Darovit made no move to resist, though he did ask, 'Where are we going?'
'Tython ' she whispered. 'I have to warn my Master.1'
They reached the rotunda, but instead of turning down the first hall and heading toward the exit, she led him into the third hall.
'What are you doing, Rain?' Darovit asked, his voice rising slightly. 'We have to get going!'
One of the other scholars-an older woman with coppery red hair sitting at a nearby terminal-turned to stare at them, her attention drawn by Darovit's exclamations.
'Quiet, Tomcat,' Rain shushed him, nodding apologetically in the woman's direction. 'You're disturbing the other patrons.'
The old woman turned back to her viewscreen, dismissing them. Darovit's companion gave his arm a rough shake.
'I'm sorry' he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. 'But you have to get out of here. Leave for Tython before they find you here.'
'I don't know where Tython is' she snapped back through clenched teeth. 'We need to find a hyperspace route.'
Taking the terminal one down from the red-haired old woman, Rain punched a series of buttons. A second later the screen came to life with a list of reference numbers.
'Got it,' she said, shoving Darovit into the seat by the terminal's viewscreen. 'Wait here.'
She disappeared into the stacks, moving with the same half-walking, half-running stride. As Darovit waited for her to return, it occurred to him that his loyalties had suddenly shifted. He had been lured to Coruscant with the notion of helping the Jedi wipe out the Sith and prevent a war. But the abstract concept of widespread galactic suffering meant little when he had come face-to-face with his childhood friend. Now all he could think about was what would happen to Rain if she was caught, and he realized he was willing to do whatever it took to keep her safe.
Less than a minute later she returned and slapped a datacard into the terminal. Leaning across Darovit, who was still seated in the chair, she tapped away at the controls until an image of a cloud-covered world appeared on the screen.
'I need to copy this,' she said, pulling out the datacard she had been using when he first saw her and jamming it into another slot on the terminal.
'Why not just take the original?' Darovit asked.
'Sensors on the Archive doors,' she explained. 'Removing an original will set off alarms.'
The terminal beeped and the datacard popped out, the copying complete. Zannah stuffed it into her robes, then hauled Darovit up by his elbow.
'Let's go. Before your friends show up.'
Not bothering to return the original back to the stacks, she half-led, half-pulled him away from the terminal. She whisked him to the rotunda, then down the main aisle of the first hall and out the exit, leaving the Archives behind them.
Chapter 20
'I don't understand, Master Valenthyne,' Johun said, casting his gaze from side to side as they made their way down the aisles of the Jedi Archives. 'I left him here less than an hour ago.'
He had expected to find Darovit sitting at a terminal in one of the four halls, or possibly examining the bronzium busts in the rotunda. But when he brought Master Valenthyne to speak with the young man, Darovit had vanished.
'He's probably just lost somewhere in the stacks ' Farfalla assured him.
Johun signaled to a passing analysis droid. It turned and made its way toward them with quick, stiff-legged steps.
'May I be of assistance?' it inquired helpfully.
'I'm looking for someone,' Johun explained. 'A young man.'
'Beings of all species and ages visit the Archives,' the droid responded. 'I would be better able to provide assistance if you could provide a description, Master Jedi.'
'He is missing his right hand.'
There was a soft whir as the droid accessed its recent memory banks.
'I believe I recently saw the man you are looking for in the third hall' the droid offered, turning to lead them in that direction.
Johun didn't bother to wait; he pushed past the droid in his haste. Farfalla followed closely at his heels.
There were many people examining the datacards located in the third hall, but the Healing Hermit of Ruusan was not among them.
'We've got to find him!' Johun said to his Master, then ran up and down the entire length of the hall, peering into the side aisles to see if Darovit was hidden among the stacks. His disruptive antics drew the ire of several of the other scholars.
Farfalla reached out and grabbed Johun as he ran past a second time, stopping him before he could make another lap of the hall.
'He's not here, Johun ' he said.
There was a loud clearing of the throat, and two men turned to see an older redheaded woman glaring at them.
'Master Valenthyne,' she said, 'I respectfully remind you that the Archives is a place of contemplative research. Your young friend would be better served to resume his exercises out in the training yards.'
'Our apologies, Master Qiina,' he whispered. 'But this is a matter of some urgency. We are looking for someone who has gone miss-ing'
'It is easy to lose oneself in the wisdom of the Archives,' Qiina replied. 'I myself often disappear for days at a time.'
Farfalla smiled politely at the jest. 'This is somewhat different.'
The analysis droid that had been helping them earlier toddled over toward them, having only just now caught up after they left it behind in their haste. Johun glanced at the droid, then back to Master Qiina.
'We're looking for a young man' he told her. 'He's missing his right hand'
Qiina raised her eyebrows. 'I saw him not thirty minutes ago. He was with a young woman.'
'A woman?' Farfalla asked in surprise.
'They seemed to know each other' the old Jedi informed them. 'They called each other by silly little nicknames. Tomcat and Rain, if
I remember correctly.'
Johun seized Farfalla's arm. 'Rain was his cousin! The one he met down in the caves. She's here!'
'Do you know where they went, Master Qiina?' Farfalla asked. The old woman shook her head. 'They were using that terminal over there to look something up. Then they left.'
Farfalla turned to the droid. 'Is there any way we can find out which records they were viewing?'
'I am sorry, Master Jedi,' the droid replied. 'To protect the privacy of our scholars and to avoid compromising their research, the terminals do not store any data on which records they were used to explore.'
'Your friends seemed to be in quite a hurry' Qiina offered. 'I doubt they even bothered to return the datadisk to the stacks. It might still be plugged into the terminal.'
Johun rushed over to the screen. It was still logged on, under the name Nalia Adollu. As Qiina had guessed, there was a datacard loaded in. He pulled up the disk's index as Farfalla came and peered over his shoulder.
'Tython,' the Jedi Master remarked, picking out the common theme among the thousands of articles and papers referenced by the index. 'Birthplace of the Jedi.'
'That must be where they're going' Johun insisted. 'Bane must have gone into hiding in the Deep Core!'
He turned to Farfalla, clutching his Master's arm in his urgency. 'You have to convince the Council to let us go after them.'
