SCENE 5.

How shall I silent be with this fool plan?

A queen—and her handmaiden—should speak out.

A queen—e’en her handmaiden—may object.

A queen—aye, too, her handmaiden—must balk

At this idea that hath no merit to’t.

So shall this maiden play her hand as ’twere

The queen herself who doth her wishes speak.

Enter QUI-GON JINN.

Are you convinc’d ’tis wise to trust this fate

That weaves for us a boy we hardly know?

The queen would not approve, if she were here.

’Tis fortunate for us she shall not know.

Yet neither doth my maiden’s heart approve.

[Exit Padmé.

Enter WATTO and ANAKIN SKYWALKER.

The boy doth say that you would speckle him

To race? How can you do this thing? Say how!

Methinks not with Republic credits, ha!

My ship—the Nubian—shall be my fee.

’Tis well, ’tis well.

—The ship is well attir’d,

But for the parts of which I have a need.

In what do you propose the boy would ride?

For he did smash my pod in his last race.

Methinks he hath not time to make repair.

In troth, ’twas not my fault. Sebulba flash’d

Me with his vents. I sav’d the pod—well, most.

WATTO Aye, this is true; the boy is deeply skill’d.

Within a rough cantina close nearby,

I gain’d a pod a’playing games of chance.

It is the fastest ever built, they say.

WATTO I hope you kill’d no one I know for it:

Toydarians treat homophones with care.

Yet if you do speak true, you here propose

To offer up the pod and entry fee,

Whilst I supply the boy. If then we win,

You shall have half and I the other, yea?

If I supply two things and thou but one,

And still we split the winnings by their halves,

I must have some assurance: you, my friend,

Shall first provide the entry fee in cash.

Then if we win, you keep the money but

For those few parts I need. And should we lose,

You keep my ship. In either case, you win.

The deal is yours—and may we have success!

[Exit Qui-Gon.

[To Anakin:] Yo bana pee ho-tah, meendee ya, eh?

[Exeunt Watto and Anakin.

Enter QUI-GON JINN speaking into communicator to OBI-WAN KENOBI, who enters above, on balcony.

What if this plan doth not succeed aright?

It may be eons till we leave this place.

To call for help is far too dangerous,

And yet, a ship sans pow’r shall not release

Us from this barren planet, Tatooine.

Moreover, there is something in this boy

I would discover ere we do depart.

[Exit Obi-Wan from balcony.

Enter SHMI SKYWALKER.

Good e’en.

—Good e’en. Thou shouldst be proud of thy

Young son. He gives no thought of a reward.

He knows no greed. He hath—how shall I say’t?

He hath a power most profound, ’tis true?

Aye.

—He doth see things ere they do transpire.

’Tis why the speed of his reflexes seems

So swift—it is a Jedi quality.

He doth deserve more than a slaving life.

Had he been born under Republic skies,

He would have been identified when young

And then become a Jedi. Yea, the Force

Is strong with him indeed, ’tis passing strong.

Who, prithee, was the father to the boy?

Alas, I do not know. Mistake me not:

View not this tale of mine with a mistrust

Ere you have heard it all: there was no father.

My boy is mine—I carried him until

Arriv’d the very moment of his birth,

Rais’d I the babe into the lad and yet,

I still cannot explain how he did come.

And now I shall ask you: can you help him?

I do not know. In troth, I did not come

To Tatooine to liberate its slaves.

Enter ANAKIN SKYWALKER, PADMÉ, JAR JAR BINKS, R2-D2, C-3PO, KITSTER, SEEK, AMEE, and WALD, working on Anakin’s podracer.

A veritable astro droid! How art

Thou e’er so fortunate, O Anakin?

There’s better still shall come: the Boonta race

Shall be my playground on the morrow.

—Eh?

With this most scrap-infested heap of bones?

Na jesko joka, Anakin, ho ho!

Thou hast work’d on the podracer for years.

It never shall give thou the speed thou need’st.

Come, let’s be gone unto some other sport.

If he keep’st on, he will soon smashèd be.

[Exeunt Wald, Amee, and Seek.

I bid thee, Jar Jar, keep thy distance from

The binders of vast energy thereon.

Shouldst thou e’en get a finger caught within,

Thou shalt for hours bear with its numbing pain.

[aside:] The little master doth instruct me right,

Yet so that he shall think me quite unwise

I’ll risk a moment in the binder’s beam.

[Jar Jar bends down, catching his mouth in the energy binders.

[To Anakin:] My tonguee sisso rubba innee.

I find the creature Jar Jar rather odd.

Beep, squeak! [Aside:] Yet who is odder, Threepio?

Hear, Anakin: how canst be sure ’twill run?

Have faith, good friend: the pod shall serve us well.

The time hath come to test thy surety.

Behold, a power source that thou mayst use.

Forsooth, I shall—in every good thing!

The Gungan now is caught in th’afterburner.

I shall release him now, the silly fool.

[Padmé moves to free Jar Jar as Anakin starts the podracer.

Indeed, the beast is odd beyond degree.

Now, rise, you swift podracer, rise and fly!

It comes to life beneath its master’s touch—

The fleet machine doth work, it shall succeed,

And with it ev’ry hope that’s in our hearts.

[Exeunt Padmé, Jar Jar, Shmi, R2-D2, and C-3PO in mirth.

An excellent a’testing of the pod,

Young Anakin. Yet now I see thou hast

Been hurt—a scratch from thy wild metal beast.

I bid thee, sit thou here and I’ll mend it.

Behold the stars above, so numerous!

So brightly do they shine upon the world

That I can almost see my future by them.

Do all have planetary systems, sir?

Belike near all the stars have planets, too.

Has e’er there been a voyager who hath

Made journey unto each and ev’ry one?

Nay, nay.

—In that I shall be primary,

Should Fate weave me a way from this bleak place.

[Qui-Gon takes a small sample of Anakin’s blood as he finishes the bandage.

See? Thou art whole again. Now, off to bed.

What are your good intentions for my blood?

Naught but to see thou hast infections none.

And now, I prithee, take thy needed rest:

Tomorrow is a vital day for thee.

[Into communicator:] I bid thee, Obi-Wan, art thou about?

Enter OBI-WAN KENOBI, on balcony.

Aye, Master. How may I fulfill your needs?

Make thou what keen analysis thou canst

Of this blood sample I send thee e’en now.

It shall completed be upon the instant.

The count of midi-chlorians I need.

What strange monstrosity is this I see?

What cunning twist of nature’s pure design?

I ne’er encounter’d such as this before—

A count of midi-chlorians so vast,

Surpassing twenty thousand—O, ’tis dire!

’Tis past all reckoning, past thought or sense,

What creature can it be that Fate hath wrought

To be so strong and powerful as this?

Is it the boy? What wonder to bethink—

His count is higher e’en than Yoda’s is.

No Jedi hath a count so high as that.

O, Master, tell me then: what doth it mean?

I do not know. So many things today

Have been beyond my understanding that

I know not what the sum of them shall be.

[Exeunt Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan from balcony.

Enter DARTH MAUL.

Here on the planet Tatooine I’ve come

To seek the Jedi and the errant queen.

The glory of her capture and their deaths

Is expectation sweet unto my soul.

[Darth Maul sends out probes to search for the Jedi.

Go forth, discerning probes, and seek them out—

Of my sure victory I have no doubt.

[Exit.