This day was much like the previous one: Indigo spent most of it doing classwork, while Eeth, Raven and Rulla were skating. Rulla had to go into town to fetch a few supplies for the home, and the two Jedi offered to accompany her. Indigo did not know if Eeth had needed to use one of the skids, or how the day had gone, but he was keen to find out – which was why, when he heard the basement door open late that afternoon, he left his work and half-ran, half-hopped down the stairs. Thanks to Eeth's ministrations and the medicines he'd been given by the hospital, his ankle was almost completely healed. Still, he was being careful.

"Indigo! I see you're still alive despite the classwork?" Raven teased, giving him a warm smile that reached her eyes.

"It was a close call there for a while," he shot back without missing a beat.

"Any word from Mr Junayd yet?" Raven asked, curious to know if he had gotten a call during the day. Raven knew that Rulla was concerned about her father and therefore honestly hoped to hear an affirmative answer to her question.

"No. Maybe later we might," Indigo replied simply.

Eeth did not take part in the conversation since he was unusually tired. He had finally gotten the hang of skating although he still looked more awkward on skates than he would have liked to, and he was certainly a lot less skilled than his padawan. However, he had persevered and spent most of the day on skates. Now his legs were aching, but he did not let that on. He put the backpack, in which he had insisted on carrying the heavier part of their purchases, down onto the kitchen floor.

It was only when Rulla quietly started helping him unpack that Eeth realised how worried she was. And it occurred to him that she might have reason to. It was unusual, for the consul of a planet that had applied for membership in the Republic, to not even call in order to welcome the delegates of said Republic. Surely he would have had a chance for that? Even if not, Thoar Junayd would at least have instructed his office to show the Jedi around. That they had not been contacted at all was more than strange.

"Do you have your father's comm code?" he asked Rulla. "We might call him to inquire if everything is going well and whether he needs our help."

"Yeah, of course I have his comm code, but he doesn't like to be disturbed when he's busy unless it's an emergency," Rulla explained.

Eeth could relate to that. On the other hand, he had a slight sense of foreboding that told him something might be wrong. He pondered the issue briefly and said, "Give me his comm code. I will call him tomorrow morning if we have not heard from him by then. We will offer our help and, in case he declines, ask for instructions on what to do until his return."

"Alright," said Rulla, relief apparent in her voice. Deciding to put off her concerns until tomorrow morning, when she would hopefully know more, she poured oil into a big casserole and started heating the stove. She had bought a large bag of small fish and was going to fry them. As a side dish, she had procured a package of nourishing seaweed that was very popular on Arcturus.

"I will help," said Eeth. He did not accept any of Rulla's objections, and soon the two of them were busy slicing seaweed and roasting nuts.

Given that Eeth and Rulla had dinner under control, Raven took the initiative to drag Indigo to their room where she helped him with his classwork until dinner was prepared. This was all very basic stuff to her now and she was more than capable. "Depending on what my master says about the condition of your foot, I thought we might do some sparring tomorrow," Raven suggested as the boy packed away his datapad sometime later. He had completed three entire units since their arrival, not that Raven had ever doubted Eeth's prowess when it came to matters of motivation!

"I'd like that. I haven't done any physical work since Thoar had me shovel coals," he admitted, a hopeful expression on his face.

"Well, don't get your hopes up. You'll need the 'Eeth-stamp-of-approval' before I can fulfil that suggestion," said Raven.

Indigo simply nodded at that, and then the two made their way downstairs where Eeth and Rulla were putting a pot on the table. "Smells delicious," Indigo commented, moving to sit and eager to eat.

"Padawan Indigo, would you do us the courtesy of washing your hands and helping to set the table?" Eeth asked pointedly. The last batch of fish was still frying and there were no glasses, silverware and drinks on the table yet.

Indigo blushed a little at having to be reminded of this simple courtesy, and he did as he had been told without comment.

Raven, too, helped to get the table ready and soon they were all seated and digging in.

After dinner, Eeth allowed Indigo to take a break from schoolwork and sit in the living room with them. Once again, they talked with Rulla about life on the planet. For a young colony, Arcturus was pretty well-managed, Eeth thought. He was a little concerned about the lack of formal education which he found rather surprising, given the generally high standard of life. He was going to talk to Thoar Junayd about it once he finally got to see the man. And he was starting to really wonder when this was going to happen. His feeling of unease had not receded. And, feelings aside, the fact that Thoar had not reached out to him was by now bordering on rude – unless something had prevented the man. Eeth was determined to find this out, first thing tomorrow.

Right after breakfast, and true to his word, Eeth called Thoar Junayd on his comlink from the house's main comm unit in the living room, surrounded by Rulla, Raven and Indigo. The attempt failed, however – an operator's voice told him that the recipient of the call was offline. Seeing the worry on Rulla's face, and following his instinct which by now clearly told him that something was wrong, he called the consulate and was put through to Thoar's secretary, Jenno.

"I'm very sorry that the consul has not called you yet," Jenno said smoothly. "He has been very busy supervising the evacuation of the miners. I'm sure he will contact you as soon as he gets a chance."

Eeth could tell that the man was hiding something, or even outright lying. "I need to talk to him quite urgently," he said firmly. "I would also be happy to offer help. We are Jedi; we might be able to provide valuable support in this crisis."

Jenno was silent for a moment. Then he said, "Very well. I will try to reach the consul and will get back to you shortly. Please wait for my call."

Eeth suspected that the man was unsure how to proceed; maybe he needed feedback from someone else before he could continue talking to Eeth.

"Of course," he said politely, terminating the call.

Raven frowned. "We are Jedi. What more does he need?" Raven asked, feeling annoyed that the civilian was not accepting their help immediately.

Eeth raised his eyebrows. "Not everywhere in the galaxy are the Jedi worshipped, padawan," he said pointedly. "I would not know what he needs. We will just have to wait for him to call me back."

He silently added through their bond, 'I assume that there are problems and he is unsure whether he is permitted to talk about them. I would rather not discuss this in front of his daughter.'

Raven inclined her head slightly at this, saying nothing as Eeth continued. Turning towards the three others, he said, "Padawan, why don't you and Indigo have the workout you talked about last night? Indigo's foot should be fine by now. Maybe you should opt for sparring on the street, though, as opposed to using ice skates on the canal surface. We do not want any more accidents. Rulla and I will wait for Jenno's call in the meanwhile."

"Yes, master," Raven replied, and again she inclined her head and gestured that Indigo follow her.

"What did you make of Jenno?" Indigo asked when he and Raven were well on their way to finding a suitable spot to spar.

"Jenno is likely lying," she said, "but it is hard to tell without his physical presence. Why, what do you make of him?"

"I don't know," Indigo was forced to admit.

"Think about it, then," Raven encouraged him.

Indigo said nothing, but his anxiety was showing through; he was focusing on his master, Jenno, Eeth, their mission, her, the Council, everything all at once!

"Stop it," said Raven gently, having picked up on his anxiety." Fretting over every detail won't solve anything. If something's up, we'll get to the bottom of it sooner or later. As for everything else, I know it's hard but don't centre on your anxieties. Try to focus on the moment, and you might find some clarity," she repeated Eeth's lessons.

They came across a pavilion sheltered from the snow that would provide ledges and enough challenges to make this an excellent spot to spar. Indigo sat on a bench to take off his skates. He was thinking about what Raven had said, but it was hard not to focus on everything. This was his first mission, after all.

"Clear your mind; it will help you spar," said Raven, interrupting Indigo's thoughts. "Take it easy on your ankle, though, because if you hurt it again through stupidity, my master will kick both our asses into next week."

"Of course," Indigo said. Not waiting for her to fully remove her second skate, he leapt onto a rock and then launched himself at her. It was on!

Raven rolled to the side, barely avoiding the surprise attack and grinning as she tossed her skate aside. She liked Indigo's style. They sparred for half an hour before Raven raised her hand, calling the exercise to a halt.

Indigo stopped immediately. "It's fine, barely a twinge," he answered her unspoken question.

Raven, however, was a padawan with a lot of energy, and if she didn't trust him, well, it was probably more a case of knowing herself than any fault on his part. She could also sense that he was unusually unsteady. While these weren't the best of conditions, most apprentices trained on a variety of terrains daily; Indigo should not be this disconnected with his weapon. She beckoned him forward and scanned him through the Force. She could not find anything out of the ordinary. Well, she thought, maybe his practice saber was new? Or maybe he was compensating for his ankle, given the icy conditions? It could be either or both. Besides, she had specifically instructed him to take it easy.

"You're good," she said. "Ready?"

Indigo smiled. "I was born ready," he said, earning an eye roll from Raven as he jumped at her again.

Raven pushed Indigo hard, but not beyond that which would render this exercise pointless; she was Eeth's apprentice and knew how this worked by now. Eventually, she attacked him just fiercely enough that the inevitable happened, and the boy's weapon flew from his hand.

"Well fought. Walk around and catch your breath. Don't stand still," Raven coached him, having caught his ignited blade in her left hand.

"Yes, good match," Indigo gasped. He was winded. Therefore, he did not catch the surprised expression on Raven's face as she stared at his weapon, weighing it up in her hand.

"I was told you hadn't built your lightsaber yet, but this is more than a training blade. What did you do to it?" Raven asked, half impressed and half horrified. Well, at least she knew why he had been struggling earlier. His saber was more powerful than it ought to be.

Indigo froze. He'd forgotten about the 'improvements' he'd made to his weapon during his time here.

They were both silent for a long time.

Raven cleared her throat, hoping to prompt an explanation.

"I might have improved it a little," Indigo finally said. "It's still a training weapon, just a bit stronger. I reshaped and refocused the crystal, intensifying the angle and increasing the power. I also reinforced the grip, making it steadier."

Raven could feel the weight; it was almost as heavy as Eeth's. She looked at him and asked, honestly wanting to know, "Now how the Force did you manage to do all this without proper tools?" Not to mention the fact that the incredible concentration it took to align the crystal using the Force was not typically a skill possessed by junior padawans.

"With a pocket knife and a lot of time on my hands," Indigo admitted. Then held his hand out expectantly.

"I don't think so," Raven said, clipping the weapon to her belt. "You could have destroyed your weapon doing this. The smallest mistake and you shatter the crystal inside. Not to mention that the weapon is now far heavier and more powerful than you have the experience to handle. You may have seriously hurt yourself."

"Wait, no. I can handle it. You saw me fight with it. Please, it's not like it's a big deal. Lots of padawans dismantle their weapons out of curiosity," Indigo argued.

"Yes, and lots of padawans get their asses handed to them by their masters when they get caught out, too. You might have managed to fight with it this time, but that is irrelevant. What is relevant is that you have not been permitted to alter your saber, and you know it."

By now, Indigo was starting to get very nervous. If she told Eeth, he had no question about what fate awaited him, and not just from Eeth, Eden would surely be displeased, if not to say supremely pissed!

"If I give you my word that I will not ignite it unless supervised and promise to tell my master when he gets back, will you keep this between us?" he pleaded. "I'm so close to building my own, anyway. My master was going to let me build my own soon. I probably would have by now if we didn't get called away on this mission."

It was a half-truth, and Raven sensed it. She narrowed her eyes at Indigo and folded her arms across her chest in a perfect imitation of Eeth's do-or-die stance. "Indigo, this isn't just about having the ability to wield a weapon or the knowledge to put one together. It's also about having the maturity and self-discipline to wait until you've been permitted to do both. If your master planned to let you build a saber when you return, you should wait until you return, not sneak around behind his back."

Indigo sighed loudly. It was almost a whine which Raven had never heard him utter before.

"Come on, we have to get back, or Eeth will come looking for us," she said.

Indigo started to panic. "Wait! What harm could it possibly do? It's not like this is a dangerous mission where I might need to use my weapon in defence or offence. I would be kept from anything like that, and you know it. I have been waiting years for this. Don't you remember what it's like wanting to build your saber?"

Raven endured these arguments and similar for most of the way home but did not relent. It wasn't until they were in sight of the Junayd residence that Indigo put a hand on Raven's shoulder and met her with the most sincere expression he could muster.

"Look," said Indigo, grasping at straws and glad Raven had stopped long enough to hear more. "Would you consider punishing me yourself?" he tried, thinking anything would be better than facing off against Eeth.

"Absolutely not," Raven replied abruptly, thinking the idea absurd, and Indigo's heart sank, as did Raven's resolve. "Alright, Indigo, here's the deal," she said firmly, holding out his saber to him. "I will leave it to you to tell Eeth yourself, but do so before dinner tonight, agreed?"

Indigo couldn't say that this was the best arrangement, but it was sure better than having Raven report on him and being called off to their room in front of Rulla and anyone else who might be around to witness his decline into disgrace. "Agreed," he replied, dejected, and accepted his weapon, clipping it to his belt.

Raven wasn't without sympathy here, but she had good reason for not letting this go. She recalled the situation on Larivan where she had pleaded with Lakhri to hide her deathstick use and almost sexual encounter with Prince James from Eeth. Lakhri had given in to this because she had begged him so sincerely, and it had turned out bad for them all. Raven wasn't about to make that same mistake, but nor did she feel great about dropping Indigo in the shit. Thus, this seemed like a perfect solution.

And it probably would have been, had it not been for the fact that Eeth's comlink beeped at the precise moment at which Raven and Indigo came upstairs from the basement. Rulla, who had been washing the dishes, was on Eeth in a flash, wiping her wet hands on her shirt and not particularly caring where she was dripping the dishwater.

Eeth activated the comlink, whereupon the image of a nervous-looking Jenno appeared.

"Master Koth?" he said, somewhat hesitantly. "Could we get back to you on your offer to provide assistance?"

"Of course," said Eeth. "I would appreciate an honest description of the situation that we are supposed to help with, though."

Jenno coughed. "Well, the truth is," he said apologetically, "we have not been able to make any contact with Thoar since yesterday morning. Last night we were told that Thoar had gone into the mine in order to speed up the evacuation because several more cave-ins were imminent. There was no possibility for him to call us from down there. Only this morning, we learned that there were several more cave-ins overnight, the situation was chaotic and the mine's operators had lost contact with Thoar. They were unsure, at that point, whether he was among the batches of miners and rescuers who had managed to escape the mine in time. By now, they have confirmed to us that he was not. He is one of two dozen persons who are still missing. Nobody seems to know whether they are alive and they are not even sure in what section of the mines to search for them. At the same time, the rescue teams keep having to fight off attacks by nowargs, a predator species that is very dangerous, but usually keeps well away from humans. This is creating additional problems."

"We might be able to help with that," said Eeth, "and we will also be able to locate any survivors for you. How will we get to the mines?"

"I'll send you a speeder immediately," said Jenno, relief written in his face. "Thank you."

"It is our pleasure to serve," said Eeth formally and ended the connection.

He turned around to face Rulla who had followed the whole conversation, horror written in her face.

"Right," he said, making a spur-of-the-moment decision that was based on pure instinct. "We are going to get your father out of there if at all possible, and you are coming. You too, Indigo. On one condition: Both of you do exactly what my padawan and I tell you, immediately, without question or backtalk. Either of you who see fit to disobey us will be sent right back to Calinia. Are we clear on that?"

Rulla stared at him as if he had just turned into a ghost. "You're taking us?" she asked incredulously, mirroring Indigo's surprise. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I promise I'll do whatever you say."

"Then go pack, and be quick about it," said Eeth, and it was clearly directed at all three of them.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone was gathered at the main entrance. An electric speeder was just pulling up as Raven stepped out. They threw their bags into the trunk. Raven opened the door to their speeder for Indigo and Rulla and beckoned them inside before jumping in herself, leaving the front seat for Eeth.

The driver was an elderly woman who, as she told the Jedi, had been driving administrators around the colony for nearly half a century, so not to worry, she'd get them to the mines as fast as possible.

"How long will the trip take?" asked Eeth.

"About four hours if it doesn't snow," the woman replied. "Sky is looking good, but it might be worse to the south. Meridden is our southernmost outpost and it nearly always snows there."

Eeth thought that if it really started to snow, he'd rather take the wheel himself than allow the weather to slow them down, at the – admittedly fairly high – risk of insulting their driver. But for now, he let her be; she was clearly capable and he needed to talk to the others.

"Padawan, when we get to Meridden, the first thing you do is to try and sort out the predator problem," he said. "Hopefully, nowargs are susceptible to Force suggestions. If you could find out what causes their sudden attacks on humans, that would be helpful. Rulla, Indigo, you wait for my orders and do nothing until you receive them. There might be things that you can do to help me, my padawan or the mine's operators, but I will have to find out about that once we have arrived there. I will go down into the mine to check for the presence of survivors and their whereabouts. In the unlikely event that any of you will have to go down there as well, there is one thing in a mine, especially in one where sections have caved in, that you need to be extremely mindful of, and that is the presence of oxygen. Air vents might have been blocked and you might run out of breathable air at any turn. Therefore, none of you will ever go down there without an oxygen detector. Understood?"

"Yes, master," said Raven. She didn't know much about cave-ins. She did, however, know a lot about animals, so his instructions to help out with this problem were not unexpected. Indigo and Rulla dutifully chorused their consent as well.

After they had travelled for three hours, it started to snow heavily, and Eeth convinced the driver to let him take over. The woman, although capable, was nowhere near as effective as Eeth at piloting them through the deluge. Raven had to chuckle, if only to herself, as he landed them on an icy platform because the woman was still barking orders and Eeth was politely pretending to take them.

The moment they landed, Indigo vaulted from the speeder. He stood by Eeth's side and watched as the Jedi team exchanged silent looks. He assumed they were speaking across their bond because a second later, Raven nodded her head curtly and took off at a run towards what he assumed was some sort of security building. He looked up at Eeth. "Tell me what to do?"

"For the moment," said Eeth, "we will just wait." He pointed towards the driver who was hurrying through the snow that was practically coming down in sheets. No wonder the nowargs had such an easy time attacking people, he thought; you could hardly see what was one metre ahead of you. He could make out the indistinct shapes of buildings a little to their right, and he could sense lots of people inside them. A moment later, their driver came hurrying back, accompanied by two burly men.

"I'm Boskor, supervisor of the mines," said the older one of them. "This is Mirko, the last person who was with Thoar Junayd before we lost him. Cassida says you've been sent to help?"

Eeth nodded. "We are Jedi," he said. "We can sense the presence of life even where scanners fail, and our sense of the Force might also help us analyse the stability of structures and lift stones that are blocking shafts. I can try to find out whether the consul and the miners are still alive, and whether further cave-ins are imminent. Meanwhile, my apprentice, who is specialised in working with animals, will do her best to solve your nowarg problem. She is already underway. These two –" he pointed at Indigo and Rulla – "are Indigo, a younger padawan learner, and Thoar Junayd's daughter Rulla, respectively. They will be happy to help wherever they can. In any event, I would like to go down to the mines as soon as possible."

He felt a sense of urgency, and that was something he always heeded because his instincts were usually good. Fortunately, Boskor did not question anything he had said. He merely nodded.

"Alright," he said. "The kids can help measure out food rations and look after the wounded. Food is scarce since our main food stores have caved in. New supplies are continuously being brought from the cities as our wounded are taken away, but we have few speeders at our disposal and the going is slow due to snowfall, so we have to be very, very careful with what we have. I'll show them what to do. Mirko can equip you and take you down to the mines."

Before leaving with Boskor, Rulla clutched Eeth's arm. "Please," she said quietly, "find my father if he's still alive." Her eyes were dry, but Eeth could tell that she was fighting for her composure. She was plucky, and Eeth sincerely hoped that this situation would not leave her an orphan.

"I will," he promised her, giving her a brief smile and resting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She nodded and turned quickly, leaving for the buildings with Boskor and Indigo.

Meanwhile, Raven was up to her neck in the nowarg situation. She had been given a tranquiliser and blaster guns as this was how the people had managed this problem so far. She was not going to use weapons unless absolutely necessary, though, and even if it were necessary, the Jedi would always choose their lightsabers over a gun if at all possible. Thankfully for all involved, the nowargs were neither immune to the Force nor a void in it, as some beings were. They were pretty pissed off, though, something that became apparent as a couple of larger animals began to claw at the snow and hiss at her approach. "Stay here. Do not shoot unless you have to in order to save

your own life," Raven instructed her two companions, who already had their blasters and tranquiliser guns drawn. Raven had protested their presence as it saddled her with two civilians to look out for, but in the end, it had been easier to accept their help than to argue.

The nowargs were huge, cat-like beasts with large pointed teeth that stood out in stark contrast to their black woolly fur. Their claws were bigger than Raven's entire hand, and they stood at least double her height. Raven could see they were well fed, which prompted her to communicate the obvious question: "You are not attacking for food. These beings are not your food source. Why are you attacking?" she asked what she assumed was the lead animal of this pack.

"Pull back, pull back! Foolish girl," Raven heard one of the two men call from where she had told them to wait.

Raven held up a hand to silence them; this would be difficult but not impossible, and she needed to focus. She slowly knelt in the snow and remained still, her senses on high alert, but kept her head lowered as the lead nowarg continued its approach. Eventually, the massive shaggy cat that easily outsized Raven four-fold stopped half a metre in front of her. By now, both men had their blasters aimed at the animal's head, ready to fire at the slightest movement. It was aggravating the nowarg, Raven knew that, but there was nothing she could do about it as these men were barely heeding her as it was. Raven just hoped for everyone's sake that they wouldn't shoot, as that really would make this a lot harder.

Raven did not know how long she had been doing this, but eventually, the nowarg communicated that the noise and commotion were frightening his pack. They had several babies and quite a few younger cats to care for, and this disturbance was causing problems. Their cave was not far from the cave-in site. Usually, they did not bother the miners who came and went as they were quiet and kept to themselves. They did not interfere with the nowargs' food source or cause them problems; there was no threat. Apparently, all of this disturbance, the smoke, the damage to their land and such was impacting their pack, scaring their food source off and was generally unsettling.

Raven sighed. This was going to take some time.

While Rulla was busy with the food rations, Indigo was tending to a man with a deep gash on his left leg. The wound was bone deep and would require at least forty internal and external stitches to close it up. The padawan had completed the required first aid mission prep courses and knew how to do it, but was grateful when a nurse was assigned to the task and all he needed to do was keep the man calm and pass instruments. It truly was a gruesome injury and it was making Indigo queasy. He never had been very good with this sort of thing, but he was doing his best to keep his discomfort from showing. He hoped Eeth had been able to save some lives, that he would find Rulla's father; she might not be showing it, but of course she would be stressed and worried.

Before Eeth allowed Mirko to take him down into the mine, he asked him for a plan of the shafts and the exact locations of the cave-ins. The mine was deep, the deepest shafts going down more than a kilometre, which meant that ventilation and heat were problems. This also explained why the local comlinks did not work; fortunately, Eeth thought his comlink connection with Indigo and Raven would not be affected as much since their devices were much more capable.

Eeth looked at the map that Mirko showed him and frowned. The cave-ins had occurred in a rather central part of the mine that had been used for decades. This was only explicable if the whole structure was unstable – unless external factors, such as sabotage, played a role. Eeth decided to get to the bottom of this. But finding out whether there were lives to be saved had priority, of course.

Mirko gave him an oxygen detector that he could strap around his wrist and took him to a lift that was extremely crowded; people were still leaving sections of the mine and others were going down to assist the wounded. Mirko negotiated them to the front of the queue and they wedged themselves into the lift together with a group of volunteers. The volunteers left the lift at one of the upper levels to which the wounded had been brought; Mirko and Eeth went further downwards. It was becoming very hot and very stuffy here. At regular intervals, the shaft opened up to galleries that followed the coal seams. At one of them, Mirko finally stopped the lift. They stepped into a large room that held equipment and lockers. Eeth shed his cloak here and followed Mirko into a labyrinth of low galleries; he had to be careful not to scrape his head. He also had to be very careful to memorise the way out because the section where the survivors – if there were any – were suspected was quite deep inside the maze.

"This is the place," Mirko finally said as they arrived at a point where the corridor was blocked. The ceiling had partially sagged in and the corridor was full of rocks. Eeth examined the cave-in closely and frowned.

"Do the pillars you use normally give in that easily?" he asked Mirko. The young man shook his head. "No," he said. "We've never had these issues before. Nobody has had much time to investigate this yet, but we all agree that it is strange."

Eeth nodded. "Give me a moment," he told Mirko. He knelt on the floor, closed his eyes and extended his sense of the Force through the rocks.

After about ten minutes, during which Mirko had stayed respectfully quiet, he reopened his eyes and rose. "There are survivors," he said. "Around ten, possibly more, but their life signals are weak. I have no idea if it will be possible to get them out. The structure is very unstable. But we will have to try. Can you get help?"

Mirko nodded and took off immediately. Eeth linked with his padawan through their bond and found her deep in concentration. Thus, he called Indigo instead on his Temple comlink.

"I can sense that there are survivors," he told the boy, "but it will be difficult, or in the worst case impossible to get them out. Mirko is on his way up, but he will take a while, and there is no time to lose. Can you tell Bosko to prepare a team?"

"Yes, I can," replied Indigo, scanning the room for Bosko and beckoning him over. He quickly conveyed what Eeth had told him, and a moment later the man was busy putting a team together.

While this was happening, Indigo was watching Rulla, as the girl had overheard his exchange with Eeth. He had felt a spike of fear emanating from her through the Force, and although he was concentrating on his task, he was keeping a close eye on her. It was thanks to this extra attention that Indigo noticed when she – quite stealthily so – took off for the exit that led towards the mines. He excused himself from his work and went after her. He didn't know for certain what she was doing, but he could guess; heck, if it were Eden down there, he'd want to go and help him, too!

Rulla was fast even without skates, so it took Indigo a while to track her down. He found her heading towards an elevator that would lead to the lower shafts and took her arm gently, effectively pulling her from the lift and to the side where they could talk.

"What are you doing? We were instructed to stay above and help," he questioned her, his tone low and serious.

"Listen," she said, her tone just as low and serious. "My father might still be alive, but you heard Eeth, they don't know if they can get them out. If there's any risk to the rescuers, they'll probably stop trying, and I simply can't allow that to happen. I don't want to do anything dangerous, I just want to convince them to do whatever they can. I figure if they see me standing before them, they'll have a harder time saying no than if I sat in the kitchen above ground. I don't want to dig out my father single-handedly or anything. Now, either you help or you keep out of my way. Look."

She showed him her wrist onto which she had attached an oxygen detector.

"I even thought of this," she said imploringly. "I'm not going to get myself killed or anything. I just want my father to survive this. He's all I've got."

Indigo's first reaction was to convince her to come back with him, although after hearing her story, he simply didn't have the heart. "Alright, but you're not going to find them this way, it's too random. Here, I have a better way. Follow me." He pulled his comlink from his belt and pushed a few buttons, then set it to scan and locate Eeth's comlink signal. "This will be a faster way of finding them. I have to warn you, though, Jedi masters don't like to be disobeyed. I am not sure what Eeth will do when he finds that we took it upon ourselves to come help despite his orders," Indigo warned.

"If I manage to make them get my father out of there alive, I don't care what he does," said Rulla fiercely. "And if I don't manage… I won't care either."

Indigo had thought as much, so he did not bother to say more. Instead, he got to the task of finding Eeth's signal.

"He's about a kilometre down, and roughly at these coordinates," he finally said, showing her his comlink. "We need to find a map of the tunnels, or ask someone how to locate this particular shaft. I saw something that looked like a layout of the mines near the main lifts. I could load it to my comlink. It was crowded so we should be overlooked in the rush."

They quickly discovered that the only way to get to the lowest levels was the main lift, and that was what all the rescue teams were going to use as well. Rulla pursed her lips for a moment and thought. Then she said, "Follow me!" and marched to the front of the queue.

"Jedi Master Eeth Koth has requested our presence down there, with the first rescue team," she said with a surprising amount of authority for a girl her age. "He needs his younger padawan to assist him, and me to help him identify my father's presence."

She was fairly confident that none of these people had any clue how the Jedi worked; she herself hadn't had a clue until Indigo and his master had arrived, after all. And she was correct. The lift operator shrugged and allowed them to squeeze in with the first team. The team got off at a main hall one level above the one where Eeth was, apparently to wait for the others, equip themselves and make plans.

"Do you get off here as well or do you continue down?" asked the operator.

"Down," Rulla said decisively. "We need to rejoin Master Eeth immediately."

"Alright," said the operator. Rulla could not believe how easy this was. Three minutes later, they had stepped off the lift and it went back up to fetch the next team.

Unfortunately for them, this was where their luck ran out. Sure, they were on the right level, but Force, if there weren't a dozen different tunnels each going off in different directions! The comlink signal showed Eeth's location about two hundred metres away from them but which tunnel would lead them to him was a mystery. They spent a good half an hour searching, hitting dead ends and being forced to backtrack to start over. They had eliminated five or so possibilities and were well into the next when Rulla's torch suddenly flashed a bunch of wires crossing the floor and at the same time, the Force warned Indigo of danger. The boy did not hesitate. He immediately drew his lightsaber in his right hand and pulled Rulla behind him just in time to ward off the pick axe that was coming at them both.

"What the fuck!" shouted Rulla, but she had the presence of mind to switch off her torch and dive to the floor. After all, Indigo was armed and she was not.

Indigo had barely digested what had happened when the man lunged at him again. Indigo was struggling to control his weapon. It was difficult to keep his focus but he managed, warding off a second attack and slicing half the head off the pick. It was still dangerous though; in fact, it was probably more so now! "Stop, I am Jedi padawan Indigo Vel and this is the consul's daughter, Rulla Junayd. We are here to aid with the rescue operation. Step back. I don't want to hurt you but I will if you leave me no choice," Indigo warned the attacker.

The man laughed derisively. "As if I'm interested in the success of the rescue mission!" he spat. "The only thing I'm interested in is making this cave-in final, and keeping my involvement hidden. And therefore, you'll have to go."

He was wearing a face mask, but Rulla suddenly recognised the voice.

"You're Shawn Naguro," she said, understanding dawning on her. Naguro had lost against her father in the last election. If Thoar was killed, there was a good chance he would become consul. Rulla was flabbergasted that he would go to such lengths to achieve this, but she hardly had any time to ponder this as he was making to pull something out his pant pocket. She flung herself at him, but Naguro was taller and stronger than her, and she found herself thrown to the ground so hard that she hit her head and saw stars. Naguro jumped back up again, turning on Indigo with a vengeance.