Chapter 20
"Over here, Master, I have found something!"Anaria called. Darsha appeared a millisecond later. "What is this?" A door to a hidden room opened. A chair on a circular platform puzzled Anaria, but Darsha knew right away what it was. She swiftly grabbed her comlink and contacted Siri and Obi-Wan.
"I believe Anaria has found something very important," Darsha said. Siri, Elantra, and Obi-Wan appeared momentarily.
"This is one of the newest systems of torture. This machine tracks brainwaves, or more specifically, those of fear. My guess is that the Sith exploited Arryn's fear and are using it as a method of torture," Darsha explained.
"Torture? I'm still not understanding why she was taken. I thought it was just because she is a Jedi and we are the Sith's sworn enemy." Said Elantra.
"That is certainly a possibility, Elantra, but I sense something deeper here. It's almost evasive. I feel there an aspect to this that we may be overlooking," Siri said, looking around the room with disgust.
"If we only knew Arryn's fear, then we could have a place to start to find her," said Darsha to Obi-Wan. He nodded slightly. "Arryn doesn't like certain small things, but not enough to fear them. Anaria, Elantra, you have known Arryn longer than any of us here. Has she ever told you of her fears?" Obi-Wan asked gently. Anaria and Elantra looked at each other sending a mental message. Should we tell?
Anaria gave a slight nod.
"Yes, we do know," said Elantra with great hesitation. "She is deathly afraid of heights. She was really embarrassed of her fear and was reluctant to even tell Anaria or me. I looked out the window on the second floor of our quarters and it made her head spin."
"And also, she refused to take the top bunk on the ship," supplied Anaria.
Darsha looked at the others. "So, now, we need to figure out where Arryn could have been taken."
The Jedi stood in silence for several moments.
"I have an idea," said Anaria slowly. "Remember that really tall building you saw, Elantra, in Bondor? That would be an ideal place to go if someone where afraid of heights."
"Yes…but that was just from what we had seen in the last two days. The city of Bondor itself is huge, but that is not including the rest of the planet, or even the galaxy. The Sith could have taken her off of the planet."
Anaria looked downtrodden. "You're right. I hadn't even considered that."
Obi-Wan intervened. "The building you saw, Elantra, was it near the Fountain of Knowledge?" Elantra nodded.
"I remember seeing it myself as we went through Bondor." He sighed and looked around the dismal place. "This is the only lead we have on Arryn's whereabouts. I'd recommend we follow it. I have a feeling that your instincts, Elantra, are correct."
Had it been under any other circumstances, Elantra would have been happy with the rare compliment from Obi-Wan, but he just blandly nodded.
Arryn had lost track of all sense of time. The sky was dark and few stars were present under a dense cloud cover. She had been visited by Senator Ballastiodes, Emory Tiana, and Arriette Merian, and not for social calls. She had not received any food, and each time she had not spoken, she was left with a lasting reminder of her lack of cooperation. She had a long gash along her cheekbone, many bruises, and she was almost certain that several ribs were broken. She tried healing herself with the Force, but the Ysalamiri's handicap proved to be a large obstacle. With little energy and no Force use, Arryn turned to her last resort: unconsciousness.
"We are here," called Darsha from the pilot's seat of the landspeeder. The Jedi all disembarked. In the eerie quiet of the night, the Fountain of Knowledge's splashing was magnified to a dull roar. Anaria shuddered softly in the cool air.
"Something isn't right," she murmured.
"There, up ahead, that's the building I saw," said Elantra softly.
Darsha whispered, "That is the Legislature Building. Just look at those pillars on the flat part of the roof. That's enough to frighten anyone."
Obi-Wan stopped and motioned the other Jedi to another building in the plaza around the fountain. "We cannot just blindly go in there. We need a plan."
"Right," echoed Siri. "I say we stay together. If, in fact, the Sith are there, we'd have a better chance at staying alive if we didn't split apart."
"There's safety in numbers," supplied Anaria.
"The Sith most likely would have Arryn in a highly secured area. They are probably patrolling around it. I say we send in someone to observe before going in," said Siri.
"And who might that be?" asked Obi-Wan with a raised brow.
"Darsha, of course," said Siri.
"Me?" Exclaimed Darsha.
"You?" Asked Anaria.
"Her." Replied Siri. "Darsha is very good at entering situations undetected."
Darsha replied in a mock falsetto, "And I'm sure Darth Maul can attest to that."
"Alright, what about Siri?" said Obi-Wan. Siri thought for a moment then nodded slowly. "Very well. My comlink will be on, so you can monitor whatever communications occur inside."
"What if we have some sort of communication system? Like clicks of the comm or something in case Siri cannot respond to us," suggested Elantra.
Siri nodded fervently. "Brilliant idea, Elantra. How about one click means I have found Arryn. Two clicks mean that I have been discovered. Three clicks means enter. I'll keep my lightsaber hidden and stay in the shadows. This could be a false alarm, so let's not keep our hopes up."
"Good luck, Siri," called Anaria.
"Luck is where opportunity meets preparation. And besides, I have the Force to guide me," Siri replied.
"May the Force be with you," called the rest of the Jedi team in unison.
Siri nodded and headed out.
A/N- Sorry for the delay in updating...I've been sick :( Please R and R...thanks times a million!