This was bad news indeed. Qui-Gon had feared it. Each step King Frane took was leading his planet into war. He did not seem to care.
"I do not want a war, it's true," Meenon continued. "But only a foolish ruler would not be prepared to fight. My troops are being mobilized. We will meet their boot with our own force. We will not wait to be invaded. We will invade them!"
"I respect your anger and grief," Qui-Gon said carefully. "But if there was a way to free your daughter and avert a war, would you take it? And, if you invade, how do you know that King Frane will not give the order to execute your daughter?"
Meenon hesitated. "I am not a bloodthirsty savage like King Frane," he said at last. "Of course I would try to avert a war. I do not want to see the daughters and sons of Senali killed."
"Then let us find Leed and free Yaana," Qui-Gon urged. "Give us twelve hours. And help us. Tell us if there is some faction, some clan on Senali who could have done this. We saw them in the moonlight. Their skin was smeared with clay, and they wore headpieces of white coral —"
"The Ghost Ones," Meenon interrupted. "I can't say for sure, but it could be. They call themselves a clan but they have no ties of blood. We are not sure who they are. They have appeared only recently. They make trouble between clans. They are against the trade of royal children, of any contact whatsoever with Rutan. I do not know what they want to gain, but it could be the Ghost Ones who took Leed."
"Do you know where they are?" Qui-Gon asked.
He shook his head. "They are nomadic. They have no single camp. You need a good tracker, one who can track over water."
"You must find us one immediately and send the tracker here," Qui-Gon urged.
"But you are with the best right now," Meenon said. "Drenna."
Meenon cut the transmission. Qui-Gon turned to search for Drenna. Taroon sat as far away as he could get from them.
The rest of the deck was empty. Drenna was gone.
"Where did she go?" Obi-Wan breathed. He had not heard her make a sound.
Taroon saw the Jedi searching the deck. He stood and rushed over to them.
"Now do you believe me?" he demanded. "She slipped away when you were busy and my back was turned. She is behind the taking of Leed. She's gone to meet him!"
Qui-Gon scanned the dark lagoon. The dark purple sky was graying. On the horizon a faint line of light told him the sun was rising. He could smell the morning.
Far across the lagoon he saw a tiny ripple of movement. It could have been a fish, but he knew it wasn't. Drenna was swimming. She was almost out of the lagoon, into the open sea.
Taroon followed his gaze. "After her!"
Drenna's firm stroke slowed. She dove underneath the surface. When she reappeared, she changed direction slightly.
"She has gone after them, it's true," Qui-Gon said. "But not because she's one of them. She's gone to track them." He turned to Obi-Wan. "Put on your breather. We must catch her." "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 roc-shores 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."