Chapter 34

Fear

"Can't make up your mind which way to go? Of course not, Jedi have to stop to consider everything. You can't trust your senses, you can't trust the Force here. You just have to choose."

The disembodied voice was really starting to annoy Ahsoka. She wanted to stick a lightsaber in something, but unfortunately the only physical object that she knew was connected to Darth Nadir was the holocron that lay in pieces inside a message capsule back on her ship.

She stared at the three tunnels in front of her, then looked behind. Unfortunately, it looked like the voice was right. She couldn't trust her senses.

"I have a name, you know."

"I don't really care. You're long gone. You just won't admit it." Ahsoka sat down and crossed her legs. "I will find a way through your illusions. I will find a way out. I'm not afraid of you."

The voice laughed, "Oh, you will be. If not of me, than of something. I have seen your desires. Your fear will naturally follow them."

"Right now I desire"–she put extra emphasis on the word desire–"some peace and quiet so I can meditate."

She closed her eyes. There was no point in looking around if the voice in her head was going to alter her senses. In spite of the presence of the dark side, both in her head and around her, she tried to center herself, to reach the core of her own being.

"Oh, come now. If that's how you want to play this game, I can show you what you're missing out on. Oh, the fun they're having outside."

Ahsoka ignored the voice, and continued trying to center herself.

The voice sighed, "Very well. If you won't listen, then I'll just have to show you."

"We... surrender?" said Nat, questioningly. He and Bollux were surrounded by a group of Weequay pirates, all armed. The pirates parted to make way for someone who was obviously their leader. The man wore a helmet, goggles, and despite his rather shabby underclothes, a resplendent cloak covered his back and shoulders, and fell down to his knees. A few armor plates were mounted on his shoulders, and ran down the front of the open cloak. He walked up to the two, with his hands crossed behind his back.

"Well well, what do we have here? A child and a beat-up old droid?" he shook his head, "I do not think that I need to tell you why I am here, and who I am looking for."

"I don't know where Ahsoka is, honest!" said Nat, "I'm just traveling with her. She was here a few minutes ago, then she disappeared. I didn't see her leave or anything!"

"So unlike her, to leave a small child alone to stand against a group of bloodthirsty pirates." The Weequay threw his hands in the air and yelled, "My, how the mighty Jedi have fallen! To leave a defenseless child in such a situation. Disgraceful!"

He shouted to the hilltops, "I suppose I do not have to remind you what a Jedi's responsibilities are! If you do not give yourself up, I am afraid I will have to take your passenger, your droid, and your ship as compensation. I do not wish to do such a thing, but I am afraid that I must."

Hondo looked down at Nat, "Now, little boy, tell me: what is your name?"

"Nat," he said as he swallowed nervously, "Nat Vena."

"Johta, run a check. See if there is a Nat Vena on the bounty list. I do not wish to be taken by surprise. I have dealt with small Jedi before, and they can be quite troublesome."

The pirate he indicated pulled out a datapad and pressed a few buttons. "No Nat Vena here. Just a Nattin Tosruk, Nat Tina, and a Nathalia Hrung."

"Hmm. Nat Tina... that sounds like a Twi'lek name. You wouldn't happen to be using a fake name, would you?"

"No sir. I'm an orphan. Because of the Clone Wars. Ahsoka took me in. She's very kind, if you find her, please don't hurt her." Nat tried to sound as sincere as possible.

"I suppose it could be true. The Twi'lek people suffered much because of the Clone Wars. But there is a simpler way to tell. You, droid. Tell me, is this boy's real name Nat Vena, or could he possibly be Padawan Nat Tina? You must be honest with me, droids are programmed to tell the truth."

Bollux cocked his head and immediately replied, "To the best of my knowledge, his name is Nat Vena. Former Padawan Tano has informally adopted him since he is without family. As to her whereabouts, I neither saw nor heard her leave the ship. I currently have no clue as to her whereabouts."

"Interesting." Hondo paced back and forth, his hands behind his back again. "You two, tie them up. You four, ransack the ship. The rest of you, stand guard. She could attack at any moment."

He walked back towards the Surronian cruiser and said, quietly to his henchman, Johta, "Get on the com, make sure that a hidden tracking device is placed on the boy and the bot. It might just be the years of paranoia talking, but he didn't pronounce his name the way a Twi'lek who grew up on Ryloth would. And most of the Twi'leks who died in the war died on Ryloth. Also, make sure that the patrols give him a few seconds here and there to slip away. I suspect he's a Jedi Padawan on the run too, and he could lead us right to her."

"Yes sir," said Johta.

"It's a risk, but it's worth it if we get paid for two Padawans instead of just one."

Arc lay flat on the top of the chasm, peering down into it with macrobinoculars. "I see at least six on guard, plus the ones inside the ships. No heavy weapons so far, but plenty of blasters and force pikes. Nat and BLX-5 are tied up together next to the Whipclaw. Still no sign of Ahsoka. I can't imagine she would have abandoned Nat like this."

"Maybe she's got a plan," Jyssa offered. "I just wish she had her stang communicator with her."

"If she's out there, I'm sure she'll find us."

"Yeah, hopefully before the pirates do."

Another voice came from behind them, "Nat is safe for now."

"Don't sneak up on me like that," yelped Jyssa. She turned to see Ylenic crouched behind her. "I thought you were out there, scouting."

"I was. I've gotten a fairly decent lay of the land. I still can't sense Ahsoka, though. She's here, somewhere. But she is masked in the Force. The dark side is too strong here. Her light can't shine through."

"She's a bright kid. Give it time," Jyssa said wryly.

"And that's supposed to scare me?" Ahsoka asked, "Nat may be young and inexperienced, but he's smart and quick. He won't do anything stupid. And Hondo's not going to leave without me. I'm worth too much."

"Do you really think so? Hondo loves his money. He'd rather have half a sure thing than take a gamble, don't you think?"

"Hondo wants it all. If he can't have it, he'll stomp off in a huff. Just like he did on Felucia. I know him. Besides, Nat and Bollux aren't alone."

"The future is always in motion. I can show you what will happen if you continue to refuse me."

Author's note: Thanks for the patience, everybody! Work was nuts today, and I didn't have a spare moment to update the fic in the middle of the day. So I'm doing it real quick before I head out to dinner. I just hit the 32,000 word mark last night in my NaNoWriMo novel, which means that if the quick math I just did in my head is right, I'm about 40% of the way done. That's assuming my 80,000 word estimate based on my original outline is correct.

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for bearing with the delay this month. :)