The Evil Experiment

14

Qui-Gon floated in the chamber. His limbs felt heavy, but the paralyzing dart was wearing off.

Jenna Zan Arbor’s face loomed through the vapor outside the chamber.

He could just make out the outlines of her face. “Did you really think you could escape?”

“It seemed worth a try,” Qui-Gon said.

“I am tired of our game,” Zan Arbor said. “You amused me once. I was kind to you. I let you out of the chamber.”

“Let us not forget that it was you who imprisoned me in the first place,” Qui-Gon said. “It’s hard for me to muster up gratitude under these conditions.”

She shook her head slowly. “Look at you. You still have your dignity, even when you are at my mercy.”

Qui-Gon met her gaze steadily. “I am a Jedi.”

She waved her hand, as if this was something that didn’t matter.

“You know,” Qui-Gon remarked, “there is something strange to me in your attitude. You seem to have great respect for the Force. Yet you do not respect those who are closest to it.”

“That isn’t true. I respect you, Qui-Gon. Just as I respect a chemical, or the physical properties of a gas. You are a means to an end.”

“You will never gain what you seek,” Qui-Gon told her. “There is a fatal flaw in your plan.”

She smiled. “So you say. And what is that?”

“Understanding the Force takes wisdom—”

“Are you telling me I am not wise?” she asked.

“You have intelligence. Maybe genius. But that is not wisdom.”

He had disturbed her. She covered it with a laugh. “I’ve heard of Jedi mind tricks. You are trying to get me to doubt myself. That is impossible.”

“Here is an example of what I mean,” Qui-Gon said. “You do not recognize what truth is, so you call it a trick. That is why you are not wise, Jenna Zan Arbor. Wisdom is something you cannot identify because you cannot measure it with your instruments.”

She struggled to maintain her tight smile. “Anything else I am lacking to understand the Force?”

“The most important thing of all,” Qui-Gon said. “An open heart.”

Her expression tightened. “That is an abstraction. Meaningless. Enough of your games. Enough of you. The final experiments will begin. Thank you for your contributions to science. You will die in the isolation tank. I need your blood.”.

The vapor grew thick. Jenna Zan Arbor’s face disappeared. The syringe entered and pierced his flesh. He watched his blood move down the tube.

Qui-Gon closed his eyes. Now, there were only two things ahead. Two things he must keep in balance, far apart though they might be. He must hope for rescue. And he must prepare for death.