The Dangerous Rescue

12

Qui-Gon gazed through the cockpit of the consular ship that was ferrying the Jedi to Belasco. From high above, the capital city of Senta glowed. It had been built centuries before out of native rose-colored stone. It was a spectacular sight, crowning the golden hills that surrounded a sea of sparkling blue.

Casually, he stretched his arms and legs, testing his strength. His continuing weakness dismayed him. He knew he had not given his body a chance to recover. But he was driven on by his fierce desire to bring Jenna Zan Arbor to justice. He was the one who knew firsthand how her mind worked. He could not leave this mission to others.

“Do you feel you are regaining your strength?” Adi asked politely. He knew she would not ask such a personal question if she were not concerned.

“Yes,” he said shortly. He liked and respected Adi, but he did not wish to tell her his concerns. He hoped that would be the end of the subject.

He should have known better. Adi was not one to pry. But when she wanted a true answer, she did not give up.

“I noticed that your connection to the Force was a bit weak back at the lab,” Adi said. “I would not wish you to return to the Temple, or ask you to do so. But…” Adi turned her face to look at him directly. Qui-Gon was forced to meet her dark, commanding gaze. She was almost as intimidating as Mace Windu when she wanted to be.

“I just want things clear between us,” she continued. “Here is what I see. You are pretending to have made a full recovery, but you have not. You compensate for your weakness by demonstrating your strength in strategy and decision-making. You should have consulted me before ordering Siri and Obi-Wan to Sorrus, Qui-Gon. I am your comrade. Not your enemy. If you have weakness, I should be aware of it.”

Adi didn’t let anything slide. Qui-Gon knew he had overstepped. He should have consulted his fellow Jedi Master before issuing the order.

“I’m sorry,” he said. He did not find it hard to apologize when he knew he was wrong. That didn’t mean he enjoyed it. “You are right on all counts. My connection to the Force has weakened along with my body.”

“All right. Now I know.” Adi turned to look out the cockpit windshield. “The landing platform is crowded. I don’t see our Padawans.”

“They had better be there,” Qui-Gon said. He was still irritated that Obi-Wan had made the stop in the desert of Arra without consulting him. “Unless they decided to go off on their own mission again.”

Adi gave one of her rare smiles. “They did well, and you know it.”

Qui-Gon frowned. “They disobeyed.”

“They had reason.”

“They did not contact us.”

“They are learning independence.”

“At a cost of disobedience?”

Adi leaned back. “You know the Jedi look at things differently, Qui-Gon. We are not an army. Our discipline comes from within. Each Jedi has his or her own connection to the Force. We all are taught to trust our feelings and hone our instincts. Obi-Wan had a strong feeling and followed it. Siri backed him up. You did the same on Kegan, and I backed up your instinct—even though you did not ask my opinion. I am pleased that Siri is learning cooperation. Perhaps Obi-Wan has taught her more about it than I can.”

“Obi-Wan is usually cautious,” Qui-Gon said as the ship began landing procedures. “Yet sometimes he is swept away by feeling. I worry about those times.”

“As the Council worries about you,” Adi said in an amused tone. “You and Obi-Wan seem so different. But at the core you are very alike.”

“Perhaps that is not good,” Qui-Gon mused. As the craft descended, he could just make out Obi-Wan standing, waiting for him.

Adi looked down at Siri, who was standing next to Obi-Wan. “It is the same for me. I see Siri’s defiance and independence and see myself. In guiding her I guide myself. It is good that this is so.”

Qui-Gon felt her words strike his heart. Obi-Wan’s face was upturned now, his expression anxious. Being a Master was difficult for Qui-Gon.

Pride in his Padawan battled with the need to be stern. He saw so much potential in Obi-Wan. He wanted to mold this being into a better Jedi than he was himself. He was impatient with himself as often as he was impatient with Obi-Wan. He saw that Adi was right: When he was stern with Obi-Wan, it was sometimes because he saw his own mistakes in the boy.

The consular ship slid into a narrow space among larger vessels. Adi turned to the pilot. “We do not know how long we will be on Belasco, but we might need to leave quickly.”

“I will be on alert, waiting for your signal.”

The landing ramp was activated, and Qui-Gon and Adi walked down to their Padawans.

Siri and Obi-Wan faced them, their gazes expectant. They awaited whatever their Masters might say.

Qui-Gon strode forward “Next time, contact me first,” he told Obi-Wan.

Adi spoke to Siri quietly so that the other Jedi could not hear. She preferred to give her Padawan instructions privately when she could. Then she turned back to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.

“I would say that our first step is to warn Uta S’orn that she could be in danger,” she said. “I think we all agree that if Ona Nobis is here, Jenna Zan Arbor must have been the one who summoned her. And the fact that Zan Arbor picked her old friend’s home planet can’t be a coincidence. She must be planning to contact Uta S’orn.”

“We have no proof to bring to Senator S’orn, only suspicion,” Qui-Gon said. “But we owe her that, at least.”

“We’ve learned that because of her years of service, she has been granted a home in the palace on the old royal grounds,” Obi-Wan told them.

Qui-Gon nodded. “Then let us head there. But first, where is Astri?”

“She was nervous about seeing you,” Obi-Wan said. “She feels badly that she put Siri and me in danger.”

Qui-Gon glanced around. Amid the throngs of people standing on the landing platform, he glimpsed Astri standing next to the departure checkpoint area. A long line of Belascans snaked around her.

He walked closer. Astri looked thinner and more muscular, and her shaved head gave her a fierce appearance. She did not look like the soft, pretty girl he had known. But her eyes were the same, clear and honest.

Right now they were filled with uneasiness.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I did not think Obi-Wan would follow me. I would not ask for more help from the Jedi. You have done so much for me already—”

“All of which we were happy to do,” Qui-Gon said. “And Obi-Wan’s decision was his decision. But I am concerned, Astri. Didi is recovering quickly. He will find new investors for a new business. You must know this. Why are you still chasing Ona Nobis? I do not think it is because of the reward.”

Her warm gaze grew hard. “She shot him as though he were nothing, just something in her way.”

“Yes. She feels nothing for living beings. But revenge makes one careless,” Qui-Gon said. “Leave Ona Nobis to us.”

She shook her head stubbornly. “I can’t.”

Annoyed, Qui-Gon fell silent. He could not control Astri’s behavior.

She was a distraction to the mission, but he could not allow her to go off alone. He was too close to her father and cared too much for her to watch her walk off into danger.

Qui-Gon sighed. “I have no right to tell you what to do.”

“Now we agree,” Astri said cheerfully.

“But I have a right to make a request,” Qui-Gon added.

She looked at him warily.

“Remain with our party for the time being. Ona Nobis is here on Belasco. Either we will find her, or she will find us. You will learn more with us than without us.”

Hesitantly, Astri nodded. “All right. I thank you.”

“If you persist, I cannot protect you,” Qui-Gon warned. “But at least I’d like you near.”

Obi-Wan walked up. “Adi is feeling a disturbance in the Force.”

Qui-Gon hid his dismay. He had not felt anything.

“All right,” he said shortly. “Come, Astri.”

“What about my friends?” Astri asked.

Obi-Wan glanced over. He saw Cholly, Weez, and Tup trying to make themselves inconspicuous nearby.

Qui-Gon frowned. “After years of disapproval of your father’s friends, now you consort with criminals?”

One corner of Astri’s mouth lifted. “They are not competent enough to be criminals. And I’m almost growing fond of them.”

With a sigh, Qui-Gon beckoned to Cholly, Weez, and Tup. The trio came forward uneasily. “It appears that we are stuck with you,” Obi-Wan told them.

“It is usually our policy to run away from trouble,” Cholly said. “So don’t worry.”

The group headed over to Adi and Siri.

“Something is wrong, Qui-Gon,” Adi told him in a low voice. “I’m feeling desperation and fear here. Look at the departure checkpoint.”

Qui-Gon’s keen gaze swept the Belascans in line. Now that Adi had alerted him, he felt what he should have known all along—a rippling disturbance in the Force. But he did not need the Force to alert him to the fear on the faces of the Belascans.

“You are right,” he said. “And this landing platform is extraordinarily busy.”

“Everyone seems to be leaving, not arriving,” Siri observed.

“Let’s walk a few blocks into the city,” Adi suggested. “Maybe we’ll pick up on what is wrong.”

They took the turbolift down from the main landing platform to the city streets below.

“We did not have time to do much research on Belasco,” Adi said. “Here is what we know. This is a wealthy world with a rigid class system. The planet was once ruled by a royal family, but now a Leader is elected, who then elects his own Council. Senators are greatly revered.”

“And Uta S’orn is a favorite of the current Leader, Min K’atel,” Obi-Wan said.

“Look,” Qui-Gon pointed out. “There are clinics set up on almost every block. They look temporary. Maybe a sudden illness has infected the population. There aren’t many people on the streets.”

An elder Belascan sat nearby on his front stoop, his hands dangling between his knees, a lost look on his face. He wore the distinctive elaborate headwrapping of the Belascan people, but two loose ends of fabric trailed over his shoulders as though he’d lost interest halfway through the task. Adi walked closer.

“I’m sorry to disturb you,” she said gently. “We have only just arrived on your world. We sense that something is very wrong here.”

“Very wrong.” The handsome elder turned a bleak gaze on them. “Have you not heard? Our water supply is contaminated.”

“We have not heard. You get your water supply from your Great Sea, do you not?” Adi asked.

He nodded. “It is run through the desalinization tanks and provides us all with drinking water. Every seven years, a naturally occurring bacteria invades. We prepare for this. We know how to contain it, and we stockpile water for our use while the scientists control the bacteria. This year, they could not control it. It has multiplied and spread. But not before it took the lives of many elders and children. Among them my granddaughter.”

“I am so sorry,” Adi said. She bent down slightly to give the man a brief touch on the arm. Underneath Adi’s regal manner, her intuitive nature gave her insight into suffering.

“I am not alone,” the Belascan continued. His bleak gaze swept the empty street. “Many are ill on Belasco. Even the Leader’s own daughter. Most of the ill are children and elders. The Leader has set up med wards on the royal grounds. But every day there are more funerals. Even while all our scientists work to contain the bacteria, we are running out of water. And running out of time.”

Adi bid the elder good-bye and turned to the others. “This news is distressing. It can’t be a coincidence.”

“Jenna Zan Arbor must be behind this,” Qui-Gon said grimly. “She has done this before, introduced a virus or bacteria into a population in order to rush in at the last moment and save it.”

“We’d better get to the royal grounds,” Adi said.

Hurrying now, they followed the curving streets to the palace, which was visible on the main hill of the city. The palace gates stood open to all so that the population could enjoy the gardens. As they walked through they could see that large temporary domes had been set up on the wide lawns surrounding the sprawling rosy palace. Medics walked rapidly by them, and some children sat on benches nearby. They wore white robes, and their thin faces were turned toward the sun.

Adi looked shaken. “If Zan Arbor is responsible, this is monstrous.”

“Could she deliberately make all these children sick?” Siri asked.

“I’m afraid she could,” Qui-Gon said.

Tup swallowed. “If she could do this to kids, imagine what she would have done to us.”

They asked a medic for Uta S’orn’s whereabouts, and he pointed them to a garden at the back of one of the Ward Domes. They found S’orn sitting on a bench, watching over a group of children. Instead of her usual jeweled head-wrapping, she wore one of fine white linen. A small girl with dark curls sat in her lap.

Uta S’orn was speaking to the girl with a smile on her face, but it faded when she saw the Jedi.

“This is a surprise,” she said to Qui-Gon. She gave a disdainful glance to Astri, Cholly, Weez, and Tup. “Is this your new entourage?”

The little girl shrank shyly back against Uta S’orn’s lap. Qui-Gon crouched down and smiled gently at her.

“And who are you?”

“Joli K’atel,” she said, and added confidingly, “I’m sick.”

“I am very sorry to hear that. But I’m sure you will be well again.”

She nodded. “My father says it is so.”

“Then it is so,” Qui-Gon said gravely.

Uta S’orn gently eased the girl off her lap and gave her a gentle pat. “Go sit with the others, Joli. I need to speak to these people. Unfortunately.”

The little girl wandered off, the sash of her robe trailing in the grass. Uta S’orn’s face was creased with worry as she watched her.

“I have volunteered as a med aide,” she said quietly. “I thought I could help. I did not know it would break my heart.”

“Is that the Leader’s daughter?” Adi asked.

“Yes. But she is no more important than all of these children,” Uta S’orn said, waving her hand to take in the Ward Domes. “They are our future. We must save them.” She turned to them. “What is it that you want? As you can see, I am busy. Why are you here? It seems I cannot get away from the Jedi.”

“We have reason to believe that Jenna Zan Arbor—” Qui-Gon began.

She stood up angrily. “Not this again. You have told me what you believe about my former friend. I have not heard from her, nor do I wish to. She has nothing to do with me.”

“But we think that she does,” Adi said. “We think that she is here, on Belasco. We’re not sure why. There could be some link that we are overlooking, some reason she needs to contact you again.”

“But she hasn’t,” Uta S’orn said impatiently. “And I will not see her if she tries. All right?”

“She might insist,” Qui-Gon said. “And she can. Ona Nobis is here as well. She has kidnapped and killed for Jenna Zan Arbor before.”

“If you’re trying to frighten me, it isn’t working,” Uta S’orn said dismissively. “I have no time to worry about phantom threats. My world is dying. I see now there was a reason I returned here.”

“We are merely trying to protect you—”

“No need. I am safe here. Although we have no king, the royal droid guards still protect the Leader and everyone on the grounds. Thank you for your concern, but Ona Nobis cannot get to me here. Now if you’ll excuse me, there are sick children to tend.”

Uta S’orn walked away.

“I guess she has a point,” Siri said, glancing around at the busy grounds as medics walked by and guard droids, their shells polished to a golden gleam, patrolled. “It would be hard for Ona Nobis to get to her here.”

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan exchanged a glance. “I’m afraid, Siri, that in our experience,” Qui-Gon said, “Ona Nobis can get anywhere.”