with glow rods, entering information in their data pads, talking in groups.
It could be any being lying on that cold stone walkway. Fligh had ceased to
matter. Only the manner of his death was important.
Obi-Wan looked up at the dark sky. Stars glittered with edges that
looked hard enough to cut. Already he felt at times that he had seen too
much death and cruelty. How did Qui-Gon, who had seen so much more, feel?
It was the Jedi's job to meet such things. To help. The helping was easy
compared to this.
Will I ever get used to death? Obi-Wan wondered.
Obi-Wan saw something glitter in the dim shadows. He walked closer.
It was a bright green stone. He leaned down to study it and realized it was
Fligh's prosthetic eye. It must have rolled away from the body. He pointed
it out to Qui-Gon, who nodded.
Qui-Gon showed it to Captain Yur T'aug. "It belonged to the victim,"
he said.
The captain crouched to examine it. "Sergeant!" he called. "Tag this
item."
Another officer scurried over with a specimen bag and carefully
picked up the eye with a tweezer device.
"What was the cause of death?" Qui-Gon asked quietly.
"Strangulation, we believe," Captain Yur T'aug said shortly.
"I saw the marks," Qui-Gon said. "It seems like a slender cord of
some kind. Not hands." The captain nodded.
"And the unusual... ah, pallor?" Qui-Gon asked.
"The body was drained of blood," Captain Yur T'aug said. "He was
killed elsewhere and then dropped off here."
Obi-Wan looked back at the tarp and shuddered again.
Qui-Gon's voice was calm. "Any suspects?"
The captain sighed, tapping his comlink with an impatient finger. "I
should be investigating, not filling you in. You can read the report when I
am done."
Qui-Gon did not show his impatience, but Obi-Wan could feel it. "I do
not have time to read your report," he said, his voice as brittle as ice.
Captain Yur T'aug hesitated, then said, "No suspects yet. Nobody saw
anything. But we know this High character. He's a well-known informant and
petty thief. Could have a hundred enemies. Not to mention that he owes
money all over town. I hear he has a major debt to the Tech Raiders."
Qui-Gon studied the officer for a moment. "There is something else,"
he said.
"This is not the first body we've found drained of blood," Captain
Yur T'aug said hesitantly. "Drifters, lowlifes - beings no one would miss.
Over the past year, there have been a half dozen. Maybe more we haven't
found. Who knows? Coruscant can be a hard world. Many transients come here
to scrounge a living."
"If this is the case, the killer is most likely not someone Fligh
owed money to," Qui-Gon said.
Captain Yur T'aug shrugged. "Or else the killer copied the method to
throw us off the track. It's our job to find out."
"You might want to check into a female bounty hunter," Qui-Gon said.
"She's a Sorussian who might have had reason to dispose of Fligh. She's
been staying at the Soft Landings Inn."
"Sure," Captain Yur T'aug said. "Thanks for the tip." His lack of
interest was obvious.
"Good luck to you," Qui-Gon said. "You should know that Didi Oddo
will pay for the funeral. Fligh was not friendless. He will be missed."
Qui-Gon motioned to Obi-Wan, and they walked past the officers back
onto the main walkway that curved around the Senate.
"Are you all right, Padawan?" Qui-Gon asked him.
"Fligh wasn't my friend," Obi-Wan said. "I only spent a few minutes
with him. There was something likeable about him, but I can't say that I
liked him. Yet I feel almost as sad as Didi."
They walked a few steps in silence. "Do you ever get used to death?"
Obi-Wan asked.
"No," Qui-Gon said. "That is how it should be."
"Why do you think Fligh was killed?" Obi-Wan asked. "Do you think
that he knew something important but didn't realize it, like Didi?"
"Perhaps," Qui-Gon said. "And remember that Fligh said he would try
to help Didi. I wonder if he did try. No doubt it would be easy for him to
discover where the bounty hunter was lodging."
"You think that is what happened?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Let us swing by the inn on the way back to the caf©," Qui-Gon
suggested. "We should have another talk with this bounty hunter."
They walked quickly through the streets until they reached the Soft
Landings Inn. This time the front door was slightly ajar, so they were able
to walk in without ringing the innkeeper. They quickly climbed the stairs
to the third level. Qui-Gon knocked on the door, and it swung open. The
room was empty.
"She's gone." The Togorian stood behind them with a bucket and vibro-
mop. "Checked out. I have to clean. Get out of my way."
They retreated down the stairs. "I don't like this," Qui-Gon
murmured. "Let's get back to Didi's."
They quickened their pace and began to run. Didi's wasn't far.
They swung around the corner. Ahead was the caf©. There was no spill
of light from the windows, and the front door was shut tight.
"We are too late," Qui-Gon said.
CHAPTER 9
Lightsabers drawn, they rushed into the caf©. With a quick sweep,
they saw that it was empty. Plates with half-eaten food sat on the tables.
Qui-Gon charged past the tables to the kitchen. Pots were overturned, their
contents on the floor. Bins of flour and grain spilled onto the counters.
The cooler door was open.
They ran to Didi's private office. Papers and files were thrown on
the floor, the contents of durasteel bins upended and kicked through.
Everything on the shelves had been tossed onto the floor.
"Upstairs," Qui-Gon barked.
He raced up, Obi-Wan on his heels. They burst into Didi's private
quarters together.
In times of danger, Qui-Gon's senses slowed down. He took in
everything in the room in what felt like several long seconds but was more
likely the flicker of an eyelash. Astri on the floor, unconscious or dead.
Didi standing, wrapped in the bounty hunter's whip, his eyes wide with
terror, a bruise on his forehead. And the bounty hunter turning, pausing
for an instant when she saw them. Her expressionless gaze showed no
surprise, no fear.
Real time snapped back. Qui-Gon anticipated the bounty hunter's reach
to the blaster strapped to her thigh. He moved forward to counterattack. He
did not anticipate that she would aim at Astri, not at him. His Jedi
reflexes were fast enough so that he was able to spin and turn, sweeping
his lightsaber wide. He was slightly off-balance, but he managed to deflect
the fire.
Astri stirred. Relief streamed through him. She was alive.
A perfect attack blended deception with speed and strategy. Qui-Gon
feinted a pass to the bounty hunter's left and instead charged straight at
her. She did not respond to the feint but fired straight, then leaped high
to the left to avoid him. His lightsaber whizzed through empty air where
she'd been.
She was even better
than he'd thought.
Obi-Wan moved forward to cover Astri so that Qui-Gon could
concentrate on the attack. The bounty hunter activated her whip and
retracted it. It spun off Didi in a dizzying circle, sending him flying
against the wall. He hit it with a thud and fell to the floor, dazed.
The whip reverted to laser mode. With a slashing maneuver, the bounty
hunter shattered the transparisteel in the window. Qui-Gon sprang forward,
still keeping his body between his opponent and Astri. Didi began to crawl
toward his daughter, getting underneath Qui-Gon's feet. Qui-Gon jumped to
avoid him, his attention now focused on protecting Didi.
The bounty hunter leaped out the window. Outside was a small
enclosure that held various speeders and swoops. She jumped into one and
took off.
Qui-Gon stood at the window as the lights of the swoop twinkled and
receded. He felt anger rock him, and he took a minute to accept and release
it. His opponent had eluded him. Sometimes it happened. He had fought the
best fight he could.
But she has eluded me three times now.
"Astri," Didi said brokenly. "Astri..."
Qui-Gon knelt by the young woman's side. He felt carefully around her
skull. "What happened?" he asked Didi. "Did she get hit by blaster fire?"
"No, no. Knocked out from behind," Didi said. "With the handle of the
whip."
Qui-Gon felt a lump rising on Astri's skull. Her eyes fluttered open.
Her pupils were not dilated and her eyes focused on his face.
"Ouch," she said.
"She's all right," he said to Didi. "Lie still, Astri. You're going
to have a headache." She let out a hiss of air. "I'll say."
"We should call a medic," Didi said worriedly.
"I'm all right," Astri said. Wincing, she raised herself on her
elbows. "What happened? The last thing I remember is all my customers going
out the door."
"Did anyone come in while they were going out?" Qui-Gon asked.
"No," Astri said. "I locked the door behind them and told Renzii to
go home. Locked the door behind him, too. Then I came upstairs. That's all
I remember..."
"I was up here," Didi said. "I heard Astri on the stairs. She opened
the door and suddenly fell down. Then the bounty hunter came in. She tied
me up while she searched the place. She went downstairs and I heard her
searching my private office."
"And the kitchen," Qui-Gon said.
"No, not the kitchen," Didi said.
"But it was chaos, pots everywhere," Obi-Wan said.
"It always looks that way," Astri said with a sigh. "What bounty
hunter? I thought we were talking about a common thief."
"Why did the group leave?" Qui-Gon asked Astri.
Astri cradled her head in her hands. "I tried my best," she mumbled.
"I guess I'm not quite elegant yet. Renzii kept mixing up the orders. I
couldn't handle all the cooking. Some of the food was cold. So Jenna Zan
Arbor had a fit, and they left. Next time I'll hire extra help. That was a
big mistake. It's just that I spent all the extra money on the food..."
"So how did the bounty hunter get in?" Obi-Wan asked.
Astri lifted her head. "What bounty hunter?" she asked again in
frustration.
"Didi, tell her," Qui-Gon said.
"Not while you're hurt, Astri," Didi said nervously. "You need to lie
down - "
"What bounty hunter?" Astri asked through clenched teeth.
"I might-ah-have gotten myself in a tiny spot of trouble," Didi told
her. "Nothing serious."
"Sure," Astri said. "This isn't serious. Just another ordinary
evening in the caf©. I get knocked out on a regular basis."
"What a sense of humor my daughter has,"
Didi said to the Jedi nervously. "Isn't she marvelous?"
"Your father may have a piece of information that is valuable to
someone," Qui-Gon broke in impatiently. "That someone has sent a bounty
hunter after him. We're assuming they want the information back at any
cost. And yet, the bounty hunter did not kill him when she had the chance."
"That's a good sign," Didi said encouragingly. Then he looked fearful
again. "Isn't it?"
"You're selling information again?" Astri yelled angrily. Then she
winced and closed her eyes. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "You slimy,
slithery, snaky son of a Kowakian monkey-lizard," she hissed through her
teeth. "You lied to me. Again."
"I didn't lie so much as not tell you everything," Didi said, patting
her shoulder. "I would not say that I have the thriving business I once
did. But Fligh still came to me with bits and pieces to sell. How could I
abandon him? Without me, how could he sell his little tidbits? It is tragic
that he has been killed."
"Killed? See where his business has gotten him," Astri said, fixing
her father with a steady stare. "Am I next, Papa?"
Didi turned away, unable to face his daughter. She got up unsteadily
and left the room. "Let's return to what we know," Qui-Gon said to Didi.
"The bounty hunter has not found what she is looking for. She tore this
place apart. That means there is an actual object she wants, not just
information in your head. What is it, Didi? This time you must tell the
complete truth. You see now that you have put the ones you love in danger."
"Yes," Didi said heavily. "I see that. But I cannot help you, my
friend. I do not have anything. Fligh didn't give me anything but
information. This I swear."
"Not a data pad?" Qui-Gon asked.
Didi shook his head. "Nothing."
Qui-Gon sighed. "Then there is no alternative. You must close up the
caf©. Take Astri and leave Coruscant."
Astri was just returning to the room as Qui-Gon finished. She paused
in the act of pressing a cold cloth to her head. "Close up the caf©?"
"Just until we know what the bounty hunter is looking for," Qui-Gon
told her. "We can't stay by your side all day and all night, Astri. I think
you are in danger as well as Didi." He paused, then said gently, "I know
you are angry at your father, but you do not want to see him hurt."
Astri bit her lip and nodded. "But where will we go?"
"I know where," Didi said. "I have a house in the Cascardi Mountains.
"
"You bought a house?" Astri exclaimed. "But you say you have no
money!"
"It was a deal I could not refuse," Didi explained. "I haven't even
been there yet, and I haven't told anyone about it."
"Where are the Cascardi Mountains?" Obi-Wan asked.
"On the planet Duneeden," Qui-Gon said. "A short journey from
Coruscant. But the mountains are a good choice. The Cascardis are remote
and rugged. It's a good hideout for a time. Obi-Wan and I will wait while
you pack a few things. You must leave quickly."
Didi sprang up and helped Astri from the room. They went into their
bedrooms to pack.
"Do you think they'll be safe?" Obi-Wan asked Qui-Gon in a low tone.
"Safer than here on Coruscant," Qui-Gon said. "But the bounty hunter
is no doubt an expert tracker. Even though the galaxy is wide, it's hard
for beings to just disappear. No, I fear we must unravel this mystery. No
matter where they are, Didi and Astri are still in great danger. She will
find them, and it will be sooner rather than later. Of that I have no
doubt."
CHAPTER 10
As they entered the cool halls of the Jedi Temple, Qui-Gon saw the
relief Obi-Wan tried to hide. The boy was worn out. Qui-Gon had not