The Fight for Truth

17

Qui-Gon and Adi entered their transport. Adi took the controls. She coolly eyed their starfighter escorts as she fired up the engines.

“Those are so old they should be junked,” she said. “We won’t have any problem outrunning them.”

“Let’s hope those laser cannons are just as old,” Qui-Gon remarked mildly.

They rose smoothly and headed for the upper atmosphere, the starfighters flanking them closely. Adi was one of the best Jedi pilots Qui-Gon knew. Her response time was amazingly fast, and her feel for her craft was instinctive. If anyone could lose four starfighters without risking damage to their craft, it was Adi.

Because they knew one thing: They would not leave Kegan without their Padawans.

Qui-Gon had thought Adi too cautious at times during this mission. Now he saw how determined she could be.

“Ready for a ride?” she asked Qui-Gon.

He checked to make sure he was securely strapped in his seat. “Ready.”

With one deft movement, Adi flipped the craft over, nearly clipping the wings of the starfighter next to it. She dived down at a screaming speed, then rolled several times. Trying to keep up, one starfighter spiraled out. The starfighter pilot fought to stabilize his craft.

“That model doesn’t have the maneuverability this one does,” she murmured. “Pity.”

Adi pushed the engines to maximum speed and turned hard right, pushing the ship to the limits of its maneuverability. Warning blaster fire erupted off their port side, but Adi was already turning as she climbed, and it passed harmlessly by the wing. It ripped into the wing of the other starfighter, however. Flames erupted from its fuel line.

“Hoped that would happen,” Adi muttered. The second starfighter took off, back down to the planet for repairs.

Now Adi reversed direction. Instead of trying to elude the two remaining ships, she headed straight for them. Thinking she was about to crash into them, both starfighters went into a dive and fired at the same time.

Adi was able to easily avoid the fire with a few quick turns. The starfighters were below them now, still diving. Adi pushed the engines to the maximum. They zoomed off and soon lost the two craft.

“Good flying,” Qui-Gon complimented her. “And here I thought Yoda sent you on this mission just to watch over me. Maybe he knew we’d need your flying skills.”

Adi threw him an amused glance from her dark, almond-shaped eyes. “Yoda didn’t send me to watch you. Not in the way you think. Siri and I are a new team. He wanted her to see how a good Master-Padawan team operates.”

“So Yoda isn’t keeping an eye on us?”

“On the contrary. You and Obi-Wan have proven your effectiveness. Yoda felt Siri needed to learn cooperation with another Padawan as well.”

Qui-Gon considered this. “I believe I learned the same lesson,” he said softly.

Adi gave him one of her rare smiles. “And I as well.”

Qui-Gon plugged in the coordinates for Kegan’s high plateau and they settled back for the short ride. Soon they zoomed over the targeted area. Mist shrouded the landscape below. Qui-Gon peered first at his data screens, then with his own keen gaze. The mist parted, and it appeared—a vast compound ringed with a high stone wall. Long, low-domed buildings lay within the larger compound as well as cultivated fields and open space.

“The mist is a good cover,” Adi said. “I’ll land outside the wall near those rocks.”

They landed, concealing the ship behind a stand of rocks and scrub. They climbed out and quickly crossed a field and scaled the wall. The mist lay low on the ground, so thick it was hard to see more than a short distance ahead. Qui-Gon and Adi patrolled the compound, letting their keen senses tell them when Guides were near. They moved like shadows through the fog. They climbed on top of the buildings and looked through the skylights. They peered through every window. They found nothing.

“They aren’t here,” Adi Gallia said. “Maybe they were, and they moved them. No doubt O-Vieve and V-Tan have already sent out an alert for us. They know we’ll head here. I think we should leave and consider our next step. Maybe we should head back to Kegan and see if Melie and Nen have come up with anything.”

Qui-Gon paused. He lifted his head and closed his eyes. He felt the Force around him. He reached out to it, hoping it would tell him if his Padawan was near.

He felt nothing.

“All right,” he said reluctantly. “Let’s go.”