Chapter 16 Micah Exposed & Devan's Ruse
"I assure you, Chancellor; I am not. What reason would I have to do anything to Boba?" Micah replied defensively.
"I do not know; what I do know is that he is missing and you are lying about your part in his disappearance." Bail answered.
"How can you say that? What proof do you have?" Micah demanded and then looked at Zak, "This boy? Is he the one who claims I'm lying?"
"I'm very good at sensing feelings, even ones that you don't even know you have; and right now, I'm sensing fear in you, Micah." Zak told him, "What are you afraid of?"
Micah laughed nervously, "I have no idea what you're talking about." He claimed.
"See, you're doing it again; you can't fool me, Micah." Zak replied.
Micah backed toward the door, "I'm not telling you anything." He said.
"Why, Micah? I have always treated you fairly and paid you well; how could you do this?" Bail wanted to know.
"I found a more lucrative endeavor." Micah answered, slipping one hand under his tunic and pulling a blaster out, "I'm going to leave now, and you had better not try to stop me."
"There are Clones outside just waiting for you to make a run for it. You cannot escape." Bail warned.
"Then I will die trying." Micah said, inching closer the garden door as Obi-Wan entered the kitchen, "Stay back, Master Kenobi; I'm not allowed to kill you, but I could make things very unpleasant."
"The Clones have their weapons set on stun, Micah; they won't kill you." Bail informed him.
"Well, then I will just have to end it here." Micah decided and started to turn the weapon on to himself.
"NO!" Zak screamed and vaulted toward him feet first.
Startled, Micah took a step back just as Zak's foot hit his hand, knocking the blaster out of it. Zak's momentum continued to carry him forward and Micah slammed backward onto the floor with Zak landing awkwardly on top of him. He tried to push Zak away, "Get off me you Jedi brat." He ordered; but Zak was already picking himself up as Obi-Wan grabbed Micah by the arm and hauled him up roughly while Bail picked up the dropped blaster, moved past him and opened the door to signal the Clones stationed there to come in.
"I am sorry it had to be this way, Micah; I still cannot understand how you could do this. What did Boba Fett ever do to you?" Bail asked as two Clones entered through the kitchen entrance.
Micah looked down at the floor as one of the Clones pulled his arms behind his back while the other fastened a pair of binders around his wrists, "He heard something he shouldn't have." Micah admitted, "It was not my intention to….I'm not saying anything else."
Bail shook his head, "Where is he, Micah?" He asked.
"I don't know." Micah answered.
"You don't know; or you just refuse to tell me?" Bail asked.
"I don't know." Micah repeated.
"I don't think he does know, Chancellor." Zak interjected.
"Very well; who did you give him to then, Micah?" Bail asked.
Micah did not answer as he continued looking at the floor.
"Tell me." Bail commanded.
Micah remained silent.
"Who are you protecting?" Bail demanded.
More silence.
"Then at least tell me why, Micah; what did Boba hear?" Bail asked.
Micah sighed and paused before answering, "It was something concerning the hunt." He finally admitted.
"The hunt? You mean the poaching? Surely you are not involved in that." Bail replied.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Chancellor; but there's a lot of money in arranging hunts." Micah told him.
"And you were party to the hunt for Master Kenobi as well?" Bail wanted to know.
"Well, no…that is…it wasn't my idea." Micah answered.
"But you knew about it?" Bail asked.
"Yes, but there was nothing I could have done to stop it." Micah said defensively.
"Nothing you could…Micah, you could have told us who was behind it. Instead, you went along with it and then you…you turned a fourteen-year-old boy over to him. Tell me who he is." Bail demanded.
"The keeper; I gave him to the keeper of the hunt." Micah admitted.
"And who is this 'keeper'?" Bail asked.
"I don't know." Micah answered.
"He's lying this time, Chancellor." Zak said.
"I am growing impatient, Micah." Bail warned.
"I have nothing else to say." Micah replied and stubbornly refused to say another word.
"Get him out of my sight; lock him in one of the outbuildings and post a guard. I do not want him going anywhere…Wait." Bail finally ordered, "Look at me, Micah."
Reluctantly, Micah obeyed, "I trusted you; I put you in charge of my household. You were very much your own man here especially when the Queen and I were on Coruscant; and this is how you repay my trust? By bringing hunters here to hunt a protected species, allowing one of guests to be hunted like an animal and then finally to abduct a boy because he overheard something he should not have? You betrayed me, Micah; and if Boba is killed because of what you have done, Kessel will look very good compared to where I will have you sent." Bail told him and then turned to the Clones, "Get him out of here."
"Well, we are no closer to finding him than we were before." Bail said as the Clones led Micah out of the kitchen.
"At least we now know for certain that Boba did not leave here on his own; and we know this keeper has him. Find the keeper, find Boba." Obi-Wan told him.
"That is very easy to say, how do propose going about finding him? There are many places to hide below the Heights." Bail replied.
"We draw them out, Chancellor." Obi-Wan answered.
"No, Boba's life is already at risk, I will not risk yours as well." Bail refused.
"Chancellor, I am…" Obi-Wan began.
"No, not that again, Master Kenobi; I heard that two days ago and you nearly got yourself killed. I said no and I mean…Commander Ged?" The Chancellor argued until he was interrupted by the Clone commander coming from the front of the house.
"Chancellor, there is a young woman in great distress in the entrance hall; she says she has some urgent information about Boba Fett." Ged informed them.
"What? Who is she?" Bail asked as he moved toward the doorway.
"I don't know, sir, she did not give her name. She's in pretty rough shape; I took the liberty of having Dr. Averill look at her." Ged answered.
"Yes, of course." Bail replied as he led the way back to the entrance hall.
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Boba methodically sawed back and forth slowly slicing the rope binding his wrists. He could no longer even feel his fingers and wondered how he would manage to free his legs even if he were to successfully free his hands. Undeterred, he continued his work, thinking only that he must warn the Chancellor, protect Lady Breha and try to prevent this abominable hunt from continuing. He paused when he heard the door latch turn and the door open, "Well, how are you my young friend?" Moran's voice asked pleasantly.
Boba made a show of struggling as he mumbled beneath the hood.
"I hope my hunters haven't made you too uncomfortable; but you see, you were just so uncooperative that you left them little choice." He went on in his pleasant tone.
Boba continued to struggle uttering unintelligibly.
"It won't be long now, you know; Devan has gone to bring your Jedi friend out here and then we will resume the hunt." Moran added and Boba could tell he was coming closer. "You know, it just might be fun to include the good Chancellor in this hunt; what do you think, bounty hunter?"
Boba's rage took over and the show turned real as he tried to throw himself toward Moran's voice, screaming incoherent curses at him.
Suddenly, Moran's voice was close to the side of his head, "I could take the queen; would the Chancellor come for his queen?" Moran asked.
Boba screamed a muffled 'no' and struggled in earnest to free himself, "Strange, Micah always told me that you weren't interested in having a mother; have you changed your mind, Boba?" Moran asked, "Oh, you can't answer me, can you….well, the last time I saw someone take your gag off, you spit at her and called her…what was it? Oh, yes, a bantha cow. I can just imagine what you want to do to me."
Boba turned to him, mumbling and continuing to struggle.
"Still, it would be interesting….alright, I'm going to take a chance just out of curiosity; and you may say whatever you like to me, however, if you spit on me as you did on Devan…well, I just wouldn't do it." Moran told him as he first pulled the hood off.
Boba stopped struggling as the hood came off and clamped his eyes shut and moaned at the sudden light; Moran had brought in a lamp.
"Forgive me, I forgot; you're not use to the light yet are you." Moran said in mock concern and then added with equal emotion when he noticed Boba's wet hair and flushed complexion, "Oh dear, it must be dreadfully hot with that hood on; I'm sorry, Boba."
Boba opened his eyes gradually and turned them to glare hatefully at Moran and noticed the Kien was standing behind him. He tried to hide his surprise, "Oh, you've noticed Kien; you don't think I'm foolish enough to get near you alone do you? Not like that fool girl, Devan; you did quite a number on her." Moran laughed. "But you have nothing to worry about with the rest of us; I can't kill you because I'm the keeper and Kien and Orlan don't wish to break the rules and end up like Devan. Oh, no, I haven't killed her yet; she needs to do her part first. But her time will come soon enough. As to you, well, once this Jedi his taken out, we can bring you and that young cub into the game and that might not be for another day; in the meantime, we have to keep you alive and at least strong enough to make a little sport of it."
Boba mumbled again and began to struggle again.
"Yes, just be a little patient and you can say anything you want; Kien has brought you something to eat and more water. I know it's not much but you aren't in any position to argue, now are you." Moran told him as he pushed Boba's head down to untie the knot holding the gag in place.
Boba sat still, allowing Moran to work; when he was freed from the gag, he sighed in relief and then looked at Moran, hate written all over his face, "If you touch Lady Breha, I will kill you." He threatened dangerously.
"Oh, Boba; you're in no position to be making threats. I could kill you right now if I wished and you're so trussed up, you couldn't even try to stop me." Moran said with a laugh, "Anyway, you need not worry about your dear Lady Breha; taking her would enrage the entire Republic and we would no longer be safe anywhere. I just wanted to see your reaction; it was really quite memorable."
"You're already not safe anywhere; do you have any idea what the Jedi will do, not to mention the Chancellor?" Boba asked.
"Why?" Moran wondered.
"Why? You hunted a Jedi like a wild beast; and not just any Jedi, which would have been bad enough, but a Jedi Master, a Council member and a very good friend of Chancellor Organa's. You will have no peace, ever, until you're dead. In fact I think death would be too easy for any of you." Boba answered.
Moran's control broke and he slapped Boba hard across the face.
Boba only glared back at him defiantly, "Yeah, heh, heh, heh; I thought that would get to you. You can go ahead and gag me again, I think I'm satisfied now." He told him.
"Oh no, boy; I told you, you're going to eat so that we can have something sporting to hunt when we've finished off this great Jedi master." Moran said, motioning for Kien to come forward.
Kien knelt next to him and opened a wide-mouth canister, "Open up, boy." He said bringing up a large spoonful of some kind of runny stew.
Boba turned away, "I'm not hungry." He replied resolutely.
"It doesn't matter whether you are or not; you ARE going to eat." Moran said and pushing his head back in Kien's direction and forcing his mouth open.
Kien rammed the spoon into Boba's mouth, but before Moran could force it closed, Boba spit the food back at Kien.
Moran slapped Boba across the mouth, sighed and shook his head, "Why are you being so difficult? We can make this more unpleasant for you than you can for us; so I would suggest cooperating." He said.
Boba glared first at him and then at Kien, who was wiping the rejected food from his shirt, "Well, what will it be, bounty hunter?" Kien asked.
Boba resigned himself to losing this battle and choked down the tasteless stew Kien forced on him. When he was finished, he drank without hesitation or protest.
"There now, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Moran asked resuming his sickeningly pleasant tone.
"Go rot." Boba told him.
"No manners; ah well, I guess we'll just have to continue gagging you then." Moran said with mock regret.
But when Kien moved closer to place the gag back in Boba's mouth, he spit on him; and Moran slapped him again and squeezed his injured arm.
Boba stifled a groan by biting his lip, "You continue to try my patience boy; when will you learn?" Moran said.
"When you're rotting away on…." Boba began and finished with a muffled 'Kessel' as Kien shoved the gag between his teeth and tightened it behind his neck.
Moran smiled, "Oh yes, Kessel; right. Are you finished, Kien?" He asked and when Kien nodded, shoved the hood back down over his head. "You know, I had debated leaving this off if you had behaved yourself; oh well, you have only yourself to blame."
Boba mumbled something to him.
"Yes, well, I didn't understand that, but I hope you have a pleasant night, boy." Moran said.
The bounty hunter mumbled once more and then quieted as he listened for the sound of the door being closed and the latch bolted. Satisfied, he went back to sawing on the rope holding his arms.
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She sat in one of the chairs in the entrance hall; her nose was swollen and both eyes were black, but she rose quickly, although a bit stiff when she saw the Chancellor appear. Immediately, she began to weep and Commander Ged moved to comfort her.
"Are you alright? Is there anything we can get for you?" Organa asked as he approached.
"No, no; I'll be fine in a moment. I came…well, I saw a boy; they took him. I tried to stop them, but; well they got away, I saw them head for the foot of the summit. I'm sorry, I tried but I couldn't stop them."
"What boy? Describe him." Bail inquired gently.
"Well, umm…let me think…um, dark hair; probably a little taller than this boy here and very muscular looking." She told them.
Zak touched Obi-Wan's sleeve and whispered, "She's lying, Master."
Obi-Wan looked down at him, "You're sure about this." He stated.
"Yes, Master." Zak confirmed.
"Come with me, then." Obi-Wan instructed and led the way into the sitting room then closed the door. "What part is she lying about?"
"Well, I think she's seen Boba, but she never tried to help him." Zak answered.
Obi-Wan sighed and began to pace, "Then we must assume that she has something to do with his kidnapping; which means she is involved with these hunters, and if that is the case then there is only one reason why she would come here." He deduced.
"To lure you into a trap." Zak concluded.
"Yes, by telling me exactly where he will be." Obi-Wan expanded.
"I'm pretty sure she's telling the truth about that, Master." Zak told him.
"That would make sense; they would have no reason to keep him hidden from me if they planned on killing me anyway. And it would probably make it more interesting for them to watch me walk right up and take their bait." Obi-Wan replied.
"Then how can you get him out? I'm sure if the Chancellor sent Clones up there, they would just move him somewhere else." Zak said, "And if you go in by yourself, they'll just kill you."
"If Clones are sent in, then yes, they will move him; but what I diverted their attention while you go in?" Obi-Wan suggested.
"They would kill you anyway, Master." Zak answered.
"But don't you see, Padawan? We have the advantage here; we already know it's a trap, I don't think they are planning on that. They think I will go in following this woman's directions blindly." Obi-Wan explained.
"Master, how do you think she would react if we told her we have found Micah out?" Zak wondered.
Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, "Interesting question; let's find out." He said.
The woman was still seated in the entrance hall; Breha had brought her a glass of water and the Chancellor was crouched down next to her. When he spotted Obi-Wan and Zak, he stood up and walked over to them.
"I wondered where the two of you had gone; this woman has an interesting story to tell." He said.
"Yes, Chancellor, I am sure she does. May I speak with you in private for a moment?" Obi-Wan requested and waved his arm to the open doorway; then turned to Zak, looked at him, moved his eyes toward the woman and said, "Zak, go over and see if you can help her."
Zak nodded in understanding, "Yes, Master." He said and headed toward her.
"Chancellor?" Obi-Wan gestured toward the room.
"Very well, what is this all about, Master Kenobi?" Bail asked as he stepped into the room.
Obi-Wan closed the door, "It is about that woman." He answered.
"What about her? She knows where Boba is, she tried to help him." Bail replied.
"Zak said she is lying about that; she may know where he is, but she did not try to help him." Obi-Wan told him.
Bail looked at him incredulously, "What? Then what is she doing here?" He asked.
"Trying to lure me into a trap." Obi-Wan said.
"You mean she is working with those hunters?" Bail questioned.
"It appears so, yes; she may even be one of them." Obi-Wan answered.
"But her face, Master Kenobi; she told me one the Boba's kidnappers hit her." Bail protested.
"I don't know about that; all I know is that Zak says she is lying." Obi-Wan insisted.
Bail shook his head, "Will this people stop at nothing? Now this woman invades my house pretending she wants to help when all she really wants is to lead you into a trap." He began to pace, "Now what should we do?"
"She knows where Boba is and I believe she will tell me exactly where to find him. I say we play along for a bit until she does; then Zak and I will go out and bring Boba back." Obi-Wan suggested.
"Master Kenobi, you are proposing to walk right into this trap with your eyes wide open?" Bail asked, "What would prevent them from continuing this disgusting hunt of theirs and killing you?"
"Only the fact that I will know what they are doing; I will do what Anakin and I always did when we knew we were walking into a trap. I will spring the trap." Obi-Wan said, smiling. "And while I am doing that, Zak will free Boba."
"And you feel you are up to playing this little game with them?" Bail asked doubtfully.
"Well, I will have to be. It will be alright, Chancellor; Anakin and I have played this game many times; I know it very well." Obi-wan assured him.
Bail shook his head, still doubtful, "I pray that you do, Master Kenobi." He said.
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"Don't worry, Ma'am; it will be alright. You did your best and then you came here to try and get help and you came to the right place." Zak told the woman reassuringly.
"You can call me Devan; Ma'am makes me sound so old. All I want is for someone to help that poor boy. I'm not even sure why they took him." Devan said, starting to cry again.
"Well, we know who the boy is and why he was taken. In fact, we have already discovered who took him and turned him over to those men you fought with." Zak informed her.
"What?" Devan exclaimed, failing to hide her shock.
"What's the matter, M…Devan? Did I say something wrong?" Zak asked guilelessly.
Quickly, Devan recovered her composure, "Oh, nothing…I was just…er…surprised that I happened upon the very house Bo….this boy was taken from." She answered.
"I'm sorry, did you start to say his name?" Zak asked.
"What? No, how would I know that?" Devan denied.
"Oh, no; of course you wouldn't, I must have been imagining things. But I didn't say he was taken from the house, how did you know that?" Zak asked.
"Well, I…I didn't; I just assumed that he was." Devan answered.
"Oh, I see. Well, we should be able to find him based on your directions; I believe my master would want to start right away." Boba told her.
"Right away; you mean tonight?" Devan asked.
"Yes, these people, well, they're hunters; we don't know what they have done to…him; he could be dead by morning." Zak replied.
"Surely, it would be safer to wait until morning." Devan argued.
"Not for Boba Fett." Zak countered.