by Джуд Уотсон
"Sure," Anakin said. "But how? It's a big mountain."
"Exactly," Obi-Wan said. "If I were Web, I'd want transport. His was destroyed. I'd need to do it without attracting any attention, so that lets out stealing one from a villager or an aide. But he knows where another one is — "
Anakin grinned and finished the sentence. "- just hanging around."
When they got to where Dane's speeder was hanging emeshed in the spiderweb, Robior Web was in the tree, trying to slice the web with his vibroblade. It was clear he had been trying for some time to release the swoop. His hands and tunic were covered with the sticky, ropy web. He had managed to free the back of the swoop, and it hung suspended from the handlebars, which were covered in the sticky goo.
Below on the ground, a dead reclumi spider lay in pieces, a victim of the same vibroblade, no doubt when it tried to defend its web.
Robior Web consulted a chrono, then attacked the web even more fiercely. He succeeded only in winding a large tendril of the web around his arm. They could not hear his curses, but they could see his frustration.
"Time is running out," Obi-Wan murmured. "My guess is he has an appointment."
With one last savage thrust, Robior Web managed to cut loose a ropy tendril, but it flopped away, then smacked back against the body of the swoop. Now it was more enmeshed than ever.
With a strangled cry, the assassin dropped from the tree and hit the ground. He began to run.
Obi-Wan and Anakin followed. They had to keep well behind, but it was easy to track his progress through the forest. He was heading around the mountain but climbing steadily.
"I think he's heading for the landing platform," Obi-Wan said. "We'll be coming at it from above."
After a hard climb, they realized Obi-Wan was right. Robior Web climbed over a peak and disappeared below. Obi-Wan and Anakin waited a moment, then climbed behind him and peered over the edge. Web was moving down toward the landing platform below.
Suddenly the sun was blocked out overhead. They looked up. A large transport was hovering. Robior Web quickened his pace and almost slid down to the deserted landing platform.
Behind the large transport, a sleek interstellar sloop dropped down from the sky, a sail ship, like none other in the galaxy.
"Dooku has arrived," Obi-Wan said.
The solar sailer landed. The landing ramp slid down and the tall, elegant figure of Count Dooku emerged. Obi-Wan felt Anakin tense.
Unconsciously, he touched the metal hand that had replaced the one Dooku had severed.
"So Dooku hired the assassin," Obi-Wan muttered as Robior Web skidded to a stop in front of Dooku, then bowed. "With or without Lorian, we don't know."
Distracted, he had not realized Anakin was rising until his Padawan was almost to his feet.
"Anakin what are you doing? Get down!"
"Let's get him now," Anakin said.
"Get down!" Obi-Wan insisted. To his relief, Anakin crouched down again. He faced him, his eyes full of fire and purpose.
"We have our chance to end it here," Anakin said. "Let's kill him. We can take him together. We won't make the same mistakes this time."
"Like being reckless and rushing him without a plan?" Obi-Wan asked pointedly. "It is what cost you your hand last time, and you are doing it again, Padawan."
"What are we waiting for?" Anakin asked. "We missed him at Raxus Prime, but we won't here. If we kill him, we kill the Separatist movement. What is one life against thousands? Maybe millions?"
"Anakin — "
"He killed our brothers and sisters on Geonosis," Anakin said bitterly. "Have you forgotten how they died?"
"I remember it every moment," Obi-Wan said. "But this is not the time.
This is not the way."
"You don't know what I can do," Anakin said, and there was an ominous tone in his voice. "My connection to the Force is stronger than yours.
I'm telling you I can do it! No matter what you say."
Obi-Wan was shocked. "You are still my apprentice," he said sharply.
"I am your Master. You must obey." The set of Anakin's mouth was sullen.
"Anakin, you must trust me," Obi-Wan said forcefully. "There will be another time to face Dooku. This is not the time.
Anakin looked at him. The sullen look was gone. His gaze was clear and cool. Obi-Wan could almost read contempt in it. But as the thought occurred to him, the look was gone. Had he really seen it?
"Look below," Obi-Wan said. "What do you think is in that transport?
Super battle droids. We would be dead before we took two steps on that platform. They're being unloaded now."
Anakin looked down at the platform. Lines of droids clicked into formation as they rolled off the transport. Obi-Wan could see the way Anakin's mind focused on the immediate problem. He could almost feel Anakin's anger drain away.
But why had it been there in the first place? Obi-Wan had a feeling he had seen a flash of something much deeper than he'd ever known before.
"He is taking no chances," Obi-Wan guessed. "If things do not go his way at the meeting, he will use force."
Reluctantly, Anakin tore his gaze away. "We should warn them."
"Yes," Obi-Wan said. "But who? Any one of them could be secretly in league with Dooku. We must consider our next step carefully. We must figure out who to talk to first."
"I say we talk to Floria," Anakin said.
"Why Floria?" Obi-Wan asked, puzzled. He didn't know what Anakin was thinking. He rarely did, anymore. But at least he was glad they were talking.
"I sense she is not telling all she knows," Anakin said. Obi-Wan thought back. He realized that he had picked up something from Floria, too. But he had been too focused on Lorian to consider it.
Your mind must be everywhere at once, Padawan. The truth has many sides.
Yes, Qui-Gon.
"There is more going on here than the Force can sense," Anakin said, repeating Lorian's words. "Feelings, he said. What did he mean?"
"I don't know," Obi-Wan said.
"That is why we must talk to Floria," Anakin said. He rose to his feet in one quick movement and began to run. Obi-Wan had to put on a burst of speed to catch up.
"Do you remember," Anakin said, "how upset she was when the body of Samish Kash was found?"
"She had failed in her mission to protect him," Obi-Wan said.
"I think the loss was more personal," Anakin said. "And later she called him 'Samish.' Dane always calls him 'Kash.' I think she's in love with him."
"How is that relevant to our mission?"
Anakin shot him a sidelong look. Amazing that they were running hard down a mountain, and Anakin could still have the energy for a healthy dose of scorn.
"Love is always relevant, Master," he said.
Chapter 25
Another bribe got them access to the cell.
"Take your time," the villager said, waving a hand as the door slid open. "We've decided to kill them at dawn."
The rest of the villagers roared and pounded the table. They had been drinking grog for some time now. The door slid shut, drowning out their laughter.
"Did you hear that?" Dane hissed at Floria.
"She's not afraid," Anakin said. "Why is that, Floria?" "I am not panicking like my brother, it's true," Floria said.
"And you are no longer grieving," Anakin said. "Why is that?"
Floria turned her extraordinary sky-blue eyes on Anakin. They looked at each other for a long moment. "You love him," Anakin said.
"Of course she loves me," Dane said. "I'm her brother." Another long silence. Anakin waited her out. Obi-Wan kept very still.
"I love Samish," Floria admitted. Her chin lifted and her eyes flashed, as though to say the words out loud had given her great pleasure.
"You love who?" Dane shouted.
"And he is still alive," Anakin said.
Floria nodded.
"What?" Dane cried, leaping in front of Floria. "You love Samish Kash, and he's still ali
ve?"
"Dane, stop. He was shot, but he survived," Floria said. "He decided to let everyone think he was dead after the attempt on his life. He wanted to find out who had put a price on his head and why. The alliance is very important to him, and he doesn't trust Dooku."
"He was our employer!" Dane said. "We worked for him. You were his bodyguard. You went against all professional standards — "
"Be quiet," Anakin ordered, turning on Dane. "Floria couldn't help her feelings."
"You can always help your feelings," Dane said. "Feelings need help.
Otherwise they get completely out of control!"
Obi-Wan ignored Dane. "When we first saw you, you thought Samish Kash was dead." At Floria's nod, he continued. "How did you find out he was alive?"
"You let me think I was going to be executed!" Dane cried, as a fresh wave of indignation swept over him.
"Lorian told me," Floria said. "He had brought Kash to the clinic. He, too, had thought he was dead. Kash revived on the med table. Lorian bribed the doctor and he and Samish came up with the plan. The first thing Samish asked Lorian to do was tell me. Right after that, we were arrested."
"Did you ever think of mentioning that the person we supposedly killed wasn't dead?" Dane asked.
"I couldn't say anything. Not until the meeting," Floria said. "If Dooku has a plan, it will take place there. Lorian and Samish decided that Samish should show up at the meeting. If Dooku had arranged his assassination, it might be enough to foil his plans."
"So Lorian told the truth," Obi-Wan said. "He didn't hire the assassin. He could have gotten off the hook by telling us Samish was alive, and he didn't."
"He had sworn to keep the secret," Floria said. "Samish always said Lorian had come both early and late to honor. I wasn't sure what he meant."
"I think I do." Obi-Wan looked at Anakin. "They are walking into a trap," he said.
A trap he could have prevented. He could have told Lorian about the battle droids, and he had not. Angry with himself, Obi-Wan piloted the speeder up the mountain toward Dooku's villa at maximum speed. It had only taken a little truth, a little persuasion, and two glowing lightsabers to get the villagers to release their prisoners. As soon as they heard that Samish Kash was alive and that the two hunters were actually Jedi, they even turned over several speeders for their use.
Obi-Wan and Anakin had each taken a speeder. Floria and Dane insisted on coming with them. Despite everything, Dane considered Samish Kash his responsibility to protect. Floria just wanted to be with him, "whatever happens."
The villa rose above them, as gray and forbidding as the stone mountain. The meeting was about to begin. Obi-Wan saw the security gate ahead. The speeder had light armor mounted on the hull. He opened fire and blasted his way through the gate. Immediately a durasteel shield began to descend over the wide double doors of the front entrance. It would no doubt prove impenetrable to explosives.
Before Obi-Wan could react, Anakin gunned his speeder, blasting his weaponry at the double doors beyond the descending shield. In an amazing display of skill, he cut the power, flipping his speeder up at the same time and leaping off. The speeder skidded to a stop, its armored hull pointing up toward the swiftly descending shield.
The shield came down on the speeder. Metal shrieked and groaned, slowing the descent of the shield. Anakin ducked under the moving shield and leaped through the hole he had blasted through the double doors. He disappeared into the darkness of the villa.
This had all taken only seconds. Obi-Wan had already leaped off his speeder and was running toward the durasteel shield, now slowly crushing the speeder underneath it. There was just enough room for Obi-Wan to duck underneath and inside. Floria and Dane followed, rolling under the door as it goaned downward and shut with a crash, the speeder now part pancake, part mangled transport.
Anakin was waiting in the darkness of the hallway. The ceiling was so high it was lost in the gloom above. Together they ran down the grand hall, looking into the large rooms as they passed. They heard voices ahead.
Obi-Wan slipped into a circular room that had been built in the center of the villa. There was no ceiling, only the roof above. Narrow windows were cut into the stone high above and let in a faint light.
One entire wall was made up of an enormous fireplace, big enough for a Null to stand erect in. A large circular stone table sat in the center of the room, but it was dwarfed by the soaring space. Dooku stood at one end. Samish stood at the opposite side of the table, facing him.
Yura, Glimmer, and Lorian looked small and defenseless. The table was so large that there was an expanse of space between each of them.
Obi-Wan guessed that Dooku had sensed his presence. He felt the dark side in the room, how it surged and grew. Anakin came and stood next to him, and Floria and Dane followed, staying against the wall in the shadows so that they would not be seen.
"I believe you tried to assassinate me so you could smash the alliance," Samish was saying.
"So much emotion, so little logic," Dooku said. "Let us be calm.
Station 88 Spaceport is a vital strategic link. This is something that must be decided carefully. You have not even heard what my organization is willing to give to you for the rights to the spaceport. I am sure your partners would want to hear. Do you deny them that right?"
Samish looked uncertain. "Yes, we should at least hear him out," Yura said.
Anakin stirred. Obi-Wan put a hand on his arm. If they moved, Dooku was capable of anything. And he had seen Robior Web standing against the wall, almost lost in the shadows. He had no doubt that Samish Kash was in danger, and most likely all of the other rulers in the alliance, as well.
Samish turned to the others. "Why should we listen? Everything he is about to tell us will be lies."
Dooku turned to Lorian. "We haven't heard from you, old friend. Tell Samish what you have decided."
Lorian stood. "I support Samish Kash. And I support the Republic."
Dooku gripped the edge of the table. It was clear that a great surge of rage had overtaken him. He controlled it. His dark eyes seemed to suck in the light around the table and devour it.
He leaned over the table. "So you betray me again. I assure you, it is for the last time, Lorian."
"Yes," Lorian said. "I am certain of that."
"Vicondor must stand with Delaluna and Junction 5, my friends Samish and Lorian," Glimmer said. "The alliance will support the Republic."
Dooku looked over into the shadows and acknowledged the Jedi for the first time. "So you support a corrupt government?" he thundered. "Have you forgotten the battle of Geonosis, how they crushed a small planet with an invading army? They are ruthless. They hide in the shadows.
Look!"
The rulers turned and saw the Jedi. Lorian appeared very glad to see them. "That is one way of looking at it," he said. "But it is not the truth."
"I stand with the decision of the alliance," Yura said.
"It appears the negotiation is over," Dooku said. He had controlled his anger and spoke now in a mild tone. "How unfortunate. I suppose I could try to persuade you. But as I grow older, I have found that I have so little… patience for such things."
The door behind Obi-Wan, Anakin, Floria, and Dane slid shut. They heard the security locks snap. Shutters slid down over the windows and the room was thrown into deep shadow.
Then hidden doors in the walls of the circular room slid open and at least a dozen super battle droids marched in.
Obi-Wan saw it all happen in a frozen moment. There was Dooku. There were the droids. There was Robior Web, the capable assassin.
Yura, Glimmer, and Kash were not fighters, but politicians. Floria and Dane could handle themselves, but not against such firepower. There were too many beings to protect. And it was clear that Dooku meant to murder them all. The room was a trap. It was a tomb.
He remembered the arena at Geonosis, the arrival of the gunships, the battle, the slaughter.
In that frozen moment
the thought blazed, white-hot and searing: I cannot bear one more death. It was illogical — he knew in his heart that he would have to bear many more — but not today.
Not today.
Dooku stepped back from the table. Anakin charged, putting himself between the approaching droids and the politicians. Fire erupted from the super battle droids at the same time. Yura and Glimmer both sensibly dropped to the floor.
No one had expected Floria to move so fast.