The Dangerous Rescue

14

On the way to the platform, Qui-Gon contacted Tahl and asked her to investigate the odd bacteria formation on Belasco.

He was about to sign off when he had a thought. “Tahl, can you forward the official Senate hovercam transcripts from… hold on.” Qui-Gon accessed the file listing and read out the dates and times.

“Sure,” Tahl said dryly. “I just love dealing with the Senate bureaucracy. Nothing I like better.”

“That’s what I thought.” Smiling, Qui-Gon cut the communication.

“Why did you ask Tahl to do that?” Siri asked.

“Just a hunch. I want to make sure the transcript on Senator S’orn’s datapad matches the official filed version,” Qui-Gon explained. “I’ve heard of senators bribing the operators to alter official transcripts for one reason or another. There must be a reason Senator S’orn has kept those transcripts on her datapad. Maybe we’ll find out why.”

At the docking platform, the Jedi headed for the official in charge of off-planet vessel registration. Transports to Belasco had slowed to a trickle as word had reached the galaxy of the water shortage. It was easy for the dockmaster to check the records over the past two days.

“That V-wing cruiser is unusual,” the official said. “You don’t see many of them in private use. I think I can find it… here it is. Registered to a Belascan native who was arriving home. Cir L’ani and one passenger.”

“Do you have a record of the passenger?” Adi asked. “Can you give us a description?”

“Do you think I remember every ship that docks here?” the official asked, shaking his head. “Just the pilot of the vessel registered. That’s all we require. Sorry.”

They thanked the official and walked out onto the busy platform.

“It could be them,” Adi said. “But we need proof.”

“Let’s ask a worker,” Qui-Gon suggested. He gazed around the platform. “Why don’t we each pick someone and see what we can find out.”

The group split off. Obi-Wan stayed where he was. He scanned the different workers on the platform. Some were checking text docs, some directing transport, and some refueling ships. He did not know how to choose.

But then he noticed a young woman, dressed in the coveralls of a mechanic, who was working at the refueling bay. The young woman was busy doing her job, but as she worked she gazed at the different ships as they came in for landings. Something about the alertness on her face caught Obi-Wan’s attention. This was someone who admired sleek airships. She would remember the V-wing cruiser.

He walked over and nodded a hello.

“If you need refueling, you have to signal the controller,” the worker said. “Get a number and wait your turn. You can signal from your ship or go over there.” She pointed to a booth a short distance away.

“I don’t need refueling,” Obi-Wan said. “I’m looking for someone. She landed in a V-wing cruiser. Black with silver underside—”

“I remember that ship,” the young woman said, her eyes suddenly brightening. “She was a beauty. I’d love to get my hands on those controls.”

“Do you remember the pilot and passengers?”

She wiped her hands on her coveralls, thinking. “I remember I was surprised. I expected some hotshot pilot to come strutting out of that cockpit. Instead there was a petite human woman and a sick old man. Her father, she said. I refueled them.”

“How do you know he was sick?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Because he was taken out on a med-splint. I don’t think he was conscious. A medic met them when they landed. A tall Belascan male.”

That could have been Ona Nobis in disguise.

“Do you know where they went?” Obi-Wan asked.

The worker shifted her feet. She was constantly moving as Obi-Wan asked her questions. And she seemed so nervous. “No, but they had to file a flight plan.” Gazing at Obi-Wan, she wiggled her foot.

Obi-Wan noticed the movement and looked down. A small hand was curled around the worker’s ankle.

“That’s my boy, Ned,” she said in a whisper. “Please don’t report me. I had to bring him to work this week. My mother is ill and she’s the one who takes care of him.”

Obi-Wan smiled down at the boy, who looked up at him. A small toy was clutched in his dirty fist. “I won’t tell. Thank you for your help.”

He hurried over to Qui-Gon to tell him what he’d learned.

“That sounds like a good lead,” Qui-Gon said. “I’m sure the flight plan is false, however.”

But Adi was more skeptical. “I would like better confirmation,” she said. “There are many ill elders on Belasco. I’m not sure if this will convince Uta S’orn.”

“I hate the thought of Noor being unconscious,” Siri said worriedly.

“She drugged him, most likely,” Qui-Gon said. “If that was really Noor,” Adi said.

Obi-Wan caught Qui-Gon’s irritation. Adi’s instincts were renowned, but she did not abandon her need for absolute facts. They needed proof.

Suddenly, Obi-Wan remembered something that had nagged at him.

“Wait,” he told the others. Then he hurried back over to the worker.

She looked at him anxiously. “I’ll lose my job if you tell my supervisor about Ned—”

“Don’t worry,” Obi-Wan assured her. He crouched down and spoke to the boy. “That’s a nice toy. Can I hold it for just a second?”

The friendly boy nodded and handed it to Obi-Wan.

It was a model of a tiny V-wing cruiser. It had been cleverly fashioned from slender threads tightly wrapped over bits of metal.

Obi-Wan fingered the threads. They had come from a Jedi’s robe. Noor had only pretended to be unconscious. He had left them a clue.