The Approaching Storm

"Hurry, hurry!" Trying to divide his attention between the entrance and the now unconscious Padawan, he struggled with Bulgan to stuff the human female into the unbreakable sack they had brought with them. Finally lifting their bagged burden, which proved surprisingly heavy, they hurried toward the back of the establishment. As was typical with such better-off shops, it boasted a second, rear entrance. Uldas was with them-the dirty service alley was deserted. Remembering to finger the signaling device at his side, he led the way toward Jaaruls Street, the shielded and secure apartment waiting there, and safety. Excitement rose within him. They'd done it!

Now all they had to do was hold on to their captive, keep her alive and well, and await further instructions from Soergg. Compared to the abduction they had just carried out, such talk-work struck Kyakhta as not work at all.

No one questioned the contents of the lumpy sack the two Alwari lugged down alleys and back streets. Business was business, and a nomad's business was none but his own.

Luminara put down the beautifully enameled little mirror that had been cut from a single reflective mineral surface and looked around, frowning. Something didn't feel right. Something didn't feel normal. It took her a moment of searching, with both eyes and mind, both within and without, to realize what it was. She had not seen Barriss in some time.

Where had the Padawan gone? It wasn't like her to stray. A free-roaming Padawan had autonomy, but no access to greater knowledge. Kenobi took notice of her concern and moved to stand next to his colleague.

"Something amiss, Luminara?"

"I don't see Barriss, Obi-Wan. She usually hangs on my every word, as well as on those of whomever I happen to be with at the time."

He smiled reassuringly. "Then it's not surprising she's off somewhere. We've both been pretty quiet here these last few moments."

"Last time I saw her," Anakin put in, "she was looking at woodcarvings in a shop." Though he did not reach for his weapon, his natural protective instinct was instantly aroused.

Luminara's deep blue eyes met his. "Which shop?" she demanded.

"Not to worry, Master," Anakin told her. "I've kept an eye on the entryway ever since she stepped inside. She hasn't come out."

"Hasn't come out this way, you mean. It's probably nothing, and she dislikes it when I act more like a mother than a teacher, but Barriss absorbs and files sights very quickly. It's not like her to linger." Her eyes bored into the Padawan's. "Which shop?" she reiterated.

Sensing the seriousness in her ma

The door was propped open, which was not surprising. No one acknowledged their entrance, which was.

"Barriss?" Luminara's anxiety rose as she moved rapidly through the shop, searching among the larger woodcarvings that crowded the back. A shout redirected her exploration.

"Luminara!" It was Obi-Wan. That in itself was alarming, because she had already noted that he hardly ever raised his voice. "Over here!"

He was cradling the head of the elderly Ansionian female against his right leg. Anakin looked on, his usual buoyancy gone, his expression stricken. "Water," Obi-Wan called tersely. Hunting hurriedly through a rear room, Anakin found a cooler half full of small polymer receptacles. Bringing one containing cold water forward, he handed it to his Master and watched while Obi-Wan lightly sprinkled the contents on the oldster's face. Her large eyes, the color of fine claret, blinked open moments later.

"Goodness me-by Nomgon's Arm!" She studied the alien human faces gazing worriedly down at her. "Who are you people?

What happened to me?" Using her hands to push herself into a sitting position, she added bewilderedly, "Why am I lying on the floor?"

Luminara studied her fixedly. "We were hoping you could tell us that."

Obi-Wan and Anakin helped the proprietress to her feet.

"This-this is my shop. My place. I was showing some wares to a customer." One hand went to her head and rubbed her gray ing brush of mane forward. "Alwari, he was. Said he was Pangay Ous, and wore the right raiment. But his ma

"A young human female, dressed like us," Luminara broke in. "Have you seen anyone like that?"

The elderly native blinked. "Ou, to be sure. Very attentive she was, though I suspect not intending to buy anything." She smiled, showing sharp Ansionian teeth. "When you've been in this business as long as I have, you can tell, even with different species."

"Where is she now?" Obi-Wan inquired in his soft yet com manding voice.

"Why-I don't know. I don't know where any of them are." The proprietress looked down and shook her head. "Last I re member, we were speaking of odors, and then…" She looked up blankly. "Then I opened my eyes, to see you three bending over me. What do you suppose could have?…"

"Masters! Out here!"

Responding to Anakin's call, the two Jedi hurried to the back of the shop and out the rear entrance whose door was now ajar. They found him standing in an alley, kneeling and pointing. The pavement was dry and thick with dust. The marks of the two sets of footprints were clear to see. Thank the Force, Obi-Wan thought, for the absence in the back alley of a muddling breeze.

"Ansionian footprints." Luminara looked up, glancing both ways down the alley. "By themselves, confirmation of nothing." She indicated the numerous other prints that marred the avenue's dusty coating. "Many feet have recently trod this path."

"But these begin right from the doorway," Anakin argued. "And see how deep they are compared to some of the others. As if the two who made these deeper ones might be carrying something." He gazed down the shadowed passageway. "All Ansioni-ans are more or less the same size-and weight."

"Three go into the shop, two come out, and neither of those sets human." Obi-Wan was nodding approvingly. "You are learn ing to see beyond the obvious, Anakin. Would that you always continue to do so."

Luminara had shut her eyes tightly. Now they opened anew. "I ca

"She might be unconscious." Obi-Wan had moved farther out into the alley, the better to scan its most distant reaches. "If the two locals who took her intended her ill, they might have used the same method to knock her out that they used on the owner of the shop."