Kenobi's Blade

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Kenobi's Blade Page 6

by Rebecca Moesta


  ladder shaft was the labored breathing of the companions and the rhythmic

  thumping of their hands and feet on the rungs as they climbed. When they

  were certain that the danger was past, Ikrit slowed their pace slightly,

  but they still kept going.

  To Tahiri it seemed like they climbed forever. Her shoulder muscles

  ached from the effort of pulling herself up one rung after another, and

  blisters began to form on the soles of her feet.

  Suddenly Ikrit stopped. "Wait here," he ordered.

  Tahiri paused, gladly hooking an elbow and a leg over ladder rungs to

  give herself a chance to rest. Ikrit scampered up the ladder and out of

  sight.

  "Are you all right?" Tionne panted from below.

  "Sure," Tahiri gasped, "but I think I'd be feeling better if I had

  remembered to wear my boots."

  A second later she yelped in surprise and pain as a finger poked the

  sole of her bare foot.

  "Hold still," Anakin said. "I have something in my medikit that should

  help seal those blisters and protect your feet for a while."

  A heartbeat later, Tahiri felt a cooling spray on the sole of one

  foot. By the time Anakin finished putting the medicine on both of Tahiri's

  feet, Ikrit had returned.

  "Only a hundred meters more," the furry Jedi Master said. "There is an

  opening to a small room. We will rest there."

  "A place to rest sounds really good right now," Anakin admitted.

  With higher spirits and renewed energy, the four companions climbed

  again. The pain in Tahiri's feet seemed much less important at the moment

  than getting off this ladder. Now that she knew how far it was to the end

  of her climb, she wanted to get there as soon as possible. Ignoring the

  tight knots forming in her shoulder and leg muscles, she climbed faster.

  After a few more minutes the companions tumbled through a hatch onto the

  floor of what seemed to be a storage compartment. Boxes and bundles were

  piled all around, but at least it was a place to rest. Tahiri's arms and

  legs felt rubbery, and she didn't think she could move right now even if

  she had to. Tionne found the controls for the glowpanels, and the room

  filled with a soft light. Tahiri noticed that Anakin's limbs were shaking

  almost as much as hers, even though he was sitting down and leaning against

  a crate.

  In her exhaustion, everything seemed shaky and fuzzy. The whole room

  was slightly out of focus and tilted at an odd angle. It was a good thing

  she was already on the floor, she thought distantly, because the room was

  starting to spin....

  Tahiri was surprised when she awoke feeling refreshed and clearheaded.

  Her muscles still ached, but they did not quiver or threaten to give way

  when she sat up.

  "Welcome back," Anakin said, smiling.

  Tionne handed her an energy bar and a small flask of water.

  "How long-?" Tahiri began. "Not long," Anakin said.

  "Only a few minutes really," Tionne answered, "but I used the Force to

  deepen your sleep, to help you heal a bit."

  "Master Ikrit did the same for me before he went back up the ladder to

  scout around," Anakin said. "I feel a lot better now."

  "I have good news," Tionne said. "Master Ikrit found an old refresher

  unit in the wall behind that pile of crates."

  Tahiri grinned. "That's great news."

  "I think I have good news, too," Anakin said. "Since I woke up I've

  been using the Force to reach out and search the station. It's a little

  hazy, but I definitely felt Uldir here."

  Tionne looked at him with instant interest in her mother-of-pearl

  eyes.

  "Where?" Tahiri asked.

  Anakin shook his head. "I can't tell exactly. I don't have much of a

  bond with him, and he's not strong in the Force. All I know is that he's on

  Exis somewhere."

  Tahiri took a bite of her energy bar and a swig of water as she

  thought over this bit of information. She swallowed.

  "Well, it is good to know for certain that he's here. Why don't we

  take a look around this area while we wait for Ikrit."

  "Sure, we might even find some clues that will help us figure out

  where Uldir is," Anakin said.

  "All right," Tionne said, "but let's not go far."

  Tahiri wolfed down the rest of her energy bar. After they had all

  taken turns in the refresher unit, they put their equipment packs back on.

  Tionne unsealed the door to the storage chamber, and it slid open with a

  hiss. They found themselves behind a screened partition at one end of a

  broad room. Air ducts and bright glowpanels were set into the walls and

  overhead in the main chamber. The room was filled with the strangest

  assortment of gizmos and gadgets and pieces and parts that Tahiri could

  remember seeing since that time she and Anakin had ridden inside a Jawa

  sandcrawler on Tatooine. A net full of supplies hung in one corner. Ropes,

  cords, and flexible steel cables dangled from every part of the ceiling.

  Stacks of crates were piled up high against the walls. On a

  transparent panel, set like a window into the room partition, a diagram was

  etched. They all recognized it right away. Anakin rushed forward to study

  the map.

  "It - it's Exis Station," he whispered.

  A movement beyond the transparent panel caught Tahiri's eyes.

  "Something's out there," she whispered, moving up to stand beside

  Anakin.

  Tionne crowded in next to them, and together they peered through the

  window in the screened wall. Tahiri identified the creatures she saw

  instantly, since quite a few of them lived on her home planet of Tatooine.

  "Ranats!" she hissed in surprise. Anakin nodded.

  "But what are they doing here?" Tionne whispered.

  They watched in silence for a few minutes. Each Ranat wore a silver

  band around its arm and a belt of purple cloth. The Ranats began unpacking

  boxes and satchels filled with tools, gears, strips of shiny metal, and

  electronic components.

  "Looks like they've been salvaging," Anakin said in a low voice.

  "Think they're friendly?" Tahiri asked.

  "Maybe if we talk to them they could help us find Uldir."

  The silver-haired Jedi instructor shook her head and backed away from

  the partition, motioning for Anakin and Tahiri to follow.

  "We can't risk showing ourselves. Don't forget those droids that

  attacked us in the hangar bay."

  "These Ranats might work for Orloc-or someone worse," Anakin agreed.

  "Let's wait. We may not need to go out this way," Tionne said. "Once

  we find out what Ikrit has discovered-" Her voice broke off suddenly, and

  her mother-of-pearl eyes went round with surprise. Tahiri followed the

  direction of her gaze and then froze. The Ranats had gathered around the

  diagram of Exis, chittering and gesturing to each other. The three

  companions stood perfectly still, for fear that any movement would be

  noticed by the Ranats.

  One of the creatures began marking off areas on the map of the

  station. Another Ranat held up a handful of mechanical parts and pointed

  toward the outline of a small room on the diagram. The first Ranat

  chattered and marked off
that area as well. This process continued with one

  Ranat after another.

  "Those must be the places on the station where they've already

  salvaged," Anakin whispered.

  When the Ranats finished their mapping, one of them began sorting

  small parts into labeled bins that were stacked against a wall. Others

  picked up their empty satchels and left the room. Tahiri guessed they had

  gone to hunt for more treasures. Another Ranat lifted a heavy crate and

  disappeared from view. Tahiri groaned with relief. Her comfort was short-

  lived, however. A moment later the Ranat carrying a crate came around the

  corner of the partition and saw the companions. The instant it saw them,

  the Ranat dropped the crate and let out a warning shriek that brought all

  the other Ranats running. did not fall.

  Tahiri seemed to understand what he was trying to do. Before he could

  give the screen another shove, she was there beside him, helping him push.

  Deflecting a hydrospanner that a Ranat tossed over the partition, Tionne

  said, "Use the Force."

  They did. With Anakin and Tahiri's next shove the partition fell over,

  trapping two of their Ranat attackers beneath it. Now Tionne leapt over the

  fallen partition. Her lightsaber flashed, striking at the glowpanels on the

  wall. One after another they winked out until only a few flickering lights

  were left. A moment later a ball of white fur sailed across the room,

  clinging to a cable that dangled from the ceiling. Ikrit had returned and

  joined the fray. He must have used the Force to yank tools from the hands

  of their attackers, for Anakin saw several of the makeshift weapons fly

  through the air to hit the walls of the room with a loud clang. Using the

  Force, Anakin toppled a stack of crates. The empty boxes came clattering

  down. At the same time, Tahiri used the Force to shove boxes and crates

  into the path of running Ranats, who stumbled and fell. In the corner

  Anakin saw Tionne toss her lightsaber up toward the net filled with

  metallic canisters.

  Ikrit was still sailing back and forth on the cable in the center of

  the room, and Anakin and Tahiri sent one crate after another scooting

  across the room toward the rodentlike creatures. The metal canisters

  spilled out of the net and came crashing to the floor. The last few

  attacking Ranats could take no more. Dropping their weapons, the purple-

  sashed creatures fled the room.

  "We'd better leave, too," Tionne advised. "They might come back with

  reinforcements."

  "Quickly," Ikrit said. He scrambled up a cable toward one of the air

  duct panels in the ceiling and pushed it open.

  "I've discovered an easier way to get around the station." Tionne

  switched off her lightsaber and clipped it to her belt while Anakin and

  Tahiri climbed the cable, then she followed. Once they were all inside the

  air duct, Ikrit closed the panel again so that the Ranats could not tell

  how they had escaped. The air ducts were round and roughly a meter across.

  Ikrit didn't have to duck and was able to move quickly; the others were

  forced to crawl. In a few minutes they came to a branching of air ducts and

  paused to consider their route.

  "Mmmm," Ikrit said. "It is sometimes difficult to sense those who are

  not Jedi." He glanced at Anakin and Tahiri. "Look to the Force. Does it

  show you where to search for your friend?"

  "I can sense Uldir," Anakin said, "but I can't tell exactly where he

  is."

  "We know some of the Ranats are around this area, though," Tionne

  said. "We're pretty sure that they're working for Orloc." "I'm almost

  positive that their sashes were the exact same color as the magician's

  robe," Tahiri added. "I'd never forget that color. And if we find Orloc,

  Uldir should be somewhere close by."

  "She's right," Anakin said. "I don't think the Mage and Uldir can be

  far away. We found a map of the station back in the room where the Ranats

  were working."

  "They were marking it to show where they had explored and done their

  scavenging," Tahiri explained.

  Anakin nodded. "That's what makes me think we're close to Orloc's base

  of operations," he went on. "All of the places marked on the map seemed to

  be in one area of the space station. If Orloc is their master, I think

  he'll be at the center of that area." Anakin thought for a moment to get

  his bearings. "It was that way," he said, pointing through the duct wall at

  his right.

  "Very well then. Follow me," Ikrit said, heading off down the right

  branch of the air duct. The companions crawled for hours, stopping only for

  brief periods to share some water out of their packs or to look down into

  the rooms they passed. Most rooms were empty, since the Ranats had already

  stripped them clean of all useful objects. Each time the air ducts

  branched, Ikrit led them toward the area where Anakin believed Orloc must

  be. Anakin could sense they were on the right track. The rooms they passed

  began to look lived in, with crates of supplies, sleeping pallets, and

  droid workstations.

  "It's not much farther," Tahiri whispered, "I can feel it."

  And she was right. Five minutes later, moving forward as quietly as

  possible, the companions found what they had been looking for. Through a

  grate in the air duct, they could see the Mage Orloc in his silver-edged

  purple robe far below in a brightly lit, high-ceilinged room. Ranats in

  purple sashes and droids of all shapes and sizes surrounded the Mage, ready

  to do his bidding. Beside Orloc, still dressed in his brown Jedi robe,

  stood Uldir, his shaggy chestnut hair thrown back. His arms were raised and

  spread wide. Tahiri and Anakin crowded closer to the grate to get a better

  look.

  "Behold my power," Uldir said. His voice squeaked once, but it sounded

  deeper than Anakin remembered. "When I am finished you will go back to your

  friends and tell them what you have seen."

  "What in the name of the Great Bantha is he doing?" Tahiri whispered.

  Glowpanels flickered. Speakers set into the ceiling near the air duct

  boomed with the sound of recorded thunder. The Mage fidgeted with the

  silver spangles at the edges of his purple robe and watched his student.

  Suddenly Anakin heard water running through pipes somewhere nearby. Tiny

  droplets of water began to mist down through the room from safety

  sprinklers set into the ceiling.

  Below, Uldir closed his hands into fists and laughed. The laughter

  echoed through the room, growing louder and louder.

  "Now tell your friends about the wonders you have seen. Then tell them

  to leave," Uldir shouted. "I have no need of their puny powers."

  Tahiri's green eyes blinked quizzically at Anakin.

  "Who is he talking to?" she whispered.

  Anakin scooted around to the other side of the grate to get a better

  view. Then he saw it: in the far corner of the room, drenched with

  "rainwater" and wearing a restraining bolt, was Artoo-Detoo!

  "They have Artoo!" Anakin whispered. He pointed down through the air

  duct toward the corner where the little droid was being held captive. "They

  put
a restraining bolt on him."

  Tahiri leaned forward, trying to see where Anakin was pointing.

  "Don't worry," Tionne said, "we'll set him free."

  Then, without warning, disaster struck. Anakin and Tahiri were leaning

  over on either side of the air duct grate when the entire panel gave way.

  For the next minute everything seemed to move in slow motion. The grate

  fell, tumbling end over end toward the floor. Taken by surprise, Anakin and

  Tahiri fell, too. In a heartbeat, all of Uncle Luke's lessons about the

  Force flooded back into Anakin's mind. He could feel his Jedi instincts

  taking over. Relax and trust the Force. Through the Force Anakin visualized

  the distance from ceiling to floor as nothing more than a short hop. He

  thought of the speed of his fall as no greater than it would have been had

  he jumped off a low wall.

  With his mind, he created a springy cushion of air just above the hard

  deckplates. He knew that the floor was no longer rushing up toward him with

  a speed that would break his bones when he landed. He let his mind and body

  relax. Out of the corner of his eye Anakin saw the ceiling grate strike a

  glancing blow to a tarnished pirate droid. The weight of the hard panel

  bent one of its firing arms.

  The grating clanged heavily to the floor. Anakin sensed Tahiri right

  beside him, and he sensed her trust in the Force. Below them Uldir's arm

 

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