed that she
was shivering. The thin coat was not enough. Anakin took off his cloak and put
it on her. He looked at her. She was pale, stricken with fear.
"Baby…baby, look at
me," he told her. "We’re going to get out of here. I promise."
"We need to find another way
out." Obi-Wan started to walk, and they followed. After speed-walking,
they were able to find a gate less crowded.
"Go back to the main gate
and everything will be sorted out there," a man was saying from the other
side. Anakin pushed his way through.
"Open the gate right
now," Anakin told the man.
"Go back to the main
gate."
"I said, open the gate right
now."
"Go back like I told
you." They all sighed, but Anakin was going to get Padmé out. He shook the
gate in anger. The Jedi could have used their sabers to get through if only
they hadn’t left their sabers in the throne room.
"The boulder," Anakin
pointed out. They knew what to do. The boulder lifted off the ground into
mid-air and people backed off. The boulder was heaved at the iron gate.
"You can’t do this!"
the man yelled.
"Tony, spread the word. A
gate is open," Obi-Wan said, and they walked through.
"Come on, Padmé."
Anakin brought her close to him, and they went through, the man still screaming
at them.
"You can’t do this!"
the man yelled, and Anakin Force-choked him long enough for him to fall to the
ground. People were free to go.
*****
Back at the hangar, people were
learning of the coming danger and were growing tense because of it. Some people
were literally jumping off the hangar and onto a transport.
"This is stupid. They’ve
stopped letting men on," Bail said as he stood with Delac.
"The other side is letting
men on," Delac said.
Bail nodded. "First, we need
to make a reservation to get on." Bail walked over to man working with the
transports. "Sir! Sir!" he called out. After talking to the man, Bail
gave him a check for one thousand credits. "We have an understanding,
then?" Bail asked.
*****
Padmé, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and
Qui-Gon finally got to the hangar. Padmé looked around and saw nothing.
"The transports are
gone!" Padmé cried in fear. She saw Sio Bibble. "Governor, are there
any transports that way?" she asked.
"Not here, Countess, but
there are some at the end."
"Thank you."
They ran off.