章 14: Chapter 14:The deal

After a conversation with Shmi, about how we got to know Anakin, we were all gathered at the dinner table, the night had already fallen outside, and the sandstorm continued.

'' All slaves have a transmitter implanted somewhere in the body '', Shmi was finishing setting the table, while explaining how the slavery system of which she and Anakin are a part works, '' if a slave tries to escape or if rebel ... ''

'' it explodes !, BOMM! '', Anakin finishes Shmi's sentence before adding, '' I'm close to creating a sensor to identify where my bomb is ''

'' This is impossible!, the laws of the republic clearly abolished ... '', Padme exclaims indignantly, but before she can finish Qui-Gon interrupts her, '' The laws of the republic do not reach this far, this is territory controlled by Hutts ''

Before she can refute I put a hand on her shoulder and shake my head, '' I told you this many times before Padme, you are too innocent and naive for your own good, many in the Senate use a similar system of slavery, but only under a different name, '' Padme gently bites her lips and is silent.

The room is in that heavy mood, with everyone eating without really paying attention, until Anakin exclaims, trying to change the subject and improve the mood, "" Have any of you ever seen a pod race? "".

And it seems to work very well, '' I've seen some in Malastar, they are very fast and dangerous, '' Qui-Gon says calmly.

'' I'm the only human on the planet who pilots, '' Anakin boasted with a proud smile as he looked at Padme.

"ohoo, you must have reflexes from a Jedi if you can compete in a pod race," I say with a smile, while Qui-Gon is scolding Jar Jar for pinching food like a frog eating flies.

He seemed to be very excited when it came to pod racing and Jedi '', I dreamed that I would become a jedi, and come back here and free all the slaves, '' he hesitates a little before turning to Qui-gon and asking , '' You are a Jedi, right? ''

'' What makes you think I'm a Jedi? '' Qui-Gon asks back.

"I saw your lightsaber earlier, the Jedi are the only ones who use this type of weapon," he says as he points to Qui-Gon's waist.

"Could I have killed a Jedi and taken from his body?", Qui-gon says with a serious face.

'' I doubt it, the Jedi are very powerful, nothing can beat them, '' Anakin says, '' are you here to set us free? '' He asks shortly after.

Qui-Gon gets a little tense with the question before answering with an apologetic smile, '' I'm afraid not, I'm sorry ''

Anakin looked a little disappointed when he asked, "So what are you doing here?"

He looks at me and Padme, and considers it a little before saying, "we are going to coruscant on a very important mission for the republic".

"So how did you get here?", He says

'' Our ship was damaged and we are stuck here until we fix it, '' Padme says.

"I could help, I can fix anything," he says proudly.

'' Haha, certainly you can, but we need the pieces first, and that was precisely why we went to Watto's store earlier, '' Qui-Gon says with a small laugh.

"But we have nothing to change," Jar Jar adds in a depressed tone.

Padme turns to Shmi at that moment, with a little anxiety and concern on his face," Do you know anyone connected to the republic or senate here? Could we ask them for help? "

What she answers by shaking her head, "there is no one like that here, but if you want to take something from someone around here, you can do it by betting, everyone around here bets on these horrible races".

Qui-Gon starts to rub his beard at that moment, "Hmm .., Sometimes greed can be a great ally," he mused to himself.

'' I build a pod, and the fastest of all, trust me, nothing can beat it, '' Anakin exclaims excitedly. There's a race tomorrow, Bunta Eve, could you sign me up' ''

'' Anakin, Watto will not allow this '', Shmi exclaims worriedly.

"But mom, he doesn't even know I built it," he says before turning to Qui-Gon, "could you say that the Pod is yours, and that you asked me to pilot it for you?"

"Annie, I don't want you to race, a part of me dies whenever Watto forces you to race," she says with an agonized face as she remembers seeing Anakin almost die several times on the track.

"But mom, I like it, and I can help them, you always say that the problem with galaxies is that people don't help each other," he says.

'' I'm sure Qui-Gon doesn't want your son to be in danger, we'll find another way, '' Padme says after the room is uncomfortably silent, until Shmi seems to reconsider and shakes her head.

'' No, Annie is right, I may not like it, but he is the only one who can help you '', she says with a defeated sigh

I watch the whole conversation in silence, I could offer to run, even if I have never ridden, with mechu-deru and the improved reflexes it would not be difficult to win, but seeing how excited Anakin is, I think I better let him do it, but I'll make sure they don't sabotage him in the race tomorrow

....

Next day

Some hours of the day have passed, and currently Qui-Gon is discussing the partnership in the race along with the bet of the pieces with Watto

"John, do you think it's a good idea to entrust our destiny to a boy we barely know? I'd be more confident if you pilot yourself," Padme asked with an anxious face, worried that we would end up stuck here, and she couldn't help her own people.

'' don't worry Padme, Qui-Gon and Shmi believe in Anakin's victory, and so do I, '' I say with a small smile, but it doesn't help to calm her down, '' and even if he loses, I have my means of getting the pieces, so everything will be fine ''

She finally seems to calm down when she hears the second part of my sentence.

A few minutes later, Qui-Gon leaves Watto's store, '' it's done, if everything goes well, tomorrow we'll be going to coruscant. ''

"Are you sure about this? The queen is not going to like this," she says with a little scowl.

"She doesn't need to know," he says as he passes us and heads back to Shmi's house.

'' But she already knows, '' she murmurs angrily, while I just have a small laugh beside her, she is very cute when angry.

She turns to me when she hears me laughing and narrows her eyes, * (okay, she's not so cute when she's mad at you) *, I think in a cold sweat.

.......

A few hours after we return to Shmi's house I finish my daily meditation training, while Anakin is making final repairs to the pod, and feeling the presence of Qui-Gon through the force, he seems to have just talked to Obi-Wan and is currently talking to Shmi.

Going to the backyard where the Pod is, I see Padme with R2 and Jar Jar teaming up with Anakin, while he maintains the pod.

* (I'm sorry boy, but I will probably take someone very important from you) *, I think as I look between him and Padme, before I turn to Shmi and narrow my eyes, * (That's why I think it's fair to give it back to you an equally important person) *

'' I think it's almost time '', I mumble when listening to Shmi and Qui-Gon's conversation, she has just told him how Anakin doesn't have a father, and as she doesn't know how to explain how he was born, I think he will soon associate the prophecy with the boy, if he doesn't already, one thing to note is Shmi's slight blush when she explained that Anakin was simply generated by her.

Seeing that everyone is busy, I go back inside and continue to meditate in silence and wait until the race time approaches.

*********

A few hours later

It was only a few hours until the start of the race, and we were currently in the pod hangar with hundreds of people coming and going, mechanics doing last-minute check-ups on their pods, Drivers relaxing before the race, plus an enormous amount of pods of various models and sizes.

Arriving in an area reserved for us, I start to get off the animal that looks like a camel we used as a transport until here, Padme was behind me holding my back, while Shmi accompanied Anakin in the other, all the way the boy was looking at us with a little pout, I think he didn't like Padme hugging me from behind, after getting off the 'Camel' and helping Padme, I turn around looking for Qui-Gon and I find him already talking to Watto, I quickly approach them in time to hear Qui-Gon say.

'' Don't you trust Anakin? '' He asks.

"don't get me wrong, I put faith in the boy, he credits his race, but I believe Sebulba there will win ", he says as he points to a Dug being massaged by two female twi'lek with blue skin, the same as Jar Jar got into trouble the day before.

looking at Jar Jar, he seems to tremble and cringe when he sees Dug, I think he's a little traumatized.

"And why do you think that?", Qui-Gon asks back

'' Hours, because he always wins, hahaha '', he says with a disgusting laugh, before adding, '' I bet heavily on Sebulba ''

Qui-Gon seems to be pondering a little quickly looking at Dug, '' I accept the bet, '' he says to Watto.

'' What? '' Watto says as she looks sideways at him.

"I bet my new racing pod, ... against the boy and his mother!", He says with his arms crossed and a confident smile.

'' No kidding !!, no pod is worth two slaves, '' Watto exclaims angrily.

Qui-Gon seemed to expect this when he quickly added, "Just the boy then".

Watto seems to ponder before pulling out a small Dice with blue and red sides, '' Let's let fate decide, blue for the boy and red for the Mother! '', He says as he introduces the Dice.

Qui-gon just nods, while Watto rolls the dice, what nobody, besides me, noticed was Qui-Gon's subtle hand movement, that brings a small smile to my lips, * (Mental note, never bet against a Jedi, they are cheaters) *, and unsurprisingly the dice falls in blue, which seems to irritate Watto a lot, I think the Dice had some trick and he's not happy that it didn't work.

'' You won that round, foreign , but the kid will not win the race, so it doesn't make a difference! '' He exclaims angrily and starts to walk away, while Qui-Gon just looks at him calmly.

I choose this moment to approach him, "Hey Toydarian", I get his attention.

He turns and looks annoyed at me, narrowing his yellow eyes, "What do you want, boy?", He seems to recognize me since I am always close to Qui-Gon.

"I want to do a deal with you too," I pull my hood down at that moment and look him in the eye.

He wide his eyes for a moment, looking confused with my race, before giving an unpleasant smile and saying, "oho, a deal huh? And what would that deal be?", He says as he flies around me watching me, it bothers me a little, but I don't let it show.

'' I want to buy the kid's mom, three fully armed and completely new B1 battle droids, '' I say as I show a hologram of a droid I stole in Naboo's hangar, my stomach churning when I say that, the idea of buying someone as if they were an object disgusts me, but I can stand it knowing that I am doing it with the intention of freeing them.

Watto's eyes widen when he sees the hologram, before a gleam of greed appears in his eyes, '' Only 3 is not enough boy, I already bet the boy with the farmer (he refers to Qui-Gon), if I lose the mother too, I will be without anyone to help in the store, I want 10 droid ''

"Don't take me like a fool for my appearance, only the weapons are almost enough to cover the price of a slave, and you can use the droids as an extra hand," I say calmly.

He remains silent and continues to stare at me, if I wasn't with 'Player's mind' active at the moment I would probably be testing if he is also immune to strangulation by force, this guy is really annoying.

'' 5 and don't abuse Toydarian '', I say after a few moments, to tell you the truth, I don't really care about the droid since that was exactly what I stole them for, at that moment I just didn't want to give satisfaction to Watto.

He begins to ponder whether it is worth risking asking for more, until I begin to release a little power in the force to pressure him.

What seems to work, since he starts to sweat cold and swallow dry, while it starts to get harder for him to fly, he gets confused with what is happening until he returns to me and realizes that I am the one that is emanating so much ' pressure'.

'' Alright, 5 fully armed B1 Droids, in exchange for the boy's mother, '' he says hurriedly, '' bring the droids after the race and I'll give you the detonator for her bomb, '' he says before he walks away .

* Humph *, I give a little snort of dissatisfaction and put my hood back on as I go back to Padme and the others ...