* * * * *
They say we're young and we don't know, won't find out till we grow…
* * * * *
"The Chair recognizes the senator from the sovereign system of Naboo."
Senator Palpatine's senate box hovered around the Chancellor's podium. He spoke at length about how the valuable exports from Naboo would not be able to reach their destination if the Trade Federation should set up a blockade and how Naboo may not have enough natural resources to live without imports.
He reached for the document that Darry held out for him. She, however, wasn't listening. In fact, she hadn't looked up once since settling into her chair. She was in the middle of the best game of hearts she and her palm-sized computer had ever played and NOTHING was going to disturb that. Nothing, it seemed aside from a power outage.
"Order!" shouted Chancellor Valorum. "Order! Order!"
Yells, shrieks, beeps, coos, and almost every other noise imaginable added to the cacophony inside the huge chamber.
Thankfully, the senate boxes did not rely on electricity for their maneuverability; it was a long way to the floor.
"Not now, Senator," Darry admonished. "We've got to figure out how to get back to the wall." Her con beeped.
"Darry Willis," she yelled into it. Why was she always having to yell to be heard over this thing?
"News update," Emmy said from the ether. "No electricity."
"No kidding," shouted Darry over the din. She slowly powered the senate box toward what she hoped was the near wall.
"Where the hell are you? Sounds like the whole Senate is debating something right behind you."
"Funny you should say that…"
"You're not stuck in session, are you?" Emmy started laughing her ass off.
"Shut up," Darry called. "SIT DOWN! You're going to tip us over! So what's happening, Em?"
"Vicki and Dande have lit about a gazillion candles. It's very romantic."
"Great. And I'm stuck here!"
"When are you getting back? I'm just worried about the crazies that come out during power outages."
"Em, we're not on Earth. I think between the two of us, we're WITH all the crazies on the planet; I'll be fine. Besides it's only 1:30. I have to work till five."
"Well, I just thought I'd check in before my date with Obi. We were supposed to be going to see some new film that's come out, but I guess we'll just…hang out here…in my room."
"Thanks, Em, I really needed to hear that."
Ka -BLAMMMMM!!!!!!
"What was that?" Emmy shouted.
"Found the wall." Darry said.
* * * * *
Well I don't know if that's all true 'cause you got me, and baby, I got you…
* * * * *
"Why aren't the power generators working!?" Jesse yelled from the top of the stairs to Dorotea who was fussing around with the Hunkette Temple fusebox.
"I don't know. Everything seems to be shorted out," Dorotea yelled back.
"Is it just us?" Kayla called.
Brenda opened the door and looked out. "Nope, looks like the whole planet has gone out."
Kayla thought for a moment as she walked down the stairs. "That's really strange. First of all, what could possibly have shorted out the entire city?"
Over at the Jedi Temple, Mace looked guiltily at the forbidden toaster oven he had sequestered into his private quarters. The smell of burning Ewok steaks hung heavily in the air.
"And also," continued Kayla, "what would have the power to short out all the independent power generators?"
Over at the Jedi Temple Yoda looked guiltily at the televisor, which had burst into flames after he had linked and routed power through it via every autonomous source on the planet in a vain effort to support an antenna large enough to relay "The Man Show" directly to his private quarters.
* * * * *
Babe. I got you babe.
* * * * *
Senator Palpatine and Darry finally made their way back to his offices through the pandemonium that reigned in the halls of the enormous building.
When they arrived, they found the secretary sitting in the dark.
Darry almost fell walking into the room. She shook off Palpatine's hand(s) and made her way by feel into her office. There, she opened a desk drawer and pulled out a flashlight. Then she gracelessly tripped over a body lying on the floor next to her desk.
"ACK!" She looked down at her Armani trousers to make sure nothing was torn and then proceeded to kick Maul into a standing position.
"What the bloody hell are you doing under my desk?" Palpatine and the secretary followed the wildly waving flashlight beam and the pissed-off voice. "This is yours, I believe." She booted Maul toward the adjoining door to the Senator's office, where Palpatine stood, shaking his head. The door closed without anyone actively shutting it.
"Forgive me, my Master," Maul apologized for the nth time.
"Would you like to explain what you were doing under my assistant's desk?" Palpatine asked with more than a hint of menace in his voice.
"I uh...got…uh...scared, Master."
"What?" Palpatine was incredulous.
"I didn't know what was happening- it got all dark, and all of a sudden there was shouting and yelling, so I just ducked in here."
"Are you trying to tell me that you're afraid of the dark?" Palpatine was determined to remain as calm as possible considering the presence of his two employees. "Need I remind you that you are a Dark Lord of the Sith. DARK!"
Maul looked at his boots.
"You derive your power from the DARK side of the Force, for crying out loud!"
Maul shrunk into himself.
"Force, Maul! You wear a black cape!"
"I can't explain what happened, Master," he said meekly.
No one bought that excuse from Shmi, and it ain't gonna work now, thought Darry as she adjusted the glass against the wall.
"Don't come apart on me, Maul. Now get out of my sight," Palpatine barked.
Maul bid a hasty retreat back through Darry's adjoining door. She said nothing, just handed him the flashlight as he walked by. He took it without a word and stalked out of the office.
Palpatine buzzed from the other room. "Ms. Willis, you may go home for the day."
Darry grabbed her briefcase and stumbled from the building. Outside, the temperature was dropping. With the power generators on the blink, the planet's weather regulators were not functioning.
* * * * *
I got you babe.
* * * * *
When she arrived at home, she found the "Electricity's Out: Grab a Jedi" party in full swing. Fear of the dark was not limited to practitioners of the Dark Side, it seemed. The entire Jedi Temple was there.
Darry opened the hall closet door just as Vicki strode up and thrust a martini in her hand.
"Thanks Vic." Darry barely noticed that her jacket was taken from her and the closet door slammed in her face.
"Thanks Em," Darry said absently. The closet door reopened and Obi's tunic was tossed out. Darry casually kicked it into a corner.
"You're home early," Vicki said. "What are the 'streets' like out there?"
"It's cold, but actually, it's not so bad; a lot fewer people out on the 'roads'. At least that was the opinion of the Senator's driver," Darry said as she walked upstairs to her rooms to change.
She met Laure and Laura at the top of the stairs. "Hey," Laure said. "Wanna help Laura and me tell the padawans Terran ghost stories in the attic?"
"Uh…no," smiled Darry. Mace squeezed by them in the hall, oddly quiet. "I think I will help Vicki with dinner."
"You're kidding!" Laure and Laura almost fainted.
"Well, I'll mix drinks." Darry smiled. "Is something burning?" The three women sniffed the air curiously.
* * * * *
They say our love won't pay the rent, before it's earned, our money's always spent…
* * * * *
"Darry! Do you still have that rabbit in your room?" Darry looked up from the blender where she was mixing piña coladas.
"No." She jogged up the stairs and found two white sheets standing in front of her door. There was a rustling noise coming from her room.
"Uh, Ban, Luke, why are you guys wearing sheets?"
"We're going to sneak up on the padawans while Laure and Laura are telling them ghost stories in the dark. How'd you know it was us anyway."
"Because I recognize Ban's voice and your boots." Darry slowly opened the door as the two ghosts made their way to the attic.
It was dark, of course, which was why Darry didn't see the flashlight on the floor until she stepped on it.
"Aaahhhhhhhhhggggggghhhhhhh!" She fell backwards into Tasha, who had come out of her room next door when she heard the scream.
"Are you all right?" Tasha asked as she and Darry stood up.
"No, I'm pissed off." She glared at the flashlight. "That's the second time I've fallen today because of the same person." Darry walked into the bedroom area of the suite, leaned over and looked under the big wooden bed.
"Is there something under there, Darry?" Tasha followed her into the room.
"Yes, there's a Sith Lord under here." Darry hauled Maul out by his cape.
Tasha leaned closer. "What's he doing? How did he get there?"
"Both good questions." Darry folded her arms over her Royal College of Nursing sweatshirt. She glared at Maul. "I suspect the answers are 'I was scared.' and 'I followed Darry home.'"
Maul looked at his boots and nodded. Tasha walked over to him and pulled the hood from his face. "Interesting…"
"He's yours!" Darry shoved Maul at Tasha and pushed them toward the door. Then she grabbed the flashlight and slammed the door behind her, rushing to get back to the drinks.
Startled shrieks emanated from the attic.
* * * * *
I guess that's so, we don't have a pot, but at least I'm sure of all the things I got…
* * * * *
"Jenn, what's wrong with Mace?" Vicki asked as she took the proffered box of Girl Scout cookies.
Jenn handed Darry her Thin Mints. She stuffed them in the freezer after drawing a skull and crossbones on them. "Yeah, he's been awfully quiet this afternoon."
"I'm not sure," Jenn said. "He came over early this afternoon, just after lunchtime and he was all guilty and sad-looking. Didn't want to talk, didn't want to…didn't want to do anything. Just moped through the halls and finally fell asleep in the chair in my room. I've got him helping me deliver cookies now."
"You really should have waited until after dinner," Vicki chastised.
"Why, what are we having?"
"Mac & cheese, veggies, salad and Girl Scout cookies. I'm heating everything up on the Bunsen burners I liberated from the pharmacology lab." Darry handed Vicki a glass of bubbly. Vicki turned back to the stove and Darry went back to mixing Bloody Marys.
She filled up a pitcher and turned to leave the kitchen carrying a tray with two glasses.
"Wait," Vicki stopped her and stuck a stalk of celery into the pitcher.
"Thanks." Darry carried it up the stairs and knocked on Tasha's door.
"Who is it?" called Tasha.
"Bartender. Should I just leave this by the door?"
Shuffling sounds came from inside the room. "Hell no, someone will take it." The door opened and Tasha appeared wearing a bathrobe and looking flushed. She took the tray and smiled. "Thanks."
Darry smiled and turned, almost running into Mace, who she couldn't help notice was wearing a Girl Scout uniform...with a short little skirt. He made to knock on Tasha's door.
"Uh, I'll take those, Mace."
"But they're for Tasha."
"Tasha's doesn't need them right now," Darry said, thinking maybe Tasha did need them right now. "That is, I'll give them to her."
"Ok, but if Jenn asks, you tell her Tasha got them."
"I will."
Mace turned around and flounced down the hall on the way to the attic and his delivery of peanut butter cookies to Laure.
"Uh, Mace?" Darry tried to look at anything except the tall Jedi.
"What now?" he said shortly, feeling rather ill at ease. It was probably the just his attire. What else could it be, after all?
Darry looked at the ceiling. "It's been a long time since I was a Girl Scout, but I'm sure that underwear is a standard part of the uniform." She opened the door and hurled the cookies into Tasha's room.
* * * * *
Babe. I got you babe.
* * * * *
"Dinner!" Vicki yelled.
Her announcement was met by screaming from the top floor of the Temple.
Two figures in sheets came running down the stairs.
"You won't believe what just walked into the attic!" Ban said as she and Luke grabbed plates and cutlery.
"Yes, I would," smirked Darry.
* * * * *
I got you babe.
* * * * *
After dinner, the "Make Shadow Figures on the Wall" part of the party began in earnest. A cheerful fire blazed against the cold and provided a perfect light source.
"Marshmallow?" Darry asked Jenn. "Heineken?" "Pair of blue jammies?"
"Right, that's it!" Jenn punched Darry in the head. The two began a fistfight that was largely ignored due to the highbrow nature of the current shadow exhibition.
Emmy was making wanger shapes against the wall using one of her shoes.
"How're you doing that?" Diebin asked, impressed.
Obi turned to Qui-Gon, who sat next to him on the floor and elbowed him in the ribs. "That's my date."
"Yes, Padawan, a useful talent, indeed." Qui-Gon rolled his eyes. Kim socked him in the arm.
"Play nice." Qui-Gon looked down at Kim, his Hunkette du Jour, and nodded apologetically.
The sound of breaking glass and crushed furniture went unnoticed. Jenn and Darry rolled over one of the coffee tables and toward the dining room.
Emmy relinquished the stage. Mace started to stand.
"No don't!" yelled Laura and yanked him back to the floor. It was not necessary to see any shadow he might cast while wearing that Girl Scout uniform.
Then, a new figure stood.
"AAAAHHHHHHHGGGHHHH!" screamed the Hunkettes as one. There were gasps of terror and Leia, the youngest, fainted.
Jenn and Darry looked up and saw what their companions had. The most horrible misshapen shadow was projected against the wall. It was roughly three feet high and had a rounded top. Sticking out from the top at right angles approximately a third of the way down on either side were long disfigured protrusions that drooped toward the floor.
The figure spoke, and as one, the Hunkettes shuddered.
"My turn is it now?"
Outside it began to snow.
* * * * *
I got you babe.
* * * * *
Happy Groundhog Day!