Star Wars

Secrets of the Jedi

by Jude Watson

source: IRC

uploaded: 09.I.2006

CHAPTER 1

Qui-Gon Jinn couldn't sleep. Every night he spent  some  time  trying,

but in the end he decided to walk off the need for rest.

He didn't understand it. As a Jedi, he was used to sleeping  anywhere,

in all sorts of conditions. He had  slept  in  cargo  holds  and  spaceport

hangars and on a pile of droid parts. He had slept four hours in the middle

of a field during a driving rainstorm. When he needed sleep,  he  told  his

mind to empty and his body to unwind, and they obeyed.

But in the past, he'd never had to deal with his heart.

He had done the forbidden. He had fallen in  love  with  another  Jedi

Knight. He had pledged himself to her. And she had died. He  was  paying  a

price he was glad to pay, because those few days of loving and  of  knowing

he was loved were worth it. But how to put his heart  back  together?  Tahl

had changed him. She had made him whole, and she had broken  him  with  her

death. Qui-Gon could not figure out how to reassemble.

So he didn't sleep. He and his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi,  had  been  at

the Jedi Temple for weeks now. Yoda had called them back  for  what  they'd

expected to be a briefing for a mission, but there  had  been  no  mission.

"Need your Padawan does days of reflection," Yoda had said. "Important they

are as days of action."

There had been much action lately. Mission after mission.  The  Senate

was fractured, torn apart  by  special  interests,  by  warring  clans  and

alliances.

There seemed to be plenty Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan could be doing, but Qui-

Gon did not want to cross Yoda, so they stayed. But the weeks at the Temple

only made Qui-Gon's sleeplessness worse.  He  walked  the  empty  halls  at

night. The glow lamps were powered down to a soft blue, making it a restful

time to stroll. It seemed that every hall, every room,  held  a  memory  of

Tahl, but he didn't court those memories. He tried to allow his grief to be

his companion, not his master. He opened his mind and simply walked.

He found himself, at the end of a long night, back near his  quarters.

Qui-Gon hesitated. He was not ready to return to his small room  and  stare

at the walls.

"Glad I am to find you awake." Yoda scuttled forward, leaning  on  his

gimer stick.

He blinked at Qui-Gon. "And why, my friend, does sleep not find you?"

Qui-Gon did not want to discuss his heart with Yoda. He loved the Jedi

Master, but he did not want to confide in him. He had never  told  Yoda  of

his feelings for Tahl, and there was no need for Yoda  to  know  how  close

Qui-Gon had come to violating the rules of the Jedi Order.  So  instead  of

the full truth, he said, "I find peace from walking."

"See I do many things in you," Yoda said. "Peace is not one of them."

Qui-Gon didn't answer. He didn't shrug, or  turn  away,  or  drop  his

eyes. He knew Yoda would read the unspoken message. I am not ready to  talk

about this.

"Need a mission now, you do," Yoda said.

Qui-Gon nodded. "And you have one for me. It's about time."

Behind him he heard soft footsteps. The smell of rich tea came to  his

nostrils - his favorite, a blend from the leaves of a  sapir  plant,  green

and fragrant.

It must be near dawn, then. Obi-Wan had taken to brewing him  tea  and

bringing it to his quarters in the early morning. Qui-Gon had gently  tried

to discourage him; he didn't want his Padawan to wait on him. But  Obi-Wan,

in his own stubborn way, kept showing up. Qui-Gon was  both  irritated  and

touched by this. Obi-Wan didn't know the details. But he was eighteen  now,

old enough to make a good guess as to what had happened on Apsolon  between

his Master and Tahl. He could sense the depths of Qui-Gon's sorrow, and  he

felt he had to do something to help, no matter how small.

Qui-Gon could feel him hesitating now, back behind a  pillar.  He  did

not want to interrupt his Master's conversation with Yoda.

"Step forward you may, Obi-Wan," Yoda said. "Concerns you, this does."

Obi-Wan came out of the shadows. Yoda took in everything in a glance -

the small teapot on the tray, the steaming mug, the expression  of  concern

in Obi-Wan's eyes.

His gaze returned to Qui-Gon. In that gaze  Qui-Gon  read  the  truth.

Yoda knew of his nighttime walks. Yoda knew  of  the  tea  Obi-Wan  brought

every morning. And perhaps he even knew about Tahl. How could Qui-Gon  have

forgotten that there was so little that Yoda did not know?

Yoda had not called them back in order to give  Obi-Wan  a  chance  to

reflect. He had called them back for Qui-Gon's sake.

"Not ready I am to let you go," Yoda said. "Yet let you go, I must."

CHAPTER 2

It all started with a young boy who liked to build things.

Talesan Fry was ten years old. He  had  long  ago  become  bored  with

school. He much preferred to be home, in his room, working with devices  he

had built himself. At the age of eight,  he  had  set  up  a  communication

system in his home that used voice activation to track  his  movements.  At

the age of nine, he had discovered how to  get  around  it  by  giving  the

system a false reading so that his mother was never exactly sure  where  he

was or what he was doing. Now, at the age of ten, he had moved on to spying

on his neighbors. Perhaps it was a normal pursuit for a young boy,  but  in

this case, Taly made a special effort to spy on neighbors who went to great

lengths not to be overheard.

Breaking into the main comm channels on his homeworld  of  Cirrus  was

too easy. What Taly liked to do was lurk. He would break  into  the  secure

channels, past the security gates, opening one after the other with  a  few

tweaks and clicks on his system. He never heard anything very  interesting.

Politicians. Security officers.  Corporate  vice  presidents.  Nobody  with

anything worth saying, in his opinion. Still, he kept lurking,  because  he

liked to do what was forbidden.

And then one day he heard something interesting. At first,  it  wasn't

enough to even raise his head from the sleep couch, where he was listlessly

flying a model of a Gion speeder by remote. He heard a  quick  exchange,  a

communication about a job coming up.

"Negative,"  someone  said.  "Concussive  missiles  attract  too  much

attention in close quarters."

"Wouldn't hurt to have them. I don't care what our employer says. He's

not doing the job, we are. No blood on his hands. I  want  to  be  able  to

blast my way out if I have to."

Slowly, Taly raised his head.

"If it comes to that, you'll have half the galactic security force  on

your tail. It's got to be in and out, quiet and quick."

"You think bagging the leader of - "

"No names." The voice was curt. Taly  now  had  his  ear  against  the

transmitter. He had activated a recording rod.

His eyes widened as he listened.  He  could  pick  out  five  distinct

voices and it didn't take him long to realize  they  were  bounty  hunters.

Five bounty hunters working together? Taly didn't know  much  about  bounty

hunters, but he knew enough to be sure an alliance was highly unusual.

He knew he had stumbled onto something big. They were talking about  a

rendezvous on some planet, about an assassination. They had already  picked

the date, and it was only fourteen standard days away. This  was  something

he could not keep to himself. Something - and this was worst of  all  -  he

would have to tell his parents about.

An hour later, after he'd worked up the courage, he brought  them  the

recording rod. His parents were too alarmed to punish him.  They  contacted

Cirrus security, who notified galactic security  on  Coruscant.  Eventually

the story of a boy who had information on a major assassination  plot  made

its way to  the  Senate  Investigating  Commission  on  Crime  Syndication,

Dissemination, and Proliferation in  the  Core  and  Mid-Rim  Systems.  The

commission had been deadlocked for two months on the  question  of  whether

the scope of their investigation should include the Outer Rim. Taly's  news

hit them like an electrojabber, prodding them into an action they had  been

reluctant to take. They called on him to be their star witness.

By the time this request had made it back to the Fry family on Cirrus,

news of Taly's recording had reached enough security  officials,  Senators,

and Senatorial aides that it might as  well  have  been  broadcast  on  the

HoloNet. It didn't take long after that for a corrupt official to find  the

right person eager to bribe. Within two days, Talesan Fry  was  marked  for

death by the very bounty hunters he had overheard.

Taly's parents knew enough to realize that their boy had landed in the

middle of a great deal of trouble. They decided to keep the  recording  rod

and bring it themselves to  Coruscant.  They  would  let  Taly  testify  in

secret, and that would be the end of it.

The night before they were to leave, they were attacked  at  midnight.

The raid failed only  because  of  the  attacker's  arrogance.  The  bounty

hunters did not pause to consider that a young boy capable of  infiltrating

their secure communications system would also be capable  of  fashioning  a

security system in his own home that could confound them.

Taly and his parents escaped in an airspeeder that took off from their

roof as the lights and alarms sounded. The  bounty  hunter,  working  alone

because the five had decided that only one was needed, found the  recording

device. He used a concussion missile to destroy the house. He  used  double

the firepower he needed. He was annoyed.

Now Taly and his parents were in hiding, afraid  to  move,  afraid  to

trust. The Senate commission realized they had bungled this job  and  asked

the Jedi for help. In a galaxy where no  one  trusted  anyone,  most  still

trusted the Jedi. Taly's parents would allow them to escort the  family  to

Coruscant.

The planet Cirrus was known for its golden seas and its lovely cities.

The Jedi landed at the spaceport of the capital city  of  Ciran.  The  city

folded around a vast bay that served to bounce the light, turning  the  sky

pale yellow. Two orange suns blazed overhead. The combination of the golden

light and the bright suns had a stunning effect, as though the very air was

too bright to see.

Humans were native to Cirrus, but the streets were thronged with  many

species. The city was built  on  two  levels,  with  businesses  below  and

residences above. Lift tubes and ramps were stationed at regular intervals.

Ciran was a city that tried to control its air traffic  by  making  walking

pleasant and easy for its citizens.  Large  awnings  -  pieces  of  strong,

flexible fabric -  stretched  across  the  walkways,  providing  shade  and

eliminating some of the glare. They rippled like colorful  flags  and  cast

shadows like rainbows.

"We must take care that we aren't followed," Qui-Gon said as they took

the tube down from the spaceport to the business level. "The bounty hunters

will no doubt expect the Senate to send some sort of security  to  pick  up

Talesan. They'll be watching, hoping we lead them to the Frys."

"I don't pick up anything," Adi Gallia said. "Siri?"

Obi-Wan hadn't seen Siri Tachi with her Master in years.  He  noted  a

new sense of respect when Adi turned to her Padawan.  For  the  first  time

since they'd boarded the ship together at the Temple, Obi-Wan really looked

at his friend. Siri was taller, certainly, but  she  also  carried  herself

differently. There was  less  aggression  in  her  stance.  She  had  grown

comfortable with herself. Her own beauty had once thoroughly annoyed  Siri,

but now Obi-Wan saw that she was more comfortable with it. She did not  try

as hard to hide it; she simply didn't care.

Siri hesitated  before  answering,  as  if  she  wanted  to  be  sure.

"Nothing."

"Good. Siri has an extraordinary sensitivity to Force  warnings,"  Adi

told Qui-Gon. "She's gotten us out of quite a few tight spots."

"Well, I might sense the danger, but Adi gets  us  out  of  it,"  Siri

amended, flashing her Master a grin.

"Just to be sure, let's walk a bit before we head for the Frys,"  Qui-

Gon said.

Taly and his parents  had  kept  moving  since  their  home  had  been

destroyed. They had chosen to hide in the densely  populated  city,  moving

from hotel to hotel, from hired room to hired  room,  not  wanting  to  put

friends in danger. The Jedi had received the coordinates of  their  current

hideout just as they landed. The Frys were expecting them.

They had taken refuge in an inn that catered to short-term  residents,

beings who traveled to Cirrus frequently  on  business.  The  inn  did  not

advertise and was known only among the network of  business  travelers.  It

had no sign outside, just an anonymous door. Taly's father had known  about

it through his contacts.

The Jedi waited in an alley a few steps away,  just  to  make  certain

they were not followed. When they were sure, they  went  to  the  door  and

pressed the button alongside a security monitor.

"Key in your code number," a voice from the monitor requested.

"We don't have one," Qui-Gon said. "We're looking - "

"Full up." The monitor blinked off.

Qui-Gon pressed the button again. "We are  expected  by  one  of  your

guests," he said quickly, trying not to sound annoyed.

"Name?"

"Yanto." It was the name the Fry family was hiding under.

"One moment."

It was more than a moment, but the door slid open.  The  Jedi  slipped

inside. A heavy gray curtain was immediately in front of them. They  pushed

it aside and found themselves in a small circular hall. A round desk sat in

the center of the space. The young man sitting behind it wore an expression

of great boredom. He had long  fair  hair  that  he  wore  loose  over  his

shoulders.

"They aren't in," he said. "I checked."

"We'd like to wait  in  their  room,"  Qui-Gon  said.  The  young  man

shrugged.

Adi spoke crisply. "They left word that we could enter, didn't they?"

The clerk looked down at his datascreen. "I guess so."

"Then let us up." Adi's voice  rang  with  authority.  The  young  man

pushed a key card across the table.

"Suite 2344. Have a ball."

The Jedi stepped into the turbolift. It rose swiftly to the top floor.

They found the room. Qui-Gon knocked, and when  there  was  no  answer,  he

inserted the key card. A series of numbers flashed, and the door slid open.

The room was modest. Two sleep couches were in an alcove, and  a  desk

stood against a wall. Vidscreens and datascreens were recessed in the wall.

One window overlooked the street but was covered by a gray curtain.

Siri checked out the travel bags near the sleep couches.  "Looks  like

it could be them," she said. "Basic necessities are still here."

"So we wait," Adi said.

Qui-Gon went to the window and slid the curtain back a slight bit.  He

looked out onto the street. Obi-Wan watched his face.

"He let us up too easily," Qui-Gon said.

"We were expected," Adi said.

"He didn't ask our names."

"He didn't seem to care much about security," Obi-Wan said.

"Yes, he seemed to advertise his indifference," Qui-Gon murmured,  his

eyes darting around the room.

Siri bent over to examine the items more closely. She fingered  a  few

items thrown on the end of the sleep couch. Suddenly, she straightened.

"Something's wrong," she said.

Qui-Gon turned, his gaze sharp. "Tell us."

"They aren't coming back." Siri indicated the items at  her  feet.  "I

sense it. These items are camouflage. There should  be  something  personal

here, and there isn't."

"Their house was destroyed,"  Adi  said.  "They  might  not  have  any

personal items left."  She  said  this  not  as  a  challenge,  but  as  an

observation, trying to focus Siri's thinking.

"That could be true," Siri said. "But still. They have been  here  for

three days, they said. There should be evidence that they have been  living

here. A crumb of food. A loose thread. A stain on the clothes. A wrinkle. A

scent. Something."

"And the clerk..." Qui-Gon said, but he didn't finish his thought.

"If they felt they had been traced here..." Siri said.

Obi-Wan looked at the others. He had felt nothing,  no  surge  of  the

dark side. He had only felt the normal uneasiness of  being  in  a  strange

place, knowing that who they were looking for was being hunted. He  felt  a

flash of envy of Siri, who seemed tuned into Qui-Gon's thoughts.

Just then, Siri looked up. Her hand flew to her lightsaber hilt.

Qui-Gon was already moving, streaking to one side of  the  door.  "The

clerk. He's coming," he said, just as the door slid open and  blaster  fire

pinged through the air.

CHAPTER 3

The being who burst through the door bore little  resemblance  to  the

bored clerk. Now he wore black armorweave  body  armor.  A  holster  for  a

blaster rifle and vibroblade crisscrossed his back, and wrist rockets  were

strapped to his forearms. His long fair hair  streamed  behind  him  as  he

rolled into the room like a droideka, surprising the Jedi  by  the  unusual

angle of attack.

He rolled a Merr-Sonn fragmentation grenade into  the  center  of  the

room. It exploded immediately,  sending  shrapnel  in  all  directions.  He

rolled to a stop, crouching behind a lightweight shield.

Qui-Gon felt the air shimmer with the blast, and the shrapnel exploded

around him. He leaped in front of Obi-Wan and Siri to protect them. It  was

hard for even a Jedi Master to  deflect  grenade  shrapnel.  It  was  fast,

unpredictable, random. It took all of Qui-Gon and  Adi's  concentration  to

block it. The shrapnel was flung back from their  lightsabers  and  slammed

into the walls and floors. A few deadly missiles thudded  into  the  bounty

hunter's shield, but they bounced off.

Qui-Gon saw the flash of surprise on the bounty hunter's face  at  the

sight of lightsabers. No  doubt  he'd  been  expecting  a  standard  Senate

security force, not a Jedi team. He fired off two wrist  rockets  in  rapid

succession, then backtracked, rolling out through the door again.

On his exit, he tossed another grenade inside the room. Qui-Gon leaped

forward and turned it into a hunk of smoking metal before it  exploded.  He

kept his eyes on the bounty hunter. He had paused for  an  instant  outside

the door. A flash of something lit the bounty hunter's eyes, and he  turned

around and fled.

Qui-Gon raced out as the bounty hunter blasted a hole through the hall

window with his wrist rocket, then flew through the shattered  panes.  Qui-

Gon saw a liquid cable line arc out.

He reached the window and looked down. He could just  see  the  silver

cable slithering back down through the air. The bounty hunter had landed on

the pedestrian walkway below. Within seconds he had been  swallowed  up  by

the crowd, disappearing underneath one of the colorful awnings.

Adi stood next to him. "He was waiting for them. Figured he would take

us out in the meantime."

"At least we know one thing," Obi-Wan said.  "He  doesn't  know  where

they are."

"I'm not so sure about that," Qui-Gon murmured.

He strode back to the hallway outside the blasted door.

He stood where the clerk had stood. A flash of surprise  had  lit  his

eyes, a revelation, and then smugness and purpose. All of this Qui-Gon  had

seen.

The bounty hunter, once disguised as the clerk, knew  where  they  had

gone.

There was so little time. The bounty hunter was already  on  his  way.

But Qui-Gon didn't let himself think of that.  He  slowly  considered  each

object he could see from this vantage point.

Floor. Corner of a window. Corner of vidscreen. A pillow on the  sleep

couch. The edge of a pack.

Nothing.

Qui-Gon looked at the door itself. Then the keypad that they'd used to

enter.

"The keycode," he said. "I know hotels like this. The occupant chooses

a code that is easy to remember. The code is entered into security  and  on

the individual cards. The occupant can either use the card or  key  in  the

number to get inside the room."

Adi nodded.

Qui-Gon lifted a hand, and the door card flew from where he'd left  it

on the sill and into his hand. He swiped the  card  and  noted  the  number

sequence that flashed.

"The code here is 2N533," Qui-Gon said. "The city of Ciran  is  shaped

like a five-pointed star. There are five  districts,  and  coordinates  and

addresses reflect that. Every address starts with the district number.  'N'

could mean north."

"You think the key code is the address where they  are  staying?"  Adi

asked.

"That's taking a chance," Siri said.  "Wouldn't  they  be  afraid  the

bounty hunter would figure it out?"

"They didn't know he was here. They just knew he was close.  But  they

had to leave us a hint."

"Besides," Obi-Wan said, "he wasn't sure they were gone for  good.  He

was waiting for them to return."

As he spoke, he was already accessing the map of Ciran on his datapad.

"2N533," he said. "Without a street name, I'll have to cross-check... wait.

.." He looked up. "District 2, 533 North Ascin Street. That's the only  533

address that's in the second district and has a north designation. It's got

to be it."

"The bounty hunter has a head start," Adi said. "We  can't  afford  to

make a mistake."

"He is on foot," Qui-Gon said. "So are we. So we must be faster."

CHAPTER 4

They ran through the streets, never hesitating, never stopping.  Their

Jedi training helped them. Obi-Wan was able to memorize the map in seconds.

Siri was able to point out shortcuts. Qui-Gon and Adi  used  the  Force  to

find the easiest way through the crowd.

They saw no sign of the bounty hunter. When they got to  the  address,

Qui-Gon and Adi stopped to study the facade. It  was  a  building  of  gray

stone, appearing identical to the other residences surrounding it.

Qui-Gon crossed the street and stood in front of the door.  He  raised

his hand to push the indicator bell on the intercom.

He felt it before it came. A window flipped open overhead and a  large

vibroblade swung down. He felt the whistle of the wind against his back  as

he jumped. Another second and it would have gone through his head.

Obi-Wan sprang forward to help his Master, and Adi and Siri  began  to

move around him, trying to see in the windows by the door.

"There appear to be" - Adi started as darts flew out  of  a  concealed

panel - "booby traps."

"Enough of this," Qui-Gon muttered. "There isn't time." He  unsheathed

his lightsaber and cut a hole in the door.

An oily, slick substance rolled out and covered the  floor,  splashing

on Qui-Gon. He looked down at his soiled boots.

Blaster fire suddenly pinged from the lift  tube.  Qui-Gon  swung  his

lightsaber to deflect it, not moving an inch. "We're Jedi!"  he  thundered.

"Stop this! There's no time!" The blaster fire stopped.

The door of the lift tube was cracked slightly,  the  seam  open  just

enough to give someone hiding a narrow view into the room. It opened a  few

more centimeters.

A boy poked his head out. His hair was red and stuck up in  tufts  all

over his head. His eyes were  a  vivid  green.  His  narrow,  pointed  nose

twitched. Next to him were a man and woman. They each  held  blasters,  but

slowly lowered them as they saw Qui-Gon's lightsaber.

"We didn't know," the woman said.

Qui-Gon sheathed his lightsaber. "We understand."

"I am Nelia Fry. This is my husband, Grove. And this is Taly."

The boy pointed to the  floor.  "If  you  move,  you'll  slip.  That's

synthetic oil mixed with soap. My own recipe."

"I won't slip," Qui-Gon said, just as  he  took  a  step  and  slipped

sideways. He regained his balance, slipped again, and slid  into  the  lift

tube door. His hands slapped against it and  his  aggrieved  face  was  now

centimeters from Talesan's.

"Sorry?" Taly offered.

Adi Force-leaped over the slippery mess and landed  next  to  Qui-Gon.

"We have to leave immediately. A bounty hunter is on  your  trail.  He  has

this address."

The family exchanged worried glances. "No matter where we go, he finds

us," Grove Fry said.

"We have an exit plan," Nelia said. "We have swoop bikes on the roof."

The Jedi hurried the family aboard the lift  tube  and  it  took  them

swiftly up to the roof.

There were three swoops, fully fueled. "We'll have to double up," Qui-

Gon said. "Talesan, ride with me."

"Call me Taly," the boy said. "I have a feeling we're  going  to  hang

around together for awhile."

"If you two can fit on this swoop, my Padawan can take the pilot seat,

" Qui-Gon told Nelia  and  Grove.  "We  left  our  ship  near  the  landing

platform, in a secure location."

Just then a transmitter on Grove's belt blinked rapidly. "Someone else

has entered the building," he said worriedly.  "Taly  rigged  up  a  silent

alarm."

"He's here," Siri said quietly.

"It's going to take him a few minutes to search," Qui-Gon said. "Let's

go."

Grove and Nelia exchanged a glance. "We're not coming with you."

"What do you mean?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Dad? Mom?" Taly's voice suddenly sounded very young.

Nelia crouched to look into her son's eyes. "Dad and I think you'll be

safer without us. He is too close. If we wait and leave a few seconds after

you, he might follow us instead. We can lead him away from  you.  Give  you

time to get far from here."

"This isn't necessary," Adi said crisply. "We can protect you."

"We mean no disrespect," Grove said. "We trust the Jedi. But  we  also

want every chance for our son."

"You must come with us," Qui-Gon argued. "To stay is too great a risk.

"

Grove's eyes filled with steely determination.

"That is for us to decide, not you," he said. "We  have  talked  about

this at length; we know what we have  to  do.  Nothing  you  can  say  will

convince us. And you cannot force us. If we can do any small thing to  save

our son, we will. You have a better chance without  us,  especially  if  we

create a distraction. That is our decision."

"We'll find our way to Coruscant," Nelia told Taly. "We'll find you."

Taly had gone very still.

Nelia straightened quickly. Her eyes were wet with tears.  "Take  care

of our son," she whispered. She put her  arms  around  Taly  and  held  him

against her. Grove came behind her and the three of them  rocked  together.

Then the parents broke away.

"No," Taly said. "Mom! Dad! Don't do this! I can protect us!"

The sight of their young son made the parents' faces crumple with love

and pain.

"You can do so much," Grove said. "You can't do this."

Over Taly's head, Nelia turned her stricken eyes on Qui-Gon.  "There's

no time. Go. Please. Take him." Her voice ended in a sob.

Siri put her hand on Taly's shoulder. "Come on, Taly." She led him  to

Qui-Gon's swoop.

"Are you sure I cannot convince you to join us? Or two of us can  stay

with you."

"Go," Grove said. "Now."

Qui-Gon rested his strong gaze on Nelia. "I will protect him."

She nodded but did not speak. Tears streaked her face. The  Jedi  felt

the surge in the dark side of the Force. A warning. He was close.

"Hold on to me, Taly," Qui-Gon said kindly. "We will be traveling very

fast."

They took off, keeping their acceleration low so as not to make noise.

Then Qui-Gon quickly dipped down into a lower space lane so that they would

not be visible from the building. Taly's parents disappeared from sight.

He felt the boy behind him, holding onto his tunic. He felt the  cloth

dampen with the boy's tears.

CHAPTER 5

They made a clean getaway in the Republic cruiser. The city  of  Ciran

retreated to a small yellow spot in a wide landscape. Then Cirrus became  a

yellowish round shape surrounded by clouds. In another  few  minutes,  they

were zooming through stars.

Adi piloted the ship. Qui-Gon set a course for Coruscant. Obi-Wan sat,

watching Siri and Taly.

Siri did not speak. She moved about the  cabin,  close  to  Taly.  She

placed a small thermal blanket on his knees. Moments  later  she  gave  him

something to eat and drink. Taly did not touch them. He  held  the  blanket

around his small body and stared at the ground.

Finally Siri came and sat beside him. She leaned forward and spoke  to

him gently. Obi-Wan could not hear her words but he saw by her posture  how

careful she was trying to be. He saw, gradually, how  Taly's  neck  muscles

relaxed, how his fingers no longer  clutched  the  blanket  with  the  same

desperate grip.

Siri slipped something out of her utility belt. Obi-Wan recognized the

warming crystal Siri always carried, deep blue with a star in  the  center.

She handed it to Taly and he closed his fist around it, smiling at  how  it

warmed his hand.

Siri drew her legs up underneath her and sat next  to  Taly,  not  too

close, but not too far away.

Was this the Siri he knew? Hardly. Obi-Wan hadn't known she  possessed

such delicacy. Siri was never delicate. She said what  she  meant  and  she

felt a great impatience for those who did not. She  didn't  like  emotional

reactions, she hated delays, she never waited on anyone or expected  to  be

waited on. She liked to do everything herself.

These were the things he knew about her. But he did not know this.  He

hadn't realized she knew exactly what to do for a wounded child.

Suddenly Qui-Gon leaned over the nav  console.  "Unidentified  cruiser

coming up fast."

"I'll increase speed." Adi pushed the controls.  "He's  speeding  up,"

Qui-Gon said.

"You think it's our bounty hunter?"

"I have no doubt. And by the looks of that cruiser, he might  be  able

to outmaneuver us. It's a SoroSuub light freighter."

Adi's mouth set grimly. "Nobody outmaneuvers me."

Qui-Gon gave a wry smile. "I didn't  mean  to  suggest  it.  Deflector

shields down."

The Republic cruiser was an agile craft, but it  was  built  to  ferry

diplomats and serve as a base for high-level meetings. Adi was an excellent

pilot, but she would not be able  to  hold  out  against  a  heavily  armed

SoroSuub for very long.

By the posture of her shoulders, he knew  exactly  when  she  admitted

this to herself. "Find us a safe port nearby, just in case."

Qui-Gon began to search the star chart on  the  nav  computer.  "We're

close to Quadrant Seven," he said.

"I know," Adi said. "But what about a planet?"

"The planet's name is Quadrant Seven," Qui-Gon explained. "It's not in

the Republic - it doesn't have a Senator and it's not particularly friendly

to outlanders, but it doesn't forbid them,  either."  Qui-Gon  entered  the

coordinates into the nav computer.

Adi pushed the ship to a faster speed. Obi-Wan and  Siri  got  up  and

moved into the cockpit.

Taly followed. He leaned in close to the nav screen, sending a  bluish

light onto his features. "He's going to catch us," he said.

Qui-Gon met Adi's gaze. They both knew the boy was right.

Laser cannonfire thundered around the ship, rocking it.  Taly  gripped

the console.

Adi kept the ship moving. She could not maneuver  the  way  she  would

like, but she was able to swerve to  avoid  the  next  barrage.  It  boomed

harmlessly in space.

"This is how he works," Taly  said.  "He  uses  everything.  He  never

stops. He has blasters and grenades and missiles and... everything. I  beat

him, and that made him mad, because I'm just a kid. He won't let me go this

time."

Qui-Gon looked at Taly. He had put the battle in terms of a young boy,

but it made sense. Qui-Gon felt it, too,  through  his  connection  to  the

Living Force. This bounty hunter went  beyond  determination.  This  was  a

grudge.

"What should we do?" Adi asked. Her voice was perfectly  calm  despite

the cannonfire that shook the ship. But Qui-Gon knew the situation must  be

dire, because Adi never asked him what to do.

Suddenly, a large blow rocked the ship.

"We've lost the horizontal stabilizer," Adi said. "It's  affected  the

hyperdrive."

"We must send off the salon pod," Qui-Gon said.  "He  might  think  we

escaped on it."

"But why would he fall for it?" Taly asked.

"Because then we're going to crash this ship," Qui-Gon said.

CHAPTER 6

"Maybe you'd better fill me in on this one," Adi  said  drily.  "After

all, I'm the pilot."

"This ship has a double-reinforced cargo  hold,"  Qui-Gon  said.  "The

work was done in order to protect a shipment of vertex on its last mission.

So if we were hit there, it would cause minimal damage. We  could  make  it

look worse. We could trick him into thinking the ship was failing. Then  we

eject the salon pod. He knows that salon pods on these cruisers are capable

of long space flights." Qui-Gon leveled his gaze at Adi. "Can you do it?"

She would know what he was asking. Adi could be high-handed at  times.

She could be dismissive of other ideas than her own. But  they  had  worked

together often enough to be able to put  their  minds  in  sync  when  they

needed to.

"Yes."

Qui-Gon turned. "Obi-Wan, Siri, Taly, get all the  soft  material  you

can and bring  them  to  the  cockpit.  Flotation  devices,  roll-up  sleep

couches, bedding, pillows, cushions. Fast."

Obi-Wan, Siri, and Taly  dashed  out  of  the  cockpit.  The  Republic

cruiser was built as a diplomatic ship. There  were  plenty  of  cabins  to

raid. Within minutes, the cockpit had filled up with soft bedding.  Qui-Gon

directed the three to place it  around  the  walls  and  hard  surfaces  as

carefully as they could.

"We're going to have take a missile blow," he told the others.  "Brace

yourself."

Adi maneuvered the ship so that the blow would fall on the cargo hold.

It would take perfect timing and a lot of guesswork. She had  to  make  the

bounty hunter think that he had outmaneuvered them  and  struck  the  death

blow.

The ship screamed through space, twisting like a corkscrew. The  Force

filled the cabin as Adi concentrated, beads of  perspiration  on  her  high

forehead. They saw the flash as the laser cannon boomed. They had less than

a split-second to prepare.

The blast shook the ship and blew them  like  durasheets  through  the

cabin. They bounced off the cushions and mattresses. Qui-Gon felt  helpless

as his wrist slammed against the edge of the  console.  He  pulled  in  the

Force to give him stability and balance. Adi crawled to the pilot chair.

"I didn't expect to do quite this good a job," she muttered,  gripping

the controls.

"Jettison some smoke," Qui-Gon said.

Adi put the ship into a death spiral. She released the salon pod. They

were close to a planet now, twisting down toward it.

Qui-Gon had his eyes on the radar. "He's not chasing the pod. Not yet.

"

Adi looked at him worriedly. "He's waiting for  us  to  flame  out  or

crash."

Qui-Gon nodded. "So let's crash."

Adi gripped the controls. Siri strapped  Taly  down  and  belted  down

cushions around him. She and Obi-Wan covered themselves as best they could.

The ship was screaming now, belching smoke. But Adi still had control.

She mimicked a dying ship, narrowing the circles until Qui-Gon had to close

his eyes against the dizziness he felt. He opened  them  once  to  see  the

surface of the planet looming. He closed them again quickly.

"Here we go!" Adi shouted.

He never knew how she did it. The  grace  and  precision  of  it  were

amazing. She was able to pull up slightly at the last  minute,  enough  for

the ship to shudder into a modified crash landing instead of slamming  into

the planet's surface. But from the upper atmosphere, it would look  like  a

crash. She jettisoned the fuel early so that it sent  up  a  fireball.  The

smoke would cover their escape.

Qui-Gon took out his lightsaber and cut a hole through the wall.  Obi-

Wan joined him, then Siri and Adi. Taly stood  back,  his  eyes  huge  with

shock.

Qui-Gon picked up Taly and jumped out the hole after the others.  They

took shelter behind some rocks as the ship exploded.

"Now what?" Siri asked.

"Let's start with the basics," Qui-Gon  said.  "I'd  say  we  need  to

locate new transportation."

Taly still wore an expression of shock. "Don't you Jedi take a  minute

to recover?"

"He took off after the pod, but we should still take precautions," Adi

said. "I think Taly should remain in hiding with Siri and Obi-Wan. We don't

want to leave a trail. We  know  there  is  more  than  one  bounty  hunter

involved."

"Good point," Qui-Gon said.

They walked toward town. The road  was  dusty  and  deserted,  winding

through a rocky canyon. Halfway there, Adi  suddenly  stopped.  She  leaned

over and pressed her hand against the ground.

"There's water close to here," she said. "Follow me."

She took off through the rocks. They followed, Taly sometimes slipping

and helped by Siri. Adi led them up a stony ridge and then down again.  The

air smelled fresher. Around a large boulder was a small, bubbling spring.

"A water source if you need it," she said. She glanced around.  "There

are caves around us. I can feel them."

She walked to a cleft in the rocks. Qui-Gon never would  have  noticed

it. He would have thought it was a shadow. Adi melted inside and  they  saw

only her hand beckon them.

It was a cave, small and snug. Although the sand was  cool  and  damp,

farther into the cave it was dry.

"A perfect hiding place," Adi said. "Invisible from the air.  Easy  to

exit and close to town." She slipped off her survival pack. "We'll be  back

for you as soon as we locate transport. You'll be comfortable here."

Siri looked around the  cave  dubiously.  "If  you  say  so."  Qui-Gon

couldn't help smiling at Siri. "We'll return soon," he promised.

Qui-Gon and Adi left the cave and continued on the road to the city of

Settlement 5. The city had no outskirts. It simply rose in the middle of  a

convergence of roads. There seemed  to  be  no  green  spaces,  no  culture

centers or amusements, just businesses and homes, all built on  a  grid  of

streets and lanes.

The city was more like  an  overgrown  village  than  a  sophisticated

center. Qui-Gon and Adi walked through the streets, their hoods up,  trying

to blend in. It wasn't hard. They were taller  than  the  average  Quadrant

Seven, but that wasn't a problem. All the Quadrant  Sevens  wore  practical

and neutral-colored robes, just as the Jedi did. Most of them  walked  with

their hoods over their faces. Qui-Gon felt anonymous in the crowd,  and  he

soon realized why.

"They're all trying to blend in," he murmured to Adi.

"Even if they recognize us as outlanders, they won't show it."

Usually in a main city of a world in the Core or Mid-Rim,  there  were

plenty of opportunities to buy or  rent  speeders,  and  often  dealers  in

spaceworthy cruisers clustered around the landing platforms  of  the  city.

But there was a strange absence of such dealers on this planet. It took Adi

and Qui-Gon some time to find a seller  of  speeders  tucked  away  down  a

narrow lane off a secondary road.

A   laserboard   outside   discreetly   flashed   specials.   "Nothing

spaceworthy," Qui-Gon said. "But no doubt he can tell us where to  purchase

a ship."

They walked inside. The dwellers of Quadrant Seven were humanoid, with

small, pointed ears and short, whiskery antennae that gave  the  appearance

of bristly hair but were finely attuned to disturbances  in  the  air.  The

dealer turned, his antennae quivering.

He didn't ask them what they wanted, or if he could help them. He just

stood, waiting for them to speak. "We're looking for a space cruiser," Qui-

Gon said. "I don't sell that here," the dealer said.

"We thought you could tell  us  where  in  Settlement  Five  we  could

purchase one."

"Nowhere. There's no call for selling  of  space  cruisers.  Quadrants

don't like to travel out of their own atmosphere."

"But surely," Qui-Gon said patiently, "there  is  a  way  to  get  off

planet."

"Well, of course there is."

Adi kept her tone even. "Maybe you could tell us what that is."

"Wait for the freighter. It comes once  a  month."  Qui-Gon  felt  his

heart fall. "Once a month?"

The dealer seemed to feel that he had no need to elaborate.

"Can you tell us when it will stop again?" Adi asked.

The dealer consulted a calendar on his datapad.  "Ah,  that  would  be

market day."

"And market day is..."

"In five standard days time."

Qui-Gon took out his comlink. "Can you tell us where on Quadrant Seven

we could find a space cruiser? We could contact them and - "

"Ah, that would be Settlement Twenty-three. That's where you'd be able

to bargain for a ship. But you can't contact them  by  comlink.  There's  a

BlocNet on Quadrant Seven. Comlinks are licensed. Ordinary citizens  aren't

allowed to carry them, just emergency personnel. Your  comlink  won't  work

here."

"But why outlaw comlinks?" Adi asked.

"Don't believe in 'em.  Comlinks  make  distances  shorter.  And  when

distances get shorter, problems get bigger. We like to slow things down  on

Quadrant Seven. Which reminds me, you need  a  permit  to  send  a  HoloNet

message off planet. It will be monitored and archived, too."

"And who has access to the  archives?"  Adi  asked.  "Everyone.  Makes

beings nicer if they know they can't send out messages that aren't public."

Adi and Qui-Gon stared at each other in  frustration.  That  meant  if

they sent a message to the Temple, everyone would be able to  see  it.  The

bounty hunters could trace them.

"Can we buy a speeder to travel to Settlement  Twenty-three?"  Qui-Gon

asked.

"Sure. But you have to apply for a permit. All outlanders do."

"How long will it take to get a permit?"

"Hard to say. Could be a week."

Adi was becoming used to the dealer's way of talking. "Or...?

"Could be a month. Hard to say."

"This is ridiculous," Adi muttered. "What a way to run a planet."

"We haven't had a war in five hundred and  seventy-three  years,"  the

dealer said. "Don't have toxic pools or chemical air. Everybody pretty much

gets along. That doesn't sound too ridiculous, does it?"

Adi just sighed.

"If I were you, I'd wait for the freighter. Quadrant Seven is  a  nice

place to visit. Of course we don't have much in the way of hotels or cafcs.

And we don't go in for amusements the way they do in other places.  There's

not much to do. But still."

"Look, we don't have time to wait," Qui-Gon said. "Can't  you  find  a

way to help us?"

"Nope." The dealer's face  was  still  blandly  polite.  He  would  be

friendly, but not help them. That much was clear. They walked  out  of  the

shop.

"Looks like we're waiting for the freighter," Adi  said.  "We'll  just

have to lay low. We could send a coded communication to the Temple...."

"But why risk it?" Adi completed the sentence. "If by some chance  the

bounty hunter searches the planet, that's the first place he'd investigate.

Even a coded message would stand out."

"We can canvass the area, look to see if anyone owns a ship and try to

buy it," Qui-Gon said.

Adi nodded. "It doesn't appear that Quadrant  Sevens  travel,  but  we

might get lucky."

"It's only five days," Qui-Gon  said.  "The  assassination  will  take

place in a week. This can all work, if nothing else goes wrong."

He felt the dark side surge as a warning just as Adi pulled  him  back

from walking out into the watery sunlight. The bounty hunter  was  striding

by on the street, his pale eyes flicking into the shadows.

"Something else just went wrong," Adi said.

CHAPTER 7

"Let's follow him," Adi murmured. "Better to know where he  is  -  and

perhaps we'll learn something."

Qui-Gon nodded. They melted into the crowd in the street. It was  rare

that a being knew when he was being followed by a Jedi. They were  able  to

use the Force to direct objects to move into their path if  someone  turned

to look behind them. They were able to move before their prey  could  track

their steps. After a short time, the Jedi were  able  to  so  absorb  their

quarry's way of  moving  that  they  could  predict  it  and  easily  avoid

discovery.

The bounty hunter was good. He was careful. Yet he was  no  match  for

them. Adi and Qui-Gon followed him easily as he walked to the opposite edge

of Settlement 5 and then struck out across the hills and rocks.

This area was even more rugged than  where  they'd  left  Obi-Wan  and

Siri. They trailed him  through  a  series  of  small,  deep  canyons.  The

boulders offered plenty of hiding places. At last he slipped into a  narrow

opening  and  disappeared.  Qui-Gon  and  Adi  carefully   moved   forward.

Positioning themselves behind an outcropping, they peered into the opening.

It led to a canyon that was  just  a  cleft  in  the  landscape.  They

recognized the bounty hunter's light freighter. Next to it was  a  slightly

larger ship. Together they took up nearly the entire width of the canyon.

The bounty hunter disappeared into the larger ship. The ramp was down,

and Qui-Gon and Adi slowly made their way there.  With  a  glance  at  each

other, they agreed to try to observe what was going on. It  was  worth  the

risk.

They crept up the ramp and slipped inside the ship. They heard  raised

voices coming from the cockpit.

Good, Qui-Gon thought. If a group  was  arguing,  they  would  be  too

distracted to stay alert.

Tall and graceful, Adi moved ahead of him down  the  hall,  her  boots

soundless on the polished floor. She beckoned to him. She had found a  vent

at eye level, in a storage room right off the cockpit.  Qui-Gon  could  see

quite clearly into the next room.

His heart fell.  There  were  five  bounty  hunters  in  the  cockpit,

including the one chasing them. Among them was one he recognized - Gorm the

Dissolver. He was a formidable presence, dwarfing the others in his  plated

armor and helmet. Created by Arkanian Renegades,  he  was  half-bio,  half-

droid. His bio parts were made  up  of  six  different  aliens.  His  droid

components allowed him to be a nearly invincible  killing  machine.  Gorm's

tracking skill was legendary and his merciless attacks were  spoken  of  in

whispers in spaceports throughout the galaxy.

All of these bounty hunters in one place, for one assassination?  Qui-

Gon wondered again who the target could be.

"We've only got a week," one of the bounty  hunters  said.  It  was  a

humanoid woman, small and compact, dressed in a leather tunic and leggings.

Her fair hair was twisted in many braids that fell to  her  shoulders.  She

appeared to be completely ordinary, if  you  didn't  notice  the  firepower

strapped to her waist,  her  wrist  gauntlets  with  an  array  of  weapons

systems, or the armored kneepads she wore. By the look of her  armor,  Qui-

Gon guessed she was a  Mandalorian,  or  at  least  that  she  had  somehow

procured some of the warrior army's famous weaponry.  "You  shouldn't  have

blasted that escape pod, Magus," she went on. "Now we don't know  for  sure

if you got the kid."

The bounty hunter who had chased them  on  Cirrus  turned  slowly  and

rested his steely gaze on the female.

"Don't give me that black-hole look, Magus," she said. "You  know  I'm

right. We need proof that the kid  has  been  neutralized.  If  he's  still

alive, he could compromise the mission. I don't mind pulling this off,  but

I don't want anybody to know I was involved.  Those  Senatorial  committees

can get touchy about political assassinations."

"We're only a week away from our hits," another bounty hunter said. He

was a tall creature with green-tinged skin and a cranial horn on top of his

head. "I for one don't relish the thought of assassinating a  world  leader

if security is waiting for me. And we've got twenty targets. That's  twenty

times the security."

Qui-Gon and Adi exchanged a glance. Twenty planetary leaders?

"I told you, they won't have their regular security," Magus said.

"We still have no way of knowing how much this kid knows and who  he's

alerted," the female bounty hunter continued.

"You promised they wouldn't  be  expecting  us,  that  we'd  have  the

element of surprise," the third bounty hunter said  to  Magus.  He  wore  a

greasy cloak and his leggings were thick with grime.  Tufts  of  wiry  hair

stood out on his head like horns. On his grimy face gills flapped open  and

closed with his breathing. He looked like a large,  unkempt  fish.  A  name

floated into Qui-Gon's head. Raptor. This could be the bounty  hunter  he'd

been hearing about, the one who was willing to take any job, no matter  how

dangerous or cruel. "That's one reason we agreed. Well - that and the  fee.

But if security gets tipped off, I'm heading back to the Core  and  picking

up another job. What does our employer say?"

Magus rose slowly. If he was bothered by the dissension in the others,

it wasn't apparent. "Our employer leaves the details to me. As you should."

"We did that," the being with the cranial horn said. "And now we don't

know if the kid is dead or not. We don't know if he blabbed yet or not.  We

don't know if he's on his way to the Senate to testify."

"I heard you the first time, Pilot," Magus said, the anger  now  clear

in his tone.

"Really? Because it doesn't seem like you're  listening,"  the  female

said irritably.

"Lunasa is right," Raptor said. "You've got a problem listening to any

voice but your own."

Magus slammed a vibroblade down on the  table.  "Enough  whining!"  he

exploded. With the  exception  of  Gorm,  the  bounty  hunters  all  looked

unnerved. "I said I would take care of the boy. First we need  to  complete

the preparations we discussed. There's still much to  be  done,  and  we're

wasting time here."

Without waiting for agreement, Magus simply strode  off.  Qui-Gon  and

Adi had to scurry back along the corridor to avoid him. He strode down  the

ramp and headed for his own ship.

"Who elected him king, I'd like to know," Lunasa muttered.

"He recruited us," Pilot said. "But the employer talks to me,  too.  I

can go to him anytime." A bragging note had entered his voice.

"Whoa, and that makes you so special," Raptor said. "I'm keeping track

of what Magus does," Pilot said huffily. "That's all I'm saying."

"Shut up." Gorm spoke for the first time. "Let's go."

It took them a moment, no doubt because they didn't want to appear  to

follow anyone's orders, but the bounty hunters began to  make  preparations

for departure. Pilot headed for the controls.  Lunasa  worked  on  the  nav

computer. The one Qui-Gon suspected of being Raptor shrugged and  took  off

down the corridor, presumably to his own cabin. Qui-Gon and Adi ducked into

a storage room.

"Twenty leaders? It's much bigger than we thought," Adi said. "We have

to find out who they're targeting."

"And why," Qui-Gon added. "If we find the why,  we  can  discover  who

hired them." He thought quickly. "We should stay aboard."

"But Taly - "

"Obi-Wan and Siri can protect him. They are well hidden. We can return

for them. There's no way off the planet for five days. Magus knows that  as

well - that's why he's leaving. No doubt he plans to return, but we can  be

back by then."

Adi frowned. "I don't like leaving the three of them."

"Uncovering the plot will help Taly more than our  presence,"  Qui-Gon

said. "I don't like leaving them, either. But I feel Obi-Wan and  Siri  can

handle this."

Adi nodded slowly. "Agreed."

"Once we're out of the Quadrant Seven atmosphere, we can send  them  a

message," Qui-Gon said. "Incoming messages aren't recorded. It's a risk  to

leave, but..."

"... we have to take it," Adi said.

They felt the thrust of the engines. The ship lifted into the air.

"Hey!" they heard Lunasa call. "Magus is staying!"

"He never tells us what he's doing," Pilot said.

"I guess he's going for the kid after all," Lunasa said. Adi and  Qui-

Gon glanced at each other. The ship  was  already  climbing  to  the  upper

atmosphere. It was too late to get off.

CHAPTER 8

"They should have been back by now."

Siri kept her voice low, but Taly seemed off in another world. He  sat

at the entrance to the cave, his arms around  his  knees.  Occasionally  he

would dip his head down and stare at the ground.

"I know." Obi-Wan wanted to argue with her, but he didn't have a  good

feeling about the length of time Qui-Gon and Adi had been gone.

"I should go look for them."

"They told us to stay here."

Siri shook her head impatiently. "Obi-Wan, in all my years of  knowing

you, I can't tell you how many times you've told me what I should be doing.

"

"Well, somebody has to," Obi-Wan said with a grin.

But Siri didn't crack a smile. "They could be in trouble."

"Or they could be  negotiating  for  a  starship.  Or  they  could  be

contacting the Temple. Or they could be on their way back.  They  could  be

doing a thousand things. None of which are  our  concern.  Our  concern  is

Taly. They told us both to protect him. So here we stay."

Siri's jaw set stubbornly. She stared stonily out into the landscape.

Taly suddenly rose and came  back  to  stand  with  them.  "I  have  a

proposition for you," he said.

Obi-Wan wanted to smile. There was something so touching  about  Taly.

Here was this slender, small boy who seemed ready to  take  on  the  world.

Sometimes the lost look in his  eyes  made  him  look  like  a  child.  Yet

sometimes he talked like an adult. Obi-Wan had no idea how much  of  Taly's

confidence was bravery and how much was bravado. All he knew  was  that  he

admired him.

"Let's hear it," Siri said.

"I want you to let me go," Taly said.

"Let you go?" Obi-Wan repeated, incredulous.

Taly nodded. "I've been thinking about it. My uncle is a  subplanetary

engineer on the planet Qexis. It's a high-security  planet  with  only  one

spaceport. It's in the Outer Rim. Nobody really knows about it except tech-

heads. It's a total research planet. He'd hide me for as long as it  takes.

And you could tell my parents where I'm heading  and  they  could  meet  me

there. I could make my way there."

"You could make your way there?" Obi-Wan tried unsuccessfully to  keep

his voice from rising.

Taly looked at Siri. "Does he always repeat what people say?"

Siri nodded. "Yeah."

"Taly, there's no way we're  going  to  let  you  go,"  Obi-Wan  said.

"That's preposterous. What makes you think you could get to the  Outer  Rim

by yourself? You're just a kid!"

"Nobody notices a kid," Taly said. "I can do it, I know  I  can.  It's

just a question of getting from Point A to  Point  B.  The  bounty  hunters

think I'm dead."

"You don't know that for sure. We tricked one of them. We  don't  know

if it worked. That's why we're still in hiding."

"That's what gives me a head start," Taly said.  "Look,  you  know  as

well as I do that if I testify to those Senators, I'm dead."

"That's not true," Obi-Wan said, shocked. "They'll protect you."

"You trust the Senate?" Taly gave a bark of a laugh. "And you call  me

a kid?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. He wasn't going to argue with  Taly.  He  shot

Siri an exasperated look, but to his surprise, Siri  was  looking  at  Taly

thoughtfully.

"You know it's true," Taly said, turning to  Siri.  "They  won't  care

about me once I testify. Sure, they'll give me new ID docs. But they  won't

protect me or my parents, not really. But if I  don't  testify,  maybe  the

bounty hunters will leave me alone."

"Taly, they won't leave you alone," Obi-Wan said gently. "I'm sorry to

say it. But you'll always be a risk to them."

"Not after they do the assassination," Taly argued.

"Then they won't care. Or even if they  care,  they're  not  going  to

chase me for long. I'm not worth it. I can disappear." He  turned  back  to

Siri. "Okay, I'll make a deal with you. You can escort me  to  Qexis.  Then

leave me there. Pretend I escaped. You can save my life. You  can  save  my

parents. You can."

"Taly, I'm sorry," Obi-Wan said.

"Siri?" Taly looked at her beseechingly.

Siri spoke through dry lips. "I'm sorry, too."

Taly stomped off to the front of the cave, a kid again. Obi-Wan looked

at Siri.

"I could have used a little support," he said.

"What if he's right?" Siri asked.

"What if he's right?"

Siri rolled her eyes. "There you go again."

"There I Siri, you can't be serious. You can't  think  that  we  could

possibly let Taly go."

"No, of course not. But we could take him to Qexis. It would be a good

place to hide. And the Senate won't protect him. Not the way  they  should.

They just want what they want. Once he testifies,  they  won't  care  about

him. He's not wrong, Obi-Wan."

"Sometimes I just don't understand you."

"I know."

"We can't defy the Senate. We can't defy the Jedi Council."

"We can. We just don't choose to. There are more options in life, Obi-

Wan, than you seem able to imagine."

Siri's words stung. It was almost as though she felt sorry for him.

"Do I need to tell Qui-Gon and Adi about this?" Obi-Wan hated the  way

he sounded. Priggish. Pompous.

Siri turned her cool gaze on him, the color of an impossibly blue  sea

with hidden depths for the unwary. "If you like. Don't worry. I'll  deliver

Taly into the hands of the Senate. I'll do my duty. I always do."

Then she retreated from him, even though she stayed still and unmoving

at his side.

The comlink message was full of static.

"... trail of bounty hunters.... Stay where you are until we return.."

Qui-Gon's voice was steady, but the transmission crackled. "A bounty hunter

is on Quadrant Seven. Magus. Stay hidden. If we don't return.."

"Qui-Gon?"

"Freighter... landing platform... in five days time, midday. No  other

transport available - " The transmission cut out.

"Did you get all that?" Siri asked.

"Stay hidden for five days. If they don't return, take  the  freighter

off planet. And a bounty hunter is still looking for Taly."

"Magus." Siri looked over at where Taly was  sleeping.  "So  he  knows

Taly is alive."

"Or suspects."

She did not say what he knew she wanted to say. Without their Masters,

it would be easy to go to Qexis. They could take Taly away from this.

But those were not their orders. And they would do their duty.

CHAPTER 9

Siri didn't speak much. There was a tension between them now that Obi-

Wan didn't understand. They had argued many times during their  friendship.

Why did this one make him feel so strained?

He hadn't realized before how much her steady friendship meant to him.

She might mock him and annoy him, but he'd always known she respected him.

Now he wasn't sure.

The days passed slowly. The cave seemed smaller with each  segment  of

passing time. Obi-Wan felt himself grow  more  silent  with  every  passing

hour. He felt himself tense whenever Siri brushed  past.  He  felt  like  a

fool, like a rule-following, dull, stupid apprentice  who  didn't  dare  to

risk. He never felt like that when Siri wasn't around.

The tension between them grew, and he didn't  understand  it.  Obi-Wan

couldn't wait to get out of the cave.

They did what Jedi do when forced to remain in one  place.  They  kept

themselves limber with exercises. They meditated. They did not think of the

future, only the present moment.

One would stand guard while the other went  down  to  the  spring  for

water. They saw no one and heard nothing. Every hour, they expected Qui-Gon

and Adi to contact them. They  both  felt  a  responsibility  to  keep  the

atmosphere light. They didn't want to worry Taly.

For his part, Taly crunched on protein pellets and slept fitfully.  He

stopped eating much. Obi-Wan began to worry about him. He and Siri slept in

shifts so that one of them would  always  be  awake.  He  didn't  think  it

impossible that Taly would try to slip away. He saw how  Siri's  eyes  grew

dark with worry when she looked at him.

"We just have to hang on," he said to her.

She was scratching patterns in the dirt  floor  of  the  cave  with  a

stick. She didn't look up. "One of us should do some  reconnaissance,"  she

said. "We don't know what the road is like to Settlement Five, or how  many

kilometers it is."

"We have the coordinates and a map on our datapad."

"A map is not the territory. You've told me that yourself."

Yes, he had. It was a saying of Qui-Gon's. Study the map, but  do  not

trust it. A map is not the territory. Until your boots are on  it,  do  not

trust the ground.

"Yes, that's true. But the settlement isn't far, and the road is  well

marked. I think we risk more by scouting it out. If our Masters thought  we

needed to do it, they would have told us. They've traveled the road."

Siri looked up. "Orders for the Jedi are  not  meant  to  be  literal.

Padawans should use their own judgment. That is a Jedi rule, too."

"If situations change," Obi-Wan said. "Ours is  the  same."  He  hated

this. He hated spouting Jedi rules to Siri as though he was  a  Master  and

she was a Padawan. He knew how much she hated it, too. But she  pushed  him

to a place where he had to.

That night at the evening meal, Obi-Wan watched  as  Taly  pushed  his

protein pellets away. "I want real food."

"We only have two more days to wait," Obi-Wan told him. "There will be

food on the freighter. Until then you must take nourishment.  You  must  be

strong, Taly. You have a long way to go,  and  it  would  be  illogical  to

weaken yourself now."

He watched as Taly took  another  protein  pellet  and  nodded  as  he

swallowed it.

"That's better."

The moon rose, and they rolled themselves into their thermal blankets.

Obi-Wan heard Taly's breathing slow and deepen.

In a few minutes he heard a noise. Siri crawled over to his side.  She

held out a palm full of protein pellets. "I found these behind a rock."

Obi-Wan frowned. "They must be Taly's. I don't understand.  Why  won't

he eat?"

Siri tossed the pellets toward the rear of the  cave.  "Because  these

taste like rocks with a frosting of sand, that's why. We're used  to  them.

He's not. He's just a kid, Obi-Wan."

"He's a very smart kid who knows how much trouble  he's  in,"  Obi-Wan

said. "We're leaving in two days. Why would he starve himself?"

"Because he's scared and he misses his parents and everything's out of

his control," Siri said impatiently. "Because beings  don't  always  behave

logically. This is the Living Force. It's unpredictable."

"I hate unpredictability," Obi-Wan said.

Siri smiled. "I know."

"So what should we do?"

"Are you asking me? That's a first," Siri teased.

"Yes, I'm asking you."

"I don't know. Let me think about it. I'll take the first watch."

Siri crawled to the  entrance  to  the  cave  and  positioned  herself

against the curve of the wall. He watched her curl into the wall as  if  it

were the most comfortable of cushions. The moon was so big that night  that

he could see her profile illuminated, the crystal clarity of her eyes,  the

gleam  of  her  hair.  She  managed  to  look  both  alert  and   perfectly

comfortable.

For the first time in days, Obi-Wan slept deeply. When he awoke,  Siri

was gone.

CHAPTER 10

Dawn was still at least an hour away. It was cold in the cave. Obi-Wan

wrapped his thermal blanket around  his  shoulders  and  sat  at  the  cave

opening. Even if he had wanted to search for Siri, he wouldn't leave Taly.

The light  was  shifting  to  purple  when  Siri  reappeared,  running

soundlessly toward the cave, never making a wrong step even  on  the  stony

ground. When she caught sight of Obi-Wan she slowed. He saw  her  shoulders

rise slightly, as if bracing herself for his attack.

She crouched down in front of him and removed a small  sack  from  her

tunic. "I got food for Taly," she said. "A muja muffin,  some  bread,  some

fruit."

"But I'm carrying all the credits," Obi-Wan said.

"I traded for them," Siri said. "My warming crystal. I sold  it  to  a

vendor who was opening up his shop early."

She looked embarrassed. She had sacrificed her most prized  possession

for a boy she hardly knew. It was a gesture full of sentiment. In the past,

Obi-Wan would have thought it unlike her. Now, he knew better.

"Go ahead," she said. "Yell at me."

He didn't say anything. He'd always admired Siri for  her  fierceness.

He had never known how strong her connection to the Living Force  was.  She

always seemed to hold herself above other  beings.  Now  he  saw  that  her

brusqueness was a kind of distance she kept, but even so, she was watching.

Feeling.

"He'll like these," Obi-Wan said. "It was a good idea. You can  go  to

sleep now. I'll keep watch."

"I can't sleep," Siri said gruffly. "Mind if I sit for awhile?"

Obi-Wan moved over to make room. Siri sat next to him.

"It's cold," she said. "But it's going to be a nice day."

He threw the blanket over her shoulders so that it was  covering  them

both. He felt her leg against his,  her  breath  against  his  ear.  Warmth

spread through him. He saw the sun begin to touch the rocks outside.

"One more day," she said. "I hope Qui-Gon and  Adi  make  it  back  in

time."

"If they don't, we'll be okay," Obi-Wan said. "We can handle  anything

if we're together."

"I know." He felt the whisper against his skin. They sat together  and

watched the light come up.

Qui-Gon and Adi did not return, and they did not send another message.

Obi-Wan and Siri began to pack up their survival kits. They would  have  to

do this on their own.

"If the bounty hunter is still on Quadrant Seven, he'll be watching to

see if we board," Siri said. "We'll have to sneak on somehow."

"Qui-Gon always says that when you're trying to sneak in someplace, go

where the food is," Obi-Wan said. "They load it separately  through  cargo,

and security is sometimes pretty loose. Let's try there first."

"Sounds like a plan," Siri said. "Ready, Taly?"

Taly shouldered his pack.  Once  again,  Obi-Wan  was  struck  by  how

resolute he could look. He had accepted Siri's gift of food gratefully  and

had tried to share. Obi-Wan and Siri had both taken a small piece of  fruit

but insisted he eat most of the fresh food. He had been more cheerful after

that. It wasn't so much the food, Obi-Wan thought, as the caring  that  had

improved his mood and given him hope. Siri had been so right. He had things

to learn from her that went beyond a new fighting stance. He had things  to

learn about the heart. About giving.

"I'm ready," Taly said.

Siri put her hands on his shoulders and squatted so that she was  eye-

level with him. "Here's the most important thing, Taly. You have to do what

we say. Your safety depends on it."

He nodded. "I will."

Obi-Wan could see that he meant it. Siri had won his trust.

They set off. Because it was market day, the  road  was  crowded  with

beings heading into Settlement 5. That was  lucky.  The  crowds  gave  them

plenty of cover.

The marketplace was set up around  the  landing  platform,  which  was

another lucky break. Stalls and vendors crowded the square where ramps  and

lift tubes led to the landing platform several stories  above.  Siri,  Obi-

Wan, and Taly blended in with the others in their plain  robes  and  hoods.

Siri and Obi-Wan kept their gazes constantly moving but they did not  catch

a glimpse of the bounty hunter. Nor did the Force give them a warning.

The freighter was docked and ready for loading. One passenger ramp was

already down. It would be easy to board and search for seats,  but  Obi-Wan

thought it best to wait until the last possible moment.

They saw metal bins being carried to the back ramp,  fresh  fruit  and

vegetables spilling over the top. Obi-Wan watched for  several  minutes  as

they milled through the crowd, pretending to study  the  wares  set  up  in

booths and spread out on tables. The  bins  were  carried  by  workers  who

plodded back and forth up  the  ramp.  When  they  disappeared  inside  the

freighter, they were usually gone for a minute or  so.  That  would  easily

give Obi-Wan, Siri, and Taly a chance to pick up a bin and bring it aboard.

If they timed it right, they could pull it off.

Obi-Wan nudged Siri. "There. They're loading the  fresh  food.  If  we

pick up a bin we could get aboard. Nobody is really watching."

Siri nodded. Then suddenly she paled. "He's here."

"Where?"

"I feel him." Siri's gaze raked the  crowd.  "There."  Obi-Wan  looked

where Siri's gaze was resting. Magus was across the square. He stood  in  a

clever spot, right where the sun was in shadow, behind a bin of  vegetables

that were a popular item for shoppers. It would have been hard to pick  him

out if Siri hadn't felt his presence.

"It's all right," Obi-Wan said. "He's searching the crowd.  Now's  our

chance."

Siri swallowed. She kept her head down. "He's standing with the vendor

I bought the food from. He knows we're here, Obi-Wan!"

Obi-Wan looked again. He realized that vendor standing next  to  Magus

was also watching the crowd. Magus was smart. While the vendor concentrated

on the passenger ramp, his own flinty gaze roamed. Now Obi-Wan saw how  the

bounty hunter kept his eye on the cargo ramp as  well  as  the  food  ramp.

There were now less than a dozen bins to carry. Time was running out.

"What are we going to do?" Taly asked.

Obi-Wan knew it was hopeless.  There  was  no  way  they  could  board

without Magus spotting them. No matter how cleverly they tried. Yet staying

on the planet wasn't a good idea. Sooner or later, Magus would  find  them.

And it would probably be sooner.

The panic in Taly's eyes made Obi-Wan angry. They had to protect  him.

They had to get him to a place that was safe.

"If he's here, that means his ship is unguarded," Obi-Wan said.

A flash illuminated Siri's blue gaze. "You want to steal his ship?"

"The freighter is due to leave in five minutes. We've got to  find  it

first."

"It will be close," Siri guessed.

"Come on."

They threaded through the crowd with a purpose now, but  were  careful

to move with the flowing surge. Obi-Wan checked out the  possibilities.  It

would make sense for Magus to keep the cruiser near. Usually  there  was  a

holding pen for star cruisers near landing platforms. He hadn't noticed one

here, but there should be one somewhat close.

"There," Siri breathed.

Around a corner, down an alley, a clearly marked space. It  was  empty

but for one cruiser, the light freighter they knew belonged to Magus.  They

hurried toward the durasteel gate.

There was no time to lose. Obi-Wan cut a hole in  the  gate  with  his

lightsaber and they squeezed through.

He prowled around the outside of the ship. Siri did the same.

"There should be an exterior control panel for the ramp," he said.

"Here it is." Taly's voice came from underneath the  ship.  "Sometimes

these SoroSuubs are refitted with foiling devices. I can  cross  the  wires

and tinker with the controls here...."

"Taly, let me," Obi-Wan urged.

The ramp slid down. "No need." Taly slid out and  jumped  up,  dusting

off his hands, a huge grin on his face. "We're done."

They ran up the ramp. Obi-Wan slid into the pilot seat.

"Wait." Taly ducked underneath the control  panel.  "Let's  make  sure

there's no locking device. I can bypass the access code."

"Are you sure?" Siri asked.

"Easy as cutting through air." Taly took a small servo-driver from his

utility belt. "Standard  security  devices...  Code  deactivated...  Remote

tracking device cut... Okay. Let's go."

Obi-Wan fired up the engines. He kept the engine speed down until they

were safely away from the city. Then he blasted into the upper atmosphere.

He grinned at Siri. They made it.

"Set the course for Coruscant."

"Course set."

Minutes passed. Siri watched the computer  screen  avidly.  There  was

still a chance they could be followed.

"Setting hyperdrive," Obi-Wan said. He  flicked  the  controls.  Space

rushed toward them in a shower of stars. They were free.

With a sigh of satisfaction, Taly leaned back in his seat. "I bet  I'm

really starting to get on that guy's nerves," he said.

CHAPTER 11

The problem with eavesdropping, Qui-Gon thought, was that it  required

beings who liked one another enough to exchange information. He and Adi had

hoped to overhear more of the bounty hunters' plans, but as soon  as  their

argument was over and the ship blasted off, they all retreated to  separate

areas of the ship and did  not  speak.  They  passed  one  another  in  the

corridors, they met in the galley scrounging for food, they bumped into one

another at close quarters, but all Qui-Gon and Adi heard was an  occasional

grunt or grumble of, "Blast your stinking carcass, stay out of my way."

They had been on the ship for three days and had learned nothing. They

didn't know their destination, and they didn't  know  the  bounty  hunters'

targets. They had moved from hiding place to  hiding  place,  from  storage

compartment to empty stateroom and back again, and at last found what  they

felt was safe refuge in the small escape pod compartment.

When night fell, the sound of snoring penetrated even the  thick  door

on the compartment. Pilot slept across the hall.

"We've got to do something," Adi said. "We could be landing soon.  Not

to mention that I'm going to go out of my mind."

"Meditation not working?"

Adi cocked an eyebrow at him. "Very amusing, Qui-Gon. You forget  that

I am the Jedi without a sense of humor. We need a plan. Something logical."

Qui-Gon smiled. "Why don't we just sneak around some more and see what

we can turn up?"

Adi regarded him gravely. "Sounds good."

"I have an idea," Qui-Gon continued. "Pilot said he's  in  touch  with

their employer. And that he's keeping records on  Magus.  Maybe  he's  kept

things he shouldn't."

They listened to the snoring that thundered down the corridor.

"He does sound like a heavy sleeper," Adi said. "Let's go."

Together they crept into Pilot's cabin. He stirred  but  didn't  wake,

instead sighing and turning over on his sleep couch. One long  arm  flopped

over the side, his knuckles grazing the floor.

Adi nudged Qui-Gon. Pilot had dislodged his pillow. Now his  head  was

half-on, half-off, and they saw a small datapad underneath the pillow.

Slowly, Adi leaned over. She slid her hand toward the pillow.

Pilot grunted. Adi froze.

Slowly, bit by tiny bit, she moved her hand  underneath  to  grab  the

edge of the datapad. As if she had all the time in the world, she  slid  it

out from underneath.

Pilot snuggled more deeply into the blankets.

Adi and Qui-Gon bent over the  datapad.  Quickly,  they  accessed  its

files. They were all in code. They accessed the  last  file  used.  It  was

correspondence between Pilot and someone whose name was also in  code.  But

Pilot had made an additional notation and had not coded it.

20 targets. mtg day one set.

Pilot began to stir. He was waking this time. They saw  him  lift  his

arm. He began to pat underneath the pillow, eyes still closed, to  reassure

himself that the datapad was still there.

Adi moved noiselessly across the floor. She had to bend over him, only

centimeters from his  cheek,  as  she  slid  the  datapad  back  in  place.

Wrinkling her nose, she jerked her chin toward the door. Time to go.

Moving slowly, she withdrew from the sleep  couch.  Suddenly,  Pilot's

hand shot out and grabbed her tunic.

"Where do you think you're going?" His eyes snapped open and confusion

shot him to a sitting position. "And who are you?"

With a quick movement Adi dislodged herself from his grasp and  kicked

him in the chest, sending him back across the sleep couch with an oof.

She and Qui-Gon hurtled out the door, drawing  their  lightsabers.  As

they ran, an alarm began to clang. There must have  been  an  alert  button

right near the sleep couch.

They heard pounding footsteps behind  them.  Lunasa  must  have  slept

half-dressed. She still wore a tunic and boots, but she was bare-legged and

her hair was matted from sleep and stood out in dark wisps around her head.

A small rocket whistled toward them and then blaster  fire  richocheted  in

the air. Qui-Gon sliced through the rocket while Adi deflected the  blaster

fire.

From the opposite side of the  corridor,  Gorm  the  Dissolver  strode

toward them, fire shooting from the blasters in both hands. Adi and Qui-Gon

kept constantly circling. Pilot had advanced out  from  his  stateroom  and

joined the melee.

"Any ideas?" Adi muttered to Qui-Gon as she twirled, deflecting  fire.

The corridor was filled with smoke.

"Seems like a good time to escape," Qui-Gon said. "How about the pod?"

An ominous clacking came to their ears. Droidekas suddenly rolled down

the corridor, unfurling to their full, deadly length.

"The pod sounds good," Adi replied.

Qui-Gon and Adi moved grimly forward.

Qui-Gon moved to the left, trying to get  Gorm  between  him  and  the

droidekas. But the two had excellent homing devices and moved  accordingly.

Gorm kept on a steady pace, thumping forward,  blasting  with  a  repeating

rifle.

Qui-Gon saw that he had to end this. Between  the  droidekas  and  the

bounty hunters, he saw a danger of being wounded or captured.

He surged forward, cutting off  the  leg  of  a  droideka  and  almost

getting clipped by blaster fire in  the  process.  The  droideka  lost  its

center of balance and spun. Blaster fire peppered out in a random  pattern,

almost hitting Lunasa. She yelled and hit the ground, still firing  at  the

Jedi. Raptor almost got in the way, and had to leap  over  Lunasa,  placing

himself between Gorm and the Jedi.

All this happened in just a few seconds.

Qui-Gon and Adi leaped through the door of the escape pod hatch.  They

accessed the door and tumbled inside. They could hear  the  bounty  hunters

pounding after them.

"The airlock!" Adi yelled.

Qui-Gon hit it. He quickly activated the prelaunch sequence. The  door

thudded with the impact of blaster bolts.

"Not a grenade, you idiot!" Lunasa shouted. "You could damage the - "

They never knew who the idiot had been, but the grenade  exploded.  At

the same moment the escape pod shot out into space, rocking with the motion

of the grenade blast.   They heard shrapnel pepper the shell of the pod, but

it did not damage any systems.

Qui-Gon took over the manual controls. He pushed the speed to maximum.

"That was close," Adi said.

They had escaped. But where were they headed?

CHAPTER 12

With the ship in hyperspace, Obi-Wan and Siri were able to  relax  for

the first time in days. Taly fell asleep curled up  on  a  cushion  in  the

cockpit. He was exhausted.

"At least the bounty hunter has a well-stocked galley," Siri said in a

low voice. "When Taly wakes up he can have a decent meal."

"We should get some rest, too," Obi-Wan said.

Siri went over to sit next  to  him  on  the  cushioned  seat  in  the

cockpit. She hugged herself for  a  minute,  hands  on  her  elbows  in  an

uncharacteristically nervous gesture.

"Obi-Wan? I just want to say thanks."

"Thanks for what?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I could have put Magus on our tail by selling my  crystal.  He  might

not have known for sure we were alive. Or that we were close to  Settlement

Five."

"We don't know that."

"I feel it. And I shouldn't have done it. But thanks for  not  telling

me that."

"I admire you for what you did," Obi-Wan said. "Taly  needed  to  know

that you'd take care of him. He was losing hope, and I didn't see  it.  You

did. It would be logical for Magus to go to Settlement Five  to  watch  the

boarding of the freighter. Even if he hadn't found  the  vendor,  he  would

have been there."

Siri's gaze was warm and amused.  "You're  a  terrible  liar,  Obi-Wan

Kenobi. It's one reason I like you so much."

"Ah, so you like me," Obi-Wan said lightly. "I thought I'd  lost  your

good opinion."

She leaned against him for a moment, nudging  him,  then  swung  away.

"Don't worry so much."

Siri's smile was so free of tension that it transformed her  face.  It

was almost as though he had a glimpse of another Siri, a Siri  without  the

engine that drove her, the need to excel, the stubbornness, the discipline.

There was a Siri inside that Siri, someone he didn't know very well at all.

Obi-Wan felt his cheeks heat up. He looked down at his  hand,  resting

next to hers on the cushion. He knew the shape of her fingers, the  texture

of her skin almost as well as his own. He had to fight the urge to slip his

hand over hers, wind his fingers around hers.

Obi-Wan stood quickly. He turned his head away  to  hide  his  flaming

cheeks.

Siri stretched out on the cushioned bench. She grabbed a  blanket  and

drew it over her. She closed her eyes. He could tell she  wasn't  sleeping.

Had he hurt her feelings by getting up so abruptly?

Obi-Wan had never worried about things like that before with Siri. Why

was he so conscious of it now? Why was he so conscious of her?

He didn't like the feeling. But he liked it, too. Thoroughly confused,

Obi-Wan stamped over to stare with unseeing eyes at the  nav  computer  and

try not to look at his friend again.

A day later, they drew close to the coordinates  for  reversion.  They

were almost to Coruscant.

"By nightfall, we'll be sitting in  the  Temple,"  Obi-Wan  said  with

satisfaction. He would be glad to be back. Glad to get Taly to safety. Glad

to put this mission behind him.

Siri worked at  the  nav  computer.  "Coordinates  set  for  reversion

outside Coruscant airspace."

Obi-Wan began to flip switches. He frowned. "Everything okay?"

"I'm getting a funny readout from one of the security  system  checks.

I've never seen one like it before."

Obi-Wan went to the manual security scan. He ran through the readouts.

Suddenly, he felt the blood drain from his face.

Taly drew closer behind him. Siri spun around in her chair.  "What  is

it?"

Obi-Wan's throat felt tight. "It's an anti-thievery device. Magus  did

have a surprise for us.  The  ship  is  programmed  to  self-destruct  upon

reversion." He turned to Siri and Taly. "We can't  get  out  of  hyperspace

without blowing up."

CHAPTER 13

Obi-Wan looked at Siri. "How much fuel do we  have?"  Siri  hesitated.

She glanced at Taly.

"Say it," Taly said. "I need to know, too."

"Two hours. We barely had enough to get to Coruscant."

"Cancel reversion," Obi-Wan said. "We have to dismantle this device."

"Let me look," Taly  said  eagerly.  Obi-Wan  motioned  him  over  and

pointed to the schematic on the datascreen. "There are two places to try to

dismantle it - at the switch, or at the source. The only problem is..."

"If you do something wrong, you destroy the ship," Taly said, nodding.

Siri leaned over the datascreen. When she turned to  speak,  her  face

was very close to Obi-Wan's. She quickly moved away. "These kinds of things

aren't my strong suit," she said. "I don't know engines like you  do,  Obi-

Wan."

Obi-Wan didn't know them that well, either,  but  he  decided  it  was

better not to say that. He, like any Jedi, could diagnose problems, even if

the shipboard computer wasn't functioning. He knew how  to  bypass  systems

and tinker with a sublight engine. But this was way over his head.

"I can try to find the contact point for the  device,"  he  said.  "If

only we could contact the Temple and someone could talk me through it!"

But there was no comm service in hyperspace.

"We can send a distress signal to the Temple," Siri said.  "We  should

at least do that, so they know we're in trouble."

Even if they can't help us. Obi-Wan knew exactly what Siri  would  not

say.

She leaned over and sent the distress signal.

Taly was flipping through diagrams on the screen. "Let me  study  this

schematic for awhile."

Taly leaned closer to concentrate. They watched as he studied diagrams

and readouts. Then  he  turned  around.  "Uh,  guys?  Would  you  mind  not

hovering? It's not helping my concentration."

Obi-Wan crossed to another datascreen. He and Siri went over the  same

information as Taly.

"I don't know what to do," Obi-Wan confided to her. "I could  go  over

this information a thousand times, and I don't think I could figure it out.

"

"You'll think of something," Siri said. "Or I will, or Taly will."

"We have two hours," Obi-Wan said.

Time seemed to creep, but suddenly, an hour had passed. Obi-Wan  tried

not to look at the chrono on the instrument panel, but the  seconds  ticked

by in his head. Taly had his head in his hands.

"There's one thing we  can  try,"  Taly  finally  said.  "Disrupt  the

reversion process during the last cycle and reverse  it.  Then  go  forward

again, but this time, switch over to auxiliary power. "

"In other words, you'd activate the explosion,  then  cancel  it,  and

hope it doesn't reactivate in time," Obi-Wan said.

"But we have no way of knowing how fast it will re-arm," Siri  pointed

out. "We could blow ourselves up."

"That's the danger," Taly conceded.

Obi-Wan and Siri exchanged a glance.

"At least Taly's plan gives us a chance," Obi-Wan said.

Taly balled up his hands into fists. "I should be able to figure  this

out! I should be able to dismantle it!"

Obi-Wan put his hand on his shoulder. "Taly, it's all right. It's very

ingenious. Very detailed. None of us can dismantle it."

"Let's wait until the last possible minute, to be sure we  can't  come

up with another idea. Then we can follow through," Siri proposed. "Agreed?"

"Agreed," Obi-Wan said.

Taly nodded, his face pale.

It was a gamble they could pay for with their lives, and they knew it.

They had nothing left to try.

Taly sat in the far side of the cockpit. He had accessed  the  holomap

and was simply flicking through  space  quadrants,  one  after  the  other,

staring at the light pulses that indicated planets and moons.

Siri had disappeared from the cockpit. She had  been  staring  at  the

datascreen. She had climbed down into the engine bay.  She  had  gone  over

operations manuals. She had not come up with  anything.  Obi-Wan  knew  she

felt just as helpless as he did. They weren't used to feeling this way.

He went searching for her. She was curled up in the cargo hold, on the

floor, wrapped in a blanket. Without a word she opened the blanket so  Obi-

Wan could slide next to her. It was cold. He  was  reminded  of  the  early

morning hours they spent in the cave, watching the sun come up.

"I think we've hit something we can't solve," Siri said.  "That's  not

supposed to happen."

"Yoda would  say  that  Jedi  aren't  infallible.  We  are  only  well

prepared."

"Well prepared, we are," Siri said gently in Yoda-speak.  "Infallible,

we are not."

They laughed softly.

"When the moment comes, we'll be together," Obi-Wan said.

He put out his  hand.  Siri  slipped  hers  into  it.  At  her  touch,

something moved between them, a current that felt alive.

At last he felt what it was like to touch her. He realized  that  he'd

been thinking about it for days. Maybe for years.  She  wound  her  fingers

around his, strong but gentle, just as he knew she would. He could feel the

ridge of callus on her palm from lightsaber training, but the skin  on  her

fingers was soft. Softness and strength. He'd known he would feel that.

Something broke free inside him. He felt filled up with  his  feeling,

even though he couldn't name it. He couldn't dare to name it.  Yet  it  was

suddenly more real than anything in his life. More  real  than  the  danger

they were in. More real than the Jedi.

"Siri  ."

Her voice was a whisper. "I feel it, too."

She turned her face to his. Her eyes were  brimming  with  tears.  She

half-laughed, half-cried. "Isn't  this  funny?  Isn't  this  the  strangest

thing?"

"No," Obi-Wan said. "This has always been there. I just  never  wanted

to see it. Since that first time I spoke to you, when you were so angry  at

me for leaving the Jedi," Obi-Wan said. "You were eating a piece of  fruit.

You just kept chewing and staring at me, as though I didn't matter."

Siri laughed. "I remember. I was out to get you. I wanted to make  you

angry."

"You made me furious. You always knew how to do that."

"I know. And you were always so right. So fair. You made  me  furious,

too. Lots of times."

"And then we became friends."

"Good friends."

"And now," Obi-Wan said, hardly daring to breathe, "what are we?"

"On a doomed ship," Siri said. "So I guess the question is, what would

we have been?"

She tightened her grip on his hand. She leaned forward,  and  put  her

lips against his cheek. She didn't kiss him. She just rested there. In that

instant Obi-Wan felt something: a connection that  bound  him  to  her,  no

matter what. Siri. He wanted to say her name out loud. He wanted  to  never

move from this cold floor. He wanted to touch the ends of  her  shimmersilk

hair and breathe in the scent that came off her skin.

"Whatever happens," she whispered against his cheek, her lips warm and

soft, softer than he could ever imagine, "I'll remember this."

CHAPTER 14

Qui-Gon piloted the pod to the nearest landing available, a  spaceport

moon aptly named Haven. The  bounty  hunters  tried  a  pursuit,  but  they

weren't very determined and it was soon clear that they didn't  regard  the

Jedi as much of a threat. They had somewhere to get to that was vastly more

important. Bounty hunters were always concerned most with finishing the job

and receiving their payments.

Qui-Gon and Adi sat at a table in a  dingy  cafc  called  The  Landing

Lights. They had tried to contact the Temple, but a  meteor  storm  in  the

upper  atmosphere  at  the  spaceport  had  temporarily  cut  all   HoloNet

communication and grounded the ships. They had managed to procure a ship, a

fast star cruiser with a pilot who would cheerfully  do  anything  for  the

Jedi. It was fueled and ready to go. The only trouble was, they had no clue

as to where they were going. If all had gone well,  Obi-Wan  and  Siri  had

caught the freighter and were on their way to Coruscant  with  Taly.  Their

Padwans could even be waiting for them to be in touch.

"Well, we didn't learn much by boarding that ship," Adi said. "Was  it

worth it?"

"We acquired the tiniest bits of information," Qui-Gon said. "But with

this last one, we might be able to put the puzzle together."

"M-T-G," Adi said. "A meeting."

"Exactly. So we can assume that all twenty targets will be present."

"Twenty planetary leaders at one meeting," Adi mused. "That  could  be

any morning at the Senate. How can we possibly pin it down?"

"I don't think the meeting is at the Senate," Qui-Gon said.  "Remember

that Raptor said if he cancelled the mission, he'd head back to  the  Core?

If the mission was on Coruscant, that wouldn't make sense." Qui-Gon glanced

up at the display  monitor  overhead.  "Interference  is  cleared.  We  can

contact the Temple."

He reached for his comlink. "Let's find out what  Jocasta  Nu  has  to

say." Qui-Gon quickly  contacted  her.  Her  crisp  voice  greeted  him  in

seconds.

"Qui-Gon, it's about time you contacted the Temple." Jocasta Nu's tone

never failed to make Qui-Gon feel like  a  disobedient  student.  "Are  you

aware that your Padawan has sent a distress signal from deep space?"

"No." Qui-Gon exchanged a worried glance with Adi. "From where?"

"It is not my job to interpret distress signals," Madame

Nu said huffily. "However, from what I understand, the signal was sent

from hyperspace. We have been unable to track whatever  ship  it  was  sent

from. It's not a registered ship."

"They aren't on the freighter," Qui-Gon said to Adi worriedly.

"Now, I suggest you tell me why you are contacting  me."  "Adi  Gallia

and I are on the trail of a team of bounty hunters that  are  headed  by  a

leader named Magus. They are set to assassinate twenty planetary leaders at

a meeting." "Twenty! That's rather ambitious."

"They are five very capable assassins. Do you have any  background  on

Magus?"

"Magus... I know that name. One moment." Qui-Gon waited, knowing  that

Madame Nu was accessing her vast store of knowledge. All Jedi had access to

the Archives, but Madame Nu had a gift for interpreting unrelated facts, as

well as an unbelievable memory for names. Once she heard a name, she  never

forgot it. "Yes, Magus has done work for  the  Corporate  Alliance  in  the

past. Nothing illegal. But we suspect him of being a  secret  assassin.  If

you could confirm that, we could put him on the Galactic Apprehend List."

The Corporate Alliance! Of course. With the devious Passel Argente  as

Alliance Magistrate, the organization had changed from  one  that  promoted

good business relations to one  that  used  trickery  and  intimidation  to

extend its power. But would they go so far  as  to  back  an  assassination

plot?

"I should be able to confirm that very soon.  Now  can  you  check  on

interplanetary meetings within the next five days?"

"Master Qui-Gon Jinn," Jocasta Nu said in her firmest voice, "are  you

aware how many interplanetary meetings there are every day in  the  galaxy?

Hundreds, at least. Why, on Coruscant alone..."

"You can exclude Coruscant. And any planets in the Core.  Let's  start

with any meeting that would concern the Corporate Alliance. And... my guess

is it will take place in some sort of high-security location. Somewhere  so

safe that the leaders will forgo their usual security measures."

"All right, then. That helps. Somewhat." Qui-Gon could picture  Madame

Nu's thin-lipped frown. "Let's start with the treaty database... yes.  Hmm.

No, that wouldn't... perhaps... no. No, no, maybe? Let  me  try...  wait...

this is a possibility. Yes,  yes,  I  think  this  is  definitely  a  solid

possibility. It's not an official meeting - not recorded, but  we  pick  up

things here and there. It's hard to keep a  high-level  meeting  completely

secret. Twenty planetary leaders, all heads of the largest worlds in  their

systems. They have various grievances against the  Corporate  Alliance  and

are considering a twenty-systemwide ban against conducting any business  in

the Alliance. They are trying to pressure Passel Argente, I imagine."

"He wouldn't like that," Qui-Gon said.

"No, indeed. He's a bully,  and  bullies  can  get  nasty  about  such

things. It would severely curtail the Alliance's power in  a  fairly  large

sector. Not to mention that it would send a message to other systems trying

to  resist  Argente's  strong-arm  tactics  that  they  can   take   action

themselves. You see, the Senate has not been able to control these groups -

like the Trade Association, and the Techno Union  -  we've  been  having  a

great deal of trouble with them lately - "

"Yes, I understand," Qui-Gon interrupted.  He  didn't  have  time  for

Madame Nu's summary of the bureaucratic problems of the Senate,  no  matter

how insightful. "Where is the meeting to take place?"

"At a conference site  on  Rondai-Two.  The  Ulta  Center  -  ultimate

luxury, ultimate security. Do you need another Jedi team, Qui-Gon? I  would

be happy to pass along this information to Yoda, though it is not  strictly

within my purview to do so."

"I'll consult with Adi and be in touch. Thank you, Madame Nu."

Qui-Gon ended the conversation and turned  to  Adi.  "Passel  Argente.

Even though he is a Senator, he is also a Koorivar  and  a  leader  of  the

Corporate Alliance, and his grudges against the Republic are plain to  see.

He's behind all this. He's not just a bully, he's cunning. He knows he  has

to stamp out resistance at the start. Has to hit  it  hard,  to  intimidate

others who are thinking of crossing him. It's the way he operates."

"You don't know that for sure," Adi said.

"I feel it."

"Feelings are not proof and are inherently illogical," Adi said.

Qui-Gon turned to her. "Don't you feel it, too?"

After a slight pause, Adi inclined her head in her regal way. "I do."

While Qui-Gon was speaking, Adi had already located  Rondai-2  on  her

datapad. Now she pushed the screen toward Qui-Gon.

"We're lucky. Two day's journey. We'll make it in  time."  Adi  raised

her troubled gaze to his. "But what about our Padawans?"

Qui-Gon looked out at the vastness of space, the clouds of  stars.  He

felt the emptiness inside him, the yawning feeling he got when he knew Obi-

Wan was in trouble and he could not get to him. For the shortest space of a

moment, he thought of what it would be like to lose both Tahl and  Obi-Wan,

and the hugeness of that loss seemed to dwarf  the  vastness  of  what  lay

above him.

"There is nothing we can do. They'll have to take care of themselves."

CHAPTER 15

Taly suddenly burst into the cargo hold. "I remembered something."

Obi-Wan and Siri jumped up. "A way  to  fix  the  reversion?"  Obi-Wan

asked.

"No, no. I haven't figured that out. But I was just  flipping  through

systems, and I saw this planet, Rondai-Two. You know when you feel a  click

in your head? I felt a click. I thought I heard the bounty  hunter  talking

about a 'rendezvous' But he really said 'Rondai-Two."

"Are you sure?" Siri asked.

"I'm sure. He said 'on rendezvous,' which seemed weird, because nobody

says 'on rendezvous.' He meant a planet."

"So that's where the mission is," Obi-Wan  said.  "But  we  can't  get

there." He started toward the cockpit. "We can do one thing. We  can  leave

the information in the survivor box. If any part of the ship survives,  the

box might. And the information could get back to the  Temple."  He  quickly

accessed the box and entered the information into the datapad. "We need  to

put this in the escape pod."

Siri and Taly looked at him gravely. They might not survive, but  they

would have to hope that the information might.

"Now I just have to program the fact that the  box  has  information,"

Obi-Wan said. "We just have to hope that whoever finds it will bring it  to

the Temple or the Senate. If it gets into the hands of pirates, it would be

lost forever...  and  there's  always  space  pirates  lurking  around  the

outskirts of Coruscant...."

Obi-Wan's own words rang in his ears. "That's our answer," he said.

"What?" Taly asked.

"We can't reprogram in hyperspace. But we can  send  another  distress

signal. A general one this time, going out to all  ships  in  the  area  of

reversion. We would keep the signal open.  That  would  allow  whoever  was

tracking us to get a fix on us."

"Who is tracking us?"

"Nobody," Obi-Wan said. "Yet. But  space  pirates  wait  for  distress

signals. They like to prey on dying ships."

"I'm not getting this," Taly said.

Obi-Wan whirled  around  in  his  chair.  "The  ship  will  blow  upon

reversion. But what if we get pulled out of hyper-space against our will?"

"An interdiction field," Siri breathed. "If we go through  one,  we'll

be pulled into realspace. But we'll also be  sitting  ducks,"  she  pointed

out. "The ship is almost out of power. If we're attacked, we won't be  able

to maneuver."

"At least we'll have a fighting chance,"  Obi-Wan  said.  "I'd  rather

meet space pirates than blow up."

Siri grinned. "Well, since you put it that way." Taly  swallowed.  "If

they capture me...."

"We won't let that happen. We will fight to the death for  you."  Obi-

Wan said. He thought for a moment. Taly looked scared  and  uncertain.  But

Obi-Wan knew one thing that would give him courage. He would treat  him  as

an equal partner.

"You get a vote, Taly," he said. "If any of us says no,  we  won't  do

it. We'll keep with your original plan."

Taly bit his lip. "No, we have a better chance with your  plan.  Let's

do it," he said in a rush. As he said it, he straightened. The  color  came

back into his cheeks. "I'm ready."

Obi-Wan sent the distress signal and kept it on. Now events  were  out

of their control. Obi-Wan tried not to watch the power drain. He tried  not

to think about what might happen. Siri came  over  to  stand  next  to  his

chair. He stood and took his place beside her. They  gripped  each  other's

hands.

Taly moved to stand close to the windscreen, as though  he  could  see

what was ahead.

"Obi-Wan, no matter what happens," Siri murmured, "I want you to  know

- "

He looked into her eyes. "I already know."

The ship gave a violent shudder. They did  not  know  if  it  was  the

beginning of the breakdown, or if they were in the grip of the field.

"The interdiction field," Siri said as soon as  she  was  sure.  "It's

sucking our power."

The ship groaned and shuddered. Stars seemed to  wheel  and  crash  as

they entered realspace. The ship bumped and slammed against what felt  like

a wall. But it didn't explode.

The pirate ship was waiting.

Laser cannon boomed. Obi-Wan sprang forward to the controls. "I  can't

maneuver. We have no firepower. "

"They're going to board us," Siri said. "The escape pod?"

"They'll blast us right out of space," Obi-Wan said. He stood. He drew

his lightsaber. Siri drew hers.

"Stand behind us, Taly," Obi-Wan said. "Just stay behind us. Don't try

to fight."

They felt the shock of the landing craft hitting the loading bay. They

heard the pounding of boots. Many, many boots. They heard the  clack  clack

clack of droids. Obi-Wan glanced at Siri. He saw the same knowledge in  her

eyes. They didn't have to see them. They were too many.

They raced forward. Surprise was their only ally. They  burst  through

the doors, into the thick of it - row after row of heavily  armed  pirates.

They were a mangy group, all species, all sizes. What they  had  in  common

was weaponry and greed. Their faces were painted in  bright  colors,  their

belts hung with trophies from their many captures. He had never seen such a

collection of fierce, ugly beings.

The corridor filled with smoke as small rocket fire  ripped  holes  in

the walls and thudded into the floors. Metal peeled back like durasheets.

Obi-Wan supposed that this was their warning shot, because the pirates

didn't move.

A squat, powerful being walked forward. His thick black hair  hung  to

his waist.

"What do we have here? Jedi? Ha! What luck!  Do  you  know  there's  a

bounty out for you?"

But he wasn't looking at Siri and Obi-Wan. He was looking at Taly.

Siri sprang forward. She was all energy,  like  a  pulsating  beam  of

light. The pirates fired, blasters and blaster rifles, rockets  and  darts.

She flowed and struck and moved and rolled  and  leaped.  Fire  singed  her

tunic and did not slow her down. Obi-Wan felt sweat dampen his back  as  he

struck again and again, knocking droids down, evading the pirate fire,  and

always, always, keeping himself between the attacking troops and Taly.

He was not tiring, not yet, but he could feel the hopelessness of  the

situation. Still, he had promised Taly not to surrender, and he would not.

And then, suddenly, over the thud of rockets and ping of blaster fire,

he heard a scream.

"No! Take me!" Taly ran through the fire. Amazingly, he was  not  hit.

Coughing from the smoke, he yelled, "Take me, you cowards!"

"Taly, no!" Siri yelled.

"I can't let you die for me!" Taly called to them as  a  pirate  swept

him up and threw him back. The pirates roared as they  tossed  him  like  a

toy, farther and farther back, to the end of  the  line.  The  last  pirate

holding Taly ran, while the others kept up a steady  barrage  at  Siri  and

Obi-Wan.

Retreating, the pirates kept up the intense  fire.  Siri  and  Obi-Wan

could not get to Taly. The pirates leaped onto the ship and took  off  into

space with Taly, leaving Obi-Wan and Siri aboard a smoking, dying ship.

CHAPTER 16

"We need a landing site, and fast," Siri said. Beads of  sweat  matted

her hair. The expression in her eyes was ferocious as she gazed out at  the

galaxy, as if challenging it to dare to defy her. As if  space  itself  was

obliged to hold up the dying ship.

The power was draining so fast that soon it  would  hit  all  systems.

Then they would be unable to choose a course or  guide  it  to  land.  They

could see smoke billowing out from the port side. The  attacking  ship  had

chosen their blast sites carefully, it was clear. The escape pod bay was  a

mass of molten metal. Another blast on the port side had taken out all  the

weapons, and the ship listed to the side, constantly in danger of  spinning

out of control.

"Refueling stop on a satellite," Obi-Wan called out. "There's  a  huge

spaceport there, plenty of landing platforms. Ten  minutes  away.  Can  the

ship hold on for ten minutes?"

Siri gritted her teeth. "This ship is going to do what I  tell  it  to

do."

Obi-Wan sat in the copilot seat, although there really wasn't anything

else he could do but watch Siri battle with the controls. Keeping the  ship

on course took tiny adjustments and a constant eye on the readout systems.

"Adi crash-landed on purpose," Siri said. "But this  is  going  to  be

different, Obi-Wan. I might not be able to control  what  happens  once  we

land."

He knew what she was telling him. They might not survive the crash.

"I understand," he said. "I trust you."

She shot him a quick look that was so full of courage  he  could  only

marvel at how strong she was.

"Coming up on the spaceport," Obi-Wan said.

The spaceport was on the edge of a red nebulae. The color was deep and

seemed to pulse. To Obi-Wan's  eyes,  it  seemed  an  impossible  sight,  a

blooming flower in space. They would have to fly  into  the  heart  of  its

beauty.

"Here we go," Siri muttered.

And then the spaceport loomed at them, coming impossibly fast.

"I can't slow it down," Siri said, panic in her voice.

At this speed, the craft would surely disintegrate on contact with the

unforgiving ground. Obi-Wan no longer felt he was diving into a flower. All

poetry left his soul, and he saw duracrete and metal, hard substances  that

would pulverize this ship like a plaything.

"Cut the power!" he shouted to Siri.

She looked at him wildly. "But I won't have control - "

"They'll be enough left in the hydraulics for a few seconds.  It  will

be all over by then, anyway."

She reached over and cut the power. The ship stopped careening but  it

was now in free fall, and they could just make out beings below running  to

safety. Obi-Wan saw one tall figure shaking his fist at them before  racing

to get out of the way.

"Here we go!" Siri screamed, using the manual controls  to  steer  the

ship away from the other cruisers and one large  freighter.  She  had  just

enough power left in the hydraulics  to  aim  the  ship  toward  the  empty

section of the platform and pull it up so that it wouldn't smash nose-first

into the ground.

He had time for a flash of a look, that was all, and then the ship was

down, starting to skid with a terrible jolt that sent metal  screaming  and

smoke billowing. Obi-Wan felt his  jaws  snap  together.  His  body  lifted

through the air. He grabbed at the edge of a console on the  way  down  but

his legs flew up again and his body slammed  down,  wrenching  the  console

from his grasp. He hit the ceiling, then the floor. He had  never  felt  so

helpless. He didn't know his limbs could move  in  so  many  directions  at

once. Pain rocketed through him. He could feel  the  ship  sliding  on  its

belly, scraping against the duracrete platform. He smelled fire.

Siri. Siri. Her name was like  a  drumbeat  inside  him.  Through  the

smoke, through his own flailing limbs, he searched for her.

Jedi could make time slow down. Did that mean his death and hers would

take forever?

He saw the glint of her hair through the smoke. She was slumped on the

floor.

No!

He fought his way to her as the ship burned and slid. "Siri!"

He felt the pulse on her neck. It fluttered against his fingers.

He felt a surge of purpose. She was alive. He was alive. He would save

them.

Somehow he managed to get out his lightsaber. With one arm around her,

he dragged her across the floor of the cockpit. The ship was still skidding

out of control across the ground, the friction heating the shell. The metal

floor was already hot. Soon it would start to melt, to peel away. He willed

his body. He reached out for the Force. This would take everything he had.

He half-crawled, half-slid across the floor. Siri began  to  stir.  As

soon as her eyes opened, she let him know by pushing him  away.  She  never

accepted help if she could do something herself. And  she  would  will  her

body to obey.

He saw her wince as she reached for her lightsaber, but she joined him

on the floor, crawling toward the wall of the spaceship. The ship was still

out of control, but the crash had probably only been going on for three  or

four seconds.

He had time to do this. The ship would hold out. Obi-Wan activated his

lightsaber and began to cut through the ship's wall. Siri joined him, sweat

streaking through the grime on her face. It was so unbearably hot.

Coughing, they buried their lightsabers in the hot metal and it peeled

back. Obi-Wan caught a glimpse of rushing sky and then he pushed Siri  out,

balancing on the toes of his boots. She reached a hand  down  for  him  and

hauled him out with her amazing strength.

They balanced for a moment on the  side  of  the  sliding  ship.  They

looked into each other's eyes. They gauged the  speed  and  knew  the  jump

would be hard. They called on the Force and leaped.

The Force helped them. They timed the leap high and wide so that  they

would be able to slow  their  descent.  Still,  the  shock  of  the  ground

radiated up through their knees, and  they  rolled  across  the  duracrete,

putting as much distance between themselves and the ship as they could.

Ahead of them, the ship exploded.

They turned away from the blast, covering their  heads.  Molten  metal

rained down. Obi-Wan felt a piece sear his shoulder.

They slumped together, hardly daring to believe that they  were  still

alive.

A tall being with arms almost to  the  ground  came  running.  Obi-Wan

recognized the being he'd seen shaking his fist at them. "What do you think

you're doing?" the being yelled.

Siri and Obi-Wan stared at him.

"Surviving?" Siri said.

She giggled. Obi-Wan had never heard her  giggle  before.  The  relief

flooded him. They were alive. They were alive.  He  began  to  laugh.  They

laughed and laughed, holding each  other  as  they  lay  on  the  duracrete

platform.

"Somebody's going to pay for this," the spaceport  manager  said,  and

they only laughed harder.

Obi-Wan waited for Siri in the hangar. They had separated in order  to

clean up. He had given the furious spaceport manager the registry number of

the crashed ship, as well as Magus's name. Obi-Wan had no  doubt  that  the

spaceport manager would track him down somehow and demand payment  for  the

damage.

Siri strode toward him, her hair wet and tucked behind her ears. "What

now?" she asked as she came up.

"I found a pilot who will take us to Rondai-Two," Obi-Wan  said.  "She

said that anybody who survived  that  crash  deserves  some  help.  It's  a

sublight cruiser. We leave in a few minutes. We could be landing by midday.

"

Siri nodded. "Nice to have some good news at last."

"We've got to get to Taly."

Siri's gaze clouded. "If he's still alive. Those pirates are going  to

turn him over to the bounty hunters for the reward."

"I feel that he's alive. We almost didn't make it ourselves."

"I know."

"But now that we have..."

Neither of them spoke for a moment. All around  them,  workers  pushed

through the hangar. But to Siri and Obi-Wan, it was as if no one  else  was

there. They just looked at each other, remembering what they'd confessed on

the ship. They tested it. Was it a result  of  circumstance,  of  being  so

close to death?

No. It was real. It was still between them.

"What do we do?" Siri asked. "What we feel... it's forbidden."

"But we can't just stop," Obi-Wan said. "We almost  died.  That  could

happen at any time, on any mission. I understand that. I accept it.  But  I

won't accept going on without being together."

Siri swallowed. "What are you saying, Obi-Wan? We're Jedi. We can't be

together. Attachment is not our way."

"Why?" Obi-Wan burst out. "It doesn't have to be that way.  Rules  can

change. The Council can change the rules, they can find a way  for  us.  We

can still be Jedi and still..."

".. love each other," Siri finished softly. "Let's name it. Let's  not

avoid saying what we know."

She reached out and touched his sleeve. "You know and I know that they

won't change the rules for us. The Jedi Order doesn't work  that  way.  The

rules are there for reasons that go back thousands of years."

"All the more reason to change them," Obi-Wan said. "We could  wait  a

few years, until we are Masters. Then we could be a team. We  could  go  on

missions together!"

Siri's eyes sparkled. "We would be such a great team." Then  her  gaze

dimmed. "They won't allow it. And I won't let you leave the  Jedi.  I  know

what it cost you last time."

"I don't want to leave the Jedi. And I know you couldn't."

"It's everything to me," Siri said. "It's part of me. It's home."  Her

voice was soft. "But so are you."

"We'll just have to keep this secret." Even as  he  said  it,  Obi-Wan

felt his heart fall. Keep a secret from Qui-Gon? Could he do that?

He's kept secrets from me.

But he was the Master.  He  had  that  right.  Obi-Wan  dismissed  the

thought. He knew it was born in the resentment  he  felt  against  anything

that stood between him and what he wanted. It wasn't fair to blame Qui-Gon.

He could dismiss his resentment easily. What he could not dismiss  was

the awful feeling of concealing his heart from Qui-Gon.

"It would be hard."

Siri's gaze was cloudy. "It's the only way. Or else we decide we  turn

away from this."

Turn away? Obi-Wan couldn't bear it when her fingers dropped from  his

sleeve. In a matter of hours he had  come  to  realize  that  Siri  was  as

necessary to him as breathing. She was part of him. She was his  heart  and

his lungs and part of what kept him standing.

He swallowed. "I can't turn away from this. I can't let you go."

Siri's eyes filled with tears, and that was the worst thing of all.

"We'll keep the secret, then? We'll see each other when we can, how we

can."

Obi-Wan felt so dizzy. So full of  relief  at  just  being  alive.  So

grateful that Siri was standing beside him. So full of joy that  she  loved

him. But when he looked ahead, he saw deceit. Could he walk that path?

"We need to find Taly first," Siri said. "End the mission. Then we can

decide what to do."

"Taly is the most important thing," Obi-Wan agreed. Everything  seemed

against them, but strangely, he felt hopeful. They would find a way.

CHAPTER 17

The pilot left Adi and Qui-Gon off at the main spaceport on  Rondai-2,

telling them that the Jedi were "one amazing nova  of  a  group."  He'd  be

happy to help them out anytime.

It was close to dawn. The sky was still dark,  but  was  beginning  to

gray. Qui-Gon and Adi lost no time in hurrying to the meeting  site.  Their

two-day journey had given them plenty of time to plan. The Ulta Center  was

an exclusive conference site that had been built specifically to host high-

level corporate and diplomatic meetings.

The center took up a large compound in the city of Dal. On the journey

Qui-Gon and Adi had done  their  research.  The  center  boasted  top-level

security for the most private of meetings and retreats. They had their  own

landing platform on the roof where guests could arrive in  secret.  No  one

was allowed inside unless he or she  was  a  guest.  It  was  necessary  to

reserve rooms months in advance, and guests from different groups  did  not

ever see each other, as there were separate wings for each  meeting.  Every

guest had to undergo a high-level security check. There  was  no  way  that

Qui-Gon and Adi could simply stroll in.

"Any ideas?" Adi asked. "We have to get in so we can  figure  out  the

plan of attack. We don't want to advertise the fact that we're Jedi. Better

if the bounty hunters don't know we tailed them here."

Qui-Gon glanced around. "That  cafc  is  just  opening.  It's  a  fine

morning to sit outside."

Adi looked exasperated. "Surely we have  better  things  to  do."  She

scanned the area for a moment. "Oh, I see. We can conduct surveillance from

there. Is that your purpose?"

"It is," Qui-Gon said. "And I'm thirsty."

Adi raised an eyebrow instead of smiling, but he was used to that.

They ordered a pot of Tarine tea and sat at a table outside. The chill

in the air began to lessen as the sun began to rise. The Rondais  began  to

emerge from their homes and go off to work. They  walked  past,  some  with

purpose, some enjoying the morning. Several stopped  in  at  the  cafc.  It

seemed to be a popular morning spot. Qui-Gon was glad of  the  company.  It

would conceal them more effectively. Rondai-2 was a cosmopolitan world with

many visitors. No one gave them a second glance.

Everything here  was  mild  -  the  weather,  which  never  dipped  to

freezing; the landscape, which had no high mountains, only  rolling  hills;

and the tempo of the cities, which was busy, but not  frenzied.  Everything

at the conference center had been designed to conceal its high security and

make it blend in with its pleasant surroundings.

A security wall curved around the conference center. The entrance  was

staffed with two security guards. The wall was softened by  fountains  that

flowed invisibly from the top and splashed down in  a  continuous,  musical

stream to a long pool that served as a moat around the  curving  structure.

Colored lights  that  were  concealed  underwater  presented  a  constantly

changing array of soft blues and violets. In front of the  pool,  flowering

shrubs massed in the same colors, shading to deep purple and navy.

The conference center behind the wall was built in  a  radial  design,

with wings that extended from a central lobby like outflung  arms.  It  was

faced in durasteel that had been buffed to a medium blue. In sunlight, Qui-

Gon thought, it would blend with the sky. It was a building that  tried  to

make itself as invisible as it could.

Airspeeders and air taxis  floated  by.  The  pace  was  beginning  to

quicken. Still, these were the early morning workers, the ones who went  to

work when the sky was still dark.

"Security traps in the wall," Adi murmured.  "Motion  sensors  at  the

gate. Iris scans for guests. It won't be easy to launch an attack here."

"Which is why it will be here," Qui-Gon said. "They  feel  safe  here.

And why else would Argente hire five bounty hunters?  He  knows  that  he's

asking the impossible."

"So," Adi said, "how will they make the impossible possible?"

"Each bounty hunter has different  skills,"  Qui-Gon  said.  "Gorm  is

brute force. Lunasa is the impersonator. Raptor is  the  efficient  killer.

Pilot is the best at planning getaways."

"And Magus?"

"He's the mastermind. He comes up with the plan. If  we  can  put  the

pieces together, we can figure it out before it happens."

"In other words," Adi said, "we have to be masterminds, too." Suddenly

she gave him a sharp look. "You're waiting for something. What?"

Qui-Gon took a sip of  tea.  "In  hotels  such  as  this,  they  pride

themselves on not using droids to clean rooms or  deliver  food.  Not  even

protocol droids. They only use living beings. They say it gives the service

a  'living  touch.'  That  beings  can  anticipate  needs  and   make   you

comfortable, do things that droids can't."

"So?"

Qui-Gon shrugged. "Rooms have to be cleaned." He swirled  his  teacup.

"Did you notice how Lunasa looked on the ship during the battle?"

"I noticed the weaponry she pointed in my direction," Adi  said.  "Can

you get to the point?"

"Her hair was different."

The familiar line of exasperation appeared between Adi's eyebrows.  "I

don't pay attention to hairdos, Qui-Gon."

"When we first saw her, she was fair-haired.  She  wore  her  hair  in

braids. During the battle, her hair was  short  and  dark."  Qui-Gon  noted

Adi's impatience but willed himself not to smile. Adi did  not  spend  much

time in tune with the Living Force. "Did you notice  that  the  natives  of

Rondai-Two are all dark-haired?"

Adi pressed her lips together. She knew now that Qui-Gon  was  leading

her somewhere. Adi did not like to be led.

"Ah, here come the service workers," Qui-Gon said.

Across the avenue an air bus pulled up. A group of Rondai natives  got

off. They wore trim black uniforms. They  headed  up  toward  the  security

office. The officer yawned and waved them in.

"No security check," Adi breathed.

"They come every day. Guards get bored. They cut corners. That's  what

makes every security system fallible." Qui-Gon took a  gulp  of  tea.  "See

anyone you know?"

Adi drew in her breath sharply. "It's her. Lunasa. She's walking right

in! Let's go!"

"Wait a moment. The others will be arriving.  I  have  a  feeling  the

attack will come this morning."

"Qui-Gon." Adi's voice was sharp. "That cloud car. Look."

Qui-Gon glanced to where Adi indicated. Pilot and  Raptor  were  in  a

speeder, cruising by. Squeezed between them was Taly. The  boy  didn't  see

them. He stared straight ahead. It was clear that he was trying not to look

as terrified as he felt.

"They've got Taly," Qui-Gon said. "So where are Obi-Wan and Sid?"

Adi shook her head, her dark eyes troubled.

"Why are they keeping him alive?" she asked. "And for how long?"  Qui-

Gon wondered.

CHAPTER 18

Afraid of attracting suspicion, Qui-Gon and Adi left  the  cafc.  They

strolled down the street and doubled back,  concealing  themselves  in  the

foyer of a building while office workers streamed past them.

"She will get the others in," Qui-Gon said. "Each of  them  -  they've

already planned it. Or else  some  of  them  are  already  inside.  They've

already been here for two days. We have no way of knowing."

"Except for Pilot and Raptor," Adi said. "And  someone  has  to  watch

Taly, if they... if they don't kill him."

"If they were going to, they would have done so  already.  Pilot  will

watch Taly. He's responsible for the getaway. But Raptor still has  to  get

inside. We know that for sure. He could be the last piece. When he gets in,

the plan begins."

"We should notify security."

Qui-Gon shook his head. "Not yet. If the place goes on alert, it could

hamper us from getting in. That is, if they even believe us.  These  bounty

hunters are used to security officers. They'll mow them down  in  a  flash.

They won't be any help, and they'll lose their lives. I think we should  do

this ourselves."

Adi considered this. "Agreed." As much as Adi hated  taking  direction

from someone else, she never let that interfere with her judgment.

She gazed over at the center, thinking. "The pool," she said. "We know

that each suite of rooms has its own pool, too. They must  be  fed  from  a

central source. And it must be substantial."

"Raptor," Qui-Gon said. "He has gills."

"Exactly what I was thinking."

Just then a large repulsorlift truck pulled  onto  the  street,  going

fast. It veered out of its lane and crashed into a speeder bus. The  driver

waved his arms  in  frustration,  blaming  the  speeder  bus  driver.  They

immediately picked out Pilot in disguise as the driver of  the  truck.  The

security guards in the entrance booth craned their necks.

"And there is the diversion," Qui-Gon said. "Come on."

They raced down the street and skirted the truck, not wanting to alert

Pilot. Suddenly, they saw Raptor climb out of the flowering bushes and slip

into the reflecting pool. He disappeared underwater.

Qui-Gon and Adi were  only  moments  behind  him.  They  donned  their

aquatabreathers as they ran and immediately  slipped  into  the  pool.  The

water was cold and surprisingly deep. They swam down quickly as the  colors

flashed, swimming through blue, then lavender. Adi nudged Qui-Gon. A shadow

was moving, swimming quickly toward the wall. They followed.

The shadow disappeared. One moment he was there.

The next moment, gone. Qui-Gon  swam  forward,  kicking  his  powerful

legs. He came up against a blank wall.

Adi gestured at the bottom of the pool. Reflective surfaces  had  been

set up and angled in different ways in order to deepen the  effect  of  the

colored lights. They had not seen Raptor's shadow. They had only  seen  his

reflection. It had been impossible to tell the  difference  underneath  the

shimmering water. Qui-Gon wanted to groan aloud, but he didn't want to drop

his breather.

Now they had lost a precious minute. They had to figure out the angles

of reflection, and fast. The pool was too  vast  to  search  centimeter  by

centimeter. They didn't have the  time.  Adi  kicked  downward  toward  the

reflectors. Qui Gon followed. He puzzled over the angles. Where was Obi-Wan

when he needed him? This was exactly the type of thing that his  apprentice

was good at. Obi-Wan's brain was wired for logic.

But so was Adi's. She pointed  and  began  to  swim  with  a  powerful

stroke. Qui-Gon followed. Adi found an underwater  conduit  in  a  maze  of

smaller pipes. It was big enough to swim through. Qui-Gon saw her shadow on

the wall in the same spot where Raptor  had  disappeared.  She  turned  the

lever and the sluice opened. She swam inside.

Qui-Gon followed. He could not use his arms  to  propel  himself.  The

pipe was too small. He relied on kicking, following the movement  of  Adi's

boots and the bubbles that streamed behind her.

The pipe spilled them out into another pool. The light changed, and he

knew the pool was partially open to the air. Adi began to swim  toward  the

surface.

They surfaced silently. Across  the  pool  and  in  front  of  a  wide

transparisteel door Raptor had already met up with Lunasa, Magus, and Gorm.

All of the bounty hunters  were  heavily  armed.  Lunasa  now  had  weapons

strapped to her ankles and wrists. Gorm  was  wearing  a  weapons  belt.  A

repeating blaster was strapped to Raptor's back. Magus wore  an  armorweave

vest with various pockets and had two holsters strapped around his hips.

The four bounty hunters pushed through the door  and  split  up.  They

still hadn't seen the Jedi, now running silently behind them. Magus  headed

for the roof, Lunasa down a corridor. Raptor took  a  second  corridor  and

Gorm slipped through another door. Surprised, Qui-Gon and  Adi  stopped  to

consult for a moment.

"I'll take Lunasa," Adi said. Lunasa was still in sight, at the end of

the corridor.

Qui-Gon had a split second to choose.  Raptor.  He  was  closest.  The

quicker they could take them down, the better.

There were only four. Five, if Pilot had somehow found a  way  inside.

But Qui-Gon doubted that. He was betting that the huge  truck  outside  was

holding a cruiser in back that he could blast out and fly  onto  the  roof.

Taly, no doubt, was also in the back of the truck.

Four bounty hunters. Two for each Jedi. Not a  problem.  Qui-Gon  told

himself this,  but  he  also  knew  that  the  Jedi  were  somewhat  at:  a

disadvantage. The bounty hunters had probably studied the structural  plans

of the conference center for weeks. If they'd done their job - and  he  had

no doubt that they had - they would know every  passageway,  every  utility

turbolift, every duct.

And he also knew that time was against him. Even if one bounty  hunter

got through, he or she would be enough to wreak havoc.

Raptor saw Qui-Gon on his trail and veered off. He  sent  a  blast  of

fire behind him, hoping to slow the Jedi down, but Qui-Gon did not ease his

pace, deflecting the fire as he ran.

He followed Raptor into a vast space full  of  steaming  pipes  -  the

laundry. The heat and steam hit him.  The  clouds  of  vapor  obscured  his

vision. He stopped, listening for footsteps. Only silence.

Then he heard the hiss of a rocket launcher. He was poised to move  or

deflect it if he could, but it hit at least a meter away.

Bad aim, he had time to think in a puzzled way, just before  the  pipe

burst and scalding water spewed out in a violent flume.

Qui-Gon used the Force to leap and avoid the  scorching  water.  Steam

chased him as he landed meters away. Now he saw Raptor, saw his teeth flash

in his grimy face as he grinned and released another rocket. As the  rocket

launched he charged forward toward Qui-Gon.

Qui-Gon ducked and rolled away from the  rocket,  which  continued  to

chase him. Using the Force, he leaped over Raptor. Unable to track him, the

rocket exploded into a large washing unit.  Water  sprayed  out  and  hoses

sprang from the machine like deadly snakes.

Qui-Gon backed up and collided with a bin  of  sheets  that  had  been

jarred from a conveyor belt. The folded  sheets  flew  into  the  air  like

large, clumsy birds and then  fell,  an  obstacle  course  of  soft,  downy

fabric.

He saw that he had landed near a series of raised conveyor belts  that

ran high above his head. On the belts were large bins  of  linens,  sheets,

and towels. In a glance he saw that  after  being  folded  by  droids,  the

sheets were loaded and sent to be dumped into bins. Then the bins continued

on the conveyor belt to the exit, where wheels snapped down.

Raptor was inserting another rocket into the launcher  on  his  wrist.

Qui-Gon could see from this distance that it was a Merr-Sonn K21 - powerful

enough to knock a swoop from the air and turn it into melted scrap. He  saw

the pinpoint of light that meant its laser homing system was activated.  He

had no doubt it was locked on him.

He directed the Force toward the bins. The conveyor belt moved faster.

The bins smacked into each other and began to fall.

As Raptor shot the rocket, the bins crashed into  it  and  the  sheets

wrapped around it, immediately interfering with its homing device. As  Qui-

Gon expected, the rocket slowed, momentarily hampered from target lockdown.

At the same time, Raptor jumped forward in the same fashion  he  had  moved

when shooting off the other rockets. He plowed right into the sheet-wrapped

rocket, which, misreading him as a  target,  exploded  on  impact.  Qui-Gon

turned away from the blast. Raptor was no longer a danger to anyone.

Qui-Gon now raced in the opposite  direction,  back  toward  the  door

through which he'd entered. He didn't want to  get  lost  in  the  maze  of

corridors. He needed to backtrack.

He ran down the corridor and saw Adi  racing  toward  him.  "I've  got

Lunasa pinned down by security guards," she said. "No weapons on her. But I

can't find the others. There's a security alert on, but it's  silent.  They

don't want the guests upset."

"There'll be quite a few upset guests if we don't get Gorm and Magus,"

Qui-Gon pointed out. "We've got to comb this entire wing.  Have  you  found

out where the meeting is?"

"Down this way - the Constellation  Suite.  They're  sending  security

there. They told me they'll handle this."

"Let's go," Qui-Gon said.

Their route took them past the place where Lunasa was supposed  to  be

held. Four dead security guards lay on the ground.

"I shouldn't have left them," Adi said.

"You had to. Come on." Qui-Gon raced on.  He  was  worried  now.  They

could have used Obi-Wan and Siri in this situation. The bounty hunters were

spread out. They wouldn't leave until they did their job. They  would  have

to come together eventually, but in the meantime, anyone who got  in  their

way would be killed.

They found the Constellation Suite. A trio of guards stood outside the

doors.

"Nobody gets in," the leader of them said. "And nobody gets out. We're

in lockdown."

"They'll get in somehow," Qui-Gon said. "You have to  let  us  examine

the suite."

"We've got it covered," the guard repeated frostily.

"Listen," Adi said, "you've got four dead friends down the  hall.  You

might want to allow us to help you."

"Something wrong with your hearing? We've got it - "

Suddenly, his eyes glazed, and he fell over. Qui-Gon bent over him and

saw the dart in his neck. He twisted and saw that Adi was already running.

"Magus!" she told Qui-Gon.

The remaining guards looked resolute, holding their  blasters  forward

but occasionally glancing down nervously at their fallen comrade.  Trusting

that they would not fire at him, Qui-Gon  barreled  through  and  used  his

lightsaber to create a hole in the locked door big enough for him  to  leap

through.

Twenty planetary leaders sat at a large  meeting  table.  Apprehension

turned to panic when they saw Qui-Gon jump in, his lightsaber blazing.

"I'm here to help," he said.

Boots thudded against the window. Lunasa had used a  liquid  cable  to

rappel down. In the same quick movement she cut the transparisteel with one

hand and tossed in a grenade with the other.

"Down!" Qui-Gon shouted.

The blast rocked the room. Qui-Gon pulled as many as he could with him

under the table as debris rained down. One leader was wounded. Another  lay

still. Qui-Gon didn't wait for the dust to clear. He leaped for Lunasa, who

was reaching for a repeating rifle  on  her  back.  He  slammed  into  her,

knocking her straight out the window. Both of them flew  through  the  air,

down ten stories, and landed with a splash in the pool.

Choking, Lunasa surfaced. She tried to swim away, but  Qui-Gon  caught

her by the legs, flipped her over, and dragged her from the water. She  lay

gasping on the duracrete while security officers ran toward them.

"Don't let her move," Qui-Gon told them. "Not even a centimeter."

He saw Adi on the  roof.  Magus  was  using  a  repeating  blaster,  a

powerful weapon that even a  lightsaber  had  trouble  deflecting.  Qui-Gon

raced toward the wall. Where  was  Gorm?  Once  again  he  wished  for  the

Padawans.

He deployed his liquid cable and heard it whistle as it  drew  him  at

top speed up to  the  roof.  Once  there,  Qui-Gon  charged  toward  Magus,

lightsaber swinging.

Magus surprised him. He didn't continue the attack. He ran.

Qui-Gon and Adi leaped, whirling in midair as Magus changed course and

dived off the roof. He landed on a roof several stories  down  and  smashed

through a skylight.

They had left the planetary leaders unprotected, and Gorm was still on

the loose. But Magus was so close. What  to  do?  Adi  and  Qui-Gon  landed

lightly on the roof and exchanged a quick glance.

"We've got him!"

Obi-Wan yelled the words from below as he appeared,  streaking  across

the roof with Siri. They jumped into the broken skylight, lightsabers  held

aloft.

Without another word, Qui-Gon and Adi activated  their  launchers  and

slid down to the meeting room. The leaders had upended the table  and  were

crouching behind it as flames roared in from the hallway. Gorm was using  a

flamethrower.

The heat was intense. Qui-Gon felt it scorch his skin. The table burst

into  flame  and  the  leaders  scrambled  backward.   Gorm   flipped   the

flamethrower back in its holster and  advanced,  firing.  Qui-Gon  and  Adi

leaped in front of the smoldering table. Their lightsabers were a  blur  of

light and movement. They drove Gorm back. Half-being,  half-mechanical,  he

was more solid than most. Although his armor had blackened from  the  fire,

nothing had slowed him down.

Qui-Gon wanted to end this. The beings behind him were  terrified  for

their lives, and he intended both to protect them and to make  this  ordeal

shorter. Jedi did not fight with anger, but bounty hunters  always  annoyed

Qui-Gon. To kill was despicable. To kill for money was worse.  He  did  not

understand the mentality of a being who would  hire  himself  out  to  hurt

beings. Even ten-year-old boys.

He pressed forward. Gorm's disadvantage was  his  belief  in  his  own

invincibility. He thought he was a fortress. He thought he was unbeatable.

Until now, Qui-Gon told him silently. Until now.

Gorm's  plated  armor  was  formidable,  but  he  hadn't  yet  met   a

lightsaber. Qui-Gon moved to one side. Gorm followed. He raised his arm  to

come down on Qui-Gon, believing, no doubt, that  he  would  be  faster  and

stronger. Qui-Gon ducked so that he received only a glancing blow.  It  was

enough to turn his knees to water, but he'd expected that, planned for  it.

With an upward thrust, he aimed for Gorm's helmet.

His helmet was where his intelligence was. Where his targeting  system

spoke to his servomotors, where his motivator powered  the  blasters  built

into his hands.

Gorm shook his head. Smoke rose  from  one  side  of  his  helmet.  He

charged at Qui-Gon again. Sensing what Qui-Gon was up to, Adi moved to  the

other side. Together they delivered simultaneous blows to his helmet.

The helmet melted and fused to Gorm's neck.

For a moment, Gorm looked surprised. Then his  eyes  turned  red  with

fury. With a scream, he flailed at Qui-Gon and tried to pummel Adi. But the

lightsabers  had  done  their   work.   Signals   conflicted.   Servomotors

malfunctioned. Gorm toppled over.

Qui-Gon bent  over  him.  He  was  not  dead,  but  he  was  certainly

incapacitated.

Qui-Gon looked up. Magus stood stock-still at the  end  of  the  hall.

With one quick glance he took in the Jedi  and  the  monster  of  a  bounty

hunter down on the floor. He looked right into Qui-Gon's eyes and shrugged,

as if to say, Oh, well, this didn't work out too well. Time to go.

He leaped into the turbolift.

Obi-Wan and Siri rounded the corner, frustration on their  faces.  "We

lost him."

"The roof," Qui-Gon said.

They used their cable launchers. When they jumped onto the roof,  they

saw that Pilot had landed a small cruiser. Magus started  to  run  for  it.

They could see Taly in the front seat.

Magus stopped and  pointed  his  blaster  at  Taly's  head.  The  Jedi

stopped.

The bounty hunter's eyes stayed amused.

"You want the boy, presumably," he said.

"You know we do," Qui-Gon replied.

"Pilot, bring him out," Magus said.

"He knows our names, our faces!" Pilot yelled. "So do they, idiot.  Do

it."

Grumbling, Pilot picked up Taly, who was bound hand and foot.

"Pilot will throw him off the roof if you don't allow us to get away,"

Magus said calmly.

Pilot balanced on the front of the  airspeeder.  Taly  looked  out  at

them. He had been brave for so  long.  Now  his  terror  touched  Qui-Gon's

heart.

"You can go," he said to Magus.

But instead of waiting for Pilot, Magus leaped into  the  speeder.  He

pushed the power. With a scream, Pilot went  flying,  dropping  Taly.  Siri

took a leap straight off the roof and  caught  Taly  with  her  legs.  They

bounced at the end of her cable launcher, which she had somehow managed  to

hook onto the roofline even as she fell.

Pilot fell off the roof. They heard  his  dying  scream,  and  then  a

muffled thud.

And Magus flew off, free.

CHAPTER 19

Two planetary  leaders  had  been  badly  wounded,  but  all  of  them

survived. Raptor and Pilot were dead.  Gorm  and  Lunasa  were  taken  into

custody. It was good to know that the galaxy would be rid  of  them  for  a

good while.

Taly was being seen to by a medic droid. The boy had a few bruises but

otherwise had not been harmed. Qui-Gon squatted next to him  as  the  medic

applied bacta to a scratch on his leg.

"How did you manage it?" the Jedi asked. "How did you stay alive?"

Taly grinned, then winced as the medic droid cleaned another  scratch.

"I told them I'd made another copy of the conversation I'd overheard. And I

knew who had hired them, and it was on the recording rod, but it was hidden

in a place where if anything happened to me it would be  sent  directly  to

the Senate. They were more afraid of the being who hired  them,  it  turned

out. Someone powerful who would ruin them, or maybe even hire other  bounty

hunters to track them down and kill them. They had too much else to  do  to

try to make me tell them. I think they were going to deal with me after the

attack. But I knew you Jedi would show up."

"And do you know who hired the bounty hunters?" Qui-Gon asked.

"I'm not sure. There were so many things said, I was confused."

"I don't think so. I think if you heard  who  hired  them,  you  would

remember it exactly."

Taly said nothing. Qui-Gon realized that Taly wouldn't  tell  him.  He

might not even tell the Senate. Too much of a burden was on this  boy,  but

he had learned in a short time how to fight. He had been given a lesson  in

knowledge as power, and he could be holding the most important piece of the

puzzle. He wouldn't give that up.

"I would tell the Senate, if I were you," Qui-Gon advised.  "Knowledge

is power, but it is also danger."

"I can handle the danger."

"You'll go far in life, Taly," Qui-Gon said. He stood with a sigh.

"When can we leave for Coruscant?"

"Soon. The hotel owner is sending his own cruiser  to  take  us  back.

Should be pretty posh."

Taly brightened. "And my parents? Can we see if we can contact them?"

"Yes. We'll do that, too."

Qui-Gon turned. Obi-Wan and Siri were standing alone by the  pool.  An

alarm sounded in him softly. Something was different.

They were looking at each other. They were not joking, or fussing with

their utility belts. They were simply talking.

Qui-Gon  felt  a  quiet  dread.  There  was  something  between  them.

Something had happened. He saw Obi-Wan smile and reach up to  touch  Siri's

lip where a small wound was. He had seen all of Obi-Wan's  smiles,  and  he

had never seen this one before.

"We have no proof," Adi said, coming  up  next  to  him.  Qui-Gon  was

confused for a moment. Had Adi seen what he had seen?

"Nothing on Passel Argente. He'll  get  away  with  this.  The  bounty

hunters won't talk, of course. We can suspect the Corporate Alliance, but I

don't think we'll be able to prove it." Adi sighed. She saw the same  scene

he did, two Padawans standing by a pool, but she didn't notice a thing. "So

it's a small victory."

"Twenty beings are alive," Qui-Gon said. "Twenty  worlds  didn't  lose

their leaders. Twenty families didn't lose their  loved  ones.  I  wouldn't

call that a small victory."

Adi lifted both eyebrows  at  him  this  time  to  indicate  just  how

displeased she was. "I am not diminishing that, Qui-Gon. I am just saying..

. oh, I don't know," Adi burst out with uncharacteristic emotion. "It seems

that these days, we complete a mission, and we are successful, yet there is

always something we could not seem to do. We get the small thing,  but  not

the big thing. Oh, I hate being imprecise!"

"I know," Qui-Gon said. "Many of us feel this. The Senate is  becoming

more fractured every day. Groups like the Corporate Alliance  are  becoming

more bold in their trickery. I have visions of a day when we are no  longer

peacekeepers, but warriors."

Adi looked troubled. "Visions come and go."

"This one remains."

"I hope you are wrong."

"No more than I do." Qui-Gon's gaze rested on Obi-Wan  and  Siri.  "No

more than I do."

Taly's eyes grew huge as the Senate buildings came into view. "I  knew

it was supposed to be big. But this. it's beautiful. And how  can  you  get

anywhere in these space lanes? Everything is so crowded."

"You learn  your  way  around,"  Obi-Wan  said.  "Here's  the  landing

platform."

The pilot guided the cruiser to a smooth  landing.  Taly  looked  back

with regret at the luxurious interior of the ship. "This  is  probably  the

most amazing ship I'll ever ride on."

"Somehow I doubt that," Qui-Gon said.

They  personally  escorted  Taly  to  the  meeting  with  the   Senate

committee. They watched him walk inside. He hid his nervousness well.

"I hope he tells everything he knows," Adi said.

With a glance at Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon said, "No one tells everything  they

know."

Back at the Temple, the Jedi split up to return to their  quarters  to

rest. Qui-Gon beckoned to Obi-Wan.

"Let's take a walk," he said. He saw the puzzlement on Obi-Wan's face.

A walk after a  hard  mission  and  no  sleep  for  three  days?  Obi-Wan's

exhaustion was evident, but he turned without a word  and  fell  into  step

beside Qui-Gon.

Qui-Gon led him to the Room of the Thousand Fountains, the place where

they had always had their most significant talks. The cooling spray revived

them as they walked silently along the twisting paths.

"A hard mission for you," he said. "You must have  thought  the  worst

when you were aboard that ship."

"We did not expect to survive," Obi-Wan admitted.

"And how did that make you feel?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "It made me feel many things. Fear, of course.

And regret."

"Regret?"

"Regret for things not  yet  done,"  Obi-Wan  said.  "Regret  for  not

recognizing earlier... not being able to have..."  He  struggled  and  fell

silent.

"Siri," Qui-Gon said.

Obi-Wan stopped. "You know?"

"I saw it between you." Qui-Gon began to walk again, and Obi-Wan moved

next to him. "It happens sometimes,  between  Padawans.  Especially  during

extreme situations - "

Obi-Wan stopped again, and Qui-Gon saw that he was angry.

"Don't," the apprentice said. "I realize what I am about to hear  from

you. But don't diminish it."

He spoke like a man. He is a man, you fool, Qui-Gon told himself.  And

he is right. Who are you to reduce his love?

"I'm sorry, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said. "Come, let's keep walking. So, you

know what I'm going to say, do you?"

"That attachment is forbidden. That I have chosen  this  path,  and  I

must walk it. That there is no place for such personal  commitment  in  the

Jedi Order. That each of us must be  free  of  personal  attachment  or  we

cannot do the work we are meant to do. That a Force connection  is  a  gift

that we must honor not only in our hearts, but in our choices."

"You say these things as if they have no meaning."

"Sometimes everything falls away when you realize that you love."

And what could Qui-Gon respond to that except to say I know?

"We have been together for many years, Padawan," Qui-Gon said instead.

"I think we have earned each other's trust and respect. It wounds  me  that

you don't want my advice on such an important matter."

There was a struggle on Obi-Wan's face.  "I  don't  want  your  advice

because it will break my heart not to follow it," he said finally.

"So you will not ask for it."

"Of course I want to  hear  what  you  think,  Master,"  Obi-Wan  said

finally. "I don't want to wound you. Yet it seems inevitable  that  someone

will get hurt."

"Ah," Qui-Gon said. "And there is your first lesson  on  why  love  is

forbidden between the Jedi."

Obi-Wan said nothing. There was just the whisper of footsteps and  the

soft calming splash of the fountains.

"I advise you to give her up," Qui-Gon said as  gently  as  he  could.

"This is based not so much on the rules of the Jedi, but from what  I  know

of you. Of both of you. Obi-Wan, you are a gifted Jedi.  The  path  is  one

that is ingrained on your heart. On your character.  If  you  give  it  up,

something in you would die. I feel the same about Siri."

"But I won't give up the Jedi," Obi-Wan  insisted.  "The  Order  could

change its rules."

"Know this, Padawan," Qui-Gon said. "The Jedi Council will not  change

the rules."

"But - "

"They will not change  the  precepts.  Not  unless  the  whole  galaxy

changes, the whole Order changes,  not  unless  an  upheaval  happens  that

changes everything. Then, perhaps, the rules will  change.  But  with  this

Jedi Council? No. Make your choice. But do it with your eyes open."

"You are asking me to tear my heart in two."

"Yes," Qui-Gon said wearily. "I am. My advice is based  on  this  -  I

feel that for both you and Siri, the heartbreak of losing each  other  will

lessen over time. You will not forget it, it will be a part of you forever,

but it will lessen.

Whereas if you leave the Jedi Order, that regret will never lessen. It

will always be between you and part of you. Between the  two,  losing  each

other - something that seems so terrible, so painful - will be, in the end,

easier to bear."

"I can't do it." Obi-Wan looked at Qui-Gon, his gaze tortured.  "Don't

make me do it."

"I can't make you do anything, my Padawan. You must choose.  You  must

talk to Yoda."

Obi-Wan looked startled. "Yoda?"

"I contacted him about this. I had to. He will keep it to himself.  He

has always been, next to me, your closest advisor, Obi-Wan.  He  is  seeing

you, not as a member of the Council, but as your advisor and friend. And if

you cannot face him," Qui-Gon added lightly, "then you  are  not  ready  to

face the Council."

They turned a corner, and Yoda sat waiting, leaning on his  stick,  in

the middle of the path.

At the sight of him something inside Obi-Wan seemed to break.  Qui-Gon

saw it. Yoda did not have to say a word. Yet within this small creature was

all the nobility and wisdom that Obi-Wan aspired to. Here was the best that

the Jedi path could lead to.

"Sacrifice, the Jedi Order demands," Yoda said. "No reward for you  in

it, either, Obi-Wan. Support you, we will. Change the  rules  for  you,  we

will not."

Obi-Wan sank heavily down on a bench. He put his face  in  his  hands.

Qui-Gon saw his shoulders shake.

He did not think it was possible for his heart to break any more  than

it was broken already. Yet this must be it, the worst thing for him to have

to bear. To give to the boy he loved like a son the same pain he  felt.  To

hand it over, knowing what it would do to his heart.

It took a long time for Obi-Wan to regain mastery over  himself.  Qui-

Gon and Yoda waited silently. At last Obi-Wan raised his face to them both.

"What about you?" he said quietly to Qui-Gon.

Qui-Gon started. He knew, of course, what Obi-Wan  was  referring  to.

Tahl. He did not expect to be challenged about it. He  did  not  expect  to

have to talk about it.

Yet, why not? Obi-Wan had every right to raise the question.

"You loved Tahl," Obi-Wan said. "You broke the rule.  And  now  you're

asking me to give up something that you took for yourself.  What  were  you

and Tahl thinking when you pledged your love?"

"Yes, Qui-Gon," Yoda said. "Interested I am in your answer as well."

Qui-Gon thought before he replied. He did  not  want  to  answer  this

question. It touched on the deepest part of  him.  If  he  spoke  her  name

aloud, would he crack?

"It was a confused time," he said. "We barely had time to  acknowledge

what we felt before she was kidnapped."

"An answer, that is not," Yoda said.

"What were we thinking?" Qui-Gon passed  a  hand  over  his  forehead.

"That we would find a way. That we were Jedi, and we would be apart much of

the time. Yet we wouldn't deny the feeling."

"You would break the rule," Obi-Wan said.  "You  would  have  kept  it

secret."

Qui-Gon shook his head. "No, I don't think either of us wanted that. I

think we felt that we would work something out somehow."

"The same way I feel now!" Obi-Wan cried.

Qui-Gon sat next to him on the bench. "Here is the difference  between

us. I did not get a chance to examine my decision. To see its pitfalls  and

its faults. I do not know what would have happened if Tahl  had  lived.  We

might have decided to put our great love aside. We might have left the Jedi

Order. I do not know. I will never know. And I live with the heartbreak  of

losing her. But I am living, Obi-Wan. I am  continuing  to  walk  the  Jedi

path. What I'm saying to you is that once in a great while we have a chance

to look at our lives and make a choice that will define us. You  have  that

choice. It is ahead of you. Do not make it in haste. Use your head as  well

as your heart. Remember that you have chosen a life that includes  personal

sacrifice. This is the greatest sacrifice you can give."

"Add only this, I will," Yoda said. "Feel some of  us  do  that  great

troubles lie ahead. We cannot see them or know them, but feel  we  do  they

are waiting. Need you, we do, Obi-Wan."

"And how will you feel," Qui-Gon said, "if the  great  troubles  come,

and you are not standing with us?"

"I don't know what's right." The words seemed torn  from  Obi-Wan.  "I

don't know what to do!"

Siri appeared at the top of the path. She ran toward  them,  her  face

stricken with sorrow.

"Magus has struck," she said. "Taly's parents have been killed."

CHAPTER 20

"Revenge," Qui-Gon said heavily. "It creates the greatest evil."

Yoda rose. "We must see what we can do for Taly."

"He gave information to the committee on the bounty  hunters,  but  he

did not reveal if he knew who had hired them," Siri told them.

"We'll never know the answer," Qui-Gon said. "Increasing in power, the

dark side is," Yoda said. He looked at Obi-Wan and Siri.

Qui-Gon and Yoda walked away. Siri stared after them. "It's almost  as

if Yoda knows about us," she said.

"He does."

Obi-Wan drank in the sight of her. Her crisp beauty, the way she stood

and moved and talked. The compassion in her eyes for Taly. He had  come  so

close to having her in his life, to sharing things with her that she  would

not share with anyone else. So close to knowing her best. Loving her best.

"Don't look at me like that," Siri said, almost  in  a  whisper.  "You

look as though you're saying good-bye."

Obi-Wan said nothing.

Her hand flew to her mouth. "What did they say to you?"

"They said to me what I already knew. What you already know. The rules

will not change. And if we leave the Jedi together, we will never rest easy

with that decision. We will regret it every day. And sooner or  later  that

would lie between us and be greater than our love."

She turned away angrily. "I don't want to look that far ahead. I don't

believe you can see what will happen. Anything can happen!"

"So what do you want to do?" He touched her  shoulder.  At  first  she

jerked away, but then she  relented.  She  leaned  against  him,  her  back

against his chest. He slipped his arms around her waist. He  couldn't  help

himself. I will give you up, Siri. But not yet. Give me this  last  moment,

Qui-Gon. Let me brush my mouth against her neck. Let me feel her shudder.

"I didn't want to decide," Siri said. "Isn't that weak of me? I wanted

you to decide. I was so afraid of what lay ahead that I wanted to let go of

my own will." She shook her head, and he felt her hair  swing  against  his

cheek. "Is this what love is? Then maybe I'm not cut out for it after all."

He smiled at her rueful tone, even though his heart was  breaking.  He

tried to turn her to face him, but she resisted.

"No. I can't look at you right now. Just... don't move." Her voice was

a murmur now, and he could hear the tears behind it.

"I know we have to let each other  go,"  she  said  slowly.  "I  can't

imagine walking out of this room without being together, but I know it  has

to be done."

"You know that the Jedi need our service," Obi-Wan said.

Siri sighed. "Oh, Obi-Wan. Try not to be pompous." She twisted in  his

arms, ready to face him now, mischief in her eyes. "That is a trait I would

tease out of you, given the chance."

"I'm sure you would. And I would tease your impatience with rules  out

of you."

"Yes, you were always better than me at the acceptance part."

Her words sank in, and the light left her eyes. "Even now," she  said.

"Even now you're teaching me acceptance, just at the moment I don't want to

hear about it."

"Siri - "

"Wait." She pulled away from him and backed up. "Here is another thing

you know about me - I don't like to drag things out. So let's make a  pact.

There's only one way this is going to work.  We  have  to  forget  it  ever

happened."

"Forget?" Obi-Wan looked at her, incredulous. "I can't forget!"

"Well, you just have to," Siri insisted. "You have to  push  it  down.

You have to bury it. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. But I  am  going

to do it. I am not going to think of you or wonder  if  we  did  the  right

thing. There will be no special looks exchanged when we see each other. You

will never mention what happened between us again. We will be comrades when

we meet. Comrades only. I am not going to look back, not once." She stamped

her foot, as if stamping the memory into the ground. Obi-Wan started at the

sound, wincing as though she had struck him. She was a warrior now, willing

her body and mind and heart to obey her.

"And you will never remind me," she continued. "Not by  a  word  or  a

look. Promise me."

"Siri, I - "

"Promise me!"

Obi-Wan swallowed. "I promise."

Her face softened for an instant. The last instant, he suddenly  knew,

he would see her look at him that way. "And I hope," she said, a  catch  in

her voice, "that we don't meet for a long, long time."

Now that the moment was here, Obi-Wan saw more clearly what was ahead.

A chasm of longing inside him that he would not be able to ever, ever  fill

up. A loss he could never acknowledge.

I can't do it, he thought, taking a step toward her. He had  to  touch

her one more time. Maybe that would change everything.

"No." She backed up. "It starts now. May the Force be with you."

She turned and ran down the path. He reached out blindly for  her.  He

felt the empty space where she'd stood. The waterfalls  continued  to  mist

the air, and he felt the spray on his cheeks. It tasted of salt, of tears.

Part Two

Twenty Years Later

CHAPTER 21

"The problem is," Mace Windu told the Jedi Council, "that Count  Dooku

has had years to plan the Separatist uprising. We are still catching up. We

gain small victories, but they grow stronger. What we need is to  strike  a

big blow. Something that will turn the tide and  get  undecided  worlds  to

join us."

"A battle?" Anakin Skywalker asked.

"No." Mace steepled his long fingers. "Something else." He  turned  to

Obi-Wan. "Do you remember the name Talesan Fry?"

The truth was, the name was buried. He had piled mission upon  mission

on top of it. When the thought of the boy crossed his mind, he  thought  of

something else. He forgot the name of the planet Taly was from, erased  the

memory of the ship rigged to explode, never thought of the cave he'd  slept

in for close to a week.

Yet even before the full name had left Mace's lips, he had  remembered

every detail.

"Of course."

"Kept track of young Taly, we have," Yoda said.

"Responsibility, we had,  to  protect  him  better  than  we  had  his

parents."

Obi-Wan turned to his Padawan. "Taly had  agreed  to  testify  against

some bounty hunters out to attack a meeting of planetary leaders. We foiled

the attack, Taly testified, but  one  of  the  bounty  hunters  killed  his

parents in revenge."

"Who was behind the attack?" Anakin asked.

"Suspect we did that it was Passel Argente," Yoda said. "Prove it,  we

could not."

"Taly went underground," said Ki-Adi Mundi. "Took an assumed name. But

then he popped up, under his own name again. He's an adult now, of  course.

He spent his years underground developing his  knowledge  of  surveillance.

He's fulfilled his early promise and become  the  foremost  expert  in  the

galaxy. He's a leading innovator of surveillance tactics and equipment.  He

built an empire. He's also a recluse."

"Who can blame him for that?" Obi-Wan muttered.

"He barricades himself behind  the  security  he  developed.  All  his

workers have to agree to live  in  the  complex.  He  has  several  trusted

associates who deal with the necessary details of  his  business,  visiting

clients and such. He has no contact with the outside. He has no friends, no

family, no allegiances. His only uncle died some time ago. He's managed  to

stay neutral in the Clone Wars."

That sounds like Taly, Obi-Wan thought.

"Now he has contacted us. While developing  new  surveillance-blocking

technology, he stumbled on a startling invention." Mace leaned forward.  "A

foolproof codebreaker."

"Nothing is foolproof," Anakin said.

"We've seen the tests," Mace continued. "This technology  could  allow

the Republic to break the code of the Separatists. And continue to break it

no matter how many times they change it."

"Is Taly giving the codebreaker to us?" Obi-Wan asked.

Ki-Adi grimaced. "I wish it were that simple. Taly feels he  owes  the

Jedi, because we saved his life. He's willing to offer  us  the  technology

first - if we come up with the right price. Taly has  made  it  clear  he's

perfectly willing to turn around and offer it to the Separatists. What  the

Jedi must do is go to his compound and obtain the codebreaker,  then  bring

it to the Azure spaceport. We've assembled a team of tech experts to  study

and deploy it. We know a Separatist attack is imminent. We need to discover

where it will be."

"Who will go to Taly's compound?" Obi-Wan asked.

"You and  Anakin,"  Mace  said.  "Taly  asked  for  you,  Obi-Wan.  In

consultation with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine,  the  Senate  will  send  a

representative as well, Senator Amidala from Naboo. She's proven to  be  an

able negotiator for the Republic cause."

Obi-Wan noted Anakin's start. He knew Anakin and Padme  had  forged  a

friendship. Although he liked Padmª and knew  she'd  be  an  asset  on  the

mission, he wished the Chancellor had picked another Senator.  It  wouldn't

do Anakin good to be around her too much.

"I have to object," Anakin said.

Mace raised  his  eyebrows.  He  was  always  surprised  when  someone

disagreed with him. Beings rarely did.

"This mission could be dangerous," Anakin went on.  "We  already  know

that there have been attempts  on  Senator  Amidala's  life.  We  would  be

putting her in harm's way."

"It does not seem to me that the Senator turns away from danger if she

sees a need to act," Mace said.

"And we could also be  drawing  the  opposition.  No  doubt  they  are

watching her every move."

"I have no doubt that we will be able to maintain secrecy," Mace  said

drily, "thank you though, Anakin, for the reminder."

"I just think there must be a better  choice,"  Anakin  said.  Obi-Wan

wanted to give him a hint to stop, but he didn't think it  would  have  any

effect. "Senator Bail Organa from Alderaan, for example - "

"This is the Chancellor's decision. Not the Jedi's. We  cannot  forbid

her to go. Especially," Mace added sharply, "when we welcome her help."

If Anakin felt the sting of the rebuke, he gave no sign of  it.  There

was no graciousness in his manner as he inclined his head, only a reluctant

assent.

The passion in his Padawan's voice sounded an  alarm  in  Obi-Wan.  It

stirred a memory. What had it felt like, to connect to a woman, to want  to

protect her?

He tamped down the memory as it rose.

I am not going to look back, not once.

The doors to the Council Room slid open, and Siri strode in. Since her

Padawan, Ferus Olin, had left the Jedi Order years before,  she  had  never

taken another.

"I see that being at war hasn't helped your  punctuality,"  Mace  said

severely.

"No," Siri admitted freely. "It's made my tardiness worse. There's  so

much more to do. But perhaps my excuses are improving."

Mace frowned. He didn't care for levity in the Council Room.  "I  have

already briefed Obi-Wan and Anakin on the mission. It involves someone  you

may remember. Talesan Fry."

There was no reaction on Siri's face. No involuntary movement  of  her

body. Her gaze stayed clear, her chin lifted. She did not look at Obi-Wan.

Ki-Adi  Mundi  went  on  to  describe  the  mission.   Siri   listened

impassively.

It was as though she had no memory of what had happened. As though she

had wiped it clean.

She had buried her memories better than Obi-Wan had. He  would  follow

her lead.

CHAPTER 22

Anakin strode along the walkway to the Senate. A  speeder  would  have

been faster, but he needed to feel the thud of his boots on the  permacrete

and hope the air would cool his temper. So far it grew with the pace of his

walk.

He shouldn't have challenged Mace. He knew that. But he  had  been  so

stunned when Mace had told him Padmª would be on the mission  that  he  had

spoken without thinking. How could Padmª agree to this without telling him?

Why would she agree at all?

Anakin thought he'd made some valid arguments, but  Mace  hadn't  even

listened, as if Anakin was still a youngling. Mace hadn't  considered  that

he might be right, that putting a Senator in  danger  was  a  stupid  idea.

Their support in the Senate was crumbling by the day. Why should they  risk

losing such an important ally?

Of course, the reason he didn't want Padme to  go  was  more  personal

than that. She'd nearly been killed several times by an assassin. Why would

she deliberately risk her  safety?  Anakin  shook  his  head.  He  did  not

understand his wife. He only knew he loved her. Hungered  for  her.  Needed

her. And he could not let anything happen to her.

He had one last chance. Chancellor Palpatine had  urged  him  to  come

share with any problem, no matter how small. Anakin knew that if Mace found

out he'd gone around him, his momentary annoyance would  change  to  anger,

but he couldn't help himself. Palpatine was the only one  who  could  order

Padme not to go.

The Blue Guards were standing at attention  when  he  walked  in.  Sly

Moore walked forward, her shadow robe moving with  her  gliding  walk.  She

pressed a button on the wall. "You may go right in," she told Anakin.

Some Senators waited days or weeks until Palpatine could find  a  spot

for them in his crammed schedule. But Palpatine had given a standing  order

to Sly Moore that when Anakin came, he would be seen immediately.

The Supreme Chancellor rose when Anakin hurried in.

"Something is wrong, my friend," he said, coming around the  desk  and

approaching him with concern. "What can I do to help?"

"You know about this mission to Talesan  Fry's  headquarters?"  Anakin

asked.

"Of course. It could lead to the end of the Separatists. To peace.  It

is crucial."

"I understand you have picked Senator Amidala to accompany the  Jedi,"

Anakin said. "I told Mace Windu my objections."

"Then tell them to me," Palpatine said. "I'm anxious to hear  them.  I

always respect your opinion, Anakin. You know that. You have wisdom  deeper

than anyone I've ever known. You can see further than the Jedi Council."

Anakin felt uncomfortable when Palpatine said such  things.  But  then

again, there were times when he believed them himself.

"Whoever goes on this mission is in danger," he said. "Senator Amidala

has survived several attempts on her life. But  assassins  could  still  be

tracking her. We compromise our safety and hers if she goes. "

"All of this is true," Palpatine said. "I had  not  thought  of  those

things." He clasped his hands  together,  his  skin  so  pale  that  Anakin

sometimes wondered if blood actually ran in his veins. "Anakin, I wish that

I could help you. Especially in the light of your excellent argument. But I

am not ordering Padme to go. She chooses to go. How  can  I  take  back  an

order I did not give?"

Stopped in his tracks, Anakin  didn't  know  what  else  to  say.  But

Palpatine, as usual, had shown him the path. He needed  to  talk  to  Padme

directly. Palpatine couldn't order her not to go. But Anakin could.

Padmª's laughter bubbled, then died when she saw he was serious.

"You're ordering me?"

"Yes. I have a right. I have more experience than you do; I'm  a  Jedi

and I know what we could be in for. I'm also an  officer  in  the  Republic

army."

"But I'm not." Padme continued to fold a robe she  was  placing  in  a

small bag at her feet. "So thanks but no thanks, Commander."

"It's dangerous and unnecessary for you to go, and I won't allow it."

Padme turned. Her gaze was direct.  Cool  and  composed.  That  always

infuriated him.

"I think you know well enough how your attitude angers and upsets  me.

I don't respond to orders. I am a Senator. I have a duty to perform.  So  I

am going."

"Padme, please." He wanted to give in to her softness, but  she  stood

before him, ramrod straight. She wasn't wearing her ceremonial robes,  only

a soft sheath down to her ankles, but she might  as  well  be  costumed  in

armor.

He collapsed on his back on the sleep couch. "I don't know why it's so

hard to talk to you."

"That's because you're not talking to me. You're ordering me."

"I'm just trying to keep you safe."

"This is not the way to do it."

He looked up. She was smiling at him. She came and sat beside him.

"I know you worry about my safety," she  said  in  the  soft  tone  he

loved. "I worry about yours. We live in perilous times,  Anakin.  We're  in

the middle of a war. I'm in danger no matter where I am. We've both been in

some kind of danger since the moment you arrived to protect me."

"Agreed. But do you have to volunteer for it?"

She took his hand and laced her fingers through his. "I offered to  go

because I knew I would be safe. I knew the best Jedi in the Order would  be

there to protect me."

He groaned. "Now don't start flattering me."

She grinned at him. "I meant Obi-Wan."

He tossed a pillow at her, and she shrieked in surprise. She threw  it

back, and he held it suspended in the air with the Force.

"Are you still trying that same trick on me?"

"It's worked in the past."

She lay down beside him. They faced each other, almost nose to nose.

"I'll be careful," she said.

"I won't leave your side," he said.

"Don't," she said, drawing him close. "I don't want you to."

CHAPTER 23

The planet Genian had so far managed to remain neutral  in  the  Clone

Wars. This feat had little to do with canny diplomacy, though  the  Genians

were indeed noted for that particular skill, but more to do with  the  vast

corporate holdings on  the  planet,  the  research  laboratories,  and  the

treasures locked in secure banks. One day, perhaps, Genian would fall,  but

it was not in a terribly strategic position and at this point  in  the  war

many Senators, both Separatist and Republic alike, found it  useful  to  be

able to slip in and out to sit with their wealth and make sure it was safe.

Taly was not the only one to take advantage of  friendly  laws  and  a

large, educated workforce. Many businesses thrived on Genian, primarily  in

the technological and scientific sector. There  were  a  number  of  large,

prosperous cities, but Taly had chosen to site  his  complex  in  the  vast

desert that lay outside the city  of  Bruit.  Mountain  ranges  ringed  the

desert, and the countryside was rugged enough that no towns or  settlements

were within hundreds of kilometers.

Taly provided for his workers by supplying them  with  a  small  city,

with entertainment and leisure activities and luxurious dwellings that  his

workers would not be able to afford in the cities. The only thing he  would

not allow was families. Workers had to be single  and  childless.  He  said

this was because personal connections interfered with work habits, but Obi-

Wan had to wonder if there was a deeper reason.

The Jedi and Padme had  traveled  on  a  fast  Republic  cruiser.  The

journey had taken less than a day. Anakin flew low over the  desert,  lower

than Obi-Wan would have liked, skipping over the boulders and  rocks,  some

of them fifty or a hundred meters tall, then zooming down to hug the ground

again.

"This isn't a Podracer, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. Siri grinned and  Padmª

smiled.

"He does this to me on purpose," Obi-Wan grumbled. "I  don't  see  the

landing platform," Padmª said. "I don't even see the compound."

"It's behind a holographic portal," Anakin  explained.  The  Jedi  had

been thoroughly briefed on Taly's security plan. "The hologram  mimics  the

landscape. It's hard to see."

Padme drew closer and leaned over Anakin's shoulder. "Can you see it?"

Obi-Wan watched them, her dark head against his shoulder. They had the

ease of intimacy. Long friendship, he wondered, or attraction?

"When I use the Force, I can. See the shimmer over there, by that  big

rock?"

A craggy rock - at least a hundred meters tall - rose over the others.

"No," Padmª said, half-laughing as she shook her head. "I just  see  a

big rock."

In answer, Anakin flew straight toward the rock. Padmª braced herself.

Obi-Wan sat calmly. He wasn't about to admonish Anakin again. Let him  have

his fun.

Anakin did not slow his pace. The rock loomed, closer and closer. Just

at the moment of impact, they passed through it, punching  a  hole  through

the image of rock, sand, and sky.

The landing platform lay ahead, a small, circular pad outside a larger

hangar. Beyond it rose Taly's compound, a  series  of  connected  buildings

made of stone that matched the desert tones of ocher and sand.

Anakin guided the ship to a featherweight landing. A  male  of  middle

years stood waiting. Obi-Wan recognized the violet-tinged skin of a  native

Genian. The visitors grabbed their kits and headed down the ramp.

Obi-Wan announced  their  names,  and  the  Genian  nodded.  "You  are

expected," he said. "I am Dellard Tranc, head of security for the  complex.

Please follow me."

They followed him through the hangar. Anakin whistled softly  when  he

saw the state-of-the-art cruisers lined up in the hangar bays.

"Very nice," he murmured to Obi-Wan. "He can get anywhere in a  hurry,

that's for sure."

The hangar door opened into a long corridor.

"We're now in the main building," Dellard Tranc said. "I'll escort you

to the main business office."

The natural stone around them was like being in a cave.  It  was  cool

and dim. Obi-Wan was used to business complexes being  built  of  durasteel

and transparisteel, as if the corporations were trying to  advertise  their

purity by using transparent materials in  their  buildings.  He  found  the

natural materials here refreshing.

They entered a large office suite, and Tranc left them with a bow. Two

people stood in the center, waiting for them. A trim woman about  Obi-Wan's

age came toward them. Her skin was lavender-colored and her hair was white.

"Welcome," she said. "My name is Helina Dow. I'm Talesan Fry's executive in

charge of production and  distribution."  She  smiled  briefly.  "In  other

words, his second-in-command."

The male Genian at her side nodded at them.  "And  I'm  Moro  Y'Arano.

Executive in charge of business outreach. Talesan asked me to be present at

the meeting."

These were the trusted advisors Mace had spoken of, the ones who  were

Taly's connection to the  outside.  Obi-Wan  introduced  them  all.  Helina

bowed. "It's an honor to meet such distinguished Jedi and officers  in  the

Republic army. Senator Amidala, your reputation precedes you. Thank you all

for coming. Please follow us."

The double doors opened into Taly's office. In contrast to the neutral

colors of the walls and floor, a table made out of  a  golden-tinged  stone

served as a desk. Two tall lamps behind the desk sent out a  glow  with  an

orange-yellow tint. On one side of the office, a seating area was set up, a

long, cushioned sofa and a low table made out of the same gold-hued stone.

Taly sat behind the desk, his hands clasped in front of  him.  Obi-Wan

was surprised at  the  man  he'd  become,  but  he  couldn't  say  why.  He

recognized the same sharp intelligence in the eyes, the thin features,  the

rusty shock of hair. Taly had not grown very tall or broad.  He  was  thin,

and vibrated with an intensity  Obi-Wan  remembered  well.  But  there  was

something missing....

Ah, Obi-Wan thought. The eagerness in Taly's  eyes.  The  wish  to  be

liked. That was gone. But of course it was. Taly was a man now, not a  boy.

A vastly wealthy man. Obi-Wan could not imagine  the  amount  of  grit  and

guile it would take to amass such a fortune, to be such a  success  in  the

cutthroat business of surveillance.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi and Siri Tachi." Taly rose and came  toward  them.  He

stood in front of them, searching their features. "You look older."

"That seems inevitable," Siri said.

For a moment, Obi-Wan felt rocked on his feet. Seeing  Siri  and  Taly

standing together had brought back a memory of a night in a cave, a thermal

cape draped around two bodies, low voices,  laughter.  Of  the  cold,  hard

floor of a cargo hold, a coldness he did not feel.

Memories that, when they came, he always pushed down and buried.

He pushed, but the memories did not obey. They surfaced again, rising.

Siri's smile. Her lips resting against his cheek.

Whatever happens, I'll remember this.

She met his eyes. He saw the memory there, reflected back. Or did  he?

A light went out, a shutter closed. She turned away.

"Please sit down," Helina said. Obviously, it was up to her to observe

the polite rituals of meetings. "I'll ring for refreshments."

Taly led the way to the seating area. Within moments, food  and  drink

arrived.

Taly leaned forward earnestly. "I don't pay attention to  politics.  I

had my fill of Coruscant and the Senate a long time ago. But  when  I  made

this discovery, it was obvious how valuable it was. Politics has  found  me

again, for the second time in my life. I am as unhappy now  as  I  was  the

first time it did."

"Politics is another name for greed and corruption these days,"  Padmª

said. "But we must not forget that it is also about compassion and justice.

"

Taly frowned at her for a moment as though she was speaking a language

he didn't understand. "I had to choose between the two of you. The Republic

and the Separatists. So I examined the two sides. The Separatists have much

in their favor. They have the guilds and the trade associations. They  have

vast amounts of wealth and much power in the Senate. Most  important,  they

have ruthlessness. There is nothing they won't do for power. But you -  the

Jedi - you tip the balance. Thousands of you are ready  to  fight  for  the

Republic. I have seen what a handful of Jedi can do. I decided  to  bet  on

you. Because, believe me, I want to be on the winning side."

"Thanks," Obi-Wan said. "But we see this struggle as  a  noble  cause,

not a gamble to wager on."

Taly waved a hand. "Noble cause - sure, okay. The point is, I want you

to know that if we can't come to  an  agreement,  I'm  ready  to  turn  the

codebreaker over to the Separatists. I'm giving you the first shot  because

I owe you, first of all, but also because I think you can win - if you have

my device."

"We are authorized to make a deal," Padmª said. "What are your terms?"

Taly named a price. Obi-Wan sucked in his breath, but Padme's face was

impassive.

"That  can  be  done,"  she  said.  "You  would  have  to  accept  two

installments,  however.  The  first  immediately,  the  second  after   the

codebreaker is in our hands and has been proven to work. Do we have a deal?

"

"Whoa, not so fast, Senator," Taly said. "I haven't finished.  I  also

want an exclusive contract with the Republic. You only use  Fry  Industries

surveillance and  communication  devices  in  the  Republic  army  for  the

duration of the war."

"But that would mean abandoning systems that  we  already  deploy  and

putting millions of credits into a system we don't need," Padmª said.

Taly shrugged.

Obi-Wan couldn't believe it. The brilliant, vulnerable boy he'd  known

had turned into a war profiteer.

"All right," Padme said. "We will agree to this if  you  give  us  six

months to make the transition. And, of course, if  your  system  works.  We

have to do it gradually. I will not endanger our troops for your profit."

"Fine. I don't want anyone to get killed  for  me.  I  just  want  the

business," Taly said. "We have a deal. Helina, can you get the contracts?"

Helina rose and departed.

"And Moro, can you bring me  the  model  scenarios  we  developed  for

deployment of the codebreaker? We  can  surely  share  them  with  our  new

friends."

"Of course." Moro rose and left.

Obi-Wan noted how Taly watched until the door closed behind  Moro  and

Helina. Then he activated a small device he had hidden in his palm.

"What - " Siri started, but Taly held up a finger.

He entered a code into the device, then waited for a green light.

"We  have  been  under  surveillance,"  he  said.  "Recently,  I  have

discovered that there is a spy in my organization.  Someone  who  wants  to

launch a takeover of the business.  I  have  been  able  to  intercept  the

surveillance device, but only for very short periods. I don't want  him  or

her to know I'm onto them."

"Do you have a suspect?" Obi-Wan asked. "Is that why you  sent  Helina

and Moro out of the room?"

"I don't suspect  them  any  more  than  I  do  the  rest  of  my  top

executives," Taly said. "Anyone who has access to my inner office. That  is

a handful of workers."

"Do you think the Separatists  know  about  the  code-breaker?"  Padme

asked.

"All communication leaving the  compound  is  monitored,"  Taly  said.

"That's what happens when you work for a surveillance company - I  make  it

impossible for you to spy on me. I control all access to  communication.  I

monitor all outgoing messages."

"Just like Quadrant Seven," Siri said.

"I learn from experience," Taly said. "So no, Senator, I  don't  think

the information has been passed. Yet.  But  this  brings  me  to  my  third

condition for making a deal."

"We already made a deal," Padme said.

"Not quite. You must find out who the spy is. And you must  do  it  in

the next twenty-four hours. Only then will I hand over the codebreaker."

Anakin's gaze was flinty. "The Jedi are not detectives."

Taly rose. "They are now. It is non-negotiable." The  Jedi  and  Padme

exchanged glances. Padme turned back to Taly.

"We accept," she said.

CHAPTER 24

"This is ridiculous," Anakin said as soon as they were left  alone  in

their quarters. They had already done a sweep to ensure that they were  not

under surveillance of any kind. "He's holding us hostage, expecting  us  to

solve his business problems."

"True," Obi-Wan agreed.

"We're wasting time," Siri said, sounding as impatient as  Anakin.  "I

hate wasting time. He's taking advantage of us, and he knows it."

"The codebreaker could make the difference for  the  Republic,"  Padme

reminded them. "It's vital that we obtain it. Isn't  that  worth  a  little

snooping?"

Siri threw down her  survival  pack  with  an  irritable  gesture.  It

thunked against the floor. Obi-Wan gave her a curious  look.  He  had  seen

Siri be impatient before - many times, as a matter of fact - but there  was

an edge to her mood now that he couldn't identify.

"Well, we might as well start now," Anakin said. "Taly said  he'd  get

us a list of the executives who have access to his  private  office.  Until

then, I'm going to take a look around, get a feel for the place."

"I'll join you," Padme said. "Maybe we can come up with  something  to

go on."

The door hissed behind them. Siri's survival pack had snagged  on  the

leg of a table, and when she tugged at it, some of the contents spilled out

onto the floor. She gave it a swift kick for its disobedience.

Obi-Wan leaned down and gently unwound the strap of the pack from  the

table leg. "Are you angry at the pack, or the table? Or me?"

Siri sat on the floor and looked up at him. "I didn't think we'd  have

to stay here."

"Only for a day."

"A day can feel too long, if it's long enough. What do  I  know  about

corporate intrigue?" Siri growled. "I'm not the right Jedi for this job."

"You're the right Jedi for any job." Obi-Wan sat next to  her  on  the

floor. "What is it?"

"I just told you."

"No, you didn't."

She looked at him, chin first. Defensive,  challenged,  annoyed.  Then

she let out a breath, and she shook her head ruefully.

"Do you remember," she said, "in the cave, when I wanted to  help  him

escape?"

Obi-Wan felt his breath catch. They had not talked of this  in  almost

twenty years. The subject of the mission with Taly was  too  close  to  the

reality of what had happened between them.

He kept his voice light. "One of our many arguments."

"What good did it do to have  him  testify?"  Siri  asked.  "A  bounty

hunter alliance was smashed. Some bounty hunters went to prison  worlds.  I

haven't kept track, but I bet some of them are free now. His  parents  were

killed, and now look at him. Look at what that boy has  turned  into.  This

unstable, suspicious, bitter man who only cares about wealth and power. But

inside, the boy is there, I feel it, and he's still in pain. Did you notice

his office? The desk, the lamps? What did they remind you of?"

Obi-Wan shook his head, baffled.

"The two orange lights," Siri said softly. "The golden desk."

Obi-Wan let out a breath. "Cirrus. The two suns, the golden sea."

"He hasn't forgotten what he lost. Not for a minute," Siri said. "What

if we'd let him go? What if he'd been  allowed  to  grow  up  in  a  loving

family?"

"Jedi do not deal in ifs."

Siri shook her head, exasperated. "Obi-Wan, for star's sake,  you  can

irritate me like nobody else. Jedi don't become Generals  in  galactic-wide

wars, either. Jedi don't watch their fellow Jedi be blown  apart  in  great

battles. Things have changed. Have you noticed?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan said quietly. "I've noticed. But I still don't  believe

that looking back and questioning decisions you made twenty  years  ago  is

helpful or fair."

"Once, for me, there were no questions, only answers," Siri  said.  As

her mood altered, her brilliant blue eyes shifted to navy. He had forgotten

how that happened, how  the  color  of  her  eyes  could  deepen  with  her

feelings. "I've changed. Now I question everything. I've seen too  much,  I

fear too much of what the galaxy is becoming, " She turned her direct  gaze

to him. "Don't  you  ever  look  back  and  question  what  you  did  about

something? Wonder if there was something you could have done differently?"

"That is a dangerous place for a Jedi to be,"  Obi-Wan  said.  "We  do

what we do, as Qui-Gon used to say."

"Qui-Gon lived in a different time," Siri said. She  leaned  her  head

back against the wall. "When Ferus was still with me, we went on a  mission

to Quas Killam, out in the very edge of the Mid-Rim.  We  were  to  oversee

peace talks between two government factions  who  were  trying  to  form  a

coalition. One side was a cartel  that  controlled  much  of  the  planet's

supply of trinium, a mineral used in the manufacturing of weapons  systems.

Very important, and it made many Killams very rich. We oversaw  the  talks,

saw a coalition government formed. A very  successful  mission.  But  Ferus

said  to  me,  Something  isn't  right  here.  The  cartel  made  too  many

concessions. It's as though they know something we don't. And I said,  What

can we do? Our  mission  is  done.  Jedi  do  not  interfere  in  planetary

politics. And we have many places to go. I'm sure you've said the  same  to

Anakin." Siri stopped. She sighed. "At the start of  the  Clone  Wars,  the

Trade Federation worked in alliance with the head of that  cartel  to  take

over the government           f Quas Killam. Now they own all  the  factories,  all

the mines of trinium. The Killams who were not in the cartel - many of them

were killed. Many of them were forced to work in the factories."

"I've heard this of Quas Killam," Obi-Wan said. "Are  you  saying  you

could have prevented it?"

"I don't know," Siri brooded. "But what if I had stayed? What if I had

observed a little more  closely,  wondered  a  little  more?  We  know  the

Separatists and Count Dooku plant seeds. They're willing to wait years  for

results. They were preparing  for  this,  while  we  were  going  on  peace

missions. What if we had listened better and did more years  ago,  when  it

would have had an impact? "

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Sin, you are asking too much of yourself.  Of

us all."

"You didn't answer my question," Siri said.

"Question?"

"Do you look back?"

Did he look back? Of course he did, all the time. Mostly about Anakin.

At a time they should be closest, they were further apart than  ever.  What

could he have done differently? Had he turned his face away  from  what  he

did not want to see? Anakin was still his Padawan, but Obi-Wan  was  hardly

his Master. Anakin had gone to a place where Obi-Wan could not  reach  him.

He had the sense of a creature held in check by a harness  that  was  long-

worn. One of these days Anakin would break free... a thought  that  chilled

Obi-Wan. But Obi-Wan chose to ignore those thoughts - out of friendship.

But he didn't want to tell Siri these things. What had  she  said,  so

many years ago? We  will  be  comrades.  Not  best  friends.  She  was  not

available for confidences. If he poured out his heart to her,  where  would

he stop?

"I look back," he said, trying to find the words  he  wanted.  "But  I

tell myself that the galaxy will be made safe with deeds, not regrets."

For some reason, his answer saddened her. He could see it in her eyes.

"Yes," she said. "I hold onto duty. That's always saved me."

She jumped to her feet. In a flash, her mood had changed and  she  was

back to the purposeful Jedi he knew  best.  "Speaking  of  which,  we  have

twenty-four hours. We'd better get started."

CHAPTER 25

With access to Taly's records and a quick tour  of  the  complex,  the

Jedi soon reached the conclusion that it was not going to be easy to  solve

Taly's problem.

"All of his employees are well paid,"  Anakin  said.  "They  even  own

shares in the company. It would make no sense to throw it into disarray."

"Not only that, without Taly the company will cease to be profitable,"

Padmª said. "Every breakthrough and discovery  has  been  his.  There's  no

other inventor on his level on staff."

"I agree - it makes no sense for someone to try a  takeover,"  Obi-Wan

said.

"So is Taly just paranoid?" Siri asked. "He thinks his  employees  are

out to get him, but they're loyal."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Taly may be paranoid, but he's still sharp. I

doubt he would invent a plot. And his inner office is  under  surveillance,

according to our devices as well. So he didn't invent  that.  But  I  don't

think someone is attempting a takeover."

"But you just said he didn't invent a plot," Padme said.

"There is no takeover plot," Obi-Wan explained. "But there is  a  spy.

Someone is out to steal the codebreaker. And I think  the  Separatists  are

behind it."

"Taly  said  there's  been  no  unobserved  communication  since   the

codebreaker was developed," Siri pointed out. "We've  gone  over  the  comm

monitoring system, and it's solid."

"That's because we're thinking like Jedi," Obi-Wan said to Siri.  "How

do the Separatists think? Someone very wise once said to me that they plant

seeds. They're willing to wait years for results." Obi-Wan pointed  to  the

holofiles that filled the air around them. "All the employee  records  look

perfect because they are meant to."

"One of them is a mole," Siri said slowly, revolving to stare  at  all

the files. "Someone  planted  here,  years  ago,  because  someone  in  the

Separatists knew that Taly was a  brilliant  innovator,  and  that  someday

there would be something to steal."

"So  they  don't  want  the  company,"  Padme  said.  "They  want  the

codebreaker. Only they don't know it's a code-breaker. Not yet."

"It has to be someone in the inner circle. Someone he trusts."  Anakin

said. "Helina Dow? Moro Y'Arano? Dellard Tranc, the head of security?"

"I don't know," Obi-Wan said. "We don't have to know. All we  have  to

do is set the trap."

They had something going for them. Because of Taly's expert foiling of

the office surveillance, the mole didn't know that Taly was  aware  of  the

bug. So they could plant information and set the trap.

They explained their plan to Taly, and he agreed. Then  they  gathered

in his office.

"I'm glad we were able to come to terms," Taly said.  "I  think  given

the sensitive nature of the codebreaker, it would be best to get it out  of

the complex as soon as possible."

"We can leave tonight," Obi-Wan said. "Can you arrange for security to

be lifted?"

"I will handle the security myself," Taly said. "I'll  tell  my  staff

after you leave that the codebreaker is gone. This deal is  on  a  need-to-

know basis, and nobody needs to know but me that the codebreaker is leaving

until it's gone. Here."

Taly handed the codebreaker to Obi-Wan. It was a black metal  box  the

size of a small suitcase. He slipped it into a carrying case.

"When you open it, a holographic file will appear  that  will  explain

the procedure for deployment," Taly said.

"We'll leave at nightfall," Siri said.

Night fell, and the Jedi and  Padmª  started  on  their  walk  to  the

hangar. Obi-Wan carried the codebreaker. He felt confident, or at least  as

confident as he ever allowed himself to feel. There was every  chance  that

the mole would not realize that the  Jedi  were  waiting.  And  three  Jedi

against one attacker would surely prevail.

Padme, too, had grown quite handy with a blaster. Obi-Wan  was  always

happy to have her on his side in a battle. Funny, Obi-Wan thought,  how  he

had dismissed her when they'd first met. She had been so young, and  posing

as the queen's attendant, of course. He had seen her as someone he  had  to

protect, not the fierce, determined ally she eventually proved  herself  to

be. It was Qui-Gon who had seen her strength. Obi-Wan missed  Qui-Gon  with

an acuteness that hadn't diminished in the  long  years  since  his  death.

There was still so much he wanted to learn from his former Master.

Anakin held up a hand. They could hear footsteps  approaching.  Helina

Dow suddenly appeared around the corner. She smiled as she came forward.

"Taly told me to make sure you were escorted to your ship.  He  wanted

you to know that security has been cleared for you."

Was this true? Obi-Wan doubted it. Still, he was surprised that Helina

had turned out to be the spy. She had been with Taly  from  the  beginning.

She had built the company with  him.  It  seemed  strange  that  she  would

abandon all that she had gained.

"Here we are." Helina stopped in front of the entrance to the  hangar.

She bowed. "Have a safe journey."

Surprised, Obi-Wan half-turned to watch her go down the  corridor.  He

raised an eyebrow at Anakin, who shrugged - then tensed as the Jedi  walked

through the hangar door.

They found themselves not in the hangar, but a small, windowless room.

The door clanged shut behind them.

"She tricked us," Siri said. "We just  walked  through  a  holographic

portal."

CHAPTER 26

Three lightsabers blazed to life. Within moments, they had cut a  hole

in the door. They rushed out into the corridor.

It was completely different. Instead of a set of double doors  on  one

side and a corridor leading off to the right, there were doorways  all  the

way down the corridor. Taly stood at the end of the corridor, smiling.

"What's going on?" Padm¨ shouted at him.

"It's a hologram," Anakin said, when Taly's image didn't answer.

"Helina Dow did this," Siri said. "There must be  holograms  all  over

this place. They use them for security."

"She wants to confuse us," Obi-Wan said. "But how does she  expect  to

get the codebreaker?"

"Maybe she just wants to prevent us from leaving with it," Padme said.

"Well, it doesn't matter. We know who the spy is.  Let's  tell  Taly."

Obi-Wan opened his comlink to contact Taly. There was no signal. "She  must

have blocked communication. This doesn't make sense. What is she hoping  to

accomplish?"

"Obi-Wan, maybe you should check the codebreaker," Padme said.

A certain dread settled inside Obi-Wan as he flipped open the box.  No

holographic file appeared. He searched the database. No files were loaded.

"She switched it somehow," Siri said.

"Or Taly did," Anakin observed.

Siri and Obi-Wan exchanged a glance. They knew  Taly  hadn't  switched

the codebreaker. They believed in him, even after  all  these  years.  They

remembered the boy who had run into a nest of pirates to save their  lives.

They knew that boy still lived in Taly.

"We've got to get to the hangar," Anakin said.

The low lighting made it harder to discern which of the doorways  were

holographic portals. It was impossible to navigate what they remembered  as

the route to the hangar. The Jedi charged down the hallway, Padmª  trailing

behind, letting  them  access  the  Force  to  discover  which  doors  were

holograms and which were real.

At last they found the doors to the hangar and charged through. Helina

was ahead, racing to a cruiser, the code-breaker swinging with  the  motion

of her run.

Obi-Wan and Anakin leaped at the same instant that Siri gave Helina  a

Force-push that sent her  sprawling.  The  codebreaker  slid  away  on  the

polished floor.

Obi-Wan and Anakin's boots thudded as they hit  the  ground  near  her

head. She looked up at them, wide-eyed. "It's  just  business,"  she  said.

"Don't kill me."

"We're not going to kill you," Anakin said. "Who hired you?"

She shakily sat up, resting on her elbows. "Passel Argente hired me to

get a job here five years ago. I was supposed  to  pass  information  along

when I could to the Separatists. If something big came up, I was  to  steal

it."

"Do they know about the codebreaker?"

"They know I'm bringing them something big. That's all. I can't send a

communication, so I  send  out  a  code  through  one  of  Taly's  business

communications. It's to a  supplier  we've  used  for  years,  but  Argente

arranged to have someone there pass along the message to him."

Suddenly blaster fire lit the air and a smoke grenade exploded.  Padmª

dived to the floor, coughing. Anakin started toward her. Obi-Wan groped his

way toward the codebreaker.

Someone else was here. Someone was firing, peppering the  ground  with

blaster fire so fast it had to come from a repeating rifle.

The hangar bay doors were open,  and  the  cool  night  air  began  to

disperse the thick gray smoke. As it cleared, Obi-Wan saw the  glint  of  a

red-and-black starfighter. Someone was leaning out. He  saw  an  arm  sweep

down and gather up the codebreaker.

He began to run, his eyes tearing from the smoke. The  being  wore  an

armorweave tunic and trousers as well as a full helmet with a breath  mask,

but Obi-Wan recognized him instantly.

It was Magus.

Taly suddenly ran into the hangar. Magus turned and saw  him.  Obi-Wan

could not read his expression, but he sensed the satisfication  Magus  felt

as he aimed the repeating blaster even as he leaped back into his speeder.

Obi-Wan made a midair leap, his lightsaber swinging,  as  the  intense

fire ripped through the air. Behind him he felt Siri jump in front of  Taly

to protect him. Anakin blocked Padmª.

Magus turned and gave one more blast of fire. It hit Helina where  she

still lay stunned on the duracrete. She died instantly. Her  usefulness  to

the Separatists was over, and she had become a liability.

Magus took off. Obi-Wan knew it was useless to go after  him.  By  the

time he got to a cruiser, Magus would be in the upper atmosphere.

He turned and walked toward  Helina.  He  crouched  next  to  her  and

allowed himself a moment to mourn the loss of a life.

"I can't believe it was Helina," Taly said, his voice hollow.

"Magus got the codebreaker," Siri said.

Taly shook his head. "Helina only thought she  had  it.  We  made  two

prototypes. She took one, but I put a bug in it. I'm the only one who knows

where the real one is."

"Magus is no doubt taking it to the Separatists," Siri said.

"We have to get the codebreaker to the Republic before the Separatists

know the one they have is a fake," Obi-Wan said. "We have to monitor  their

broadcasts."

"Bring it to us," Padme told Taly, sounding like  the  queen  she  had

once been.

"I have it," Taly said, opening his tunic to  reveal  the  codebreaker

strapped across his chest. "And I'm coming with you. If Magus is  after  me

again, I want your personal guarantee for my safety for the duration of the

Clone Wars. That's a condition of your purchase of the code-breaker."

Padme gave him a cool glance. "You never stop negotiating, do you?"

"I just want what I want."

"This is your last condition," she  told  him.  "And  you  had  better

guarantee that this box is the real codebreaker."

Taly grinned, and the boy Obi-Wan had known was back. "It is."

CHAPTER 27

They blasted off for the Azure Spaceport. The finest tech  experts  in

the Republic army were already there, waiting to receive  the  codebreaking

device.

Obi-Wan spoke to Anakin. "I suggest you get some rest on the  journey.

And Padmª looks exhausted. If you could persuade her that she  needs  rest,

it would do her good."

Anakin's gaze was opaque.

I so rarely know what he is thinking anymore, Obi-Wan thought.

"Yes, Master," Anakin said.

He is still obedient, but it is as though he makes an effort to be so.

Obi-Wan watched as Anakin went over to speak  quietly  to  Padmª.  She

nodded, and the two of them left the cockpit.

That left Siri and Taly  and  Obi-Wan.  Siri  kept  her  eyes  on  the

instruments, even though Obi-Wan had plotted the course  and  there  wasn't

much for her to do. It all felt  so  familiar,  the  three  of  them  in  a

cockpit, heading away from danger and most likely into more of it.

"Tell me something, Taly," Obi-Wan said, spinning around in his  chair

to face him. "Passel Argente placed Helina Dow in your  employ.  She  bided

her time, but Argente always meant  to  destroy  you.  Why  are  you  still

protecting him?"

"Protecting him?"

"He hired those bounty hunters and you never told the Senate."

"It was my last bargaining chip."

"But he hired Magus, and Magus killed your parents."

"Magus did that for revenge. I didn't blame Argente for their  deaths.

I blame Magus." Taly's face grew hard.

"So why didn't you tell?"

"I knew I would have to start over," Taly said. "I  knew  I  needed  a

patron. I waited until I was older, and then I approached him  when  I  was

ready to take back my name and start my company. Who do you think  gave  me

my first business loan?"

Obi-Wan shook his head ruefully. Qui-Gon  had  been  right.  Taly  had

known all along, and he had used that information. It must  have  taken  an

enormous amount of nerve to contact Passel Argente and demand hush money.

"I used Argente, but I never trusted him. He ended up coming at me  in

a way I didn't expect. But if I went to the  Senate  today  and  told  some

committee about  a  twenty-year-old  plot,  they'd  laugh  me  out  of  the

chambers. They have enough problems. Everything has changed, hasn't it?  My

best revenge on Argente now is to help you win the Clone Wars."

"Well, that's one thing we should be grateful  for,  at  least,"  Siri

said. She seemed more amused than irritated by Taly.

Taly approached her. "I have something for you." He held out his hand.

Siri's old warming crystal lay in his palm,  the  cool  deep  blue  of  the

crystal glowing slightly.

She took it wonderingly. "But how - "

"I went back to Settlement Five and  bought  it  back  from  the  same

vendor you sold it to," he said. "I tracked him down. I  always  wanted  to

give it to you someday."

"Thank you, Taly," Siri said. She closed her fingers over it. A  flush

of pleasure lit her face.

"You think I don't remember," he said to both of them. "I remember how

you fought for me. I remember everything."

He walked out of the cockpit. Obi-Wan gave a quick glance at Siri.

And you, Siri - do you remember everything?

She was keeping her face from him. They had buried this for  so  long.

But how could they keep forgetting, when the reminders were so real?

"I promised you once never to remind you," Obi-Wan said.

"It's not you who is reminding me, though, is  it?"  A  smile  touched

Siri's lips. "So much time has passed."

"And so little."

"And we've changed so much."

"Yes. You're more beautiful." The words left Obi-Wan before  he  could

stop them. "And smarter, and stronger."

"And you," Siri said, "you've grown sadder."

"You can see that?"

"Forgive me if I still think I know you better than anybody else."

"You do."

"I don't regret our decision," Siri said. "I wouldn't want to go  back

and change it. Would you?"

"No," Obi-Wan said. "It was the right one. But..."

"Yes," Siri said. "It doesn't  prevent  you  from  regrets,  does  it?

Regrets you can live with. It took me awhile, but I realized that Yoda  and

Qui-Gon were right. I would have regretted leaving the Jedi Order every day

of my life. And that is not a life I would want to  live.  I've  lived  the

life I wanted to live."

"I'm glad." Obi-Wan felt the same. But was it that simple for him?  He

wasn't sure. Somehow, on this trip, he was  fully  understanding,  for  the

first time, how many regrets he did have. And secrets.

"What I regret," he said, "was not so much the decision we  made,  but

what happened to us afterward. When we made the decision to part,  it  made

our friendship become something else. Something that couldn't be  quite  as

close as it should have been."

"Comrades, not best friends," Siri said.

He nodded. His other deep friendships - with Garen  and  Bant  -  were

different. With them, he felt no barriers. With Siri, there  was  always  a

barrier. He did not think of it or speak of it, but it was always there. He

wished it hadn't been. In some way he couldn't quite define, he  felt  like

he had lost her twice.

"Well, it's not too late, is it?"  Siri  asked.  "It  took  us  almost

twenty years to talk to each other about the past. Maybe now we can be  the

friends we were meant to be. I would like that. I'm tired of  pushing  away

the past."

"Best friends, then."

Siri smiled, and the years fell away. Obi-Wan felt it then,  the  pain

in his heart he had put away with his memories. It was as vivid  as  Siri's

grin.

"Best friends," she agreed.

CHAPTER 28

"You're going to tell me to live in the present moment," Padme said to

Anakin. "But I can't help it. We have the codebreaker. We have a chance now

to end it all, a real chance."

They were in her stateroom, the one they had insisted on giving Padme,

the largest and most comfortable. She of course had tried  to  refuse.  She

could sleep in the cargo hold, or in a chair, she didn't  care.  They  knew

this was true, but something about Padme made beings want to give to her.

He wanted to give her everything, but of course, she  would  not  want

it. Navigating his marriage with Padme was like stumbling  through  a  dark

room sometimes, Anakin thought. He had believed on their wedding  day  that

love would see them through any difficulty. What they felt was so huge that

it would crash through every barrier.

He still believed that with all his heart. But he had not imagined, on

the day of his wedding, that some of those barriers would  lie  within  his

wife herself. He did not think that he wouldn't be able to talk her out  of

putting herself in danger. He had secretly hoped that, in time,  she  would

resign her Senate seat. As the wars went on, she would see  how  ridiculous

it was to try to talk planets out of something that would bring  them  more

power or more wealth.

Now he saw how na¯ve he'd been. She would never quit the  Senate.  She

would keep talking about justice with the last  breath  in  her  body.  She

believed that words mattered.

He accepted that. He was even proud of  her  reputation  as  a  sharp-

tongued orator. In the Senate, held together somehow  by  the  strength  of

Palpatine, she had made enemies.    He feared for  her.  It  was  a  nameless

dread that sometimes could clutch him by the throat and drive the air  from

his lungs.

"We're not at Azure yet," he said. "And it won't he  long  before  the

Separatists come after us. Did you see how Magus targeted  Taly?  Now  they

know that Taly has contacted us, and that means he  cannot  be  allowed  to

live. If he throws his knowledge on the side of the  Republic,  they'll  do

anything to stop him. His life is not safe until the Clone Wars are over."

"I didn't think of that," Padmª said. "Of course that is true."

"The Jedi must remain on Azure to ensure that the Republic experts can

deploy the codebreaker. Then we must accompany the experts to another  safe

location. At least in the beginning, we're going to have  to  keep  moving.

That's why you must return immediately to Coruscant with Taly."

Her expression turned flinty. "That sounds like another order."

"No. It is a necessary step to protect you and Taly, and you know  it.

And it is a request," he said, softening his voice. He was relieved when he

saw her slowly nod.

"All right."

"Padmª." He reached out for her hand. He  needed  the  reassurance  he

felt when he touched her. "Your job lies in the Senate. My job lies  is  in

the field. Until these wars are over, that is the way it must be."

"I hate these separations."

"No more than I."

"We chose this life," she said. "But it's so hard to live it."

"It's worth it, to know that you're mine. But if anything happened  to

you, I don't know how I could survive it. I can't... I can't lose you."

"I feel the same."

She stood, her cool fingers sliding out from between his. She began to

pace. "But the secrecy is tearing me apart. I'm always afraid  I'll  betray

us with a look or a word. Sometimes I wonder..."

"What?" he asked. If she hadn't  been  so  agitated,  she  would  have

recognized the tone in his voice, a warning.

She whirled to face him. "Did we do the right  thing?  Not  in  loving

each other - we couldn't help that - but in  marrying?  I've  put  a  wedge

between you and the Jedi."

"No, you haven't."

"But your first loyalty is to me," Padmª said. "That makes  your  path

confused. I know enough about the Jedi to know how wrong that is."

"It is they who are wrong." Ana kin insisted. "I am strong  enough  to

do both, and they can't see it."

The comm unit crackled, and  they  sprang  apart  instinctively.  They

heard Obi-Wan's  voice.  "Anakin,  are  you  there?  Come  to  the  cockpit

immediately."

They hurried down the corridor into the  cockpit.  Taly  was  standing

with the codebreaker. There was a mixture of awe and  trepidation  on  Obi-

Wan's face.

"It works," Obi-Wan said. "We've been listening  to  coded  Separatist

communications. It really works."

"There's too much space interference here," Taly said. "We have to get

to the spaceport. Clearing devices can be used with it But we were able  to

hear something."

"What did you hear?" Anakin asked.

"They are moving ships and troops," Obi-Wan said. "A massive battle is

planned. But we can't seem to pinpoint the location. Originally, it  seemed

to be planned for Nativum, which we suspected. But that changed  to  a  new

target recently."

"If we find out in time, we could score a great victory," Padmª said.

Obi-Wan nodded. "We could destroy most of their fleet."

Padme gripped the console. "If General Grievous is with it,  we  could

win the war," she said.

CHAPTER 29

Azure was a tiny planet with no strategic importance. It  was  a  blue

dot in a vast expanse of space. It stood alone, not part of a  system,  and

had no satellites. It boasted a spaceport that took up a  good  portion  of

its land. A convenient way station for those traveling through the Mid-Rim,

but not a draw in itself. It had no industry, no  minerals,  and  no  great

wealth.

In other words, it had  no  reason  to  exist  in  the  minds  of  the

Separatists, and made a perfect secret base for the Republic, one  of  many

in the galaxy.

They landed without incident. It seemed impossible that they had  come

so far, had  made  the  journey  without  trouble.  The  crucial  piece  of

equipment that could turn the tide of the war was now in Republic hands.

Taly handed it over to the tech experts with regret on his  face.  "It

is my greatest invention," he  said.  "Now  I  must  lead  the  life  of  a

fugitive."

The cluster of tech experts hurriedly transported the codebreaker  off

to the command post. They  were  followed  closely  by  General  Solomahal.

Recently promoted to the post, the  Lutrillian  could  hardly  contain  his

satisfaction at having the codebreaker arrive at his base. He  had  assured

the Jedi that the name of Azure would live on in the chronicles of the war.

"This is the day the war will be won," he said, the large  furrows  in

his head deepening.

Anakin didn't approve of such talk. The war had not been won yet. Even

if they found out where the Separatist fleet was heading, it remained to be

seen whether they could get enough Republic ships organized for a  surprise

attack.

Still, it was hard to concentrate on the matters at  hand  when  Padmª

was leaving. He had tried to contrive a way to say good-bye to  her  alone,

but it would attract too much suspicion. They would have to bid farewell to

each other in public. He hated that. She told him with her  eyes  that  she

hated it, too.

"Good-bye, Senator  Amidala,"  Obi-Wan  said,  bowing.  "Have  a  safe

journey, and may the Force be with you."

He stood there, not moving, waiting for Anakin to say good-bye. Anakin

swallowed his resentment. It wasn't his Master's fault that he did not give

him privacy.

Anakin bowed. When he lifted his head, he told her with his  gaze  how

much he would miss her. "Safe journey, Senator. I'm sure we'll  meet  again

soon."

"I'm sure we shall." Soon, she mouthed to him.

"Taly, you have done a great service to the galaxy," Obi-Wan said.

"We are grateful," Siri said.

"I hope the war ends quickly," Taly said. "Even though it's  good  for

business."

His eyes twinkled when he said it. Was he  really  as  cynical  as  he

appeared? Anakin didn't think so.

Under the cover of her robes,  Padmª  placed  her  hand  in  Anakin's,

squeezed it for a moment, then dropped it. The touch was so quick  that  he

barely had time to register it.

She had mentioned regrets. He had never had a chance to ask  her  what

she meant. Now she was going and he didn't know when he'd see her again.

Padmª walked up the ramp of the cruiser. General Solomahal  could  not

spare a pilot so Padme would guide the ship to Coruscant, with a few  clone

troopers accompanying her for protection. She sat close to  the  windscreen

so that she could see Anakin. She didn't lift a hand or smile but she  kept

her gaze on his as she fired the engines. Then the silver ship  lifted  and

streaked into the sky.

Anakin kept his eyes on it. Was this his fate, he  wondered,  to  know

that something was his, but yet never be able to truly possess it?

He heard the stamp of boots behind him, but he didn't turn. He  wanted

to watch the silver ship.

"We have a problem," General Solomahal's voice boomed out.

Anakin turned reluctantly.

"There was a tracer imbedded in the  codebreaker,"  General  Solomahal

said.

"Helina Dow," Siri said. "She must have put them in both prototypes."

"So the Separtists might know it's here on Azure," Obi-Wan said.

"I think that's a  fair  assumption,"  General  Solomahal  said.  "The

reason you could not pinpoint the site of the Separatist attack was because

there was not yet a target. Not then. They were waiting to  see  where  the

codebreaker would end up." The General paused. "The  target  is  here.  The

Separatist fleet is heading to Azure spaceport."

CHAPTER 30

The Jedi rushed to the command  center.  Countermeasures  had  already

been ordered. Every available ship in  the  Republic  fleet  was  streaming

toward Azure.

But they were hours away.

"How many battle cruisers do you have in the spaceport?" Anakin  asked

the general.

"Not enough," he said grimly. "A small fleet. Here." He called up  the

list on the datascreen. Anakin leaned over to study the specifications.

"Let's divide the fleet into two divisions," Anakin  decided  crisply.

"Hold off the second for spaceport defense. I'll lead the first to  try  to

draw off some of the Separatist fleet. Our strongest chance is to keep them

busy until the bulk of the Republic  ships  arrive.  I'll  need  your  best

pilots."

The general blinked his heavy-lidded eyes at Anakin, as if  he  needed

time to process that a commander  was  giving  orders  to  the  general  in

charge. Luckily, General Solomahal was a practical sort, a soldier who  did

not care where the best tactical ideas came from, as long as they came.

"Lieutenant Banno," General Solomahal said, turning to a  tall  Bothan

at his side. "Take Jedi Commander Skywalker  to  the  fleet.  He'll  be  in

charge."

The lieutenant nodded. Anakin started away, but Obi-Wan put a hand  on

his arm. "Anakin, take care. May the Force be with you."

Anakin nodded, but Obi-Wan could see that his mind was already  moving

on to the battle ahead. They could have no better air commander than Anakin

for this battle.

The lieutenant and Anakin hurried off. Obi-Wan and Siri turned to  the

large, circular monitor in the center of the command room.  The  Separatist

fleet was close enough now to be tracked.

Obi-Wan could see  instantly  by  the  size  of  the  fleet  that  the

spaceport was extremely vulnerable. Siri frowned at the monitor.

"Here," she said, grabbing a laser pointer. "And  here.  That's  where

they are vulnerable. If Anakin can get to the rear - "

Obi-Wan nodded. "We don't have to defeat them. We just  have  to  slow

them down."

"They don't know  that  we  have  the  codebreaker  working,  so  it's

possible they're expecting to launch a surprise attack," Siri  said.  "That

could be an advantage for us. Do you see this small cloud nebula? If Anakin

could get his ships to lurk there until the last possible second, when  the

fleet has already passed him..."

Obi-Wan was already pushing the comm button. He  quickly  gave  Anakin

the coordinates of the nebula. "Do you see it?"

"I've got it. There's quite a bit of  atmospheric  disturbance  within

it," Anakin said. "I might lose communication capability temporarily."

"We'll have to risk it. Then if you could manage  to  sneak  down  the

side flank to the rear - that's where the big gunners are."

"Got it."

They watched as the blip that was Anakin's ship peel off, followed  by

the rest of the small fleet.

Obi-Wan  turned  to  General  Solomahal.  "You'll  have  to  time  the

countermeasure artillery attack to when Anakin attacks the rear. There will

be confusion then. I'd try to hit the lead ship."

He nodded. His face was grim. "We will do our best, Commander."

"They are approaching the outer atmosphere of  Azure  airspace,"  Siri

said. "There are some civilian ships heading into deep  space..."  Suddenly

one blip flared and disappeared. "They're firing on civilian ships!"

A sinking feeling hit Obi-Wan. "Where are Padmª and Taly? Are they out

of range?"

Siri went pale. "They're on the fleet's right flank."

Obi-Wan reached for his comlink, but suddenly Padme's voice filled the

air. "Come in, General. They're firing on us.... We can't hold the ship....

"

"Evacuate!" Obi-Wan shouted at her.

"Anakin!" Padmª shouted.

The blip that was Padmª's ship flared and disappeared.

"It's gone," Siri said. "Padmes gone."

CHAPTER 31

"No," Obi-Wan said. "They got to an escape pod. Look." He  pointed  to

the monitor. A tiny pulse was moving. It could have been space debris,  but

Obi-Wan knew it was Padme. He could feel it.

"She's going to land outside the spaceport. We  have  to  help  them,"

Siri said.

"There are starfighters fueled and waiting in the hangar," the general

said. "We still have the codebreaker working on communications.  Keep  your

comm open and I'll feed you information."

They ran to the hangar and leaped into the  two  starfighters  at  the

head of the line. Nearby pilots were rushing to  their  ships.  Anakin  had

burst out of the nebula and hit the  fleet  in  the  rear  with  his  small

squadron. The battle had begun.

Obi-Wan and Siri took off, flying in formation.

"I've received a distress call from  the  planet's  surface,"  General

Solomahal said, giving them the coordinates. "It's out where  the  survival

systems for the planet are based - the water conduits, the fuel tanks,  the

fusion generators. Watch your flank - the fleet  is  planning  to  turn  at

eighty degrees."

Obi-Wan and Siri executed a diving turn to avoid  the  fleet.  Obi-Wan

could hear the chatter of  the  pilots  on  the  comm.  Anakin  was  flying

brilliantly, taking chances that the pilots could  not  quite  believe  and

inspiring them to try similar feats.

By the end of the Clone Wars, he'll be a legend, Obi-Wan thought.

The air around the ship suddenly lit up.  Obi-Wan  felt  the  thud  of

cannonfire.

"On your left!" Siri shouted.

He turned and went into a screaming dive. Siri followed.

"Two starfighters have been ordered to  break  off  and  follow  you,"

General Solomahal barked. "They are ordered to shoot you down." He  quickly

told Obi-Wan and Siri the angle of attack.

They were  able  to  turn  at  the  last  minute  and  surprise  their

attackers. Laser cannonfire boomed, and  the  ships  went  into  spiraling,

smoking ruin.

Obi-Wan and Siri peeled off and continued toward their goal. From this

angle, they were far enough away to get a clear look at the battle.

His heart sank. He believed in Anakin. He believed in the strength and

will of the Republic pilots. But he knew the exact time it would  take  for

the rest of the Republic fleet to arrive. The battle was already lost.

His heart heavy, he contacted General Solomahal. "General,  I  suggest

you give the codebreaker to your best pilot and get it  off  the  spaceport

now. We have to risk it. We can't have the codebreaker fall into Separatist

hands."

"Are you insane, General Kenobi?"  The  general's  voice  boomed  out.

"That's our only hedge against disaster!"

"I agree with Commander Kenobi,"  Siri  said.  "It's  vital  that  the

codebreaker remain safe. We can see clearly from up  here.  Ultimately,  we

cannot win this battle. I also suggest that you stand by  to  evacuate  the

base. We need to save as many Republic soldiers and ships as we can."

"It's a little early for surrender."

"I agree.  There  are  still  blows  that  can  be  struck.  But  it's

inevitable," Obi-Wan said. "We need to cut our losses."

"You are too cautious, Commander Kenobi. I think we can win this."

"Commander, we can see things better up here," Siri said.

"I have a monitor here, too, Commander Tachi. And I  don't  have  time

for this argument. Save your Senator and your scientist and  come  back  to

fight."

Cannonfire blasted, and the controls shook in Obi-Wan's hands. He  and

Siri had blundered into the center of a battle between  Republic  starships

and an attack ship they were peppering with fire  and  trying  to  disable.

Obi-Wan saw cannonfire rip into his hull. Smoke poured from Siri's fighter.

Quickly, they zoomed up and around the battle. When they were  through  the

worst of the fire, they returned to their course  and  dived  down  to  the

planet's surface.

Obi-Wan heard his comm unit crackling. He  must  have  sustained  some

damage to the circuitry when the ship was hit.

They saw the escape pod resting  in  an  industrial  area.  Padme  had

guided it to a safe landing between gigantic fuel tanks. Obi-Wan let out  a

low whistle as he landed gingerly next to her. It must have taken nerves of

steel to navigate between those tanks. Escape pods weren't known for  their

maneuverability.

Siri landed close by and they hurried over to Padmª, who was holding a

blaster rifle casually at her side. Her  clone  trooper  escort  must  have

landed elsewhere, but the pod had had enough room for Taly to join her.

"Happy to see you," she said, though her face betrayed  her.  She  was

disappointed, too. She'd been hoping for something,  Obi-Wan  thought.  The

answer sprang instantly to mind. Anakin.

"Anakin is in command of the air battle at the moment," he told her.

She smiled briefly. "How close is the Republic fleet?"

"Still hours away," Siri said.

"Even a codebreaker can't save this  battle,  can  it?"  Taly  guessed

shrewdly.

Obi-Wan decided not to answer the question. No matter what his doubts,

he wouldn't want to voice them except to the commanding general.

But Padmª, too, was too shrewd not to see. She glanced up at the  sky.

"We should get the codebreaker off planet."

"Let's escort you and Taly to safety first," Siri said. "I  think  one

of us should pilot you out of here."

"We can return to the command post," Padmª suggested.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Not safe. We'll have to get you through enemy

lines and to the nearest safe port." But which of  them  would  do  it?  He

looked over at Siri. They both wanted to stay to fight the battle, but  she

knew that it would be harder for him to leave his Padawan.

He felt the dark side surge then, a warning so clear he heard it  like

a shout. A starfighter was streaking toward them.  Obi-Wan  recognized  the

red-and-silver starfighter of Magus. He was surrounded by five  droid  tri-

fighters.

"Take cover!" Obi-Wan yelled.

The laser cannons tore up the ground as they scattered. "We can't hide

behind fuel tanks," Siri said. "That's madness. We'll get blown up."

Magus came in for another assault. The fire hit the fuel tank, and  it

exploded in a whoosh that sent them flying through the  air.  The  air  was

like a flaming wall that hit Obi-Wan like  an  obstacle.  He  felt  himself

falling, and it was like falling through pure fire.

They landed, bruised and  shaken,  but  unhurt.  Magus  and  the  tri-

fighters zoomed out and turned, heading for another strike.

"I think it's time we got out of here," Obi-Wan said.

CHAPTER 32

Siri and Padme were closest to Siri's ship. They began to run  through

the thick black smoke and burning fires. Obi-Wan grabbed Taly  and  hustled

him toward his own ship.

This time Magus bypassed Siri and Padme, coming straight for Taly.

Obi-Wan noticed that a worker had left his servotool kit close by.  He

reached out a hand - a fusioncutter flew through the air toward him. It was

a large one with a big tank, built for special  jobs.  He  grabbed  it  and

timed  his  response.  At  the  last  possible  second,  he  activated  the

fusioncutter and flung it directly into the spilled fuel. The fuel  ignited

and the flame shot up just as Magus dived to strafe them again.

Magus had to climb to avoid the fire, and the smoke  was  good  cover.

Obi-Wan and Taly leaped into the ARC 170 starfighter  and  took  off  after

Siri.

"He's after you," Obi-Wan said.

"No kidding," Taly answered.

Siri flew closer and made a gesture, her hand at her  throat.  Obi-Wan

did the same.

"What does that mean?"

"Our comm units are out," Obi-Wan said. "They were damaged.  We're  on

our own."

"More good news."

Siri signaled. Obi-Wan nodded.

"You two speak the same language without  even  talking,"  Taly  said.

"Not much has changed. What's the plan?"

"We're going to try to get the two of you  out  of  harm's  way,  then

return for the end of the battle," Obi-Wan said.

"The end of the battle? Considering that you're going  to  lose,  that

doesn't sound like such a wise idea."

"I can't leave my Padawan. Hang on."

They zoomed upward.  But  Magus  was  on  their  tail  with  his  five

fighters, keeping up a steady barrage of  firepower.  The  starship  shook.

Siri dived under Magus and shot, clipping him just a  fraction.  He  zoomed

off.

They played cat-and-mouse games. Every time they got ahead,  he  found

them. Siri destroyed one of the trifighters, and Obi-Wan  scored  a  direct

hit on another. Then, working in tandem, they squeezed two between them and

blasted them into space debris.

Magus must have contacted the Separatist fleet for help, for two large

attack missiles suddenly peeled off from the  battle  above  and  began  to

descend.

"This doesn't look good," Taly said.

No. It wasn't good.

Obi-Wan raced his craft toward Siri. When he was in her sightline,  he

indicated with his chin what he thought they should do. She nodded. He felt

the connection surge between them. This was more than  the  Force.  It  was

part of the Force, but it was part of them, part of the understanding  that

flashed between them so freely now. All barriers down, they had locked onto

each other's every thought now.

They were over the deep trenches of  the  electrical  conduits,  where

power flowed from the two gigantic fusion furnaces that supplied the energy

to the spaceport. Siri dipped into the trench,  and  Obi-Wan  followed.  At

least they were in a place  where  the  large  attack  missiles  could  not

follow. And if they were lucky, they could escape Magus in the maze.

The battle was lost. Anakin could see that. As much as he believed  in

his abilities, as much as he believed in the pilots around  him,  he  could

see that they were meeting an overwhelming force, and according to  General

Solomahal, Republic reinforcements were still an hour away.

At first he'd felt hopeful. The information the general  was  able  to

give the pilots gave them an edge they were able to exploit. They had taken

down one starfighter after another and had managed  to  cripple  a  landing

ship. But they could not fight this huge fleet.

He had lost track of Obi-Wan and Siri. But at least Padme was safe.

"... status report," came over the comm. "Report in, Leader One."

His comm unit sounded fuzzy. Another thing  going  wrong.  "Five  more

starfighters down, "Anakin said.  "I'm  trying  to  slow  down  the  second

landing ship. None of our ships lost on this end."

"Two of our defense starfighters down, plus the three  civilian  ships

and the Republic cruiser..."

The interference made the words come in and out.

"What?" Anakin barked. "What Republic  cruiser?"  "Senator  Amidala...

Under fire... Distress..."  "Repeat,"  Anakin  said  desperately.  "Repeat.

Survivors?" "No survivors..."

Anakin felt the galaxy collapse. He could not see or think or feel.

"Jedi went in search... Possible... escape pod sighting..."

Anakin went into a dive that nearly plastered him to the  ceiling.  He

would find her. She would be alive. She had to be.

Obi-Wan wished that Anakin were flying this ship. He  needed  Anakin's

nerves, his split-second timing, his instinctive knowledge of  exactly  how

far to push a craft.

The attack ships hovered overhead. The last of the droid  tri-fighters

had crashed into a wall and flamed out.

But Magus was on their tails, keeping up steady fire. The  trench  was

narrow, and opened wider and narrowed again.

Huge pipes and conduits presented  barriers  that  had  to  be  snaked

around or dived under.

Up ahead, Siri suddenly slowed her speed. He shot ahead but she didn't

follow. She flew up, almost to the edge of the trench.

Siri, what are you doing? Whatever  it  is,  Obi-Wan  thought  with  a

sudden, sharp pain, don't do it!

"Siri, don't do it," Padmª said. "There's still a chance - "

"This is our chance. Can you hold it steady?" Padme nodded.

"When I tell you to cut back, cut back."

"You'll fall - "

Siri grinned. "No, I won't. I'll jump."

"No - "

But Siri was already opening the hatch and climbing out.  This  was  a

model that had room for an astromech droid, if the pilot wanted. The  space

was empty. She felt the wind whip through her hair. She saw Obi-Wan's  ship

in the near distance. No doubt he was wondering what she was up to.

She knew this was crazy, but it just might work.

Magus dove through the last of a series of pipes. She  could  see  the

exact moment when he realized she'd cut her speed.  He  cut  his,  too,  to

avoid running into her. He didn't want to get ahead of her. That would make

him vulnerable to her fire.

"Cut your speed!" Siri yelled, and she felt the  ship  slow  and  come

close to stopping.

Magus shot underneath and slowed again, not wanting to  get  ahead  of

the Jedi ship. Summoning the Force, Siri leaped.

The starfighters had slowed, but they were still moving. Jumping  from

one to another was not easy. To say the least. Siri used the Force to  slow

her perception of time. She had never felt so in tune with it. She felt her

body turning, but it was turning just as she wanted it to, not propelled by

the speed of her descent or the turbulent air, but moving exactly so.

She hit the ship. Her knees buckled and her hands slapped against  the

top of the hull. The fall had knocked the wind out of her and for a  moment

all she could do was try to hold on. She clamped a cable from her  belt  to

the ship.

He still didn't know she was there. She was light enough  and  he  was

moving fast enough, firing at Padmª  now,  who  had  immediately  increased

speed. He did not hear or feel her.

Time to let him know he had an extra passenger.

She activated her lightsaber and began to cut through the top  of  the

starfighter.

It lurched violently to the left.

Siri grimaced as she held on with one hand. Magus knew she was here.

Obi-Wan realized too late that this trench was a dead end.  He  should

have taken one of the branches, but he was distracted at the sight of  Siri

on top of a starfighter. She had to  be  crazy.  What  she  was  doing  was

impossible. But she was doing it.

He would have to pull up in a few short minutes. The  attack  cruisers

were waiting to blow him out of the sky.  He  would  have  to  double  back

somehow. There was barely enough room to maneuver, let alone turn around.

Behind him, Magus was flying erratically, zooming from one edge of the

trench to the other, trying to knock Siri off. Obi-Wan couldn't believe how

she was managing to continue to cut through the ship's  shell  as  she  was

slammed repeatedly against the metal.

He had to do something.

"Any ideas?" Taly asked.

"Yes. Hang on," Obi-Wan said as he flipped the ship upside down.

It was a maneuver he'd seen Anakin do, fly backward and  upside  down.

Though I wouldn't recommend it, Anakin had said with a grin.

Obi-Wan headed straight for Magus. Padme zoomed out of his  way,  then

up out of the trench for a moment. Evading fire, she managed to  zoom  past

Magus and start back along the trench, marking time. Good move, Padmª.

Obi-Wan did some quick calculations. His fingers flew on the  weapons-

system control board. It was hard to fly at the same time.

"What are you doing?" Taly asked.

"Disarming a concussion missile by half."

"Let me do it." Taly worked over the keyboard, fingers flying. "Done."

Obi-Wan slowed his speed. He didn't want to get too close - he had  to

be far enough away, past the top end of the missile's  range,  so  that  he

didn't severely damage the ship. All he needed was shock waves.  That,  and

Siri's command of the Force to know what was coming before Magus did.

He fired. The concussion missile flew and exploded.

The shock wave jolted Siri, but she recovered quickly.

Magus went flying. Obi-Wan saw him bounce out of  the  seat.  At  that

instant, Siri dropped through the hole she had created.

The ship was careening crazily now. Siri  was  fighting  for  control.

Obi-Wan reversed again. He thought he saw a  dark  shape  move  across  the

cockpit.

"They're fighting," Taly said.

The ship listed to one side. It spun out  of  control  and  clipped  a

gigantic pipe. Smoke began to pour out of the exhausts.

"The hydraulics are failing," Taly said anxiously.

Obi-Wan began to follow the route of the dying  ship.  He  pushed  the

engines, but he watched in horror as the  ship  crashed  into  the  trench.

Sparks as big as fireballs flew in the air as it bounced against one  wall,

then another, then smashed into the side and stopped. Something flew out of

the hole on the top, bounced and lay still. Magus.

Obi-Wan screamed down to the trench bottom. He activated  the  cockpit

cover and leaped out. Magus  was  unmoving  but  he  wasn't  dead.  Obi-Wan

scrambled on top of the cruiser and dropped inside.

Was it now, or was it twenty years ago?

She lay on the floor of the cockpit in a crashed ship. Her blond  head

was pillowed in her arms.

He landed on his knees by her side.

He touched her hair. He could not bear to touch the pulse on her neck.

He could not bear not to feel life there. "Siri."

"Blasterfire." She groaned as she turned slightly so she could look up

at him. "Magus."

Obi-Wan glanced out of the  cockpit  window  where  Padmª  now  stood,

holding the rifle at the unconscious Magus. She was taking no chances. Taly

stood next to her, a blaster in his hand, also pointed  at  Magus.  Obi-Wan

could see something working in Taly's face, a temptation to fire.  He  had,

at his feet, the being who had killed his parents.

Above, in the sky, he saw Anakin diving around  the  attack  cruisers,

pummeling them with fire.

"Padme has him covered. We're safe for the moment."

"Everything is so gray."

"That was such a risky move," Obi-Wan said.

"It worked, didn't it?"

His relief at her sharp tone was erased when she winced,  and  he  saw

she was in great pain.

"I'll get the bacta..."

"Don't leave me." Siri's hand dropped on his. "I wanted to say - "

"Siri, I must get the med kit - "

"For star's sake, Obi-Wan, I'm dying. Do you have to interrupt me now?

"

Tears sprang to his eyes. "You're not dying."

Her fingers plucked at her belt. "I can't... Get it for me."

Get what? he almost asked, but then he knew. He  slipped  her  crystal

out of her belt and pressed it into her hand.

"No... yours." She let it fall into his palm. "Now I will never  leave

you."

"You will never leave me," he repeated.

She touched his cheek, and her hand fell. "Don't worry so  much,"  she

said.

Her eyes closed, and she was gone.

He lay his head on the cockpit floor and held her  hand.  He  did  not

know, at that moment, what living was for, if he had to carry this pain.

Anakin had been out of his mind with the frenzy to find  her.  He  had

attacked the ships again and again, determined to slip through.

When he saw that a ship had crashed, he had thought  Padmª  was  dead,

and his heart had become a fist. Revenge was all he wanted.

And then as he swooped down he had seen  her,  blaster  rifle  in  her

hand, her face turned up toward him. He held her to him only seconds later.

"I'm afraid for Siri," she whispered.

Obi-Wan climbed out of the ruined ship. He came toward them. Something

in his face, his walk was different.

"She has joined the Force." He spoke the words to  them,  but  he  was

looking down at Magus. The  bounty  hunter  was  beginning  to  stir.  Taly

gripped the blaster tighter. Anakin saw strain and anguish in his face.

He wants to shoot, Anakin thought.

For the first time since he'd known Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin was  afraid

for his Master. He saw the way he looked at Magus. His eyes were  dead,  as

if now there was nothing at his feet, not a living being, just clothes  and

hair and skin.

Obi-Wan activated his lightsaber.

Padmª looked at  Anakin,  her  eyes  wide.  Say  something,  her  face

pleaded. Stop him.

Anakin recognized that there was something here he could not stop.

Taly's breath caught. He did not take his eyes off Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan crouched down and held the glowing lightsaber to Magus's neck.

He locked eyes with Magus. Anakin saw the  flare  of  fear  in  the  bounty

hunter's eyes.

"You kill without thought or feeling," Obi-Wan said.  "But  I  am  not

you."

He stood.

"Take him aboard," Obi-Wan said. "He is now a prisoner of war."

CHAPTER 33

The codebreaker was lost in the Battle of Azure Spaceport. The  fusion

furnace blew, an explosion  that  came  close  to  leveling  the  spaceport

itself. The smoke that rose served as cover for the evacuation of  Republic

ships. General Solomahal was captured with the codebreaker as he  attempted

to escape with it. He blew it up instead  of  handing  it  over.  Two  days

later, he managed to escape and was given another command.

The Separatist forces bombed Taly's  laboratory.  All  his  notes  and

documents were lost. It could take  him  years  to  reinvent  what  he  had

discovered... if he could reproduce it at all.  In  the  meantime,  he  was

taken in secrecy and transported to a Republic outpost.

On Coruscant, Anakin and Padme met before dawn in her apartment on her

veranda. It was their favorite time to meet, under cover of  darkness,  but

with the beginnings of morning freshness in the air. Even in the darkest of

times, it made them feel hopeful.

"I am being sent away again," he told her. "Obi-Wan and I  leave  this

morning."

"There is a vote I must attend this morning," Padmª said. "So we  must

say good-bye here."

"A vote is so important?"

"They are all important now. Senator Organa needs my support."

Anakin made an impatient gesture, but he did not want to fight. He was

still struck with  the  horror  of  almost  losing  her.  But  he  did  not

understand these Senate votes, useless during  a  time  of  war  when  only

battles won mattered.

"I will wait for you to return," Padme said. "I will wait as long as I

must."

Anakin's eyes lifted to the Jedi Temple. What did they know, Yoda  and

Obi-Wan and Mace, of this? Of this moment of agony,  being  torn  from  his

wife. He fought for them and alongside them, but they  no  longer  had  his

heart. They no longer understood him.

He had thought for a moment on Azure that Obi-Wan had loved  Siri.  He

thought he'd seen it in his Master's eyes after she had died.  But  Obi-Wan

had stood over the man who had killed her and spared him. If he  had  loved

Siri, could he have done that? Of course, it was what a Jedi should do. But

the way Obi-Wan had spoken had been so measured. With  a  temperament  like

that, it was impossible to love, Anakin was sure.

With Padme, he had passion, and he  was  whole.  The  stars  began  to

disappear above, and a thin line of orange indicated the sun was  beginning

to rise. They would lose the cover of darkness. They would  once  again  be

Jedi and Senator.

He would once again be split in two.

For several nights now, Obi-Wan had not been able to sleep. He lay  on

his sleep couch. He closed his eyes. He hoped to dream. He could not.

So he walked. Through the Temple, the glow lights a faint blue. He did

not seek the places that reminded him of Siri. He  couldn't  do  that,  not

yet.

Oddly, he thought of Qui-Gon on these walks. He remembered, as he  had

not remembered in years, how he had  known  that  Qui-Gon  had  walked  the

Temple halls at night. He had taken him sapir tea, he  remembered.  He  had

tried to comfort him, even though he knew there was no comfort for him.

If Anakin knew of his grief, he didn't mention it. He, too, had  risen

early - Obi-Wan had seen him heading toward the  exit.  Anakin  had  always

been restless, had always needed to escape the Temple to  think.  Something

was between him and Padmª. Obi-Wan would not ask. In some ways,  he  envied

it. Let Anakin make his own decisions.

He found it extraordinary that at the time of this grief, when he  had

lost Siri forever, he did not question that their parting twenty years  ago

had been the right thing. He saw that clearly now, more clearly than he had

ever seen it. Love was different from possession. He had  loved  her.  That

was enough.

... I live with the heartbreak of losing her. But I  am  living,  Obi-

Wan. I am continuing to walk the Jedi path.

This was what he had learned - the Jedi had kept him from her. But the

Jedi had taught him how to live with losing her.

Obi-Wan stood  by  the  window.  The  blues  and  grays  outside  were

changing, warming to pink. Orange streaks lit the sky. The space lanes were

beginning to fill up with flashes of silver. Another day. Another mission.

He was ready. He had learned something else, something important. Once

he'd thought he had to lock away memories of love. Now  he  was  no  longer

afraid of them. He could live with them. He could breathe  in  his  sadness

and remember his joy.

At last he had learned the secret that Qui-Gon  had  always  tried  to

teach him. It had taken him years of loss to learn it. It had taken a death

that had sent him to his knees. But he  had  finally  learned  it.  He  had

learned to live with an open heart.