Chapter Fourteen

I had barely escaped the volcanic eruption of Mt. Tuga on Zerist while Qui-Gon and I helped evacuate the native population who had constructed their village at its base. I had even been submitted to the intense heat of The Burning on Byss while tracking a slave-runner there.

What I was experiencing now wasn't even comparable. The heat wasn't only intense, it was being generated from inside of me – like a ball of plasma was erupting within my chest and fighting for a way out. I realized it was the bond and would only worsen the further away Padmé got. Although I couldn't recall reading about any Jedi having died from the results of an incomplete soul bond, the experience was most uncomfortable and was hampering my ability to connect with the Force.

As soon as Dooku had lifted Padmé aboard his ship, I had begun running at enhanced speed toward the palace hangar. At two points, though, I'd been forced to stop and try to manage the burning which was now stretching out into my limbs.

Despite the pain, I had to keep going. I had to get to a ship. I had to follow them. I had to retrieve Padmé.

I stumbled up the steps of the first N-1 starfighter I came to, not caring which one I took. Whatever it was had to be fast. Quickly, I strapped in, grabbed the headpiece, and announced my intentions to the control tower.

"This is Obi-Wan Kenobi, I need emergency clearance from Tower Three!" I practically yelled at the poor boy on the other end of the comm.

"Hold one second," the nervous young man replied.

"I don't have a second! I need permission now!"

I'd always been rather proud of my ability to control my temper during even the more stressful situations. At the moment, all I cared about was two things: Retrieving Padmé and stopping this pain.

"Clearance granted, Jedi Protector. Good luck."

He didn't even know why he was wishing me luck, but I imagined he could sense the tension in my voice.

I turned the plane around in the hangar and prepared for take-off when I saw Panaka running toward me with his arms held up. I didn't have time to explain and rolled the plane forward while I yelled through the open hatch.

"Dooku has her! No time to explain!"

"You bring her back here Kenobi! You bring her back alive!" I heard him shout as I closed the hatch and propelled the ship out of the garage at top speed.

If Dooku thought he could get away from me, he had another thing coming. All I had to do was follow my gut. Literally. The closer I got to her, the less pain I had to endure.

If my calculations were correct, he hadn't yet had time to make the jump to hyperspeed and should just now be exiting Naboo's orbit. A quick scan revealed the signature of his 116-class sloop just ahead and I ordered the astrotech droid on board to give me as much speed as possible. I was sure I was going to need the canons, but for now, I needed to play catch-up.

Surely, he realized I would follow and I expected some type of defensive maneuver at any moment although I wasn't certain what weapons he had on board. It was an unusual solar sailer, longer than others I had seen, and most likely had more power than the N-1, so I had to make this count.

My Force senses warned me of a ray of light heading in my direction, and I dodged it at the last possible second.

"Repulsor beam," I growled. What did he intend to do? Push me away? Perhaps shoving me into an asteroid or space junk would be effective, but I wasn't going to allow that to happen.

After an initial canon prime, I fired two shots at the mast of his sail, hoping to disable any possible jump to hyperspeed. One made an impact and the other skimmed the surface of the starboard brow prong. I didn't want to destroy the ship since Padmé was on board, but I had every intention of making it incapable of getting away from me.

The sloop was bulky and comprised of heavy metals, and I managed to fly the quicker and lighter starfighter beneath it. One shot to the hyperdrive compartment should render it inoperable. I hadn't counted on the drop Dooku's pilot made, however, which slammed the underside of his vessel into one of the heat sinks of my ship, which caught the left engine on fire. I was down to just the right, though I was confident it would be enough to maneuver with.

The R4 droid managed the fire while I banked right and came up the opposite side of the sloop, firing upon the location of its reactor core. My shot had been successful, but the R4 unit was now telling me we had a situation. Apparently, the damage to the engine had shorted out the charger collectors, which in turn had damaged one of the energy generators.

Things weren't going as I'd planned, but I had to continue. If Dooku got away, Padmé and I were both going to be in trouble.

"All remaining power to the torpedo launcher," I informed the droid.

I quickly read the readout of the droid's response. "I don't care if it cuts out the engine," I argued with it. "I've got to take that ship down!"

I held my breath and fired upon the power cells at the opposite end of life support and the passenger compartment. The torpedo destroyed the rear of the sloop, but it also had an effect I hadn't counted on. Somehow, the sail had been activated and my starfighter was caught up in a projected flurry of metallic cloth. At the same time, my astromech droid informed me that all remaining power was being diverted to life support. We were essentially dead in space. But so was Dooku and that's what mattered.

If only the bond had been stable, perhaps I could communicate with Padmé and tell her not to worry, that everything was going to be all right. Instead, I was forced to float blindly and silently through space, wrapped up in a golden shroud, dragged along by a ship I could no longer see or get to.

Only the Force knew what was going to happen to us now.