“I am coming with you,” Taroon said.
“No. You could not keep up with us, Taroon. And your father wants you back on Rutan.” Qui-Gon put his hand on Taroon’s shoulder. “I know you want to find your brother. But you must trust us. Go back to Rutan. Do not aggravate your father. The worlds are too close to war. We will bring Leed safely to you.”
Reluctantly, Taroon nodded. He watched as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan donned their breathing devices and dove into the lagoon.
The water was chilly, but as they swam their muscles warmed. Every so often Qui-Gon would surface in order to scan for Drenna ahead of them. She was moving at an erratic pace, swimming quickly, diving, and sometimes changing direction. Every few meters she would dive again.
They caught up to her at last. She was underwater, swimming slowly along the lagoon bottom. When she saw them, she pointed overhead and began to shoot toward the surface.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan followed. The sun was now visible on the horizon and painted the lagoon with a faint blush of pink light.
“How are you tracking them?” Qui-Gon asked. “Can we help?”
“The rocshore fish,” she said. “When a boat passes overhead it blocks out light. The rocshores are very shy and bury themselves in the sand for some time afterward. That’s why you can’t hunt rocshores on boats. We are lucky the night was so bright. I’m following the mounds. They’re hard to see if you don’t know where to look. Just follow me.”
They dove under the surface again. Drenna swam along the bottom, her head swiveling to take in the sandy surface. Every so often she would come up for air and point in a slightly different direction. Obi-Wan had no idea what had triggered her movement. He found it difficult to see the mounds at all. Was Drenna leading them astray deliberately while the kidnappers got away?
There were so many times on missions that he did not know whom to trust. Qui-Gon seemed to have the gift to see beyond the surface into feelings and motivations that Obi-Wan missed. Qui-Gon never seemed to make a mistake. Only with his former apprentice, Xanatos, had he extended trust too far and met disaster. Xanatos was dead now. Obi-Wan imagined that one such miscalculation was enough for one lifetime. If he watched and learned from Qui-Gon, maybe he could avoid mistakes such as that in the future. Already his past experiences had made him more cautious than he’d been as a student. He was certain he had become a better Padawan as a result.
Drenna wound through the cluster of islands. Sometimes she had to backtrack, but Obi-Wan could see they were making steady progress. He was tiring, but he knew he had reserves of strength he had not yet tapped.
At last she signaled to them to come to the surface with her. A small island was a short distance away, and she jerked her chin toward it.
“I think they are on that island,” she whispered. “They dragged the boat up on that beach. They tried to cover the marks, but I can tell by the surface of the sand that it’s been swept with fronds. I say we circle around and go ashore.”
Qui-Gon scanned the island. “They are most likely in the center of the island, hidden by the trees.”
Drenna nodded. “If we’re lucky, they haven’t posted lookouts. They probably think they are safe. This island cluster is uninhabited. There aren’t any clans for many kilometers.”
“We’ll have to risk going ashore,” Qui-Gon agreed. “Don’t surface until we’re near land. We will follow you.”
Taking a deep breath, Drenna disappeared silently under the surface.
Obi-Wan followed Drenna with a new burst of energy. They were close now. If they could rescue Leed and return him to Rutan, war could be averted.
They surfaced silently and waded ashore, quickly dashing across the exposed beach to gain shelter under the branches of the sand-sweeping trees.
“It’s a small island,” Qui-Gon said quietly. “We won’t have to search long before we find them.”
Jedi learned early at the Temple how to move without sound, but Senalis were just as practiced at the art. The three of them moved through space without disturbing a leaf. They melted through the shade of the trees, their eyes searching for a telltale clue.
Suddenly Qui-Gon stopped. He held up a hand.
Obi-Wan saw and heard nothing. A stand of trees was ahead, the branches so thick the sun only penetrated in thin, watery fingers of light.
Qui-Gon pointed above, a finger to his lips.
It took Obi-Wan a few seconds to realize that the Senalis were sleeping over their heads, nestled into the thick branches of the trees. Preparing for the dawn raid must have kept them awake throughout the night. Their boat and supplies were suspended in a net high above the ground.
Leed was tied to a tree branch, his back against the trunk. His eyes were closed. His hands and feet were bound with cable wire. A leather gag was tied over his mouth. A deep reddish bruise was forming on his cheekbone. Dried blood caked his tunic.
Drenna didn’t flinch. Her jaw tightened, and she silently withdrew the crossbow that was strapped to her back. Qui-Gon withdrew his lightsaber. Obi-Wan followed suit.
Qui-Gon indicated with a gesture that they should try to free Leed without awakening his captors. Obi-Wan and Drenna nodded.
They made no sound as they moved forward, but one of the kidnappers awoke. They froze, but he casually looked down as he stretched. He stopped in the middle of a yawn, his eyes wide.
“Invasion! To your weapons!” he shouted.
12
The Senalis were armed with the common weapon of their world, dart shooters. Qui-Gon guessed that the darts contained a paralyzing agent. Leed might have some paralysis once they managed to free him.
The darts rained down on them from above. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan kept their backs to each other in order to cover a complete circle. Their lightsabers whirled above their heads in a blur of blue and green as they deflected dart after dart, even as they made their steady way toward Leed.
The branches of the trees were thickly clustered. The tree where Leed was held would not be difficult to climb. But could they climb, deflect darts, and get Leed down the tree, all at the same time? It would be a challenge, Obi-Wan thought grimly.
“We need to get them down here,” Qui-Gon said to him tersely. “If we can fight them on the ground, Drenna can rescue Leed.”
“I’ll get them down,” Drenna said. She hoisted her crossbow to her shoulder and began to fire a rapid volley of laser arrows into the trees. She was a blur of motion, firing off five arrows at a time and barely pausing to reload before firing again. The kidnappers began to drop from the trees to escape the arrows falling on their heads.
“Cover me,” she called to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, and started for Leed.
The enemy was now all around them, and Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan kept up a constant dance of movement, deflecting the poison darts and keeping the Senalis away from Drenna as she swiftly made her way up the tree. She removed a small fusioncutter from her utility belt and carefully cut away the carbon wire binding Leed’s wrists and ankles. He slumped against her, but when she helped him to his feet he was able make his way down the branch toward the trunk. His legs seemed stiff, but he could walk.
Qui-Gon drifted closer to Obi-Wan. “Gather them underneath that tree,” he said, indicating one close to them.
Working together, they whirled and attacked, driving the Senalis together as they evaded the darts. They managed to get them in a rough circle where Qui-Gon had indicated.
Qui-Gon leaped into the air and grabbed a high branch. As he swung, he aimed his light-saber at the net holding the boat aloft. With a series of rapid cuts he sliced through the thick netting. The boat, along with supplies, began to tip. With a final thrust he cut the last cords, and the boat crashed to the ground below.
The kidnappers saw it coming and dropped flat to the ground. The boat reversed in the air and fell over them, forming a solid cage. Supplies rained down on the boat—food, breathing tubes, utility packs, and medpacs.