"I can't believe this," Siri growled. Her footsteps crunched the crystals dusting the snow pack that formed the ground she walked on. Twisting about, she looked back at the old freighter, her narrowed gaze sweeping along the ground as she turned to face Obi-Wan.
"A little give and take and it does not cost us anything except time," Obi-Wan calmly spoke as he stared down into the cavern just meters before him. Glancing over his shoulder, he caught Siri's unhappy look as she pulled her hood free and studied the frozen wasteland.
"I think I would rather have emptied the Temple coffers."
"I am sure the Council would appreciate the sentiment."
Drawing up next to Obi-Wan, Siri turned her attention inward. From her utility belt, she produced a light nylon cord, a small glow rod attached to a thin wristband and a small communication unit she clipped over her ear and then adjusted the tiny mike.
Janua pulled her cloak close as she hurriedly joined the two Jedi. Her dark eyes shifted from one to the other. "You do not know what you are doing," she called out. "It is very deep. The canyons are dangerous. You should not go."
"Feels solid," Obi-Wan replied, not giving the worried Twi'lek a glance. Oddly enough, he silently noted she was worried. The emotion was radiating from her like heat.
Revealing compact electrobinoculars, the Jedi peered down into the gorge and scanned the area. It took only a few moments to spy the dark blue case. "I think I see it."
Siri reached out and took the binoculars. "Where?"
"Seven degrees to your left," he answered as he turned his attention back to the snow packed cliff. Casting out with the Force, he carefully examined the layers upon layers, seeking to know just how stable it was.
"That doesn't look like much trouble," Siri announced handing the binoculars back to the ginger haired Jedi.
"There's some ice breaks down there," Obi-Wan said as he took a few more paces away from the ledge, still studying the snow pack.
"Many die out here," Janua said as she retreated a little farther. She tugged at her cloak and waved back and forth, eyeing the situation.
"She's scared," Siri said softly as she undid the nylon cord.
"We would be too if we had any sense." He fixed his own small communication unit to his ear.
"Whoever accused us of sense?" Siri grinned as she tossed him the end of the line before leaping backward off the edge of the cliff.
"No!" the Twi'lek screamed as Obi-Wan caught the edge of the line.
"You crazy woman!" Obi-Wan barked over the comm.
Siri laughed as the line went taut and she easily repelled along the frozen wall away from jagged outcroppings.
Deeper into the gorge, the light was not so harsh and shadows danced along the crystalline walls. It was beautiful. Pinks and blues glowed all about.
Her reverie was shattered when the line jerked and she suddenly dropped several meters coming to a stop with a rough jerk. "Hey!"
"Everything is fine," Obi-Wan growled. "I am in control."
"Uh huh."
She knew he would not drop her. If she had possessed any fear that he would not maintain a firm hold on the line, she would not have had the bravado to leap.
Boots scraped over the surface as she disappeared deeper into the shadows of the ice caverns where the white sun could not touch her. Holding tight to the line, Siri paused, balancing on an ice jut. Holding her free hand out and using the Force, she activated the small glow rod tied to her wrist to better illuminate the shadow-encased cavern.
Shining the bright light about the darkened area, she quickly found the blue case.