Chapter 5 An Enemy Alliance
Twelve Hours Earlier
Obi-Wan shook his head as he surveyed the dormitory; the body of the youngling master lay crumpled on the floor surrounded by her youngling charges who appeared to be trying to wake her up. Near the doorway, a senior Padawan sat slumped against the wall, and another was sprawled on the floor. As the Jedi entered the dormitory from the escape passage, several younglings looked up with fear and uncertainty; and then with relief when they recognized their superiors. Anakin moved quickly to the fallen master; kneeling down beside her, he touched her and reached out in search of life. He sighed sadly and shook his head as he looked up at the other Jedi, "She's gone." He informed them.
Mace moved toward the two younger Jedi, checking first one and then the other, "She is still alive." He announced as he touched Galyn's face, "Anakin?"
Anakin moved quickly to her as Mace carefully shifted her into a prone position on the floor, "She was lucky." He observed when he examined the wound on the side of her head.
"Yes, that shot could have taken her head off." Anakin agreed as he put one hand on her arm and closed his eyes.
The others quickly took charge of the younglings, moving them away from their lifeless master, "We should check the other dormitory." Obi-Wan suggested.
"If they followed procedure, it should have been sealed off. Since Master Horan's assistant is not here, I am assuming she did. And there are no Initiates or younger Padawans here, so it appears they also obeyed protocol and locked themselves in their quarters. We should do a sweep to let them know it is now safe." Ki-Adi Mundi replied.
"And we should take these younglings to the healer wing; they are not injured, but they are certainly traumatized." Adi Gallia added.
"I'll go down and open the security door and let the others in." A Knight offered and carefully stepped over Khyber to trigger the door.
Another Knight entered a code on the door between the two dormitories and was nearly run through with the weapon wielded by Master Horan's assistant, "Watch it, Rega; I'm not the enemy." She said.
The other Jedi sighed in relief as she powered down her lightsaber, "I'm sorry, Biya; I should have sensed another Jedi." Rega answered.
"No harm done; are you alright?" Biya asked.
"Yes, I was helping the younglings in here when I heard the blaster shot and felt something wrong. I know Master Horan would have wanted me to protect the younglings here, so I sealed us off. Is Master Horan alright?" Rega asked.
"Master Horan has been killed; along with two senior Padawans." Biya answered.
Rega's eyes filled with tears, "I should have come to help." She realized.
"No good would it have done; and dead you would be as well." Yoda told her, coming up behind Biya, "Your duty it was to protect the younglings here."
Rega nodded sadly as she accepted the Yoda's wisdom, "Why would anyone attack our younglings?" She wondered.
"Know that we do not; but missing some are." Yoda answered.
"Missing? So they came here to steal younglings?" Rega replied.
"It appears so; along with two of our Padawans." Obi-Wan told her and furrowed his brow.
"What is it, Master Kenobi?" Biya asked.
Obi-Wan scratched his beard, "Zak's Force sense has just been dampened; I can hardly sense him." He said.
"Ferri's too." Anakin added as he joined them.
"Hmm….harder to trace they will be now." Yoda said.
Present Time
Boba stood before the galaxy holograph with one fisted hand behind his back tapping his lips with a finger on his other hand. Dena peeked into the map room and then entered and put her arm around his waist, "So what are you thinking so hard about, my love?" She asked.
Boba sighed, unclenched his fist and put his arm around her shoulders, "Where would they go?" He wondered in answer.
"You're the tracker; what do you think?" She asked.
"Well, this is Belarid." Boba said, pointing to a speck several millimeters from the center orb that represented Coruscant, "Now, Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi both agree that the Belaridians are not great space navigators; so following that logic, they wouldn't be familiar with many places beyond their own system."
"Unless they have outside help." Dena pointed out.
"Even so, I think they would be less willing to travel to a system they aren't familiar with." Boba argued.
Dena nodded thoughtfully, "You may be right; from what Zak has told me, they don't trust Off-worlders." She admitted, "In that case, there aren't many places they could go."
"No; and then there are Belarid's moons." Boba replied, "There are seven, I think."
"Are any of them inhabitable?" Dena asked.
"I don't know; but I'm sure you have that information in your archives." Boba answered.
"They aren't my archives anymore, dearest." Dena reminded him.
"But I'm sure they would let you check on this, wouldn't they?" Boba asked.
"Boba, I don't have to be the one to do it; it's not as if anyone is going to withhold that information. All you have to do is ask one of them." Dena replied.
"I know, I know; I just thought it would be easier if you just popped down there and…." Boba began.
"Well, I can't just 'pop down there', not anymore; I have to get permission to do that now. And by the time I got it, you might just as well have talked with a master who could just go down and get the information for you; or better yet, let you access it yourself from one of these terminals." Dena answered.
"Access what, young man?" Mace asked from the doorway.
"Information about Belarid's moons." Boba told him, "I was thinking one of them could be a possibility."
Mace rubbed his chin, "Hmm…that is intriguing." He replied as he moved toward one of the terminals, "Let us just see how possible it is."
Twelve Hours Earlier
Obi-Wan rubbed his hand reverently down the hilt of the weapon in his hand, Zak's weapon; it, along with Ferri's had been found on the floor not far from where their friend, Khyber had fallen. Whether Zak and Ferri had discarded their weapons voluntarily or lost them after being attacked by the intruders was unclear; what was clear, and most prominent on Obi-Wan's mind was that both Padawans were unarmed. Anakin stood nearby, absently tapping Ferri's weapon against one hand as he stared at a smear of blood on the floor. Obi-Wan didn't have to probe deeply to sense Anakin's concern; Ferri had been injured, the smear of blood gave no indication to how serious the injury was.
"They are very resourceful, Anakin." Obi-Wan said, trying to be reassuring.
Anakin sighed, "I know; I just wish I knew how badly Ferri is hurt." He answered.
"He is still alive; we must hold on to that." Obi-Wan advised and Anakin nodded in reluctant agreement.
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The younglings were ushered off the shuttle as soon as it landed leaving only Zak, Ferri and the leader onboard, "Pick him up." The leader ordered.
"So what happens now?" Zak asked as he carefully lifted Ferri upright, shouldering his weight so he could place his wounded friend over his shoulders.
"All in good time; just take him out and join the rest of the little freaks." The leader replied.
Zak huffed and shook his head as he stepped out onto the floor; the younglings were huddled together and surrounded by several of the intruders; the leader shoved him roughly toward the group, "It's going to be alright." Zak assured the frightened children.
"Is Ferri dead?" One of them asked.
"No, he is not dead." Zak answered.
"Well, we meet at last; it's been a long time." A voice said from behind him.
Zak turned and came face to face with a figure of young man not much older than Zak himself with dark hair and one milky white eye; a scar, running from the corner of his mouth to just above his eye, marred the man's otherwise good looks, "You look shocked, freak; but I guess you never expected to see me again, did you." The figure continued.
"No, because you're supposed to be in one of Kessel's prison colonies." Zak answered.
The young man smiled, "Yes, well, fortunately, I still had family left to help me; unfortunately, not before this happened." He answered as he fingered the scar.
"So, you're behind all this." "Zak guessed.
"No, actually that would be me." Another man said, stepping in front of the first.
Zak shook his head, "I should have known; they made a mistake letting you go." He answered.
"Come now, Zak; is that any way to greet your family?" The man asked.
Zak laughed, "Family? A brother who tried to kill me and an uncle who tried to stop us from rescuing children? That would be funny under some circumstances." He replied.
"You should have died, you freak; and then nothing would have changed." The younger of the two retorted.
"And do you really think that my master would not have demanded an investigation into my death, Terak?" Zak asked, "Even if you had not been found out, everything would have changed; there still would have been no more killing on Belarid."
"Well, things have changed now; we're taking back what was taken from us. As for you, that's personal; I lost my parents because of you." Terak answered.
"Wrong, Terak; that was your own fault. And our parents chose their own path when they helped cover up the slaughter." Zak corrected.
Terak slapped Zak hard in the face, "Don't call them yours; they were never yours, you freak!" He screamed.
"Alright, alright; just calm down here." The older man ordered as he came between them, "What happened between the two of you must not interfere with what we're doing here."
"And just what are you doing here, Melak?" Zak asked.
"Oh son, I thought that would have been clear by now; Belaridian law states that abominations have to be exiled or killed. We've decided to be lenient and chose exile; you should be thankful that we're so merciful." Melak answered.
"You're all fools; the Jedi will never let you get away with it. You'll all end up in Kessel….or worse." Zak told them.
"We'll just see about that; they have to find us first." Melak replied mirthfully.
"And none of this has anything to with my friend here; why drag him into this?" Zak asked.
"Oh it's true his involvement has nothing to do with Belarid; but a couple of our new allies decided it might be amusing to include him." Melak said, "You'll be meeting them onboard."
"Onboard?" Zak repeated.
"Yes, you didn't think we were going to exile you here did you? That would be just too easy, Zak." Melak answered, "And now we're wasting time; bring all your little friends this way."
"Zak?" The Initiate questioned.
"Just do it for now; we aren't in a position to fight." Zak advised.
The Initiate nodded and helped guide the younger children to the far end of the warehouse where the ship waited. Inside, they were taken to the cargo hold where mats had been laid out to accommodate them; Zak carefully lowered his burden onto one of them and checked the makeshift bandage around his upper leg. Melak held a collar out to him, "Put this on." He ordered.
"What is it?" Zak asked suspiciously.
"Put this on or I'll put another blaster hole in your friend." Melak threatened.
Zak huffed and shook his head but took the collar and slipped it on; Melak smiled, "Good boy." He said as he locked it into place.
As soon as he did, Zak felt his Force sense dampen, "Where did you find this little toy, Melak?" He asked.
"Oh you'd be surprised at how many ways there are to stop freaks." Melak answered and then held another one out, "Here, put this one on him."
"He's already weak; the Force is…" Zak started to protest.
"Put it on or I might just decide his friends don't need to play with him." Melak warned.
Zak snatched the collar and slipped it around Ferri's neck, "Now lock it." Melak ordered.
Zak shook his head but obediently did as he was told; Ferri moaned softly as the collar began to work. "And what if he dies before these 'friends' get here?" Zak asked.
"They're already here." Terak informed him.
Zak looked up and Kien Valier grinned down at him, or an older, somewhat scruffier version of him; his red hair was now shoulder length and he sported an unkept, beard, "If it's not my old friend, Zak, along with the little traitor; who would have thought we would ever find the two of you together." He said.
"Ferri isn't a traitor; just because you scared him into helping you doesn't make him one." Zak retorted.
"But it didn't take much threatening from me to make him turn on you; he didn't like you, Zak." Kien replied.
"Well, things have changed, Kien." Zak answered.
"So I see; but I'm sure the Jedi will still think…" Kien began as Zak started to laugh, "What?"
"Ferri has been Anakin's Skywalker's apprentice for the last four years; no one is going to believe he was the one who helped your friends here get into the Temple." Zak explained, "You've taken him for nothing."
"It doesn't matter; he'll suffer right along with the rest of you." A woman's voice said.
"Of course; I should have known Kien was too stupid to do anything on his own." Zak replied, "You've lost your good looks, Devan."
Present Time
"I am sorry; it appears Kessel is not a very easy place to regulate. The only reason they discovered Valier and Carlyle were missing is because I requested they check on them. I am not even sure how they ended up in the same colony." Bail informed the Council with regret.
"Well, Anakin, it appears we may have found the link to your apprentice." Eeth Koth said.
Anakin shook his head, "They must have thought we would lay blame on Ferri for the breach in security here if he went missing." He replied.
"And Terak is missing as well." Bail continued, "I have already ordered a complete revision of the security practices there and in the other prison colony systems; I am just sorry that it has taken something like this for me to see the flaws."
"Better late than never, Chancellor; what of that doctor who was conducting the experiments?" Mace asked.
"Yes; or Zak's parents?" Obi-Wan added.
"Zak's mother died of a fever sometime last year, and his father is still working in the ag colony; as for the good doctor, he died two years ago." Bail answered, "At least we won't have to worry about any more of those terrible experiments."
"No, but if Terak knows his mother is dead, Force knows what he will do." Obi-Wan answered.
"I am sorry, Master Kenobi; hopefully we will find them quickly." Bail replied, "I understand Boba is looking into that."
"Yes, he is doing some reading on Belarid's moons; it is possible they may have chosen one of those for this exile." Mace told him.
"I also have my researchers delving into possibilities; surely we will find them soon." Bail said.
"I hope so." Anakin replied with a heavy sigh.