The Ties That Bind

7

As they exited the museum, Obi-Wan’s mind was full of reflections on what he had seen. He could not imagine Irini’s choice to continue to walk into that building and give tours, to return to a place where she had been tortured and abused. Then he remembered Bant. She had almost died in the waterfall pool at the Temple, yet it was still her favorite place to swim.

She said it was better to remember than to forget.

But how much remembering was good to do? How did you know when to put memories aside?

He looked over at Qui-Gon, ready to ask the question, but Qui-Gon did not seem in the mood to philosophize. His face was set in grim lines as he walked purposefully down the avenue, even though they had no purpose in mind.

“Something is wrong,” Qui-Gon said under his breath. “I can feel her. She is here. She is close. But something is wrong.”

Qui-Gon’s expression did not change, nor did his pace, but Obi-Wan felt a shift in his concentration.

“Do not turn around, Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon said. “When we come to the end of this avenue, go right. There appears to be an alleyway there. As soon as we turn, look for cover.”

“Trouble?” Obi-Wan asked in the same calm tone.

“A probe droid.”

“I thought they were illegal.”

“Apparently they are still in use despite this. It could be merely surveillance. It might not be tracking us, but I think it is. Let’s find out what it will do.”

They reached the alley, and Obi-Wan quickly darted in, Qui-Gon at his heels. Immediately he saw that it was a service area for the buildings on that street. Gravsleds were outside some doors, and a skiff suitable for transporting goods sat in front of a utility entrance.

Without exchanging a word, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan darted behind the skiff. The probe droid zoomed into the alley and revolved, sensors blinking, searching for them.

Qui-Gon did not move. Obi-Wan knew his Master was waiting to see what would happen.

Was the probe droid programmed to keep searching? How determined was the surveillance?

The probe droid zoomed up the alley and back down, searching for movement. The Jedi were trained to keep perfectly still. They did not even blink. They could slow down their breathing and their life processes so that even the sensitive probe droid couldn’t pick them up.

The probe droid didn’t leave the alley. Slowly it revolved, moving up and down the street.

“It’s not going away. Fine,” Qui-Gon muttered. “Let’s provoke it.”

He stood suddenly and strode toward the middle of the alley. The probe droid had picked up the movement immediately and had already revolved and positioned itself to get Qui-Gon back in its sensor range. With a gesture that seemed almost casual, Qui-Gon leaped into the air, activating his lightsaber, and cut through the droid in one smooth motion.

“Now let’s see what—” he began, but was cut off by blaster fire from above.

The blaster fire was so close to his Master that Obi-Wan’s heart gave a lurch. That did not prevent him, however, from activating his own lightsaber and slashing forward to protect him in the same moment. If Qui-Gon’s reflexes had been a split second slower, he would have been cut down.

As it was, the sleeve of his robe was seared by the blaster heat.

“Stay under cover!” Qui-Gon roared at Obi-Wan. Perhaps Obi-Wan had risked too much to race to his Master’s side, but he didn’t care. The fire came at them relentlessly from above as they zigzagged down the alley together, keeping their lightsabers arcing above. Trapped in the narrow space, they were easy targets.

“We have to get on the roof above,” Qui-Gon said. “Activate your cable launcher when you can.”

Obi-Wan had to time his movement to the blasts from above. He needed all his perceptions to keep up his defensive moves. He managed to activate the cable launcher as he moved sideways toward the wall of the building. It propelled him upward as blaster fire pinged around his head.

Obi-Wan leaped up on the roof. He realized that the blaster fire had stopped only seconds before. His gaze whipped around the roof as Qui-Gon jumped up behind him.

“There,” Qui-Gon said.

They ran to one edge of the roof, where they could see a small pile of objects. First they searched the area, looking down to see if their attacker had returned to the alley. Then they scanned the roofs nearby to see if he or she had jumped. There seemed to be no avenue of escape that would allow for the attacker to disappear so quickly.

They returned to the pile. Qui-Gon crouched down and picked up a small transmitter.

“For the probe droid. And here’s an ammunition pack.” He tossed it to Obi-Wan. “Looks like it was only one person. But he or she had two blasters, at least. That was a constant stream of fire.”

Obi-Wan turned the pack over in his hands. It was made of leather.

Burned into one side was a small insignia. He crouched down to show it to Qui-Gon. “I recognize this. Irini wore a necklace with this same emblem.”

“At last,” Qui-Gon said. “We have somewhere to start.”