ship.'
Watto was clearly caught by surprise. He thought the matter through, hand rubbing at his snout, wings beating the air with a buzzing sound. The offer was too good, and he was suspicious. Out of the corner of his eye, Qui-Gon saw Anakin glance over at him nervously.
'Either way, you win,' Qui-Gon pointed out softly.
Watto pounded his fist into his open palm. 'Deal!' He turned to the boy, chuckling. 'Your friend makes a foolish bargain, boy! Better teach him what you know about how to deal for goods!'
He was still laughing as Qui-Gon left the shop.
The Jedi Master collected Padme, Jar Jar, and R2-D2, and left word for Anakin to join them as soon as Watto would free him up to work on the Podracer. Since Watto was more interested in the upcoming race than in managing the shop, he dismissed the boy at once with instructions to make certain the racer he would be driving was a worthy contender and not some piece of space junk that would cause everyone to laugh at the Toydarian for his foolish decision to enter it in the first place.
As a result, Anakin was home almost before Qui-Gon and the others, eagerly leading them to where his project was concealed in the slave quarter bone yards. The Podracer was shaped like a narrow half cylinder with a rudder-skid attached to its flat bottom, a cockpit carved into its curved-top, and steering arms attached at its sides. Sleek Radon - Ulzer fighter engines with scoop-air stabilizers towed the Pod at the end of Steel ton cables. The effect was something like seeing a doop bug attached to a pair of banthas.
Working together, the company activated the antigrav lifts and guided the Pod and its enormous engines into the courtyard in back of Anakin's home. With Padme, Jar Jar, and R2-D2Iending assistance and encouragement, the boy immediately went to work prepping the Pod for the upcoming race.
While Anakin and his helpers were thus engaged, Qui-Gon mounted the back porch of the Skywalker home, glanced around to make certain he was alone, and switched on the comlink to contact Obi-Wan. His protege answered immediately, anxious for a report, and Qui-Gon filled him in on what was happening.
'If all goes well, we will have our hyperdrive generator by tomorrow afternoon and be on our way,' he concluded.
Obi-Wan's silence was telling. 'What if this plan fails, Master? We could be stuck here for a long time.'
Qui-Gon Jinn looked out over the squalor of the slave quarters and the roofs of the buildings of Mos Espa beyond, the suns a bright glare overhead. 'A ship without a power supply will not get us anywhere. We have no choice.'
He switched off the comlink and tucked it away. 'And there is something about this boy,' he whispered to himself, leaving the thought unfinished.
Shmi Skywalker appeared through the back door and moved over to join him. Together they stood watching the activity in the courtyard below.
'You should be proud of your son,' Qui-Gon said after a moment. 'He gives without any thought of reward.'
Shmi nodded, a smile flitting over her worn face. 'He knows nothing of greed. Only of dreams. He has...'
'Special powers.'
The woman glanced at him warily. 'Yes.'
'He can see things before they happen,' the Jedi Master continued. 'That's why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It is a Jedi trait.'
Her eyes were fixed on him, and he did not miss the glimmer of hope that shone there. 'He deserves better than a slave's life,' she said quietly.
Qui-Gon kept his gaze directed out at the courtyard. 'The Force is unusually strong with him, that much is clear. Who was his father?'
There was a long pause, long enough for the Jedi Master to realize he had asked a question she was not prepared to answer. He gave her time and space to deal with the matter, not pressing her, not making it seem as if it were necessary she answer at all.
'There is no father,' she said finally. She shook her head slowly. 'I carried him, I gave birth to him. I raised him. I can't tell you any more than that.'
She touched his arm, drawing his eyes to meet hers. 'Can you help him?'
Qui-Gon was silent for a long time, thinking. He felt an attachment to Anakin Skywalker he could not explain. In the back of his mind, he sensed he was meant to do something for this boy, that it was necessary he try. But all Jedi were identified within the first six months of birth and given over to their training. It was true for him, for Obi-Wan, for everyone he knew or had heard about. There were no exceptions.
Can you help him? He did not know how that was possible.
'I don't know,' he told her, keeping his voice gentle, but firm. 'I didn't come here to free slaves. Had he been born in the Republic, we would have identified him early, and he might have become a Jedi. He has the way. I'm not sure what I can do for him.' She nodded in resignation, but her face revealed, beneath the mask of her acceptance, a glimmer of hope.
As Anakin tightened the wiring on the thruster relays to the left engine, a group of his friends appeared. The older boys were Kitster and Seek, the younger girl was Amee, and the Rodian was Waldo Anakin broke off his efforts to complete the wiring long enough to introduce them to Padme, Jar Jar, and R2-D2.
'Wow, a real astromech droid!' Kitster exclaimed, whistling softly. 'How'd you get so lucky?'
Anakin shrugged. 'That isn't the half of it,' he declared, puffing up a bit. 'I'm entered in the Boonta tomorrow.'
Kitster made a face and pushed back his mop of dark hair. 'What? With this? '
