Alethea, too, felt far more energized than any normal being would have been when they reached Mos Espa. Tatooine was certainly not her favorite place in the galaxy, but it was made much more tolerable by her training and her equipment. Like Thal-ion, her lightsabers were hidden from sight, but easily accessible should the need to use them arise. Tatooine in this era was hardly friendly to Jedi. Not that the Tatooine in their own time was a great deal better. It was, however, better than in these times, as Jabba the Hutt no longer controlled the planet. That power vacuum brought with it problems of its own, but that was a small price to pay, she thought.<br/><br/>Focusing her attention fully back on the present, she nodded to Thal-ion's statement. The empty streets were lined with banners and the roar of a crowd could be heard in the distance, giving them a pretty good idea as to the direction they should go. Thal-ion indicated the direction and Alethea followed as he began to move cautiously down the street. She walked beside him, her own senses remaining vigilant, although outwardly she seemed calm and casual as she strolled through the streets.<br/><br/>"Once, briefly. It was different, of course, but just as hot," she replied, chuckling a little. She, too, registered the others in the distance. The older Jedi, the young boy and his mother, the Gungan, and the Queen. She chuckled at Thal-ion's comment. "Well, I certainly wouldn't want to be left on the ship while others went off to the city. Would you?" she mused. She wasn't entirely certain of the reason why the Queen had chosen to accompany them. Perhaps it was for security reasons. Sure, she was theoretically placing herself into harm's way by coming, but she was also staying close to the Jedi who could best protect her, and by removing herself from the ship, she also lessened her chances of being found and harmed if someone sought her aboard her transport.<br/><br/>There was, however, another option. It was also possible that she simply did not want to sit around while everyone else worked to solve their predicament, and while they had their little adventure. She thought that it was likely some combination of the two, but of course, she could not say for certain at this point. "Yes, it is quite clever," she replied with a small smile, not sharing her musings, as there was no real benefit that she saw to sharing them, and at any rate, it wasn't as though she had any proof even if there were a reason to share it.<br/><br/>Once they approached the arena, she spotted the group being brought in by two large beasts. Qui Gon was absent from the group, but he was easy enough to find. He was in the distant hanger, seeming to be speaking to a Toydarian. Thal-ion asked if she had any idea what it was about. She did not immediately reply, instead, observing the exchange. "If I had to guess, he is trying to convince the Toydarian to cover the entry fee for the race. Considering the fact that Toydarians are resistant to mental manipulation, he is most likely using something more likely to be successful: money," she deduced. "Or perhaps he has already convinced him and this is something else?" she wondered, narrowing her eyes in concentration as she thought for a moment before something occurred to her and she decided this time to use the Force to verify her suspicions. She didn't think that she ought to leave this to guesswork.<br/><br/>She did her best to position herself to avoid having too many eyes on her as she focused almost every ounce of her attention on the man and the Toydarian, reaching out with the Force. "The boy's freedom," she replied with a short explanation. "He's betting his freedom on the race. Watto wouldn't agree to both the boy and his mother, that's why the chance cube," she tried to explain while still keeping most of her attention on the remainder of their exchange. There was a short silence before she spoke again. "The boy. The boy will win his freedom if he wins the race. His mother will stay," she explained as she turned her gaze to him, giving him a knowing look.<br/><br/>"This is it, isn't it?" she asked, although it was an almost rhetorical question. "What should we do?" she asked, wanting to hear his thoughts.