Chapter 5

The Nova Wing sat shining in the center of the docking bay. Gray with the markings of the Jedi in white and navy blue, the lightweight freighter was a fast ship. It was highly maneuverable and it's weapons were quite powerful when a situation called for use of force. This type of ship was mainly reserved for missions, and rarely found among anyone other than Jedi.

By the time Anakin arrived at the docking bay, Obi-Wan had already stored his satchel on board and begun looking the controls of the ship over. The controls of the Nova Wing were fairly simple and Obi-Wan had his share of piloting experience behind him. He was plotting their course on the navicomputer when Anakin walked into the cockpit with R2-D2 close at his heels.

"Good, you're here," Obi-Wan addressed the pair. He pressed a button on the control panel and Anakin could hear the boarding ramp close.

"Strap yourselves in," he instructed them, then smiling added, "This is your lucky day, Anakin. You and Artoo get to be my co-pilots."

"Great!" Anakin smiled, wryly adding, "I'd been counting on it." He readily climbed into the chair on Obi-Wan's right and began familiarizing himself with the controls. With his technical wizardry and inborn sense of curiosity, he soon had a good feel for the ship. He was in high spirits and congratulated himself on his good fortune. He couldn't believe that a mere two years ago he had been a slave on Tatooine and now here he was, piloting a ship off into space with a Jedi Knight! With this reminder of his current state of affairs boosting his confidence, Anakin was even able to coax an agreement from Obi-Wan to let him fly the ship for a while once they were clear of the heavy traffic coming and going from Coruscant.

Anakin proved to be a skilled pilot with the Nova Wing, a fact which did not surprise Obi-Wan in the least. He had heard of the boy's pod racing skills from Qui-Gon and others that had witnessed the Boonta Eve race of two years past. He also knew of how Anakin had managed to save everyone during the great battle of Naboo when he mistakenly commandeered one of the sleek Nubian fighters. And while Anakin was not one to brag, all the other Padawans still somehow discovered the boy's talent. Obi-Wan remembered how when he was still an apprentice, the Padawans would hold small competitions among themselves to show off their skills. It was no secret to him that Anakin and other Padawans held small speeder races when they thought no one was watching.

After double-checking their coordinates on the navicomputer, Obi-Wan left Anakin to the controls once they entered hyperspace. Turning his back on the blurred star field, he walked to the room in the rear where he had stored his satchel. Reaching inside it, he pulled out the datacard. The Royal Alonian seal was imprinted upon the card, causing it to reflect light like a prism. One of the reflections caught the corner of Anakin's eye. Curiosity once again getting the better of him, he left the cockpit and went back to examine what his Master was doing.

"What's that?" he questioned as he sauntered into the room.

Without glancing at the boy, Obi-Wan turned to look for R2-D2. "It's a datacard that Master Windu gave me before we departed." He grumbled to himself a bit, for R2 was nowhere to be seen. "Of all the . . . Anakin, where did your astromech go?"

"I just saw him a second ago," Anakin said, looking past his Master. "I'll go find him." He trotted off to the hold behind the Jedi. Upon opening the door, he found R2 engaged in a lively conversation with the ship's main computer. He explained to R2 that Obi-Wan needed his help for something. After a few bleats and whistles to the computer, R2 turned and followed Anakin back to the waiting Jedi.

"I found him, Master."

"Beep-ba-doop?" the droid inquired, swiveling his dome towards the Jedi.

Obi-Wan nodded his head at the droid and motioned for him to come nearer. Kneeling down next to the droid, he inserted the datacard into the squat, silver body. A few lights on R2 blinked and then a blue light came out of his sensor, or his "eye" as Anakin called it. At the end of the light, the figure of a person materialized, about a half meter tall.

"Oh, wow," Anakin said as the person came into view. "Who's tha . . ." he started to question, but Obi-Wan had raised a hand, warding him off into silence.

"Greetings," the young man in the holo said, bowing his head to an audience that he could not see. His posture was stiff and formal as he continued his speech. "I am Cort Raifen, heir to the Alonian throne. I come to you in our planet's most dire time of need. Our planet was once a peaceful one, under the reign of my father, Alder Raifen. Now however, that peace is rapidly vanishing. Terrorists groups make daily attacks on my people. These terrorists are not random factions, yet follow guerilla style tactics under the command of an unknown leader. We have yet to discover who this leader is, though many rumors concerning his identity constantly circulate the land."

Well, Cort, Obi-Wan sadly thought, remembering his friend's normally carefree and easygoing persona. They sure have trained you to be an eloquent speaker. I hope that they haven't changed you too much.

Almost as if the recording had heard him, the attitude of holo-Cort changed as it shed the weight of diplomatic formalities. He relaxed his stance, extended his hand outwards, and offered a smile, though it did not mask the worry in his eyes.

"Needless to say, Obi-Wan, I was happy to hear that the Council would be sending you when I appealed to them earlier. I'm sorry about Qui-Gon," he added with a look on his face that revealed he truly was sorry. "I know how much he meant to you and I felt terrible that it took me this long to find out. With my father's ailing health and the state that Alonia is in right now, it's a wonder that I hear any news at all."

"However," he continued, with the smile returning, "congratulations on making the rank of Jedi Knight! The Council said that you have an apprentice of your own now. I'm anxious to meet your Padawan. Master Yoda informed me that the boy is quite strong in the Force."

Obi-Wan stole a sideways glance at the subject of the moment. Anakin was smirking to himself, somewhat pleased to know that he had a growing reputation. Then Cort's voice called him back to attention.

"When you arrive, head towards Jidora Palace. I will be waiting in the main hangar bay. We've had to establish security outposts on the perimeters of the major cities, so you will need a clearance code to enter. Use the password 'Shinoa'. I'll see you and your Padawan soon. May the Force be with you, Ben." A broad smile, a tip of the head, and the holo of Cort faded away to leave Obi-Wan staring at the metal of the deck floor. He smiled to himself. Shinoa. I can't believe he remembered that.

"Master, how do you know that guy? And what does 'Shinoa' mean?" Anakin wanted to know.

"Cort is an old friend of mine, Anakin. He is three years younger than I am, but you would never know it. We were kind of like brothers to each other. I used to visit his family with Qui-Gon. And Shinoa, ahh . . ." he said scratching the side of his head in a somewhat embarrassed fashion. Well, he thought, if I tell him I'll just have to make sure that he doesn't try to do the same thing.

"Shinoa is the name of a stretch of land just outside of Jidora Palace. Cort's family owned ratiers at the time, which are extremely fast, yet very skittish, bipeds that are bred for racing. Cort convinced me that we should 'borrow' two of them to race each other with at Shinoa. The race itself went well."

"Did you win?"

"That's beside the point," Obi-Wan said with a warning look.

"Ah, I see," Anakin said smiling and nodding, but quickly hid the smile when Obi-Wan shot him another look. The Jedi was soon laughing, though, and Anakin smiled again.

"Alright, I admit that Cort won. However, as we took the ratiers back to the paddock, it started to rain. A large clap of thunder sounded, and all the ratiers stampeded. They broke the fence and ran out all over Shinoa. The two of us were barely able to avoid being trampled by them. We tried to sneak back into the palace, but Qui-Gon found us very quickly, as you can imagine. After a sound lecture, Cort's father and Qui-Gon decided on a fitting punishment for us."

"What did they do to you?" Anakin wanted to know, eyes wide as he imagined Obi-Wan and his friend sopping wet, their clothes dripping on the floor, as they were lectured by the tall Jedi Master and a king.

"They gave us stable duty for a week," Obi-Wan smiled dryly.

Anakin collapsed on the floor in a fit of laughter. Imagining his master cleaning ratiers' dung with a prince was almost too much to handle. Obi-Wan joined in, welcoming the memory and the hearty laughter echoed warmly in the emptiness of hyperspace.