An odd look passed over his Master’s face. “Your feelings are important, Padawan,” he said kindly. “And they are important to me. But you are being swayed by emotion. That is different from following your feelings. You should know the difference by now. Gather the Force around you. See what it tells you.”
Annoyed at Obi-Wan’s rebuke, Anakin turned away. He gazed at the trees, letting the tones of green invade him, letting the noise of the rustling leaves calm him. He gathered in the Force.
Once again, he felt the darkness rise. Once again, it seemed to be coming from several sources. Yet there was one powerful darkness here as well.
Surprised, he turned to Obi-Wan. “It is confusing. There seem to be several sources of darkness, and at the same time, only one.”
Obi-Wan nodded. “That is what I sense, too.”
“But I don’t get any feeling about Wren. Perhaps he is in danger,” Anakin said reluctantly. He didn’t want Obi-Wan to be right.
“Let’s go to the ship,” Obi-Wan suggested. “We’ll try to raise Wren on his comlink. Then we will make the decision about Floria.” He put his hand on Anakin’s shoulder. “Together.”
Anakin nodded. He realized that Obi-Wan had just given him a kind of apology. It was just like Obi-Wan to veil it in lessons.
They returned to the girl, who had slumped on the ground a good distance away from the bounty hunter.
“Come on,” Anakin said. “We’re heading for the ship.”
“Good.” She rose with a shiver. “I can’t wait to get off this planet.”
“One moment. We can’t leave the Tursha like this,” Obi-Wan said. “When dusk comes, the malia will be roaming.” He withdrew a flexible tarp from his survival pack. He unfurled it and created a free-form tent around the seated bounty hunter. The color of the tarp took on the color of its surroundings, camouflaging the Tursha. “This should protect you somewhat,” Obi-Wan told him. “We will return for you before the paralyzer wears off.”
They left the trees and struck out across the meadow. Anakin hoped they would be able to raise Wren on the comlink. He was anxious to bring Floria to safety. Suddenly their training exercise had turned into a mission. He didn’t mind the shift. He would rather face danger and save lives than track an elder Jedi up a mountain any day.
They were relieved to see that the ship was just as they’d left it. They hurried toward it.
Suddenly, the ground in front of them exploded, sending a shower of dirt and rocks into the air. Another explosion came to the right of them.
They were being fired on—from all directions at once. The blaster bolts pinged and whistled, sending up showers of dirt around them.
Anakin and Obi-Wan both activated their lightsabers in one fluid motion.
“Get Floria to the ship!” Obi-Wan yelled, deflecting fire.
Anakin tucked Floria against his side, away from the worst of the fire. He ran quickly, deflecting fire as he moved.
Obi-Wan stayed in front of him, taking the brunt of the fire and clearing a path to the ship. Anakin activated the landing ramp and quickly ran up with Floria. After a moment, Obi-Wan followed.
Anakin slid into the pilot’s seat. “We don’t have time to contact Wren. We’d better get out of here.”
“Yes, hurry!” Floria’s face was white with fear. “What if they come after this ship, too?”
Obi-Wan peered outside at the blaster fire that was still erupting. Bolts peppered the ship. Smoke filled the air outside.
Anakin reached for the engine controls.
“Wait.” Obi-Wan’s voice was a command.
“Wait?” Floria’s voice rose. “For what? To get killed?”
“I feel a surge in the Force,” Obi-Wan said.
“You feel a what in the what?” Floria’s head whipped from Obi-Wan to Anakin.
An explosion outside the ship almost threw Obi-Wan to the floor. Floria screamed and gripped her chair. “Please, let’s take off!”
Obi-Wan gripped the console, concentrating, as though there were no blasters, no explosions outside. And now Anakin could feel it, too. The dark side surged. He had been too intent on leaving, on Floria’s panic, on the blaster fire. This was something he had to learn. His connection to the Force was strong, but sometimes it got crowded out by more immediate things. Obi-Wan was able to hold everything in his mind at once.
Obi-Wan dropped to his knees. Floria looked down at him as though he were crazy.
“Is he afraid?” she whispered to Anakin. “I don’t blame him! Let’s take off!”
“Wait.” Anakin watched Obi-Wan. He knew now that the darkness was in the ship, not outside it.
“I found it.” Obi-Wan’s voice was muffled, and Anakin had to strain to hear over the sound of the blaster fire.
Obi-Wan raised his head, then stood. He held a black box in his hand. “A sleeper bomb. If we had taken off, we would have been blown out of the sky.”
Chapter Eight
Floria looked as though she might faint. “A bomb? Can you d-defuse it?”
“I’m afraid not,” Obi-Wan said. “It could go off at any time. So let’s go.”
“The comlinks—” Anakin said.
“No time. Go!” Obi-Wan ordered, leaning forward to access the landing ramp.
Floria was already out of her chair and running to the exit. Obi-Wan pushed Anakin ahead of him and they hurried after her, leaving the bomb behind.
As they raced down the ramp, Obi-Wan caught a glimpse of a figure dressed in black at the cargo door. He was trying to sneak aboard.
Floria screamed, and the bomb went off. Obi-Wan was blown off his feet. The figure in black went flying as well. Smoke rolled over them. Obi-Wan raised his head, trying to see. Coughing against the acrid smoke in his mouth, he struggled to his knees.
Obi-Wan peered through the rolling smoke to make sure Anakin and Floria were all right. Anakin was already standing and bending down to help a coughing Floria to rise.
“Anakin, check the area!” Obi-Wan shouted as he headed for the figure in black.
The figure rose shakily. Stumbling and falling, he attempted to run away. Obi-Wan raced toward him.
He had almost reached him when he felt something heavy land on his back. Hands covered his eyes. Hair brushed against his face.
Obi-Wan tried to twist away. “Floria?”
Suddenly the young slender girl had the moves of an assassin. She used a variety of intricate holds to slow down Obi-Wan while he struggled to move toward the figure in black. He tried to shake her off, but he didn’t want to harm her.
Hands covered his eyes, and he carefully pried them off.
“I don’t want to hurt you.…” he said.
She didn’t answer, just wound one leg around his, trying to trip him, while she grabbed his ear.
“That’s enough.” Obi-Wan grabbed her wrists and expertly flipped her over and down onto the ground. Her breath left her as she landed hard.
The figure in black hesitated. It was easy for Obi-Wan to stride forward and grab him by the scruff of the neck.
“All right, you two. What’s going on?” he asked sternly.
Anakin ran back to him. “The blaster fire and explosions were set off by timed devices.” He looked at Floria, who gazed up at Obi-Wan furiously from the ground. Then he looked at the squirming figure in Obi-Wan’s grip. “What’s going on?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” Obi-Wan threw back the figure’s black hood. Close-cropped blond hair and wide eyes the same brilliant blue as Floria’s met his. The boy was only a few years older than Floria.
Obi-Wan looked at Floria. “Your brother, I presume.”
The boy shot Floria a look clearly intended to keep her silent. Obi-Wan sighed. “Anakin, check his pack.”
Anakin picked up a small pack the boy had worn on his back. He opened it and went through it. “Just some basic survival gear. A tarp and some rations.”
Obi-Wan gave the boy a little shake. “I’m losing patienc
e.”
“Dane, we’ve been double-crossed,” Floria said, rising gingerly and rubbing her elbow. “Why shouldn’t we tell them? I’m getting a bad feeling about this planet. There was a sleeper bomb aboard that ship! That’s totally against the rules!”
Dane said nothing.
“What rules?” Anakin asked.
“Now we’re stuck here with the Jedi with no way to get off the planet,” Floria continued. “We destroyed that ship for nothing. You and your big ideas!”
“You destroyed your own ship?” Anakin asked in disbelief.
“Cooperation doesn’t seem like such a bad idea, considering the circumstances,” Floria said, still speaking to her brother.
Dane shrugged. “So things didn’t work out. They could have.”
“But they didn’t,” Floria said.
“But they could have,” Dane shot back.
“Who are you two?” Obi-Wan asked angrily, his patience exhausted.
“Bounty hunters,” Floria said.
Anakin and Obi-Wan exchanged an incredulous look. These two young people, bounty hunters?
“Who are you hunting?” Anakin asked.
“You,” Floria told him. “We’re supposed to find the Jedi and bring you back, dead or alive.”
“Bring us back where?” Obi-Wan asked. “Who hired you?”
“Let me just point out that we weren’t going to kill you,” Floria said quickly, not answering Obi-Wan’s question. “We weren’t the ones that planted the sleeper bomb, obviously.”
“What about that blaster fire?” Anakin asked.
“We knew you could handle that. We just wanted to add a little urgency to the situation,” Dane said. “You’d take off if you thought you were under attack.”
“We didn’t want to kill you,” Floria assured them. “We don’t kill beings. We just trick them. Just like we tricked you. It would have worked if there hadn’t been that bomb. Listen, tricking is much safer.”
“Are you actually successful at this?” Anakin asked.
Floria and Dane exchanged a look. Floria sighed. “Nobody ever believes we’re bounty hunters. It’s so insulting. Yes, we’re successful. Take our last case. We—”
“Who hired you?” Obi-Wan asked in frustration, interrupting her brusquely.
“If you’re going to confess everything, you might try to be organized about it,” Dane said to Floria. “You always get off the subject.”
“I don’t,” Floria protested.
“You do, too. Always.”
“You shouldn’t say always,” Anakin broke in. “Absolutes are rarely true.”
“Enough!” Obi-Wan roared. “Who hired you? I want answers, and I want them now.”
Obi-Wan’s thunderous look cowed Floria and Dane.
“Granta Omega,” Floria said. “Do you know him? He’s on his ship, orbiting the planet. Our plan was to lure you onto your own ship and get you to pilot it to what you’d think was my rendezvous ship but was actually Omega’s transport. Then we’d leave you there, collect the reward, and take off. Easy, right?”
“Obviously not, since you’re standing here with us now,” Obi-Wan said. “So who put the sleeper bomb on the ship?”
“I don’t know,” Floria admitted.
“It could be anyone,” Dane said. “Omega hired four other bounty hunters besides us. The first one to succeed wins the prize—and it’s an enormous fortune. The only rule is that the bounty hunters aren’t allowed to harm one another.”
“Obviously, someone broke the rules,” Floria said disapprovingly. “I could have died aboard that ship.”
“Not to mention us,” Anakin said.
“What about the other Jedi?” Obi-Wan asked.
“He’s not part of the deal,” Dane said. “We’re supposed to go after the Master–Padawan team. That was it.”
“What information were you given about us?” Obi-Wan asked. “How did you know where to find us?”
“We knew you were on a training mission on Ragoon-6,” Floria said. “That’s all.”
That’s all? That’s too much. Obi-Wan couldn’t believe it. The training missions weren’t secret. But Jedi did not speak of them to outsiders. Of course, there were those in the Senate who knew about them. And Senators, Obi-Wan knew too well, could be bribed.
“Tell me about the other bounty hunters,” Obi-Wan said. “Do you know them?”
Dane nodded. “They are well known to those who know about these things. Teleq is one. We know him by reputation only. He’s known for his cunning use of technology. Then there is Mol Arcasite. She is ruthless. She will take innocent lives to get what she wants. And she doesn’t care if she brings her prey back dead. Most bounty hunters prefer to catch beings alive. It saves them a possible security arrest themselves. You never know who might be watching.”
“Mol gives us all a bad name,” Floria said. “Come to think of it, she could have planted that sleeper bomb. It’s just her style.”
“What about the bounty hunter with the Stokhli stick?” Obi-Wan asked.
“Don’t know him,” Floria said. “He was awfully good. But he almost blew my cover when he saw me. I couldn’t believe it when he said ‘They were mine.’”
“So he was talking about us,” Anakin said, indicating himself and Obi-Wan. “And you made us think you were concerned about your friends!”
Floria’s eyes shone. “Wasn’t I good?”
“She can cry on cue,” Dane confided.
“Who is the last bounty hunter?” Obi-Wan asked.
“Hunti Pereg,” Dane answered. “He has the most awesome reputation of all. He has never failed to capture his prey. Not once.”
“Of course, he has never met the Jedi,” Floria rushed to assure them.
Obi-Wan gave her an exasperated look. “Neither have you. If you had, you’d know we can see through flattery. You think Hunti Pereg can catch us.”
“Well, he is very good,” Floria said.
Obi-Wan stood, thinking a moment. Now he knew that those vague feelings had a source, after all. He knew one thing for sure: Wren had not left those clues. One of the bounty hunters had.
It was time to contact the Temple. A Jedi was in danger. He could feel it. But their comlinks had been blown up with the ship.
“We were deliberately led into that malia den,” he told Anakin. “And the cavern. Someone left those clues for us to follow.”
“Which means that Wren…” Anakin began.
“Has been captured or possibly even killed,” Obi-Wan finished gravely. “But why? Why is this Granta Omega after us? What else do you know about him?”
“Not much. We’ve never seen him. We’ve communicated through comm channels. The only thing we know is that he is the richest being in the galaxy,” Floria said.
“Not the richest,” Dane corrected. “You always exaggerate.”
“Okay, one of the richest,” Floria said.
“Why has he targeted the Jedi?” Anakin asked.
Floria and Dane shook their heads. “We don’t know,” Floria said. “In this business, you don’t ask too many questions. It’s better not to get too involved.”
“Speaking of which, hanging around with you two might be dangerous to our health,” Dane said. “So if you don’t mind, Floria and I will take our chances on Ragoon.” He grabbed Floria’s hand and began to edge away.
Obi-Wan blocked their path. “Not a chance,” he said firmly. “You’re not going anywhere until we find out exactly what’s going on. We might need your help.”
“What help could we possibly be?” Floria asked. “We told you everything we know.”
“I’m sure you did not,” Obi-Wan said. “You know the bounty hunters who are after us. You’re not going anywhere until we know more about who is after us…and why.”
Chapter Nine
“So, what now?” Anakin asked Obi-Wan.
“When you are the hunted, the best thing to do is to turn the tables,” Obi-Wan said. “You must become the
hunter.”
“Track the bounty hunters,” Anakin said.
Obi-Wan nodded. “We can start with the sleeper bomb. It needed a nearby power source to gather sufficient charge for someone to set it off. We need to find the power source, which won’t be far.”
“Whoa, wait a second,” Floria said. “I didn’t sign on for this. If you’re going to chase down the rest of the bounty hunters, you’ve got to let us go. This could be dangerous.”
“Bounty hunting isn’t dangerous?” Anakin asked.
“We minimize our risks,” Dane said. He hooked his fingers into his thick black utility belt. “Which doesn’t seem to be a consideration for Jedi.”
“When it comes down to it, we just aren’t very brave,” Floria confessed.
“Speak for yourself, Floria,” Dane said, scowling.
Floria ignored him. “So it’s in your best interests to let us go. I tend to scream when trouble happens. And after all, it isn’t fair. Bounty hunters are chasing you, not us. Why put us in harm’s way?”
“Let me ask you something,” Obi-Wan said. “Don’t you think the bounty hunter knew you were aboard our ship before activating the signal?”
Floria bit her lip. “You mean we’re a target, too?”
Obi-Wan shrugged. “Think about it. After all, the fewer bounty hunters there are, the easier it is to win the prize.”
“But there are rules!” Floria protested. “Bounty hunters are forbidden to attack one another.”
“In my experience, the larger the reward, the greater the chance rules will be broken,” Obi-Wan said.
“Granta Omega wouldn’t stand for it,” Floria said, but she sounded less certain.
“Would you bet your life on the ethics of a being who is using bounty hunters to trap Jedi on a training exercise?” Obi-Wan asked mildly.
Floria was silent.
Obi-Wan waited while the sister and brother exchanged a glance. He was not about to let Floria and Dane go. Despite their assurances that they weren’t dangerous, the reward would still tempt them to make trouble for the Jedi. Obi-Wan had no doubt that he and Anakin could handle any attack the bounty-hunting team could launch at them, but he’d rather not have to deal with it at all so he could focus on rescuing Wren and getting to the bottom of who was behind this.