Jedi Apprentice 13: The Dangerous Rescue (звёздные войны) Page 6

  The group headed over to Adi and Siri.

  "Something is wrong, Qui-Gon," Adi told him in a low voice. "I'm feeling desperation and fear here. Look at the departure checkpoint."

  Qui-Gon's keen gaze swept the Belascans in line. Now that Adi had alerted him, he felt what he should have known all along — a rippling disturbance in the Force. But he did not need the Force to alert him to the fear on the faces of the Belascans.

  "You are right," he said. "And this landing platform is extraordinarily busy."

  "Everyone seems to be leaving, not arriving," Siri observed.

  "Let's walk a few blocks into the city," Adi suggested. "Maybe we'll pick up on what is wrong."

  They took the turbolift down from the main landing platform to the city streets below.

  "We did not have time to do much research on Belasco," Adi said.

  "Here is what we know. This is a wealthy world with a rigid class system.

  The planet was once ruled by a royal family, but now a Leader is elected, who then elects his own Council. Senators are greatly revered."

  "And Uta S'orn is a favorite of the current Leader, Min K'atel," Obi- Wan said.

  "Look," Qui-Gon pointed out. "There are clinics set up on almost every block. They look temporary. Maybe a sudden illness has infected the population. There aren't many people on the streets."

  An elder Belascan sat nearby on his front stoop, his hands dangling between his knees, a lost look on his face. He wore the distinctive elaborate headwrapping of the Belascan people, but two loose ends of fabric trailed over his shoulders as though he'd lost interest halfway through the task. Adi walked closer.

  "I'm sorry to disturb you," she said gently. "We have only just arrived on your world. We sense that something is very wrong here."

  "Very wrong." The handsome elder turned a bleak gaze on them. "Have you not heard? Our water supply is contaminated."

  "We have not heard. You get your water supply from your Great Sea, do you not?" Adi asked.

  He nodded. "It is run through the desalinization tanks and provides us all with drinking water. Every seven years, a naturally occurring bacteria invades. We prepare for this. We know how to contain it, and we stockpile water for our use while the scientists control the bacteria. This year, they could not control it. It has multiplied and spread. But not before it took the lives of many elders and children. Among them my granddaughter."

  "I am so sorry," Adi said. She bent down slightly to give the man a brief touch on the arm. Underneath Adi's regal manner, her intuitive nature gave her insight into suffering.

  "I am not alone," the Belascan continued. His bleak gaze swept the empty street. "Many are ill on Belasco. Even the Leader's own daughter.

  Most of the ill are children and elders. The Leader has set up med wards on the royal grounds. But every day there are more funerals. Even while all our scientists work to contain the bacteria, we are running out of water.

  And running out of time."

  Adi bid the elder good-bye and turned to the others. "This news is distressing. It can't be a coincidence."

  "Jenna Zan Arbor must be behind this," Qui-Gon said grimly. "She has done this before, introduced a virus or bacteria into a population in order to rush in at the last moment and save it."

  "We'd better get to the royal grounds," Adi said.

  Hurrying now, they followed the curving streets to the palace, which was visible on the main hill of the city. The palace gates stood open to all so that the population could enjoy the gardens. As they walked through they could see that large temporary domes had been set up on the wide lawns surrounding the sprawling rosy palace. Medics walked rapidly by them, and some children sat on benches nearby. They wore white robes, and their thin faces were turned toward the sun.

  Adi looked shaken. "If Zan Arbor is responsible, this is monstrous."

  "Could she deliberately make all these children sick?" Siri asked.

  "I'm afraid she could," Qui-Gon said.

  Tup swallowed. "If she could do this to kids, imagine what she would have done to us."

  They asked a medic for Uta S'orn's whereabouts, and he pointed them to a garden at the back of one of the Ward Domes. They found S'orn sitting on a bench, watching over a group of children. Instead of her usual jeweled head-wrapping, she wore one of fine white linen. A small girl with dark curls sat in her lap.

  Uta S'orn was speaking to the girl with a smile on her face, but it faded when she saw the Jedi.

  "This is a surprise," she said to Qui-Gon. She gave a disdainful glance to Astri, Cholly, Weez, and Tup. "Is this your new entourage?"

  The little girl shrank shyly back against Uta S'orn's lap. Qui-Gon crouched down and smiled gently at her.

  "And who are you?"

  "Joli K'atel," she said, and added confidingly, "I'm sick."

  "I am very sorry to hear that. But I'm sure you will be well again."

  She nodded. "My father says it is so."

  "Then it is so," Qui-Gon said gravely.

  Uta S'orn gently eased the girl off her lap and gave her a gentle pat. "Go sit with the others, Joli. I need to speak to these people.

  Unfortunately."

  The little girl wandered off, the sash of her robe trailing in the grass. Uta S'orn's face was creased with worry as she watched her.

  "I have volunteered as a med aide," she said quietly. "I thought I could help. I did not know it would break my heart."

  "Is that the Leader's daughter?" Adi asked.

  "Yes. But she is no more important than all of these children," Uta S'orn said, waving her hand to take in the Ward Domes. "They are our future. We must save them." She turned to them. "What is it that you want?

  As you can see, I am busy. Why are you here? It seems I cannot get away from the Jedi."

  "We have reason to believe that Jenna Zan Arbor — " Qui-Gon began.

  She stood up angrily. "Not this again. You have told me what you believe about my former friend. I have not heard from her, nor do I wish to. She has nothing to do with me."

  "But we think that she does," Adi said. "We think that she is here, on Belasco. We're not sure why. There could be some link that we are overlooking, some reason she needs to contact you again."

  "But she hasn't," Uta S'orn said impatiently. "And I will not see her if she tries. All right?"

  "She might insist," Qui-Gon said. "And she can. Ona Nobis is here as well. She has kidnapped and killed for Jenna Zan Arbor before."

  "If you're trying to frighten me, it isn't working," Uta S'orn said dismissively. "I have no time to worry about phantom threats. My world is dying. I see now there was a reason I returned here."

  "We are merely trying to protect you — "

  "No need. I am safe here. Although we have no king, the royal droid guards still protect the Leader and everyone on the grounds. Thank you for your concern, but Ona Nobis cannot get to me here. Now if you'll excuse me, there are sick children to tend."

  Uta S'orn walked away.

  "I guess she has a point," Siri said, glancing around at the busy grounds as medics walked by and guard droids, their shells polished to a golden gleam, patrolled. "It would be hard for Ona Nobis to get to her here."

  Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan exchanged a glance. "I'm afraid, Siri, that in our experience," Qui-Gon said, "Ona Nobis can get anywhere."

  Chapter 13

  "Why didn't you tell Uta S'orn that we suspect Jenna Zan Arbor has engineered the bacteria explosion?" Obi-Wan asked Qui-Gon as they left the royal grounds.

  "Because we have no proof, only our suspicions," Qui-Gon said. "She would not believe us. She doesn't even believe that Zan Arbor is here."

  "Nevertheless, she will take care, just in case," Adi said. "Despite what she said, she is afraid of Ona Nobis."

  "We have to get proof," Qui-Gon said.

  "I'm confused," Siri admitted. "I don't understand why Zan Arbor would come to Belasco at all."

  "We know that Zan Arbor killed Uta S'orn's son. Uta
S'orn knows it, too. But Zan Arbor doesn't know that she knows — as far as she's concerned, Uta S'orn is still an old friend," Adi explained. "Perhaps Zan Arbor came here because S'orn is a powerful ally, and she needs her help."

  "That could be," Qui-Gon said, nodding. "And Zan Arbor feels she still needs the protection of Ona Nobis as well. She knows we will be pursuing her. Yes, I think Zan Arbor will contact Uta S'orn. But we must convince S'orn that Zan Arbor is here. Let's go back to the landing platform. If we can prove that Zan Arbor landed on Belasco, Uta S'orn might listen. In the meantime, even if Zan Arbor used an alias, we should be able to track her."

  "How can I help?" Astri asked.

  "The royal grounds are open to all," Qui-Gon said. "And those guard droids seem to have a mostly ceremonial function. Someone needs to stay there and watch Uta S'orn. Ona Nobis could show up at anytime."

  "We can do that," Astri said, with a glance at Cholly, Weez, and Tup.

  "Do not approach her," Qui-Gon warned. "And remember — your best revenge is to bring Ona Nobis to justice. We can do this for you. Then you can collect your reward."

  "That sounds like an excellent plan!" Tup beamed.

  "I don't care about the reward," Astri said. "Only about her capture.

  " "Don't be so hasty," Cholly said.

  Astri, Cholly, Weez, and Tup turned away from the group to start back toward the royal grounds.

  "You're placing quite a bit of faith in them," Adi observed.

  "Not really," Qui-Gon said. "I'm counting on Cholly, Weez, and Tup to be obvious. Ona Nobis might steer clear of Uta S'orn for a time if she knows they are watching. That will give us time to gather evidence that Zan Arbor is behind the poisoning of the water supply."

  Obi-Wan's senses suddenly went on alert. Even while he was walking, he had been watching every shadow. After his last encounter with Ona Nobis, he was taking no chances. He had sensed a sudden movement nearby and realized that someone was following Astri.

  He signaled Qui-Gon with a quick glance and melted away from the others. He ducked back into an alley and scanned the street behind. Whoever was following the group was moving quickly from one shadow to another.

  Using his cable launcher, Obi-Wan swung himself up to the flat roof overhead. He ran lightly across the roof. When he reached the corner he stopped and waited for his target below to catch up. Then he leaped down, aiming to land directly in front.

  To his surprise, he found himself face-to-face with Fligh. He was the thief back on Coruscant who had stolen Zan Arbor's datapad and given it to Astri, inadvertently plunging Astri and Didi into danger. Fligh was wearing an eye patch and a stunned expression.

  Obi-Wan was just as stunned as Fligh. Qui-Gon, Adi, and Siri ran up to them quickly.

  "Fligh?" Obi-Wan said. "I thought you were dead. I saw your body on Coruscant."

  "No, you didn't, Padawan," Qui-Gon said. "But you did," Obi-Wan said, confused. "No," Qui-Gon said. "I saw a body that resembled Fligh. I had my doubts."

  "Ah," Fligh said. His face was naturally mournful, with a downturned mouth and sad eyes. "I've never been clever enough to fool a Jedi. Never will."

  "What are you doing here now?" Qui-Gon asked.

  "Following Astri, of course," Fligh answered. "I thought I owed Didi.

  Even though I keep losing her, I am doing my best, which isn't much. But there you go."

  Siri sidled closer to Obi-Wan. "What's going on?" she whispered. "Who is this character?"

  "Fligh is a friend of Didi's back on Coruscant," Obi-Wan explained quickly. "He's the one who stole the datapads of Jenna Zan Arbor and Uta S'orn in the Senate building. Then he was murdered. Or so I thought."

  "He looks pretty healthy to me," Siri observed.

  "Hey, I lost my eye!" Fligh protested.

  "I can see that. I'm sorry," Siri said.

  "I mean my false eye," Fligh explained. "It was a beauty, wasn't it?"

  he asked Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. "But I decided I had to leave it at the scene of my murder. It's those kinds of touches that convince people you're really dead."

  "How did you do it?" Obi-Wan asked curiously.

  "I have a friend who works at the morgue on Coruscant," Fligh explained. "And I think my job is tough."

  "You don't have a job," Obi-Wan pointed out.

  "Being a thief is a job," Fligh answered huffily. "I get up every morning and go to work, just like everybody else. But this particular morning, I realized that someone was trying to kill me. When you get a whip wrapped around your neck, it wakes you up to the possibility. Luckily my landlord is handy with an electrojabber. But I thought I should disappear for a while. So I spoke to my friend at the morgue, and he found someone with my general characteristics. Who was dead, I mean."

  "We assumed that," Qui-Gon said.

  "My friend did the rest. We drove the body to the alley and left it there. Along with my eye, alas. I knew the security police would not bother to run ID scans on the body — there are some advantages to being someone nobody cares about. Just another piece of riffraff meeting a sad end.

  They'd accept the text doc identification and just cart the body to the morgue. Nobody would shed a tear."

  "Didi did," Qui-Gon said sternly.

  Fligh brightened. "He did? He is such a good friend!"

  "But why would Ona Nobis be after you?" Obi-Wan wondered aloud. "You didn't have Zan Arbor's datapad any longer. You gave it to Astri."

  Fligh shrugged. "I was just a loose end, I guess."

  "Oh, I think you were more than that," Qui-Gon said, crossing his arms. "You're leaving something out, Fligh. The body was found drained of blood. Why did you do that?"

  "Because that was how Ona Nobis left her victims," Fligh responded.

  "Six of my fellow riffraff were found that way."

  "But we didn't know that yet. No one had yet traced Zan Arbor to Ren S'orn, or any other victim. We didn't even know Zan Arbor had anything to do with the attack on Didi."

  "Ah, Jedi logic, so impressive," Fligh said nervously. "Are you sure?

  " Qui-Gon nodded. "Very sure. Which means that you knew Zan Arbor was behind the attack. And you knew she was conducting experiments that involved extracting blood from her victims."

  "Hmm, interesting point," Fligh said. "I find I must agree. Maybe I did know that. Maybe I traced a few of the murdered riffraff to Zan Arbor's lab. Maybe that's why I stole her data-pad in the first place. But I didn't see why it would help Didi to know that. At the time. I felt badly after he was hurt, of course. Maybe I should have warned him after all. Maybe I should be a better person in general. But at least I am watching over Astri while Didi is in your excellent Jedi hands. I'll protect her if anything happens. Of course," Fligh added quickly, edging away with an uneasy smile, "I am hopeless at protection and therefore delighted to see that the Jedi are by her side. Obviously, I am not needed, so I guess I'll just head off.

  …"

  "Not so fast," Qui-Gon said, catching Fligh by the elbow. "I have more questions. What about Senator S'orn's datapad?"

  "What about it?" Fligh asked.

  "What happened to it?"

  Obi-Wan looked at Fligh curiously. He hadn't thought of the question, but he was interested in the answer. Once they had identified Jenna Zan Arbor as the one who had hired Ona Nobis, they had stopped investigating what was on Senator S'orn's datapad, or what had happened to it. It seemed a minor detail. But Uta S'orn kept connecting to the mission, whether she wanted to or not. Maybe there was a detail they had overlooked.

  "I still have it," Fligh said. "I haven't had a chance to sell it yet." He slipped a small data-pad out of his tunic. "See?"

  Qui-Gon took it from him.

  "There you go," Fligh said, waving a hand. "I won't even ask for credits. See how generous I can be with stolen property? You will have to erase all those files on it. Just Senate holo transcripts of speeches. Or leave them, and you can use them as a sleeping potion." Fligh made a loud snoring noise. "Take it from me. Very
dull. Now, if you don't need me, I'll be going. This world is too depressing, even for me. I think I'll head back to the fun-filled world of Coruscant."

  Waving, Fligh took off. Qui-Gon turned his attention to the datapad.

  He quickly accessed the files and searched through them. Obi-Wan watched over his shoulder. Hovercams recorded all Senate proceedings. Each Senator could download transcripts into their own datapads for official records.

  Senator S'orn had recordings of several speeches she had made.