The swoop boomeranged backward, crashed into the tree trunk behind them, then shot forward again, caught in the sticky web. The ropy tendrils clung to Obi-Wan's skin and hair and caught in his mouth.
When he tried to pull the skin of the web off him, it stuck to his fingers.
'Aarrgh!' Anakin gave a strangled cry as he tried to pull the web off his face.
Obi-Wan managed to unsheathe his lightsaber and activate it. He cut a swath through the web, creating a hole. He dropped to the forest floor. Anakin landed next to him. Tendrils of the web still stuck to their skin, and they tried to get it off, but it stuck to them like a strong glue. The swoop hung above them while a spider with legs more than a meter long scuttled across a tree trunk to see what it had caught.
Meanwhile, the assassin had disappeared. They would have to track him.
They ran quickly through the trees, snaking through the forest. The assassin had doubled back. After tracking him for a kilometer, Obi-Wan suspected that he was heading back toward the village.
They came out on another path that veered downhill sharply. Through the trees they could occasionally see the rooftops of the village. The path ended at the outskirts of the village, near some outbuildings. A large stone building had a side parking area for speeders.
'Anakin, stop. There he is.'
The assassin was moving from shadow to shadow across the street. They could see now that he was a human male, dressed in dark clothing and wearing a helmet with a brim that that shadowed his face.
Then Lorian Nod appeared from the back pathway to the mountain. He was walking quickly and didn't notice the Jedi. 'He's meeting Lorian,'
Anakin said.
Suddenly the street came alive with villagers. They surged forward, shouting in their native language and brandishing blasters and the native weapon, a sharp blade atop a thick wooden pole. The assassin melted back into the shadows, The villagers rushed down the street. Lorian was lost in the midst of them. Suddenly, Obi-Wan saw that Floria and Dane were being herded near the front of the crowd. Their hands were bound in lasercuffs in front of them.
Dane caught sight of Obi-Wan. 'They think we killed Samish!' he shouted. 'Help us!'
Floria and Dane were carried along with the crowd. The villagers surged into the stone building like one giant moving beast. The street was suddenly empty. Lorian had vanished.
'Should we try to find him?' Anakin asked.
Obi-Wan sighed. 'He's not going anywhere. And we'd better see what's happening with Floria and Dane.'
They walked into the building. It was a basic prison, but the security wasn't sophisticated. The cell was a small room in a corner with a durasteel door and a basic security coded lock. There were no official guards, no data-screens, no evidence of record-keeping or comm devices. Obviously this was used as a holding cell until the villagers decided on their own brand of justice.
The locals sat around a massive wooden table, drinking tea and grog and arguing. Obi-Wan stepped forward. 'We would like to see our friends.'
'They are our prisoners.' This was growled from the largest villager who sat at the head of the table.
Obi-Wan dug into the bag at his side and threw the skin of a laroon on the table. They had brought skins and furs with them to cover their identities.
'We would like to see our friends,' he repeated.
The fur of the laroon was inspected with knowing fingers. Then the villager nodded. He rose slowly, ambled to the lock, and keyed in the security code. The door slid open.
Dane was pacing in the cell. Floria sat quietly on the one chair provided. The door slid shut behind the Jedi.
'Thank the stars you are here. They are going to kill us,' Dane said.
'Don't be so dramatic,' Floria said. 'You don't know that.'
'Let me think. They just debated on whether to use blasters or do it slowly by lowering us into a laroon den. What's your conclusion?' Dane asked fiercely.
'They can't just kill us without a trial,' Floria said. Obi-Wan noted that she had regained the color in her cheeks. Floria had been a pretty girl. Now she was a beautiful woman.
'Of course they can! This is Null! They don't bother with trials here!' Dane cried.
'Floria, Dane, if you could stop arguing for a moment,' Obi-Wan said, holding up a hand. 'Do they have evidence against you?'
'I found the body, and Dane came up right after,' Floria said.
'In other words, they don't need evidence,' Dane said. 'We're outlanders. We were in the vicinity. That's all they need to know.' He slumped against the wall of the bare cell and drifted down until he was sitting on the floor.
'We will protect you from the villagers,' Obi-Wan said. 'But you must help us.'
'You were Kash's bodyguards,' Anakin said. 'You must have a few likely suspects. Who would have hired that assassin?'
Floria shook her head. Dane shrugged.
'No one and everyone,' Dane said. 'He didn't have any particular enemies. He had brought prosperity and peace to his people. But with this Separatist thing, everything changes. It could have been Dooku himself. It could have been one of the other members of the alliance, Telamarch or Uziel, if they wanted to control the
