Chapter 34. Crossing the Threshold II

The moment the Jedi transport slipped out of hyperspace the message warning on the communications panel flashed repeatedly. Obi-Wan first assured himself that the starfighters had arrived alongside, and then turned his attention to the message. It was odd to receive one the instant of everting to realspace, unless an automated signal had been set up to catch him as soon as he arrived in the Sector.

"Let's see who needs us so urgently, Padawan," he said to Poulin, who was manning the controls.

"It's sent as a strictly private message for you," Poulin said, after moment. He stood up to leave the cockpit.

Obi-Wan thought intently for a moment. "Stay," he said to the boy. "You are part of this team. Just play the message."

Poulin ducked his head at the unexpected pleasure of being included in this way, and did as he had been asked. He engaged the message and then swiveled his chair around to face the other way so he could view the projection. Obi-Wan stood on the other side of the cockpit, legs slightly splayed and his arms crossed. After having spent several hours in a profound period of meditation he was once again centered, balanced, and ready for action. Even so, he was caught by surprise when the image that appeared was that of Rowen Farr, Chief of Staff to the Queen of the Naboo.

The message was short and to the point. It left Obi-Wan frowning and Poulin staring with his mouth slightly open at the empty space left when the projection ended.

"Re-transmit the audio portion to all three starfighters, Poulin," Obi-Wan said grimly, and waited. Two minutes later Mace Windu's voice was heard over the COM link, saying the four simple words that Obi-Wan most wanted to hear.

"I don't think so."

Obi-Wan didn't realize until he caught Poulin staring at him in complete astonishment that he was grinning broadly. Judging from the wave of unease that flowed from the boy, his expression must have seemed completely inappropriate. For the boy's sake he fought back the urge to let out a war whoop. At last he had the mandate to take action, and he intended to make the most of it.

"Tight formation, this heading," Obi-Wan ordered over the COM. The starfighters surrounded the transport – Lon flew to port, Master Medulla to starboard, and Master Windu directly overhead and forward. "Padawan Brith and I will establish the search parameters, " Obi-Wan went on. "Stand by." Then he turned to Poulin with an expression that had returned to suitably sober. "How is the map coming?"

The search for the task force was made simpler by knowing its destination; the nearer it came to Naboo, the easier it was to find. Obi-Wan, however, wanted to locate it as soon as possible and shadow it all the way through the Naboo Sector. That meant mapping a whole series of possible exit points from hyperspace based on the best available information from the military about the transport's last logged position and trajectory, and making a best guess as to which exit had been used.

"It's ready, Master Kenobi."  Poulin pointed at the console, and Obi-Wan stepped closer to see. Near their current position was a tangle of red lines, each indicating a possible course. Eventually the lines merged into a heavy red arrowhead pointing straight at the planet of Naboo.

There were too many possibilities, and five hours was not enough time to explore them all, even with the use of long-range sensors. Remembering his discussion with Padawan Brith, Obi-Wan decided to try a new approach to improving the odds.

"Master Medulla," he said, over the open COM link to all three starfighters, "your Padawan has given me some interesting insights into your recent research. With his help, I intend to apply your methodology to locating the Task Force."

Before Master Medulla could reply, Mace Windu's voice broke in over the COM. "Would you like to explain why you believe that using a method of tracking the movements of the Sith will help us find a military transport?"

Obi-Wan was still standing with his arms crossed, rocking ever so slightly from heel to toe, a poised bundle of focused energy. "Call it a hunch," he said firmly.

Master Medulla's voice slipped calmly into the absolute silence that ensued. "Understood, Master Kenobi. Carry on. We will hold you in our thoughts."

At a nod from Obi-Wan Poulin disengaged the COM.

"Well, Poulin," Obi-Wan said, "it's your methodology. Guide me through it."

The boy nodded earnestly.

"As you know, Master Kenobi, it takes two. One isn't enough, and more than two muddy the perceptions. And," he added shyly,  "it helps if we hold hands. Somehow it makes a better connection."

Obi-Wan nodded reassuringly. "Understood." He gestured toward the floor while sinking gracefully down onto it in a cross-legged position. "Have a seat, Padawan."

Poulin sat down in front of the Jedi Knight in the same posture, knees touching, and held out his hands. Obi-Wan grasped the boy's cool, smooth fingers in his own warm, callused ones, and they both closed their eyes for the meditation. Since they did not know one another well it was a new experience for both of them, and they began cautiously, politely until they were both so deeply sunk within the Force that all other distinctions became meaningless. All bodily awareness fell away and their thoughts and senses became fluid, mobile, and unbound.

As always, there were dark blotches within their meditative awareness – places that seemed to have been inked out of existence. Obi-Wan felt Poulin's presence take hold as the boy began to guide their awareness straight into one of those non-existent places.

They aren't holes, Master Kenobi. They're veils. We have to penetrate them.

Obi-Wan shivered involuntarily as his consciousness surged straight into the blackest place he had ever been. The feeling of nothingness – of profound absence – was deeply disturbing. The longer it went on, the more disorienting it became. Always before, meditation had been an experience of expansion, of opening the self into a much greater experience of being. This felt like – well, like an absolute reduction into nothingness of everything he was, of everything he knew. It felt like death. Obi-Wan involuntarily shrank back from it, and as he did his waking consciousness returned just enough for him to feel the young hands confidently grasping his own. The sensation was reassuring and allowed him to plunge heedlessly back into the darkness. Even in that empty, non-existent place, he could sense the boy's presence linked with his own.

No wonder it takes two. Obi-Wan doubted that a single consciousness could stand up to this darkness alone.

It must have been something in the power of their resolve – the courageous surging forward rather than shrinking backward – that took them through the veil. Suddenly the suffocating darkness around them dissolved and their normal meditative awareness returned more keenly than ever. As though they had crossed a threshold of some kind, their perceptions widened vastly, their thoughts became fluid and responsive to their slightest intentions, and Obi-Wan could perceive clearly the shimmering energies of the other Jedi in their group surrounding them, bolstering them, and adding strength to strength.

There, Master Kenobi.

In the Force there is no time or distance. There is only the moment, and instantaneous arrival at the place that is sought. An image of space opened before Obi-Wan's inner eyes, laced with stars and centered on the solid forms of a convoy of vessels clustered close together in formation.

Master Kenobi, look!

Linked as they were, Obi-Wan knew exactly what had disturbed the boy. The center of the convoy appeared to be missing. In its place was an inky blackness like the one they had just moved through. Obi-Wan reflected that, to other Jedi, it might just look as though the convoy had taken on a wheel-shaped formation. But he knew better. So, apparently, did the boy.

Yes, Poulin. The center is veiled.

Obi-Wan withdrew his attention from the image of the formation of ships and pulled back to get his bearings. Images of nearby stars and planets flashed before his mind's eye and moved on until he was satisfied that he had a picture of the larger environs.

He had never seen this clearly before. And he knew exactly where to look for the convoy.

Slowly Obi-Wan began to let go of the images, withdrawing little by little back into his normal waking consciousness. At every step, with every deep, slow breath he made certain that the boy's Force presence remained with him. It did. They opened their eyes at exactly the same moment and their hands parted.

"How did you learn to do that?" Obi-Wan asked, after the requisite moment for gathering and restoring a different kind of consciousness.

"From you, Master Kenobi," the boy said ingenuously.

Obi-Wan looked at him skeptically.

"From the reports you made after your visit to Naboo last year. You said that you had learned to follow a sense of the 'absence' of something that nevertheless kept to a consistent pattern. I think your exact words in the report were that 'it was analogous less to a footprint in the snow than to a leftover gravity silhouette.' You said that the stark absence of something was as telling as its presence."

Obi-Wan wanted to smile at the boy's enthusiasm and almost stilted phrasing when he talked about his work. He sounded just like Master Medulla.

"You developed this method from those few words?"

Poulin nodded eagerly. "Yes, Master Kenobi. You see, we added some of the insights from research that had been done on Rebus Prime…"

Obi-Wan raised his hands in surrender. "Thank you, Padawan Brith. Good work. But we have a task force to find."

Poulin blushed, and swallowed. "Yes, Master Kenobi."  He scrambled to the console and began to overlay map segments. Within minutes both he and Obi-Wan had agreed about the most likely set of coordinates and had transmitted them to the starfighters.

"Best speed," Master Windu's voice ordered over the COM.

Obi-Wan grinned in amusement. Mace just couldn't stop being in charge. He leaned back in the pilot's seat and turned to the Padawan next to him.

"So, Poulin," he said genially, "have you ever taken part in a kidnapping?"

* * * * *

Anakin felt a stab of regret as he watched the remainder of his wife's satiny skin disappear into a while flight suit until only her face and neck showed. Involuntarily he reached over to stroke her warm cheek with the tips of his living fingers, and was rewarded with the tiniest of smiles. Combat-ready though he was, in his deepest soul he was having trouble letting go of the contented pleasure of having spent two days with her undivided attention. Well, until they had reached Alderaan, anyway…

But she had agreed to go away with him. It meant everything, and it had changed everything.

Mine, he thought, as he reluctantly dropped his hand. All mine, at last.

He watched longingly as she brushed out her hair and began to plait it into a single heavy braid.

"Here, let me do that." Anakin reached out for the silky strands and ran them through his fingers one more time, and then carefully braided her hair the way he had often done for his mother, soaking up every last sensation that he could from the touch. Padmé looked better. He had gotten some food into her, and she had slept. She still had dark smudges of weariness under her eyes, but her face had some color.

"How do you know where to find the task force?" Padmé asked suddenly, as she wound the plait into a knot and pinned it.

Yes, she definitely was better, and focusing totally on the task ahead. The data in the droid had been sketchy and unhelpful, and yet the course Anakin had set was taking them unerringly to a rendezvous with the security-cloaked task force.

"I can sense it," Anakin admitted, reluctantly and evasively. He watched her lips tighten, and had a pretty good idea why. After having relied for so many years on Captain Typho's thorough and methodical planning, she was always disconcerted by his own tendency to allow events to unfold and to rely on his ability to respond instantly as they changed.

"Don't tell me," Padmé said dryly, "it's the Jedi way."

"You could say that," Anakin agreed, just as evasively, and handed her a pair of fully charged blasters.

She glanced at the weapons, and then at Anakin. "Did you get any sleep?  You must have been up long before me if you're this prepared."

"I got enough," Anakin said, warmed by her concern. He watched her holster the blasters.

"What is the plan?" Padmé asked directly, looking him straight in the eye. "These are no good in a confined ship."

Anakin crossed his arms and rocked back on his heels. "There's nothing we can do while we're in space, but I intend to keep a watch over the task force all the way to Naboo. Once there, we'll see."

Padmé sighed once, sharply.

"I don't like it either," Anakin said. "If there were any way to kidnap Balé off the transport, I would."

"We would, you mean," Padmé growled.

Anakin grinned. She definitely was back to her old self. "If you're feeling that bloodthirsty, I suggest you go over the specs for the laser canons."

"Bloodthirsty doesn't begin to describe it," vowed his wife in the same growl, and pushed past him to get to the cockpit. Anakin lingered where he was, enjoying the view of her retreating form, until she had settled herself in the copilot's seat.

This is the way it will be from now on, he thought possessively as he eased himself into the pilot's seat beside her. No Senate duties. No Jedi duties. No handmaidens or security details. No more hiding. Just us.

Now there was a future worth fighting for.

* * * * *

"My Lord," the deeply bowing aide ventured, "the Captain of the Mephisto has received an …ah…unusual request."

There was no answer from the dark-cloaked figure, only a nod to indicate that he should go on.

"The Jedi Council has asked for permission for one of their Knights to approach and dock with one of our vessels while we are still en route. He requests a consultation with the Senator from Naboo now, even before we arrive on the planet. The Captain asks whether he should allow it."

In the shadows of his deep cowl the passenger's sudden smile was one that would have unsettled anyone who saw it.

"Which Knight seeks this meeting?" came the calm, cultured voice from within the robes.

"A Master Kenobi, My Lord."

The smile widened.

"We must respect the wishes of the venerable Jedi Council. Direct the Captain to grant permission."

"Yes, Sir," the aide said quickly, bowing deeply once again. As the cabin doors hissed together behind him the passenger reached for a private communicator that always lay close to hand. He said only one word into the device.

"Now."

* * * * *

Dormé answered the door chime to the Naboo Delegation's main cabin with reasonable confidence that it was Captain Typho. No one else had visited them for the duration of the journey. She hardly knew how to react when the door opened to reveal a Jedi Knight in a heavy brown cloak. Directly behind him, looking at her over the Jedi's shoulder, was Captain Typho. The grim look on the Captain's face was unusual even for him.

"Master Kenobi!" Dormé said in utter surprise.

Obi-Wan bowed politely. "Dormé," he said, remembering her name perfectly. "How nice to see you again."

A scowl and a quick head-toss from Typho made Dormé collect herself enough to scramble backwards to allow them to enter the narrow doorway. She had a second shock when yet another Jedi appeared behind Typho as the Captain entered. She didn't know this one. He was a boy – a Padawan, judging from the braid he wore just behind his right ear.

Master Kenobi's glance immediately went to the veiled figure standing behind Dormé in the small sitting room. His face remained impassive, but Dormé could have sworn that he was displeased.

Captain Typho opened his mouth to say something, presumably to explain the Jedi's sudden appearance, but before he could get a word out Kenobi snapped, "Sabé. Where is Padmé?" There was none of his usual courtesy, and he didn't even bother to use Padmé's formal title. He had known without being told who was under the veil. Dormé was beginning to get frightened. Something was terribly wrong.

Sabé pushed back her veil. "It's nice to see you, too, Master Kenobi," she said warily. "And such a surprise." She shook out her hair. "Padmé isn't here. She isn't on the transport."

"I'm aware of that…now. I need to know where she is."

Captain Typho broke into the tense exchange. "Master Kenobi, Senator Amidala refused to give us any information on her whereabouts. We only know that she expects to meet us on Naboo."

"Blast!" Kenobi hissed, visibly startling everyone in the room, even the Padawan. Especially the Padawan.

Dormé's stomach lurched with anxiety.

The ominous silence that followed Kenobi's frustrated outburst was suddenly shattered by a high-pitched squeal, and a small body shot across the room and smashed into the Padawan like a projectile.

"Poulin!" Balé yelled happily, and threw her arms around him. The boy turned an unusually bright shade of red.

"Hello, Balé," he greeted her manfully, as his arms slid around her shoulders almost involuntarily to give her a little hug. He was clearly happy to see her, too, although he seemed very subdued around Master Kenobi. The Knight turned to the boy quickly.

"Poulin, perhaps you and your young friend would like to go into the other room to renew your acquaintance?" 

Poulin nodded and held his hand out to Balé, who grabbed it eagerly amid a torrent of questions. "Why are you here?  Did you come to see me?  Is Anakin here?" Gently but firmly, without interrupting the flow of her chatter, the Padawan drew her into the other cabin. Her voice could still be heard, so the adults lowered theirs.

"You had better tell us what this is all about, Master Kenobi," Sabé demanded.

Once again the good Captain stepped into the middle of the tension. "Master Kenobi, they don't know about the warrant for the Senator's arrest." He quickly explained the situation to the two handmaidens, while Sabé's expression grew harder and harder and Dormé grew paler by the second.

"So why are you here?" Sabé asked the Jedi point-blank.

"What I had planned to do and what we will do now are two different things," Obi-Wan replied matter-of-factly. "I had intended to remove the Senator to a place of safety."

"In direct defiance of a legal warrant for her arrest?" Sabé asked, fascinated. "That's an interesting position for the Jedi to take."

Kenobi leveled a flinty gaze at her. "Perhaps you would prefer that we merely stood by and did nothing?"

Sabé backed down hastily. "No! I didn't mean that. No."

"So what now?" Captain Typho asked.

Kenobi was grim. "When we reach Naboo we will have to find her before the military do." He paused, his lips compressed, before continuing carefully. "You should be made aware that Chancellor Palpatine is also traveling to Naboo on this same task force, in complete secrecy." His eyes traveled around the stunned faces before him. "I have of course informed Queen Jamillia of this. We must be prepared for events to unfold quickly upon our arrival."

Dormé and Sabé startled violently as a loud claxon suddenly began to sound throughout the starship. The battle-seasoned men locked eyes in instant understanding.

"It seems we won't have to wait that long," Captain Typho said bleakly. "I'm very glad you're here, Master Kenobi."

Outside the cabin the narrow corridors echoed with the sounds of shouts and the pounding of heavily booted feet as the Republican Army troops rushed to their battle stations.