Chapter 26: Chapter 25: Podracer

Anakin sits on a rock. Recent misadventures replay in his mind. They don't seem to make sense, though. A storm this time of the year? Obi-Wan destroying a robot army? Qui-Gon magically appearing in the middle of the deep desert? The boss's clients are strange. Dangerous? It's impossible to tell at this point. The boy waits for his droids to finish moving the engines of his podracer to an isolated warehouse, usually used to store contraband bound for Republican space.

His fateful competition comes quickly. The kid no longer has the luxury of being distracted. If his craft is not ready for the big day, he will be left on the sidelines. These races are a specialty of the Hutts. The Republic prefers its « noble » version with landspeeders, so competing leagues were banned. A stupid move: a pod is a landspeeder too! Their difference is only a question of motorization, more violent on the unlawful side. Otherwise, and obviously apart from the patchy thing that Anakin assembles, they have everything else in common.

Nobody imagined the boy capable of assembling a vehicle so complex at such a young age. If Wakko Wakko had not tolerated it, all slaves would have been against him. What an idea! A normal kid has less megalomaniac hobbies! Besides, he will be the sole human to participate. Regardless of any advantages the species may have elsewhere, a pod race goes at several times the speed of sound, on average. Creatures with adequate reflexes are particularly rare. One mistake and you're blasted.

Anakin has always lived apart from the others. Adults never take the boy seriously, and children don't understand him. He knows no friends. For his brother, Owen, no matter what the kid does, it's going to be a failure! The sliding door of the hangar shakes. An anti-gravity cart slides inside, while droids prepare the equipment. A pair of hydraulic arms reach down from the ceiling to grab each engine and place them on an illuminated platform. The child stretches his arms, his legs, before standing up.

While he is about to join his machine, the kid sees a silhouette which returns from sands. Ordinarily this would not make him react, but his intuition tickles him. The figure looks familiar. Suddenly, the boy figures: it's Jar Jar Binks! What was he doing out so early? Anakin waves an arm to signal him to come. The character freezes, then approaches. When it comes into view, the child notices that its face has changed. The creature looks gloomy:

« What were you doing so far outside the estate? Not that it would bother anyone, don't worry! Just curious. »

« Mesa meditating in seclusion. What are yousa doing? »

« I'm assembling my podracer! Do you want to see? »

« Yes... if yousa wish. »

The gungan offers a sad smile. Should Anakin say something? Words fail him, as socializing is clearly not his thing. He simply goes to the warehouse. Droids are soldering circuits. They follow their program. It will be finished in a day or two. Just in time. The boy knows he's allowed to compete for only one reason: an explosion at the starting line will make Jabba's guests laugh. At best, if he survives, his craft will cause some fireworks elsewhere. Wakko Wakko must have negotiated a payment to guarantee it.

Between its little publicity stunt and this, his owner must have paid back the price of a new slave, if he doesn't make a copious profit! The child can't help but notice that he believes in his victory more than anyone else on this planet. At least the merchant thinks Anakin will go long enough without exploding to unfurl a banner!

The building's interior is dusty and poorly lit. There are materials strewn all over the place, pieces used to build a chemical synthesizer, probably needed to produce « Death Sticks ». A forbidden drug, but popular in Republican territory. Its trade finances the Hutts, especially the training of their mandreloukhs. Jar Jar doesn't know where to put his feet. Everything looks awfully fragile! The droids work in front of his nose, unaware of his presence.

« Moron, go get me a TL nozzle! » Anakin exclaims... before blushing.

Jar Jar slowly lifts his ears. Maybe he didn't understand what the boy just said. The gungan doesn't have a chance to respond as Anakin adds without delay:

« I... the... red droid is called 'Moron', the blue one 'Jerk', the green one 'Idiot' and the yellow one 'Dumbass'. These... the... their names are not mine! Owen renamed them on the sly. Wakko Wakko thought it was hilarious. He let him do... »

« Mesa said nothing. » He replies in a neutral tone.

The boy is careful not to insist. He grabs the object that « Moron » brings and climbs a scaffold to work. There is no elegance in this vehicle. It consists of two naked Sodobasvor reactors, torn from an Incom SALT-16 orbital shuttle. A « pod » has been connected to them, an external cockpit which gives its name to the sport, usually attached by metallic tongues to the body, but here simply by a dozen cables. There is no chair. The pilot will have to maneuver the machine while standing! His only luxury will be the inertial dampener, in fact essential to survive. Without, the first seconds of a race would be enough to crush an adult man.

On this aspect, a pod has nothing of the landspeeder: it starts at full throttle and reaches its nominal speed in 9 seconds. The thrusters are equipped with a rudimentary deflector shield, also crucial. Its power will be enough to eliminate friction and deflect sand... in theory. Anakin couldn't demonstrate this with any certainty, since adjusting the thing was beyond his skill. So the kid just copied the settings from a fighter and injected the code as is.

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It works in a wind tunnel. Too late to get better. Objectively, his pod qualifies: it has a cockpit, repulsors and thrusters. Everything necessary is present. However, it takes an effort of imagination to see a vehicle in this... « thing ». To describe it as hideous would almost be a compliment. The radiator pipes, which protect the engines from overheating, float freely in the breeze. Some of the computer circuitry is glued to the hull! Anakin overestimated the space available in the case and had no better option left.

A sane engineer would never build such an abomination. In spite of this, that machine reveals some qualities to the connoisseur. The choice of components has been meticulously done and, contrary to what one might imagine, everything is solidly constructed. The thrusters are designed to put a heavy ship in orbit without repulsors. A common technique on planets whose magnetic activity disrupts anti-gravity. These devices are, in their original state, uncontrollable. Anakin has made them agile through his many modifications, including the addition of a variable jet nozzle.

Normally, maneuverability comes exclusively from an inertia converter, which is often temperamental at high temperatures. This kind of advantage is likely to make a difference. Finally, the craft is superbly light, since it does not bother with the aesthetics nor durability of a commercial designs. The metal case that wraps the engines is superfluous when you don't plan to use a vehicle twice. As he goes to collect bolts, the boy notices the gungan's innocent fascination for his work. That big guy certainly has no engineering skills. He's afraid to even touch, out of concern that he will cause a breakdown without knowing. Anakin tells him:

« I wanted to thank you, Jar Jar, after what happened in the desert. You didn't hesitate to put your life on the line! »

« Yousa no need to thank mesa! Mesa hunter, mesa fulfill his duties! »

« Still, I have a debt. »

The boy spots someone waiting outside the hangar door, a young woman. She is standing against the light, but he recognizes her clothes: it's Beru! Her blond hair is dirty and her outfit tasteless. A patched mechanic's suit. She always avoids looking at her interlocutor and is wary of going too far alone. The teenager was not born a slave. The Hutts raided her hometown as a child, her parents died and the poor girl ended up on a market. People don't know that she has a last name, « Whitesun ». The last remnant of a destroyed past.

« Beru? Does mom need me? »

« No. I came to warn you that she wishes to invite Wakko Wakko's guests for dinner. »

« Really? Okay. »

The young woman turns to Jar Jar Binks and curtsies to him. The gungan smiles and awkwardly returns the politeness:

« Master Binks, would you be interested in dining with us tonight? »

« Mesa would be greatly honored! Mesa come! »

« The pleasure is ours. Oh, Anakin, you'll remember to get water. It's your turn. »

She gently lowers her head and walks away whistling. Anyone watching her for a time will quickly realize that the girl is cute. Very, very cute. The kind of beauty who is a serious problem when you are slave. There are many « establishments » willing to buy her charms. This is why Owen is so insistent that Beru never shows off. Come to think about it, Anakin's brother has been protecting this girl since her first days here, when she was still living in total muteness. The teenager revealed the greatness of soul buried beneath his execrable temper.

He gave up his pride for her sake. A slave who agrees to kneel before his owner, thus giving up his last wealth, has a lot of merit. The idea of making her his bride was simply a way to protect that girl in the first place. Today, you can feel Owen is sincere. The young man sees Beru as the woman of his life. Anakin thinks about this, then suddenly realizes something obvious: if his mother invites Obi-Wan, Jar Jar and Qui-Gon... Padmé will be there!

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