The Shattered Peace

13

“I’ll explain on the way,” Leed said. “I know where Yaana is being held. Can we take your transport?”

Qui-Gon nodded. “Let’s go.”

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Obi-Wan murmured to Qui-Gon as Leed and Drenna hurried ahead. “We’re not supposed to break the laws of a planet.”

“Well, we’re with the prince,” Qui-Gon observed. “Officially, he’s now in royal training. We have his permission.”

“But if we help Leed, we’ll be taking sides,” Obi-Wan pointed out.

“No, we’re rescuing a hostage,” Qui-Gon corrected. “King Frane has no right to hold Yaana in prison. She’s only ten years old.”

Obi-Wan fell silent. There were times when he had to struggle with Qui-Gon’s decisions. His caution would lead him to choose a different way. But it was at such times that he was learning to let go and trust his Master. He knew that it was unjust to hold the girl.

“Don’t worry, Padawan,” Qui-Gon told him. “I am beginning to see how this situation can be resolved.” He smiled. “We just have to break someone out of prison first.”

“That’s all?” Obi-Wan said. He returned Qui-Gon’s smile. Whenever they got out of rhythm, Qui-Gon managed to get them together again, either with a small joke or a gentle correction.

Obi-Wan jumped into the pilot seat of the starship. On Leed’s direction, he punched in the coordinates for the landing platform on the outskirts of the city, close to the prison.

“So tell us why you think you have a way to rescue Yaana,” Qui-Gon said to Leed as soon as they were under way.

“It was last summer on my visit,” Leed began. “I was already trying to tell my father that I preferred Senali to Rutan. Of course he wouldn’t listen. There was a grand hunt that day, and I refused to participate. So he threw me in prison.”

Qui-Gon looked at him, startled. Drenna gasped.

Leed gave a faint smile. “Just for a day. He said it was for my royal training. So that I would know how Rutan treated its prisoners. It wasn’t too bad. Of course everyone knew who I was, so I was given the best cell and no one mistreated me. But an interesting thing happened while I was there. A bird got into the exhaust system and began to fly around the place. It kept tripping the sensors. The guards could not seem to catch it or shoot it, and the sensors kept alerting the main system that a massive prison breakout was in progress. It took them awhile to figure out it was the bird—at first they thought the system had been triggered by a prisoner. But every time they checked out a sensor and did a cell check, everything was fine. The problem was that the system calls for an automatic notification to the king’s guard when there is trouble at the prison. My father kept getting notification that a major breakout was going on, and then was told that it was nothing. The hunt was disrupted, and he was furious. They finally had to confess a bird was tripping it. He told the prison to turn off the system and catch the bird, or he’d fire every single one of them.”

Drenna laughed. “I like the idea of one tiny creature causing all that trouble.”

Leed grinned at her. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it myself. They turned off the system until they caught the bird. Everyone forgot about me—I was in the warden’s office, since they were about to release me. That’s when I noticed something. When the guards change shifts, they remove their weapons belts if they are leaving and the guards on the new shift buckle on their own weapons belts. They do this in the weapons supply room, which is kept locked. When they shut the system down, the weapons supply room goes into automatic lockdown. That’s in case there’s a real breakout. They don’t want the prisoners to get access to weapons.”

Qui-Gon had already reached Leed’s conclusion. “So if the system was shut down during a changeover, there would only be a reduced guard staff on duty with no access to additional weapons.”

“Three guards per block, to be exact,” Leed said, nodding. “It’s a flaw in the system. I tried to tell my father upon my return, but … well, let’s just say he wasn’t in the mood to listen.”

“I don’t understand,” Drenna said. “How can we get a bird to invade the system?”

Qui-Gon smiled. “We don’t need a bird. I think Leed has an idea.”

“When I arrived, they pretended I was a lawbreaker, just as my father wanted,” Leed said, leaning forward with his excitement. “I was led to the booking area, then the holding cell. I had to pass at least ten to fifteen sensors during the whole process.” Leed looked at Drenna. “Who has the best aim on Senali?”

“You do,” she said promptly.

He shook his head, smiling. “Who tied for first place with me last year in the All-World Games?”

“I did,” she said with a grin. “Almost beat you, too.”

“You’ll be our bird,” he said. “All you need is this.” He handed her a tiny dart shooter. “With some Jedi help, and a bit of bluffing on my part, I think we can bring this off. You can shoot darts at the sensors as you move through the hallways.” He reached in a pocket of his tunic and withdrew some darts. They were tiny and made of transparent material. “These will stick in the wall, but no one will be able to see them.”

“But how will we all get inside?” Drenna wondered.

Qui-Gon’s eyes shone bright. “That’s the easy part. We’ll get arrested.”

Leed split off from them as soon as they landed. He headed toward the prison. He would pretend to do a spot inspection as part of his royal training. King Frane had lost no time in announcing to the Rutanians that the prince had returned and would take up his legacy.

Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Drenna moved through the crowded streets of Testa. The buildings were carved of enormous blocks of stone in somber colors. The city had a teeming population, and in an effort to retain order there were strict controls on behavior. Qui-Gon felt it would be an easy task to get arrested. He had insisted on avoiding any violence or destruction of property. Instead, they merely needed to find an open park or plaza.

Drenna pointed ahead. “I see a place.”

They made sure a pair of security police were nearby as they strolled through a plaza planted with green grass and shrubs. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan casually unfurled their survival tent and began to set up a condenser unit. Drenna unpacked some food.

Within minutes, the two security police appeared.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Cooking,” Drenna said brightly.

“Loitering is against the law,” one of them said. “So is cooking outdoors. Move along.”

“But we’re hungry,” Obi-Wan said.

“We won’t be long,” Drenna said.

Apparently Drenna’s youth and winning smile had an effect. The tall Rutanian policeman looked at his companion, a female even taller than he was. They both shrugged.

“End of my shift,” the male murmured.

“I’m too tired for this,” the female said. “If we arrest them, I won’t be home for dinner.”

“We didn’t see you, okay?” the first one said, and turned away. “Just pack up and get lost.”

The Jedi and Drenna exchanged surprised glances. They had thought this would be the easy part of their plan.

“We’re staying,” Drenna insisted quickly.

“And we’re going to feed everyone in the park!” Obi-Wan added. “We brought plenty of food. We can stay until sunset.”

Slowly, the two officers turned back.

The female sighed. “Are you going to make this hard or easy?”

Qui-Gon concentrated on her mind. “I guess you have to arrest us.”

“I guess we have to arrest you,” the officer said. “Stand up.”

“Whew,” Drenna said under her breath as she leaped to her feet. “I never thought I’d feel relieved to hear that.”

They packed up their survival gear under the watchful eyes of the police. They were searched, but Qui-Gon used another Jedi mind trick to prevent the police from confiscating their lightsabers and Drenna’s dart shooter, informing them to let them pass unhindered—a command the officers repeated dutifully. Then they were herded into the police landspeeder and transported to the prison.

As they passed through the gray durasteel gates, Obi-Wan watched as they slid shut behind them. A system of locks snapped shut in a series of loud clicks. Drenna swallowed.

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” she asked.

“It’s too late now,” Obi-Wan murmured.

“That’s exactly what I mean,” she said.