"They're going to regroup," Soara told Anakin. "Let's go."
They turned and ran after Obi-Wan and the scientists, who were dashing through the trees.
"The village," Obi-Wan said to Soara. "We need cover now."
Darra said nothing. She slumped against Obi-Wan, and he lifted her into his arms. Her eyes closed and her lips parted. Anakin felt a deep shudder go through him. She looked as though her life energy was draining away. And it was his fault.
Chapter Three
Get in and get out. That was the goal of a rescue mission.
It never, in Obi-Wan's experience, worked out that way.
They had angered the Haariden patrol. Obviously the troops knew they were Jedi, but the Haaridens did not care. They were after revenge now.
Obi-Wan carried Darra along the twisting trail. They were close to the village and temporary safety. Every once in a while the patrol pursuing them would set off a rocket. It always fell short of their small band. But it was not a comfortable distance.
Obi-Wan remembered another world, another day. Qui-Gon carrying a desperately weakened Jedi Knight — his close friend Tahl. He remembered how Tahl's hand kept slipping off from around Qui-Gon's neck. It is too late for me, my friend, she had told him.
He had seen the refusal to accept the fact in Qui-Gon's eyes. At the time, as a Padawan, Obi-Wan had thought it impossible that a Jedi Knight could die.
Perhaps the first moment of his adulthood was the moment he had seen Qui-Gon's face when he realized that Tahl was dead.
Why am I thinking about death? Obi-Wan wondered.
It was this planet. Ever since he had landed on it he'd felt uneasy.