by Jude Watson
site of the recording of the great wrongs the Absolutes had visited on New
Apsolon.
By the look on his Master's face, Obi-Wan could tell that Qui-Gon had
reached the same conclusion.
"We must go tonight," Qui-Gon said. "Tomorrow will be too late."
CHAPTER 16
They sped through the dark, empty streets back to the Civilized
Sector. Obi-Wan knew that Qui-Gon felt that Balog was in their grasp. And
right now Qui-Gon was giving every sign of a man bent on revenge.
He was almost afraid to say anything. The look on Qui-Gon's face was
so forbidding. The years of experience with his Master, the closeness
they'd shared, it all seemed to evaporate in the night air. Qui-Gon was
like a stranger.
He had thought that if only he could be with his Master, he would be
able to help him control his ravaged feelings of grief and anger. He had
spent the past days in torment, thinking that he needed to be by Qui-Gon's
side. Now he saw that his presence had no meaning for Qui-Gon. His Master
was lost in his own quest. If he was bent on revenge, Obi-Wan might not be
able to interfere. Qui-Gon's will combined with his great skills might make
him impossible to stop. Obi-Wan felt chilled at the thought. He would have
to try.
Tonight he could lose his Master to the dark path. The impossible had
become possible. He could feel it in the dark energy within the Force,
swirling and crashing around Qui-Gon. Never had he felt so helpless.
Obi-Wan gathered his own connection to the Force. He resolved that no
matter what, he would remain by his Master's side. He could not lose hope.
He would protect his Master from himself if he had to. He would not lose
Qui-Gon on this dark night.
Qui-Gon pulled up in front of the Supreme Governor's residence.
"Master, we should contact Mace Windu," Obi-Wan said.
Qui-Gon leaped out of the speeder. "Whatever you want."
Obi-Wan activated his comlink as he jumped out of the speeder and ran
after Qui-Gon. He spoke hastily into the comlink to Mace about what they
had learned.
"Wait for us," Mace said. "We're close."
"It's too late," Obi-Wan said, as Qui-Gon began cutting a hole in the
front door of the residence with his lightsaber.
He shut off the comlink and followed Qui-Gon through the hole. The
security devices sounded an alarm, and a security officer emerged from the
booth. He eyed the Jedi but did not draw his blaster.
"Lenz called ahead," he said. "I'll shut these down. I already
disabled the link to World Security."
Qui-Gon nodded. Obi-Wan was glad for this bit of luck. The Workers'
spy was on duty. Of course the twins had heard the commotion, but at least
security reinforcements wouldn't be called. They would only have to deal
with the security in the residence itself, at least for a time.
Lenz had given them details on how to reach the tunnel. Qui-Gon ran
toward the back of the house, Obi-Wan matching his stride. They knew the
entrance was in a storage area for the Kitchens.
They burst into the storage area. Eritha stood casually in the middle
of the floor, holding two blasters aimed at their chests.
"You have to kill me to get through that door," she said. She looked
older than her years. Her face was pale, and her eyes glittered. Her gold
hair straggled down her back.
"I am prepared to do that," Qui-Gon said. Obi-Wan did not glance at
his Master. He hoped Qui-Gon was bluffing. He did not know how close to the
edge Qui-Gon was. He couldn't sense his Master any longer. There was only
grayness and static between them.
"You think I will not attack because you are a young girl," Qui-Gon
said. "But the moment you set out on your path to power, you took on the
consequences of an adult. You are responsible for Tahl's death."
"I am not responsible!" Eritha said shrilly. "Others have survived
the sensory deprivation device. Why couldn't she? She was a Jedi!"
"She was locked in it for days," Qui-Gon said. "Far longer than any
Absolute prisoner."
He spoke in a flat, unemotional tone. Somehow he had pushed grief
down so far that it did not tinge his words. That worried Obi-Wan more than
his earlier display of anger. Did this mean that Qui-Gon had now accepted
his revenge and was willing and ready to act on it?
"I didn't have anything against Tahl," Eritha said. "She is a
casualty of war. We brought her here because we knew she would come.
Everything was all planned. We needed a Jedi presence at first to cover for
us. With Jedi support the rest would be easy. Balog would kidnap us and
Roan would resign. Alani would run for his post. Then we found out about
the list. Balog was on it. We knew Roan had it, and we knew he was waiting
to expose Balog. He thought Balog had been his friend. He didn't want to
expose him, but he would. Everyone would know that Balog had been an
Absolute. It would have spoiled our plans! We had to get that list. You'd
think as head of World Security that Balog would be helpful. He was
useless. He leaked the information to the Absolutes, and someone stole the
list. Only he didn't bring it to Balog. He kept it so he could sell it. We
didn't know who it was."
"Oleg," Obi-Wan said. He wanted to keep Eritha talking. He was uneasy
about how Qui-Gon's urgency had changed to a deadly calm. He could feel
through the Force that there was no serenity in this calm. Qui-Gon was
staring at Eritha as though she were an obstacle, not a person.
"Yes. Just our luck-the Absolute who gets his hands on the list turns
out to be a Worker spy," Eritha said. "But all we knew then was that
someone had it. We needed help - more help than Balog could give us. We
needed someone with brains and courage. It was lucky that Tahl was coming.
I knew we could get her to help us without knowing it. She was generous
that way. She would do what we asked. She still thought of us as helpless
young girls with no mother or real father."
Qui-Gon closed his eyes.
"We let her think it was her idea to infiltrate the Absolutes. We
knew she'd find out about the list and try to get it for us."
"She trusted you," Obi-Wan said.
Eritha shrugged. "Everyone trusts us. That's our advantage. We are
the daughters of the great hero Ewane. The great hero who barely spent one
day in his daughters' presence but passed them off to strangers to raise.
The great hero who only thought about his planet, not his own flesh and
blood." Eritha's lip curled. "Why shouldn't we use that trust? Tahl did
everything we asked and more. When she was seen escaping with Oleg, we
thought she had the list. But she didn't bring it to us, so we had to take
it. Everything was completely logical. If Tahl had only told us the truth -
that she didn't have the list - she wouldn't be dead."
"Balog would have killed her anyway," Obi-Wan said.
"You don't know that," Eritha said craftily. "He might have let her
go."
"You're lying," Qui-Gon said flatly.
"Maybe." Obi-Wan was shocked at the cruelty in Eritha's eyes, like a
large creature playing with a tiny one before gobbling it up. "You'll never
know. Maybe it's your fault that Tahl is dead, Qui-Gon."
Obi-Wan saw the color drain from Qui-Gon's face. He saw his hand move
toward his lightsaber. Obi-Wan could wait no longer. He threw himself
forward at Eritha, who had locked eyes with Qui-Gon, taunting him.
His leg shot out, knocking one blaster from her hand. She screamed
but he was already twisting behind her, grabbing her other wrist and
wrenching the blaster from it. He tucked both in his belt.
"You hurt me!" she cried, grabbing her wrist.
"Qui-Gon, hurry," Obi-Wan urged. His Master hadn't moved. But at his
words he rushed forward toward the tunnel entrance.
"You killed her, Qui-Gon!" Eritha screamed after them as they
accessed the tunnel door. "Live with that, if you live at all!"
CHAPTER 17
Qui-Gon had no doubt that within minutes Eritha would send security
attack droids after them. He knew that ahead of them, the Absolutes would
be well armed. He gave no more thought to the obstacles than to a pesky
insect. He did not strategize. He would charge ahead, and he would win.
That was all he knew.
Qui-Gon saw Obi-Wan give a quick glance at him. He told himself not
to display the temper he had showed at Mota's. His Padawan was worried
about how quick to anger he was. Qui-Gon himself had been surprised at how
his anger had continued to rise. He knew he was feeding it instead of
letting it go. It gave him speed and focus.
He knew his attitude was bringing him dangerously close to the dark
side. He knew with a chance for silence and stillness he would be able to
see this. But he didn't have the luxury.
He would have to count on his own ability to control his anger at the
proper time.
The tunnel ran below the governor's residence. It had been unused for
many years, and was dark and stuffy. Qui-Gon ran by the light of his saber.
He knew Obi-Wan was behind him. His Padawan would give him support, but he
knew he did not need it. This was between him and Balog.
Eritha's words had stunned him, but he had filed them away for the
long sleepless nights ahead of him. Balog was his object.
The tunnel ended in a durasteel door. Qui-Gon cut through it and
stepped inside. He was in the lower level of the museum.
"Droids behind us, Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan spoke quietly in his ear.
"Coming from the residence."
A nuisance. They would have to be dealt with before they could
proceed.
Qui-Gon turned as the first droids tumbled through the opening,
already engaging them in blaster fire. They were lucky. The droids were
programmed to advance, but they were not programmed to strategize. They
simply took the easiest route to their prey and poured through the opening
in the door, where Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were waiting.
Obi-Wan deflected fire while slicing at the droids. Impatiently, Qui-
Gon swung his light-saber like a club. He had no time for finesse. He
needed to cut down as many droids as possible in the shortest amount of
time.
Obi-Wan was a blur by his side. Qui-Gon was grateful for his
Padawan's speed. Soon the floor was littered with smoking droids.
There were only two more left. "Take them down," Qui-Gon told Obi-
Wan, and raced away.
It was lucky that he and Obi-Wan had taken the tour of the museum
upon their arrival on New Apsolon. He could remember each level and room.
This level was used for storage, so they hadn't toured it. The floors and
walls were bare and damp. On the floor overhead were the cells and torture
rooms, as well as the offices. No doubt the Absolutes were camped there.
Including Balog.
Qui-Gon accessed the turbolift to the next level. He strode out into
the hall. He saw a figure ahead. It was a man dressed in a navy tunic. An
Absolute. He froze when he saw Qui-Gon. Then he doubled back and ran the
way he had come.
Qui-Gon chased after him. No doubt he had gone to spread an alarm.
The Absolutes weren't expecting invaders, but they would meet them with
resistance.
He burst into the room just as the Absolute activated a row of attack
droids that had been on display. To Qui-Gon's surprise, the attack droids
immediately lined up. They were operational. The Absolutes had armed the
displays in the museum.
This was more sophisticated weaponry than Eritha's droids. Blaster
fire was erratic and came from the droids' chests, foreheads, and hands.
They could wheel and maneuver and twist themselves into flexible positions.
Qui-Gon was outnumbered, but he refused to be outmatched. Blaster
fire rocketed toward him in a fiery curtain. Every part of him was
vulnerable. His lightsaber had to keep pace with the rapid fire as he took
evasive action. He had a shock when he realized that he might have to
retreat.
He felled two droids, but the others were relentless. Some rushed
toward him, blasting fire. The others flanked him and aimed as they tried
to get behind him. Qui-Gon felt sweat roll down his forehead, stinging his
eyes. He used the Force to smash one against the wall, but it reformed and
came after him again. He used his lightsaber to cut it in half.
He had never been happier to see Obi-Wan in his life. His Padawan
suddenly leaped into the fray, lightsaber swinging. With Obi-Wan's help,
Qui-Gon was able to regroup and smash the two droids to his left. The two
Jedi swung wide and came at the droids' line from each end. They each
felled two, then leaped toward the center of the line to destroy two more
droids as they shifted into position.
Smoke rose, choking them. Obi-Wan took out the last droid, and they
stumbled out of the small room.
Obi-Wan leaned over to take a breath of pure air. "Where do you think
Balog is?"
The question seemed to echo inside Qui-Gon's brain. He realized that
he hadn't given much thought to Balog's whereabouts. He had just charged
ahead. That wasn't like him.
I am not thinking clearly, he told himself. / am reacting, not
acting.
He realized this meant he was on the edge of his control. But even as
he recognized this, he recognized something equally chilling: He did not
care.
And suddenly, he knew where Balog might be. Remembering the tour, he
recalled a tech center on this floor. Since Balog had recently stolen the
list from Irini, he was most likely accessing it on a datascreen. He would
certainly waste no time erasing his name and looking for others to
denounce.
Before he could answer Obi-Wan, more droids wheeled around the corner
behind them. They felt a warming in the Force before the blaster fire
began. Once again, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had to use every particle of
concentration to defeat the agile droids. The blaster fire seemed to come
from everywhere.
The droids were between them and the data center. Rage filled Qui-Gon
at the delay. Every second that passed meant that Balog would have a chance
to escape.
He charged at the droids, swinging hi
s lightsaber in a constant arc,
hardly noticing when blaster fire zinged near his ears or barely missed an
arm or hand. He savagely swung at the droids, destroying one after another.
Obi-Wan tried to protect him as best he could, but even he could not keep
up with the fierceness of Qui-Gon's attack.
Qui-Gon broke through the line of droids, kicking one aside and
cleaving it in two. He had always thought that giving in to rage would make
him sloppy. Instead, he felt precise. He felt powerful. His rage filled him
with purpose.
The droids were defeated, in pieces, smoking around him. He dashed
ahead.