The Love Commander Collection: Love and Alarm Clocks- A Star Wars Story

Scene 4

Anakin stretched his stiff muscles and sat up. The walk-in closet wasn't roomy as he had imagined. At least the mattress he'd dragged in was plush and plump. Beside him, Padme slept peacefully. He leaned against the wall, drinking in her beauty.

"Aaah, aaah, aaaah."

"Not again," Anakin grumbled.

Padme's eyes fluttered opened. "I thought you broke that thing."

"I wired it into the wall," he explained sheepishly. "It's part lock, part alarm. It's set to alert us if anyone tries to get in."

A rustling sound came from the door. Anakin reached over and found a small piece of flimsi. He flipped the light on with the Force and read the note aloud.

"We need you, General. Big trouble. Also, the Senator may need to calm down the Filodendrons. Please hurry. Rex. P.S. Ahsoka's fine."

"Duty calls, Dear." Padme kissed his cheek. "Go find Rex. I'll get dressed and check on the Filodendrens.

Anakin pressed a kiss to her lips and reluctantly rose. Rex was waiting for him in the hall.

"Captain Calrissian wants to see both of us right away." Rex motioned for Anakin to follow him to the nearest turbolift.

As they rode to the helm on the top level, Anakin peppered Rex with questions. "Are you sure Ahsoka's okay? What's going on? Why does the Captain need us? And why do the Filodendrons need calming down?"

"She's fine. I don't know exactly. We'll find out in a minute, and um, civilians sometimes find laser fire upsetting," Rex tried to answer all the questions.

"Laser fire? What laser"- Anakin broke off as the ship shuddered violently.

"That laser fire, sir."

The turbolift door slid open and Rex led the way to the helm. Captain Calrissian stood at a round console in the middle of the ship's control room, with a smaller version of himself by his side. A viewport and several screens showed the star-studded blackness of space outside. As Anakin and Rex approached the console, a brilliant flash lit the screens and the ship shivered again.

"General Skywalker!" Captain Calrissian attempted to flash his trademark winning smile, but it seemed to slip. "Thank goodness you're here. We have a bit of a situation."

Anakin examined one of the screens. "Those are Separatist ships! You need to check your routes more carefully, Captain."

"We did," the boy piped up with an indignant swish of his cape. "We're way off course and Dad had nothing to do with it.

"This is my son, Lando," Captain Calrissian patted the boy's shoulder. "He's going to outshine his old Dad in business one day."

Rex smiled. "I'm sure he will, but first we need to survive this mess."

"Yes," Anakin agreed. "He reached out to push a button on the console, then paused. "I've never seen a ship like this before. No wonder it went haywire and drifted off course."

"We didn't drift," Lando protested. "Dad says something changed our course. Something got into the wiring system."

"And we dropped out of hyperspace in the middle of a battle." Captain Calrissian raked a hand through his hair. "I need your help to hold off the Separatists while we plot a new hyperspace course. They seem to have us surrounded on all sides."

"Pad- Senator Amidala is calming the other passengers." Anakin studied the instruments. "What kind of defences do you have?"

"I wish I knew." Captain Calrissian tossed Anakin a thick book. "My father found that manual under a toaster when he won the ship. It doesn't make much sense to me, but maybe with your Jedi powers"-

The ship shuddered, interrupting the Captain mid-sentence. Anakin dropped the manual and stroked the console.

"Easy, old girl. Hang in there. Clankers don't stand a chance with Captain Rex around."

Another blast filled the viewport and the ship gave a slight shiver.

Captain Calrissian chuckled. "What did I tell you, Son? Jedi are sure handy in a crisis." He tapped a readout. "A direct hit, but you'd never know it from the damage report."

"I think the General turned on some sort of blast-dampeners." Rex scanned the manual that he had retrieved from the floor. "If I'm reading this book right, this ship can withstand some pretty powerful attacks."

"If I'm reading these readings right, it already has." Anakin frowned. "If we could just figure out how to fight back. I wish I knew how all this works. Any ideas, Rex?"

Rex turned a page and began to read. "In case of hostile attackers, activate the super-sonic laser. There's a diagram. Looks like we need to open a door in the console."

"I'll look for the door." Anakin knelt and poked the round cabinet.

"There's a diagram," Rex repeated. "Looks like it's under a big lever."

"Here it is!" Anakin popped his head up with a grin. "Right under this lever."

"How about that," Rex deadpanned.

Anakin ducked back down to examine the compartment. "Here's the button. Um, Rex didn't you say something about sonic lasers?"

"That's what the manual said."

"This is not a laser targeting system. It looks more like a big screwdriver."

"A screwdriver?" Captain Calrissian stared at the console.

Before anyone else could speak, a soft ringing filled the room.

"An alert?" Rex asked.

"It's not Padme's alarm clock." Anakin stood, looking for the source of the sound.

"That's the comm system." Lando picked up a telephone receiver. "Love Commander, Lando Calrissian speaking."

Lando listened for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, he is, General. In fact, he's right here."

He held out the phone to Anakin. "It's for you, General Skywalker."