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"Jedi are strong, yes... but they are still mortal beings. This Kenobi is not invincible. I have seen Jedi defeated before. It simply requires a bit more.... ingenuity in executing our planned venture."
Gustaf Perrin, in all his arrogance, refused to concede his livelihood to the likes of a self-righteous Jedi. Ridding the galaxy of inferior types, aka non-humans, appealed not only to his pocket book, but also his sense of human supremacy. He would gladly continue herding these aliens onto worlds where they could contribute something to the human race, be it mining or some other menial task. He knew his main employer felt the same way and was working to make the galaxy everything a human could dream of. Some misinformed humans, such as this Jedi, fooled themselves into believing in equality between species, but Perrin would never go for that.
"My operative will contact you later to comprise a new approach." Perrin continued speaking to a figure in the hologram. "If confrontation is what this Jedi desires, then we shall not disappoint him." An evil smirk twisted Perrin's face into a frightening sight, and then he switched off the machine. He was not afraid of a single Jedi. No, this would just add some excitement to his work that had been all too monotonous as of late.
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Obi-Wan Kenobi had wanted to be a Jedi for as long as he could remember. When he was but a child at the temple, he longed for the day he would be chosen as an apprentice. Through a long obstacle of events, he eventually ended up with Qui-Gon Jinn, one of the greatest knights in the history of the order. Then Obi-Wan only dreamed of the day he himself would become a Jedi knight. Unfortunately, that had come only at the expense of his master's life taken by a Sith lord. Next, he was suddenly thrown into the role of a master to a padawan thought to be the 'chosen one.' He knew he had made many mistakes with Anakin, but theirs had grown to be a special relationship over the years. Anakin was not exactly like his son, but rather a younger brother... the family he never had.
Not having a family had never really bothered Obi-Wan because becoming the ultimate Jedi had been his main focus for so long. However, the past two days had changed all that. He found himself wondering what it would be like to settle in one place and maybe even have a family of his own. When he was with Sari, he could almost see his life taking a turn towards normalcy. She was the type of woman that he could spend forever with and never get tired of her presence. She had intelligence, wit, a heart of gold, spunk, and beauty--- inside and out. Everything a man could want---- everything he wanted.
Yet he was holding back, keeping her at arms length. He kept telling himself it was for the best. If he hadn't pulled away from her tonight, he might never have. He had never felt so vulnerable and out of control in all his life. There was no room for a romantic entanglement. The majority of Jedi never married or even had involved relationships, and those that did usually ended up leaving the order. Being a Jedi was his life's dream.... all he had ever wanted. He was bound to his role... to his duty. His whole life revolved around it, and he had gladly played the part---- but now....... this mission was changing everything.
He rolled over in his bed and tried once again to go to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.
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Sleep had not come willingly to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Thoughts of Sari and the students invaded his dreams all night long. As he stood in the refresher looking at himself in the mirror, he almost didn't hear the knock on his door. Only half-dressed, he grabbed a tunic and headed to the front of the suite.
"Good morning!"
Obi-Wan furrowed his brow at the visitor. "Good morning," he responded with a hint of suspicion. "Shouldn't you be at school?"
"Can I come in?"
"Sure," Obi-Wan replied as he moved out of the way to let Jaik Rafe enter. He got a strange vibe from this man. Maybe it was just jealousy raring its ugly head. Jaik plopped down nonchalantly on the sofa spreading his arms along the back and offered a large, yet obviously phony, smile.
"I've been sent as the messenger," Jaik began, just a little too eagerly. "There's been a change in plans. Chairman Calder realized that Kameer Park is hosting a festival today and will be packed with people. He thought it would be better to use a less populated location, so he decided on Drameen Park on the other side of town."
"Does Sari know about this?" Obi-Wan questioned. Something wasn't quite right about this fellow's story.
A pained look flashed almost imperceptibly on Jaik's face at the mention of her name.
"She will, as soon as she gets to school," he stated flatly. Now he was showing his true self as all pretense was dropped. "You like Sari, don't you?"
The question surprised the Jedi. "I... I... she seems to be a wonderful person, yes," he finally responded.
"You know, we're kind of an item, she and I. In fact, on the night you arrived, we were scheduled to have dinner together. Did she tell you that?" Obi could sense the anger building in Jaik and actually got a little offended. This man did not own Sari.
"Yes... yes she did tell me about your date. Although she didn't say that you two were a.... what did you call it?--- ah, yes.... an 'item'. " What are you doing?!," he asked himself. Jedi were not supposed to antagonize, they were supposed to diffuse. However, some kind of primal male urge was bringing out his competitive spirit.
Jaik's face betrayed his attempt at civility as he stood up from the sofa and snarled at Obi-Wan. He took a deep breath and forced a polite smile. "Anyway, you'll be gone soon, and then things will be back to normal. Right now, I am supposed to escort you back to school."
Obi-Wan remained calm and collected. This man was so full of himself that Obi-Wan almost laughed out loud. Yes, he could continue this contest of the wills, if he so desired. He could tell Jaik that just last night Sari had been right here ready to fall into his embrace. He could tell the creep that just the day before he had spent the whole night in her apartment. But he wouldn't. He would never bring himself to that level. He would rather just force punch him into the next room.
"All right," he conceded. "Just let me get the rest of my things." The Jedi turned to go into his room when Jaik's voice caused him to stop dead in his tracks.
"That won't be necessary."
And as Obi spun back around, he barely had time to see the blast gun as Jaik fired straight at his chest.
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Sari found herself trembling a little more with each block closer to school. Even though she had great faith in Obi-Wan's plan and abilities, some little voice kept nagging at the back of her mind. Something big was going to happen today.
Chairman Calder was waiting for her by the office door as she entered the building.
"Please, come in, Miss Zendar." She walked into his office and waited for him to begin. He motioned for her to sit down, and she did.
"I just wanted to go over the specifics for today. You'll take the children to Kameer Park a few miles out of town. Only the transport driver and yourself will visibly be with the children. Jedi Kenobi, along with some others will be there the whole time, out of view, in case these criminals show up, as we expect they will. You can rest assured, Miss Zendar, your students will be perfectly safe." He leaned back in his high-backed chair and grinned.
He was a strange little man, Sari thought. He had no family of his own, so he spent all his time and energy at the school. It was almost bordering on obsessive in Sari's opinion, but the man seemed sincere, and she had no reason not to trust him. But that nagging feeling just wouldn't go away.
"I spoke with the Jedi this morning and all is in order. He's going straight to the park to wait for you and your students."
Sari was slightly relieved that she wouldn't have to face him this morning. After last night, she didn't know if she could look him in the eyes. Calder dismissed her, and she went to her classroom to prepare for the day.
If there was one thing her mother had taught her it was to always be prepared for the unexpected, so she nervously double-checked the added 'accessory' to her outfit----- a tiny silver blaster concealed in the pocket of her jacket. Her father had insisted she have it even though she detested violence and weapons. Somehow, having it with her didn't make her feel any better about the whole situation. As the students began entering the room with excited voices, she felt the gun in her pocket one more time hoping she would not have to use it.
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Throbbing pain in his head and chest slowly brought Obi-Wan Kenobi back to consciousness. Forcing his eyelids to open, all around him was nothing but black. At first he thought he was blindfolded, but then realized he was just enclosed in a small, dark room. His aching head gradually began to recall what had happened--- the surprise visit from Jaik Rafe, and the even more surprising stun blast that Jaik delivered straight into Obi-Wan's chest.
He tried to stand up when he suddenly remembered Sari. Panic was his immediate reaction. If Jaik was a part of these crimes, then she and the children were in grave danger. Anger set in next as he tried to get free from the wrist restraints that had been applied once he was out cold. He had been right about this man the whole time. The uneasiness had been the Force telling Obi-Wan to beware, but he had simply written it off as petty jealousy about Sari. Well, some of it still had to do with her, Obi admitted reluctantly.
After unsuccessfully struggling with the restraints for a few moments, the Jedi realized that he was making things too difficult for himself. Closing his eyes and calming his mind, he focused the Force on the lock, and in just a few seconds the bolts clicked open and dropped to the floor. Obi-Wan quickly found the door and attempted to open it, but to no avail. Jaik had set the lock. Using the Force once again, Obi-Wan issued one powerful Jedi kick, and the door fell from its frame.
Jaik Rafe had no idea who he was dealing with.
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"... fifty-eight bottles of Correlian rum on the wall, fifty-eight bottles of rum...."
Sari was oblivious to the loud singing voices of her students as the transport turned into the park and pulled to a stop. Her eyes nervously studied the surrounding area while the children began unloading. She didn't see Obi-Wan anywhere. Either he was great at camouflage, or he was nowhere around. Sari preferred not to even consider the latter possibility.
"That's all of 'em," said the elderly transport driver. "Am I supposed to stay here?"
Sari was surprised by his question. Apparently, he hadn't been informed about the plan. She had assumed Chairman Calder would have warned him about the possible danger involved in this little 'field trip'.
"Um... I'm not really sure how long we'll be here," she replied honestly. They were supposed to wait until something happened, and if nothing did by two o'clock, it was back to school. Artie, the driver, said he would wait awhile just for her sake and then flashed her a flirtatious grin.
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A couple of hours had passed with no appearance of the kidnappers. Artie had left to get lunch. The children had toured the educational center and were now playing on the park's variety of physically enriching equipment. In other words, it was recess time.
Sari still had not seen the Jedi or anyone else suspicious looking. She was beginning to think that the plan was going to be a bust, when a familiar face seemed to come out of nowhere.
"Jaik?" she said as the handsome teacher approached her. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back at school?" He sat down next to her on the park bench and offered up one of his heart-melting smiles.
"Calder found someone to cover my class. I wanted to be here to... help you, Sari." He smoothly put an arm around the back of the bench and laid his hand on her shoulder. She shifted uneasily and looked around to see if 'anyone' was watching. "Are you looking for someone?" he asked, trying desperately to contain a smirk. "The Jedi maybe?"
Sari felt herself blush as she looked away from Jaik.
"You know, Sari, I don't think you should put so much faith in that guy. Sure, he's got some fancy moves and a flashy sword, but I still don't trust him. He doesn't owe us or these kids anything. When he's done here, he'll just leave and go back to wherever he came from. What happens to these kids is no skin off of his back." Jaik leaned back triumphantly. Sari was slightly angered by Jaik's attitude toward Obi-Wan. She shifted her body to face him.
"No, Jaik. I think you're wrong about him. He didn't have to come here in the first place, but he did. And he's offering his help freely. I think he does care about the children." She was getting more fired up as she continued.
"And you know what? I think you're jealous of him." Jaik pulled his arm back into his lap and shot Sari a contemptuous look. "Yeah... you're jealous of him because he ruined our date the other night. You are so egotistical that you couldn't bear to have me cancel our date. I guess that was a new experience for you, wasn't it?... being 'canceled'." She almost regretted her words because his male pride was so obviously wounded. Her eyes bore into his, and she refused to be the first to look away.
"Are you finished?" he asked flatly. She stuck her chin into the air and nodded her head 'yes'. "Then I think you need to stand and put your hands above your head."
"What?" she asked in confusion. However, his meaning became perfectly clear when she saw the blaster he had pulled from his pocket. Her mouth dropped, and her body began reacting even before her mind had time to fully process what was happening. As she stood, she suddenly noticed that a group of men with blasters had circled the playground and were closing in on her students. She wanted to scream at them to run away, but all she could do was look sadly back at Jaik.
"Why?" she asked as her voice caught in her throat. "Why are you doing this?"
Some of the children were screaming for her now, pleading to know what was happening to them. One small Rodian boy tried to run through the blockade but was caught by the man Sari recognized as Korey, the man who had struck her that night in the mountains. Before she could yell out for him to stop, the man threw the boy onto the ground, and Sari heard the dull thud of his head as it hit.
"Noooo!!!!" she screamed, but Jaik reached out and grabbed her with his free hand covering her mouth. The children were looking on in horror and bewilderment.
"If you want to keep these kids from getting hurt, you'd better tell them to cooperate," Jaik whispered harshly into her ear. He began to walk her closer to the group of students frozen in terror and then thrust her into their midst. First she checked on the Rodian boy, and then the children ran to her, clinging onto any free spot they could find. Tears were falling down her cheeks as she looked into the tiny faces that had trusted her to protect them.
She shushed their many frightened questions and rose to their level. The terror in their eyes broke her heart. Where was Obi-Wan Kenobi?!
"Listen to me, kids. You have to do what these men say. Even though it's not right, if you try to run or talk back...... they might...... hurt you." It was difficult for her to get the words out. "Can you do that for me? Can you listen to them?" Their trusting faces nodded slightly and the questions resumed.
"Where are they taking us, Miss Zendar?"
"Who are they?"
"Are they going to kill us?"
"No," she answered. "If you listen to them, they'll not hurt you. I'm going to take care of this. I promise." She hugged as many of them as she could.
"Yeah, yeah, sweetheart," said Lonzo, another familiar face from the mountains. "That's enough good-byes." He grabbed her and pulled her away from the children as they struggled in vain to keep hold of her. Once again, Jaik pulled her to him. The other men began to move the students toward a recently landed air transport.
"I'm going to be a wealthy man because of this,"Jaik whispered in her ear. His hot breath made her stomach turn. "You know, I really liked you, Sari. You could have gotten in on this whole deal with me. We could've gone away to some exotic planet and gotten to know each other a little better."
"You disgust me," she spat back. "I would never want to be with you.... not for any amount of money in the galaxy. You betrayed me. You betrayed these students. I'll never forgive you."
Jaik chuckled. "Strong words for someone who may be looking at her last moments of daylight."
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Obi-Wan chided himself for all of the mistakes he had been making ever since arriving on this planet. If the council knew about the most recent, it would simply seal the fate of his dream of becoming a council member someday.
After escaping the locked closet of his hotel room, he had fled outside desperately searching for any type of transportation. Upon seeing a tough looking character leaning on a nearby swoop bike, Obi-Wan simply issued a brief wave of his hand and a persuasive comment via the Force. In seconds, he was on the 'borrowed' swoop and headed toward Kameer Park. He prayed it was the right place to look first.
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Sari was frozen in disbelief. Had Jaik really just threatened her life? How could she have been so fooled by this loser?
She had always heard it said that when faced with death, a person's life would flash before her eyes. Only for Sari it was all of the things she had hoped for her future that flashed and not the past. She would never have a chance to experience a true lasting love or the joy of having her own children. No, Jaik Rafe-- if that was even his real name-- was going to take it all away.
Well, not without a fight. How had she forgotten? The tiny blaster snuggled safely inside her jacket pocket seemed to be calling out to her... 'Use me! Use me!" Now all she needed was an opportunity.
"Hey, Rafe!" called one of the other men. "We're just about ready to go." Both Sari and Jaik looked toward the air transport. Only a few of the children remained outside of the ship. The rest were already forced inside to be carted off to who knew where.
Now was her chance.
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As Obi-Wan pulled off the road leading to the park, he could sense a group of terrified little minds through the Living Force. His master had repeatedly urged Obi-Wan to focus more on this aspect of the Force, and Obi had never forgotten the admonishment. He was frequently making himself acknowledge its influence and power, if only to prove that he did indeed learn something from all those years with Qui-Gon.
Yes, this was definitely the place.
He parked the swoop and dismounted, unclipping his light saber from his belt as he walked. This park was larger than he expected, but not many people were around. A large sign stood at the entrance path displaying a map. He noted a large educational building across a field with a playground on the other side. The perfect place to take a group of children. Obi-Wan Kenobi, fighting his anger at Jaik Rafe and the rest of the criminals involved, took off at a flat run, ready for a fight. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jaik called back an answer to the other man. "Yeah, I'll be right there," he said. In that brief second, Sari had fumbled inside her jacket and clumsily pulled the blaster from its hiding place. By the time Jaik turned back around, he was quite surprised to be on the other end of an aimed blaster.
"If I'm going to die, I'm taking you with me," Sari stated bluntly.
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Obi-Wan had reached the educational building and could see the playground in the distance. As he got closer, he saw the air transport parked in a clearing near the play area, a few men standing near the loading ramp, and a few small children being forced on board. Another quick scan of the surroundings stopped him dead in his tracks. Sari and Jaik stood facing one another, each with a blaster aimed at the other's head.
"Noooooo!!!" Obi-Wan screamed as he ignited his saber and began running again, trying to quickly cover the final distance between himself and the terrifying sight in front of him.
All eyes turned to see the source of the yell, no one more surprised than Sari. Upon seeing the Jedi coming full speed with a glowing light saber, the men near the transport pushed the last children up the ramp and jumped on board.
While Sari stood agape at the approaching man, Jaik seized the opportunity granted him and pulled the trigger on his blaster. Obi-Wan watched on in horror as the blast plummeted her through the air and onto the ground several yards away. Jaik couldn't believe what he had done and looked at his smoking blaster in shock. Another yell from Obi-Wan jolted him, and he took off towards the transport as it began to take off. The man barely made it on as the ramp closed shut behind him.
Obi-Wan watched helplessly as the transport loaded with Sari's students lifted off and rapidly zoomed out of sight. How had he let this happen? His plan had been foolproof--- or so he had thought. Overconfidence had been his mistake. Now innocent children were paying the price. Sari would be devastated.
Sari!...
He suddenly remembered she had been shot by the traitorous scum. As he spun around, he spotted her, and his heart stopped. She was lying motionless and face down at the edge of the clearing. He ran and knelt by her side. He gently rolled her onto her back and tenderly reached to wipe a smudge of dirt off of her beautiful face.
It only took him a moment to realize that there was no wound. Placing his hand gently on her neck, he could still feel a faint pulse. A flood of relief washed over his whole being. She had only been stunned! Rafe had probably forgotten to set his blaster off of stun mode from earlier in Obi's hotel room. The Jedi pulled Sari into his arms and hugged her tight. She was alive!
But how would he be able to face her? Especially after promising the children's safety? He had let her down along with the children and their families. Well, he would worry about all of that later.
It would be a while before she awoke from the stun bolt, and even though his mind raced with things to do next, he knew taking care of Sari was his first priority. Taking her limp body in his arms, he carried her back to the borrowed speeder, placed her carefully in the back seat, and headed back to his hotel.