Chapter 5 "They Were Just Gone"

"Devan; I've just left the Alderaan system." Tyrien announced just before entering hyperspace, "I'm about to make the jump; I should reach Smuggler's Moon in about four hours."

"I'm glad to hear that; did you have any trouble?" Devan asked.

"A little; nothing I couldn't handle though. Your bounty hunter gave me some trouble, but I managed to get him under control." Tyrien answered with a smile.

"What did you do, Tyrien?" Devan asked, "You didn't damage him too badly, did you?"

"Damage? No, of course not; I used the resources available to me." Tyrien replied.

"What resources?" Devan wondered.

"Devan, Devan, Devan; I was in a medical center. Think about it; I drugged him, of course." Tyrien told her.

"And he let you do that?" Devan asked.

"Well, no; but he wasn't in any shape to put up much of a struggle. Now all I need to is keep him drugged; and that won't be difficult, he's not in a position to fight it." Tyrien said.

"Alright; that's fine for the time being. But once you get here, that has to stop; we need him lucid by the time we reach Myrkr." Devan replied, "We'll have to walk once we land, and we do not intend to carry him."

"That's alright with me; but you and Kien will have to keep an eye on him. Even in the shape he's in, he could be a problem." Tyrien answered.

"We'll worry about that, you just do what you have to do to keep him down for now." Devan instructed.

"No problem; I just hope you come through with the credits you promised me." Tyrien replied, "If they manage to trace this little escapade back to me, I'll lose everything."

"Well, you took that chance when you agreed to help us; but don't worry, you'll be well rewarded as promised, Tyrien; just bring that kid here." Devan assured him.

"You got it; like I said, I'll be there in about four hours. I'll contact you just before I land to let you know where to find me." Tyrien said.

"We'll be waiting." Devan answered.

Devan's image faded and Tyrien made the jump to hyperspace then unbuckled his harness and made his way to the cargo bay.

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Boba could feel the vibration underneath him and vaguely understood that he was no longer grounded on Alderaan. He tried to move and realized his arms were bound and secured above his head; when he tried to move his legs he found that they, too, were restrained. He moaned and with great effort managed to lift his head and open his eyes. Straining to focus, he saw movement, "Well, well; starting to come around are you?" He heard a voice, Dr. Adler, say, "We can't have that."

"Wh…wha…" Boba struggled to speak; the memory of what had happened began to come back to him.

The figure squatted down next to him, "You're awake, and we can't have that." The voice said.

"Nnn…" Boba attempted to object as he tried to move away.

"It will be alright, Boba; you won't feel a thing." The man promised.

"Wh…who….a…?" Boba managed to ask.

"Who am I? Oh yes, I told a bit of a lie when we first met; I'm sorry about that, but you must understand that it was a necessary ruse. In truth, my name is Advar Tyrien, and I admit, I'm not a doctor at all; I can tell you that, because you probably won't live long enough to tell anyone." Tyrien answered.

Boba blinked, trying to focus and, concentrating, managed to turn his head to look toward him. The man was smiling at him as he filled a syringe from a vial in his hand.

"Nnn…" Boba tried to protest again, pulling weakly against the restraints holding his arms in place.

"Oh, I'm afraid that won't do any good; you see there's just enough drug left in your system and these restraints are just strong enough that it's pointless for you to resist." Tyrien told him, smiling.

"Pl…" Boba attempted again as he continued to struggle.

"Please? Is that what you're trying to say? I'm sorry, but I just can't trust you to behave, Boba; you must understand." Tyrien said pleasantly, as he knocked the bubbles out of the syringe.

"Nnn….no; please." Boba finally managed and struggled a little more.

"Pleading won't help; I've already decided what must be done, I'm sorry." Tyrien answered.

"Wh…why?" Boba asked.

"I would love to chat with you, but I really do have other things I must attend to." Tyrien replied, smiling once again, "You just be a good boy and relax until we get to Nar Shaddaa; your friends are waiting for you there." He smiled again.

"Fr…Friends?"

"Oh, did I forget to tell you? My mind must be slipping." Tyrien smiled, "Devan Carlyle and Kien Valier."
Boba shook his head and struggled harder, "Nnn..No." He said as Tyrien grabbed his arm to steady it.

"Don't fight it; it won't do you any good." Tyrien told him calmly.

"NO!" Boba yelled and fought in a vain attempt to pull his arm away.

"Yes, Boba; I'm sorry." Tyrien said almost sadly, inserting the needle and injecting the contents of the syringe into the bounty hunter's arm.

"No." Boba repeated, weaker and quieter, feeling the numbing sensation of the drug as it began to take effect.

Tyrien then smiled again, "There now; in a moment, you won't feel anything." He told him.

"You…wo..won't…g..get…you…won…a…aw…away….with...wi.." Boba struggled to say as he felt consciousness slipping away from him once more.

Tyrien laughed and patted Boba's leg, "I already have, kid." He said.

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"How far is Nar Shaddaa?" Zak asked.

Obi-Wan sighed, "On the other side of the galaxy, I'm afraid." He answered, "It's going to take longer for us to get there than it will for Boba and his captor."

"Devan and Kien are going to use him as bait again, aren't they." Zak surmised.

"That would be my guess, yes; and we will be up against stiff odds if they make their stand on Nar Shaddaa." Obi-Wan replied.

"It can't be all that bad." Ferri interjected.

"Oh? You're an expert on Smuggler's Moon are you?" Obi-Wan asked.

"No, but we're Jedi; they have to respect us." Ferri answered.

"On the contrary, there is no law to speak of there; they do what they wish under the protection of the Hutts." Clive informed him, "When we go there, we must be very careful not to exert too much authority, or we are liable to end up dead."

"But we have the Force." Ferri protested.

"Yes, however, that will not help us if we are greatly outnumbered; which is what we will be when we go there." Obi-Wan explained.

"Then the Chancellor should do something about it." Ferri persisted.

"Ferri, if the Chancellor ordered troops there, it would end in a war with the Hutts; we just finished fighting a war and I do not think we should get into another." Obi-Wan told him, "Do you?"

"No." Ferri mumbled as he looked down at the floor.

"We have a long trip ahead of us, so I suggest we all get some rest while we can; Devan's game has begun, and once we get to Nar Shaddaa, there will little chance for it." Obi-Wan said.

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"We managed to detain all ships with the exception of two, Chancellor; they have all been thoroughly searched. I'm sorry, but there is no sign of him." Commander Ged informed Bail.

"Thank you, Commander; I appreciate you taking charge of this. What of the two ships you mentioned?" Bail asked.

"One was a Correllian freighter; we did manage to contact it and the captain is holding his position ready to be boarded. He said to his knowledge, Boba Fett is not aboard, however, he does not refute the possibility that someone could have brought him aboard without informing him." Ged answered.

"And the other?" Bail asked.

"The other is a private transport belonging to an Advar Tyrien; we could not contact him, however that might only mean that he has already left the system. I have checked into his background, Chancellor, and he has no criminal record." Ged told him.

"Is there a description of him in those records?" Bail asked.

"No, but I am already checking to see if we can get an image; I'm running it through the intergalactic records now. If I get any results, I will let you know." Ged assured him. "Are you thinking that this Tyrien is the one who took the boy?"

"I do not know, but we can find no trace of Boba here; I think it is a distinct possibility." Bail answered. "Commander, do the records indicate what Tyrien's financial situation is?"

"Yes sir; he is a man of considerable wealth." Ged answered. "Does that mean something?"

"Yes, check the list of 'clients' that Master Kenobi found when he and his apprentice were up on the Heights; if his name is on that list, the chances of him being involved in this are very good." Bail said.

"I have the names on that list on file; give me a moment to pull it up…." Ged replied, "Alright, I've got the list let me just….oh yes, it's here, Chancellor."

"Well, it is a distinct possibility that he knows the others; all we need now is an image to compare to the security hologram." Bail said.

"Yes, sir; I think something might be coming up now." Ged informed him.

Bail held his breath, waiting, hoping that this would confirm Tyrien's involvement and give them at least a small clue which might lead them to his adopted son.

"It's him alright, Chancellor; either that, or his twin brother." Ged announced.

Bail closed his eyes and sighed, "So, Advar Tyrien and this Dr. Adler are one and the same; add Tyrien's name and a description of that ship to the alert." He instructed.

"Right away, sir." Ged answered.

Bail sighed again and turned to his wife, "Well, we're doing everything we can." He assured her.

"How could this happen, Bail?" She asked, tearfully.

"Devan sent someone else to take him; we were not careful enough." Bail answered, taking her in his arms, "But we will get him back, I promise."

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An hour and half after drugging Boba the first time in the cargo bay, Tyrien returned to administer the drug again. Boba's sluggish attempts to resist and his garbled protests could not prevent Tyrien from injecting him then or when he returned for a third time; and when he returned for one final time when the ship was a little over an hour from Nar Shaddaa, Boba's only protest was an almost inaudible 'no', uttered without a physical struggle. When he returned to check on him just before coming out of hyperspace, the bounty hunter was still unconscious and looked to remain so long enough for him to collect his two hunting companions and begin their journey to Myrkr.

Tyrien nodded in satisfaction and returned to the cockpit to take the ship out of hyperspace and contact Devan.

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"What are you doing, Devan?" Kien asked as he watched Devan set up a holo-recorder.

"What do you think?" Devan asked.

"I have no idea; that's why I asked." Kien answered.

"Sometimes I wonder about you, Kien; we want Kenobi to know where we've gone, don't we?" Devan answered.

"Oh, yes; I guess that would be helpful. So you're just going to tell him?" Kien asked, "He's smart; he's going to know it's a trap."

"It won't matter, you idiot; we have the Chancellor's adopted son. He'll have no choice but to come after us even if he knows it's a trap; but on Myrkr, his Jedi powers won't help him." Devan explained.

"But he'll still be cautious." Kien pointed out.

"Well, that will be the challenge then; to see if we can set a trap so well hidden that he'll never see it until it's too late." Devan replied with a devious smile.

Kien smiled back at her, "I like the way you think." He told her.

"Thank you; I do too." She answered, "Now, we can get most of this done now, and finish it when Tyrien gets here."

"So we can prove we have the kid?" Kien asked.

"Exactly." Devan confirmed.

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Weston Carlyle's man, Stewart, pressed the com button opening a channel to Carlyle's office, "My Lord, your investigator has just left word that his sources have discovered where your daughter is." He announced.

"Where is she and is he going after her?" Carlyle asked.

"Yes, she is on Smuggler's Moon and he has made arrangements to have her brought in." Stewart answered.

"Made arrangements? I want him to go get her personally; I thought I made that clear." Carlyle replied angrily.

"He says that you couldn't pay him enough to go there." Stewart informed him.

"Well, then his arrangements better give me results. I want my daughter back here before she causes any more trouble." Carlyle said.

"Yes sir." Stewart answered.

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Padme woke to Hadrian's cries and turned to see her husband, bathed in sweat, tossing his head from side to side and talking in his sleep, "Anakin?" She called softly as she shook him gently.

"No, No, NO, NO!" Anakin cried out and sat straight up in bed, a look of agony on his face and breathing raggedly.

Hadrian's cries became panicky screams, "I'll get him." Anakin said as he started to get out of bed.

"No, you stay right there and calm down; I can get him." Padme told him as she threw on her dressing gown and walked over to the bassinette and picked Hadrian up.

It took Anakin several long deep breaths to calm down.

"Is he alright?" Anakin asked, throwing his legs over the edge of the bed and standing up.

"Fine, Annie, he just needed changing; you must have just scared him when you cried out." Padme answered.

"He probably picked up on my fear; here let me take him." Anakin said, taking him from Padme, "I'm sorry, little fellow; I certainly didn't mean to scare you."

Hadrian cooed softly at him, "Well, I might just as well feed him as long as he's awake." Padme decided as she walked over to a chair in the corner of the room and sat down.

Anakin followed her and placed Hadrian in Padme's arms; as she began to feed the baby she looked up at Anakin and said, "Now, sit down and tell me about your nightmare; was it the same one?"

"Yes, only this time it was so much more real; they were on that same planet and they were being chased…at least I think they were, but they were running and then they were suddenly just gone." Anakin explained as he sat down on the floor.

"You mean they just disappeared?" Padme asked, "What does that mean?"

"Not disappeared exactly," Anakin shook his head and sighed, "But I can't explain it."

"Hmm…that doesn't make sense though, Annie; where did they go?" Padme replied.

"I don't know; one minute they were there and then they were just gone." Anakin answered.

"Gone, like maybe they fell?" Padme asked.

"Oh; I don't know, maybe." Anakin said after a moment's thought and then ran his fingers through his hair, "If they did, I hope they didn't fall too far."

"It was just a dream, Annie; it didn't really happen." Padme reminded him.

"No, not yet it hasn't." Anakin replied, "But this one was more real, almost like it was closer somehow."

"Then if Master Yoda tells you Obi-Wan has gone to Myrkr, you should join him." Padme told him firmly.

"I'll think about it." Anakin answered.

"What about the other part? The part you couldn't remember." Padme asked.

"Nothing and it's right there, I just know it, but I can't…." Anakin shook his head in frustration, "And I know it's important."

"Well, Hadrian's finished here; why don't you try to get back to sleep." Padme suggested.

Anakin stood up, took the baby from her and carried him back to the bassinette. Padme walked back to the bed removed her dressing gown and climbed back in; Anakin laid Hadrian down and joined her a moment later. She cuddled next to him and he held her close as she fell asleep; Anakin did not sleep for the rest of the night.