Buffy knew Naboo was a beautiful planet. After all, she'd seen first-hand examples of its stunning architecture while in the capital, but the Lake country had its own kind of jaw-dropping natural beauty. She'd sneaked peeks through the shuttle window, but it was only when they'd left civilization, and the spaceport, behind them that she began to really appreciate it.
It was a fairytale landscape. Grasslands rolling out for miles, multi-colored wildflowers in bloom, deep sapphire blue lakes and all were bathed in the soft, golden haze cast from the Nabooan evening sun. They traveled through the landscape in their hired open-top speeder, their onboard navi-com taking towards the mountains. Those mountains where not only the crystal caverns lay, but also the ancient Sith tombs.
"Lake Bahlar," announced Obi-Wan as he brought the speeder to a smooth stop at the very edge of an enormous lake.
A couple of land-speeders shot past them, heading on towards the line of hotels fronting this side of the lake. When they'd passed, a peaceful silence descended that was broken only by the lapping of the water at the lake's edge. For the first time since that morning, both the Jedi and the Slayer found themselves able to relax. They sat drinking in the view. The large expanse of water, the small islands dotted about in its centre, and on to where the mountains rose up on the far side.
Gradually, distant sounds drifted across the water to them. The melancholy calls of the native nesting waterfowl, muffled laughter from the terrace of the closest villa, and then, from somewhere out of sight on the lake, the whine of a speeder-boat.
Buffy rolled her neck and then each shoulder. Easing out the stiffness in her muscles from the long hours of traveling. It had been a long day and she was looking forward to a shower in hot water. She looked across her right shoulder towards the hotels. Nestling amongst the tree-lined hills on this side of the lake were several picturesque villas. Each one with numerous terraces stepping downwards to the lake beaches. She'd booked them into one of those.
"Shmi told me they found the young dead girl on our hotel beach," said Buffy, her eyes scanning the sand and pebbled areas around the lake edge. "The authorities are claiming a wild animal bit her neck, drained her of blood, and then dragged her into the lake."
"I know, she looked like you," mused Obi-Wan, rubbing the bristles on his chin thoughtfully. Too many of the vampire's victims looked like Buffy, in his opinion. He hoped that Darth Desolate, in his search for the Sith-Queen, hadn't developed a partiality for small, blonde human females. He was finding it difficult enough dealing with Palpatine's unhealthy interest in Buffy. One Sith Lord love rival was enough for any Jedi to deal with.
"I guess she was another who'd been mistaken for me. Like the girl they snatched on Coruscant and took to the lower levels. Desperate is like, desperate for my blood," Buffy said, reminding him once more of the garbled message he'd pulled from the burnt-out droid. "Spike told me it's all about blood and it seems to hold true in this dimension as well."
"The blood of the strongest Sith in the galaxy," Obi-Wan repeated the message. "The Sith Queen's blood."
Buffy snorted. "He's gonna have a shock if he drinks mine. I'm definitely a Slayer and not a Sith." She screwed up her nose, a thought occurring to her. "We should have sent the Pauline a message and told him where to find the real Sith. Then the Pauline could have sent Jay after Palpatine rather than me."
"He's a Pau'an," corrected Obi-Wan. "Not a Pauline." It had been a long and difficult day and now the conversation about drinking blood had upset his Jedi peace. Restarting the engines, he reversed, before setting off towards the hotels.
Buffy gave him a sly smile, letting him know she knew the difference between a Pauline and a Pau'an but preferred her version of the name. "As a Jedi," she said, " would you think I was a bad person if I told Desperate that Palpatine was a Sith?"
"Would you be able to sleep at night, knowing that you'd thrown Palpatine's name to a vampire?" asked the Obi-Wan. He frowned. He wished she hadn't voiced that question. It planted images in his head that, despite their dark undertones, were rather tempting to carry out. Palpatine was a huge threat to not only the Jedi Order but also the entire galaxy. If Palpatine no longer existed, Obi-Wan knew he'd sleep easier. On the other hand, the Sith vampire was not only undead but evil. As a Jedi, he shouldn't wish such a violent death on his worst enemy. He really shouldn't...
"I think I'd sleep even more soundly if I locked Sid in a room with a vampire," replied Buffy. "I've done things like that before."
Obi-Wan gaped at her, shocked.
"Don't look at me like that! I did my best to stop it from happening but the guy was dying and thought becoming a vampire was the better option. You could even say, that when I locked him in I fulfilled his dying wish. Of course, I had to stake him later."
Her explanation, and apparent lack of remorse, made the Jedi shudder. She picked up on it.
"Oh, relax Ubi. A lot of things happened in my past that wouldn't have Jedi approval. But I'm a Slayer, not a Jedi and things were done differently in my dimension."
"I worry about you," the Jedi replied, his eyes watching for their hotel, not looking at her. The worry was real, she could feel it through their link. "Now that you're accessing the Force..." Sensing her about to argue with him, he held up a finger (she looked at it suspiciously, thinking he was pulling a mind trick on her and he gave her a little grin in return).
He continued, "You can, although your abilities seem to be more of an awareness than direct control. However, that awareness alone puts you at risk of the Dark Side. Therefore, you need to mind your thoughts, words, and deeds far more than you might have done previously."
Buffy looked away from him, towards the lake again. She didn't feel that the Dark Side was dangerous to her. After all, she'd faced it several times so far and still hadn't felt the urge to wear the Vader helmet or get the metal legs.
"Don't worry about me going dark, Ubi," she replied. "And don't worry about me feeding Sid to Darth Desperado. I was only joking, although I do feel like it. Nope, that vampire wants Sith blood for a reason. I think it's best if we keep him away from Palpatine."
The speeder flew on. Passing first one large hotel, then a second. Heading towards the third villa where, according to nav-comp, they were staying.
As they flew down the trackways, Obi-Wan noticed Buffy fidgeting and her eyes drifting constantly to the lake. There was growing apprehension through their link. "What's worrying you?" he asked.
"Is there any Jurassic fish in that lake?"
Obi-Wan's brow furrowed. He slowed the speeder as the sign came up for The Overlook Hotel, turned off the lake road, and onto the drive before slanting her a glance. "What are 'Jurassic fish'?" he asked.
Buffy hesitated. Not sure how to explain. She didn't want to send images from the Phantom Menace down their bond. That would raise too many questions. Obi-Wan still didn't know George Lucas made movies and Ewan McGregor had a starring role in them. She wasn't sure how he'd take it. Especially if she confessed she'd found it boring, lost interest, and hadn't got a clue what the movie had been about. He'd probably become cross and tell her she should have made comprehensive notes or something.
Aware she hadn't answered his question about the fish, she tried to explain, "Jurassic fish. You know, those fish-monsters that look like dinosaurs and eat other fish. Until an even bigger Jurassic fish eats that one," she explained.
Obi-Wan's eyes drifted across to the lake. Perplexed, he looked at the water wondering what she meant before it dawned on him. It was the deepwater creatures she was thinking of. Such as the ones that chased the bongo he'd piloted when he, Qui-Gon, and Jar Jar had been made to leave the Gungan underwater city. "You don't need to worry, those creatures only inhabit the deepest water on this planet. It is highly doubtful anything similar lives around here."
"That's cool. I didn't fancy being eaten by a dinosaur when I hit the beach tomorrow."
"The beach? I thought you wanted to visit the shoe shops? To search for information on the caverns and unearth possible Sith hiding places?"
"I thought I'd check out the beach first. For recognition purposes," she replied brightly. "You know, check out what's going on locally before moving outwards.."
"Reconnaissance purposes," Obi-Wan corrected. He doubted that was the real reason she intended visiting the beach, but he certainly wasn't going to complain about it. Anything that postponed the nightmare of trailing after her, as she visited shoe retailer after shoe retailer, could only be a good thing.
The track they'd been following through the trees ended in a discreetly located speeder park. Their hotel, a large turreted villa, was set above them on a cliff. Winding staircases led downwards from one terrace to another before finally ending on a long private beach.
Obi-Wan sat eyeing a large wedding party, who were heading into the villa from one of the lower terraces. The wedding guests flanked by several service droids all carrying flutes of expensive drinks on silver trays. While two more service droids had noticed their arrival and were making their way down the steps towards them. No doubt they'd greet them and carry their luggage up to the villa. Suddenly, he wished he was wearing a better outfit than the smuggler-turned-pirate outfit Buffy had chosen for him. Not that his Jedi robes would have made him fit in better, but at least the venue's owners wouldn't look at him and think he was there to rob the place.
"This place looks very expensive," he said quietly. "Are you sure the Jedi Temple agreed to pay for this?" In his experience, the Temple only paid for the most basic accommodation, although Buffy seemed to get away with a lot more than the average Jedi did.
"Don't worry about it. I'm using my Darth Vader account," Buffy replied, climbing out and pushing the speeder door closed. She smirked. "Order what you want. Sid's paying for it."
"It's the Lord Vader account. Not the Darth Vader account," scolded Obi-Wan with a touch of irritation in his voice. He disliked Buffy calling herself Darth Vader, even in jest. It sounded as if she'd already become Palpatine's Sith apprentice and the name caused odd dark spikes in the Force every time she said it. The sensation always left him feeling chilled and uneasy. "Also Palpatine isn't paying for this, the Republic is."
He looked up at that large villa. If she was using her Republic credit card to pay for this, that meant both Sid and the Temple would be able to access her expenses account and check up on them. "Buffy, did you book us into separate bedrooms?"
"No. Just the one." Buffy ducked her head guiltily. She'd known he'd stress over this. He might have happily slept in her bed at the palace but, officially, he was always in his own room. She pouted, "I couldn't do anything about it. When Padmé commed them they told her they'd only got a honeymoon suite left. She asked me what I wanted to do and I said we'd take it."
Her admitting that Padme had booked their room seemed to increase his panic. Sensing his distress that the fifteen year old Queen of Naboo, and probably all her handmaidens, knew they were sleeping together, she quickly went on, "Don't worry, Ubi. I told Padmé you take your bodyguard duties seriously. She and all those masters at the Temple will think you're sleeping on a chair in my room. Like how you did on board the Radiant."
That seemed to relieve his anxiety so she gave him one of her potent half-smiles. "You're my knight in shining robes, protecting my virtue from lustful Sith Lords."
Making his way to her side of the speeder, Obi-Wan cheekily replied, "And what about my virtue? Who's going to ensure that remains unsullied?"
She laughed. "Honestly, Ubi. I don't think Sid finds your virtue all that interesting. And the majority of the Jedi think you're gonna stay unsullied for ever."
He looked so affronted that Buffy raised her hand to stroke his cheek. He was going through one of his 'I'm going to grow a beard' phases, she could feel the bristles prickling under her hand. Looking deep into his eyes she added, "They don't think that because no one wants you. It's because you've got a reputation for being above reproach with the Jedi no attachment thing. I'm really glad you allowed me to be your exception."
For good measure, she flooded their bond with all those emotions a Jedi wasn't allowed to experience and watched his eyes darken.
"Your reputation is working in our favor with the Jedi masters," she went on. Dropping her hand, she nodded in the direction of the picture-perfect cream villa perched on the hill above them. "Just remember we're undercover and newlyweds. That means we can keep odd hours, be anti-social, and no one will ask us what we're up to."
"I've worked undercover before, Buffy," he said. "I'm not a novice at this."
She took his hand, smiling up at him she teased, "Yeah? Remind me to ask Qui-Gon what you both got up to when you were pretending to be married. Andrew's gonna be so jealous."
"What?! No! Don't tell Andrew that!" he spluttered until he realized she was teasing. He narrowed his eyes. He needed to get her back for that. In a special, Jedi, non-revenge sort of way.
The hotel's reception area was hectic. Crowds of noisy wedding guests thronged about, both droid and human waiters darted between the guests carrying heavily laden trays of food and drink. Directly across from entrance a live band blasted out deafening music from just inside a nearby room. For the sake of her Slayer hearing, Buffy hoped that their bedroom was a long way from the music. Weaving and pushing their way through the crowded area, they eventually reached the small reception desk set in the corner of the room. There, a dark and heavyset man dressed in a traditional Nabooan outfit sat, working on a holo-screen, with his back to them. Obi-Wan and Buffy waited patiently or in Buffy's case, impatiently.
After a good minute or so, Buffy exchanged a look with Obi-Wan. Both coming to the conclusion they were being purposely ignored. Before Obi-Wan could take charge of the situation, Buffy banged her hand down, hard, on the counter. Her eyes widened. She'd made a hole! Hurriedly, she covered the damage with her arm. Neither Obi-Wan nor the reception guy noticed and she pasted an innocent smile on her face.
"I'll be with you in a moment," called the man, his attention still on the screen. It looked like he was working on a seating plan to Buffy.
The guy continued staring at the screen, clicking away as the crowd around them gradually trickled away. The doors to the private function suite shut and the noise dampeners came into play, containing the loud music. Beside her, Obi-Wan used his Jedi skills to quietly scan the area and waited stoically to be seen. Buffy had never been great at waiting. Especially when she, or rather the Republic, were paying a large amount of credits for them to stay in this place. She glared at the man's back, drumming her nails against the counter, hoping to intimidate him into leaving his work and dealing with her.
Finally, whether it was because of the drumming or because he'd finished his task, the man left his seat. As he crossed to the counter, hesitated, taking a long look at Obi-Wan. His eyes running up and down the Jedi's outfit, an expression of contempt appearing on his lips until he spotted Buffy watching him with his death in her eyes. Inwardly cringing, and outwardly pasting a sycophantic smile onto his face, he introduced himself. "Welcome to the Overlook. I'm Manull. How may I help you today?"
Buffy replied briskly, "We've booked a honeymoon suite. I'm Jane Smith and this is my husband John. We're like, Mr and Mrs Smith."
She smirked up at Obi-Wan and nudged him. ~You're like Brad Pitt and I'm Angelina Jolie. ~
~I've, honestly, no idea who you're talking about.~
~We're the undercover deadly assassins from the movie... Ugh, never mind!~
Insulted at being called a deadly assassin, Obi-Wan forgot they were talking down their bond and tutted out loud. It caused Manull to look up from the datapad where he'd been processing their booking. He took in in Obi-Wan's disgruntled face and then dropped his eyes to the blaster hanging from Obi-Wan's hip.
"My sincere apologies, Mr and Mrs Smith, for keeping you both waiting. I see you're newlyweds. Congratulations, you look well suited to each other. I'm sorry for the delay. To make up for it, I'll have one of our special wedding baskets sent up to your room."
Manull held out the room pass, his hand hovering uncertainly between the two of them. Unsure of who'd take charge of the key, the blaster carrying space pirate or the small woman with his death in her eyes. He gave them another fawning smile, saying said, "The droid next to the elevator will take you up to your room."
"Thanks, for the basket, Manuel," Buffy replied. Keeping one arm covering the hole in the counter, she used her other hand to pluck the passkey from him. "Just before you rush back to your seating arrangements, I'd like some information..."
Obi-Wan tensed, knowing what Buffy intended to ask. He reached out through the Force, gauging the man's emotions. So far, there was only barely concealed irritability, stress, and a gnawing hunger as if he'd missed a meal.
"They found a girl's body around here, didn't they?" Buffy said, watching the man's eyes. If she hadn't been looking for it, she'd have missed the tell-tale flicker before he caught himself. He knew something. She continued, "I heard her body was floating in the lake shallows below this hotel. That's right, isn't it? It's quite a large beach and I'm wondering about the exact position of the body-."
"You are mistaken," Manull replied, his tone terse. "There have been no dead bodies found on our beach."
"I never said she was on the beach," corrected Buffy. "I've seen the official reports. She was found floating in the lake, right below this hotel."
~He knows.~ Obi-Wan told her. ~Keep pushing him.~
Manull shook his head. "I'm sorry. I've not the slightest idea what your talking of." He stuck his nose into the air, looking at her down his nose. "That type of thing doesn't go on at the Overlook Hotel."
"Yeah, and Jack Nicholson doesn't carry an axe," snorted Buffy. She rolled her eyes at the two men giving her blank looks. Truly, her quippage was lost in this dimension.
Manull stared pointedly at Obi-Wan's Han Solo outfit and sneered, "And we don't encourage riff-raff in this establishment either."
'That does it,' thought Obi-Wan. Concentrating on the Force, he waved his fingers in the man's direction. "You will tell us everything you know about the girl found in the water with injuries to her neck."
Buffy blinked, surprised. Feeling the echo of his Jedi mind trick slamming through the Force. It was no wonder he'd picked up groupies at the sex club with his Force persuasion bouncing everywhere like this. She'd warn him, later, that he needed to tone it down. Otherwise, they'd have people traveling for miles to make confessions about girls with neck injuries.
"I'll tell you about the dead girl," Manull repeated slowly. He looked around him. Once assured no one else was in the area, he leaned on the counter and whispered, "It was me who found her."
That surprised them.
Manull continued, "My father and I own this hotel. It wasn't long after the blockade and, as we'd no guests staying here, we liked to take an early morning walk along the beach. That morning, we'd walked to the furthest part of our beach and we both saw something out in the waves, trapped between the rocks. I waded out and found the young girl lying face down in the water. When I turned her over, I saw-," his voice broke and he placed two fingers to his own throat, "It was torn, here, and here."
He shook his head, trying to shake off the revulsion the memory caused. "We called the authorities. They told us she'd been reported missing for several days and that the injuries to her neck were made by a wild animal. It seemed odd to me, but then they shot a wild cat on the opposite side of the lake. We heard it had been sick and attacked her as it could no longer catch its natural prey."
Manull stared down at the counter top. His brow creased, a frown forming as he spotted the damage that he could have sworn wasn't there earlier. Obi-Wan shot Buffy a suspicious look and she ducked her head, shifting guiltily from foot to foot.
When Manull began to speak Buffy half-expected him to complain about his damaged counter. Instead, he continued, "They found another body with similar neck injuries not long afterward. And then another around a month ago. They found them on the other side of the lake and those deaths were put down to barbecue fork accidents."
Buffy and Obi-Wan exchanged a look.
Manull sniffed in disbelief. "Barbecues have never been popular around here. They are rather common and it's highly unlikely they owned barbecue forks."
"What happened to the bodies?" Buffy asked, wondering if there was a vampire nest somewhere and if she needed to start patrolling local graveyards.
"They were returned to their families and cremated, of course," the man replied. Her question confused him. "What else would be done with them?"
"They were all cremated?" Buffy repeated, a hint of suspicion in her voice. Did the authorities know about the vampires? Surely they weren't like the Sunnydale police and blind to what was going on? Was someone trying to hide the real cause of the victims' deaths?
"Cremation is normal practice on this planet," Obi-Wan explained, knowing the line of thought Buffy was taking. "Burial is reserved for royalty or those of high status." He turned to the dark-haired man, to question him further, "These victims... Were they all blonde, human girls?"
Manull shot a glance at Buffy's blonde hair before shaking his head. "No. There was a middle-aged man found and the other was a dark-haired woman." He took a deep breath and went on, "Mr and Mrs Smith, I think it's only fair to warn you that uncovering information on these incidents won't be easy. Many of the locals are, justifiably, concerned about the impact these deaths will have on our trade. Business in this area is only just getting back to normal, a number of hotels and shops have closed down, and it's been a hard year for us all. If the other tourists find out there's been a series of murders it will-"
Buffy interrupted him, "You said those other bodies were all found on the opposite side of the lake?" She was trying to picture the area in her head. During their shuttle flight over here, Obi-Wan had gone into his teacher mode and shown her several maps of the area. It was mostly grasslands, but the crystal caverns were located in the mountains on the opposite side of the lake. The trouble was, not many of the crystal caverns were documented on the maps. She was going to need specialized local knowledge.
"That's right." Manull added, "And before I found the girl's body there'd been a storm. The authorities think she'd fallen into the water on the mountainous side and drifted over in the currents. Whatever happened to her was done a long way from this hotel."
Buffy looked to Obi-Wan to see if he'd any further questions. He gave a tiny shake of his head, and said, "You've been very helpful. Thank you." As if he'd not used Force persuasion to make the man answer their questions.
"Do you know anything about the crystal caverns, Manuel?" Buffy asked hopefully.
Obi-Wan held his breath. Hoping the Force would be with him today. That Manull would prove to be an expert on the caverns, own detailed maps, and there'd be no need to trail around the shoe shops tomorrow.
"It's Manull, not Manuel. The crystal caverns? Those would be up in the mountains. There used to be guided tours of some of the more accessible ones before the war, but I believe they no longer run them. Something to do with them being used by the Trade Federation to store weapons and they haven't been fully cleared." Manull held up his hands. "I'm sorry, I really can't help you further. Now, excuse me, I need to get back to work. Do enjoy your stay and your complimentary basket."
Obi-Wan released the breath he'd been holding. Feeling disappointed. It seemed the Force wanted them to go shoe shopping tomorrow. He was not looking forward to it.
...
Thanks to Guest who reviewed. Always nice to know someone is reading.
