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.
Anakin could speak so easily of his feelings. He often spoke without thinking, often spilled out exactly what was in his heart. It was behavior that was not like a Jedi.
And I correct him. Is that right?
Obi-Wan knew why Anakin was this way. It was because of Shmi. Anakin's mother had given him a great gift. She had given him an open heart. His feelings were deep and spontaneous. That was a good thing. But they sometimes led him to act too fast, the make quick judgements.
He is the opposite of me, Obi-Wan thought. It has always been difficult for me to speak what is in my heart.
Anakin had been wrong to say he never told him anything. Obi-Wan only held back what he thought Anakin did not need to know, just as Qui-Gon had done with him. Obi-Wan had begun to suspect that Wren's clues were not right, but he felt it was better for Anakin to discover this on his own. He could see that Anakin's eagerness the find Wren was clouding his judgement. Perhaps Anakin was being less careful because he was not on a mission, but an exercise.
These were things it was not proper for a Master to share with his Padawan. Yet Anakin wanted Obi-Wan to share everything.
Sighing, Obi-Wan led the way back to their ship. He would have to think of a way to bring up what had happened. He knew he had hurt Anakin's feelings.
Obi-Wan knew the terrain by now and led them down the mountain and across rocky hills and meadows so they would not have to double back, which would have cost them time. Within two hours, they were hiking across the meadow toward the cliff face where Wren had docked the ship.
'Don't worry,' Anakin said reassuringly to Floria. 'We have a comm unit aboard the ship, so — Master! Look at that. It's beautiful. ' Anakin frowned, sensing something was wrong.
Obi-Wan saw the fine blue mist heading for them. 'Anakin, move!'
Anakin's reflexes were perfect. Without thinking, he leaped to one side as Obi-Wan vaulted toward Floria. He grabbed her and jumped, accessing the Force.
The spray hit the ground where Anakin and Floria had been standing.
'Stokhli spray stick,' Obi-Wan said. 'Keep moving.'
'A what?' Floria asked.
Another burst of spray headed their way. Obi-Wan jumped again, still holding Floria against his side, as he tried to pinpoint the location of their attacker.
'It's a weapon,' Anakin explained as they ran toward cover. 'It sends out a spraynet mist with a stun current. You don't want it to hit you.'
'I guess not,' Floria muttered as Obi-Wan gained the shelter of some boulders and pushed her behind them.
'We have to circle around and stop whoever is doing this,' Obi-Wan said to Anakin. 'Stay here, Floria.'
She gazed at him with wide, frightened eyes, 'Don't worry. Just come back again.'
'If you head for those tress, I'll circle around the boulders and see if I can surprise the attacker,' Obi-Wan told Anakin. 'Remember the Stokhli stick has a range of two hundred meters.'
'Makes it hard to get close enough with a lightsaber,' Anakin said.
'Exactly,' Obi-Wan murmured. 'Just leave that to me. Keep the attacker busy. And don't take chances!'
