some intact, others missing significant portions of their anatomy, these having been neatly excised by whirling shafts of intensely colored energy.
Barriss's exuberance and occasional shouted challenge were complemented by Luminara's steady, silently ferocious work. Together, the two women not only kept their attackers at bay, but began to force them back. There is something in the hushed, frighteningly efficient aspect of a fighting Jedi that takes the heart out of an ordinary opponent. A would-be murderer has only to see a few blaster shots deflected by the anticipatory hum of a lightsaber to realize that there might be other less potentially lethal ways to make a living.
Then, just when the two women were on the verge of pushing the remaining attackers around a corner and back out into an open square where they could be more effectively scattered, a roar of anticipation rose above the fray as another two dozen assassins arrived. This melange of humans and aliens was better dressed, better armed, and tended to fight more as a unit than those who had preceded them. A tiring Luminara realized suddenly that the previous hard fighting had never been intended to kill them, but only to wear them out. Steeling herself and shouting encouragement to a visibly downcast Barriss, she once more found herself retreating back down the narrow street they had nearly succeeded in escaping.
Drawing new courage from the arrival of fresh reinforce ments, their surviving assailants redoubled their own attack. Jedi and Padawan were forced steadily backward.
Then there was no more backward. The side street dead-ended against a featureless courtyard wall. To anyone else it would have appeared unscalable. But a Jedi could find hand- and footholds where others would see only a smooth surface.
'Barriss!' Lightsaber whirling, Luminara indicated the reddish-colored barrier behind them. 'Go up! I'll follow.' Dropping to his knees, a man clad in tough leathers took careful aim with a blaster. Luminara blocked both his shots before taking one hand briefly off the lightsaber to gesture in his direction. Like a living thing, the dangerous weapon flew out of his hands, startling him so badly he fell backward onto his butt. Protected by his fellow assassins, he did not panic like a common killer but instead scrambled to recover the blaster. They couldn't keep this up forever, she knew.
'Up, I said!' Luminara did not have to turn to sense the un yielding wall behind her.
Barriss hesitated. 'Master, you can cover me if I climb, but I can't do the same for you from the top of the wall.' Lunging, she disarmed a serpentine Wetakk who was trying to slip in under her guard. Letting out a yelp of pain, it stepped back and switched the hooked blade it was holding to another hand, of which it still had five remaining. Without missing a breath, the Padawan added, 'You can't climb and use your weapon, too!'
'I'll be all right,' Luminara assured her, even as she won dered how she was going to make the ascent without being cut down from behind. But her first concern was for her Padawan, and not for herself. 'That's an order, Barriss! Get up there. We have to get out of this confined space.'
Reluctantly, Barriss took a last sweeping swing to clear the ground in front of her. Then she shut down her lightsaber, slipped it back onto her belt, pivoted, took a few steps, and leapt. The jump carried her partway up the wall, to which she clung like a spider. Finding seemingly invisible fingerholds, she began to ascend. Below and behind her, Luminara single-handedly held back the entire surging throng of eager killers.
Nearly at the top, Barriss looked back and down. Luminara was not only holding off her own assailants, but had moved forward to ensure that none of those in the back would have time to take aim at the climbing Padawan. Barriss hesitated.
'Master Luminara, there are too many! I can't protect you from up here.'
The Jedi turned to respond. As she did so, she failed to see or sense a small Throbe standing behind a much larger human. The Throbe's blaster was small, its aim wild, but the undeflected shot still managed to graze the woman in the umber robes. Luminara staggered.
'Master!' Frantic, Barriss debated whether to ascend the re maining distance to the top of the wall or disobey her Master and drop back down to aid her. In the midst of her confusion, a subtle tremor ran through her mind. It was a disturbance in the Force, but one very different from anything they had experienced this dreadful morning. It was also surprisingly strong.
Yelling encouragement, the two men plunged past on either side of Luminara. Neither was physically imposing, though one had a build suggestive of considerable future development. Lightsabers flashing, they fell in among the bewildered band of assassins, their weapons dealing out havoc in bantha-sized doses.
To their credit, the attackers held their ground for another couple of moments. Then, their associates falling all around them, the survivors broke and fled. In less than a minute, the street was clear and the way back to the central square unobstructed. Letting go of the wall, Barriss dropped the considerable distance to the ground, to find herself facing an attractive young man who wore confidence like a handmade suit. Smiling cockily, he deactivated his lightsaber and regarded her appraisingly.
'I've been told that morning exercise is good for the soul as well as the body. Hello, Barriss Offee.'
'Anakin Skywalker. Yes, I remember you from training.' Au tomatically nodding her thanks, she hurried to her Master's side. The other newcomer was already examining Luminara's blaster wound.
'It's not serious.'
Luminara pulled her garments closed rather more sharply than was necessary. 'You're early, Obi-Wan,' she told her col league. 'We weren't expecting you until the day after tomorrow.'
'Our ship made good time.' As the four emerged onto the square, Obi-Wan's gaze swept the open space. Presently, it was as void of inimical disturbance, as was the Force. He allowed himself to relax slightly. 'Since we arrived early, we suspected there would be no one to meet us at the spaceport. So we decided to come looking for you. When you weren't at your stated residence, we decided to take a stroll to acquaint ourselves with the city. That's when I sensed the trouble. It drew us to you.'
'Well, I certainly can't fault your timing.' She smiled gratefully. It was the same intriguing smile that Obi- Wan remembered from working with her previously, framed as it was by its differently toned lips. 'The situation was becoming awkward.'
'Awkward!' Anakin declared. 'Why, if Master Obi-Wan and I hadn't-' The look of disapproval the Jedi shot him was enough to destroy the observation in midsentence.
'Something I've been curious about ever since we were given this assignment.' Barriss moved a little farther away from her counterpart and closer to the two senior Jedi. 'Why arc four of us needed here, to deal with what seems to me to be nothing more than a minor dispute among the native sentients?' Her impatience was palpable. 'Earlier, you spoke of greater issues.'
