by Джуд Уотсон
I don't know the Senators there."
"Can you check on the whereabouts of Senator Eddawan?" Dooku asked.
"We need to stall," he told the pilot. "But the systems are failing — "
Dooku turned to Eero. "Now," he said, as Eero hesitated. "Go!"
Eero hurried toward the onboard computer suite. He sat down and his fingers flew over the keys.
"Hello?" the child's voice called. "I think maybe the oxygen is failing. It's in the red level. It's getting hard for me to breathe."
"Master Dooku!" the pilot exclaimed. "What should I do?"
"The order is the same," Dooku said calmly. "Stall." "But she's suffocating!"
"Talk to her," Dooku said. "Tell her we are getting ready to save the ship."
"Joli, hang on. We are putting together a plan," the pilot said kindly. "Take very slow breaths. Lie down."
They only heard rasping breathing. "All right," Joli said. "I'm so tired…."
"Oxygen deprivation," Qui-Gon murmured.
Dooku felt a spurt of annoyance. He didn't need Qui-Gon to give him a diagnosis. "Eero, do you have anything?" he called.
"Not yet! Hold on."
"Stars and planets, Master Dooku, we have to do something!" the pilot cried. "That child could die while you wait for information!"
Qui-Gon looked pale. He bit his lip, as if to prevent himself from speaking. Dooku felt very calm.
"I've got it," Eero said. "Senator Galim Eddawan of Tyan. He does have a daughter named Joli. And he was scheduled to arrive at the port station Alpha Nonce yesterday. He never arrived."
"Slowly approach the ship," Dooku told the pilot, who let out a held breath. "Keep your flank away from the center of the ship."
"It's just a small cruiser," the pilot said. "A ship like that might have some small arms, but nothing that can penetrate our shields."
"Do as I say," Dooku snapped.
"Joli? We're coming to get you," the pilot told the child. Her voice was a mere whisper. "Good."
"Master?" Qui-Gon's voice was low. "Do you think the distress call is authentic?"
"I do not know, Padawan," Dooku said. "What do you think?"
"I feel that child is in great danger," Qui-Gon said.
Dooku raised an eyebrow at him. "I did not ask you what you felt, but what you thought." The Jedi insistence on feelings was all well and good, but Dooku preferred analysis.
"I think we should proceed carefully. We cannot ignore a distress signal," Qui-Gon said.
"Better." Dooku turned to the pilot. "Engage laser cannon tracking. Be prepared to fire."
The pilot set the controls. The silver ship dipped closer gracefully, as if initiating the first movement of a dance. The other ship sat, eerily motionless.
"Stay out of range of laser cannons," Dooku said. "But if we don't get closer, we can't send the shuttle to board," the pilot said.
"Just do it." In another moment, Dooku would take the controls himself. He trusted the pilot's abilities more than his judgment, and he wanted to remain free to move in case the worst happened. In Dooku's experience, it often did.
Suddenly, the dead ship roared to life. It veered to the right in a burst of speed. At the same time, panels slid back on the underside of the cockpit.
"Turbolasers!" Dooku shouted. "Reverse engines!" "Turbolasers?" the pilot asked, stunned. "That ship is too small to have that kind of firepower."
Dooku lunged forward and grabbed the controls. He reversed the engines himself. The ship shuddered and the engines screamed in protest as they struggled to reverse at high velocity. The ship responded, zooming back out of range.
"A lesson for you, Padawan," Dooku said as the pilot took the controls again and the first turbolaser fire erupted. "Never trust anything."
The ship shook from the percussive effect of the fire, but they were out of range. Senator Blix Annon rushed into the cockpit. "What's going on?"
"We came to the aid of a distress signal," Eero said, hanging onto the back of a chair while the craft dipped and surged in evasive action.
"Apparently it was a ruse."
"Apparently!" the plump Senator roared. "What are we doing answering distress calls? Who authorized this?"
"I did," Dooku said. "You put the Jedi in charge when you asked for us to escort you, Senator."
The Senator disturbed his carefully arranged hair by raking his fingers through it angrily. "I did not authorize rescue missions!" The ship lurched, and he almost fell. He snapped at the pilot, "Stop this ridiculous maneuvering. Our particle shields will protect us."
"We'll have to lower the particle shield in order to fire the laser cannons," Dooku said.
"I'm aware of that," the Senator snapped, beginning to look nervous.
"Eero?"
"We also have an energy shield, to protect against turbolaser fire,"
Eero reassured him.
"Of course," the Senator said. "I'm aware of that, too."
"There is a difference between a particle shield and an energy field, which I'm sure you know," Dooku said as a blast shook the ship. "The energy shield will not protect against laser cannons. And we can't operate both shields simultaneously. That means that we'll have to alternate as we attack."
"Stop telling me things I know and do them," the Senator ordered. It was obvious to Dooku that despite his words, Senator Annon had no idea how his defensive and offensive systems worked. There really was no reason why he should, except that he had most likely paid a fortune for them.
Laser cannons fired as the ship bore down on them. The pilot sent them into a steep dive, and the cannonfire missed them by meters.
"They can outmaneuver us," the pilot said to Dooku. "Their ship is smaller and faster."
As if to punctuate his words, suddenly a blast hit the ship, nearly throwing them to the floor.
"What was that?" the Senator screamed.
"Direct hit," the pilot said tersely. "Another one like that and we could be in trouble."
"What are you talking about? We have a triple-armored hull! It can't be penetrated."
"Well, it has," the pilot said.
"This kind of firepower is usually reserved for capital ships," Dooku said. "The attacking craft must be custom-fitted with scaled-down versions."
Suddenly the pilot leaned over and began to frantically hit the controls. "The energy shield is malfunctioning!"
Qui-Gon's eyes flickered at his Master. This would make the difference, they knew.
"Then we'd better go on the offensive," Dooku said calmly.
"Senator, I should escort you to the safe room," Eero repeated. "Now."
The Senator looked pale. His hand fluttered and clutched at his chest.
"I hardly think that's necessary — "
A blast suddenly shook the bridge, sending them flying. Dooku held on to the console and managed to stay upright, but the Senator and Eero skidded across the floor. Qui-Gon fell but anchored himself by grabbing the base of the co-pilot's seat.
Already the attacking ship was zooming to the left, ready to inflict another blow. It was nimble, darting closer and retreating, coming at them from all angles, making a tough target. The Senator's ship by contrast was now a lumbering beast. Dooku could see a plume of smoke coming from its underbelly. The intense heat was causing the armor to peel off the ship's surface in strips of gleaming metal.
"We've lost one of our laser cannons," the co-pilot reported.
"You'd better get to that safe room, Senator," Dooku said as another blast shook the ship.
The Senator didn't argue this time. Eero and Senator Annon left, staggering as they moved.
"Have you noticed something unusual, Qui-Gon?" Dooku asked his apprentice.
Qui-Gon nodded. "The ship is firing whenever we drop the particle shield in order to fire our weapons. That would take incredible reflexes on the part of whoever has the controls. Even an onboard computer couldn't obtain that kind of speed and accuracy. I've never seen anything like it."
Dooku nodded. "Neither have I."
"They've blasted the loading dock bay doors!" the pilot shouted.
"They're going to get on board!"
Chapter 9
Dooku and Qui-Gon raced down the halls of the ship. When they arrived at the docking bay, the pirate ship had already landed. War droids were rolling down the ramp. It took less than a second for the droids to pinpoint their targets. Blaster fire tore up the ground in front of them and they heard it ping off the walls of the docking bay.
Dooku admired how Qui-Gon did not flinch or hesitate, but kept moving in the same fluid, graceful manner. Qui-Gon had so little of the awkwardness of adolescence. He moved swiftly and easily, his arm swinging with the motion of his lightsaber as he parried the blaster fire.
"If we can prevent the pirates from disembarking, we've got them,"
Dooku said as they moved. "They might decide the prize isn't worth the effort."
Suddenly the droids ejected smoke grenades from their flanks. Thick, acrid clouds rolled toward them, stinging their eyes. They kept on advancing, their eyes streaming tears.
Then a voice echoed through the thick smoke. "Please.."
It was the girl's voice again. "Stop — please don't shoot. I'm here.
I'm standing on the ramp. They made me. Please!" Her begging voice was full of tears and terror. Qui-Gon stopped.
"Keep fighting!" Dooku snapped. "Don't listen!"
But Qui-Gon ran ahead and was swallowed up by the smoke. The fool was going to try to save the girl.
Angrily, Dooku rushed after him, straight into the worst of the cloud.
He felt that the voice was a ruse. It had been from the start. Yet Qui-Gon's respect for the living Force would not allow for doubt. If he thought there was a chance that a child was in trouble, he wouldn't hesitate. Curse him and his empathy, Dooku thought, coughing from the smoke.
He took out the droids as he moved, hearing them before he saw them.
The smoke thinned. He could see now that droids littered the ground.
He stepped over them. Qui-Gon stood on the ramp, alone. Dooku raced up to join him and together they rushed the ship.
It was empty. Dooku strode over to the ship console. A recording rod was resting on the pilot's chair. He activated it.
"Help me, please."
Dooku shut it off.
"I'm sorry, Master." Qui-Gon looked stunned, as if he couldn't believe someone would use a child in jeopardy to get what they wanted.
"Let's go." Dooku vaulted over the pilot's seat and raced down the ramp, hearing Qui-Gon follow behind him.
Something about the situation nagged at Dooku. In the middle of a mission, he never lost his focus, or his faith that he would prevail.
Why did he suddenly feel that failure was breathing on his neck as closely and persistently as Qui-Gon's footsteps behind him?
Dooku felt his heart fall when he saw that the safe room door was open. The pirate had worked extraordinarily fast. The gleaming durasteel facing was still glowing red from the blast that had blown it open.
Inside, Eero lay unconscious. His skin was blackened. Qui-Gon bent over him and began to feel for vitals.
"Not now," Dooku said. He turned and raced back out the door, down another corridor that led to the docking bay. Qui-Gon caught up to him with long strides. The ship lurched, and emergency sirens were now wailing continuously. The systems were failing.
They raced back to the loading dock. As they entered, they were just in time to see Senator Blix Annon, his hands bound with laser cuffs, being pushed inside the craft. The pirate was tall and lean, dressed in full-body armor and a plastoid helmet that concealed his face. He turned, even though they'd made no sound.
Accessing the Force, Dooku leaped. He landed on the ramp, lightsaber raised. He felt Qui-Gon land behind him. Blaster fire had already peppered the air, zinging past his ears, close and rapid. The pirate had excellent aim. Dooku had to keep the lightsaber moving in order to deflect the shots, advancing all the while. He had no doubt that he would win this battle. The pirate's eyes gleamed, the green of his iris so intense that Dooku could read it from behind the gray tint of his visor.
A dark green, shot with glints the color of flames. Dooku's mind lurched.
The pirate made a half turn to the left and swung out in a wide arc.
Dooku moved in an instinct so old it was automatic. He stepped away to avoid a blow that did not come. Lorian.
Did he hear a chuckle from underneath the helmet? Dooku wasn't sure.
But Lorian took advantage of that split second of hesitation, as he always had been able to, and jumped backward into the ship. The ramp closed rapidly, spilling Dooku onto the floor. He landed next to Qui-Gon and together they watched the ship roar out of the bay doors.
Chapter 10
I will not think of this now, Dooku told himself. If I think of Lorian, I will lose control.
The ship was dying. Eero could be dead. The first thing to do was check on him. They ran back to the safe room, where he was struggling to rise.
"Lay back," Qui-Gon said gently. He folded a cloak and placed it beneath Eero's head.
Eero's eyes fluttered. "The Senator?"
"Gone," Dooku said.
"We have to go after them," Eero said, trying to get to his feet.
"We have more immediate problems," Dooku said. "The ship is falling apart. And you don't look so well yourself."
"I'm fine," Eero said. He stood quickly, then immediately crashed to the floor.
"Obviously," Dooku said dryly. "We'll send someone for you. In the meantime, I have a feeling the pilot needs our help."
They could feel the cruiser shudder and list to one side as they ran to the cockpit. The pilot was feverishly flipping switches. "I've got the maintenance droid working on the electrical systems, but the sublight is going."
"Where's the nearest port?" Dooku asked, striding to stand behind the pilot's seat.
"I'll check," Qui-Gon offered, moving to the onboard computer. In only a few seconds, he called out, "Voltare spaceport." He read out the coordinates. "Master, I can try to work on the sublight mainframe control."
"Do it." Dooku had no patience for the details of technology. He had already recognized that his apprentice was better at repairs than he.
"What can I do?" the pilot asked, his eyes darting nervously to the controls.
"Just keep us flying," Dooku said.
Qui-Gon released a control panel in the floor and jumped down to work on the system controls. "I think I can fuse it," he called. "If we don't push the engines, we might be able to make it."
"Push them? I'll baby them," the pilot muttered.
Qui-Gon vaulted out of the chamber and switched places with the co-pilot. "I'll keep my eye on the warning lights. You just fly," he told the pilot.
With the white-knuckled pilot gripping the controls and the steady presence of Qui-Gon in the co-pilot's chair, the ship finally limped into the Voltare spaceport.
Eero was rushed to the med clinic. The other passengers and the pilot headed for the spaceport cantina.
Dooku and Qui-Gon sat in the cockpit. Qui-Gon kept a respectful silence, realizing that his Master needed time to think.
At last, Dooku had a chance to consider what he knew.
Lorian. How could he fall so low? Once a bright Padawan, now a space pirate, preying on Senators he had once been trained to protect.
Lorian still had Force abilities, which explained the split-second timing of his laser cannon attack. It wasn't as though Dooku could have guessed, but he should have been more alert.
Enough. Jedi did not waste time on what they should have done.
What now? A momentary flame of fury burst in Dooku as he thought of his old friend on his ship, laughing at how he'd outmaneuvered him.
He controlled it. Anger was a waste of time. Action was what he needed.
Because Lorian could not win.
"We should contact the Jedi Council," Qui-Gon sai
d.
Of course they should contact the Council. That was standard procedure. But if they contacted the Council, Dooku would have to tell them that he had no doubt that Lorian Nod was now a space pirate, and had kidnapped Senator Blix Annon right under his nose. That was something that Dooku could not do.
