"That's it, be a good girl," one of the men said, stepping out of the shadows. The leader snapped his fingers and one of his men took Obi-Wan's arms, binding his wrists together tightly behind his back.
"Seems we've got a real spitfire here," the leader said in mock appreciation, running the back of his hand under Obi-Wan's jaw, tipping the young Jedi's head up slightly. There was a leer in the man's dark grey eyes that Obi-Wan had never had directed at *him* before. For a moment, he felt very glad that he was not really a girl. The Padawan met the leader's gaze with a defiant glare.
The leader seemed momentarily taken aback by the strength with which Obi-Wan met his look. "You've got a lot of spirit young lady," he said. "It's too bad you had to see this, now we've got to either kill you or take you." He seemed to consider that for a moment. "We'll take her for now," he said, directing the statement to his men. "If we leave bodies laying around they'll catch on sooner that something's up. Besides, the Boss wouldn't be happy. We can always kill her later, if she becomes too much trouble," he directed a meaningful glare in Obi-Wan's direction.
A gag was slipped over Obi-Wan's mouth and a blaster jabbed in his back. "I'm only going to warn you once girl," the leader threatened. "Don't try anything unless you want to shorten what may already be a very brief life. We don't *need* you," the man made himself clear. Obi-Wan got the message quite plainly, but he read more out of it than the man had intended. *They didn't need him, but that meant they *did* need the Princess. Why? If they simply wanted her out of the way, why not kill her?* It raised more questions than it answered unfortunately, but Obi-Wan would take anything he could get. One of the men moved a statue in a trophy case, which stood against the wall, and the large display cabinet swung forward, revealing a hidden door.
*That's how they got in here,* Obi-Wan realized. No doubt this passage would take them all the way out of the Palace without anyone seeing them. A brief shudder of realization ran up the apprentice's spine. His captors made no attempt to keep him from seeing what they were doing, yet this hidden entrance was, no doubt, a carefully guarded secret. That meant they had no intention of ever letting him go alive. The thought was not exactly a surprise, and it hardly frightened him, but it did deepen his determination that he was going to have to find a way to get the Princess out of this, the sooner, the better.
Obi-Wan wondered how long it would be before anyone even noticed Mareeja was missing. If the girls back at the party asked, they would likely be told she was called away on business, as that was what everyone had been told, but it would probably be a long time before they even noticed she was gone. They would doubtless keep partying and wait for her to return. Everyone else meanwhile, would think the Princess was still in her party, which no one dared to interrupt. It could be hours until her absence was discovered. It was a perfect plan, Obi-Wan realized with a touch of despair. They would be long gone before anyone even knew they were missing.
*"Master,"* Obi-Wan called out to Qui-Gon silently as the men pushed him through the secret door. His link with Qui-Gon was his only hope of alerting anyone to their situation. *"Master, we're in trouble..."*
*******
Qui-Gon stood, motionless, but watchful in one of the outer halls of the Palace. The Princess' party had been going on for hours. The faint touch of a grin tugged at his lips as he wondered what kind of time his Padawan was
having in there.
Something in the Jedi Master was uneasy. His body was calm, but his mind was on the alert. He had told Obi-Wan that he did not fear danger this evening, but now he wondered if he had been wrong. Everything *seemed* quiet enough, but he could not rest easy.
All at once he heard Obi-Wan's voice call to him, unmistakable, clear, and urgent. *"Master, we're in trouble. You've got to come at once, help us Master!"*
Qui-Gon refused to allow his stomach to tighten into the knot that it wanted to, forcing himself to be calm instead. *"Where are you Obi-Wan? What's happened?"* he called back, searching the Force for his Padawan's presence, his legs already carrying him towards the Stateroom as he traced Obi-Wan's signal.
***********
*"Where are you Obi-Wan? What's happened?"* Obi-Wan was relieved to hear Qui-Gon answer him. Before he could reply the men prodding him along the narrow, dimly lit passage stopped suddenly.
"This is as far as you need to see girly," one of the abductors said roughly. Wrapping an arm around Obi-Wan's waist, another man pressed a folded cloth over the apprentice's nose and mouth.
Obi-Wan felt the material press against his face, smelt the distinctive smell of the drug it was soaked with, felt the chemicals sting his throat and lungs as they forced him to breath it.
*"NO!"* Obi-Wan's mind screamed as his vision blurred and his knees went weak. Further along in his training, Obi-Wan would have known how to center, how to hold his breath and use the Force to conserve the oxygen that his body had and therefore stave off the effects of the drug for a long time, but the young apprentice was not yet so skilled.
Obi-Wan battled the unconsciousness that was slowly creeping over him with all his strength, but it was a losing fight. Attempting to hold his breath, Obi-Wan struggled fiercely with the men holding him, but the drug was already in his system, slowing his responses and rendering his attempts ineffective.
The kidnappers just laughed and held him still while the drug took effect.
Too late, Obi-Wan realized that by struggling he was hastening the effects of the already potent drug. As icy unconsciousness claimed him, the Padawan calmed his mind enough to send one last image to Qui-Gon. Whether the Master received it or not, he did not know because the whirling blackness before his eyes pulled him under and he slumped senseless in the kidnapper's arms.
*********
The tension in Qui-Gon's stomach solidified into an icy jab of fear. Something had alarmed Obi-Wan.
*"NO!"* he heard a note of panic in his apprentice's mental voice but the cry was not directed at Qui-Gon.
*"Obi-Wan!"* the Master struggled to make contact again. *"Obi-Wan! Where are you?!"* This time, there was no answer. A strange, half-confused image of a fish-like creature flashed through his mind for an instant. A moment later, he lost hold of his Padawan's presence.
*"Obi-Wan!"* he fairly shouted. *"Obi-Wan!"* but he received no answer and found only emptiness. His pace slowed to a walk, no longer sure of where he was heading now that his tie with Obi-Wan had been broken.
He found himself standing before the tall, heavy doors of the stateroom. The door stood slightly ajar and probing it led Qui-Gon to believe that someone had very recently used the Force to open it, probably Obi-Wan. What was he doing here, so far from the party? Qui-Gon knew that Obi-Wan would not have left the Princess, and the Padawan had said "*We're* in trouble, help *us*."
With a sigh, the Jedi Master realized that whatever had happened to Obi-Wan, happened to the Princess as well. He scanned the room, but saw no trace of anyone present, although he discovered a blaster burn on the floor when he nudged aside a throw rug with his foot. Obi-Wan and Mareeja had definitely been here, but where were they now? He didn't know.
Going back out into the hall and pressing a wall button Qui-Gon summoned Palace Security.
*********
Obi-Wan awoke with a killer headache. His hands were bound behind his back and he was lying on a very hard, very cold surface. His eyelids felt heavy and his lips stuck together like glue, but as his mind slowly surfaced back
into reality he realized that was because he was still wearing fake eyelashes and lipstick. Opening his reluctant eyes with an effort, he found that he was lying on his side on the floor of a large room. Also bound, but awake,
Mareeja sat on the floor nearby with her back against the wall. The Princess' jaw was set and there was a defiant glint in her eye, but Obi-Wan could tell that just under the surface she was very frightened. On the other side of the room, between the prisoners and the door, about five or six armed men were involved in a game of chance, dividing their attention between the cards they played and the alcohol they drank.
Obi-Wan lifted his head, assessing his situation. His long hair tumbled in his face and his dress was tangled up around his ankles, but apparently, no one had discovered his identity. He tried to decide how he could best use that to his advantage. They would almost definitely underestimate him, but only once. He was going to have to plan whatever he did carefully. It was likely that he would only get one shot.
"Obijeena!" Mareeja whispered when she saw Obi-Wan moving. The relief in her voice told how glad she was, both that her friend was all right and that she was no longer alone.
Obi-Wan sat up and attempted to still his pounding head. Scooting over he leaned against the wall next to her. "Are you all right your Highness?" he asked, and then coughed to cover the fact that he had forgotten to change his voice. Hemming and hawing he pretended to be clearing the effects of having been drugged out of his throat. "I mean, are you all right?" he asked again, in his female voice this time. For right now, it was better to have *everyone* go on thinking that he was a girl. He would have to tell the Princess the truth later, when he knew how he was going to get them out of this.
Mareeja nodded. "I've got a pounding headache, but otherwise, I'm okay. Are you all right?"
Obi-Wan nodded, leaning his head against the wall. "I'm fine, but I understand what you mean about the headache."
"I'm sorry you got mixed up in this Obijeena," Mareeja apologized sadly. "Now we'll both die. You should have stayed away."
"What, and let you have all the fun?" Obi-Wan attempted to cheer her up a little.
Mareeja actually smiled. "Well, at least I won't have to worry about attending any more boring affairs of state," she said softly.
Obi-Wan realized that the Princess was certain they were both going to be killed. "You may have to yet," he encouraged. "The future is not set in stone. They haven't killed us yet, even thought they could have, let's wait and see what happens."
"Do you really think we could get out of here?" Mareeja asked doubtfully. "I don't even know where we are or what's outside this room."
"Neither do I," Obi-Wan admitted. "But I'd rather die trying, than just give up. If we look closely enough, a way will present itself."
Mareeja nodded slowly, feeling a little bit of hope again. "I guess you're right."
"Stop that whispering over there!" one of their guards shouted from the other side of the room. The man rose to his feet. "They look like they're up to something," he said suspiciously to his companions. "Move further apart you two, no talking," he commanded, crossing the room to stand before the captives. "I said move," he gave Obi-Wan a hard shove with his boot-clad foot, kicking the apprentice none too gently in the ribs when the 'girls' did not move fast enough to suit him. Grabbing the two prisoners by the shoulders he attempted to shove them apart.
"Keep your hands off us!" Mareeja demanded imperiously, without thinking.
"Oh," the man smiled unpleasantly. "Yes, your Highness, whatever you say your Highness," he mocked. He half knelt, half crouched beside the Princess. "Keep my hands off, you mean, not touch like this?" he said, sliding one of Mareeja's dress straps off her shoulder.
"Leave me alone!" Mareeja demanded angrily, trying to scoot away from him.
Obi-Wan felt her ripple of panic when the man did not back off, but trapped her against the wall. The man smiled cruelly and reached for her other dress strap.
Rolling over quickly, Obi-Wan put himself between Mareeja and the slightly inebriated guard. "Don't touch her," he said with quiet force, trying to make his words carry into the man's mind. But the Radoonian's brain, although fuzzy with liquor, was too well ordered for Obi-Wan to command.
The guard slapped Obi-Wan across the face with the back of his hand. "You know girl, you make yourself more trouble than you're worth," he threatened, grabbing Obi-Wan's shoulders and pinning him forcefully against the wall. "Maybe I should teach you a lesson," he said, leaning uncomfortably close to the Padawan.
*"Yuck!"* was all Obi-Wan could think or feel for a moment as the man tried to kiss him. The Padawan pulled his head away with a defiant twist. This was soooo stupid.
The man jerked him sideways, pushing Obi-Wan to the floor. A flush that Obi-Wan did not have time to control made his face hot with embarrassment. He could get this goon off him any time he chose, but did not yet wish to reveal his true strength to them. He was thinking of a trickier way to do it when Mareeja started kicking the man in the side. In the easily vacillating mood the guard was in, Obi-Wan knew it was only a matter of moments before his anger, and his attention swung back towards the Princess. Obi-Wan did not want that to happen. He would rather get himself in trouble with them than let them hurt Mareeja.
Bringing his knees up sharply into his assailant's groin he pulled himself free of the man's arms, rolling away and sitting up. It was a maneuver that took nothing out of the ordinary, but he knew it was also likely to make the fellow furious as heck. He was right.
"Why you little..!" the man growled in rage as he pulled himself up off the floor. Stalking over to Obi-Wan, he grabbed him by the hair, backhanding him again and shaking him violently.
Obi-Wan was once again glad that Mon Drane had insisted on *gluing* the wig to him.
The door slid open and the leader entered. "Danto, what's going on?" he asked calmly, but with a tone that warned against being trifled with. He quickly took in the Princess' rumpled attire and the lipstick that smudged the guard's mouth and cheek.
Danto scowled, but did not release Obi-Wan's hair. "This brat's making trouble again sir," he responded, giving Obi-Wan a contemptuous shake.
"Are you sure *you* weren't making trouble Danto?" the leader asked quietly.
Danto bristled.
"He tried to attack us!" Mareeja put in indignantly. "I don't know who you are or what you want, but when you're caught, you'll pay for this! You can tell my Uncle he'll never pull this off!" she raged, as much frightened as angry.
The leader just smiled infuriatingly. "I wouldn't talk about paying your Highness. Payment is expensive, and the toll heavy. As for your dear Uncle, well, we've gotten away with it before, now haven't we?"
Princess Mareeja bit her lip at the callus way in which the man talked about her parents' murder.
"Murderers!" she spat, tears in her periwinkle eyes. "Filthy, bloody murderers!"
The leader looked singularly unconcerned with the Princess' opinion of them. "Leave her Highness alone Danto," he instructed, directing his attention towards the guard once more. "That goes for all of you," he informed the rest of his men present.
"What about her?" Danto asked, giving Obi-Wan a shake when he saw that his boss was about to leave.
"Oh yes, our little spitfire eh?" the leader grinned. "I don't care what you do with her. If she makes trouble, punish her, but go easy. Remember," he mocked, "She's just a child."
*"Thanks,"* Obi-Wan thought dryly as the leader left. *"I'm going to have to find a way out of this and fast."*
"A child huh?" Danto jeered. "Don't look like it to me, but maybe he's got something there, huh guys?"
Obi-Wan did not like the way the other guards laughed at this.
Danto pulled Obi-Wan over to the table the guards had previously been playing cards upon. Sitting down in a chair he gave a jerk on Obi-Wan's arm, suddenly pulling the boy down across his lap. The other guards helped hold 'her' there. Pulling off his belt Danto gave Obi-Wan a stiff thrashing.
When he finally stopped, they dumped Obi-Wan back in the corner. Thankfully, this turn of events seemed to have been enough amusement for them and even Danto forgot his more sinister intentions of earlier. The guards returned to their card games, leaving their captives, at least for the moment, in peace.
Obi-Wan tried to cool his burning face, but without much success. Danto had embarrassed him far more than he hurt him.
"Are you okay?" Mareeja asked with genuine sympathy.
Obi-Wan nodded, not quite able to meet her eyes.
"Are you sure?" she prodded, still being sensitive, but unwilling to let her friend hide things from her.
"I'm fine," Obi-Wan had to resist mumbling. "It didn't really hurt," he fibbed a little. "It's just..."
"Embarrassing," Mareeja finished for him, giving him an understanding look.
Obi-Wan nodded. He felt so foolish. He was a Jedi apprentice, what in the world was he doing here, dressed like this, having these things happen to him? It was so frustrating to know that he had the ability to best everyone in that room and yet have to subject himself to their whims that way.
"I can't stand being so helpless," he really hadn't meant to say it out loud, but Mareeja did not hold it against him, even if she took it differently than he meant it.
"I know, I feel the same way, or, I did. You gave me hope a little bit ago Obijeena, don't let go of it yourself. They want to embarrass you, they want you to feel helpless, don't let them. Don't let them win," the Princess encouraged sincerely.
Obi-Wan smiled. He was not giving up hope, he had merely been feeling a little sorry for himself, but Mareeja's words were meant kindly, so he took them that way. Looking at her, he remembered why he was here, dressed like this, letting these things happen to him. He was doing it to protect her, to do whatever he could to see the Princess safely returned to her home and her throne. He would give his life for that if he had to, not only because he was a Jedi and it was his duty, but because in this short time, Mareeja had become more than just his assignment, she had become his friend.
Obi-Wan thought hard. There were pieces here; he just had to put them together. He shifted to his knees, finding sitting to be most uncomfortable right now. Slowly, an idea started coming together. It was a desperate gamble, but he was betting that they did not have much time.
"Mareeja," he whispered, dropping his voice even lower than before. "I have an idea. It's pretty risky, but it might work. What do you say?"
"I say anything is worth a try. Tell me your plan."
*******
"Excuse me," Mareeja interrupted the guard's game. "Excuse me, I have to use the restroom."
"Me too," Obi-Wan, by her side, chimed in.
"Yeah, yeah," the guards groaned at the interruption. "One at a time. Come on your Highness, you first."
"No, I can't wait!" Obi-Wan protested.
"Okay then, you first," the guards were becoming seriously annoyed.
"I can't wait either!" Mareeja put on her best complaining tone. Both of them started talking at once and the combined whine was truly nerve grating.
"All right, all right!" the guards gave in. "Estrad, Danto, Michal, Gordo, take them both."
Obi-Wan and Mareeja exchanged a secret smile of satisfaction as the guards escorted them out the door. The guards were a little more careless than they should have been, and they let the prisoners get ahead of them a little bit.
Obi-Wan gave Mareeja the barest of nods.
Mareeja suddenly stumbled and fell. Clutching her ankle as if in great pain she started howling. Just loud enough to disconcert their guards, but not enough so to bring anyone else around to investigate the noise.
For an instant, all their attention was on Mareeja. It was all Obi-Wan needed.
A few quick moves and he had all the guards' blasters out of their holsters before they knew what was happening. Dodging a swing he quickly set them all to stun and tossed two to Mareeja. He hoped she could figure out how to use them. About a minute and a half later, all four guards lay senseless on the floor.
Mareeja was breathing hard; this was quite a bit more adventure than she was used to. "You're good at this Obijeena! However did you get their blasters so fast?" she asked in admiration as they slid quickly and quietly down the hall.
"Um, I've had some training," he answered truthfully. "I'll tell you about it later."
They came to a place where the passage joined a larger hallway.
"Which way do we go?" Mareeja asked uncertainly.
Obi-Wan hesitated in thought.
"Hey, you!" a voice shouted from up the hall on their right. Several men rounded the corner, spotting them.
"Well, I guess that takes care of that question!" Obi-Wan said, grabbing Mareeja's hand and sprinting down the hall to the left. Fortunately for them, the building they were being held in was a small one and when they burst out through the door at the end of the hall they found themselves outside. An electric fence surrounded the yard. The men behind them had nearly caught up and now, about seven more men were coming at a run from the far end of the yard. They didn't have much time.
Dodging blaster bolts from a distance, they scrambled towards the fence. Obi-Wan decided he would have to levitate them over it. How he was going to do that while being shot at he did not know. As they neared the fence he paused for a moment to return fire. When he turned back, his blood ran cold. Mareeja obviously did not realize that the fence was an electric one. She reached up to get a hold, preparing to climb over it.
"No! Mareeja, don't!" Obi-Wan screamed, but it was too late. With an upward jump, Mareeja caught hold of the metal links, pushing the pointy toes of her high-heeled shoes into the large mesh.
Obi-Wan cringed in horrible anticipation, his legs pumping to bring him to her side and... nothing happened. The fence was not turned on. Obi-Wan did not stop to ponder the reason for this oversight, but grabbed hold and made his own way over it double quick.
Once on the other side, they found that they were very literally in the middle of nowhere. Wherever their abductors had taken them, it was deep in the Radoon jungle. Pushing his way through the brush and vines, Obi-Wan led Mareeja in a direction he hoped would eventually get them somewhere. At least for right now, it got them away from their former prison.
The pair ran through the trees for a good long time until they realized they were not being followed. Mareeja slowed to a trot, unable to run anymore.
"Obijeena, they're not following us anymore," she gasped as she flopped down to sit on a rock. "Either we lost them, or they figure we'll die on our own in the middle of this wilderness."
Obi-Wan wiped his brow. She was right. They were no longer being followed, now they just had to find a way out of this jungle before it proved to be a more dangerous enemy than the assassins.
Obi-Wan sat down too. The escape bothered him just a bit. It had almost been too easy. They had better be watchful. A banging sound made him look over at the Princess.
Mareeja had taken her shoes off and was hammering at the high, pointy heels with a rock. "I can't possibly go any further in these," she explained. "But I don't know if it's safe to walk through these woods barefoot." Obi-Wan helped her and soon they had both heels off. The curve of the shoe was a little awkward without the heels to justify it, but it was easier than walking on spike-heels across the soft, uneven terrain.
After they had rested a while, Mareeja stood wearily. "Well, I guess we better get moving. Which way do we go?"
"Let's head west. We can aim towards the sun that way to make sure we don't go round in circles," Obi-Wan said, also rising.
"Yes," Mareeja agreed dryly. "At all cost let's do avoid that. But it's hard to see the sun in some places."
"We'll just have to work around that," Obi-Wan sighed. "Let's go."
**************
Qui-Gon was in the stateroom again. Security had been all over the room and found nothing save the blast mark that he had already discovered, and yet, somehow Qui-Gon felt sure that this place held some further clue for him, if only he was still enough to find it. He checked the walls, the floor, the ceiling... nothing. Everything turned up just as void of clues as it had the last time he'd searched, and the time before that. Yet this was the last definite place that there was any record of the Princess heading, at least if the droid could be believed. More than that, he felt sure that this is where Obi-Wan's signal had been leading him until it was terminated. How, or why it was terminated he did not allow himself to think about. The boy was alive somewhere, he knew that. And if Obi-Wan was alive, it was a good bet the Princess was too, but there was no guarantee how long they were going to
*stay* that way.
*Why where they alive at all?* He wondered. If it were indeed the same person or persons who had murdered the last rulers, why was the Princess not already dead?
So many questions, so few answers.
Qui-Gon leaned wearily against a tall, glass-plated display case. He had barely slept since Princess Mareeja and his Padawan had disappeared two days ago. Suddenly he felt something, like a trace, or a faint memory, only one that was not his. Obi-Wan had been here. He had stood right in that very spot and he had felt... not afraid, but leery. Qui-Gon latched on to that and tried to probe it deeper, but that was all it was, a lingering memory in the Force, like an odor. Proof that someone had been there, but no clue to what happened after.
So close and yet so far.
His comlink beeped. "Jinn here," he answered, thumbing the comlink on.
"This Mon Drane Master Jinn," the voice on the other end identified herself. "Sorry to bother you, but I still have your Padawan's clothes here."
Qui-Gon remonstrated himself for having forgotten to retrieve them before now.
"Don't you want me to do removal job? Or has Obi-Wan decided that he likes his new look that much?" the Cestian asked, the smile evident in his voice.
Qui-Gon felt someone approach and looked up as the Prime Minister entered the room. "I'm sorry Mon Drane, I can't talk now. I'll see you later to take care of things." Qui-Gon turned the comlink off, replacing it on his belt.
"Master Jinn," Prime Minister Bosh greeted. "I hope I am not disturbing you? Who were you talking to?"
"Just, a friend," Qui-Gon replied, giving a nodded bow to the diplomat. "Ah, well, I see I find you here again. Have you found anything that our teams have missed?" Bosh wanted to know.
"No," Qui-Gon shook his head. "Not yet, yet I am certain the Princess was here, and that whatever attack took place to capture her, took place in this room. It is how she was taken out of the Palace without being detected after this point that puzzles me," he admitted.
"Indeed," the Prime Minister stroked his double chin. "Do you suppose the kidnappers had inside help? That some of our staff was in on it and provided them with a safe passage in and out?" he queried.
"I think it is a definite possibility," Qui-Gon assented.
"What about the Princess' notion, that her Uncle was behind her parent's death? Do you think he is behind this as well?" Bosh asked cautiously, knowing he was treading on dangerous ground. Warren Dejabold was a powerful, if not well liked, man.
TBC
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