We're being watched.
And whoever it was, it wasn't another Jedi.
Anakin glanced at Obi-Wan. He did not move his head, only his eyes, so that if someone were watching they would not see the wordless communication. Obi-Wan's gaze told him everything he need to know. He to felt the presence of someone.
Obi-Wan stopped, and Anakin did the same. "We should split up," he said in a tone loud enough to carry but not to loud to be obvious. "We're getting nowhere. I'll head back, and you continue ahead."
"Yes, Master." Anakin knew that Obi-Wan moved back down the trail, and Anakin continued on. He did not feel fear or alarm. He felt ready for whatever would come.
He reached out to the Force beyond the trail, beyond his immediate surroundings. He took in the planet in a way he was learning to do.
There was darkness here, but the feeling was confused. He could not pinpoint why or how the force was affected. That was the trouble, Anakin thought ruefully. He could access the Force easily. Interpreting it was another matter. At such times he fully realized why he was still a Padawan, and not a Jedi.
He was on a switchback trail now that hugged the mountain as it rose. As Anakin turned a corner, the trail behind him would disappear. The rocks rose steeply on his left and a sheer drop was on his right. It he met whoever was following him, the battle would be tricky. And how would Obi-Wan manage to set up ambush on this kind of terrain?
Anakin was busy thinking these thoughts when he turned the next corner and saw the flash of a weapon. It was held by a young woman in a gray cloak that blended with the rocks.
"Don't come any farther," she said in a clear voice. "I promise you, I know how to use this. And it's aimed straight at your hear."
Chapter Five
Anakin waited. The Force was around him, rising up from the ground beneath his feet and the forest below. It was not strong in the girl. Anakin guessed she was close to his age. She was afraid, he suddenly knew. He felt her fear ripple out and touch him, as clearly as if she had pout out a hand.
And he felt something else — his Master was near. Obi-Wan was above him. He needed to keep the girl's attention on him.
"Why do you want to shoot me?" he asked in a reasonable tone.
"Do not try to trick me," she said. "I know you've been following me. I know you killed my friends and my teacher." Now her voice wobbled slightly. "I won't let you kill me too."
Anakin saw a blur above. It was his Master, leaping down from the sheer cliff above.
Obi-Wan dropped behind the girl and disarmed her in a move so fast she did not have time to turn or even take a breath.
Obi-Wan tossed the weapon to Anakin.
"You know how to use a hydrospanner?" Anakin asked in disbelief.
"I didn't have a real weapon," she said in a small voice.
"Were you threatening to kill me, or fix my speeder?" Anakin asked. He couldn't believe he had been fooled by a hydrospanner. What kind of Jedi was he?
In answer, the girl suddenly whirled and tried to throw herself down the sheer drop. Obi-Wan had anticipated the move and simply reached out with one hand and stopped her.
"That's not a solution," he said. "We're not going to hurt you. Maybe we can even help you."
Anakin took a few steps closer. "What happened? What do you mean, somebody killed your friends?"
The girl pulled her cloak around her. Her hood fell back, and waves of long blond hair spilled down her back.
"My name is Floria," she said. "I'm from the planet Aaeton, only half-day's journey from here. Young people from my planter often go on survival camping trips on Ragoon-6 when we reach fourteen years of age. We have a special allowance from the Senate because we gave the elders of Ragoon refuge when they handed the planet over to the senate. My group arrived yesterday. I was separated from them. We were on a hike and I got lost." Floria's eyes suddenly filled with tears. "When I returned. I. the ship. "
"Go on," Obi-Wan prompted.
She swallowed. "Was completely burned," she said in a whisper. "I knew we were supposed too meet back there for evening meal. I am afraid my friends and my teacher were in it. Someone blew it up."
"You're sure they were inside?"
She twisted her hands together. "How can I be sure of anything? Everything was smoke and ash and fire. Maybe they escaped. Maybe they are lost. I've been searching ever since. But lately I am positive that someone has been following me. They were keeping just out of sight."
"More than one being?" Obi-Wan asked.
"I–I'm not sure," Floria stammered. "I don't know what's wrong. I just know that something is. And I'm all alone!"
So I was right about the darkness in the Force, Anakin thought. Something is wrong on this planet.
"Dry your tears," Anakin said gently. "You're not alone. We will help you."
"Who are you?" she asked. "And why would you help me?"
"Because we can," Obi-Wan said. "Now, the first thing we do is examine your ship."
The ship was just as Floria had described it — a charred hulk.
"Stay her with her," Obi-Wan told Anakin. He disappeared inside the remains of the ship.
He emerged a few minutes later, his face streaked with ash. "There are no remains of beings aboard," he said.
Floria closed her eyes in relief for a moment. "Thank you for looking."
"This is a small cruiser," Anakin said, looking at the ship. "It's for travel within a planetary atmosphere. How did you get here from Aaeton?"
"We have a space cruiser in orbit," Floria explained. "We're supposed to rendezvous with then in three hours. But I have no way to contact them to tell them we won't be there." She brightened. "Can you take me? I can tell them what happened, and they'll send a rescue party down."
"Of course," Obi-Wan said. "We'll have to hike to out cruiser, but it's not far."
"Thank you," Floria said. "I feel certain now that my friends are alive. But they could be in danger. We must find them."
Obi-Wan drew Anakin aside. "Something dark is present on this planet. Can you feel it?"
Anakin nodded. "Yes, Master. But it is unclear."
"There seems to be different energies operating," Obi-Wan said. "It is unclear to me, too. We must be on guard." He frowned. "I have been thinking about Wren."
"What about him?" Anakin asked.
"The clues we have been following. something is wrong. They are too easy, and they lead us to danger. Maybe Wren isn't the one leaving them." Obi-Wan gazed up at the mountain. "Something might have happened to him."
Chapter Six
You never tell me what you're thinking.
Why hadn't he answered his Padawan? Instead, he had corrected him. Obi-Wan's mind churned, and his heart felt heavy. He did not know why he had deflected Anakin's feelings, but he knew he had been deeply unfair to his Padawan.