The scars of life as a bounty hunter, Obi-Wan thought. Itbothered him to think of young Floria and Dane continuingwith such a life. Despite their grumbling and their tricks,they were not bad creatures.
And they are exactly the sort of beings Qui-Gon would havebefriended. And I would not have understood why. Now I do,Qui-Gon. Now, I do.
“Don’t worry, kids” Pereg told them. “I won’t interferewith your prize.”
“I’m glad to see you abide by the rules of honor.” Danesaid.
“It’s not that,” Pereg said, “I can’t move my legs. Thatscoundrel son of a gravel-maggot Teleq shot me with aparalyzing dart four hours ago. So it looks like you’vewon.”
“Is there anything we can do for you?” Floria askedpolitely. “It’s awfully cold up here.”
“Very kind of you to ask,” Pereg said. “after you collectthe reward, if you wouldn’t mind sending a ship back for me,I’d appreciate it. Professional courtesy. I’ll make itworth your while.”
“Have you seen Granta Omega, by any chance?” Floria askedhim.
He shook his head. “Sorry. It’s just been me and themountain.”
They left Hunti Pereg behind and continued to the rendezvouspoint. They were almost at the top of the mountain now.The sun had slid behind the peak, and the wind had pickedup. A few snowflakes drifted down from a white sky. Floriawrapped her cloak tighter around her.
They stopped at the coordinates Granta had given them. Theylooked up at the sky, waiting to see a ship. Dane got out atarp with thermal coils and spread it on the ground. He andFloria sat, trying to keep warm. Obi-Wan and Anakin stood,holding their arms so the laser cuffs were visible. Obi-Wandid not feel the cold.
The minutes ticked by.
“He isn’t coming,” Obi-Wan said at last.
“Do you think he knows it was a trick?” Anakin asked.
“There’s no way to know,” Obi-wan said. “But a storm iscoming, and we need to find help for Wren. We’ll have totrack Omega after we get Wren to safety.”
“How?” Anakin asked. “we don’t have a ship.”
“We’ll have to take another look at Teleq’s,” Obi-Wandecided.
Floria stood. “At least I can get off the mountain.”
“Well, at least all the bounty hunters have been accountedfor,” Anakin said. “We don’t have to worry about beingattacked.”
They started back down the trail, their footsteps crunchingthrough the thin skin of ice into the densely packed snow.”
Obi-Wan heard a slight whistling noise behind him. A smallmetal ball whizzed by his ear and caught the light as itarced through the air.
“Hit the ground!” Obi-Wan shouted as he vaulted forward andpulled Floria and Dane down underneath him.
Chapter Fourteen
The explosion sent a shower of snow high into the air. Obi-Wan lifted his head. The thermal detonator had hit thirtymeters away. That was close. Detonators had a twenty-meterradius of destruction.
Three Attack Droids headed toward them, gliding just abovethe surface of the snow with repulsorlift engines.
There was no cover. They could not avoid this battle, evenif they’d wanted to. They would have to protect Floria andDane and foil their attacker. He or she was fightingwisely, attacking without advancing.
At this point, Obi-Wan was getting a little tired of bountyhunters.
Obi-Wan put his hand on Dane’s back. “Stay down,” heordered him swiftly. “We will take care of this.”
Dane nodded and covered Floria protectively with his ownbody.
Anakin’s lightsaber blazed in his hand. Obi-Wan nodded andthey raced toward the advancing droids, swinging theirlightsabers to deflect the blaster bolts. They had to becareful. A stray bolt hit Dane, who was out in the open.
Anakin leaped toward the first droid. He cut it down in onestroke. Blaster bolts melted the snow around him, butAnakin was already twisting in midair to get out of the way.He landed in precisely the right spot to launch anotherattack.
He had factored in the icy skin on top of the snow, but hisfoot still slipped slightly. Anakin took a moment to gethis balance. He had forgotten about the thermal detonators.Obi-Wan saw two balls whizzing toward Anakin. There was notime for him to reach the spot. He reached down and scoopedup two large rocks. He threw one with each hand. Each rockflew unerringly toward its target, hitting the thermaldetonators in midair, causing them to veer off course. Theysailed by on either side of Anakin’s head and fell twenty-five meters away. Too close.
Obi-Wan charged forward. The remaining two droids weretrying to outflank the Jedi. He fanned out and Anakin didthe same. Then they ran toward each other, each targeting adroid as they jumped, their lightsabers held high. Thedroids fell with a sizzle in two smoking piles into thesnow.