Part 12 (2/2)

”Come, come, ” Obi-Wan murmured. ”A Jedi embraces new experiences, remember?”

What Anakin suggested he could do with this new experience was... improbable.

”Teebs!” Rikkard's son shouted over his shoulder.

And so they hurried to catch up, committed to a long day of hard labor without help from the Force.

The work was relentless. Driven by the fear of not meeting their quota, Torbel's miners attacked the newly blasted seams of damot.i.te as though they were a mortal enemy. Verbal communication was minimal. Hand signals and the ease of familiarity combined kept the dance flowing without misstep.

Sweating and aching, prising raw damot.i.te from blasted chunks of plain rock with his vibro-pick, Obi-Wan found himself thinking: Well, I can't imagine Durd stumbling across us down here. I suppose I should be grateful for that, at least.

Without warning a cold, prescient shudder rippled through him, leaving an icy nausea in its wake. He let the vibro-pick drop.

”What?” said Anakin, leaning close. ”What's the matter?”

Arrad-the-Overseer was elsewhere, joined with two other miners in wrestling a new section of chamber free of blasted rock. For the moment at least it was safe for them to talk.

”You didn't feel that?”

”I felt you. What happened?”

Closing his eyes, Obi-Wan tried to recapture the elusive sensation. Danger. Evil. A merciless, relentless mind. But it was gone now.

Just a memory. Perhaps... his imagination?

No. It was real. Something-someone-is out there.

”We need to be very careful, ” he said, retrieving his vibro- pick. ”I think...”

”What?” said Anakin, when Obi-Wan didn't continue.

This is going to sound ridiculous. ”I think-we're being hunted. ”

A loud smas.h.i.+ng crash, as part of a weakened tunnel wall collapsed. Shouting, as the miners made sure everyone was unharmed.

Anger surged through the Force as Arrad rushed to see what kind of a delay they were facing. Always, always, the pressure of time.

Keeping an eye on Rikkard's son, not wanting to draw his ire, Anakin s.h.i.+fted to the next section of their own cut. ”Not exactly a news flash. We knew Durd would...”

Recalibrating his vibro-pick, Obi-Wan shook his head. ”This wasn't Durd. It was something else. Unfamiliar. I've never felt a touch like it before. ”

”Great, ” Anakin muttered, and plunged his own pick into a tiny crack in the green-seamed wall. ”Just what we need. Another problem. ”

Rattle, rattle, bang, rattle went the next damot.i.te-laden bucket up the shaft toward the surface. More poison for Durd and Bant'ena Fhernan to play with.

Obi-Wan eased his aching back with a groan. ”How's your shoulder holding up?”

”I'm fine, ” Anakin grunted. ”Look. What are we going to do about...”

55.”Nothing. There's nothing we can do. In fact...” The tunnel slip dealt with, Arrad was heading in their direction. ”We need to vanish.

No Force-use at all, not even to sense for possible rock slides. We can't afford to make so much as a ripple. ”

Air hissed between Anakin's teeth. ”But...”

”Are you working?” Arrad demanded, rejoining them. ”Keep working. No slowing down. You want to be a miner in Torbel, this is it.

Make up your minds, Teebs-work, or go somewhere else. ”

With a warning glance at Anakin, Obi-Wan jammed his vibro-pick into the wall. Felt the shock of it run up his arm, buzz through his bones and every offended sc.r.a.pe, burn, and bruise. Anakin hissed again, then followed suit.

And in the heat and the close air, beneath the rock ceiling pressing down, deeply buried in Lanteeb's core, Obi-Wan felt another cold s.h.i.+ver-and knew for certain that however deep they were... it might not be deep enough.

Lok Durd eyed Barev's miracle psychic seeker with distaste. So, this was a Drivok. Native to Faket, some obscure Wild s.p.a.ce world he'd never heard of. Humanoid, but not human. That at least was a blessing-the stink of humans turned both of his stomachs.

Curiously, this creature had no natural smell at all.

But that was the only attractive thing about it. Small, emaciated and hairless, naked and apparently s.e.xless, the Drivok had milky eyes and moist mauve skin stretched tight over its k.n.o.bby skeleton. It stood before the imager in his new and secret compound's office communing with the captured holoimagery of the Jedi as they fought off his droids.

Durd glanced at Barev, who stood beside him stinking with fear. ”This had better work, Colonel, ” he murmured. ”You know what's at stake, and that thing's been standing there for nearly two hours now. ”

Barev was sweating. ”I told you, General. As a hunter the Drivok is unequaled. ”

The creature pa.s.sed one thin hand through the holoimage, then swung around. Its mouth was small and crowded with sharp teeth. ”I have Jedi. ”

Durd felt a sizzle of relief flash across his skin. ”You're sure?”

”Sure, ” said the Drivok. All those tiny sharp teeth cut the word to slushy ribbons. ”Taste one in my mind. ”

”One? But there are two of them, bounty hunter. ”

”Taste one. Sense two. ”

All thanks to the hive. ”Where are they? Where have they hidden themselves?”

The Drivok's feeble shoulders lifted in a shrug. ”Map. ”

He slapped Barev across the chest. ”Well? Well? What are you waiting for? Fetch your psychic seeker a map!”

Barev's expression tightened. ”General. ”

He returned to the office some minutes later, bearing a map cube. After slotting it into the holoimager and activating it he stood back, giving the Drivok room to work.

More silence as the Drivok walked its slow way around and around the three-dimensional holoimage of the planet.

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