Title: Labyrinth
Author: Jedi Rita
Rated: PG-13
Note: The action really picks up from here. The hawk bats and the attempt to go up the side of the building, as well as much of the stuff about the lower levels of Coruscant, are shamelessly stolen from the otherwise incredibly bad pro-fic, "Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter," a book I heartily do NOT recommend. Also please be aware that my stuff about the Fetts does not go along with what is emerging about the Fetts in Episode 2.
Many thanks to my three reviewers. Y'all make posting this worthwhile - I hope you are still enjoying it!
Chapter Six
Anakin stared out the window of the Council chamber, watching the lines of traffic go by, struggling to rein in his mounting frustration and anger. Only five of the twelve members of the Jedi Council were present, the others, including Master Yoda, off dealing personally with various centers of unrest throughout the galaxy. The remaining Masters were debating the appropriate course of action. Meanwhile the kidnappers' trail grew colder.
"I think we should put someone else on this case," Mace Windu was saying. Anakin glanced at Obi-Wan and saw him clench his jaw. For once his master was as frustrated and impatient as he was. Master Mace continued, "Obi-Wan and Anakin are too personally involved."
"You can't do that!" Obi-Wan blurted out, surprising even Anakin. Mace turned a stern gaze on Obi-Wan. Holding his impatience in check, Obi-Wan said, "What I meant was, there's no need."
"Outbursts like that only confirm my opinion," Mace observed.
Obi-Wan took a steadying breath, fighting to rise above his anxiety and find his calm center. In a more even tone, he said, "With respect, Masters, Anakin and I have been involved with this conference from the beginning. We know all about the True Life Movement."
"But this is a different organization," Ki-Adi-Mundi pointed out.
"Yes, but they split off from the TLM. We know about the TLM's cells, their philosophy, their members --"
Again, Mace interrupted him. "Then you will be able to brief whomever we decide to send. That is no reason for us to send you."
"You are being overly cautious, Mace," Adi Gallia spoke up, to Obi-Wan's relief. He and Qui-Gon had been on a number of missions with Adi and her apprentice Siri, now a Knight herself. "We do not have to be impartial in order to fulfill our duty, and I think the connection Obi-Wan and Anakin have with the Prince and Queen Amidala can help them locate their whereabouts."
Master Mace leaned back in his chair, pressing his fingertips together. "At present that is immaterial, since we still have no idea where to even start looking. In the meantime, we must focus our energies on maintaining calm among the conference attendees." And the Council again degenerated into futile discussion.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes, using Jedi calming techniques to control his impatience. The problem was that they really didn't know where to start looking. The vehicle used by the kidnappers had a false registration, and no one had been able to trace the origin of the holovid of the Prince reading the kidnappers' demands. The image of Bail in that holovid rose up in Obi-Wan's mind. For once he wished the Jedi were not trained in perfect recall because he could remember each and every bruise on the Prince's face. Obi-Wan's fear for Bail lay like a heavy stone in the pit of his stomach, and he had to admit, however reluctantly, that Master Mace might be right to want to send someone less "personally involved." But he couldn't bear the thought of anyone else going to rescue Bail. /I can't lose him, too. I can't go through that again./ That might not be a properly Jedi motive, but Obi-Wan couldn't resist it, and if the Council did decide to send someone else, he and Anakin would go
on their own.
The comm chimed lightly, and Obi-Wan opened his eyes as Master Mace responded, "Yes?"
"There's someone here to see Obi-Wan."
Mace frowned in Obi-Wan's direction. "Now is not really the time."
"She says she has information about the kidnapping."
Surprised, Mace replied, "Send her up."
A few minutes later the chamber doors opened to admit a padawan aide escorting a young woman who seemed stunned to find herself in a room full of Jedi Knights.
"What do you know about the abduction?" Master Mace asked without ceremony.
The woman only answered his question with a confused expression. "You're Kenobi?" she asked skeptically.
Obi-Wan stepped forward. "I am."
She looked him up and down, appraising him. Finally satisfied, she said, "I'll only talk to you, not to anyone else."
Obi-Wan glanced at Mace, who nodded. "This way." He led her out of the Council chamber and into a nearby conference room where they could talk in private. She eyed Anakin suspiciously. Obi-Wan introduced, "This is my padawan, Anakin Skywalker."
"Pada-who?"
"He is my apprentice," Obi-Wan qualified. "We are a team. If you trust me, you can trust him."
Anakin liked to hear Obi-Wan call them a team. He took a proprietary step closer to his master.
Still the woman said nothing, studying Obi-Wan. At last he prompted, "What did you want to tell me?"
She plopped down into a chair, propping her feet up on the table. Obi-Wan and Anakin both stiffened at what they felt was a lack of proper respect. "I'm a computer engineer," the woman explained. "I work for Frontline Scientific Systems. But more importantly I'm a slicer. That's how I met Bail. I was in grad school studying computer security, and he attended a demonstration I led." Her eyes narrowed. "I'm an old friend of his."
"I see." Obi-Wan knew perfectly well what she meant.
Abruptly she laughed. "That's right. Old friend, ex-lover. All Bail's old friends are ex-lovers." She paused, sizing him up again. "Except you, I guess. You know, you're not very popular among Bail's...old friends."
"You said you had information about the kidnapping," Obi-Wan again prompted, in an even tone that Anakin recognized meant his master was annoyed. He had heard that tone often enough.
"Yeah," the woman agreed almost reluctantly. "When I heard about the kidnapping, I immediately got to work. I looked into the information on the vehicle they used, and the report on the suspects."
"That information has not been released to the public," Obi-Wan noted.
"I know," she replied. "As I said, I'm a slicer. I also read the report you wrote." She gave him a moment to let that news sink in. She could only have accessed that report by slicing into the Temple's own computer system. "I know what the Security Forces know and what they don't. I know what you Jedi know and what you don't. And I know that none of you have any leads." She paused again, with that infuriatingly self-satisfied grin on her face. "But I do."
Obi-Wan was getting really irritated with the cryptic self-importance of this "old friend" of Bail's. And he didn't like the way she kept referring to the Prince by his first name. Obi-Wan tended to be very formal when talking about the Prince to other people. As his demeanor grew milder, Anakin recognized that he was getting close to the point of leaning over and throttling the woman. Anakin was amazed. He had never seen anyone irritate his master so thoroughly. Except himself.
"And what have you found?" Obi-Wan asked, to all appearances as disinterested as if they were discussing the times tables.
She gave him a smug smile. "I found out who outfitted that freighter with weapons. It's true I haven't been able to crack the registry on the vehicle, but I was able to cross reference the alias used to place the order for the work with a list I have of aliases used by the TLM, and I then --"
Obi-Wan cut her short. If there was one thing slicers loved more than slicing, it was telling people about it. "I really don't need to know how you found it. I just need to know what you found. You know who the kidnappers are?"
Somewhat chagrined, she confessed, "Well, I don't exactly know *who* they are, but I do have a pretty good idea *where* they are. I can't be absolutely certain, but when I cross referenced all of the --"
"Please," Obi-Wan interjected. "The short version."
She sighed. Laymen! "I believe their HQ is in quadrant L-42, possibly in the vicinity of the Kathol sector." Irked at having been deprived of the chance to display her genius, she griped, "They weren't kidding when they said you were a hard-ass!"
Obi-Wan's eyes flashed in anger, and for a moment Anakin thought his master really would strangle her. "If you dislike me so much, why did you come to me specifically? Why not go to the Security Forces?"
"Well, my techniques aren't exactly legal, are they? Besides, I don't have to like you. I know you'll do whatever you can to get Bail back safely."
Only slightly appeased, Obi-Wan asked, "Is there anything else you can tell us?"
"No, that's about it." She hesitated. "Only that the way they covered their trail was strange. In some ways it was the tightest security I've ever seen, and yet at other times they made very amateurish mistakes. My guess is it was a novice group that had a lot of very talented and powerful help."
Obi-Wan nodded pensively, then stood to show the woman out. As he held the door open for her, she gave him a cunning look. "One more thing. When you see Bail, tell him to give Cait Nandreeson a call. We really ought to get together again. It's been way too long." With a gratified smile, she turned and exited the room.
*****
The morning had found Padme, Jar Jar, and Bail in surprisingly good spirits. Even Padme's news about the appearance of the bounty hunters during the night only temporarily brought them down. They surmised that if the hunters had already searched the area, they would be less likely to pass by again anytime soon.
They were all stiff from having slept on the ground all night, but other than that everyone felt fine. Bail's headache was gone, although his bruises had blossomed into a rainbow of colors. On his watch, Jar Jar had managed to find a large snake for them to eat for breakfast, and everyone agreed it was a vast improvement over rat.
Despite the threat of the bounty hunters, they decided to travel in the streets again. The buildings were simply too dark and the corridors too labyrinthine for them to even be certain they were traveling in a uniform direction.
As they headed out into the gray morning, Bail observed, "You know, in a way this is kind of exciting. I've never been to the ground level of Coruscant before. It's like exploring a ghost town."
Alarmed, Jar Jar squealed, "There's ghosts here?"
Padme laughed, and Bail explained, "Not real ghosts. Only the ghosts of memory, of the people who once lived here."
Curious, Padme asked, "How long has it been since anyone lived at the ground level?"
Bail shrugged. "I'm not really sure. Hundreds of years, probably. Of course as I said before, there are people who live in parts of the ground level, but they are unregistered."
"Why the peoples stopped liven here?" Jar Jar asked.
"People like to live up high where they can see the sky. I suppose as the city kept growing up, so moved the population."
With a hint of rebuke in her voice, Padme queried, "How can you have lived here as long as you have, and yet you've never visited the ground level? I would think as a Senator you would want to know about the planet."
With a smile, Bail replied, "Well, I think I do know quite a bit about Coruscant. But I've never had any reason to go to the ground level before."
It occurred to Padme that she could take this time to talk with Bail about her own decision to become a Senator. She still wasn't ready to tell Jar Jar, though, so she needed to be circumspect. Hopefully the Prince would pick up that fact. "How did you become a Senator?"
"Dishonestly, of course," Bail quipped. "I slept my way to the appointment."
His evasive answer annoyed her, but not as much as it would have when they had first met. "Seriously," she urged.
"Believe it or not, I earned the appointment."
"But *why* did you become a Senator? Is it part of your duties as Prince?"
"Oh no. Thank heavens I have no duties as a Prince aside from the occasional speech on national holidays."
Confused, Padme admitted, "I don't understand. Then why are you a Prince?"
Bail laughed. "I forgot. You are elected Queen. It's not like that on Alderaan. Many years ago my planet was engulfed in a terrible war. My great-great-great-grand-parents were the ones who brokered peace and helped the people recover. In gratitude Alderaan bestowed royal titles on them, but it's only an honorific. We have no actual power. I'm proud to say that my family has lived up to that legacy." He smiled. "Except for me, of course. There's a black sheep in every family. All my relatives entered respectable professions. My mother is a lawyer, and my father is a University professor. My sisters are all so dignified it's frightening. But I went into politics."
"But what made you choose it?"
With a grin, Bail admitted, "I love to hear myself talk. My father would always take me with him on all his formal appearances. I gave my first speech when I was seven years old. It was a patriotic speech about the proud heritage of Alderaan and how we all must strive to live up to it. I'm sure it was a ridiculous speech, the kind of thing only a seven-year old can get away with. But I have always loved it. The Alderaani have a strong sense of civic responsibility, and we have always been leaders in the Republic. And since I love to talk, I really only had two choices: politics or law. And I wasn't about to intrude on my mother's territory."
"Do you enjoy being a Senator?" Padme asked.
"Yousa meeten lots of peoples, methinks," Jar Jar added.
"Oh yes, the people are fascinating."
"And yousa goin to lotsa worlds, too, eh?"
Bail cocked his head at the Gungan. "Maybe you'd like to be a senator?"
Jar Jar's eyestalks contracted thoughtfully. "Meeten new peoples is fun," he agreed. "But some peoples is bombad."
"That's true enough. Like Senator Kleyvits." Bail made a face. "Every calling has its price. Still, in a way I even enjoy dealing with the 'bombad' ones. I relish the challenge of opposing them and trying to stop whatever nefarious plots they're scheming. But it's more than that. As we argue and debate, there's always the chance that one of us may be converted to a new point of view. After all, whether as enemies or friends, in the end we all have to figure out how to live together."
"We learned that on Naboo," Padme observed. "The Gungans and the Naboo used to hate each other."
"But now wesa good friends," Jar Jar smiled.
"I haven't had a chance to get to know you yet, Jar Jar," Bail apologized. "We humans have all been a little... preoccupied. Tell me about yourself." He nudged Jar Jar in the ribs. "Maybe you have a special someone at home? Or several special someones?"
The question only confused Jar Jar. "What kinda someones?"
Suppressing a smile, Padme clarified, "Gungans don't reach sexual maturity until they're in their thirties."
A look of mock horror crossed Bail's face. "Not until their thirties? That's the most terrible thing I've ever heard!" He paused. "Then again, there are those who would say I haven't reached my sexual maturity yet, either." Padme laughed, and he turned on her. "And at what age do the Naboo reach sexual maturity? Certainly before their thirties, I think."
Padme blushed. "Sometime before their thirties."
"Aha. So do you have any special someones lined up at home?"
"If I did, I certainly wouldn't tell you."
"Smart woman. Still, perhaps your reticence is designed to protect a certain sensitive youth we all know."
"Who?" Jar Jar asked, feeling largely left out of the whole conversation. As Padme had said, he was not old enough to have had romance enter his life yet. He thought all this talk of 'special someones' might refer to the Bosses.
"He means Anakin," Padme explained.
"Oh." Jar Jar certainly thought Anakin was special.
Bail kicked absently at a rock. "Obi-Wan told me the boy at one time had quite a crush on you, but I've never heard him talk about you. Then again, I'm hardly his confidant. He talked about you, though, Jar Jar."
"He did?" the Gungan echoed, pleased to hear that Anakin consider him a 'special someone,' too.
"He's certainly glad to see you both."
"And we're glad to see him," Padme returned.
"Only..." Jar Jar sighed. "My missen Qui-Gon."
Padme nodded sadly, and Bail looked back and forth between the two of them, surprised. "Did you know him so well?"
"He saved my life," Jar Jar enthused.
"And mine," Padme added. "He saved our whole world."
"Jedi Knights have a tendency to do that," Bail observed mildly. A reverent sadness had fallen over his two companions, an emotion he recognized well from encountering it in Obi-Wan and Anakin whenever Qui-Gon was mentioned. Even though he had personally never known Qui-Gon well enough to mourn him, Bail knew he ought to respect their grief, but it annoyed him that while Qui-Gon and Anakin obviously inspired devotion in Padme and Jar Jar, neither of them had said anything about Obi-Wan. Protectively, Bail challenged, "Still, if Qui-Gon saved your world, he had Obi-Wan's help."
"Of course," Padme offered, her thoughts still on Qui-Gon.
It wasn't the response he'd been hoping for. He had noticed Padme's disapproval and Jar Jar's reserve around his friend, and it occurred to Bail that he seldom saw Obi-Wan in the company of anyone but himself and Anakin. What was he like with other people? How did they perceive him? "You don't like Obi-Wan, do you?"
The two hesitated in uncomfortable silence. At last Jar Jar offered, "He was always yellen at me before. Hesa nicer now."
"It's not that we don't like him. It's just that he's rather... stern."
"That's because he has Anakin for an apprentice. That boy is a wild child. Obi-Wan doesn't always know how to handle him."
With a frown, Padme asked, "Is he that bad?"
"He's not bad, he's just lively. The Jedi raise their students from infancy, you know. I've met five-year-olds at the Temple with more self-possession and discipline than people ten times their age. But Anakin grew up apart from the Temple. The Jedi see him as undisciplined, but I keep telling Obi-Wan he's just a typical adolescent boy. Anakin would hate to hear this, but he reminds me very much of me at that age."
"But Obi-Wan isn't stern with you," Padme pointed out.
"No, but I'm not his padawan. Thank heavens! If he'd been one of my teachers, I'd have tried him just as severely. I was excruciatingly obnoxious in my youth." Bail beamed. "But now, everyone likes me!"
Jar Jar smiled at him, but Padme wouldn't give in so easily. "Well, you're not *too* bad," she teased.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," he said grandly, as if she had paid him an enormous complement. "And I'm glad you both like Anakin so much. I understand he doesn't have many friends." This surprised Padme, but she didn't have a chance to ask about it because Bail continued, "But I do hope you'll give Obi-Wan another chance. He really is quite charming."
Padme doubted she would ever describe Obi-Wan that way, but she willingly conceded, "You've had a chance to know him better than we do. But I'm sure he'll grow on us."
Suddenly Jar Jar froze, his floppy ears perking up. "Someone's comen!" he squealed.
"Where? From what direction?" Bail asked.
"It doesn't matter!" Padme's eyes darted frantically, searching for the nearest shelter. "This way!" she called, dashing toward one of the buildings.
But she never made it. From around a corner a speeder appeared, bearing down on them. Any hope they might have had that it would be their Jedi friends was crushed by the sight of the bounty hunters. They fired the speeder's laser cannon in front of the threesome, cutting off their attempted escape as chunks of the sidewalk exploded before them. They shied back, and Padme stepped in front of the other two, her tiny blaster raised.
The speeder hovered before them. The helmeted bounty hunter stood up in the passenger seat, a large rifle cradled easily on her hip. "Do you really think your little gun can harm us, Your Majesty?" she sneered. "Why don't you just put your weapon down?"
Padme's blaster hand trembled, but she did not lower it. There was a remote chance she could shoot the man in the head, but her gun would not penetrate the woman's armor. Her defiance could not possibly save them, but she was not ready to give up yet. She spread her feet in a solid stance and held her blaster with both hands.
The woman stepped casually out of the speeder and moved toward them, Padme tracking her with her blaster. The hunter raised her rifle. "I can shoot it out of your hands, but at such close range I would probably take your hands off with it. Is that what you want?"
From behind her, she felt Bail's hand rest on her shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze. Reluctantly, she lowered her arms, pointing the blaster at the ground.
Bail stepped forward to stand next to Padme. "Are you taking us back to the Hammer?" he asked. Talk: that was the best defense he knew. He didn't know what it would accomplish in the end, but he would buy every extra second of life he could get.
"Sorry. I know how fond you are of them. But no." The bounty hunter advanced leisurely toward them, and the three of them moved backwards.
"You're working for someone else, then?" Bail asked. He could hear the fear in his own voice. He wished he sounded more calm, but that was hard to do when he was facing two bounty hunters carrying nasty looking rifles. "Or maybe you have your own interest in us?"
She laughed. Padme didn't like the sound. "Sorry, Organa, I don't have the slightest interest in any of you."
Continuing to backpedal, Bail said, "Too bad, because I'm sure we could come to an agreement that would be greatly to your benefit."
The other bounty hunter exited the vehicle to join his companion, but she continued to do the talking. "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? Only it's our policy not to make deals with the quarry. Bad for business, you know. No, we *always* deliver."
The three of them bumped against the wall. They had nowhere else to go. Bail gulped. His fear was really kicking in, which meant he tended to prattle. "I understand that. Matter of principle, and all. Of course, the galaxy is a very large place. There are plenty of other worlds that could use your talents, and we can reward you quite handsomely if you let us go. I dare say we even could help you avoid your employers if --"
The woman growled, turning her rifle on him. "Shut up, Organa, or I'll shut your mouth for you."
But Bail couldn't shut up. "No doubt your employers have their own plans for us."
"No. He just wants you dead. Lucky us, though. He didn't say how you had to die. We just need enough of you left for a DNA test. Of course, it only takes a hair." She stepped forward and reached toward the Prince, plucking a hair from his head. She held it up in front of him. "Done."
Bail's knees turned to water, and he had to lean against the wall to remain standing. "But you don't need the others, do you? You can let them go."
"Nope. He wanted all of you. Now, that's enough talk." She nodded at Padme. "I like your style, Your Majesty. If you behave yourself, I might kill you quickly." Turning to Jar Jar, she said, "I've never dealt with one of your kind before, frog boy. I'll enjoy seeing what kind of stuff you're made of." Then she faced Bail once more. "And you talk way too much. I don't like that. But I do like screams. You'll scream for me, won't you, my pretty little Prince?" She lowered her rifle and grabbed a handful of Bail's shirt.
Without warning, Padme shoved off from the wall and plowed straight into the bounty hunter, hitting her square in the chest with her shoulder and kicking at her rifle hand. "Run!" she shouted as she raised her blaster at the other hunter and squeezed off a series of shots to his head. He ducked clear and raised his rifle, but he couldn't shoot Padme without hitting the other hunter.
"Foolish move, girl!" the bounty hunter snarled, grabbing Padme by the hair and twisting her around, forcing her to her knees. Padme kicked out behind her, connecting with the woman's shin. The bounty hunter fell heavily over her. Padme grabbed for the rifle, but the hunter had not let go of it. They grappled for the gun, rolling on the ground. Suddenly the bounty hunter let go and drove her elbow into Padme's chin. Her head snapped back against the ground, stunning her, and the bounty hunter grabbed the rifle out of her hands, scrambling to her feet.
Padme heard a blast of laser fire. /No!/ she silently wailed, fearing that the others had been shot. Then she heard an explosion, and shards of hot metal zinged past her. To her surprise, the bounty hunter dashed off. Padme rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up to her knees. The hunters' speeder was in flames, and another speeder was bearing down on them, the two bounty hunters running to face it.
Over the sound of laser fire she heard someone calling her name. She turned and saw Bail and Jar Jar crouched behind a corner, beckoning to her. She scrambled to her feet and ran to join them. "What's going on?"
"It's Ani!" Jar Jar cried in jubilation. She peered around the corner. Sure enough it was the two Jedi. Anakin was at the speeder's controls. He whipped the vehicle around to face the two hunters, who were running to flank the speeder. The male hunter dropped to one knee and let loose a volley of shots straight in the speeder's belly as it flew past him. Effortlessly, the two Jedi leaped clear of the disabled vehicle. Obi-Wan somersaulted through the air, landing right on top of the surprised bounty hunter, his saber plunging straight into the man's chest. As the hunter fell back, Obi-Wan freed his weapon and spun to join his padawan.
But Anakin needed no help. He had landed far from the other bounty hunter, then used the momentum of his landing to jump again, dodging the laser blast she fired at him. He landed in front of her, slicing his lightsaber through her rifle, and with the backhand sweep cleaving her head neatly off her body just as Obi-Wan ran up next to him.
"Ani! Ani!" He turned and saw Jar Jar running toward him, the others close behind. The Gungan threw his arms around Anakin. "Yousa saven all of us!" Padme beamed at him, her eyes as bright as Tatooine's twin suns. She hugged him, kissing him on the cheek and pressing her face against his. "I can't believe you found us!" she whispered.
Amazed to have her alive and safe and holding him, Anakin didn't know what to say. Embarrassed, he shrugged himself free of her embrace and moved awkwardly away.
Obi-Wan clasped the Prince tightly to him, then pulled back to inspect his face. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Bail assured him, before realizing what the Jedi meant. Touching his face he said, "Ah, yes. My makeover, courtesy of the aptly named Hammer. It's purely cosmetic surgery, I assure you." He scratched lightly at the gash over his eyebrow. "I'm hoping this one will leave a scar. It would add a hint of danger to my mystique, don't you think?"
Obi-Wan smiled tightly, saying nothing, but he did not let go of the Prince's hand. He turned to Padme. "And you, Your Highness? Jar Jar?"
"We're fine, especially now that you two are here."
"How yousa finden us?" Jar Jar wondered.
Obi-Wan glanced self-consciously at the Prince. "We had help from an old friend of yours. She provided us with a general location, but it was the firefight that led us to you."
Anakin busied himself with inspecting their crashed speeder, sick with relief that Padme and the others were all right. He listened anxiously while Padme recounted to Obi-Wan the story of their escape and subsequent flight. Now that they were all reunited, the reality that Padme might very well have died finally penetrated Anakin's consciousness. All the fear and worry he had held back during the search, the worst scenarios he had not permitted himself to imagine, now flooded over him in a torrent, leaving him weak and frightened, trembling so hard he could barely remain standing. Inspecting the speeder wreck gave him a focus to help still his distress.
Obi-Wan had to call to him twice before Anakin even heard him. "What?" he asked.
"I asked whether the speeder is salvageable."
Anakin shook his head.
"Now what will we do?" Padme despaired.
"If we wait here, the Temple will be able to track the speeder and pick us up." Obi-Wan noticed Padme's skeptical look. "What?"
"These people who were attacking us. They weren't part of the Hammer. They were bounty hunters. They were trying to kill us, not capture us."
Obi-Wan knelt to inspect the body of the helmeted one, noticing her weapons and the custom armor she wore. It looked somehow familiar. "This one is a Fett," he realized.
At the announcement, Anakin felt a sinister flush of pride he knew his master would not approve of. The Fetts were a notorious mercenary family, generally viewed as the most dangerous bounty hunters in the galaxy. And he had killed one!
"Now that these bounty hunters have failed, whoever sent them might send others," Padme observed.
Obi-Wan considered, nodding his head slowly. "If that's so, it's not safe to stay here."
"Wait a minute," Bail interjected. "Are you suggesting that we should leave the speeder, when you said the Temple will send help?"
"But it may not be for a while. When we saw the bounty hunters we sent a message back to the Temple, but down here in the lower levels we can't be sure it got through, and I don't think it's a good idea to wait here when more bounty hunters may show up before the Jedi."
Bail's self-control threatened to collapse. He was exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, and he had no desire to go back into the ground level's hidden dangers. With a trembling voice, he pled, "But Obi-Wan, how will we get out of here?"
It was Anakin who answered. "We go up," he said.
"But how?" Bail asked. "The lower levels of the buildings are sealed."
"We go up the outside," Anakin clarified, moving closer to the nearest building and peering up into the fog. "The lowest lanes of traffic are about eighteen or twenty levels up. We use our ascension guns to get up to a ledge within sight of traffic, and we flag someone down."
Jar Jar began to whimper, and Padme felt like joining him. When she had used ascension guns during the Trade Federation's occupation of Naboo, they had only ascended about three or four meters. The distance Anakin was proposing was twenty times that height. "It would take three or four minutes to make the ascent," she calculated. "That's a long time to have to hang on."
"I've done it before," Anakin assured her.
Anxiously, the Prince fretted, "Yes, well, I'm sorry to have to point out to you, Anakin, that not all of us here are Jedi."
Jar Jar flexed his hands, worried. His arms were very powerful, but his hands were not. "Mesa no can hang on."
Obi-Wan mused, "If we make the ascent in short increments, we can do it. Anakin and I can carry you all up." Neither Bail nor Jar Jar appeared convinced. Obi-Wan observed, "It will certainly get us out of here quickly."
"I can do it," Padme announced, projecting more confidence that she felt. "If we take it twenty meters at a time," she set her jaw. "I can make it."
Obi-Wan studied her, trying to gauge her ability. But if she said she could do it, he believed her. "If you and Anakin go up the first section and scout out a secure ledge where we can gather, then Anakin can come back down, and he and I can carry Jar Jar and Bail up." Padme and Anakin looked ready to go, and Obi-Wan turned to the others. "It's up to you whether you want to try it."
"I can carry you, Jar Jar," Anakin assured him. "You won't fall."
Bail's eyes were filled with doubt, but he said, "If you two really think you can carry us, then I'll trust you."
Nodding to Anakin, Obi-Wan unhooked his ascension gun. With Anakin beside him, they aimed their guns and fired up into the fog. The grapples disappeared overhead and the two Jedi monitored the gauge on the guns. At around twenty meters they used the Force to push the grapple hooks into the wall. Giving the cord a few tugs, Obi-Wan handed his gun to Padme. She gulped hard, forcing herself to banish her doubts. "You ready?" Anakin asked. She nodded and squeezed the recoil trigger. The reel pulled her up at a steady pace. She kept her eyes focused on the line above her, not daring to look down. /I'll be fine,/ she chanted like a mantra in her head.
They reached the lowest levels of the thick brown fog, which parted effortlessly before them. Suddenly dark shadows flitted overhead. Startled, Padme tightened her grip on the gun. An eerie screech sounded above her, and one of the shadows flapped down into view, an enormous flying mammal with leathery wings, its talons outstretched.
"Hawk bats!" Anakin yelled. One-handed, he ignited his lightsaber. "Hang on! I'll take care of them." The blade slashed, skewering one of the bats, but more descended from the clouds. The pale blue blade wove a shield of pure energy around Padme, but in his effort to protect the Queen, Anakin left himself exposed. One of the bats struck his shoulder, razor sharp talons slicing through his tunic. He struggled not to lose hold of his saber.
Below them the other three watched, horrified. Obi-Wan grabbed one of the bounty hunter's guns and started picking off the bats, but there were too many of them, and they were too relentless. Helpless, all he could do was watch as his padawan tried to fight them off. But the boy could not keep up. The bats buffeted Padme and tangled themselves in the gun's line. Suddenly she lost her grip and plummeted.
"No!" Jar Jar screamed.
Startled by Padme's fall, Anakin twisted on his line. The bats threw themselves at him with renewed fury, and he swatted blindly at them. His blade tangled with the thread, slicing through it and dropping him as well.
Obi-Wan positioned himself beneath Padme, using the Force to slow her as she fell toward him. He reached out and caught her, the force of her landing almost knocking him to the ground, but he did not drop her. Next to him, Anakin landed in a Force-cushioned blow, his ankle twisting beneath him.
Padme clung to Obi-Wan's neck, her heart beating furiously. It had all happened so fast she barely had time to register that she was falling until Obi-Wan caught her. She began to tremble, gulping for breath.
"You're all right," Obi-Wan soothed. He knelt, lowering her to the ground, but she didn't let go of him. He looked over at Anakin. "Are you okay?"
The boy's face was pale, and he clutched his ankle. "I think I twisted it."
"It's a miracle you didn't break it." Or worse. Obi-Wan berated himself for the catastrophe. He should have never agreed to the plan.
Anakin picked up on his master's thoughts. "It would've worked if it hadn't been for the bats," he said. "We must have hit near one of their rookeries."
Jar Jar knelt beside Padme, gratefully wrapping her up in his lanky arms and extracting her from Obi-Wan's embrace, while Bail looked on, struggling to regain his composure and not particularly succeeding.
"My gun got smashed in the fall," Anakin pointed out. He glanced overhead. The other gun was nowhere to be seen.
"So much for that idea," Obi-Wan concluded. "There's a ground plaza about fifty kilometers from here. It will be a fair walk, but not an impossible one. We'll stay inside the buildings as much as possible."
"Master," Anakin started to protest.
"What?" Obi-Wan asked.
Anakin had ventured into the lower levels often. The buildings housed all manner of unfriendliness. In an empty quarter like this, they would be safer on the streets. That is, if they didn't have bounty hunters after them. "Good plan," he amended.
Obi-Wan's brow furrowed. It had occurred to him more than once so far that Anakin's illicit adventures could very well qualify him to get them all out of their predicament. Even Obi-Wan could count on only one hand the number of times he had been in the lower levels. Maybe he had been right all long to permit Anakin his excursions.
"Then let's cull anything of use from this wreckage and get started."
Author: Jedi Rita
Rated: PG-13
Note: The action really picks up from here. The hawk bats and the attempt to go up the side of the building, as well as much of the stuff about the lower levels of Coruscant, are shamelessly stolen from the otherwise incredibly bad pro-fic, "Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter," a book I heartily do NOT recommend. Also please be aware that my stuff about the Fetts does not go along with what is emerging about the Fetts in Episode 2.
Many thanks to my three reviewers. Y'all make posting this worthwhile - I hope you are still enjoying it!
Chapter Six
Anakin stared out the window of the Council chamber, watching the lines of traffic go by, struggling to rein in his mounting frustration and anger. Only five of the twelve members of the Jedi Council were present, the others, including Master Yoda, off dealing personally with various centers of unrest throughout the galaxy. The remaining Masters were debating the appropriate course of action. Meanwhile the kidnappers' trail grew colder.
"I think we should put someone else on this case," Mace Windu was saying. Anakin glanced at Obi-Wan and saw him clench his jaw. For once his master was as frustrated and impatient as he was. Master Mace continued, "Obi-Wan and Anakin are too personally involved."
"You can't do that!" Obi-Wan blurted out, surprising even Anakin. Mace turned a stern gaze on Obi-Wan. Holding his impatience in check, Obi-Wan said, "What I meant was, there's no need."
"Outbursts like that only confirm my opinion," Mace observed.
Obi-Wan took a steadying breath, fighting to rise above his anxiety and find his calm center. In a more even tone, he said, "With respect, Masters, Anakin and I have been involved with this conference from the beginning. We know all about the True Life Movement."
"But this is a different organization," Ki-Adi-Mundi pointed out.
"Yes, but they split off from the TLM. We know about the TLM's cells, their philosophy, their members --"
Again, Mace interrupted him. "Then you will be able to brief whomever we decide to send. That is no reason for us to send you."
"You are being overly cautious, Mace," Adi Gallia spoke up, to Obi-Wan's relief. He and Qui-Gon had been on a number of missions with Adi and her apprentice Siri, now a Knight herself. "We do not have to be impartial in order to fulfill our duty, and I think the connection Obi-Wan and Anakin have with the Prince and Queen Amidala can help them locate their whereabouts."
Master Mace leaned back in his chair, pressing his fingertips together. "At present that is immaterial, since we still have no idea where to even start looking. In the meantime, we must focus our energies on maintaining calm among the conference attendees." And the Council again degenerated into futile discussion.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes, using Jedi calming techniques to control his impatience. The problem was that they really didn't know where to start looking. The vehicle used by the kidnappers had a false registration, and no one had been able to trace the origin of the holovid of the Prince reading the kidnappers' demands. The image of Bail in that holovid rose up in Obi-Wan's mind. For once he wished the Jedi were not trained in perfect recall because he could remember each and every bruise on the Prince's face. Obi-Wan's fear for Bail lay like a heavy stone in the pit of his stomach, and he had to admit, however reluctantly, that Master Mace might be right to want to send someone less "personally involved." But he couldn't bear the thought of anyone else going to rescue Bail. /I can't lose him, too. I can't go through that again./ That might not be a properly Jedi motive, but Obi-Wan couldn't resist it, and if the Council did decide to send someone else, he and Anakin would go
on their own.
The comm chimed lightly, and Obi-Wan opened his eyes as Master Mace responded, "Yes?"
"There's someone here to see Obi-Wan."
Mace frowned in Obi-Wan's direction. "Now is not really the time."
"She says she has information about the kidnapping."
Surprised, Mace replied, "Send her up."
A few minutes later the chamber doors opened to admit a padawan aide escorting a young woman who seemed stunned to find herself in a room full of Jedi Knights.
"What do you know about the abduction?" Master Mace asked without ceremony.
The woman only answered his question with a confused expression. "You're Kenobi?" she asked skeptically.
Obi-Wan stepped forward. "I am."
She looked him up and down, appraising him. Finally satisfied, she said, "I'll only talk to you, not to anyone else."
Obi-Wan glanced at Mace, who nodded. "This way." He led her out of the Council chamber and into a nearby conference room where they could talk in private. She eyed Anakin suspiciously. Obi-Wan introduced, "This is my padawan, Anakin Skywalker."
"Pada-who?"
"He is my apprentice," Obi-Wan qualified. "We are a team. If you trust me, you can trust him."
Anakin liked to hear Obi-Wan call them a team. He took a proprietary step closer to his master.
Still the woman said nothing, studying Obi-Wan. At last he prompted, "What did you want to tell me?"
She plopped down into a chair, propping her feet up on the table. Obi-Wan and Anakin both stiffened at what they felt was a lack of proper respect. "I'm a computer engineer," the woman explained. "I work for Frontline Scientific Systems. But more importantly I'm a slicer. That's how I met Bail. I was in grad school studying computer security, and he attended a demonstration I led." Her eyes narrowed. "I'm an old friend of his."
"I see." Obi-Wan knew perfectly well what she meant.
Abruptly she laughed. "That's right. Old friend, ex-lover. All Bail's old friends are ex-lovers." She paused, sizing him up again. "Except you, I guess. You know, you're not very popular among Bail's...old friends."
"You said you had information about the kidnapping," Obi-Wan again prompted, in an even tone that Anakin recognized meant his master was annoyed. He had heard that tone often enough.
"Yeah," the woman agreed almost reluctantly. "When I heard about the kidnapping, I immediately got to work. I looked into the information on the vehicle they used, and the report on the suspects."
"That information has not been released to the public," Obi-Wan noted.
"I know," she replied. "As I said, I'm a slicer. I also read the report you wrote." She gave him a moment to let that news sink in. She could only have accessed that report by slicing into the Temple's own computer system. "I know what the Security Forces know and what they don't. I know what you Jedi know and what you don't. And I know that none of you have any leads." She paused again, with that infuriatingly self-satisfied grin on her face. "But I do."
Obi-Wan was getting really irritated with the cryptic self-importance of this "old friend" of Bail's. And he didn't like the way she kept referring to the Prince by his first name. Obi-Wan tended to be very formal when talking about the Prince to other people. As his demeanor grew milder, Anakin recognized that he was getting close to the point of leaning over and throttling the woman. Anakin was amazed. He had never seen anyone irritate his master so thoroughly. Except himself.
"And what have you found?" Obi-Wan asked, to all appearances as disinterested as if they were discussing the times tables.
She gave him a smug smile. "I found out who outfitted that freighter with weapons. It's true I haven't been able to crack the registry on the vehicle, but I was able to cross reference the alias used to place the order for the work with a list I have of aliases used by the TLM, and I then --"
Obi-Wan cut her short. If there was one thing slicers loved more than slicing, it was telling people about it. "I really don't need to know how you found it. I just need to know what you found. You know who the kidnappers are?"
Somewhat chagrined, she confessed, "Well, I don't exactly know *who* they are, but I do have a pretty good idea *where* they are. I can't be absolutely certain, but when I cross referenced all of the --"
"Please," Obi-Wan interjected. "The short version."
She sighed. Laymen! "I believe their HQ is in quadrant L-42, possibly in the vicinity of the Kathol sector." Irked at having been deprived of the chance to display her genius, she griped, "They weren't kidding when they said you were a hard-ass!"
Obi-Wan's eyes flashed in anger, and for a moment Anakin thought his master really would strangle her. "If you dislike me so much, why did you come to me specifically? Why not go to the Security Forces?"
"Well, my techniques aren't exactly legal, are they? Besides, I don't have to like you. I know you'll do whatever you can to get Bail back safely."
Only slightly appeased, Obi-Wan asked, "Is there anything else you can tell us?"
"No, that's about it." She hesitated. "Only that the way they covered their trail was strange. In some ways it was the tightest security I've ever seen, and yet at other times they made very amateurish mistakes. My guess is it was a novice group that had a lot of very talented and powerful help."
Obi-Wan nodded pensively, then stood to show the woman out. As he held the door open for her, she gave him a cunning look. "One more thing. When you see Bail, tell him to give Cait Nandreeson a call. We really ought to get together again. It's been way too long." With a gratified smile, she turned and exited the room.
*****
The morning had found Padme, Jar Jar, and Bail in surprisingly good spirits. Even Padme's news about the appearance of the bounty hunters during the night only temporarily brought them down. They surmised that if the hunters had already searched the area, they would be less likely to pass by again anytime soon.
They were all stiff from having slept on the ground all night, but other than that everyone felt fine. Bail's headache was gone, although his bruises had blossomed into a rainbow of colors. On his watch, Jar Jar had managed to find a large snake for them to eat for breakfast, and everyone agreed it was a vast improvement over rat.
Despite the threat of the bounty hunters, they decided to travel in the streets again. The buildings were simply too dark and the corridors too labyrinthine for them to even be certain they were traveling in a uniform direction.
As they headed out into the gray morning, Bail observed, "You know, in a way this is kind of exciting. I've never been to the ground level of Coruscant before. It's like exploring a ghost town."
Alarmed, Jar Jar squealed, "There's ghosts here?"
Padme laughed, and Bail explained, "Not real ghosts. Only the ghosts of memory, of the people who once lived here."
Curious, Padme asked, "How long has it been since anyone lived at the ground level?"
Bail shrugged. "I'm not really sure. Hundreds of years, probably. Of course as I said before, there are people who live in parts of the ground level, but they are unregistered."
"Why the peoples stopped liven here?" Jar Jar asked.
"People like to live up high where they can see the sky. I suppose as the city kept growing up, so moved the population."
With a hint of rebuke in her voice, Padme queried, "How can you have lived here as long as you have, and yet you've never visited the ground level? I would think as a Senator you would want to know about the planet."
With a smile, Bail replied, "Well, I think I do know quite a bit about Coruscant. But I've never had any reason to go to the ground level before."
It occurred to Padme that she could take this time to talk with Bail about her own decision to become a Senator. She still wasn't ready to tell Jar Jar, though, so she needed to be circumspect. Hopefully the Prince would pick up that fact. "How did you become a Senator?"
"Dishonestly, of course," Bail quipped. "I slept my way to the appointment."
His evasive answer annoyed her, but not as much as it would have when they had first met. "Seriously," she urged.
"Believe it or not, I earned the appointment."
"But *why* did you become a Senator? Is it part of your duties as Prince?"
"Oh no. Thank heavens I have no duties as a Prince aside from the occasional speech on national holidays."
Confused, Padme admitted, "I don't understand. Then why are you a Prince?"
Bail laughed. "I forgot. You are elected Queen. It's not like that on Alderaan. Many years ago my planet was engulfed in a terrible war. My great-great-great-grand-parents were the ones who brokered peace and helped the people recover. In gratitude Alderaan bestowed royal titles on them, but it's only an honorific. We have no actual power. I'm proud to say that my family has lived up to that legacy." He smiled. "Except for me, of course. There's a black sheep in every family. All my relatives entered respectable professions. My mother is a lawyer, and my father is a University professor. My sisters are all so dignified it's frightening. But I went into politics."
"But what made you choose it?"
With a grin, Bail admitted, "I love to hear myself talk. My father would always take me with him on all his formal appearances. I gave my first speech when I was seven years old. It was a patriotic speech about the proud heritage of Alderaan and how we all must strive to live up to it. I'm sure it was a ridiculous speech, the kind of thing only a seven-year old can get away with. But I have always loved it. The Alderaani have a strong sense of civic responsibility, and we have always been leaders in the Republic. And since I love to talk, I really only had two choices: politics or law. And I wasn't about to intrude on my mother's territory."
"Do you enjoy being a Senator?" Padme asked.
"Yousa meeten lots of peoples, methinks," Jar Jar added.
"Oh yes, the people are fascinating."
"And yousa goin to lotsa worlds, too, eh?"
Bail cocked his head at the Gungan. "Maybe you'd like to be a senator?"
Jar Jar's eyestalks contracted thoughtfully. "Meeten new peoples is fun," he agreed. "But some peoples is bombad."
"That's true enough. Like Senator Kleyvits." Bail made a face. "Every calling has its price. Still, in a way I even enjoy dealing with the 'bombad' ones. I relish the challenge of opposing them and trying to stop whatever nefarious plots they're scheming. But it's more than that. As we argue and debate, there's always the chance that one of us may be converted to a new point of view. After all, whether as enemies or friends, in the end we all have to figure out how to live together."
"We learned that on Naboo," Padme observed. "The Gungans and the Naboo used to hate each other."
"But now wesa good friends," Jar Jar smiled.
"I haven't had a chance to get to know you yet, Jar Jar," Bail apologized. "We humans have all been a little... preoccupied. Tell me about yourself." He nudged Jar Jar in the ribs. "Maybe you have a special someone at home? Or several special someones?"
The question only confused Jar Jar. "What kinda someones?"
Suppressing a smile, Padme clarified, "Gungans don't reach sexual maturity until they're in their thirties."
A look of mock horror crossed Bail's face. "Not until their thirties? That's the most terrible thing I've ever heard!" He paused. "Then again, there are those who would say I haven't reached my sexual maturity yet, either." Padme laughed, and he turned on her. "And at what age do the Naboo reach sexual maturity? Certainly before their thirties, I think."
Padme blushed. "Sometime before their thirties."
"Aha. So do you have any special someones lined up at home?"
"If I did, I certainly wouldn't tell you."
"Smart woman. Still, perhaps your reticence is designed to protect a certain sensitive youth we all know."
"Who?" Jar Jar asked, feeling largely left out of the whole conversation. As Padme had said, he was not old enough to have had romance enter his life yet. He thought all this talk of 'special someones' might refer to the Bosses.
"He means Anakin," Padme explained.
"Oh." Jar Jar certainly thought Anakin was special.
Bail kicked absently at a rock. "Obi-Wan told me the boy at one time had quite a crush on you, but I've never heard him talk about you. Then again, I'm hardly his confidant. He talked about you, though, Jar Jar."
"He did?" the Gungan echoed, pleased to hear that Anakin consider him a 'special someone,' too.
"He's certainly glad to see you both."
"And we're glad to see him," Padme returned.
"Only..." Jar Jar sighed. "My missen Qui-Gon."
Padme nodded sadly, and Bail looked back and forth between the two of them, surprised. "Did you know him so well?"
"He saved my life," Jar Jar enthused.
"And mine," Padme added. "He saved our whole world."
"Jedi Knights have a tendency to do that," Bail observed mildly. A reverent sadness had fallen over his two companions, an emotion he recognized well from encountering it in Obi-Wan and Anakin whenever Qui-Gon was mentioned. Even though he had personally never known Qui-Gon well enough to mourn him, Bail knew he ought to respect their grief, but it annoyed him that while Qui-Gon and Anakin obviously inspired devotion in Padme and Jar Jar, neither of them had said anything about Obi-Wan. Protectively, Bail challenged, "Still, if Qui-Gon saved your world, he had Obi-Wan's help."
"Of course," Padme offered, her thoughts still on Qui-Gon.
It wasn't the response he'd been hoping for. He had noticed Padme's disapproval and Jar Jar's reserve around his friend, and it occurred to Bail that he seldom saw Obi-Wan in the company of anyone but himself and Anakin. What was he like with other people? How did they perceive him? "You don't like Obi-Wan, do you?"
The two hesitated in uncomfortable silence. At last Jar Jar offered, "He was always yellen at me before. Hesa nicer now."
"It's not that we don't like him. It's just that he's rather... stern."
"That's because he has Anakin for an apprentice. That boy is a wild child. Obi-Wan doesn't always know how to handle him."
With a frown, Padme asked, "Is he that bad?"
"He's not bad, he's just lively. The Jedi raise their students from infancy, you know. I've met five-year-olds at the Temple with more self-possession and discipline than people ten times their age. But Anakin grew up apart from the Temple. The Jedi see him as undisciplined, but I keep telling Obi-Wan he's just a typical adolescent boy. Anakin would hate to hear this, but he reminds me very much of me at that age."
"But Obi-Wan isn't stern with you," Padme pointed out.
"No, but I'm not his padawan. Thank heavens! If he'd been one of my teachers, I'd have tried him just as severely. I was excruciatingly obnoxious in my youth." Bail beamed. "But now, everyone likes me!"
Jar Jar smiled at him, but Padme wouldn't give in so easily. "Well, you're not *too* bad," she teased.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," he said grandly, as if she had paid him an enormous complement. "And I'm glad you both like Anakin so much. I understand he doesn't have many friends." This surprised Padme, but she didn't have a chance to ask about it because Bail continued, "But I do hope you'll give Obi-Wan another chance. He really is quite charming."
Padme doubted she would ever describe Obi-Wan that way, but she willingly conceded, "You've had a chance to know him better than we do. But I'm sure he'll grow on us."
Suddenly Jar Jar froze, his floppy ears perking up. "Someone's comen!" he squealed.
"Where? From what direction?" Bail asked.
"It doesn't matter!" Padme's eyes darted frantically, searching for the nearest shelter. "This way!" she called, dashing toward one of the buildings.
But she never made it. From around a corner a speeder appeared, bearing down on them. Any hope they might have had that it would be their Jedi friends was crushed by the sight of the bounty hunters. They fired the speeder's laser cannon in front of the threesome, cutting off their attempted escape as chunks of the sidewalk exploded before them. They shied back, and Padme stepped in front of the other two, her tiny blaster raised.
The speeder hovered before them. The helmeted bounty hunter stood up in the passenger seat, a large rifle cradled easily on her hip. "Do you really think your little gun can harm us, Your Majesty?" she sneered. "Why don't you just put your weapon down?"
Padme's blaster hand trembled, but she did not lower it. There was a remote chance she could shoot the man in the head, but her gun would not penetrate the woman's armor. Her defiance could not possibly save them, but she was not ready to give up yet. She spread her feet in a solid stance and held her blaster with both hands.
The woman stepped casually out of the speeder and moved toward them, Padme tracking her with her blaster. The hunter raised her rifle. "I can shoot it out of your hands, but at such close range I would probably take your hands off with it. Is that what you want?"
From behind her, she felt Bail's hand rest on her shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze. Reluctantly, she lowered her arms, pointing the blaster at the ground.
Bail stepped forward to stand next to Padme. "Are you taking us back to the Hammer?" he asked. Talk: that was the best defense he knew. He didn't know what it would accomplish in the end, but he would buy every extra second of life he could get.
"Sorry. I know how fond you are of them. But no." The bounty hunter advanced leisurely toward them, and the three of them moved backwards.
"You're working for someone else, then?" Bail asked. He could hear the fear in his own voice. He wished he sounded more calm, but that was hard to do when he was facing two bounty hunters carrying nasty looking rifles. "Or maybe you have your own interest in us?"
She laughed. Padme didn't like the sound. "Sorry, Organa, I don't have the slightest interest in any of you."
Continuing to backpedal, Bail said, "Too bad, because I'm sure we could come to an agreement that would be greatly to your benefit."
The other bounty hunter exited the vehicle to join his companion, but she continued to do the talking. "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? Only it's our policy not to make deals with the quarry. Bad for business, you know. No, we *always* deliver."
The three of them bumped against the wall. They had nowhere else to go. Bail gulped. His fear was really kicking in, which meant he tended to prattle. "I understand that. Matter of principle, and all. Of course, the galaxy is a very large place. There are plenty of other worlds that could use your talents, and we can reward you quite handsomely if you let us go. I dare say we even could help you avoid your employers if --"
The woman growled, turning her rifle on him. "Shut up, Organa, or I'll shut your mouth for you."
But Bail couldn't shut up. "No doubt your employers have their own plans for us."
"No. He just wants you dead. Lucky us, though. He didn't say how you had to die. We just need enough of you left for a DNA test. Of course, it only takes a hair." She stepped forward and reached toward the Prince, plucking a hair from his head. She held it up in front of him. "Done."
Bail's knees turned to water, and he had to lean against the wall to remain standing. "But you don't need the others, do you? You can let them go."
"Nope. He wanted all of you. Now, that's enough talk." She nodded at Padme. "I like your style, Your Majesty. If you behave yourself, I might kill you quickly." Turning to Jar Jar, she said, "I've never dealt with one of your kind before, frog boy. I'll enjoy seeing what kind of stuff you're made of." Then she faced Bail once more. "And you talk way too much. I don't like that. But I do like screams. You'll scream for me, won't you, my pretty little Prince?" She lowered her rifle and grabbed a handful of Bail's shirt.
Without warning, Padme shoved off from the wall and plowed straight into the bounty hunter, hitting her square in the chest with her shoulder and kicking at her rifle hand. "Run!" she shouted as she raised her blaster at the other hunter and squeezed off a series of shots to his head. He ducked clear and raised his rifle, but he couldn't shoot Padme without hitting the other hunter.
"Foolish move, girl!" the bounty hunter snarled, grabbing Padme by the hair and twisting her around, forcing her to her knees. Padme kicked out behind her, connecting with the woman's shin. The bounty hunter fell heavily over her. Padme grabbed for the rifle, but the hunter had not let go of it. They grappled for the gun, rolling on the ground. Suddenly the bounty hunter let go and drove her elbow into Padme's chin. Her head snapped back against the ground, stunning her, and the bounty hunter grabbed the rifle out of her hands, scrambling to her feet.
Padme heard a blast of laser fire. /No!/ she silently wailed, fearing that the others had been shot. Then she heard an explosion, and shards of hot metal zinged past her. To her surprise, the bounty hunter dashed off. Padme rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself up to her knees. The hunters' speeder was in flames, and another speeder was bearing down on them, the two bounty hunters running to face it.
Over the sound of laser fire she heard someone calling her name. She turned and saw Bail and Jar Jar crouched behind a corner, beckoning to her. She scrambled to her feet and ran to join them. "What's going on?"
"It's Ani!" Jar Jar cried in jubilation. She peered around the corner. Sure enough it was the two Jedi. Anakin was at the speeder's controls. He whipped the vehicle around to face the two hunters, who were running to flank the speeder. The male hunter dropped to one knee and let loose a volley of shots straight in the speeder's belly as it flew past him. Effortlessly, the two Jedi leaped clear of the disabled vehicle. Obi-Wan somersaulted through the air, landing right on top of the surprised bounty hunter, his saber plunging straight into the man's chest. As the hunter fell back, Obi-Wan freed his weapon and spun to join his padawan.
But Anakin needed no help. He had landed far from the other bounty hunter, then used the momentum of his landing to jump again, dodging the laser blast she fired at him. He landed in front of her, slicing his lightsaber through her rifle, and with the backhand sweep cleaving her head neatly off her body just as Obi-Wan ran up next to him.
"Ani! Ani!" He turned and saw Jar Jar running toward him, the others close behind. The Gungan threw his arms around Anakin. "Yousa saven all of us!" Padme beamed at him, her eyes as bright as Tatooine's twin suns. She hugged him, kissing him on the cheek and pressing her face against his. "I can't believe you found us!" she whispered.
Amazed to have her alive and safe and holding him, Anakin didn't know what to say. Embarrassed, he shrugged himself free of her embrace and moved awkwardly away.
Obi-Wan clasped the Prince tightly to him, then pulled back to inspect his face. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Bail assured him, before realizing what the Jedi meant. Touching his face he said, "Ah, yes. My makeover, courtesy of the aptly named Hammer. It's purely cosmetic surgery, I assure you." He scratched lightly at the gash over his eyebrow. "I'm hoping this one will leave a scar. It would add a hint of danger to my mystique, don't you think?"
Obi-Wan smiled tightly, saying nothing, but he did not let go of the Prince's hand. He turned to Padme. "And you, Your Highness? Jar Jar?"
"We're fine, especially now that you two are here."
"How yousa finden us?" Jar Jar wondered.
Obi-Wan glanced self-consciously at the Prince. "We had help from an old friend of yours. She provided us with a general location, but it was the firefight that led us to you."
Anakin busied himself with inspecting their crashed speeder, sick with relief that Padme and the others were all right. He listened anxiously while Padme recounted to Obi-Wan the story of their escape and subsequent flight. Now that they were all reunited, the reality that Padme might very well have died finally penetrated Anakin's consciousness. All the fear and worry he had held back during the search, the worst scenarios he had not permitted himself to imagine, now flooded over him in a torrent, leaving him weak and frightened, trembling so hard he could barely remain standing. Inspecting the speeder wreck gave him a focus to help still his distress.
Obi-Wan had to call to him twice before Anakin even heard him. "What?" he asked.
"I asked whether the speeder is salvageable."
Anakin shook his head.
"Now what will we do?" Padme despaired.
"If we wait here, the Temple will be able to track the speeder and pick us up." Obi-Wan noticed Padme's skeptical look. "What?"
"These people who were attacking us. They weren't part of the Hammer. They were bounty hunters. They were trying to kill us, not capture us."
Obi-Wan knelt to inspect the body of the helmeted one, noticing her weapons and the custom armor she wore. It looked somehow familiar. "This one is a Fett," he realized.
At the announcement, Anakin felt a sinister flush of pride he knew his master would not approve of. The Fetts were a notorious mercenary family, generally viewed as the most dangerous bounty hunters in the galaxy. And he had killed one!
"Now that these bounty hunters have failed, whoever sent them might send others," Padme observed.
Obi-Wan considered, nodding his head slowly. "If that's so, it's not safe to stay here."
"Wait a minute," Bail interjected. "Are you suggesting that we should leave the speeder, when you said the Temple will send help?"
"But it may not be for a while. When we saw the bounty hunters we sent a message back to the Temple, but down here in the lower levels we can't be sure it got through, and I don't think it's a good idea to wait here when more bounty hunters may show up before the Jedi."
Bail's self-control threatened to collapse. He was exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, and he had no desire to go back into the ground level's hidden dangers. With a trembling voice, he pled, "But Obi-Wan, how will we get out of here?"
It was Anakin who answered. "We go up," he said.
"But how?" Bail asked. "The lower levels of the buildings are sealed."
"We go up the outside," Anakin clarified, moving closer to the nearest building and peering up into the fog. "The lowest lanes of traffic are about eighteen or twenty levels up. We use our ascension guns to get up to a ledge within sight of traffic, and we flag someone down."
Jar Jar began to whimper, and Padme felt like joining him. When she had used ascension guns during the Trade Federation's occupation of Naboo, they had only ascended about three or four meters. The distance Anakin was proposing was twenty times that height. "It would take three or four minutes to make the ascent," she calculated. "That's a long time to have to hang on."
"I've done it before," Anakin assured her.
Anxiously, the Prince fretted, "Yes, well, I'm sorry to have to point out to you, Anakin, that not all of us here are Jedi."
Jar Jar flexed his hands, worried. His arms were very powerful, but his hands were not. "Mesa no can hang on."
Obi-Wan mused, "If we make the ascent in short increments, we can do it. Anakin and I can carry you all up." Neither Bail nor Jar Jar appeared convinced. Obi-Wan observed, "It will certainly get us out of here quickly."
"I can do it," Padme announced, projecting more confidence that she felt. "If we take it twenty meters at a time," she set her jaw. "I can make it."
Obi-Wan studied her, trying to gauge her ability. But if she said she could do it, he believed her. "If you and Anakin go up the first section and scout out a secure ledge where we can gather, then Anakin can come back down, and he and I can carry Jar Jar and Bail up." Padme and Anakin looked ready to go, and Obi-Wan turned to the others. "It's up to you whether you want to try it."
"I can carry you, Jar Jar," Anakin assured him. "You won't fall."
Bail's eyes were filled with doubt, but he said, "If you two really think you can carry us, then I'll trust you."
Nodding to Anakin, Obi-Wan unhooked his ascension gun. With Anakin beside him, they aimed their guns and fired up into the fog. The grapples disappeared overhead and the two Jedi monitored the gauge on the guns. At around twenty meters they used the Force to push the grapple hooks into the wall. Giving the cord a few tugs, Obi-Wan handed his gun to Padme. She gulped hard, forcing herself to banish her doubts. "You ready?" Anakin asked. She nodded and squeezed the recoil trigger. The reel pulled her up at a steady pace. She kept her eyes focused on the line above her, not daring to look down. /I'll be fine,/ she chanted like a mantra in her head.
They reached the lowest levels of the thick brown fog, which parted effortlessly before them. Suddenly dark shadows flitted overhead. Startled, Padme tightened her grip on the gun. An eerie screech sounded above her, and one of the shadows flapped down into view, an enormous flying mammal with leathery wings, its talons outstretched.
"Hawk bats!" Anakin yelled. One-handed, he ignited his lightsaber. "Hang on! I'll take care of them." The blade slashed, skewering one of the bats, but more descended from the clouds. The pale blue blade wove a shield of pure energy around Padme, but in his effort to protect the Queen, Anakin left himself exposed. One of the bats struck his shoulder, razor sharp talons slicing through his tunic. He struggled not to lose hold of his saber.
Below them the other three watched, horrified. Obi-Wan grabbed one of the bounty hunter's guns and started picking off the bats, but there were too many of them, and they were too relentless. Helpless, all he could do was watch as his padawan tried to fight them off. But the boy could not keep up. The bats buffeted Padme and tangled themselves in the gun's line. Suddenly she lost her grip and plummeted.
"No!" Jar Jar screamed.
Startled by Padme's fall, Anakin twisted on his line. The bats threw themselves at him with renewed fury, and he swatted blindly at them. His blade tangled with the thread, slicing through it and dropping him as well.
Obi-Wan positioned himself beneath Padme, using the Force to slow her as she fell toward him. He reached out and caught her, the force of her landing almost knocking him to the ground, but he did not drop her. Next to him, Anakin landed in a Force-cushioned blow, his ankle twisting beneath him.
Padme clung to Obi-Wan's neck, her heart beating furiously. It had all happened so fast she barely had time to register that she was falling until Obi-Wan caught her. She began to tremble, gulping for breath.
"You're all right," Obi-Wan soothed. He knelt, lowering her to the ground, but she didn't let go of him. He looked over at Anakin. "Are you okay?"
The boy's face was pale, and he clutched his ankle. "I think I twisted it."
"It's a miracle you didn't break it." Or worse. Obi-Wan berated himself for the catastrophe. He should have never agreed to the plan.
Anakin picked up on his master's thoughts. "It would've worked if it hadn't been for the bats," he said. "We must have hit near one of their rookeries."
Jar Jar knelt beside Padme, gratefully wrapping her up in his lanky arms and extracting her from Obi-Wan's embrace, while Bail looked on, struggling to regain his composure and not particularly succeeding.
"My gun got smashed in the fall," Anakin pointed out. He glanced overhead. The other gun was nowhere to be seen.
"So much for that idea," Obi-Wan concluded. "There's a ground plaza about fifty kilometers from here. It will be a fair walk, but not an impossible one. We'll stay inside the buildings as much as possible."
"Master," Anakin started to protest.
"What?" Obi-Wan asked.
Anakin had ventured into the lower levels often. The buildings housed all manner of unfriendliness. In an empty quarter like this, they would be safer on the streets. That is, if they didn't have bounty hunters after them. "Good plan," he amended.
Obi-Wan's brow furrowed. It had occurred to him more than once so far that Anakin's illicit adventures could very well qualify him to get them all out of their predicament. Even Obi-Wan could count on only one hand the number of times he had been in the lower levels. Maybe he had been right all long to permit Anakin his excursions.
"Then let's cull anything of use from this wreckage and get started."