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"What are you going to do to me?" Arella muttered over her shoulder, not daring to look back at her captor.
"Just keep your mouth shut and you won't get hurt," he growled. He was trying to keep a smile on his face, trying to look like just another new couple heading off for some privacy.
Arella had never been so frightened in all her life, yet somehow, despite the terror, she was managing to move in whatever direction the blaster directed her. What she couldn't understand, as she racked her brain, was why anyone would do this to her. //I haven't even been home long enough to tick anyone off....have I?// She was at a total loss.
"Oh, excuse me." Someone had just bumped into the back of Arella's kidnapper and caused him to lurch forward cramming the blaster butt further into her back. She winced in pain, but was relieved when it caused him to loosen his grip on her arm.
"Get out of the way, ya loser!" the man barked.
Moving in front of her, the person pulled back his hood. Arella's mouth dropped to the floor, and her heart soared with hope.
"Arella?" the new arrival questioned. "Arella, is that really you?" A phony grin spread across his face as he tried desperately to be a convincing actor. "It's Ben... Ben Kenobi. Don't you remember me?" He tried to send her a message through the Force to play along, and she got it-- loud and clear.
"Oh, yeah.... I remember you, Ben. It's been, what?--- a year or more since we last saw each other?" She glanced nervously over to her captor, praying that he would buy into this act.
"Yeah.... yeah," Obi-Wan nodded as if in thought. "Hey, can I get you a drink?-- Both of you, of course," he added nodding with a grin to the man behind Arella.
"No thanks, pal. We're on our way out." Arella felt the butt of the blaster firmly against her back again and Loverboy's renewed vice grip on her arm. He started pushing her forward through the crowd, past the Jedi-in-disguise. Obi-Wan lightly touched her arm and gave her a quick look in the eyes that assured her he had it all under control. At least she hoped that was what that look was. As poorly as she had treated him up to this point, she wouldn't have been surprised if he had opened the door and escorted them out.
Obi-Wan stood aside, sure that Arella had gotten the message. As the twosome exited the club, Obi followed, staying just far enough back so as not to be noticed.
Arella's heart felt like it had permanently lodged right in her throat, and, try as she might, there it stayed. Upon seeing Jedi Kenobi inside the club, her whole body and mind had breathed a huge sigh of relief. He was going to save her--- after all it was the job he was hired to do. But then he had stood aside and let her continue
to be lead right out the front door of 'Big John's.'
Only a few people were milling around outside in the dark streets
and they were all too wrapped up in themselves to pay attention to anything or anyone else. Arella kept waiting for Obi-Wan to attack at any moment, but she just kept being pushed ahead, further and further away from the club.
"Hello again!"
Arella almost jumped right out of her skin. Out of nowhere, the Jedi appeared before them with a goofy grin on his face. The hand gripping her tightened as she was jerked to a halt.
"What do you want?!" the man holding her snapped angrily. Obi-Wan paused to clear his throat before responding casually as if he had all the time in the world.
//Why doesn't he do something?!// Arella screamed inside. "Well," he finally began, " it's been so long, see, since I last saw Arella that I really wanted to talk with her..... hash over old times and what not, you know?" He retained the 'simple-minded' look etched perfectly on his face, but she could tell there were wheels turning inside his Jedi mind.
"Get out of here," the man hissed through clenched teeth, trying not to draw anymore attention to himself. Obi's eyebrows rose in feigned surprise.
"Well, now that's not very friendly of you. Why don't we let the lady decide? Arella?" Both men turned to look at her.
"Um...," she stumbled, "I would love to go talk about the old times, Ben." She tried to slip out of her captor's grip, but he wasn't having any of it.
"I don't think so!" Yanking her back to him, he snarled and moved to push Obi-Wan out of the way. That was a bad idea.
Obi-Wan had sensed the man's move in time to back out of the way causing his opponent to lurch forward clumsily. The Jedi took advantage of the opportunity to push Arella off to the side before the man regained his balance.
"Go!" he shouted to her, quickly searching the surroundings for any help at all.... and he found it. Parked on the opposite side of the street was a small two-passenger speeder. "Get to that speeder, NOW!!!"
Just then, the man swung forcefully at Obi-Wan catching him squarely in the jaw and knocking him backward into a wall. Arella heard the thud as he hit and cringed before registering what he had said. Spinning around, she spotted the speeder and made a run for it. The fight was continuing behind her as she jumped inside the waiting vehicle. Sitting down in the driver's seat, she suddenly realized two important facts... One--- there were no keys, and two--- even if there were, she didn't know how to drive. Desperately, she looked back over to the two men fighting over her, and chuckled that it wasn't for the reasons she would have preferred.
The two men were still giving and receiving blows from one another. Obi-Wan looked almost like a little boy compared to the hulking bulk of the other man. Arella was beginning to think the Jedi wasn't going to make it out on top. //Should I just run?// she questioned herself, but then her question was answered.
In a blur, Arella saw Obi-Wan reach to his side, and then a bright blue light flashed to life. The other man stopped in mid-swing and stumbled back.
"You're a Jedi?!" she heard him say in shock. Obi-Wan replied calmly , but Arella couldn't hear exactly what he was saying since he wasn't yelling at the top of his lungs.
The two circled each other slowly, each one wondering what to do next. Arella held her breath as Obi-Wan started walking backward toward her speeder very slowly. The man didn't give up and was still following at a safe distance, which surprised Arella until she noticed four other figures emerging from the dark to move with him, all of which had blasters aimed at the Jedi.
Before she could even scream out to alert Obi-Wan, the men began firing a barrage of blaster bolts right at him. Arella slammed her eyes shut, not wanting to see the slaughter, but opened them again when she heard an unusual sound. There was the Jedi still moving back to her, and his laser sword was swinging wildly, blocking every shot coming at him. The sizzle of the bolts ricocheting off of the blade was what she was hearing.
"Under the nav-box! Hurry!!" he called back over his shoulder. Immediately, she looked down by her feet and found what he had been talking about.... an emergency restart button.
//How did I know what he was talking about?// she wondered as the speeder hummed to life and lifted up onto its repulsors. Just then, Obi-Wan turned from the fight and leapt into the speeder, pushing her aside. The blasts kept coming, a few narrowly missing Arella's head before she ducked.
"Whoa!! This is NOT good," she exclaimed looking behind them before being pinned back to the seat from the force of the forward thrust. Their speeder took off, but another one was right behind them.
"They're still coming!" she yelled as Obi-Wan tried to weave in and out of the dark streets. Try as he might, he couldn't seem to coax enough speed out of their borrowed vehicle to suit his taste. Letting the Force guide him, he was managing to elude their pursuer, but he didn't know how long he could keep it up. They were gaining ground fast.
"Can't you go any faster?!" Arella shouted glancing back over her shoulder to check on the situation. "They're getting closer!!!!"
"I'm trying!!!" Obi-Wan shouted back as his hands moved all over the console board in a vain attempt to work a miracle.
They were nearing the edge of the city, and he had a decision to make--- stay in the city? or fly out into the unknown? He opted for the unknown darkness straight ahead thinking it would provide more cover.
Arella kept him posted on the state of the chase, much to his dismay. It was beginning to make him nervous.
"Oh my gosh!!! They're right on our tail! Don't you know how to FLY?!" she barked.
He felt his face go red with anger. "Would you just SHUT UP?!!" he yelled at her, regretting it as soon as it left his mouth, but he did delight to hear her stunned gasp and then nothing but silence coming from her side of the speeder.
They sped past the last streets of the city, moving quickly across the outskirts and into the surrounding forest. To miss some of the trees, they had to increase their height, and Arella's stomach lurched in defiance.
"I think I'm going to be sick!" she muttered before clasping a hand over her mouth.
//Just great!// Obi-Wan thought. //What better way to top off my day!//
Just then, the approaching speeder pulled up along side of Obi-Wan and maneuvered to keep pace. Arella's silence was ended for certain when the passenger in the other vehicle pulled out a blaster and aimed it right at Obi-Wan and herself. She let out a shriek that caused the young Jedi to jump and lose his concentration. Just the slightest jerk of his hand on the stick caused them to swerve wildly into the other speeder, knocking the chasers off course as well.
Obi-Wan quickly regained control of his speeder, but the others weren't quite so lucky. They began an out-of-control, downward spiral that could only end one way---- in a ball of flames on the forest floor. The whine of the plummeting speeder sounded farther and farther away until it climaxed into one final blast. Arella and Obi-Wan peered over the side and saw the flames down below.
Leaning back in her seat, Arella heaved a huge sigh of relief. Obi-Wan did too, but he didn't want it to appear so obvious.
"That was crazy!" she finally said.
"Yeah, you almost got us killed!" he spat back slowing the speeder to a more controllable speed and wondering what move to make next.
Arella glared at him defensively and felt her ears heat up, something that always happened when she became very angry. "ME?!!" she yelled. "I'm not the one flying this thing--- YOU are!!!"
He didn't want to do it..... he knew he shouldn't..... but he couldn't help himself.
"Well, if you hadn't run off like some SPOILED CHILD just because you didn't get your way, none of this would have happened!" He was arguing even though he knew it went against his Jedi training. Something about her just got under his skin like no one else. She somehow knew all the right--- or wrong--- buttons to push to make him react contrary to his better judgment.
Arella opened her mouth to respond, but Obi threw his hand up in front of her face.
"Not a word!!!" he ordered, and both of them were equally surprised when she obeyed.
"Humph!" she grunted, crossing her arms and slamming back into her seat. Her ears were on fire now!
Obi-Wan took a deep breath and tried to calm his emotions in order to continue flying the speeder. He looked around and, in the darkness of the night, could only make out trees as far as his eye could see. //Where are we?// he asked himself, knowing he didn't have the faintest idea. He took a quick look behind him and couldn't even see any lights from the city. They had been flying longer and farther than he had thought.
Suddenly, a strange sputtering sound started spitting out from the engine.
"Uh-oh," he mumbled.
"What?" Arella popped out of her stew to ask. "What's that noise? What's happening? Are we going to crash?"
Obi-Wan turned to glare at her again, and she backed down in the blink of an eye. Unwillingly, he admitted, "I don't know for sure what it is, but I think we'd better set down somewhere so I can take a look."
"Out here? In the middle of nowhere?" she asked in disbelief. She was getting very nervous and could feel the anxiety begin to overwhelm her.
"Do you have a better idea?" he quipped, not even looking at her.
Arella thought for a moment, a debate taking place in her mind. Then, the decision was made.
"Yeah," she said suddenly jolting from her seat. "I'll fly!" She then lunged over and grabbed the flight stick, a stunned Obi-Wan again taken by complete surprise.
"What are you doing?!" he shouted trying to pry her hands away so that he could regain control of their now swerving speeder. He even had to duck so as not to be decapitated by a tree branch. They were flying too low and erratic to survive for long. "You're gonna get us killed!!!" he added. Arella had a death grip on the stick, the adrenaline of fear coursing through her veins, and try as he might, Obi wasn't having much luck.
"I've got to get home!! I can't die out here!!" She was yelling irrationally, and Obi-Wan knew that shock from all that had happened was setting in. He was just about ready to apply a Force calm by touching her shoulder when the speeder bumped lightly into a tree and began wobbling toward the ground. He had to act fast.
"Sit back!!!" he shouted giving her one final push back onto her side. He knew he'd hear her complaints about that once this was over--- that is, if they were still alive--- but it was a chance he had to take.
He regained possession of the controls, but it was too late. The bump had taken out their stabilizer and all he could hope for was to land soon. "Hang on tight!" he said.
Arella screamed in terror the whole way down, her voice ringing in Obi-Wan's ears...... and then it just stopped.
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* More to come!....
