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"CAPTURED" - Chapter 3

by Eric R. Umali

“The Rescue”

 By the time Tatoo I began its trek across the sky, Jacen had found his way to the slavers’ hiding place.  He crouched among the craggy rocks, his dark brown Jedi robes concealing his position.

 Growing up in the family he did, Jacen had heard often enough about his Uncle Luke’s daring rescue aboard the massive sail barge of Jabba the Hutt.  He’d even played at being the heroic Jedi when he was younger.  The ship below him was much smaller-- he estimated its crew at no more than a dozen or so.  *But the Force only knows how many captives are on board,* he reminded himself.  *The best strategy is to free Tenel Ka and make sure she’s all right.  The rest of the Jedi Knights will be here soon enough.*

 Reaching out with the Force, he tried to feel Tenel Ka’s presence again, but something was wrong-- he was able to feel the crew, scattered on the upper two decks.  Below there, within the lower two-- the prisoner hold-- it was as if a heavy, clinging fog obscured his senses. But Jacen knew in his heart that Tenel Ka was there, and he hoped she was unharmed.  If he found her otherwise-- Jacen loathed to think what he would be capable of then.

 “Well,” he whispered to himself, “as Jaina would say, ’What am I waiting for?’”

 Slowly, constantly keeping his Jedi senses alert, he picked his way down the rocks.

**********

 Tenel Ka closed her eyes, and concentrated, trying once more to focus her abilities on the tough, leathery straps that held her captive.  *Concentrate.  Concentrate… *

 *Nothing.  Again.*  She sighed.  She had been trying all night, and she still felt half-blind whenever she reached out with the Force.  *Trust in your friends.  Trust in Master Skywalker.  Trust in _Jacen_.*

 She sighed again.  This was going to be hard.

**********

 Jacen landed noiselessly on the top deck, ducking immediately behind a gun turret.  He sighted a hatch a few meters away.  Looking about, he walked over quickly and placed his hand on the hatch, trying to feel for enemies below.

 *There.  Two of them, a few meters down the passageway.*  He thought quickly.  Jacen stepped back from the hatch.  Reaching out with the Force, he slid the hatch open.  From below him, he heard the sound of hurried speech and running footsteps.  Within seconds, the barrels of a pair of blaster rifles appeared through the opening.  Jacen grabbed them with the Force and the weapons shot skyward, flying over the deck and breaking apart on the rocks below.

 The first appeared, a heavy, dark-skinned human, hauling himself halfway through the hatch with great effort.  Jacen leapt, bringing his full weight on the man’s shoulders, slamming him into his slighter built comrade below.

 Jacen rolled away, coming up in a crouch, ready to fight.  He felt the men’s minds-- both unconscious-- and Jacen planted a strong compulsion in both of them to stay that way.  Standing, he draped his cloak around his shoulders and pulled the hood over his head and low over his eyes.  Striding down the passage, he vanished into the shadows.

 Soon, he found the stairs to the deck below.  He felt as if a curtain had been drawn around him when he reached out with the Force.  Something he didn’t understand was interfering with his Jedi senses as a static field did a comm signal.

 Twelve minutes and four more slavers sleeping soundly on the deck later, Jacen found himself less than five meters from the prisoners’ cells.  Two guards, both human, sat lazily playing sabacc in a dim alcove in front of the armored doors.  The interference was heavier now, like a thick blanket.

 Jacen, still well hidden by the shadows, rapped his knuckles against the metal deck.  Both guards started, raising their blasters.

 “The blazes was that?” said one.

 “Check it out,” replied the other.  The first rose with a grunt, and headed in Jacen’s direction.  He moved his pistol side-to-side. He stopped less than a meter in front of where Jacen stood hidden.

 The young Jedi focused.  “Put your weapon down,” he whispered, sending the same thought directly into the slavers’ mind.  Slowly, the blaster came down until it pointed at the deck.

 “Aren’t you tired?” Jacen asked softly.  The man nodded, his eyes beginning to lower.  Jacen’s hand was a flash, his straightened fingers connecting with the nerve bundle at the junction of the man’s neck and shoulder.  Without a sound, the slaver’s knees buckled.  Jacen grasped the front of his shirt, and lowered him slowly to the deck.

 The other guard rose and walked to the closest cell and slid open the slot.  He was lean and nervous, obviously much sharper than a typical slaver.  Jacen knew the man would be overconfident.  A leering grin on his face, he peered into the darkness and chuckled.

 “Still can’t figure out what we’ve done to you, have you, Jedi girl?”  The prisoner inside was silent.  “Do you know what an ysalamiri is?  They’re these little pests from Myrkr-- no real value, except for the fact that they generate a field that nullifies the Force.  Even when they’re dead,” he mocked, looking back at the ragged, skeletal forms in the handful of cages that were scattered around the room, “like here, or those hide strips you’re tied with, they can still dampen your powers.  Especially with prolonged exposure.”

 “Thanks for the information,” said a voice from behind him.  The slaver whirled, only to come face-to-face with Jacen’s fist.  His head struck the durasteel door, and he staggered  away.  A pair of cool gray eyes appeared in the slot.

 “Who the hell are you?” spat the slaver.

 “I am Jacen Solo-- Jedi Knight.”

 The slaver smiled.  “Then you’re powerless.”

 “I don’t need the Force to deal with you,” Jacen replied, and his foot lashed out.  The slaver dodged, and launched an attack of his own.  Jacen blocked the blows, and brought his knee up hard.  The slaver wheezed and stepped back, gasping.  The young Jedi spun, his kick sending the other man sprawling to the cold metal deck.

 Carefully, Jacen knelt by him and made sure he stayed out cold, then removed the electronic key and a vibroblade.

 “Most impressive, friend Jacen,” whispered a voice from behind the heavy door.

 Jacen ran to it, his face inches from those familiar gray eyes.  “You’re the one who taught me,” he replied.  He keyed the lock and the door slid open.  Tenel Ka stood shakily in the doorway, still bound.

 “I am most glad I did,” she said, as she leaned against him gratefully.  Jacen severed the leathery straps.  “I feel… weak.”

 “It’s from exposure to the ysalamiri hide.  Once we’re out of here, you should start to recover.”

 She shook her head.  “There are other prisoners.”

 “I know, but you’re the one in immediate danger.  The others should find us soon.  Can you walk?”

 “Of course I--“ she stopped as her first step faltered “-- could use your help.”  Tenel Ka reached her arm out and laid it across Jacen’s shoulders.  They hustled their way back to the top deck.

 They stood at the upper deck’s railing.  “So far, it’s been a pretty quiet rescue, huh?”

 Tenel Ka nodded.  “This is a fact.  However, that is usually the point in the adventure when our fortune’s turn.”  The sizzle and whine of a blaster bolt punctuated her statement.  They turned to see a number of slavers clambering out of a forward hatch.

 “Time to go,” said Jacen.

 Tenel Ka looked out over the railing.  “I cannot make the jump.”

 Her companion looked around, then wrapped his hands around a heavy power cable.  With a yank, he pulled it from its fittings, sparks spitting from the torn end.  Jacen pulled it over and slipped his arm around Tenel Ka’s waist.  Understanding immediately, she held on tight.  They stepped to the ledge.

 Tenel Ka kissed him, quickly on the lips.  “For luck,” she told him with a smile.

 “Don’t worry,” he replied, “this kind of thing runs in the family.”

 Pushing hard, they launched themselves into space.  Together, they swung in a graceful arc between the ship and the shielding rocks.  They landed lightly, buoyed by the power of the Force, and scrambled over the sandy rocks.

**********

 The slaver captain cursed-- loudly, and in an impressive number of languages.  “Idiots!  Two _children_, and they’ve beat us all!”

 “We’ll get ‘em, captain!”  shouted a crewman, as he and three or four others readied to give chase.

 “No!” ordered the captain.  “First, we’ve got to get those men back on their feet-- who knows what Jedi tricks they’ve used on them.  We’ll search after daybreak-- those Jedi brats will disappear in the dark.  Then we’ll have them both.”