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Sari Zendar climbed behind the wheel of her speeder car. "Okay... where to?" she asked Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"Well, I figured I could take you home and then---"
"I'm not going home," she stated bluntly. The Jedi looked at her not expecting that response at all. "I'm coming with you," she added with a smile.
"No," Obi-Wan said shaking his head. "I can't let you do that."
"You can't 'let' me do that?" There was that teacher glare again, Obi noted.
"It could be dangerous, and I don't want to---"
"Hold on just a minute," she interrupted. "I'm still stuck on the whole you won't 'let' me thing. You don't have a choice. If you want to use my speeder and find your way to the mountains before morning, then you'll 'let' me come along." Obi-Wan was quite taken aback at her determination and didn't know what to say, so he just shook his head again hoping she would back down.
She didn't.
"Why not? Our children are in danger, and I refuse to sit back and do nothing. So why are you so opposed to my offer of help?" He knew the only way he could win this battle was if he used a little Jedi persuasion, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Besides, she was definitely not to be considered a weak mind, and his mind tricks would most likely backfire due to her strong will.
"Look, there's something I didn't share at the meeting last night." He glanced around to make sure no one else was nearby before continuing. "The Jedi Council has reason to believe that these missing children are being.... sold into slavery." Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. He continued. "There's more. They also think that someone in the government is linked to this whole scheme."
"Whoa... why didn't you say anything before?" she asked.
"I had to be sure of who I could trust. Last night with the others... I didn't feel it was right for some reason."
Sari tried to let this new information sink in as she stared at her steering bar. Slavery? That's what was happening to these children?... her children? A knot formed simultaneously in her stomach and her throat.
"Now you see why I can't take you with me. This is serious business."
"And that is exactly why I am coming with you. If you're thinking that you might find the kids up in that mountain, then I am your only hope of getting there soon." With that, she buckled up and turned on the speeder.
Obi-Wan could only chuckle and be overwhelmed by the feelings for her that were rapidly growing inside his heart. He hadn't smiled this much in years.
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They spent the hour drive discussing many different topics. Mostly, Obi-Wan let her do the talking. He found that he simply loved hearing the sound of her voice no matter what she was saying. He was drawn to the movement of her lips as the words escaped, the dimple that appeared in her cheek when she laughed. A couple of times she caught him staring at her, and they both tried to hide a blush.
They reached the foothills, and Sari pulled off of the road. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and reached out with the Force. He could feel something amiss somewhere up in the largest mountain and guided Sari as she ascended the winding road.
All too soon, the road ended and there was no more trail for a speeder to follow.
"Pull over there," Obi-Wan motioned. Sari parked the speeder and exited the vehicle as did the Jedi. Both surveyed their wooded surroundings wondering what to do next.
//Up there// came the voice again to Obi-Wan. He studied a narrow stream that was trickling nearby. //There.//
"I'm going up there," he said returning to the speeder for his cloak. Sari did likewise, but Obi-Wan grabbed her arm. "No... I need you to stay here with the speeder." He knew he'd have to come up with a really good reason besides 'I couldn't live if anything happened to you'.
"I may need to have a quick getaway.... if I run into any.... trouble." He watched in anticipation of her reaction. She was definitely mulling it over in her mind. "Please,' he added softly, and to his surprise, it worked.
"Okay.... I'll stay here for now," she conceded.... for now.
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More than an hour had come and gone. After viewing her speeder's owner holo three times, Sari was becoming a bit impatient.
"Where is he?" she said aloud. Night would be here soon, and she didn't cherish the thought of being stuck in the middle of nowhere all alone. She pushed restart on the holo once more and made a deal with herself. "If he's not back by the time this is over, you're going."
Twenty minutes later, Obi-Wan Kenobi was not to be seen, and Sari determined her next move. Setting the lock on her speeder, she then looked to the stream descending from high above her. "There is where he went," she stated, taking a deep breath, "and there is where you'll go." With that she took off up the trail, trying to reassure herself with each step that she was not afraid.
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"Yeah, we got to get another load by the weekend or Perrin'll have our tails!"
The three men gathered around the small fire were obviously intoxicated as they continued to slur their words in between the gulps of a dark brown liquid Obi-Wan guessed to be some type of ale. He had followed the stream to this point. That's when he had heard the voices and found the men. After making his way clear around their entire campsite, he had settled into a secluded spot safe behind the corner of the small cabin in this clearing. Even though his instincts told him that the men were most likely linked to the missing children, he had decided it best to watch and listen before taking action. It wouldn't do to have to kill one of them if they could help lead him to the bigger fish because, as Qui-Gon had said many times, 'there is always a bigger fish.'
Unfortunately, for the past forty-five minutes the men had managed to discuss every inane topic possible except their line of work. Obi-Wan had been ready to give them up as just some drunken hunting buddies when the largest of the men had finally mentioned a name.... Perrin.
'Now where have I heard that before?' the Jedi asked himself.
"Hey, Deek!" yelled one of the men, a short but stocky man with an overgrown black beard and equally straggly hair. "How 'bout you get us s'more of these here brews?"
'Just what they need!' thought Obi-Wan. The smallest of the trio stood and moved to go back in the cabin. With his shaggy blonde hair and slight build, he looked little more than a child to Obi-Wan, not much older than Anakin.
All of a sudden, the hairs on the back of Obi's neck stood on end. Someone else was close by, he could feel it. Reaching out with the Force, he determined that the new arrival was not hostile, but actually quite frightened. Focusing his thoughts even more, he got a familiar sensation.
'Oh, great!' he muttered as he pursed his lips in frustration. He quickly surveyed the area around the campsite as best he could without revealing his hiding place, and his eyes came to rest on a bush almost directly opposite him. Using his enhanced Jedi vision he was able to make out the mysterious figure.
Obi-Wan slowly began to move, hoping the trees and fast approaching darkness would cover him until he could reach his destination. He had to take care of this intruder before he could take care of these men.
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Deek had grudgingly gone to retrieve more ales for the two buffoons he had been assigned. Much to his dismay, these men did not seem to realize that they answered to him. If they had been of a lesser size, Deek would have speedily brought it to their attention, but as it was, he valued his health a bit more than his ego.
He could hear them outside talking in their drunkenly loud voices, and he shook his head. "Idiots," he muttered.
As he walked back out onto the porch, something caught his eye. He barely saw the movement, but he was sure someone was there. Thinking fast, he acted like nothing happened and took the drinks to his cohorts who were slapping each other on the back after one had told a horrible joke.
"That was a great one, Lonzo!" Deek just shook his head at their ignorance. After delivering the drinks, he decided to do some investigating.
"Hey, guys, I'm going to go on in to bed. I'm pretty tired." The two just waved him off as they continued their in-depth discussion of the finer aspects of female slime wrestling.
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Sari had walked for what seemed like hours, but was probably closer to twenty minutes, and the whole way she had been struggling to keep her nice outfit from being ruined. If she had thought before she acted, she would have changed before insisting she come along. Now, here she was, dress torn from being snagged on evil bushes, hair a mess from the increasing winds and the accompanying drizzle that had begun moments before, and, even though she could not see it, she was sure her face was smudged by the branches that had been blown into her face as she walked.
"What are you doing?" she asked herself as she looked on at the sight in front of her. The drunken men were rambling on about female slime wrestling, a degrading sport in her mind, and she knew it would not be a good idea to let them know she was here. In their state, the arrival of a lone woman might cause a bit of chaos. The third man had gone into bed and now only the two louts remained. She didn't see any sign of Obi-Wan Kenobi anywhere and continued to chide herself for leaving the speeder in the first place.
She finally decided that she may as well head back to the speeder. He was bound to show up sooner or later, and the sooner she returned, the sooner she could get back to her warm, dry home. Checking to make sure the men weren't looking her way, she began to turn around, and just as she did, a large hand clamped down over her mouth and drug her to the ground.