Chapter 4 A New Player
"I don't know you." Boba replied flatly.
"No, I suspect you don't; Dr. Averill asked me to take a look at you." Tyrien answered pleasantly.
"He didn't say anything to me about that." Boba said suspiciously.
"Well, it must have slipped his mind." Tyrien responded as he moved closer and continued to smile.
"I think I'd like to talk to Dr. Averill before you do anything." Boba told him.
"There's no need for that; I just want to check you over, that's all." Tyrien insisted, moving to the side of the bed.
"I don't think so." Boba answered, reaching for the call button.
"Now, now; I'm not going to hurt you." Tyrien assured him as he moved it out of Boba's reach and then still smiling, reached into the pocket of the lab coat.
"What are you doing?" Boba demanded as he began to slide toward the other side of the bed away from Tyrien.
"Nothing you need to be concerned about, son." Tyrien said, slipping the syringe out of his pocket.
"Who are you?" Boba asked is he moved his legs to the edge of the bed and started to slide off.
"I told you; I'm Dr. Adler. You can trust me, Boba." Tyrien answered, "Where are you going?"
"What's in the syringe?" Boba asked with his feet now on the floor.
"Something to help you get well, of course;" Tyrien explained, "why are you making this difficult?"
"Stay away from me." Boba ordered as he backed unsteadily away from the bed.
"I can't do that, Boba." Tyrien told him, moving around the end of the bed, "Now, just stay right where you are."
"No, don't come any closer." Boba warned.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Tyrien insisted.
"GET OUT!" Boba yelled, backing away from the advancing Tyrien.
The stand holding the IV bags Boba was still hooked to hit the bed table and both of them hit the floor with a crash.
"Shh! Let's not cause a fuss; you don't want me to hurt anyone, now do you?" Tyrien said as he moved closer.
Boba took another step away from the bed, his knees buckled and he fell, pulling the monitoring wires loose, "HELP ME!" He screamed as the monitor began to beep.
"You should not have done that." Tyrien told him, bending down and plunging the end of the syringe into Boba's thigh and releasing the drug before reaching up to turn the monitor off.
"NOOOO!" Boba screamed.
The door slid open and the guard rushed in, "What are you doing, Doctor!" He demanded.
Tyrien turned around, smiling again, "He fell out of bed; I was just helping him back in." He explained.
"No; he's…he's…drug…help…" Boba stammered as the drug began to take effect.
"I'm afraid you will have to come with me, Doctor." The guard ordered, "Hold on, Boba; I'm going to send for Dr. Averill."
"Care…danger…don't…help…" Boba attempted.
"Stand away from him." The guard ordered, drawing his blaster.
"As you wish, sir." Tyrien replied obediently moving away from Boba and toward the guard, one hand in his lab coat pocket.
The guard moved to one side away from the approaching Tyrien and started to move closer to Boba.
"No…watch…don't…trust…" Boba tried to warn the guard.
As the guard moved, so did Tyrien; and before he could react, Tyrien buried a blade into the guard's back.
"Nooo." Boba cried weakly as the guard collapsed.
"I told you, didn't I? Now look what you made me do." Tyrien scolded, shaking his head and moving to slide the door closed, "You're not going to give me any more trouble, are you?"
"Why?" Boba asked, as the room started to darken around him.
"A couple of old friends want to see you." Tyrien answered, smiling again as he pulled the tubes from Boba's arms.
"No." Boba mumbled as the darkness closed in and he lost consciousness.
"Yes." Tyrien corrected as he reached down and pulled Boba's limp body up and placed him on the float.
"There; that's not so bad, is it?" Tyrien said as he pulled the restraints from his bag and fastened one to each of Boba's wrists and then fastened them together in front of him before moving to his ankles.
"You can just have a nice little nap while I take you on a little trip." He continued, covering the boy with a sheet, "Now, I just have to clean up this mess and we can go."
Tyrien shoved the guard's body under the bed, mopped up most of the blood pooled on the floor and then triggered the door. After making sure the hallway was clear, he guided the float out and closed the door behind him.
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"Obi-Wan, I was just about to contact you; have you had any success?" Mace Windu asked.
"We now know that Devan's family is not harboring her or Kien; and Zak senses that we will find nothing on Danion." Obi-Wan answered, "I was hoping…."
"That we might have some new leads, and we do; our source on Nar Shaddaa tells us that a woman matching Devan's description is there with a young man who could be Kien. The Council advises you to check there instead of traveling to Danion." Mace replied.
"Nar Shaddaa? That's a pretty rough place." Obi-Wan said.
"Yes, so you must watch your step." Mace advised.
"We intend to; how reliable is your source?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Very reliable; if he says Devan is there, chances are, he is right." Mace answered.
"Very well, we will leave for Nar Shaddaa immediately; thank you, Master." Obi-Wan replied.
"May the Force be with you, Obi-Wan." Mace said.
"Nar Shaddaa; we will have to be very careful there." Clive said.
"Yes, they have no love for the Jedi, understandably." Obi-Wan concurred.
"Well, if Devan and Kien are there, I suppose we have no choice." Clive replied.
"Not that I can see; we must be on our guard." Obi-Wan answered, looking directly at Ferri.
"What are you looking at me for?" Ferri demanded, defensively.
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Tyrien guided the float toward his planned exit, a seldom used corridor at the other end of the building. He and the unconscious Boba, looking like a sleeping patient with his doctor, drew little attention; and Tyrien reached his destination without interference. He triggered the door, setting off the alarm.
"Damn." He swore as he pushed the float out and slid the door closed behind him before physically pushing the float around the side of the building, "So much for clean getaways, huh kid?" He whispered, peeking around the corner.
He heard the door open and several guards appeared and looked around; as one glanced in his direction, Tyrien ducked back out of sight, "It must have been a malfunction; there's no one out here." One of the said and Tyrien heard the door slide closed.
He waited several minutes before peeking around the corner again to find the area deserted, "Alright, we're in the clear, kid; let's get going so you can meet your friends. We wouldn't want to keep them waiting, now would we." He said, guiding the float the short distance to his waiting speeder.
He transferred Boba from the float to the back of the speeder, threw the sheet over him to conceal him from view and piloted the speeder leisurely away from the center; breathing a sigh of relief as his ship came into view. He remotely signaled the loading ramp and steered the speeder into the cargo bay. Once inside, he removed the bounty hunter from the speeder, lowered him against the wall, brought his bound arms up and secured them to a bar above the boy's head, "There, all safe and sound. I'll come back to see how you're doing once we're in hyperspace." Tyrien promised, patting him on the head, "You be a good boy now."
He smiled as he took his seat in the pilot's chair and prepared for take off, "This is Advar Tyrien requesting clearance for take off." He announced.
"Request granted, you may proceed." A voice answered, "Have a safe flight."
"Thank you." Tyrien replied politely, starting his lift off sequence.
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Dr. Averill came around the corner, heading toward the room Boba had been assigned to; when he saw the unoccupied chair next to the door, he dropped the data pad in his hand and rushed forward. Dreading what he would find inside, he triggered the door to find the room in disarray and apparently empty, "NO!" He cried as he pulled his com out, "This is Dr. Averill; we have a security breech. One our patients is missing." He announced as he moved into the room.
"Where are you, Doctor?"
"Room 116; Boba Fett's room." Dr. Averill answered.
"I will send a security team to you right away."
"Oh Boba; we failed you, son. I'm so sorry." Dr. Averill said.
He bent down to pick up the blue crystal that had fallen with the table and noticed the hand of the guard.
"Oh no." Averill said, pulling the guard out from under the bed.
"What's happened here, Doctor?" Another guard asked as he entered the room with several others.
"Someone has killed the guard and taken Boba. I want the entire facility locked down immediately and thoroughly searched. No one is to leave here, is that understood?" Averill ordered.
"Yes sir; but I'm afraid he may have already escaped." The guard informed him, "A door alarm was triggered about twenty minutes ago; when it was checked, though, there was no one there."
"Was the security hologram checked?" Averill asked.
"Well, no; there didn't seem to be a reason to." The guard answered.
"Well, there is now; have it checked." Averill instructed, "I don't know how I'm going to explain this to the Chancellor."
"Yes sir; I've got someone already doing that." The guard assured him.
"Good; have this room gone over completely. If we're lucky, our kidnapper may have left us a clue." Averill said.
"Sir, we all knew who to look for; if either of them had come in here, the guard would have recognized them and sent out an alert. He would not have come in here first; I don't think our fugitives were here." The guard pointed out.
"Yes, and that means that they have someone else helping them. Maybe we should have all outgoing vessels detained." Averill suggested.
"I agree, but we would need the Chancellor's authority to do that." The guard replied.
"Alright, I have to contact him anyway and give him this terrible news; I'm sure it's the first thing he'll want done." Averill answered, rushing toward the door.
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"I'm sorry, Bail; I don't know how this could have happened." Averill said regretfully after he had explained everything to him.
"What is done cannot be changed; all we can do now is try to insure that Boba is not taken offworld." The Chancellor replied, "I have just ordered all outgoing ships to be detained; I only hope it is not already too late."
"We should have realized Devan was too smart to come for Boba herself." Averill admitted.
"It would not have mattered; obviously whoever took him, tricked the guard into thinking he was something he was not." Bail told him, "But Breh will be devastated."
"I know; tell her how sorry I am, Bail." Averill said.
"I will, and you must not be too hard on yourself, Haris; we were all taken by surprise here." Bail replied.
Haris did not answer as Bail's image faded.
The head of security entered the room, "Dr. Averill; there is something you should see." He said.
Haris sighed and followed him into the next room, "This is the security holograph recorded at the door where the alarm sounded." The security officer explained as he played it back.
The image of a man guiding a float appeared within range of the imager. As Haris watched, the man, dressed in a white lab coat, looked around and then triggered the door setting the alarm off. They heard him swear as he pushed the float outside and the door closed, "I'm sorry, Doctor; it looks like that was our kidnapper." The officer said.
"Yes, with Boba Fett. Is there an imager outside?" Haris asked.
"I'm way ahead of you." The officer answered as he brought up another hologram; this one clearly showing the float carrying Boba and a very good likeness of the man with him as he pushed the float toward the side of the building.
"Alright; be sure to broadcast the image of that man to the port here in the city." Haris instructed.
"Already done, Doc; and to all planetary ports in the Republic. If this guy shows his face anywhere, we'll nail him." The office assured him.
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Obi-Wan was just starting the launch sequence when Yoda's holographic image appeared, "Grave news I have, Master Kenobi; grave news." Yoda said, shaking his head.
"What is it, Master Yoda?" Obi-Wan asked.
"It's about Boba, isn't it." Zak stated.
Yoda sighed and looked down for a moment, "Sensed correctly you have, young Zak; sorry I am to tell you this; Boba Fett, abducted he was from the medical center." He informed them.
"Abducted? How could that happen, Master? He was supposed to be well guarded." Obi-Wan replied, sounding shocked.
"Guarded he was, but taken by someone who was not suspected." Yoda answered.
"So it wasn't Devan or Kien who took him? Who else would it be?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Suspected it is that helping the hunters this man was. To them the boy will probably be taken." Yoda told him, "To Nar Shaddaa."
"Then we will proceed as planned." Obi-Wan decided.
"Yes, but more complicated this has just become; and more dangerous." Yoda warned, "May the Force be with you."
"Thank you, Master." Obi-Wan answered.
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Anakin walked the length of the veranda several times with little Hadrian in his arms watching the twins playing out on the lawn; he could not get the feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong out of his head.
"Anakin, if you're that concerned, maybe you should join him." Padme suggested.
"No, it will be alright; I'm probably just worrying for nothing." Anakin replied as he turned to her and smiled.
"I would understand if you went." Padme assured him.
"I've already warned him to be mindful; maybe that will be enough." Anakin said, "Besides, Master Yoda said they weren't going to Myrkr and he would contact me if they do."
"Have you remembered the rest of your nightmare yet?" Padme asked.
Anakin shook his head, "No; and that bothers me because I know it's something important." He answered.
"Well, maybe you'll have it again and you'll remember it." Padme said.
"Maybe." Anakin replied, "I just hope it's not too late by then."
Padme stood up and put her arms around him, "Whatever you decide to do, Annie, I will understand." She assured him.
"I love you." He answered, bending down to kiss her.
"I know." Padme replied.