The Hidden Truth
Chapter 26: a ray of light
The dungeon was dark and cool. Not a single ray of light made it through the windows of the prison. Kyah sat in a corner of the gloomy place, hugging her knees and rocking back and forth. One of her cheeks was resting on one knee. She felt awful and her face was expressionless. Her green eyes just stared into the room, having no aim and she shivered. Edi lay in her brother's lap. She wouldn't survive much longer, they all knew it. Nobody knew what to say or what to do. The only audible sound in the cell was the breathing of the trio. Desperation, helplessness and hopelessness determined the mood in the cell. First, when Det and Kyah were thrown into the cell, a loud argument began. Who betrayed whom, who was responsible and so on, but now nobody cared any more. Their fate was sealed. Their hopes of a better future were depleted, dead, and Draju had won. The battle was lost. Suddenly, Edi's breathing became ragged and shallow and she began coughing blood. Det gazed at his sister, his only living relative. One last time Edi looked with her big grey eyes at her beloved brother and died. How easily death could take away loved persons in one instant. One moment she had been alive, in the next she was dead. Det closed his eyes and kissed his sister on her cooling temple. Finally, the misery he had been through during the past two years became unbearable. At first, he lost his parents, his home, his freedom and now his sister. He couldn't hold his tears any more and he began to sob. The sobs became louder and were developing into screams. Slowly, Kyah raised her cheek from her knee and watched her grieving friend, but she couldn't cry. She had seen too much in her young life and there was nothing that could penetrate her "armour" anymore. Det's screams echoed through the court, even the Jedi could hear him. A recovering Obi-Wan opened his eyes and listened for a few seconds to the voice that was behind all those cries of terror.
"Det," he concluded. He tried to stand up, but after moving slightly, the world around him was spinning and he fell from his bed. The med-droid came quickly to his aide and was again making angry sounds.
"Knight Kenobi, you shouldn't stand up! Rest or your wounds won't heal." Again, the droid ordered the annoyed Jedi to bed. He tried to help Kenobi up, but the Knight's wobbly legs wouldn't hold his weight properly and so they both fell to the floor again. Qui-Gon heard the strange noise from the med-bay and rushed to it. He was startled at the view that was presented in front of him. Obi-Wan sat with his butt on the face of the droid. Jinn couldn't help his chuckle and hoped that the robot couldn't hear him. He reached for Obi-Wan's arm and laid it around his neck in order to help him up. Obi-Wan flinched at the movement of his arm, but was relieved to be put into his bed again. The droid needed a bit more time to stand up again.
"If you could excuse me for a short time, I would like to repair my damaged head," the metallic voice said.
"Of course, I will stay with Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon told the droid.
Obi-Wan waited for the robot to leave before he spoke.
"Master, did you hear the screams?" Obi-Wan fell into his old habit and called Qui-Gon "Master" again.
"Det, it was Det's voice. You've got to help them, Master, please," the knight pleaded.
"I will help them, I have a plan. But first, I need to know whether you damaged Mace's shuttle or not because he wants to have it back. And secondly, how many supporters of the girl are there," the Master asked gently.
"I didn't do anything to Master Windu's spaceship, not this time, I didn't have a chance to," Obi-Wan answered dryly but nevertheless weakly. "There are maybe 100 so-called rebels, but they are scientists and old politicians and don't possess any kind of weapons. They are peaceful."
"Very well. In the morning we will take off and search the camp in the forest. There we will wait for help. King Draju won't be king of Dakona V much longer. Being only two Jedi we can't do anything against him. We would only end up in one of his prisons. Diplomacy won't help us either. Obi-Wan, I'm going to contact the temple and the Senate and then I will go and help these two kids." but Obi-Wan had already dozed off. Qui-Gon raised his brow and went to the cockpit. He called for reinforcement and was glad to hear that there were Jedi teams on their way to Dakona V. They would reach the surface in a few hours. Then he sneaked out of the spacecraft and tried to get into the dungeon. The guards were fast asleep and he didn't have any problems getting the keys and making it to the cell. A part of the Master was disappointed that he didn't have to mind-trick the soldier…
Carefully he opened the door and stepped into the dark room.
"My name is Qui-Gon Jinn. I'm the former Master of Obi-Wan Kenobi," he introduced himself.
"Obi-Wan told us a lot of things about you. We didn't kill him, you have to believe me," Kyah stated in a defeated voice, never looking up. Qui-Gon looked around and what he saw shocked him. A dead body was laying next to the boy. The feelings that circled in this room crashed down on him and it was hard to maintain his calm appearance.
"I'm here to help you, stand up! We have to go," he said urgently. But Det made no move. He was still kneeling next to his fallen sister and didn't want to go without her. Qui-Gon went to the boy and tried to convince him to go.
"Det, she is dead, let her go. You can't help her anymore. Your death won't bring her back again. So please, boy, come with us. We haven't much time," the Jedi said compassionately. The 20-year-old eyed him wearily and began to rise. Kyah joined him and took his hand as if she wanted to tell him that she would always be there for him. He squeezed her hand and they left the dungeon with the Master. They passed the snoring guard and made it to the spaceship. Nobody knew of their flight. Qui-Gon would explain everything later, but now he had to pilot the ship to the camps in the forest.
"Kyah, Det? I need your help in the cockpit I need you to show me where the camps are."
Tbc…