by Jude Watson
"I wish Tahl were here," Qui-Gon muttered. "She would be able to figure out these financial records. They make everything so complicated ..."
Suddenly, Qui-Gon stopped talking. Obi-Wan noticed that his viewscreen had frozen. When he looked back at his own, he saw that it was frozen as well.
"Den, what's happening?" he asked.
"I don't know," Den said worriedly. He tried to turn his viewscreen off, but the switch didn't work. "Odds are it's a temporary glitch." He sprang up from his chair and started toward the door. "Just lay low."
"Where are you going?" Qui-Gon asked.
"I'm just going to nose around, see what's going on. You can rely on me."
Den slipped out the door. Qui-Gon slowly rose.
"We have to get out of here now," he said.
Obi-Wan looked at him, surprised. "But we can't abandon Den."
Qui-Gon looked grim. "He has already abandoned us."
Obi-Wan heard the sound of pounding feet. The door hissed open.
"Don't draw your lightsaber," Qui-Gon quickly ordered, just before the security forces rushed in.
Obi-Wan knew why. Qui-Gon was hoping to escape detection as a wanted criminal. If they were lucky, they would be held at UniFy as trespassers.
But that fleeting hope was dashed immediately when the burly head of security stepped forward.
"You are wanted as violators of Telosian law under the Galactic Criminals Act," he told them. "You are under arrest."
Chapter 8
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were swiftly transported to the Central Booking Station, where they were recognized as escaped galactic criminals and thrown into prison. Qui-Gon asked that the Temple be contacted, but the request was ignored.
"Telosian justice used to be fair," he said to Obi-Wan as he stood in the dank underground cell. "They should allow us the opportunity to clear ourselves."
"We're not even sure what the charges are," Obi-Wan said. "Do you think they'll discover that the whole thing has been faked?"
"There is always that hope," Qui-Gon said. "They can't hold us for long if they can't prove we did something wrong. At least they didn't find our lightsabers."
Using the Force, Qui-Gon had managed to prevent the guards from giving them a thorough search.
"Why don't we just cut through the door?" Obi-Wan asked, placing his hands against the fortified durasteel.
"Because there will be fifty guards on us before we can move very far," Qui-Gon said. "Let's bide our time. We'll find an opportunity to escape."
"I can't believe Den left us in the lurch like that," Obi-Wan said, disgusted. "He must have known there was a security alert as soon as the viewscreens froze."
"Yes, I think he did," Qui-Gon agreed calmly. "But it is better to focus on what we can do now."
"What can we do?" Obi-Wan asked. "We're locked up."
"We can think of our next step," Qui-Gon said. "It's a waste of time to blame Den. What did we learn while we were at UniFy?"
"I didn't learn anything except that people who work for companies send too many memos," Obi-Wan said, discouraged.
"There were many, it's true," Qui-Gon agreed. "And most of them were trivial. Many of them merely confirmed a conversation over a comlink. Did you notice that? This makes me think that so many files could be a way to stop examiners later should the company be investigated. It's hard to find the truth when it's buried under data. Does that remind you of anything?" Obi-Wan thought for a long moment. "Offworld," he said at last. "The company conceals its true intentions and even its headquarters behind other companies. It uses confusion to hide."
"Exactly," Qui-Gon said. "And there was something else I learned at UniFy. When the screens froze, I got to see what Den was doing. He was not looking up files on Offworld or the Sacred Pools. He was looking up Katharsis."
"Why?" Obi-Wan asked.
"I don't know the answer to that, but the question is interesting," Qui-Gon said. "UniFy administers the funds from the lottery, so I suppose it should have Katharsis files. But why is Den so interested? Think about his character."
Obi-Wan remembered Andra's words. "He must think he can profit in some way."
"Exactly," Qui-Gon agreed. "My guess is that's the reason he agreed to help us in the first place. So you see when we get out, we'll have another path to investigate."
"When we get out?" Obi-Wan asked, looking at the fortified durasteel door.
"We'll get out," Qui-Gon said in the same calm tone.
Obi-Wan wished he could feel as certain. He had a feeling that now that Xanatos had them where he wanted them, he would not be so foolish as to let them go.
They spent a cold night in the cell. Obi-Wan awoke before dawn. He lay on a sleep mat, his eyes open. There were no windows in the cell, so he could not distinguish the walls from the floor. He was surrounded by black, as though he were floating in a void. Perhaps this disorienting feeling was part of the punishment.
The only indication of morning was when the cell lights blazed on. They were given some hard bread and weak tea for breakfast.
The day passed slowly. Qui-Gon asked repeatedly to speak to someone in authority. The request was refused.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan did a series of muscle stretches to stay limber. Then they meditated. In captivity, a Jedi organized the mind, calmed the spirit, and kept the body strong.
Qui-Gon sat meditating on the hard stone floor. Suddenly, he sighed and raised his head.
"I'm sorry, Obi-Wan."
Obi-Wan was surprised by this statement. "Sorry?" he asked.
"You should be back at the Temple. I should not have let you accompany me. It was an error in judgment."
"The decision was mine to make," Obi-Wan said. "I'm not sorry to be here."
Qui-Gon's smile was as dim as the light. "Even though you are cold and hungry?"
"I am where I should be," Obi-Wan responded. "By your side."
Qui-Gon stood. "I was harsh to you after what happened on Melida/Daan."
"No more than I deserved." Obi-Wan was surprised to see the emotion on Qui-Gon's face. This was the first time his former Master had brought up the rift between them with sorrow more than anger. He seemed to be struggling for words.
"No, Obi-Wan, it was much more than you deserved," Qui-Gon corrected. "I have come to see that my reaction was due to my own failings, not yours. I haven't had a chance to tell you that. I -" Qui-Gon stopped suddenly. "He's here," he murmured.
Then Obi-Wan felt it, too. The disturbance in the Force was like a whisper of poison gas that snaked under a crack in the door and then filled the room. He stood and turned toward the door.
The durasteel door suddenly hissed open. Xanatos stood in the doorway. His black cloak was thrown back, his legs casually apart, his hands on his hips.
"Enjoying yourselves?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow at them and smiling.
Qui-Gon faced him, not speaking.
"Ah, the silent treatment," Xanatos said with a sigh. "And here I was hoping that we could have a chat. There's not much time. Your punishment has been decided."
"But we didn't have a trial," Qui-Gon said quietly.
"Oh, but you did," Xanatos answered. "You were both considered too dangerous to attend."
"We have the right to attend our own trial! That isn't fair!" Obi-Wan exclaimed.
Xanatos shook his head. "Ah, I remember being that young. Back when I thought that life would treat me fairly. Before I met you, Qui-Gon Jinn."
"Life does not treat you fairly or unfairly," Qui-Gon said. "It merely is. It is up to each of us to be fair, or unfair."
"It's never too late for some great Jedi wisdom," Xanatos said scornfully. "And it is always the same - nothing but riddles. Well, figure this out, Jedi - since you did not appear at your trial, I showed up in your place. I was the star witness against you. I had evidence of your crimes, records of the many worlds that brought charges against you, tales of the times you had escaped justice throughout the galaxy. And at last justice foun
d you on Telos. It also helped that a grieving father was in the courtroom, distraught at the death of his son at the hands of your accomplice." Xanatos gave a heavy sigh. "Poor Bruck. I always thought he just needed a little push to succeed. How was I to know that Obi-Wan Kenobi would deliver it?"
Xanatos raised one hand and then slapped it into his palm with a sharp crack. It was eerily close to the crack of Bruck's head hitting the rocks below the waterfall. Obi-Wan tried not to wince. He would not give Xanatos that satisfaction. But inside, he felt the shock of it. Helplessness and guilt swept over him as he recalled Bruck's lifeless, unseeing gaze, the arm flung out as if in a last, desperate cry for help.
"The court may have listened to your lies," Qui-Gon said quickly, sensing Obi-Wan's distress and trying to deflect Xanatos. "But when the Temple learns -"
Xanatos laughed. "By the time the Temple learns of your fate, you will already be dead. That is your punishment, Jedi. You have been sentenced to death."
Suddenly Xanatos leaned forward. His blue eyes burned like the hottest part of a flame. His pale skin seemed to tighten over his bones. His face looked like a skull with eyes of fire.
"And I will be there to watch you die," he hissed in Qui-Gon's face.
Chapter 9
They did not get a chance to say another word, or call for help. Xanatos made sure that an entire troop of guards surrounded them. They were led through the prison corridors to the courtyard in front.
The sun was low in the sky. The two adjacent prison towers cast two long ominous shadows across the courtyard. A crowd filled the yard and spilled out into the street. When they saw the prisoners, they erupted in catcalls and jeers.
"They love the executions," one of the guards murmured to the other.
Qui-Gon felt a sinister energy emanating from the crowd. Telos had never had public executions. Such displays were limited to more primitive worlds. What had happened to peaceful Telos? It only took one man to corrupt it, if that man was as sly and powerful as Xanatos.
Qui-Gon felt reassured by the presence of his lightsaber underneath his cloak. Still, he did not know when he would get a chance to use it.
A scaffold slowly rose on repulsorlifts until it floated high above the crowd. Two burly guards stood next to two durasteel hinged slabs. A chute ran from the slabs to the edge of the platform. Vibro-axes were leaning against the slabs. Qui-Gon saw in an instant how the execution would take place. He and Obi-Wan would be forced to lie on the slabs. They would be beheaded by the vibro-axes, the hinges would drop, and their heads would roll down the chute and come to rest facing the crowd.
It was gruesome, but quick.
Qui-Gon saw Obi-Wan swallow. For the first time, he was seriously worried. He had thought that at any moment an opportunity would come for them to escape. But how could they make their way through the crowd? Even if they could deal with the guards and Xanatos, the crowd would rise against them.
They were placed in an energy cage that was hoisted up above the mass of people. The angry crowd shouted for their deaths to be painful and slow. Xanatos stood at the top of the stairs, watching the cage rise with avid eyes.
It was the duty of every Jedi to accept death when it came. Yet Qui-Gon could not be calm. It not his time. It was not Obi-Wan's. He saw that Obi-Wan was struggling to contain his fear.
"Kill them! Kill the murderers!" the crowd shouted.
Anger surged in Qui-Gon. Xanatos had done this. He had inflamed the crowd. He had filled their minds with hatred and lies. If Qui-Gon died, Xanatos would win. He would corrupt Telos even more. He would destroy it.
Qui-Gon couldn't let that happen.
Yet he must not fight with anger. He must fight with justice.
"We must not give up," Qui-Gon told Obi-Wan urgently over the noise of the crowd. "They will need to retract the energy bars for the executioners to get us on those slabs. That's when we will fight. All is not lost. Stay calm and alert."
Obi-Wan nodded.
Qui-Gon noted the steady resolution in Obi-Wan's eyes. They had little chance of escaping this fate, but Obi-Wan accepted this. The boy was never cowed by odds against him.
The energy cage slowly lowered toward the scaffold. Security police on swoops hovered near in case the prisoners tried to escape.
The cries of the crowd came to Qui-Gon faintly. All his attention was now focused on the guards on the scaffold. He was confident that he and Obi-Wan could take them. But what then? They would have to leap to the ground, even as blaster fire pounded them from above and below. Perhaps the surprise of their move would increase the likelihood of escape. Perhaps the crowd was not as bloodthirsty as it appeared. But he did not like these odds. Even Den would not take this bet, Qui-Gon thought ruefully.
The guards on the scaffold walked forward. Qui-Gon waited for the energy bars to lower. As soon as they did, he would spring forward.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noted an erratic movement from one of the swoops. He looked to the side without turning his head. The rider was hooded. In only the split second he allowed himself to glance, Qui-Gon recognized who it was. The surprise hit him broadside. Andra.
"Behind you, Obi-Wan," he said in a low voice. "Be prepared."
The energy bars retracted. The guards rushed forward. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan activated their lightsabers simultaneously and leaped toward them. Blaster fire pinged around them, and they deflected it, swinging in a blur of motion faster than the eye could follow.
Another swoop joined Andra. The two crafts dived toward them, engines screaming.
"Jump!" he called to Obi-Wan. He leaped off the scaffold as the swoop dived to scoop him up. The other vehicle did the same for Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon caught a quick flash of a determined
Den.
Qui-Gon landed on his feet. He held on to the driver's shoulders and lowered himself into the seat as the swoop dived, turned, climbed, hovered, and turned again, trying to evade the guards giving chase.
Qui-Gon still had his lightsaber in his hand. He deflected blaster fire as the craft darted around the guards. He saw Obi-Wan doing the same. It was hard to keep his balance on the agile swoop, but he managed.
In a daring move, the swoops headed straight for the prison towers. Qui-Gon saw the towers grow closer and closer, so close he could see the cracks and pits in the surface. At the very last moment, Andra turned sharply. They came so close that Qui-Gon's hand was scraped. Two of the swoops pursuing them crashed into the towers. Andra and Den zoomed away.
Qui-Gon allowed himself one glance back. The last thing he saw was Xanatos, standing straight and tall and unmoving, watching him go. He could feel the coiled hatred spring at him from across the distance. They would meet again, he knew. Xanatos would make sure of it.
Chapter 10
When she was sure they were away from their pursuers, Andra loosened her hood.
"Thanks for not falling off," she called back to Qui-Gon.
"Thanks for rescuing us," Qui-Gon responded. "I was almost starting to worry."
She grinned and gunned the motor. In another few minutes, they landed in the alley near her house. Den and Andra concealed the swoops behind a pile of rusty abandoned floaters.
"Whoa!" Den called as he swept off his hood. "Did we beat those odds, or what? The next time I'm outrunning some security police, I want a Jedi at my back!"
Obi-Wan didn't respond to Den's friendly grin. "You wouldn't have had to rescue us if you'd warned us back at UniFy," he pointed out.
"I was about to," Den protested. "I didn't get the chance. At least I came through in the end."
"Only because I insisted," Andra said. "I'm the one who proposed the rescue."
"Kill me now if I wasn't going to! You didn't give me a chance!" Den protested.
"I suggest we continue this inside," Qui-Gon said, his eyes sweeping the sky overhead with a glance. "In my experience, security on Telos doesn't give up easily."
They climbed up the drain and entered Andra's snug home. Andra began to heat so
me drinks and set out a plate of bread and fruit. Obi-Wan reached for it hungrily.
"I don't know what to do now," Andra said worriedly. "We can't break into UniFy again. I'm sure they plugged the holes in their security. We'll never be able to get the proof we need that UniFy is tied to Offworld."
"If only we'd had more time to look," Den said.
Qui-Gon gave him a hard look. "But you weren't looking very hard for an Offworld connection, were you?"
Den shifted in his seat. "Of course I was. There were too many files. You said so yourself."
"I saw your screen, Den," Qui-Gon said. "You weren't looking at the Sacred Pool files. You were looking up Katharsis."
"Katharsis?" Andra turned. "Why?"
"Don't look at me like that, all of you," Den protested. "I'm an honest man!"
Qui-Gon cocked an eyebrow. Obi-Wan looked disgusted. Andra blew out an exasperated breath.
"Okay, so I'm not one hundred percent honest," Den admitted. "But I'm loyal! I was looking up Katharsis. When I worked there I found out by chance - well, not so much by chance, but because I broke into some files - that UniFy controls Katharsis."
Andra swiveled, the pot in her hand. "You mean the government doesn't control it?"
Den nodded. "They just want you to think they do. If everyone knew that a corporation controlled Katharsis, they'd realize that. .."
"UniFy decides how the profits from Katharsis are spent," Andra said rapidly. "Which means they totally control our public lands."
Den nodded. "UniFy came up with the idea for Katharsis in the first place. They paid off some key government people in order to push it through. Basically, the government is in UniFy's pocket."
Andra sank into a chair, stunned. "Do you think that UniFy deliberately devised Katharsis just to distract the population from their intentions? They're going to open all our global parks for development. And we're going to pay for it!"
"It's pretty diabolical," Den said. "You almost have to admire it. Some kind of evil genius had to come up with this plan."
Qui-Gon exchanged a glance with Obi-Wan. "Xanatos," he said quietly. The plan had a simple elegance to its evil that was pure Xanatos.