Times of the Past

The Woman Behind the Mask

     It was a little while before the man with the clipboard reappeared, and when he finally did, Satine and Obi-Wan later came to recognize that as the moment their day went from worse to terrible.

     His clipboard was replaced by a sort of baton this time, and he didn't really look ready for negotiations. 

     With quick strides he made his way across the room until he was stopped just in front of both Obi-Wan and Satine.

      "My name is Mr. Greene. I am going to ask you some questions. Resist, answer falsely, or play games, and you will find out just how capable I am of inflicting pain to both of you," he explained in a voice one would use to read a mechanic's manual. "You are both desirable prisoners, but do not think that means that your buyers would be upset if you are left a little beaten up."

     Obi-Wan and Satine shared a glance.

     "Now, shall we begin?"

     They remained silent, but that was obviously the wrong move. They found that out when the man moved faster than lightning and delivered a strong blow to Obi-Wan's stomach, which had quite the impact on him in his weakened and weary state.

     He would have doubled over if the chains at his wrists weren't holding him up, and he heard Satine's sharp intake of breath at the sight.

     "I'm going to ask only one more time: shall we begin?"

     Obi-Wan tilted his gaze upward and watched the man's mouth form a smile.

      With considerable effort, Obi-Wan nodded.

*****

     The masked woman and her associates returned to their ship in the darkness. The two men jovially discussed their accomplishment as they walked, but the woman strolled behind them in silence and at a slower pace.

     They finally approached the ramp of their ship, and the woman found herself pausing and risking one glance back into the dimness of the woods as she climbed aboard.

     She was working on strengthening her resolve, only to find herself distracted within a moment as she heard another ship coming in and preparing to land beside them.

     Something inside her stirred and said that she needed to know who that was, not that she'd be able to see them very well, but she decided to stay at the bottom of the ramp a second more.

     The ship was big and looked a little worse for wear, but its ramp lowered immediately and allowed a single alien being to step out. Someone quickly appeared next to him though, cowering and holding out a datapad for him to take.

     The alien took the device before calling out over his shoulder in his native language, and while the masked woman still couldn't clearly see him, she could never forget such a voice.

     Behind her in the ship, one of the other masked men called out. 

     "Hey, we need to get going! You need to strap in."

     Without turning around, the woman stepped off the ramp and back onto dark gravel.

     "I can't," she told him, and then she took off back toward the facility as fast as her legs could carry her.

*****

     Qui-Gon wasn't proud to say he had basically paid a pirate to take him to Draboon, but he would be there in the next two standard hours. He just had to hope that would be soon enough for him to reach Obi-Wan and the Duchess. However, he also had to hope that he would be able to find them soon enough before said pirate took off with their ride back to Mandalore once again.