by Джуд Уотсон
"I don't think you have," Qui-Gon said. "I think you've left something out. I think your gang hired Fligh to steal Senator S'orn's data pad. Most likely Fligh had to agree to do it because he owed you money."
Helb didn't say anything. He crossed his arms.
"Maybe Fligh didn't turn over the data pad. Maybe he thought he could get more money out of you," Qui-Gon guessed, watching Helb carefully. "Maybe that's why you put the deathmark on his head. You suspected he had given the data pad to Didi."
"Listen, I'm not pretending to be overflowing with goodness, Jedi," Helb said. "I'd sell out my brother for money. But we didn't put a death mark on Fligh. Now get out of here before I call the security droids."
Qui-Gon didn't move. He put one hand on his lightsaber hilt. Obi-Wan did the same.
Helb shifted uncomfortably. "Look, we don't want to get on the wrong side of the Jedi."
"Then tell us the truth, and we will go," Qui-Gon said.
"All right, all right. Yes, we did get Fligh to steal the data pad. The bantha-brain stole the wrong one! He should have taken her official data pad, not the one with her personal correspondence. But it worked out fine, because we didn't know she was planning to resign. We got what we wanted anyway. Her legislation is dead. Why would we put a death mark on Fligh? Sure, he was a weasel, but he was a valuable weasel. Sent a lot of clients our way."
"High stole two data pads that day," Qui-Gon said. "Do you know what happened to the other one?"
Helb shrugged. "Probably sold it, or gave it to someone he owed money to."
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon exchanged a glance. "Didi," Obi-Wan murmured.
"Maybe," Helb said, overhearing him. "I'm sure Fligh owed Didi, too. Didi is the shrewdest sabacc player around. We all played that game of sabacc together. I lost to Didi, too. None of us could pay off Didi that day, but he let us slide. I didn't pay him off until a few days later. Luckily I had something to trade with."
"What did you trade?" Qui-Gon asked.
"I passed along this hideout I had in the Cascardi Mountains," Helb said. "I never would have used it, anyway. I won it in a game of chance off some old fool wrapped in a pile of cloaks at the Splendor. As a matter of fact, it was the day I met the two of you —"
Helb didn't get a chance to finish his sentence.
The two Jedi were gone.
Chapter 14
From above, the house in the Cascardi Mountains looked quiet. It was a white, three-story structure built into the mountainside that blended in with the snow. They could see Didi's cruiser parked on the small landing platform that was off the second floor. There was no sign of Didi and Astri.
Qui-Gon landed their cruiser next to Didi's. They climbed out and approached the door with caution. They kept their lightsabers in their hands but not activated. This time, they would be prepared.
Qui-Gon concentrated, listening for movement, for anything out of the ordinary. Obi-Wan was tense beside him. He trusted the boy's instincts. "What do you think?" he asked quietly. "I'm not feeling anything clearly," Obi-Wan said. "Yet something is wrong. As though Didi and Astri are not in danger, but danger is here."
Qui-Gon nodded. "I feel that, too. She has lured them here. No wonder she remained on Coruscant and trailed us. She did not have to track Didi and Astri. She knew where they were. The sooner we get them away from here, the better."
A window slid open above them, and Didi popped his head out. Relief creased his features. "It's you, thank the moons and stars. I'll activate the door for you. I am so very glad to see you."
A moment later the door slid open. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan walked inside and were met by Didi as he hurried down a curving ramp from upstairs.
"Is everything all right?" Qui-Gon asked, clipping his lightsaber back onto his utility belt.
Didi nodded. "I suppose. At first we were glad to be here. We felt safe. The place is so remote and hidden. But now the isolation is getting on our nerves. I think we would feel safer back on Coruscant."
"Where is Astri?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Here." Astri appeared from the other room. "I am so happy to see you both. The hours have been very long."
"No sign of trouble?" Qui-Gon asked. "Nothing out of the ordinary?"
"Nothing," Didi said.
"We keep a lookout," Astri said. "We watch out the windows for cruisers. We saw you approach. We weren't sure who it was." She tapped a blaster strapped to her hip. "I was ready."
"Have you ever used a blaster before, Astri?" Qui-Gon asked cautiously.
"How hard could it be?" Astri said. "Point and shoot. Easy as making a meal."
After having seen her kitchen, Qui-Gon was not sure he trusted Astri's shooting. "I'll give you a lesson in a moment," he told her. "How about you, Didi? Do you have a weapon?"
"Are you serious?" Didi shook his head. "I don't like Astri having one, either. How do you think I managed to stay out of trouble all these years?"
"We must speak to you both seriously," Qui-Gon said. "You must tell us the truth. Your safety depends on it."
"But you said we were safe here," Didi said nervously.
Qui-Gon shook his head. "I did not. This only bought us time. I'm afraid time has run out."
"What do you need to know?" Astri asked. Qui-Gon turned to Didi. "Fligh stole two data pads. We think one of them is the key to your problem. He must have given one to you, Didi. Did he leave a case, or a bin, or anything with you? Could he have hidden something when your back was turned?"
"I would never turn my back on Fligh," Didi said. "You have asked me this already, my friend. I give you the same answer. Fligh gave me nothing."
Obi-Wan noticed a flush spread over Astri's cheeks.
"What about you, Astri?" he asked.
She glanced at her father. "Well. Sometimes I used Fligh for more than sweeping."
"You used Fligh?" Didi asked, incredulous. "After you told me I should not associate with him?"
Astri looked uncomfortable. "We were not getting enough business. I'd spent so much money on the cafй. If it closed you'd never let me forget it. And I knew that Fligh hung around the Senate. I paid him to pass along tips to me about which Senators would be hosting important dinners. Then I could have a head start and bid on the job. Recently Fligh came to me with two pieces of information: one, that someone might throw Senator S'orn a going-away party soon, and two, that Jenna Zan Arbor was hosting a testimonial dinner. I paid him for both tips."
"You paid him for information? Ha!" Didi cried. "I am not the only one in this family to stretch the truth a bit!"
"This isn't the time to reproach Astri," Qui-Gon said sternly.
"I am not reproaching! I am congratulating," Didi insisted.
Astri's cheeks were pink. "Anyway, Fligh gave me a data pad for safekeeping. He told me he had just traded for it. He asked me to keep it for him. I was in the middle of something, so I stuck it in one of the ovens. The oven was broken," she added hastily. "To tell you the truth, I forgot about it until the night we left."
"Where is it now?" Qui-Gon asked urgently.
"Here," Astri said. "I brought it with us. My data pad was smashed, so I thought I'd use this one."
She reached over to a nearby table and handed it to Qui-Gon. "I haven't had a chance to see what's on it yet."
Qui-Gon quickly accessed the files on the data pad. A strange code streamed across the screen.
"The files are all coded," he mused.
"They must be Jenna Zan Arbor's," Obi-Wan said, looking over his shoulder. "These are probably formulas."
"Yes. Let me send it to Tahl. She can take it to our code experts." Qui-Gon jacked into the data pad and transferred the files to his own corn-link. He then contacted Tahl.
"Sure, send it along," Tahl said. "I'll get right on it and contact you as soon as we break it."
"This is high priority," Qui-Gon told her. He switched off the connection. "I don't think we should wait. I have several destinations in mind. There are contacts who can hide you," h
e told Didi and Astri.
"I won't mind leaving this place," Astri said with a shiver. "It's awfully lonely. Just us and the lonesome wind. The caretaker told us there's no one here at this time of year. At first we thought this an advantage."
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon froze.
"Caretaker?" Qui-Gon asked.
"She came with the place," Didi said. "Relax, Qui-Gon. She's at least a hundred years old."
"Where is she?" Qui-Gon asked, his hand on his lightsaber.
Astri looked puzzled. "She brings provisions once a day. She's not here now."
Qui-Gon's uneasy feeling changed to alarm. Simultaneously, the two Jedi activated their lightsabers.
"Let's get to the cruiser," Qui-Gon said. "But our things —" Astri began.
"Leave them."
They started toward the door, but it was too late. At that moment, durasteel coverings on the windows slid down with a clang. They heard the harsh sound of locks snapping throughout the house. The snug hideaway had turned into a prison.
They were trapped. And Qui-Gon had no doubt that the bounty hunter was in the house with them.
Chapter 15
"What's going on?" Didi whispered.
"Where is the lighting console?" Qui-Gon asked Didi.
"Over there." Didi pointed to a console that was mounted on a table.
Qui-Gon strode over and powered down all the lights. Darkness dropped like a curtain. Obi-Wan could not see a thing, but he waited, knowing his eyes would adjust.
"Remember how she fought last time, Padawan," Qui-Gon said to him in a murmur. "Her strategy is to attack those we defend in order to keep us busy. Expect her to move in their direction first. Watch her shoulders to tell you which way she will move."
"I have the data pad, Qui-Gon," Astri whispered. "It's in my tunic."
"Keep it safe," Qui-Gon whispered back. "We don't need it anymore, but it is our insurance. If the bounty hunter thinks we can tell her where it is, she won't kill us."
"Ah, reassuring news," Didi said. His voice shook with terror.
"Stay between us," Qui-Gon instructed Didi and Astri. "We can't protect you if you stray. We're going to cut through those window shields."
They moved forward with Astri and Didi between them. Obi-Wan's vision had adjusted and he kept his eyes moving around the room, waiting for a shadow to move and materialize into the bounty hunter.
But even he was not prepared for how fast she struck. The laser whip came out of nowhere, spiraling in the air toward Astri. Qui-Gon leaped forward, lightsaber already slashing downward. It collided with the whip. A harsh buzzing sound rose from the contact.
The whip curled back and struck again, this time toward Didi. Obi-Wan was prepared, stepping into his left-to-right sweep. The whip wrapped around his lightsaber and smoked before uncurling and flying backward. The lightsaber could not cut it.
He could see her now. At least he could see the shape of her body. He could not see her eyes. She was dressed all in black; it was hard to track her as she moved. Only the slight gleam of her boots and armor told him where she was heading. She did not make a sound.
The whip unfurled again, dancing over their heads as though it were a living thing. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan kept their lightsabers moving, twirling them above their heads to fend off the lethal whip. All the while Qui-Gon pressed steadily forward.
Suddenly Astri began to fire her blaster. Her shots went widely off the mark, peppering the durasteel over the windows. The blasts ricocheted back toward them. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon had to move quickly to deflect them. In the meantime, the whip snaked out again and knocked the blaster from Astri's hand. It skittered across the floor.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan kept moving toward the windows. The bounty hunter realized their objective and sprang forward, somersaulting in a blur toward them. Her move ended in a sharp kick, close enough to land a glancing blow at Astri's ribs. A slight clang resulted from the sole of her boot hitting Astri's tunic. Obi-Wan saw the knowledge in the bounty hunter's face. She knew that Astri had the data pad.
Pushing Astri behind him, Qui-Gon launched an attack at the bounty hunter. She kept the whip moving in a blur of light. Suddenly she flipped backward in a series of fast moves, eluding the Jedi. She was still between them and the windows. In a quick reversal of strategy, Qui-Gon pushed Astri and Didi up the ramp.
"Run," he directed.
The bounty hunter was still flipping over, thinking she needed to put distance between herself and the Jedi. She would need time to find her feet and reverse again to face them.
"Run, Padawan," Qui-Gon said.
Obi-Wan dashed up the ramp. He guessed what Qui-Gon was thinking. If they could get to the windows above, they could cut through the durasteel. From there it would be an easy drop to the landing platform. He heard Qui-Gon hit the ramp behind him.
As they reached the upper level, their keen hearing told them that the bounty hunter was in fast pursuit. Quickly, Qui-Gon opened a shelving unit with various cubbyholes that ran along the wall with the windows.
"Don't come out until I get you," he told Didi and Astri, herding them inside.
He shut the doors after them and motioned to Obi-Wan to get to work on the durasteel blocked windows. Then he rushed forward to meet the bounty hunter as she ran up the curving ramp. She came into sight in seconds but instead of meeting Qui-Gon she gave a leap in the air. She grabbed onto the system of conduit pipes near the ceiling and used her momentum to fly over Qui-Gon's head, straight at Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan kicked out with one leg as he tried to turn to meet the attack. He had been in an awkward position, just beginning to cut through the durasteel with his lightsaber. He felt the studded spikes on the end of the whip catch his leg as he turned. The pain seared him, but he kept moving, raising his lightsaber to meet the flashing whip.
Without Astri and Didi to defend, the Jedi were now free to attack. They moved toward the bounty hunter as one unit, lightsabers whirling and arcing, anticipating her moves and the striking, curling whip.
Obi-Wan remembered Qui-Gon's directive to watch the bounty hunter's shoulders. Her footwork was fast but she had a tendency to lean into her moves.
She began to retreat backward, though the action of her whip did not falter. In the glow of the lightsabers and whip, he could read an expression on her face: sheer rage. No doubt she had never fought Jedi like this before.
When at last she stood at the edge of the curving ramp, Obi-Wan made a bold move. He copied her action, leaping up to grab onto the conduit pipes overhead, then as the whip snaked and curled around him, drove into her with both feet.
She let out a surprised sound as she flew back, high above the ramp. She landed with a solid thud, then continued to skid down the ramp. She tried to stop her descent but the smooth stone was slippery. Her leg twisted underneath her and her head hit the stone wall with another sickening thud.
She lay still.
"Hurry, Padawan." Qui-Gon strode to the windows. Together with Obi-Wan he cut through the durasteel. It peeled back, leaving an opening big enough for them to get through.
Qui-Gon threw open the cubbyhole doors. Quickly, Obi-Wan helped Didi and Astri to the window ledge.
"You'll have to carry Astri," Qui-Gon told him. "I'll take Didi."
Without pausing to reply, Obi-Wan swept up the slender Astri in his arms. Qui-Gon picked up plump Didi with the same ease. Then they leaped into the air and landed softly on the ground below.
Qui-Gon jumped into the pilot seat of their cruiser. He fired up the engine. Red warning lights flashed, and there was no answering surge of power.
"She tampered with it," he said tersely. "Let's try ours," Didi suggested, already running toward his own cruiser.
They followed, but Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were not surprised when Didi's cruiser would not operate.
"She has to have transport nearby. If we —" Qui-Gon began, but his words were drowned out by a piercing, animallike cry.
For a moment, the light was blo
cked out as the bounty hunter threw herself out the window above. Her lips were curled back in a snarl.
She landed on one leg, whip flashing, and went straight for Obi-Wan.
Chapter 16
Qui-Gon sprang forward to place himself between Obi-Wan and the bounty hunter as Didi and Astri leaped back to get out of his way. Obi-Wan used the opportunity to quickly scan the mountainside. It was crucial that they locate some form of transport. They had to get Didi and Astri away, even if he and Qui-Gon had to hold off the bounty hunter long enough for Didi and Astri to take off.