Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Page #9

ANAKIN :
I...I was wondering...something...

QUI-GON :
What?

ANAKIN :
Well, ahhh...you're a Jedi Knight, aren't you?

QUI-GON :
What makes you think that?

ANAKIN :
I saw your laser sword. Only Jedi carry that kind of weapon.

QUI-GON leans back and slowly smiles.

QUI-GON :
Perhaps I killed a Jedi and stole it from him.

ANAKIN :
I don't think so... No one can kill a Jedi Knight.

QUI-GON :
I wish that were so...

ANAKIN. I had a dream I was a Jedi. I came back here and freed all the

slaves...have you come to free us?

QUI-GON :
No, I'm afraid not...

ANAKIN :
I think you have...why else would you be here?

QUI-GON thinks for a moment.

QUI-GON :
I can see there's no fooling you...(leans forward) You mustn't

let anyone know about us...we're on our way to Coruscant, the central

system in the Republic, on a very important mission, and it must be kept

secret.

ANAKIN :
Coruscant...wow...how did you end up here in the outer rim?

PADME :
Our ship was damaged, and we're stranded here until we can repair

it.

ANAKIN :
I can help! I can fix anything!

QUI-GON :
I believe you can, but our first job is to aquire the parts we

need...

JAR JAR :
Wit no-nutten mula to trade.

PADME :
These junk dealers must have a weakness of some kind.

SHMI :
Gambling. Everything here revolves around betting on those awful

races.

QUI-GON :
Podracing... Greed can be a powerful ally.. if it's used

properly.

ANAKIN :
I've built a racer! It's the fastest ever...There's a big race

tomorrow, on Boonta Eve. You could enter my pod. It's all but finished...

SHMI :
Anakin, settle down. Watto won't let you...

ANAKIN :
Watto doesn't know I've built it. (to Qui-Gon) You could make him

think it's your's, and you could get him to let me pilot it for you.

QUI-GON looks to SHMI. She is upset.

SHMI :
I don't want you to race, Annie...It's awful. I die every time Watto

makes you do it.

ANAKIN :
But Mom, I love it...and they need help...they're in trouble. The

prize money would more than pay for the parts they need. JAR JAR : Wesa ina

pitty bad goo.

GUI-GON :
Your mother's right. Is there anyone friendly to the Republic who

might be able to help us?

SHMI shakes her head no.

ANAKIN :
We have to help them, Mom...you said that the biggest problem in

the universe is no one helps each other...

SHMI :
Anakin, don't...

JAR JAR belches. There is silence for a moment as they eat.

PADME :
I'm sure Qui-Gon doesn't want to put your son in danger. We will

find another way...

SHMI :
No, Annie's right, there is no other way... I may not like it, but

he can help you...he was meant to help you.

ANAKIN :
Is that a yes? That is a yes!

The storm continues to rage outside the slave hovel.

EXT. MOS ESPA - JUNK DEALER PLAZA - DAY

The storm has passed. VENDORS and STREET PEOPLE clean up the mess and

rebuild their food stalls. JAR JAR sits on a box in front of Watto's parts

shop, watching all the activity with growing nervousness. ARTOO is standing

next to him. PADME stops QUI-GON as he is about to enter the shop.

PADME :
Are you sure about this? Trusting our fate to a boy we hardly know.

The Queen will not approve.

QUI-GON :
The Queen does not need to know.

PADME :
Well, I don't approve.

QUI-GON turns and starts into the shop.

INT. WATTO'S JUNK SHOP - DAY

WATTO and ANAKIN are in the middle of an animated discussion in Huttese.

WATTO :
Patta go bolla!

ANKAIN :
No batta!

WATTO :
Pedunky. Maa kee cheelya.

ANAKIN :
Bayno, Bayno!

QUI-GON walks in, and WATTO and ANAKIN join him.

WATTO :
The boy tells me you wanta sponser hi insa race. You can't afford

parts. How can you do this? Not on Republic credits, I think. (he laughs)

QUI-GON :
My ship will be the entry fee.

QUI-GON pulls a small object that looks like a watch out of his pocket, and

a hologram of the Naboo spacecraft appears about a foot long in front of

WATTO. He studies it.

WATTO :
Not bad...not bad...a Nubian.

QUI-GON :
It's in good order, except for the parts we need.

WATTO :
...but what would the boy ride? He smashed up my Pod in the last

race. It will take some time to fix it.

ANAKIN is embarrassed and steps forward.

ANAKIN :
Ahhhh....it wasn't my fault really...Sebulba flashed me with his

vent ports. I actually saved the Pod...mostly.

WATTO :
(laughing) That you did. The boy is good, no doubts there.

QUI-GON :
I have...acquired a Pod in a game of chance. "The fastest ever

built."

WATTO :
I hope you didn't kill anyone I know for it. (laughs) So, you

supply the Pod and the entry fee; I supply the boy. We split the winnings

fifty-fifty, I think.

QUI-GON :
Fifty-fifty!?! If it's going to be fifty-fifty, I suggest you

front the cash for the entry. If we win, you keep all the winnings, minus

the cost of the parts I need...If we lose, you keep my ship.

WATTO thinks about this. ANAKIN tries not to be nervous.

QUI-GON :
(Cont'd) Either way, you win.

WATTO :
(subtitled) Deal! Yo bana pee ho-tah, meedee ya. (Your friend is a

follish one, methinks.)

EXT. NABOO SPACECRAFT - TATOOINE DESERT - DAY

OBI-WAN stands outside the Naboo spacecraft, speaking into his comlink.

QUI-GON is on the back porch of the hovel.

OBI-WAN :
What if this plan fails, Master? We could be stuck here for a

long time.

QUI-GON :
(V.O) A ship without a power supply will not get us anywhere, and

there is something about this boy...

EXT MOS ESPA - SLAVE QUARTERS - PORCH - DAY

QUI-GON puts the comlink away as SHMI comes onto the porch

PADME, ANAKIN, JAR JAR, and ARTOO work on the engines of the Podracer in

the courtyard below.

QUI-GON :
You should be proud of your son. He gives without any thought of

reward.

SHMI :
He knows nothing of greed. He has...

QUI-GON :
He has special powers.

SHMI :
Yes...

QUI-GON :
He can see things before they happen. That's why he appears to

have such quick reflexes. It is a Jedi trait.

SHMI :
He deserves better than a slave's life.

QUI-GON :
The Force is unusally strong with him, that much is clear. Who

was his father?

SHMI :
There was no father, that I know of...I carried him, I gave him

birth...I can't explain what happened. Can you help him?

QUI-GON :
I'm afraid not. Had he been born in the Republic, we would have

identified him early, and he would have become Jedi, no doubt...he has the

way. But it's too late for him now, he's too old.

EXT. MOS ESPA - SLAVE QUARTERS - BACK YARD - DAY

KITSTER (a young boy about Anakin's age), SEEK (a boy of ten), AMEE (a girl

of six), and WALD (a Greedo Type, six years old) join ANAKIN, JAR JAR,

ARTOO, and PADME securing some wiring.

ANAKIN :
Padme and Jar Jar, this is my friend Kitster, and seek, Amee, and

Wald.

All whistle, hoot, and speak a greeting.

KITSTER :
Wow, a real Astro Droid...how'd you get so lucky?

ANAKIN :
This isn't the half of it. I'm entered in the Boonta Race

tomorrow!

KITSTER :
What? With this??

WALD :
(subtitled) Annie, Jesko na joka. 9You are such a joke, Annie.)

AMEE :
You've been working on that thing for years. It's never going to

run.

SEEK :
Come on, let's go play ball. Keep it up, Annie, and you're gonna be

bug squash.

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