Disclaimer: Star Wars mysteriously continues not being mine. Very inconvenient. In the meantime, this is my story and I'm hanging on to it, even though I am not making a profit thereby.

CHAPTER ELEVEN:

Anakin followed his master into the infirmary, which looked uncomfortably familiar since Ryn's stay there. He'd come so close to losing her. It had been the scariest moment of his life so far.

It still hurt to think about it, so he was almost glad for the distraction when Ferus appeared and said, "this way" and led them down a short hallway to a long room with a series of curtained alcoves, most of which were open and one of which was crowded.

Ryn was standing with her back to the entrance -- he recognized her black hair through the crush -- but she turned to greet them as they approached.

"Master Kenobi. Anakin." Something about the way she compressed her lips as she said his name made Anakin think she hadn't wanted or expected him to come; but she must have sensed his approach several minutes ago, and she had her surprise under control now.

"Evinne was just debriefing to Master Yoda," she informed them. "There isn't much. She may be able to tell us more about her sources once she has been treated." Her eyes cut to the Padawan who was preparing bacta patches, and her lips compressed again, a sign of thoughtful displeasure, well under control.

"Ryn," Evinne said hoarsely, "I'm not asking you to tell me anything you think is a secret. I just want to help. I mean it. If the Chosen One is killed, that's bad news for all of us. I --"

"You can help by telling us everything you know," Master Siri Tachi said sternly.

Ryn spared her a glare. "Oh, please," she said, her voice dark with disdain. "If Evinne hadn't wanted to talk she wouldn't have risked her life to come here. Stop trying to intimidate." She turned back to Evinne. "I just don't have the energy to heal you right now. I've only been out of the infirmary for a day myself. But you are in good hands."

Evinne nodded in groggy comprehension, and Ryn helped her to lie down on the narrow bed and then put herself in front of it, feet apart, arms folded; a clear barrier to further conversation.

Obi-Wan said, "Perhaps if we could retire to the waiting area?"

Yoda spoke up, jabbing his gimer stick into the middle of the throng. "A good idea, this is," he proclaimed. "Nothing more can young Evinne tell us, until healed, she is. Leave her to rest, we must."

They started for the door as a group, Anakin dropping into place beside Ryn, but then Evinne spoke from behind them.

"Shorty, Terch ... if he's still alive ..."

"We'll find him," Ryn promised, and turned to walk away at the same time that Ferus said something that caught Anakin's attention.

Anakin spun, faster than the occasion called for, and his Padawan braid whipped through an arc over his shoulder. There was a sharp crack, and Anakin spun back on his heel in time to see Ryn bending at the waist, her mouth open in a silent yowl of pain, one hand covering her nose.

"What?" Anakin said, confused.

Obi-Wan said, "I think the beads on your braid caught her in the face."

What? How is that even possible?

He took a step toward Ryn, hands raised helplessly. "Ryn, I'm sorry. Really, really sorry --"

Ryn waved him off with the hand that wasn't cupped over her nose. "I'm fine," she said, her voice oddly muffled with her hand in the way. "It didn't even hurt that much, really. Just startled me."

Anakin caught her hand and pulled it away from her face to reveal a bright red mark across the bridge of her nose. As he watched, a single drop of blood welled up and sat there, quivering.

He stared at the drop of blood, unable to look away, sick with the knowledge that, without meaning to, he'd just hurt her again.

He reached up, drawn as if by some irresistible force, and touched his fingertips lightly to her injury, disturbing the red welling dot.

Ryn said (still slightly nasal), "Uh, Anakin?"

The drop broke and ran, its fragile cohesion shattered by his touch, just like Ryn. It trailed off to one side, leaving a darkening smear across one cheek.

He pulled back his hand as though burned.

"Anakin?" Ryn said, losing the nasal twang but still hushed with concern.

"I'm sorry," Anakin said, and fled.

Ryn started to go after Anakin and tell him that it was all right, but she took one step and then remembered that they were supposed to be having a very important meeting, and that if she didn't stay and try to keep everyone on track, there was every chance, based on what she'd seen so far, that it would degenerate into a debate on the nature of Evinne's heresy, instead of producing a practical plan for protecting the Chosen One, her best friend with the irrational guilt complex.

Ryn spat a curse under her breath and spun back to face the group. Sorry, Anakin. I'm trying to keep you alive.

"All right," she said, more or less evenly, trying to sound more like a noblewoman with a deserved reputation for grit and intelligence and less like a hurt adolescent. "Master Yoda, I would appreciate it if we could hear Padawan Olin's report first."

Yoda twitched his ears at her. "More usual, it would be, to hear Master Tachi's report first," he commented neutrally. "A problem with this, have you?"

"Actually, yes," Ryn said, "I do. But I wish to file a formal grievance against her, and the Council Chambers might be a more appropriate venue for what I have to say."

"Remember, I will," Yoda said, still giving nothing away. "Padawan, speak, can you?"

"Yes, master," Ferus said, shooting Ryn a betrayed look. She felt badly about that, but he was pretty far down her list of people to save at the moment. Anakin would have to come first, and everything else would just have to wait.

Ferus reported basically what he had already told her, plus what Evinne had shared with them, which wasn't much.

At the end he turned to her. "Of course, I have no knowledge of what she said to you while Master Tachi and I were out of the room."

Ryn didn't like his implication, but the statement itself was factually unarguable, so she let it go to survey the room as a whole. "Who here has heard of the Blades of Light?"

Nobody said anything. Ryn suppressed a sigh and tucked her hands behind her back, standing at parade rest. "Master Tachi, are you certain you have never heard that name before?"

Siri said, "I think I'd remember." Ryn leveled a steady gaze at her, not liking the evasion. The older woman glanced at Yoda and said, "I've never heard that before, no."

Yoda twitched his ears again. Ryn braced her hands on the back of an empty chair. "Evinne claims that it is the name of a group working to prevent the prophecy of the Chosen One from coming true. No word on how they even know about it, but I would suspect a leak in the Jedi Temple. Her report seems to fit well with the spy Ferus and I encountered in the garden a few nights ago." She didn't mention Ferus' slip, or the disaster that had followed, but he colored and lowered his gaze anyway. "According to Evinne, she had a fellow Lorethan named Terch were involved in a confrontation with some members of this group, which ended in a firefight. Evinne escaped and fled here to warn us that the Blades of Light were looking to assassinate the Chosen One. Terch stayed behind to guard her retreat. His status is unknown."

"You don't have any independent confirmation," Tachi pointed out.

Ryn folded her arms. "Somebody shot her to pieces," she countered. "And when it comes to independent verification, weren't you supposed to be finding it for us, not waiting for it to fall in our laps?"

Tachi looked uncomfortable, and for a moment Ryn regretted coming so hard after her. But the woman was a Jedi Knight, who ought to know better, and her behavior lately hadn't exactly left a favorable impression.

Kenobi -- evincing the gift for peacemaking that would make him famous later, during the war -- cleared his throat and said, "Moving on. Assuming for the moment that the information Evinne has brought us is reliable, what can we do about it?"

This was the hard part. "Not much," Ryn admitted. "Evinne doesn't know where their base of operations is, or who is leading them. But she says they have some well-trained fighters, and that they are well-equipped with weapons. I'm hoping that once she is in better shape she'll be able to give us some idea of their numbers and fighting formations. In the meantime, I'd say we're looking at a base camp within the Galactic Core, maybe even on Coruscant, and a backer, or possibly more than one, with money. If we could find this Terch alive, that might be a good first step."

Ferus looked skeptical. "And how would we find the maybe-dead guy, since we don't even know where to look for the potential assassins?"

"I'm playing a hunch," Ryn said. "It's just a feeling, but I think that when Evinne calms down and is in less pain, she will be able to track him, at least point us in the right direction."

"Only if he's still alive," Ferus pointed out, and Ryn felt her throat twist.

"I know," she said. "But it's still better than anything else we've got. If we can't find Terch, at least we won't have lost anything by trying." She looked from one face to another, gauging their responsiveness. "Anybody have a better idea?"

"I'm still going to need to question Evinne Ardel," Tachi said.

"Over my dead body," said Ryn sharply. "She is a citizen of the Lorethan Free State and not accused of any crime. On the contrary, she came here for the expressed purpose of volunteering information she thought might prove helpful to the Jedi Order. I will not stand by and allow you to treat her like a convicted criminal."

Tachi looked ready to fire off a response, but Master Yoda waved his gimer stick between them, silencing them both. "The rashness of youth, this debate reveals. Needless it is to question our guest, when tell young Orun all she knows, she already may. The enemy we should fight, and not each other."

Ryn held still, trying to force her breathing into an even pattern, and waited as acceptance crept into Tachi's eyes. "Master Yoda," she said, when she thought she had got herself under control, "you are quite right. I apologize for my outburst. But I would be deeply irresponsible if I allowed one of my people to be treated inappropriately without so much as a hint of protest. I hope the fact that Evinne came here in good faith will be sufficient to encourage Master Tachi to reconsider her position, now that we have all had the chance to see the situation in a different light."

It was a hard speech to make, harder still to stay calm while saying it. But Ryn got through it and was rewarded by seeing Mater Tachi dip her head in acknowledgement.

"All right," Ryn said, feeling that at least some progress had been made. "Evinne should be healed and calm enough to talk soon. I intend to stay here in case she needs help to meditate. Someone from home might help to put her at ease. Master Tachi, am I right in thinking you will wish to remain, as well?"

Siri pulled a rueful face. "I fear I might have a less than calming effect on her, after the way I handled our first meeting. I will admit, I was ... precipitate. It wasn't the first time, but if it leads to young Anakin's being hurt ... it will prove the worst. Ferus might be a better choice to sit with you."

Ryn gave Tachi a slight bow in honor of her admission. "Excellent," she said, trying to feel relieved. "Then we need someone doing library research in the Archive and someone on the ground looking for Terch, as soon as Evinne is able to talk effectively." Of course, Evinne was undoubtedly going to insist on helping there -- and they would need her -- but Ryn thought that the issue could probably wait.

"I can join Master Tachi in the Archives, at least until Evinne is talking," Obi-Wan said, and Ryn shot him a grateful look.

"Wonderful," she said. "I think that's the best we can do for now. Master Yoda, we will check in with you as soon as we have anything to report, is that all right?"

Yoda chuckled. "Bossy, you are, young one. But approve of your plan, I do."

Ryn let out her breath slowly and straightened. Obi-Wan caught her eye and gave her a slight nod of approval, and Ryn gave him a relieved smile in turn, feeling that she had, finally, done something mostly right on Coruscant.

She waited with Ferus for the Healers to be done with Evinne, standing around the waiting area and trying not to pace.

"You're tense," Ferus observed.

"I'm concerned," Ryn admitted. "It's important that Evinne be able to remember numbers and formations. But one doesn't always think clearly in a firefight. It's possible that she won't be able to give us much more."

Ferus regarded her with deep suspicion. "I thought you said she'd tell us everything she knew."

"And I believe that. The gamble is whether she already has."

"You think she may not remember anything else?"

"That's the worst case scenario," Ryn said. "I don't think it's likely, but we ought to be prepared, just in case." She lifted aching shoulders in a weary shrug. "It's still more than we had at this time yesterday."

A door slid open. "Ryn Orun?"

Ryn turned to look at the Padawan in the doorway. "Yes?"

"Miss Ardel would like to see you."

Ryn straightened, pushing off the wall. "I'm on my way. Thank you."

Ferus shadowed her as she stepped through into the hallway behind the sliding door and tracked the sense of guilt and confusion to Evinne's bedside. He hadn't been included in the summons, but as long as he was helping Siri in the investigation, his purpose there was as legitimate as hers, and Ryn voiced no objections, though Evinne gave Ferus an uncomfortable look.

Ryn walked over to the bed and put a hand on Evinne's arm as the older girl began to sit up.

"Don't get up," she said. "You're exhausted; I can feel it. You need rest."

Evinne nodded. "Terch?"

Ryn said cautiously, "We haven't made any progress yet. We were hoping you might be able to give us a direction, once the Healers had done their work."

Evinne rolled her head to look at Ryn. "Get me a map."

Ryn glanced at Ferus, who shrugged.

"If we could get her to the map room."

Ryn looked back at Evinne, who set her jaw and nodded once, sharply.

Ryn bent and slid her arm behind Evinne's shoulders, helping her up. She looked up at Ferus as Evinne stood, white-faced and leaning heavily on her smaller companion. "Lead the way."

The map room was deserted, and Ryn stood propping Evinne up while Ferus toggled switches and tapped data crystals, until he had the part of Coruscant Evinne wanted. They zoomed in and shifted views until Evinne pointed and said, "There. That complex. Just east of Ziro's complex, about the fiftieth level. That's where the firefight started."

"More Ziro," Ryn said. "How does he figure into this?"

"He's branched out from spice and prostitution and now he's running arms," Evinne said. "The Blades of Light are getting at least some of their weapons that way, but we don't know where they're getting the money to pay for them. I was sent to Coruscant about three months ago with orders to find the Chosen One and protect him at all costs, but I didn't have an in at the Jedi Temple until I ran into you at Ziro's."

"You did what?" Ferus said.

"Long story," Ryn said. "What were you doing at Ziro's in the first place?"

"Trying to shut down his new trade in weapons," Evinne said. "And we did manage to steal that shipment. But it's too profitable for Ziro to back out now."

"So he's still supplying weapons to the Blades of Light," Ryn concluded. "You know any other suppliers?"

"Maybe Black Sun, but we can't confirm," Evinne said grimly. "Probably some small-time thugs as well. But if we can trace their cash flow, we can stop their weapons supply at its source."

"All right, we'll work on that," Ryn said. "In the meantime --"

"How?" Evinne said. "I've been beating my head against the wall for months --"

"I know a Jedi who knows a guy," Ryn said shortly. "In the meantime, we'll get Master Tachi to search the area for Terch. And I think you'd better explain what you mean by protect the Chosen One at all costs and why you didn't say anything before."

"Oh, because you were so happy to see me," Evinne said sarcastically. "Look, it was too big a risk, telling the Jedi. They don't exactly have lots of reason to love us."

Ryn kept her fingers from tightening on Evinne's bacta-smeared arm with an effort. "I don't have lots of reason to love you at the moment," she gritted. "If anything happens to ... him .. because of this delay, I will have your eyeballs for dinner."

"You know the Chosen One," Evinne said, her ferocity somewhat hampered by the way she swayed on her felt. "I knew it."

"Eyeballs," Ryn reminded her, giving her a shake.

Evinne gave her a weak smile. "Yes, Shorty."

I'm not Shorty any more, Ryn thought, but she said, "I'm taking you back to the infirmary. You still need rest. Ferus, you can brief Master Tachi."

"Of course," Ferus said. "But let me help you back to the infirmary first."

Ryn shook her head, tugging Evinne's arm over her shoulder again. "We'll manage. And if there are Force-echoes left from the firefight, they'll be easier to read the sooner she finds them. Let's not lose time."

"All time is lost," Evinne said bleakly, and slumped into Ryn's shoulder, hard.

"Hurry," Ryn told Ferus, and began the long trek back to the infirmary.