The Dark Rival

14

Dawn was still an hour away when Qui-Gon strode off the transport toward the Enrichment Dome. The Meerian sent to meet him hurried forward. “I am RonTha. I’m happy to welcome—”

“Where is Si Treemba?” Qui-Gon interrupted crisply, striding toward the main building.

“H-he is in the dome, waiting for you,” RonTha said, running to catch up to Qui-Gon’s long stride. “But protocol must be followed. You must register with—”

“Show me to him,” Qui-Gon demanded.

“But protocol—”

Qui-Gon fixed his gaze on RonTha. He didn’t need to use the Force. The Meerian crumpled under the force of his irritation.

“This way,” he said, scurrying forward.

A rustle of grain announced Si Treemba’s presence. He sprang out of the field when he saw Qui-Gon.

“We’ve been watching since Obi-Wan was kidnapped,” he said. “No one has been in or out.”

Qui-Gon looked compassionately at Si Treemba. The young Arconan looked so tired Qui-Gon wouldn’t have been surprised if he fell asleep on his feet.

“We shouldn’t have fallen asleep that night,” Si Treemba said. “Obi-Wan said he’d take the first watch. We should have stayed awake....”

“Now is not the time to rethink the past,” Qui-Gon said gently. “We only have the now. We must find Obi-Wan. What did you see?”

“Not much,” Si Treemba admitted. “A group of men in Offworld uniforms carried him away. We followed them, but we lost them in the dome.” Si Treemba hung his head.

Qui-Gon tried not to show his frustration. Si Treemba felt bad enough as it was. But how could he find Obi-Wan on such scant information?

Suddenly, Qui-Gon noticed that RonTha looked very nervous. The Meerian was perspiring and looking about as if he wanted to escape.

Qui-Gon turned his full attention on him. “Did you see anything, RonTha?”

“Me? But we’re forbidden to be in the dome at night,” RonTha protested. “Against all protocol.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Qui-Gon said politely.

“I try to follow the rules,” RonTha said.

“And do you always succeed?” Qui-Gon asked kindly. He tamped down his impatience. “Anyone can be tempted to break rules.”

“The fruit is so good,” RonTha whispered. “Just a snack before bed ...”

“Tell us,” Qui-Gon said firmly.

RonTha swallowed. “I was in the orchard when I saw them. A group of men carrying something. Someone led them. Someone in a black cloak ...”

Qui-Gon nodded encouragingly.

“At first I just hid. But then I saw that they were carrying Obi-Wan. He was under my charge! I was responsible for him. So I followed them to the sea landing.”

Qui-Gon frowned. “They left by sea?”

He nodded. “Two of the men, with Obi-Wan.”

Where could they be going? Qui-Gon wondered. The sea was vast, and there were no islands or reefs. “Did they say anything?” he asked.

“Nothing of significance,” RonTha said. “Something curious, though. One of them said to Obi-Wan that he would see him in five years, if he survived. Obi-Wan didn’t answer, of course. He was still unconscious.”

“Five years?” Qui-Gon repeated.

“The deepsea mines!” Si Treemba exclaimed.

Of course, Qui-Gon thought. Where better to hide Obi-Wan than on a deepsea mining platform?

“Find me an Agri-Corps boat,” Qui-Gon ordered RonTha.

“But it is against proto—” RonTha’s voice faltered under the impact of Qui-Gon’s icy glare. “Yes, immediately,” he agreed.

Qui-Gon pushed the motor of the hydrocraft as high as it would go. He rocketed across the gray sea just inches above the waves. RonTha had been able to give him the precise coordinates of the mining platform, and he’d entered it into the boat’s onboard computer. Besides, RonTha assured him, the platform would be too big to miss.

It began as a darker gray smudge on the gray horizon line of the sea. As Qui-Gon drew closer, the smudge formed into towers and buildings, a small city in the middle of the sea.

Qui-Gon focused a pair of electrobinoculars on the platform. He scanned it for any sign of Obi-Wan. Suddenly, he saw movement on the very edge. A group of men were pushing something ...

Qui-Gon’s grip tightened as he zoomed in on the sight. It was Obi-Wan! Guards were jabbing him with the dull ends of electro-jabbers, pushing him toward the edge of the platform. They were going to push him off!

Qui-Gon gunned the motor. It was already at top speed. In despair, he realized that he was too far away. His only hope was that Obi-Wan would survive the fall, and he’d be able to pick him up.

He raced across the flat sea, closer and closer. Obi-Wan was at the very edge. Qui-Gon’s heart contracted with pain. To lose him this way! He would never forgive himself.

But as he raced toward Obi-Wan, a movement caught his eye from a lower level of the platform. Someone had fashioned a kind of sling out of a spun carbon tarp. He was tying it on the struts that supported the main platform. As Qui-Gon watched, two long, flexible arms shot out, positioning the sling in midair.

Obi-Wan fell. Qui-Gon watched the fall through the electrobinoculars. Obi-Wan’s face was grim but composed, free of terror. Determined to fight to the last, but accepting death if it came.

Like a Jedi.

Then Obi-Wan saw the sling below. Across the distance, Qui-Gon felt ripples of the Force originating in Obi-Wan. He focused his own will to meet it, concentrating the Force, willing Obi-Wan’s body to twist toward the tarp.

Obi-Wan seemed to grab on to thin air and pull himself to the left, shifting in mid-fall. He bounced onto the middle of the sling. In another second, those long arms shot out and pulled Obi-Wan to safety.

Qui-Gon was almost to the platform now. He heard the furious cries of the guards as they saw what had happened. They turned away, racing toward the lift tube to the lower floor.

Qui-Gon pulled up, bobbing in the sea as he quickly threw a carbon-rope over one of the struts and tied the craft securely. Then he threw another rope onto the platform where Obi-Wan had disappeared. He tested it, then climbed up.

Obi-Wan was racing down the hallway with the long-armed creature. Suddenly, he stopped, as if Qui-Gon had called his name, though he’d said nothing. Obi-Wan turned to see Qui-Gon leap over the railing.

“I hoped you would come,” he said.

Qui-Gon nodded. “Almost too late. Hurry.”

“This is Guerra,” Obi-Wan said, pointing to his rescuer.

“Bring him. The guards are coming,” Qui-Gon said urgently. “They saw what happened.”

Guerra’s hands flew to his collar. “I can’t leave. Neither can you, Obawan.”

Obi-Wan looked at Qui-Gon. “It’s an electro-collar. It will blow us up if we leave.”

Qui-Gon nodded. He concentrated the Force on Obi-Wan first. He sent neutral energy to the transmitter.

Obi-Wan touched the collar. “The buzzing is gone.”

“We’ll have to find a way to remove it on the mainland,” Qui-Gon said.

“That’s where the transmission signal is,” Guerra explained. “The guards in the security office on the Bandor loading dock carry the transmitter.”

Qui-Gon brought the Force to bear on Guerra’s collar but wheeled suddenly. Behind him, the lift tube opened. Blaster fire zinged past his ear.

“You’ll be needing this,” he said to Obi-Wan and tossed him his lightsaber.

Two lightsabers hummed in unison as they turned to face the guards. The four Imbats hesitated. They had never seen such weapons. But, still infuriated at Obi-Wan’s escape, they rushed forward.

Qui-Gon leaped onto the railing, somersaulted in the air, and landed behind them. Obi-Wan charged from the front. They moved in a graceful duet, advancing, retreating, forcing the guards back toward the lift tube and deflecting blaster fire with ease.

“More guards coming, Obawan!” Guerra yelled.

Fifteen guards shot out of the stairwell at the far end of the platform, firing as they ran.

“Time to go,” Qui-Gon told Obi-Wan.

With a cry, Guerra crumpled, hit by blaster fire. He looked up at Obi-Wan. “Just a graze,” he said. “Go. I’ll hold them off for you.”

Obi-Wan pressed a blaster in his hand. “No, you go. Up the stairwell. And hide. In an hour, your collar will be deactivated for good. Trust me.”

Guerra smiled weakly. “I ... trust... no one,” he said softly. But as Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon deflected blaster fire, he managed to limp to the stairs. Guerra turned. “Not so, Obawan! I trust you.”

Obi-Wan vaulted over the fallen guards, climbed onto the rail, and jumped toward the rope. He slid down and landed in the hydro-craft.

Qui-Gon followed. He gunned the motor. With blaster fire raining over their heads, they made for the open sea.