Obi-Wan jumped. The speed and power of the move surprisedTeleq. Obi-Wan saw the shock on his face as he stumbled onthe wide branch, then awkwardly leaped to the next tree. Atthe same time, Obi-Wan changed direction in midair. Hecollided with Teleq, sending the bounty hunter sailingstraight into a bird’s nest.
Screeee! Screeee! Screeee! Screeee! The birds erupted inwild, furious calls. Two small baby birds lifted theirheads and tried to flap their wings at the intruder.
The two large birds guarding the nest suddenly rose in theair. Together, they extended their powerful claws andsnatched Teleq from the nest. Beating their wings, theycarried a struggling Teleq away.
Anakin leaped onto the branch next to Obi-Wan. “Good plan,Master.”
“We need to get Wren down from that tree. It can’t be aseasy as it looks.” Obi-Wan leaped from branch to branch.When he got onto the tree next to Wren’s, he examined thearea carefully. Wren could not move his eyes, yet Obi-Wanfelt the Force roll out from him in strong waves. Wren waswarning him.
“I know, Wren,” he called out to him. “We will take ourtime, but we’ll get you out.”
The ground at the bottom of the tree was thickly carpetedwith blooms, just like very other tree. But here the bloomswere massed a little too thickly. The pattern was notrandom enough.
“Anakin, swing down and examine the ground under the tree,”Obi-Wan instructed. Be careful. Don’t get too close.”
Anakin eased down to the ground. He circled the tree,gazing carefully down. “These blossoms have been placedhere.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Something is underneath.” Before Obi-Wan could stop him,Anakin tossed a rock into the mass of flowers. Itdisappeared.
“There’s a trench down there,” Anakin called up.
“You’re lucky there wasn’t explosive,” Obi-Wan saiddisapprovingly. Sometimes Anakin acted rashly. If he couldteach the boy one thing, it would be too wait.
He began to study the three branches. He noticed seamsrunning through several branches.
“I think I get it,” he called down to Anakin. “Thesebranches have been cut through, then resealed. They won’ttake our wait. We would have crashed through, right intothe trench.”
“And then he could have hit us with some paralyzing darts,”Anakin finished. “Pretty simple plan.”
“Simple is sometimes best,” Obi-Wan said. “Lucky for us, itwas not in this case. We’ll have to use our cable launchersto get Wren.”
Activating their launchers, the Jedi swung close to Wren andmanaged to cut him free. Obi-Wan supported him as hereleased his cable launcher and they dropped to the ground.
He carefully lay Wren down and examined him. There was along gash on one leg and his arm looked bruised. He had ablaster wound to his shoulder. He must have been in pain.
Obi-Wan reached for the bacta in his kit and administeredit.
“You will be fine, but you need better care than we can findyou here,” he told Wren. “We must get you back to theTemple.”
“That means we need a ship,” Anakin said.
“Teleq’s must be nearby,” Obi-Wan said, rising to his feet.
Anakin looked around. “Where are Floria and Dane? Theywere supposed to wait by the hill.”
“I think I know where I can find them, too” Obi-Wan said.
Chapter 12
Floria and Dane sat by Teleq’s ship at the end of themeadow. They jumped up when they saw Obi-Wan and Anakin.
“We saw the battle,” Floria said. “I’ll never underestimatethe Jedi again. The way you strategized! The way youmoved!”
“Nice star cruiser,” Anakin said, circling around Teleq’sship. “We could get to Coruscant on this.”
“Don’t bother going inside yet,” Obi-Wan said. “Theengine’s been disabled.”
Anakin poked his head around the side of the ship and lookedat Obi-Wan quizzically. Obi-Wan looked at Floria and Dane.
“Well?’ he said sternly.
Dane opened his hand. A sensor lay in it. “Just a littlepart,” he said. “And the engine is easily fixed. It’s anactivation sensor for the sublight drive.”
“So Teleq wouldn’t be able to leave the atmosphere,” Anakinsaid. “He’d have to rely on repulsorlift engines.”
“And a warning light would tell him so,” Obi-Wan finished.”He’d know he wouldn’t be able to take off without work onthe engine. And while he was working on it, you’d disablehim. And take off with us for a prize.”
“Wait a second,” Anakin said. “This means that you expectedTeleq to capture us.”
“No offense,” Dane said. “What kind of bounty hunters wouldwe be if we didn’t explore all of the alternatives?”