Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Read online

  But when they reached Senator Palpatine a few moments later, he seemed as bewildered by the viceroy’s assertions as everyone else was.

  “How could it be true?” he said. “I have assurances from Chancellor—” The communication hologram flickered, then steadied. “His ambassadors did arrive. It must be—” The hologram flickered again, and began to break up.

  “Senator Palpatine!” Amidala said urgently. She needed his advice and his experience; he had to come through clearly.

  “—get—negotiate—” The hologram sputtered and died completely.

  Amidala turned to her dark-skinned head of security. “Panaka, what’s happening?”

  “A malfunction in the transmission generators?” Governor Bibble suggested doubtfully.

  “It could be the Federation, jamming us, Your Highness,” Captain Panaka said.

  “But—but that can mean only one thing!” Sio Bibble said. “An invasion!”

  Amidala’s heart sank. “The Federation would not dare go that far!” she said, as much to convince herself as to contradict Bibble. She hated the very idea of wars and fighting. They denied everything Naboo stood for.

  Captain Panaka nodded. “If they invaded us, the Senate would revoke their trade franchise,” he pointed out.

  That’s right, Amidala thought. And without their trade franchise, they’ll lose most of their trading rights in the Outer Rim Territories. Surely they wouldn’t take such a risk. “We must continue to rely on negotiation,” she said with renewed firmness.

  “Negotiation?” Bibble said in a tone of disbelief. “How can we negotiate? We’ve lost all communications! And where are the Chancellor’s ambassadors?”

  Amidala had no answers for him.

  It is a good thing most droids have no imagination, Qui-Gon thought as he crept through the service vent. And a good thing the Trade Federation depends on droids to do so much for them. A team of Humans would have searched the service vents long ago. He reached the end of the vent and looked out cautiously as Obi-Wan joined him.

  They had come out at one end of a giant hangar, packed with H-shaped landing craft and huge Multi Troop Transports. As they watched, rank after rank of battle droids marched up to the transports and folded themselves into deployment racks. The folded droids made surprisingly small bundles; hundreds of them could fit on a single MTT. As each transport filled, it moved onto one of the landing craft.

  “It’s an invasion army,” Obi-Wan said after a moment.

  Qui-Gon nodded. “It’s an odd play for the Trade Federation, though.” They must have intended all along to invade Naboo; these droids hadn’t been brought all this way on a whim. He looked seriously at his apprentice. “We’ve got to warn the Naboo and contact Chancellor Valorum.”

  Obi-Wan nodded. “But how?”

  “Those are landing craft,” Qui-Gon said, gesturing at the ships on the far side of the MTTs. “Let’s split up. We’ll stow away aboard separate ships and meet down on the planet.”

  Obi-Wan gave the battle droids a sidelong look. Qui-Gon could guess what he was thinking. If the Jedi were detected, they’d face hundreds of droids at once—enough to overwhelm even their formidable abilities. But we haven’t got much choice. We’ll just have to be very, very quiet.

  “You were right about one thing, Master,” Obi-Wan said slyly. “The negotiations were short.”

  More battle humor. Qui-Gon snorted. Without replying, he slid out of the vent into the shadows around the edge of the hangar. A moment later, he felt Obi-Wan follow. Together, they stole silently toward the landing craft—and the waiting battle droids.

  The early morning mist was just beginning to thin as Jar Jar Binks waded through the Naboo swamp in search of breakfast. Like most Gungans, he preferred to catch his food fresh. The damp air felt good against the reddish ear-flaps that hung halfway down his back, and the murky water was pleasantly warm around his thick toes. All he needed now was—

  A gleam of white caught his eye, half-hidden in the swamp ooze. Oh, goody morning munchen! Jar Jar thought happily. One wiry arm reached down and retrieved the clam. The shell snapped closed as Jar Jar’s hand touched it. Jar Jar settled down to open his meal.

  When the shell opened at last, Jar Jar scooped the clam out of the shell with his long tongue, enjoying its delicate flavor and smoothness. Dissen the life, he thought. Goody munchen and no Captain Tarpals making fuss about little accidents. He looked up, and froze.

  A giant thing moved through the swamp, a thing like an enormous head without eyes. It was as big as the nightmarish monsters that rose out of the core rifts from time to time. Swamp creatures fled before it. Among the nuna and peko peko ran a tall, bearded Human, scarcely slowed by the water and rutiger tree roots. Even he could not stay ahead of it, though; the thing gained on him steadily. But Jar Jar could see that the monster was not chasing any of the creatures, not even the Human. It was headed straight for him, Jar Jar Binks.

  “Noooo!” Jar Jar cried. Unfreezing, he dropped the clamshell and grabbed the Human running past. “Hep me! Hep me!”

  “Let go!” the Human shouted, but Jar Jar clung tightly. The Human dragged him through the swamp, while the monster gained rapidly. Just before it reached them, the Human flung them both down in the mud. Jar Jar felt a hot wind against his back, and then the thing had passed by. As he pulled himself out of the mud, he saw the huge creature vanish into the mist.

  “Oyi!” he said. In an ecstasy of relief, he hugged the Human who had saved him. “I luv yous!”

  The Human left off wringing swamp water out of his clothes to glare at Jar Jar. “Are you brainless?” he demanded. “You almost got us killed!”

  “I spake,” Jar Jar said, taken aback. This Human had no right to be insulting, just because he had saved Jar Jar’s life. And now that the creature was gone and Jar Jar was no longer so frightened, he could taste traces of fuel in the swamp air. The thing that had chased them had only been some sort of machine, and not a monster from the core after all.

  “The ability to speak does not make you intelligent,” the Human told him. “Now, get out of here!”

  Jar Jar stared as the Human started off. “No, no,” he said, following. “Mesa stay.” What was that thing Humans said? Oh, yes—“Mesa yous humbule servaunt.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” the Human said absently, scanning the mist.

  Jar Jar rolled his eyes. Humans never understanding anything! He told the man it was demanded by the gods, as a life debt.

  The Human did not answer, but he didn’t move off again, either. Encouraged, Jar Jar said, “Mesa called JaJa Binkss.”

  “I have no time for this now,” the tall man muttered.

  “Say what?” Jar Jar turned to see what he was looking at. Two strange flying machines broke out of the mist. Each carried a creature like a Gungan skeleton, tall and bone-white. They were chasing another Human. This one was younger and had no beard, but he wore the same sort of brown-and-tan robes as the man who had rescued Jar Jar.

  “Oh, nooooo!” Jar Jar cried, his voice climbing higher and higher. “Wesa ganna—”

  Something knocked him facedown in the mud, and he heard the bearded Human say, “Stay down!”

  Jar Jar raised his head, spitting mud and water. “—die!” he finished, just as the flying machine fired two brilliant bolts of light. To Jar Jar’s astonishment, a bar of green light appeared in the bearded Human’s hand and bounced the shots back at the skeleton-creatures. The creatures and their machines blew up. Sparks and hot metal fell hissing into the swamp. Quiet returned, except for the panting of the Human the machines had been chasing.

  “Sorry, Master,” the newcomer said after a moment. “The water fried my weapon.” He pulled a short, blackened tube from his belt and handed it to Jar Jar’s rescuer.

  The bearded man examined the tube, then gave the newcomer a severe look. “You forgot to turn your power off again, didn’t you?”

  The newcomer nodded sheepishly. Jar Jar cocked h
is head in sympathy as he picked himself up out of the mud. He understood how easy it was to forget things. He’d done it himself, far too often.

  “It won’t take long to recharge,” the bearded man said, handing the tube back to the newcomer. “But I hope you’ve finally learned this lesson, my young Padawan.”

  “Yes, Master,” the other man said in a subdued tone.

  No more lecturings, Jar Jar thought. “Yousa sav-ed my again, hey?” he said, hoping to change the subject.

  “What’s this?” the newcomer said unenthusiastically.

  “A local,” the bearded man replied. “Let’s go, before more of those droids show up.”

  The offhand dismissal annoyed Jar Jar briefly…and then the rest of the man’s words sank in. “Mure? Mure, did you spake?” He did not want to see any more machines.

  The two men began to run without replying. Jar Jar followed, thinking rapidly. None of his usual hiding places would be safe from the machines. But the machines had hovered above the swamp. They didn’t look as if they’d work well underwater. And under the water was—“Ex-squeezee-me, but da moto grande safe place would be Otoh Gunga,” he said as they ran. “Tis where I grew up. Tis safe city.”

  The men stopped running to look at him. “A city!” the bearded man said. “Can you take us there?”

  Jar Jar hesitated. Otoh Gunga would be safe for the Humans, but for him…“Ah, will, on second taut—no, not willy.” Seeing their surprise, he looked down. “Iss embarrissing, boot—my afraid my’ve been banished. My forgotten der bosses would do terrible things to my, if my goen back dare.”

  In the distance, strange noises echoed through the swamp. “You hear that?” the bearded man said. “That’s the sound of a thousand terrible things. Heading this way.”

  “And when they find us, they will crush us, grind us into little pieces, then blast us into oblivion,” the second man added with unnecessary emphasis.

  “Yousa point is well seen,” Jar Jar said with as much dignity as he could manage. “Dis way. Hurry!”

  The odd, froglike native led Qui-Gon and his apprentice to the shore of a lake. After warning them not to expect a warm welcome, he leaped high in the air and dove into the water. The two Jedi pulled breath masks from their belt packs and waded in after him.

  Sunlight barely penetrated the murky lake water. Less than a meter below the surface, the light began to dim. Soon it was hard to see. As Jar Jar led the two Jedi deeper and deeper, Qui-Gon began to fear that they would lose him in the increasing darkness.

  Suddenly Qui-Gon saw a gleam of light ahead. In another moment, he could make out a string of amber bubbles, shining warm and bright through the dark water. Their rich yellow glow lit the water for meters around. The bubbles varied in size; the largest looked to be nearly seventy-five meters tall. A lacework of metal the color of old bronze topped each globe, helping the walls keep their shape and providing a place to link bubbles together.

  As they drew nearer, Qui-Gon could make out buildings inside the bubbles. Gungans walked casually along the streets, while fish swam past a few meters away outside the bubble wall. They had almost reached the bubble city, and Qui-Gon began to look for a door or an air lock. But Jar Jar swam straight toward the side of the bubble—and passed right through it into the city inside. The bubble wall sealed seamlessly behind him. Permeable hydrostatic membranes, Qui-Gon thought. They keep the seawater out, but let people through, so the city doesn’t need an air lock. Impressive. He followed Jar Jar, beginning to hope they would reach the Naboo palace in time after all.

  But the bosses of Otoh Gunga were not willing to help. “Wesa no like the Naboo!” the head Gungan, Boss Nass, declared when the Jedi were brought before him. “Un dey no like uss-ens. Da Naboo tink day so smarty. Day tink day brains so big.”

  Obi-Wan tried to argue, but the bosses did not want to listen. “Wesa no care-n about da Naboo,” Boss Nass said flatly.

  Talk was getting them nowhere. And if we don’t reach the capital soon, the Trade Federation’s droids will have taken over. Qui-Gon gestured, reaching out to touch the Gungan’s mind. “Then speed us on our way,” he said.

  “Wesa ganna speed yousaway,” the Gungan Boss said, responding readily to Qui-Gon’s suggestion. “Wese give yousa una bongo. Da speedest way tooda Naboo tis goen through da core. Now go.”

  Qui-Gon thanked him and turned away. As they walked toward the exit, Obi-Wan whispered, “Master, what’s a bongo?”

  “A transport, I hope,” Qui-Gon murmured. Preferably a fast one…He stopped. Jar Jar Binks stood between two guards, wearing handcuffs and plainly waiting for judgment.

  Catching Qui-Gon’s eye, Jar Jar said, “Ahh…any hep hair would be hot.”

  Obi-Wan frowned. “We are short of time, Master,” he objected.

  “We’ll need a navigator,” Qui-Gon said. “This Gungan may be of help.” Besides, we talked Jar Jar into coming here. If it weren’t for us, he wouldn’t be in trouble. Qui-Gon turned back to the Gungan bosses. “What is to become of Jar Jar Binks here?”

  “Hisen to be pune-ished,” Boss Nass said. “Pounded unto death.”

  Jar Jar moaned. Obi-Wan looked startled, then worried. Plainly, he had not realized how serious Jar Jar’s problem was. Qui-Gon studied the head Gungan. “I have saved Jar Jar Binks’ life,” he told the Boss. “He owes me what you call a life debt.” He gestured, nudging the Gungan’s mind once more. “Your gods demand that his life belongs to me now.”

  “Hisen live tis yos, outlaunder,” Boss Nass said. “Begone wit him.”

  Jar Jar looked from one to the other, and shook his head. “Count mesa outta dis! Better dead here den deader in da core…Yee guds, whata mesa sayin?”

  As the guards removed Jar Jar’s handcuffs, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan exchanged looks. Traveling through the core doesn’t sound much safer than facing the Trade Federation’s battle droids, Qui-Gon thought. But at least this way, we have a chance of getting to the Naboo Queen before the droids do.

  If we survive the trip.

  The hologram of Darth Sidious seemed to make the bridge of the battleship darker, just by being there. Nute glanced around to make sure Lieutenant Dofine was out of sight—there was no sense in annoying the Sith Lord by disobeying his direct order—and said, “The invasion is on schedule, my lord.”

  “Good. I have the Senate bogged down in procedures. By the time this incident comes up for a vote, they will have to accept your control of the system.”

  I wish I were that certain, Nute thought. “The Queen has great faith that the Senate will side with her,” he told Sidious in a neutral tone.

  “Queen Amidala is young and naive,” Sidious said dismissively. “Controlling her will not be difficult. You have done well, Viceroy.”

  Nute sighed in relief as the hologram faded away. Dealing with Darth Sidious was almost as nerve-racking as that business with the Jedi had been.

  As the last lines of the hologram vanished, Rune Haako turned toward Nute and said, “You didn’t tell him about the missing Jedi.”

  “No need to report that to him until we have something to report,” Nute said. And he hoped it was good news. He suspected that Darth Sidious wouldn’t be nearly so pleased about the success of the invasion, once he learned that the Jedi were missing.

  The bongo the Gungans had promised turned out to be a tiny, bat-winged submarine with three bubble canopies and a strange drive that looked like long, trailing tentacles. Obi-Wan eyed it dubiously, but it was better than walking. Or swimming. He slid into the pilot’s chair.

  “Dis is nutsen,” Jar Jar muttered, taking the copilot’s seat.

  Obi-Wan glanced at him in irritation, then looked back at Qui-Gon, who was already sitting in the rear. “Master, why do you keep dragging these pathetic life-forms along with us?”

  Qui-Gon only smiled.

  The sub arched past tall coral pillars. Reefs stretched away in all directions, like forests made of lace. As the bongo started down into the dark waters
below, Obi-Wan flicked a switch and the sub’s lights came on. He could see Jar Jar becoming more and more uneasy as they went deeper. Nervous guides make mistakes; best give him something else to think about. “Why were you banished, Jar Jar?”

  “Tis a longo tale,” Jar Jar said. “Buta small part wowdabe, mesa…ooooh…aaaa…clumsy.”

  “They banished you because you’re clumsy?” Obi-Wan asked skeptically. He had seen many different cultures during his years with Qui-Gon, but he had never seen or heard of one with laws against clumsiness.

  “Mesa cause-ed mabee one or duey lettal bitty ax-adentes,” Jar Jar said in an offhand tone, waving his arm expansively. “Yud-say boom da gasser, un crash Der Bosses heyblibber. Den—”

  Something struck the bongo from behind, causing everyone to jerk forward in their chairs. Obi-Wan looked back and saw a glowing, fishlike creature behind them. It had grabbed the end of the bongo with its long, sticky tongue. The little sub shuddered as the creature began to pull them in.

  Jar Jar shrieked. Obi-Wan wrestled with the controls, to no avail. The sea creature drew them closer and closer. Soon its jaws began grinding away at the rear of the sub.

  Suddenly, they shot free. Hardly daring to believe their luck, Obi-Wan glanced over his shoulder. The fish that had tried to eat the sub was writhing in the teeth of an even larger sea monster!

  “There’s always a bigger fish,” Qui-Gon commented as Obi-Wan turned back to the controls.

  If it’s bigger than that one, I don’t want to meet it! Obi-Wan thought. No wonder Jar Jar didn’t want to come with us.

  As the sub dodged around a coral outcropping and into a tunnel, the lights flickered. Obi-Wan heard a sizzling noise. The giant fish had damaged the bongo. Water was dripping into the cabin, and the power lines were shorting. The sound of the drive lessened, and so did their speed. Obi-Wan pulled a multitool from his belt pack. This is going to be tricky. He couldn’t shut the power off to work on the lines safely, so if he slipped, the energy would fry him.