DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
It was still cold inside the ransacked residence. Obi-Wan found himself unintentionally wrapping his own cloak tighter around himself. The thought that unexpectedly invaded his mind was, "Callisto would hate this." He remembered how cold she looked in the ship and it had been comfortably warm in there. Here in the apartment, it was brutally cold. The window and door had been open for hours, allowing the freezing night air inside. It was almost to the point where he could make out the faint clouds of his own exhalations.
Qui-Gon bent down to look at the remains of the blaster on the ground, scrutinizing every detail. It was no longer smoking, but had now partially melted to the metal structure beneath the carpeting.
"It looks as if a lightsaber cut through this," Qui-Gon said with little emotion. "A very clean cut. Any higher up and the weapon would have exploded in her face, but I'm not sure if that had been the intention of her attacker."
"It was him, wasn't it?" Obi-Wan asked, allowing the grim emotion he was feeling to seep into his voice.
"I can think of no other suspect," he replied. From the start he had sensed that it was the Sith. Who else could it have been. No one else would have been so bold as to attack her in this fashion. He had a feeling that she had many enemies on Tatooine, but many of them probably believed her dead after what had happened there, especially after the building exploded during their take off. He later learned she had planned it that was. She was shrewd, he would give her that, but she often let her emotions take the best of her.
He hoped that she had not let that happen here, and that she was safe, but he could not shake the growing sense of dread.
Apparently, neither could Obi-Wan. He could see his friend pacing quicker and quicker out of the corner of his eye.
"It will do you no good to get this upset here and now. It will also do Callisto no good," Qui-Gon said, trying to ease him.
"I should have been here," Obi-Wan said. "I had just been here."
"There was no way you could have known."
"I know that! But I could *sense* something was wrong, but I ignored it. I should have went with my instincts."
"Then go with them now, but do not let yourself be carried completely by them. We must get to the bottom of this." Qui-Gon stood up. He beckoned for obi-Wan to follow him out the door.
As they walked to the transport to the Jedi Temple, Obi-Wan kept his gaze locked to the floor. He was overwhelmed by guilt and he just couldn't shake it off. For all they knew, she could be dead.
He exhaled shakily. No, she wasn't dead. He was certain he would have felt it if she had been killed. She was somewhere, hopefully still on the planet. With luck, she had escaped the Sith somehow. She was strong...no no, she wasn't. She was still recovering from wounds dealt to her in the last encounter. She had not been at full strength. Even when she had been, she had lost badly. If he had not arrived when he had on Tatooine by means of a hunch, she would have died and so would have Shmi. When he had battled the Sith back on Naboo, it had taken both Qui-Gon and himself to keep him at bay.
Oh, how he hoped she had eluded him somehow, that she was on her way back to him.
Back to him? Where had that thought come from? Back to *them*, that's what he had meant...hadn't he? Yes, she was tied to a number of people... Anakin, Amidala, Shmi, himself and the rest of the Jedi. She was the concern for a number of people, nit just him.
Then why was he so worried. He could feel the gnawing in his stomach and deep inside his chest. He was worried for her and was slowly becoming more desperate for more information.
Qui-Gon had said that he had feeling for her back when they were on the Queen's ship. He had blown it off with a laugh, but had it been true? Had his master seen something beneath the surface forming that Obi-Wan had not? Was he that blind?
They stepped inside the ship. Obi-Wan sat as Qui-Gon ordered the droid to take them to their next destination, sending the occasional worried glance in his direction. Obi-Wan responded with a nervous smile, then returned his gaze to the ship's floor.
Perhaps he had feelings of some kind after all.
He shook his head. As much as he wanted to explore this, he had to find her first. IF he was wrong, and she was dead, he would never be able to forgive himself. If she was still alive and being held somewhere, he had to find her. He had to find her and get to the bottom of this...of all of this.
Callisto vaguely wondered if her lips were turning blue. Given what it felt like outside, it wouldn't surprise her if her cheeks were flushed as well. Never in all her life had she felt so cold. this had to be what walking across the arctic points of a planet felt like, minus the snow.
She painfully wrapped her arms around her body for warmth. She also glanced from side to side to see if she was being followed. The man had found her once and he could find her again. This time it would be easier. Not only was she badly hurt, but she was now in territory that was quite alien to her. This was much different from navigating through Beggar's Canyon or through the streets of Mos Eisley. This was a place filled with tall building, ships, and an ocean of people. Everywhere there was people.
She could feel her skin crawling and her breathing quicken. In all honesty, she didn't like it here. There were just too many people. She would prefer the isolation of the desert to this menagerie. But no, she couldn't go back to Tatooine, nit after what she had done. If she showed her face even close to that sector, she would have bounty hunters chasing her wherever she went. She could hold them off for a while and then she would slip, ending up dead. Callisto wanted to live and that surprised her. For years she said she didn't care whether she lived or died. now she was seeing how wrong about that she was.
It had to be the company of the Jedi. They were having adverse affects of her life philosophies. Ever since that Obi-Wan Kenobi fellow wandered into Odome's home to her rescue, everything had gone askew. She was now having serious doubts about everything in general.
For one thing, what the hell was she doing in this planet! Yes, she had technically been brought here by the Jedi, but why in the name of the gods had she lingered. Granted she had no funds with her, but she could have tried to find some as quickly as possible and just high tailed it out of there. Yet, she stayed and even agreed to speak to that council about that awful man.
Was she ever glad she had the opportunity to kick him where she did. He had it coming as far as she was concerned.
Unfortunately, he would remember it as clearly as she did, but with feelings of hostility all directed at her. Both fights had proven she was not a match for him. In each occurrence, chance had taken her side. The first she had been rescued, much to her dismay at the time. Callisto did not like to ask for help, much preferring to do things herself. Instead, the Jedi with the weird haircut had come into the fray, lightsaber blazing. If it hadn't been for him, she would have been killed and so would have Shmi. Callisto could forgive her own death, but if something would have happened to Shmi, she would not have been able to die with a clear conscience. She had made a promise to Anakin and she kept her promises, no matter how far fetched they seemed.
She sighed. She had also promised Obi-Wan that she would help deal with this man. Those hadn't been the exact words, but by discussing the warrior, to her that meant she was involved. When she got involved in anything, it was all the way. It was how she did things.
Which reminded her...she needed to find a way to get where she was going. There had to be a place where she could either place a call or find some information she was looking for. More than ever, she was becoming more certain that someone told Mr. Pointy Head where she was and she was determined to find out who. Something didn't fit in all of this and if anyone else was involved, she wanted to know who the piece of bantha fodder was so she could deal with it personally.
Quietly, she slinked into an alley, following her gut. Somehow she had the feeling what she was doing was not the wisest course of action. All of this was bigger than her. If she slipped up, she could be easily crushed.
"Too late now," Callisto said to no one in particular. She was involved now and people were going to regret it. Provided they lived of course. She would have to see how she felt later.
Carefully, she opened a window without tripping an alarm. Over time, she had become an expert at getting into places where she wasn't supposed to be. it had served her well then and it would serve her well now.
She accessed a computer panel, recollecting everything she had seen Odome do in his lifetime. He had always thought she wasn't paying attention and had gone through his routines and actions without any thought to cover them up. It was amazing the things one could pick up when others thought they weren't being watched.
Speaking of which, she disabled the rooms cameras. She could work easier without an eye of her shoulder. With a small degree of difficulty, she was able to pull up a few files of the people she was looking into. At first glance, they didn't have pertinent information, but she had an eye for detail. One thing could easily lead to another. She would look and then compare and contrast to what she knew from what she had heard.
"Let's just see who you are," she said to the screen in the dim light.