Chapter 16 Kien Bows Out
"Haris?" Bail inquired as Dr. Averill met him at the door to the treatment room.
"Well, he's dehydrated and nutrient starved because he was still getting most of it intravenously when he was abducted; even if they had thought to feed him, he would probably not have been able to keep it down. His poor feet are sliced to ribbons, I have no idea how he managed to even stand on them, and both knees are banged up as well as the heels of his hands. Naturally, considering it was all left untreated, everything is infected. How anyone could do that to him…." Haris shook his head. "The good news is that it doesn't appear as if any major damage was done to his previous injury." He finished, "He's going to be alright, Bail."
"But probably not very happy about being hooked up to all those tubes again." Bail added.
Haris smiled a little, "He didn't seem to mind that so much." He replied and then frowned, "But he wouldn't let me give him anything to help him sleep."
"Why ever not?" Bail asked.
Haris scowled, "That monster, Tyrien." He answered, "We suspected that there were drugs missing from the center; apparently, Tyrien took them to use on Boba to get him out of the center and then kept him drugged up all the way to Smuggler's Moon. I can't tell you how angry that makes me, Bail; those drugs are supposed to help people rest and ease their pain, not render them defenseless."
Bail put a hand on the doctor's shoulder, "There will be justice here, Haris. I want these monsters even more than you do." He assured him.
"It gets worse; he told me he thinks they deliberately let the drug wear off because they wanted him to be alert enough so they could force-march him through the woods. They obviously didn't care that he was barefoot." Haris said, "It makes me wonder if they would have taken his boots off if had been wearing them."
Bail shook his head, "I don't know." He replied and started to enter the room.
"Oh, how is young Zak?" Haris asked.
"Zak is a bit angry that he was sent up here while Master Kenobi is still missing." Bail answered. "He felt he has the right to help in the search."
"Well, I can't say I blame him; I'd like to check him over, where is he?" Haris replied.
"Yes, of course; I have assigned him to quarters on 'B' deck, number 24. He said he wanted to be alone to meditate, so he is probably there." Bail told him.
"Very well, I'll just go pay him a visit; see if you can convince that stubborn boy in there to let me give him something to sleep." Haris said.
"I will see what I can do." Bail promised.
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Clive squatted in front of Ferri, huddled on the floor in the back corner of the ship, "I have just heard from Commander Ged; they have found Boba Fett and Zak." He said.
Ferri remain still and silent with his head buried in his hands, "They have both been taken up to the medical frigate." Clive continued.
Ferri lifted his head up, his face was pale and stained with tears, "A…and…Ma..ster…Kenobi?" He asked.
Clive sighed and looked down at the floor, "Well, no word yet, but Master Skywalker and Ged's men are looking for him." He answered.
"I hope they send me to Kessel, that's where I belong." Ferri replied and buried his head in his hands again.
"I wish I could help you get past this, Ferri; what's done is done. You made a grave mistake, but no matter how this turns out, the Jedi Council is not going to send you to Kessel or any other prison colony." Clive told him.
"Then they should just kill me." Ferri said.
"It doesn't work that way; you will have to face up to what you have done, Padawan. It's possible that your apprenticeship will be terminated and you may be sent to work off-world. Whatever the Council's ruling is, it will not be easy for you." Clive answered.
"I know; but if Master Kenobi…d…if he doesn't….I…just couldn't live with myself." Ferri replied.
"Well, I don't think Master Skywalker is going to let that happen." Clive assured him.
"Master Skywalker…he'll never forgive me no matter what happens." Ferri said.
"Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi are very close; they are like brothers. When you betrayed Master Kenobi, it was like betraying him, you see? Forgiveness from him will be very slow in coming, but it will come. Be patient." Clive explained.
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"That way, I saw him go that way!" Devan called to Kien.
"Devan, you silly girl, it's dark, I have no idea which way you're pointing." Kien called back.
"Idiot, to your left. I just saw him; if we hurry, we can flank around and get in front of him." Devan replied.
"Alright, alright; no need to get testy." Kien answered, moving off to the left.
"I am not being testy; I just want to get this over with and get off this stinking planet." Devan corrected.
"I think it's kind of nice here." Kien told her.
"Just shut up and get into position; I'm going around to the right." Devan said.
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Fighting to get his breath back, Obi-Wan lay flat on his back for a few moments before sitting up to see his former Padawan facing him in the same position, "Hello, Obi-Wan; I was hoping to bump into you." He said with a grin.
"Well…I'm…relieved that you…found me; however…I would have…preferred not …bumping into you." Obi-Wan answered.
"Well, it wasn't my fault you weren't looking where you were going; I did try to avoid you." Anakin replied and then shifted into a kneeling position and pulled a trigger key from his belt, "I think we can get rid of those."
Obi-Wan rubbed his head, "It didn't…feel like…that to me." He told him.
"Well, I did; hold still." Anakin said as he released the binders and tossed them away, "There, that's better; now, let's get out of here." He stood up and reached down to pull his brother to his feet, "I followed Kien, so I know he must be very close."
"And Devan; she barely missed me a few minutes ago." Obi-Wan added, "Alright, leave me and go find Zak and Boba; if she or Kien find out I'm getting help…." Obi-Wan told him.
"They are already safe up on the medical frigate; I came to find you." Anakin informed him, "Now, come on."
"You sent Zak up to the frigate?" Obi-Wan asked, grunting as he finally allowed Anakin to pull him up.
"Yes, I didn't think it would be a good idea to have him down here." Anakin answered.
"Oh dear." Obi-Wan mumbled quietly.
"Was I wrong?" Anakin asked.
"Well, I am guessing he is very unhappy with you; we just had a talk about how I protect him too much." Obi-Wan replied, standing still for a moment to get his balance.
"I wish you'd inform me when you decide to change your training methods; no wonder he was so angry." Anakin said.
"Never mind; you know Zak, he'll get over it….but we'd better get moving before Devan gets one of us in her sights." Obi-Wan answered.
"Does she have another slug thrower?" Anakin asked.
"Oh no, now she's using a crossbow." Obi-Wan told him.
"Yeah, I see it; Duck!" Anakin replied, diving down and dragging Obi-Wan with him just as the bolt whizzed over their heads, "Oh, that's lovely."
"Yes, I thought so." Obi-Wan answered, "I don't think your rescue is going very well, Anakin."
"Well, hang on, it will get better, I promise." Anakin assured him, "Come on." He started to get to his feet and pull Obi-Wan with him when a second bolt zipped just past his shoulder, sending him back down to the ground, "Where did that come from?"
"I would say it came from Kien; if we get to those bushes, we should be able to make a run for it." Obi-Wan suggested.
"Great, now there are two of them." Anakin mumbled and started to crawl.
"Welcome to the hunt, Anakin." Obi-Wan answered, "I hope you've brought back up with you."
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"Devan…" Kien whispered into his comlink.
"What is it, Kien? I'm a little busy here." Devan answered impatiently; she had been scrambling to reload her weapon.
"I could swear I saw someone else with Kenobi." Kien told her.
"What? Are you absolutely sure?" Devan asked.
"Pretty sure, yeah. Either that or I'm seeing double; I could swear I saw two people stand up just before you took your shot. Then one of them pulled the other one down." Kien replied.
"Damn! The Chancellor's men must be here already. We may just have to give up on this for now." Devan said.
"May? May! You're joking, right? We have to end this right now; there is no may." Kien answered.
"Calm down, Kien; we can still get a couple more shots off. Maybe we can even get that Clone trooper as a bonus." Devan replied.
"I really think we should end this now; get back to the bunker, kill the bounty hunter and the cub and get out of here." Kien suggested.
"What about your revenge, Kien?" Devan asked.
"Killing the cub will be my revenge and I'll cut the kid's fingers off so that Kenobi will know." Kien answered.
There was silence for a moment before Devan answered, "Fine, fine; you do what you want, but I'm going to get a couple more shots off before I call it quits. You can do what you want with the cub, but leave that bounty hunter to me; that little brat broke my nose and I'm going to break every bone in his body."
"Can I watch?" Kien asked.
"You're sick, Kien." Devan told him.
"So are you." Kien replied.
Devan shook her head and she finished loading her crossbow; she should have known Kien would chicken out on her. Well, it didn't matter, she intended to win this game, with or without his help, "Come on out, Kenobi; I know there's someone with you. That's a violation of the rules, did you know that? Kien's gone to take a couple fingers from your cub for it. Send your friend away and come out before he does something else to him." She called.
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"Lord Carlyle will not be very happy, Banyon; you should have had those two in custody by now." Aang said as he started his landing sequence.
"Well it's not easy tracking anyone down here; the damn trees throw the sensor reading off. Besides, I landed in late afternoon and by the time I hiked to the other clearing, it was dark; you try finding a trail in the dark." Banyon replied, "And then there were the Clone troopers in the clearing when I got there, so I really couldn't figure out where they had even gone into the woods."
"Alright; I'll be landing momentarily, and we can start searching again. It's nearly dawn anyway and we'll have the advantage of light. I'm not happy that the Chancellor's people are on this already; we're going to have deal with them when the time comes for taking those two nut cases back to Verdant." Aang answered.
"What are you going to do, Aang? Threaten them? We're talking Clones here, not to mention the Jedi who arrived first." Banyon asked.
"Let me worry about that; you just help me find them" Aang said.
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"Commander Ged, I've found Master Kenobi, but we're in a bit of situation here and could use your help." Anakin said.
"Well, the trees here are throwing our sensor readings off, and we lost track of you when you took off without telling us which direction you were going. I'm afraid you're in the same position Master Kenobi was in, except that you can communicate with us." Ged explained, "We'll do the best we can, but it might be a bit."
"I understand; we'll do what we can here." Anakin answered.
"Well, that could be a problem." Obi-Wan observed.
"Yes; I can't believe I forgot about these stupid trees. That's why we had trouble finding you in the first place; blast it!" Anakin replied.
"It's alright, Anakin; everything will work out." Obi-Wan assured him, putting a hand on the younger man's shoulder, "After all, you did find me, now all we have to do is get out of here."
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"Zak, good news; it sounds like Anakin has found Master Kenobi." Bail said as he entered Zak's assigned quarters.
Zak looked at him with a face full of relieve and satisfaction, "Are they on their way up here then?" He asked.
"Well, it is a little more complicated than that, but it will be alright. My men are moving in to locate them now." Bail answered.
"Locate them? I don't understand." Zak replied.
"It seems they lost track of Anakin during the search; however, I am sure it is nothing to worry about." Bail told him.
"Have they caught Devan and Kien yet?" Zak asked.
"No, not yet." Bail answered.
"Then there's alot to worry about." Zak said.