Pala, Arawynne, and the Ghostling children had turned off the fans. Now, the fan blades were slowing down enough so that soon they’d all be able to crawl into the vent, past the blades, and into the desert.
Pala decided to send the Ghostlings ahead. She’d managed to get rid of one of the Dugs, but none of them would be safe until they got rid of Djas Puhr, the Sakiyan hunter.
As she watched the fan blades slow, she forced herself to breathe slowly. Only a few more seconds, and the Ghostlings would be free. They’d have to hide in the desert for the rest of the day, but tonight the rescue ship would come, and then they’d all be on their way home.
She was dreaming of a home she couldn’t remember: Ryloth. She was from Ryloth. She had a mother there, but couldn’t recall her face. She remembered how her mother had cried when Pala was taken. A Toydarian baron by the name of Begubb demanded an annual tribute of a spice called ryll from her people, but her village was unable to meet Begubb’s quota by ten percent.
Begubb complained that they’d missed the quota because the Twi’lek parents spent so much time caring for their children. So he took one in ten children from the village.
He took only the prettiest and the smartest. Pala’s mother had wailed in sorrow as Pala was pried from her arms.
Pala wondered if her mother was still alive, and if life on Ryloth was any better now than it had been then.
She was lost in her daydreams when Sebulba appeared. She became aware of him when she heard a roaring sound. For a moment she thought it was the motors for the exhaust fan starting back up.
But the roar became suddenly loud, and a Corellian freighter appeared on the far side of the air vent. The freighter’s blaster cannons swiveled toward the air shaft.
The Ghostling children screamed and ran past Pala.
He wouldn’t dare shoot, Pala told herself. But she knew that she was wrong. They were slaves and had escaped. Their captors wouldn’t hesitate to make an example of them all.
She stood in the tunnel for a second, her heart pounding wildly in her chest as the Ghostlings fled. She could see into the cockpit of the freighter. Sebulba was laughing at her.
The Dug suddenly swung the freighter around, so that the exhaust of its engines roared through the tiny tunnel. A burning wind screamed through the vent.
Pala turned and fled from the fire, racing toward the jungle.
She cleared the tube and found the Ghostling children all standing in the open. Arawynne was lying on the ground, enveloped in a web.
The children were crying, pulling at Arawynne. “Arawynne, get up,” they called. “Arawynne, can you hear me?”
Djas Puhr crouched on the far side of a clearing, not five meters away. He had his blaster aimed at them all.
Pala looked at the little ones, at Arawynne lying on the ground. The Ghostlings were frail creatures. Arawynne had been hurt badly.
“Help us,” begged Pala. “She needs a medic!”
“Oh, a droid will be along shortly,” Djas Puhr said. “It will patch her up nicely, and then put in her transmitter.”
Pala looked Djas Puhr in the eye. “Please, don’t do this,” she begged. “Think about how you’d feel, if it was you.”
“Life as a slave isn’t so bad,” Djas Puhr said. “It’s still a life — something you won’t have.”
Pala knew then that she was in deep trouble. Nothing she could say would save her.
Anakin hid in the feather ferns and made no sound at all. The Wistie had led him to his friends, but he was too late. Arawynne was unconscious, and Djas Puhr had just finished putting the binders on the little ones and Pala.
Djas Puhr pulled up his comlink. “Guess what? I’ve got a present for you. Ghostling children.”
“How nice,” Sebulba answered with glee. “I do hope you saved a few for me to torture.”
Anakin’s heart sank. It was too late to help his friends. He didn’t have a weapon, or a plan.
“Get away!” the Wistie called into his ear. “Run, now!”
Anakin turned. He crept quietly at first, then raced through the woods, fighting back tears.
By the time he reached the front door, an army of guards was issuing through it.
He crouched low among some feather ferns until twenty guards passed. They jogged up the trails, and soon he heard them shouting, “Found one!” “Got another one over here!”
Dorn and Kitster had been captured, along with Pala and Arawynne and all of the Ghostling children.
Anakin was the only one left, and if he didn’t get out soon, he’d be next.
The Wistie flew out of the forest canopy and landed on his shoulder. “Please,” it said. “You’ve got to go now. You’ve got to help your friends!”
“I will,” Anakin vowed.
He waited until the guards were all past him, then quietly crept into the hallway.
In moments he made it to an air vent, then slithered inside, heading for home.
Within an hour Gardulla would bring Anakin’s friends to the probe droids. By nightfall, she’d probably know that Anakin had helped the Ghostlings escape.
Anakin had to go home and prepare for the worst.
At this point, readers who chose to follow the adventure in the Star Wars Adventures Game Book can return to Capture Arawynne.
Sebulba and Djas Puhr rounded up the Ghostling children and marched them back through the garden.
On the way, Sebulba shouted for Khiss, but the woods were strangely silent.
There were dangers in these woods, Sebulba knew, dangers far worse than the sewage that he’d been shot with.
They reached the edge of the field, and Sebulba saw Gondry out in its midst, patiently growing his eye back.
“Losing only one man in here was a small price to pay for the visit,” Djas Puhr said as they marched back toward Gondry. “It could have been worse.”
“You’re right,” Sebulba said. “We should look on the bright side.”
“There’s a bright side?” Djas Puhr asked.
“Tomorrow’s payday,” Sebulba said. “And I won’t have to pay Khiss for all his work over the last week.”
The Dug laughed as if he’d made the greatest joke in the world.
NEXT ADVENTURE:
TROUBLE ON TATOOINE
11.6.18.15.14.5-1
Star Wars - Episode I Adventures 007 - Capture Arawynne Page 4
