as bitterly.
Taroon stalked off. Qui-Gon turned to Obi-Wan with a sigh.
"We have no choice," he said in a low tone. "We must contact King
Frane immediately. If we don't, Taroon will, and our trust with the king
will be violated."
He activated his holocom and was put through to the king at once. The
king shimmered in the dark night, a ghostly blue presence. Briefly, Qui-Gon
told him the news.
"Who took him?" King Frane roared.
"We do not know yet," Qui-Gon answered. "But we will. I can give you
my assurance that we will not sleep until we find your son."
"I think you've got enough sleep!" King Frane thundered. "While you
fools were dreaming, they stole him from right under your noses! How could
you let this happen? You are Jedi!"
Obi-Wan admired again how Qui-Gon could meet insults with composure.
"Jedi are not infallible, King Frane," his Master said evenly. "We
are living beings, not machines. I will find your son."
"You'd better," King Frane responded. "Where is Taroon?"
Taroon reappeared out of the darkness. "Here, Father."
"Start for Rutan at once," King Frane ordered. "I do not want you
taken as a prisoner of war." "War?" Qui-Gon asked.
King Frane was grim. "If you don't find my son within the next twelve
hours, my army will invade Senali, and we will find him ourselves!"
CHAPTER 11
Taroon gathered his pack hastily, grabbing his items and stuffing
them inside.
"You'll need a guide," Qui-Gon said. "Perhaps Drenna will lead you
back."
"I do not need a guide," Taroon said angrily. "She will lead me
astray and leave me to die, no doubt."
Drenna fixed him with her cool silver gaze. "Don't be a fool. If you
go alone, you'll get lost. If you wait until daybreak, the Nali-Erun will
lead you to the road."
"That is more time than I want to spend on this vile planet," Taroon
said. "Every minute I am here is torture."
Drenna shrugged. "Then swim to shore and find your way through the
swamp. Drown or get lost. I don't care."
He glared at her, but she ignored him. Finally Taroon stomped off. He
sat down on the dock at a distance from them, facing the horizon where the
sun would soon appear.
Qui-Gon motioned to Obi-Wan. "We must contact Meenon and tell him
that King Frane is threatening to invade."
Obi-Wan nodded. "I hope he does not insult you the way King Frane
did."
Qui-Gon's blue gaze was clear. "King Frane wraps his fear in insults.
But what he said was true, Padawan. I should have been more alert. I had
not thought it necessary to stay awake, or to trade shifts with you. I had
not felt even a trickle of apprehension or danger."
"I did not, either," Obi-Wan admitted. "We were both wrong."
"Then we must accept the consequences," Qui-Gon said. "Now, let us
face Meenon."
Qui-Gon activated the holocom. He imagined that Meenon would have to
be awakened, but the Senali leader appeared immediately.
"You do not need to tell me your news," he said heavily. "King Frane
has threatened invasion. You should be aware that if this occurs, he will
bring catastrophe to the entire planet of Rutan. Senalis will no longer
allow themselves to be ground under the boot of Rutanian forces. All
Senalis will fight, just as we did in the great war. And we will triumph
once again."
Meenon's harsh words were choked with anger. The wavering image was
faint but conveyed every nuance of his expression.
"Many lives were lost in that war," Qui-Gon said. "It left a
devastated planet behind. It took generations before Senali recovered."
"Yet we would fight again!" Meenon cried. "We will not stand for
invasion!"
"I think calm is called for, as hard as it is to find it," Qui-Gon
said. "Neither Senali nor Rutan wants a war - "
Meenon held up a hand. "Stop. You don't understand. King Frane has
imprisoned my daughter, Yaana. The beloved daughter I entrusted to his
care. He has thrown her in a filthy prison with criminals. He shall pay."
This was bad news indeed. Qui-Gon had feared it. Each step King Frane
took was leading his planet into war. He did not seem to care.
"I do not want a war, it's true," Meenon continued. "But only a
foolish ruler would not be prepared to fight. My troops are being
mobilized. We will meet their boot with our own force. We will not wait to
be invaded. We will invade them!"
"I respect your anger and grief," Qui-Gon said carefully. "But if
there was a way to free your daughter and avert a war, would you take it?
And, if you invade, how do you know that King Frane will not give the order
to execute your daughter?"
Meenon hesitated. "I am not a bloodthirsty savage like King Frane,"
he said at last. "Of course I would try to avert a war. I do not want to
see the daughters and sons of Senali killed."
"Then let us find Leed and free Yaana," Qui-Gon urged. "Give us
twelve hours. And help us. Tell us if there is some faction, some clan on
Senali who could have done this. We saw them in the moonlight. Their skin
was smeared with clay, and they wore headpieces of white coral - "
"The Ghost Ones," Meenon interrupted. "I can't say for sure, but it
could be. They call themselves a clan but they have no ties of blood. We
are not sure who they are. They have appeared only recently. They make
trouble between clans. They are against the trade of royal children, of any
contact whatsoever with Rutan. I do not know what they want to gain, but it
could be the Ghost Ones who took Leed."
"Do you know where they are?" Qui-Gon asked.
He shook his head. "They are nomadic. They have no single camp. You
need a good tracker, one who can track over water."
"You must find us one immediately and send the tracker here," Qui-Gon
urged.
"But you are with the best right now," Meenon said. "Drenna."
Meenon cut the transmission. Qui-Gon turned to search for Drenna.
Taroon sat as far away as he could get from them.
The rest of the deck was empty. Drenna was gone.
"Where did she go?" Obi-Wan breathed. He had not heard her make a
sound.
Taroon saw the Jedi searching the deck. He stood and rushed over to
them.
"Now do you believe me?" he demanded. "She slipped away when you were
busy and my back was turned. She is behind the taking of Leed. She's gone
to meet him!"
Qui-Gon scanned the dark lagoon. The dark purple sky was graying. On
the horizon a faint line of light told him the sun was rising. He could
smell the morning.
Far across the lagoon he saw a tiny ripple of movement. It could have
been a fish, but he knew it wasn't. Drenna was swimming. She was almost out
of the lagoon, into the open sea.
Taroon followed his gaze. "After her!"
Drenna's firm stroke slowed. She dove underneath the surface. When
she reappeared, she changed direction slightly.
"She has gone after them, it's true," Qui-Gon said. "But not because
she's one of them. She's gone to t
rack them." He turned to Obi-Wan. "Put on
your breather. We must catch her." "I am coming with you," Taroon said.
"No. You could not keep up with us, Taroon. And your father wants you
back on Rutan." Qui-Gon put his hand on Taroon's shoulder. "I know you want
to find your brother. But you must trust us. Go back to Rutan. Do not
aggravate your father. The worlds are too close to war. We will bring Leed
safely to you."
Reluctantly, Taroon nodded. He watched as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan donned
their breathing devices and dove into the lagoon.
The water was chilly, but as they swam their muscles warmed. Every so
often Qui-Gon would surface in order to scan for Drenna ahead of them. She
was moving at an erratic pace, swimming quickly, diving, and sometimes
changing direction. Every few meters she would dive again.
They caught up to her at last. She was underwater, swimming slowly
along the lagoon bottom. When she saw them, she pointed overhead and began
to shoot toward the surface.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan followed. The sun was now visible on the horizon
and painted the lagoon with a faint blush of pink light.
"How are you tracking them?" Qui-Gon asked. "Can we help?"
"The rocshore fish," she said. "When a boat passes overhead it blocks
out light. The roc-shores are very shy and bury themselves in the sand for
some time afterward. That's why you can't hunt rocshores on boats. We are
lucky the night was so bright. I'm following the mounds. They're hard to
see if you don't know where to look. Just follow me."
They dove under the surface again. Drenna swam along the bottom, her
head swiveling to take in the sandy surface. Every so often she would come
up for air and point in a slightly different direction. Obi-Wan had no idea
what had triggered her movement. He found it difficult to see the mounds at
all. Was Drenna leading them astray deliberately while the kidnappers got
away?
There were so many times on missions that he did not know whom to
trust. Qui-Gon seemed to have the gift to see beyond the surface into
feelings and motivations that Obi-Wan missed. Qui-Gon never seemed to make
a mistake. Only with his former apprentice, Xanatos, had he extended trust
too far and met disaster. Xanatos was dead now. Obi-Wan imagined that one
such miscalculation was enough for one lifetime. If he watched and learned
from Qui-Gon, maybe he could avoid mistakes such as that in the future.
Already his past experiences had made him more cautious than he'd been as a
student. He was certain he had become a better Padawan as a result.
Drenna wound through the cluster of islands. Sometimes she had to
backtrack, but Obi-Wan could see they were making steady progress. He was
tiring, but he knew he had reserves of strength he had not yet tapped.
At last she signaled to them to come to the surface with her. A small
island was a short distance away, and she jerked her chin toward it.
"I think they are on that island," she whispered. "They dragged the
boat up on that beach. They tried to cover the marks, but I can tell by the
surface of the sand that it's been swept with fronds. I say we circle
around and go ashore."
Qui-Gon scanned the island. "They are most likely in the center of
the island, hidden by the trees."
Drenna nodded. "If we're lucky, they haven't posted lookouts. They
probably think they are safe. This island cluster is uninhabited. There
aren't any clans for many kilometers."
"We'll have to risk going ashore," Qui-Gon agreed. "Don't surface
until we're near land. We will follow you."
Taking a deep breath, Drenna disappeared silently under the surface.
Obi-Wan followed Drenna with a new burst of energy. They were close
now. If they could rescue Leed and return him to Rutan, war could be
averted.
They surfaced silently and waded ashore, quickly dashing across the
exposed beach to gain shelter under the branches of the sand-sweeping
trees.
"It's a small island," Qui-Gon said quietly. "We won't have to search
long before we find them."
Jedi learned early at the Temple how to move without sound, but
Senalis were just as practiced at the art. The three of them moved through
space without disturbing a leaf. They melted through the shade of the
trees, their eyes searching for a telltale clue.
Suddenly Qui-Gon stopped. He held up a hand.
Obi-Wan saw and heard nothing. A stand of trees was ahead, the
branches so thick the sun only penetrated in thin, watery fingers of light.
Qui-Gon pointed above, a finger to his lips.
It took Obi-Wan a few seconds to realize that the Senalis were
sleeping over their heads, nestled into the thick branches of the trees.
Preparing for the dawn raid must have kept them awake throughout the night.
Their boat and supplies were suspended in a net high above the ground.
Leed was tied to a tree branch, his back against the trunk. His eyes
were closed. His hands and feet were bound with cable wire. A leather gag
was tied over his mouth. A deep reddish bruise was forming on his
cheekbone. Dried blood caked his tunic.
Drenna didn't flinch. Her jaw tightened, and she silently withdrew
the crossbow that was strapped to her back. Qui-Gon withdrew his
lightsaber. Obi-Wan followed suit.
Qui-Gon indicated with a gesture that they should try to free Leed
without awakening his captors. Obi-Wan and Drenna nodded.
They made no sound as they moved forward, but one of the kidnappers
awoke. They froze, but he casually looked down as he stretched. He stopped
in the middle of a yawn, his eyes wide.
"Invasion! To your weapons!" he shouted.
CHAPTER 12
The Senalis were armed with the common weapon of their world, dart
shooters. Qui-Gon guessed that the darts contained a paralyzing agent. Leed
might have some paralysis once they managed to free him.
The darts rained down on them from above. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan kept
their backs to each other in order to cover a complete circle. Their
lightsabers whirled above their heads in a blur of blue and green as they
deflected dart after dart, even as they made their steady way toward Leed.
The branches of the trees were thickly clustered. The tree where Leed
was held would not be difficult to climb. But could they climb, deflect
darts, and get Leed down the tree, all at the same time? It would be a
challenge, Obi-Wan thought grimly.
"We need to get them down here," Qui-Gon said to him tersely. "If we
can fight them on the ground, Drenna can rescue Leed."
"I'll get them down," Drenna said. She hoisted her crossbow to her
shoulder and began to fire a rapid volley of laser arrows into the trees.
She was a blur of motion, firing off five arrows at a time and barely
pausing to reload before firing again. The kidnappers began to drop from
the trees to escape the arrows falling on their heads.
"Cover me," she called to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and started for Leed.
The enemy was now all around them, and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan kept up a
constant dance of movement, deflecting the poison dar
ts and keeping the
Senalis away from Drenna as she swiftly made her way up the tree. She
removed a small fusioncutter from her utility belt and carefully cut away
the carbon wire binding Leed's wrists and ankles. He slumped against her,
but when she helped him to his feet he was able make his way down the
branch toward the trunk. His legs seemed stiff, but he could walk.
Qui-Gon drifted closer to Obi-Wan. "Gather them underneath that tree,
" he said, indicating one close to them.
Working together, they whirled and attacked, driving the Senalis