"I can't sleep until I know Qui-Gon is safe," Obi-Wan said. "Is there
any news?"
Tahl's sightless green-and-gold striped eyes were filled with
frustration. She shook her head, her lips tightening. "I've got every
contact working, Obi-Wan," she told him. "Giett has returned from his long
mission and is back on the Council, so Ki-Adi-Mundi is helping with the
galactic search. We could not ask for a better analyst."
Obi-Wan nodded. Ki-Adi-Mundi had stood in for Giett on the Jedi
Council for a time. With his binary brain, he was able to sift through an
extraordinary amount of information and analyze it.
"We don't have anything on the bounty hunter," Tahl continued. "She
has no known friends or comrades. Those who have hired her refuse to talk,
even to us. They're scared of retaliation. But we're working on it."
"What about Jenna Zan Arbor's datapad?" Obi-Wan asked. "There must be
something on it that somebody wants."
"We can't crack the code," Tahl said. "Most scientists encode their
data - it doesn't mean that she is connected to the bounty hunter or Qui-
Gon's disappearance. But just in case, we don't want to alert her that
we're on her trail. We have to explore all options until we find the right
way to proceed. I won't rest until we find him, Obi-Wan."
"I know," Obi-Wan told her. Tahl was just as close to Qui-Gon. They
had gone through Temple training together.
"Teams we have all over the Duneeden system, Obi-Wan," Yoda told him.
"Find we will a trace of the bounty hunter's ship."
"We know the ship was equipped with a hyperdrive," Tahl said
worriedly. "There's a good chance she didn't remain in the Duneeden system
at all. But we're going to check out every lead."
"News I have of one Jedi team," Yoda told them. "Dispatched they were
to Zan Arbor's lab on her home planet of Ventrux. Find we did that the lab
has been closed down. Dismissed the workers were, and paid off."
A spark lit Tahl's eyes. "Well, at least that's something. Jenna Zan
Arbor has to be involved. We've got to crack that code!"
Yoda nodded. "Think we do that she has another base of operations,"
he said. "Searching for it, we are." He turned to Obi-Wan. "A difficult
time for calm it is. Yet calm you must find. When news comes, go with a
steady heart you must. Direction you need. Direction we will find."
Obi-Wan's heart was far from steady. But Yoda was right. He must be
resolute, and resolution only came with calm.
The door to the inner chamber slid open. Winna came forward quickly.
"Didi's infection has been identified. The blaster fire must have
been tainted with a solution to trigger infection."
"Do you have a cure?" Obi-Wan asked.
Winna nodded. "The treatment has been discovered. It is an antitoxin.
But I have bad news. The lab that sells it has been shut down. There are no
stockpiles that we can find. This lab was the only source in the galaxy."
Obi-Wan glanced at Tahl. By the look on her face, he knew she was
thinking the same thing. Yoda nodded slowly.
"What's the name of the lab?" Obi-Wan asked. "Arbor Industries,"
Winna replied.
It was the answer Obi-Wan had expected to hear.
CHAPTER 3
He was getting weaker, not stronger. Qui-Gon felt his body float. He
wanted to give himself up to the sensation, bob in the oddly pleasant
vapor, let it lull him into long sleeps. Even in his worst illness, he had
never felt so weak.
Was she doing something to keep him weak? Blood was extracted
regularly, but that still did not account for his fatigue.
Isolated from the world, from other living creatures, he knew the
Force still worked around him. He closed his eyes and reached out to it. He
would gather it around him like a shield. Qui-Gon felt the Force move
inside the chamber. He concentrated harder...
Through the veil of vapor, indicator lights outside his chamber
glowed. Dimly, he heard a sensor ring shrilly and the sound of hurrying
footsteps. Then Zan Arbor's amplified voice again:
"You just accessed the Force. Good. Don't be afraid to do so."
"How did you know?" Qui-Gon asked. The question was out of his mouth
before he had a chance to think. His surprise had triggered it.
"I am monitoring your body functions. When you access the Force, your
body temperature drops. Your heartbeat slows. So strange. Once I thought
the Force would have the opposite effect. But it works mysteriously. That's
why it is so interesting to study."
So she was studying the Force. Qui-Gon turned this new fact over in
his mind. The Force could not be measured or manufactured. But if a
scientist of Jenna Zan Arbor's brilliance was studying it, it was possible
she could discover things she should not know. He must not underestimate
her intelligence.
Which meant he could not use the Force to heal himself.
"Why are you so interested in the Force?" he asked.
"Ah, we are full of questions today," she murmured.
"There is not much else to do in here," Qui-Gon pointed out.
"What about your famous Jedi meditation? That should pass the time."
"Even meditation has its limits," Qui-Gon said dryly.
He heard a low laugh. "Why shouldn't I study the Force? Why should
the Jedi be the only ones to study it?"
Qui-Gon thought before answering. He needed to keep her talking. He
needed to appear to be interested in her studies.
"That is a good point," he said. "We believe the Force connects us
all."
"That is exactly my point!" Zan Arbor said excitedly. "The Jedi
should welcome my interest."
"How do you know they do not?" Qui-Gon asked. "You haven't asked us."
"I don't need your permission," she snapped.
He was losing her. "I didn't mean that," he said. "You are a
brilliant researcher. You might want to share your findings with the
galaxy."
"When I am ready," she said. "But not until then."
"And what are you looking for?"
She did not answer for a moment, and he was afraid the conversation
was over. Then she said, "My colleagues are fools."
Qui-Gon waited. He did not want to seem too eager. Something told him
that Jenna Zan Arbor wanted to talk.
"You've traveled. You must have seen that the galaxy is full of
fools."
"I have seen that many beings do not trust their eyes, their minds,
or their hearts," Qui-Gon said.
"Exactly! So you see what I have to deal with," Jenna Zan Arbor said,
her voice warming. "I have just come from a conference at the Senate. My
colleagues are chasing dreams, not ideas. New ways to make starships go
faster. New engines, new fuels, new hyperdrives. They try to find ways to
make weapons more powerful, more effective. They look for new sources of
power. Faster. Bigger. Better. That is what they chase. They ignore the
most powerful energy in the galaxy. The Force is far more important than
any of these. With the Force, you can move minds. That is much more
important than ships!"
"I would agree with that," Qui-Gon said.
"How ironic," Zan
Arbor said. "Only a Jedi would understand. And yet
only the Jedi can be my best subjects. The others... even those who had the
Force, who were, as you call them, Force-sensitive... they did not know
what they had. They could not control it. It is hard to measure something
that will not be controlled. That was the flaw in my experiments."
Qui-Gon had a sudden notion that chilled him. Was Zan Arbor keeping
him in a condition of weakness so that he would use the Force to heal
himself?
He could do nothing in this chamber. He would never escape if he
didn't get out, even for a short time.
Perhaps he could form some sort of bond with his captor.
"I will make a deal with you," he said.
"I hardly think you are in a position to offer deals," Jenne Zan
Arbor said, amused.
"I think I am," Qui-Gon returned quietly. "I have something you want.
That puts me exactly in that position."
There was a pause. "What do you want?"
"I want to be let out of this chamber for two hours a day," Qui-Gon
said. "If you do this, I will use the Force to heal myself. If you do not,
I will not access it."
"You will die," she warned.
"Yes," Qui-Gon replied calmly. "As a Jedi, I am prepared for death.
It does not frighten me."
"I do not make deals!" Zan Arbor cried shrilly. "I am the leader
here! I make the decisions!"
He did not answer. He closed his eyes. He was gambling that she would
not refuse him. He sensed the fever in her, the compulsion to follow
through on her experiments. She would give in.
"All right," she snapped. "But not two hours. One hour. That's all.
Do we have a deal?"
"We have a deal," Qui-Gon answered. He had expected her to counter
with one hour. It was not a problem. One hour would have to be enough.
CHAPTER 4
Yoda, Tahl, and Obi-Wan were silent for a long moment. The news that
Jenna Zan Arbor controlled access to Didi's antitoxin disturbed them.
"It's very strange," Winna continued. "Not only is Arbor Industries
closed, but there is no other source we can find anywhere. There must be
some mistake, something we haven't thought to check. This infection is very
rare, but still, Arbor Industries should have allowed other labs to stock
the antitoxin. This is an astonishing breach of ethics. They left no word
when they'll reopen, or where - "
"Something you should know, there is," Yoda interrupted. "Under
suspicion by the Jedi, Jenna Zan Arbor is."
"She could be involved in Qui-Gon Jinn's disappearance," Tahl said.
"Not to mention murder," Obi-Wan added.
Winna's frown grew deeper as shock slowly registered on her face.
"You mean that Zan Arbor has deliberately deprived the galaxy of her
medicines?"
"I think it a very great possibility," Tahl said. Winna's expression
was grim. "My patient will die without that antitoxin."
"I don't understand." Astri had come up behind them so quietly they
had not heard her. "You say that Jenna Zan Arbor has the medicine that my
father needs, and you can't find her?"
"I am afraid that is the case," Winna said.
Obi-Wan went to Astri. He hovered by her side, uncertain of what to
say or do. "You mustn't lose hope," he said.
She nodded, her mouth tightening. He saw her shoulders shaking. She
was trying not to cry aloud.
"Obi-Wan is right," Winna said. "The antitoxin must be held somewhere
in the galaxy. We will find it, Astri."
"I know you will do everything you can." "Our good friend Didi is,
Astri," Yoda told her. "Take good care of him, we will."
"You are very kind." Astri turned and walked toward the window. She
stared out blankly. "She has lost hope," Tahl murmured.
"Bad news, it was," Yoda said. "Hard to absorb."
"I'd better get back," Winna said tersely, and hurried off.
Console her, you must. Hope must not die while Didi lives."
But Astri wasn't really his friend. He'd just met her. And he wasn't
very good at consolation. If only Qui-Gon were here!
Yoda and Tahl left, and Obi-Wan went to stand awkwardly by Astri's
side.
"He's going to die," she said. "And I will be alone."
"We cannot lose hope," Obi-Wan said. "The Jedi are capable of
extraordinary things. We will find the antitoxin or Jenna Zan Arbor."
"I am certain that you will," Astri said. "But will Didi still be
alive? He looks so small, Obi-Wan. His spirit filled him. Now he's so weak.
.."
"He is not weak," Obi-Wan said. "He had one of the strongest spirits
I've ever seen. It is still there, his strength."
"I thought I had troubles once," Astri said slowly. "Running a
business wasn't easy. But now I know despair for the first time. Even if
Didi survives, we have lost everything. The caf© has been closed by our
landlord. We owe him credits we cannot pay. Even as I sit by Didi's
bedside, begging him to live, I wonder what he will return to. And it's my
fault. I spent all our savings on improvements for the caf©. We have
nothing."
Obi-Wan did not have to wonder what Qui-Gon would say. "You have each
other."
"You're right, Obi-Wan. I'm feeling sorry for myself." Astri rubbed
her forehead. "It's just that I'm so tired."
"Why don't you rest here?" Obi-Wan suggested, indicating the seating
area. "You wouldn't have to go to the sleeping quarters. I will make sure
you won't be disturbed, unless... unless Didi awakens."
Astri sank onto the cushions and laid her head down. "Maybe just an
hour," she said as her eyes closed.
Obi-Wan decided he would stay until he was sure she was asleep. His
nerves were jumping. He was anxious to check with Tahl and the Jedi code
breakers. He wanted to be present when they cracked the datapad.
He reached into his tunic to remove the Force-sensitive river stone
that Qui-Gon had given him. He often found comfort in turning the smooth
stone around in his hand. It made him feel closer to Qui-Gon.
A crackle alerted him that there was something else in his inner
pocket. Obi-Wan took it out. It was a durasheet. On it, Jenna Zan Arbor had
written the names of the guests she had invited to Didi's Caf©. The names
were already beginning to fade.
Obi-Wan thought back to only a few days before. Qui-Gon had asked her
to write out the information when they'd visited her at her hotel.
Qui-Gon never did anything without a reason. Obi-Wan frowned,
thinking hard. They had gone to see Zan Arbor because they had discovered
that she had learned about Didi's Caf© from Didi's friend Fligh. Fligh had
stolen the datapad of both Senator S'orn and Zan Arbor. Later he had been
found dead, his body drained of blood. At that point, they did not know if
Zan Arbor was involved. They were just following a thread.
In other words, Zan Arbor hadn't been a suspect. So why had Qui-Gon
asked for this list?
Back then, Obi-Wan thought that the Outlaw Tech gang had hired the
bounty hunter. But Qui-Gon must have had his doubts.
Had he been trying to
link the bounty hunter to Zan Arbor?
They had never solved the mystery of how the bounty hunter had been
able to break into Didi's Caf© after Zan Arbor's guests had left. They knew
the caf© had been locked up tight, every door and window bolted.
Could Qui-Gon have wondered if one of the guests had stayed behind?
Astri might not have noticed in the confusion of departure.