Star Wars_ Young Jedi Knights 03_ The Lost Ones - Kevin J. Anderson [47]
The protocol droid followed as fast as his mechanical legs could move.
"To your left, Mistress Leia. We'll need to find a turbolift and take it down forty-two levels."
Anakin tried to picture in his head where they were going, but with little success. "Maybe you'd better lead, Threepio."
Leia, the guards, and Anakin followed See-Threepio as he picked his way across another rickety walkway between two gigantic buildings. The protocol droid seemed to be enjoying his new importance immensely.
The buildings stretched out of sight above and below them. Once, at a spot where the side rail was missing, Anakin lost his footing and nearly fell off the bridge, but Leia instinctively grabbed him. She looked at her son with shock, then hugged him quickly. "Be careful," she urged.
"We've all got to be careful."
Anakin shuddered. This area had not looked so dangerous on the map. As they homed in on the comlink signal, working through abandoned levels and empty, ominous halls, he noticed a design that appeared with increasing frequency on the grimy walls: an equilateral triangle surrounding a cross.
"I wonder what that symbol means," he said, pointing.
"I am fluent in over six million forms of communication," Threepio said.
"Unfortunately, that design is not in any of my databanks. I'm afraid I cannot offer any enlightenment, Master Anakin."
Leia looked at the guards. "Do any of you recognize the symbol?"
One of them cleared his throat. "I believe it's a gang marking, Madam President. Several... unpleasant groups make a habit of living down in the untended lower levels of the city. They are very difficult to catch."
"I heard Zekk talking with Jacen and Jaina about a gang called the Lost Ones," Anakin supplied. "I think the gang wanted Zekk to become a member."
Leia's mouth formed a grim line, and she nodded, filing away the information for future reference. Right now, she just wanted to find Jacen and Tenel Ka.
See-Threepio paused to study his readings. "Oh, curse my inadequate sensors-I'm certain my counterpart Artoo-Detoo could have been much more accurate-but I believe that we are now within two hundred meters of their location."
As the group walked deeper into the dilapidated level, the hall became darker and darker. The guards held their weapons ready, glancing at each other uneasily. Leia held her chin up and bravely pushed ahead with greater speed.
Threepio increased the brightness of his optical sensors, shedding a soft yellow light directly ahead of them. Anakin kept his glowrod out and ready; it made him feel safer somehow, as if it were an imitation lightsaber. Threepio made a sharp right turn into a low, narrow passageway, ducking under a half-fallen girder. Even Anakin had to stoop to get under it.
"Are you sure this is the right direction, Threepio?"
"Oh yes, absolutely certain," Threepio replied. "Remember, we are following a direct path, homing in on the signal. Young Master Jacen may have taken a more roundabout way. We are within thirty meters now."
They finally emerged into a large, eerily lit room with flickering glowpanels mounted haphazardly on the walls. Anakin looked around at the set of rickety stairs leading nowhere, the food wrappers, cushions, and broken-down furniture, and the odd assortment of sealed doors on the other side of the room. "This must be the meeting place of the Lost Ones."
"Oh dear," Threepio said. "Didn't Master Zekk say those gang members were rather unpleasant sorts?"
The room was deathly silent, and the flickering lights made Anakin uneasy. The guards hesitated at the low doorway, pushing their weapon barrels inside. Even though the room was empty, Anakin sensed a lingering feeling of darkness as he entered and began to look around. He nearly jumped out of his skin when See-Threepio cited out, looking down at the floor in horror.
"Ifs all my fault!" Threepio wailed again. "Oh, curse the slowness