Author's Note: I'm back from vacation, and will TRY to keep up with the posts on here. And for those of you waiting for a hole in the heart, I'll continue working on that as soon as I can. Read and review!

Part IV

A doctor came in to check on Obi-Wan's health, physical and mental. Shaking his head, as if displeased, the doctor left again. Obi-Wan sank back down to the floor from the standing position he had held. He curled into a ball, feeling cold.

Dooku stared coldly at the doctor who stood across from him. "He is still recovering," the doctor said, "both physically and mentally. It could be disastrous to operate on him before…" Dooku stood and the doctor faltered in his speech.

"I am well aware of this, Doctor…"

"Brulion." the doctor said meekly.

"Brulion, I did not ask for your opinion, I merely agreed to an examination because of Miss Arbor's and your insistence. You will do as I command, and I command you to begin preparation for the operation."

The doctor bowed repeatedly and backed out of the room. "Y-yes, of course, my lord… as you wish, my lord." He left and darted down the hall, in an effort to get as far away as he could from the Count, as fast as possible.

Siri pushed and heaved at the boat from one side while Ahsoka and Shaniel worked from the other. She heard approaching footsteps and signaled the two Padawans. They froze and watched silently as Siri made her way to the door of the boathouse. She distinguished three sets of footfalls. She was preparing to leap out and confront them when she felt a ripple in the Force, a gentle, testing nudge. Instead, she walked right out into the open. "Something wrong with your com, Skywalker?" she asked testily.

"Master Tachi?! What are you doing here?" Anakin asked.

"Oh, so formal all of a sudden?" she said, ignoring the question. "Where's Ben? Don't tell me you let him get captured too."

"He's right behind me." Anakin answered, annoyed. "And what happened to Obi-Wan isn't my fault. I was the one trying to talk him out of going in the first place!"

Siri opened her mouth to list all of the reasons why it was his fault and what she would do to him if they weren't able to rescue Obi-Wan when Ben and an Arconan stepped out of the shadows. "Master Tachi, Ahsoka said you and Shaniel would be coming." Ben greeted.

Siri smiled at Ben. "At least one of you knows how to be civil." She punctuated this with a look at Anakin that said this is not over. She turned to the Arconan. "I see you two have inherited Qui-Gon's and Obi-Wan's, though he would deny having it, skill for picking up extra hands."

"That would be him." Anakin said, pointing at Ben.

"Well, you were the one who said he should come along." Ben countered.

"Enough!" Siri snapped. "We don't have time for this." She turned to Si Treemba. "Listen, I don't know who you are, but this is going to be dangerous."

"We are used to danger." Si Treemba insisted. "We faced danger many times when we first met Obi-Wan." Siri's eyes lit up.

"I remember you! You're Si Treemba, aren't you! I've only heard Obi-Wan speak of one Arconan." Si Treemba straightened proudly.

"Yes, we are Si Treemba, now will you let us come with you? We haven't seen Obi in years!"

"So, where's Zan Arbor?" Anakin asked. Siri got back to the mission at hand.

"She left by sea. Ahsoka, Shaniel and I are working to get a boat free so we can follow her."

"Ever think of using the automatic boat launcher?" Anakin asked. Siri glared at him.

"Of course, you bantha head! That's the first thing we tried! It's jammed and it will take forever to fix it."

"If she went by sea," Si Treemba cut in, "then she is going to one of the old deep-sea mining platforms. We know where the closest one is, and we also know where a sub speeder is." Anakin and Siri exchanged glances.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ben asked.

Siri sat on the metal chair that served as the co-pilot's seat. Beside her, Anakin messed with the controls while Si Treemba gave a quick tutorial and punched in the coordinates. She leaned back and closed her eyes, the noise dimming down (though there was quite a lot of it, due to the intense Apples-to-Apples game taking place in the main area) and immersed herself in the Force. She had no idea if Obi-Wan could hear her or not, but she sent out a silent call.

I'm coming, Obi-Wan, and you had better be alive when I get there so I can kill you for getting captured, you goose!

Obi-Wan didn't move as the scientists and doctors brought in the pieces of the Extractor and began assembling it. He concentrated on fighting the shivers that threatened to start his whole body shaking with the cold. Who knew it was so cold underwater? He felt a consciousness nudge his, a familiar touch. Siri. She was here, she was coming. He felt her concern, she knew what they were going to do, obviously, and her annoyance with him that she was using to try and hide her concern. The feeling left him as she withdrew. Obi-Wan smiled and made the mistake of glancing at the machine. He knew Siri would come; he just hoped that he would still be here when she did. And he didn't even want to start thinking about Anakin, or Ben…

So don't. he told himself. Don't think about it.

TBC