Anakin's heart slammed. First Mom, now Obi-Wan. A Sith Lord and…Serenno? "What am I going to do?"

Mom rested her hands on his shoulders. "Calm down. Take a deep breath."

He obeyed. Slowly, his heart pulled back from the quick drumbeat it was pounding out.

"Now, why don't you call the Council and tell them what happened?" Mom suggested.

Anakin nodded. "Is there somewhere I can be alone?"

"My room," Owen said. "Here, I'll show you."

Anakin followed Owen to his room and perched on his bed, then dialed a holocall to the Council. He had to wait on hold with a padawan while the Council gathered, but when he said he had news about the Sith, the Council assembled in record time.

"What is the problem, Skywalker?" Mace Windu asked.

Anakin ran a hand through his hair. "My mother was kidnapped by Tusken Raiders. It happens on Tatooine sometimes. My stepfather called me and my master gave me permission to go save her. I was able to free her without any fight or loss of life, but she told me she had overheard the Tuskens talking about Darth Sidious when they grabbed her. She doesn't know what they were saying about the Sith because she doesn't understand the Tuskens' language, but they were definitely talking about Darth Sidious when they grabbed her. I commed Master Kenobi to ask his guidance on investigating, but I heard a lightsaber fight and then a strange man told me to go to Serenno if I wanted him back."

Master Windu just…stared at Anakin for about a minute. "I'm on my way to investigate this. If your mother's kidnapping was orchestrated by a Sith Lord, those are very serious allegations."

"What about Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked.

"We will send someone to rescue Obi-Wan," Master Windu said. "Don't worry about that. That is out of your hands."

Anakin scowled. He instinctively wanted to argue, but maybe he wouldn't have to argue with the Council to get someone to take him to Serenno. "Yes, Master Windu."

Master Windu nodded. "We will find out what the Sith had to do with this and we will rescue Obi-Wan. Don't worry, padawan. May the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you." Anakin ended the comm call, then immediately dialed Siri Kenobi. He plunged into speech as soon as her face popped up on his comm. "Master Siri, Obi-Wan was kidnapped and Master Windu doesn't want to let me go to rescue him, even though the kidnapper told me to come alone to save him or Obi-Wan will die."

"All right, calm down and start from the beginning. Where are you right now?" Master Siri asked.

"I'm on Tatooine on a moisture farm outside of Anchorhead. It's a long story," Anakin said.

"Ferus, start packing!" Master Siri called over her shoulder. "We're still in the Mid Rim, but we've wrapped up our mission. We'll head towards you. Explain everything in detail. Maybe we can grab you and go after Obi-Wan before the Council notices."

Anakin's chest released. He knew she would be on his side. "It started when I had a nightmare…"

STAR WARS

"Master Windu coming to Tatooine does put a damper on things," Siri said. "But we're only a few hours out now, so we should be there well before he is. I can leave Ferus behind to protect your mother, and I'll accompany you to Serenno. If Obi-Wan's kidnapper wanted you to come, I don't feel safe gambling on sending another Jedi without you present. That could jeopardize his life."

"Um…Master…" Ferus spoke up tentatively.

Anakin couldn't see him, but he could guess what was bothering Ferus. "Don't want to have to explain to Master Windu that your master and me went off to break the rules?"

"It'll be fine, Ferus," Siri said. "Sometimes it's better to ask forgiveness than permission, especially when lives are at stake. You can just tell Master Windu that Anakin commed to inform me of the situation and I felt the Force prodding me to take Anakin to Serenno. That way, he'll just think I'm being a maverick like Qui-Gon Jinn instead of deliberately ignoring him."

"But…that's…" Ferus stammered.

"Come on, Ferus, live a little," Anakin said. The stuffy boy never could recognize when the rules weren't exactly necessary.

"I…will do as you say, Master," Ferus said.

Anakin smiled.

"Good," Siri said. "Now, I will comm Luminara on Ansion about the kidnapping, but hopefully she will be able to give me enough information that we can travel straight to Serenno to rescue Obi-Wan. Try to get some rest while you're waiting, Anakin. You may need it once we get to Serenno."

"Yes, ma'am," Anakin said. "And thank you."

"Anytime," Siri said.

Serenno dominated the viewport of Master Siri's ship. Anakin shifted in the copilot's seat. He couldn't sense anything to tell him where Obi-Wan was on the planet.

"Anything?" Siri asked.

Anakin shook his head. "I can sense he's here somewhere, but I have no idea where."

Siri sighed. "I was afraid of that. I can't sense much either. Serenno is Count Dooku's home planet, so we'll stop by his place and see if he's heard anything about Obi-Wan's whereabouts. Maybe he'll be able to help."

"Count Dooku?" Anakin said. He had never met the man, but he'd heard plenty about him. "He was Qui-Gon's master, right?"

Siri nodded. "I don't think he and Obi-Wan have ever met, but Dooku used to be a Jedi, so that shouldn't matter."

"Do you think Obi-Wan's all right?" Anakin asked. Was his master being tortured right now? Who would kidnap Obi-Wan just to get Anakin? Why would anyone care that much about Anakin? And how was Anakin supposed to turn himself over to Obi-Wan's captor if he didn't know who captured him?

"I'm sure he'll be all right," Siri said. "Obi-Wan is strong and smart. For all we know, he's escaped already."

Count Dooku lived in a palace. An actual palace.

No wonder he left the Jedi Order if he wanted to live in a place like this.

Master Siri set the ship down on a landing pad right outside of Count Dooku's palace. Several battle droids stood on the platform with their blasters trained on Anakin. He gave them a nice glare even though they had nothing to do with the battle droids the Trade Federation attacked Naboo with.

He hopped out of the ship before Siri was ready to leave.

The battle droids trained their blasters on Anakin.

"Hands up, Jedi," one of them said.

Anakin obeyed, even though he could have cut them to pieces in seconds. Obi-Wan would tell him that cutting Count Dooku's security to pieces wouldn't make a very good impression. "It's just me. I'm Anakin Skywalker. I was rescued by Qui-Gon Jinn, Count Dooku's apprentice."

"Hands up, Jedi!" the droids repeated.

Anakin sighed. One thing battle droids weren't known for was their computing prowess.

"Whoa. Security," Siri said. She activated her lightsaber.

"Stand down," a cultured voice aid before Anakin could grab his own blade. An older man in dark clothing stroked down the platform, a dark brown cape flaring behind him. "My dear Skywalker, I thought I told you to come alone."

The voice clicked in Anakin's brain. This was the same voice that was on the holo. His blade leapt to his hand, activating in an instant. "You're the one that kidnapped Obi-Wan!"

Count Dooku tilted his head. "You didn't know?"