by Джуд Уотсон
Uta S'orn shrugged as the members of the royal guard rushed off.
"They will find nothing."
"If that is so, then I will apologize most humbly," Min K'atel said.
He turned to the guard droids. "Surround Senator S'orn."
The guard droids wheeled in formation. But instead of turning on Uta S'orn, they turned on the Jedi.
Chapter 20
"They have been reprogrammed," Qui-Gon said tersely.
The words had barely left his mouth when the droids began to fire.
Blaster fire erupted in a flash around the Jedi.
Only the group immediately around them realized what was happening.
The partygoers on the lawn thought the flash was part of the celebrations.
They applauded as the Jedi began to spin, their lightsabers a blur.
Musicians played nearby, and the people turned toward the music.
Obi-Wan thought of the many children surrounding them. His primary objective was to contain the battle so that they would not be injured by stray blaster fire. He knew the others had the same thought.
The droids stayed in formation, wheeling to attack and then regrouping. Uta S'orn slipped off her seat of honor and disappeared into the crowd.
The Jedi did not need to confer on strategy. Along with protecting the Belascans in the garden, they had to get to Uta S'orn's quarters. They formed a tight circle to deflect the blaster fire and attack the royal droids. As they fought, they moved steadily forward, fanning out to break the strict formation of the guards.
"Cover me," Qui-Gon said tersely.
Adi, Siri, and Obi-Wan stepped up the attack. They were a blur of movement now, moving together, covering one another and then reversing to deliver a furious attack on the droids.
Obi-Wan reached out to Adi and Siri, catching the rhythm of their battle strategy. Adi relied on Siri's quick footwork and gymnastic leaps.
Siri depended on Adi's dazzling lightsaber action. Together, they were an amazing pair.
But even as they littered the grounds with broken droids, more arrived in what seemed to be a never-ending stream. They poured out of the palace guard room, blaster rifles pointed at the Jedi.
Fighting battle droids had its own challenges. Their weakness was the same as their strength: They did not think. They responded to stimulus.
They saw beings as targets to be destroyed. Their complicated wiring could be compromised by one good blow. Yet their accuracy was impeccable.
Even as he fought, Obi-Wan kept in mind that Qui-Gon had run into the palace alone. He would meet Ona Nobis there. He remembered with alarm how Qui-Gon had not been able to clear the fence earlier. Qui-Gon needed backup.
He knew Adi was thinking the same thing. Without a word or a glance, they accelerated their drive with a furious series of volleys. They pushed forward until they were at the entrance to the palace.
Obi-Wan launched a quick reversal, sweeping up with his lightsaber, then leaping and twisting in midair to come down behind the droids. He attacked from behind, leveling four with two blows. Meanwhile, Adi and Siri slipped inside the palace. Obi-Wan leaped again, this time landing on the threshold of the entrance. With a backward kick that sent a droid flying, he raced inside.
The palace was dim after the blazing lights of the festival outside.
Obi-Wan sensed rather than saw movement. Adi and Siri were heading up a grand staircase.
"This way," Adi called to him as she ran.
Obi-Wan started for the stairs. Suddenly, blaster fire erupted near him. Chips of stone flew from the step where his foot had been. He turned to attack, but his balance was slightly off. He knew his countermove would be clumsy.
He saw a blur near his shoulder. Siri had leaped from the top stair.
She twisted in midair, holding her lightsaber high. As she came down, she sliced off the head of a royal guard droid.
"Thanks," Obi-Wan said.
"Anytime."
Obi-Wan raced up the grand staircase, Siri now behind him. He called on the Force to direct him, following the stir of air and heat that Adi had left in her pursuit. He ran down long corridors. Ahead, he heard the sound of shouting.
He burst into a high-ceilinged room. Jenna Zan Arbor stood in the center, her hands in front of her. Noor was bound and shackled with energy cuffs at his ankles and wrists.
"I am holding the formula for the eradication of the waterborne bacteria," Jenna Zan Arbor said, holding up a palm-sized datapad. "There is one crucial linkage missing from the version the scientists hold. Only I can cure this world. If you kill me, many will die."
Qui-Gon's lightsaber was held at his side. Adi stood near him. Obi- Wan had stopped short. He waited for the two Jedi Masters to decide on a strategy.
"We do not want to kill you," Qui-Gon said.
"Capture is death to me," Jenna Zan Arbor said. "It's freedom or nothing."
Adi and Qui-Gon did not look at each other. Yet Obi-Wan sensed that they were communicating. Noor's eyes were closed, but Obi-Wan felt the Force from him, as well. And this time Zan Arbor had no instruments to measure it.
He felt, rather than saw, Qui-Gon gather his strength. Obi-Wan felt its power.
Elation surged through him. Qui-Gon was back.
The datapad flew from Jenna Zan Arbor's hand and into Qui-Gon's suddenly extended left palm. At the same time, he leaped forward, his lightsaber slicing the air. Jenna Zan Arbor flinched, but he merely slashed at a hanging behind her. A large tapestry on the wall flipped over to land on top of her. At the same time, Adi sprang forward to free Noor.
Qui-Gon calmly tucked the datapad in his utility belt. He bent to capture Jenna Zan Arbor as she came up from underneath the tapestry, coughing from the dust.
"After all your experiments with the Force, in the end you failed to understand its power," Qui-Gon said.
She fixed him with a look of rage. "I should have killed you when I could."
"That," Qui-Gon said, "was your other mistake."
Obi-Wan looked around for Siri. She should have been right behind him. She was not. Alarm ticked inside him. Siri was always where the battle was.
And where was Ona Nobis?
Obi-Wan turned and ran back down the long corridor. He reached out to the Force, searching for Siri. She was close. He could feel her. In times of danger, their connection grew closer.
She was above him.
He raced to the staircase. It curved up and around and he lost sight of the top in the dimness. Obi-Wan dashed up the curving staircase. He paused at each landing but heard and felt nothing. She was still above him.
At last he reached the top. A long corridor with thick carpets stretched before him. Frustrated, Obi-Wan paused. Siri was not on this floor.
He spied a small door to his right. Obi-Wan flung it open. He saw a narrow staircase twisting upward to the roof. In that instant he knew that Siri was up there and needed him.
He charged up the stairs, activating his lightsaber as he ran. He burst out onto the roof.
For a moment, his eyes were dazzled. The festival lights blazed far below. The lawns beyond were inky black. This portion of the roof was flat, but gables and turrets surrounded him.
He saw the pale violet glow of Siri's lightsaber. Her back was to the roof wall. Ona Nobis had her cornered. The laser whip wrapped around Siri's lightsaber, nearly wrenching it from her grasp. Siri placed her other hand on the hilt and held on, but she stumbled. Ona Nobis withdrew the blaster from the holster strapped to her thigh.
Obi-Wan charged, even as he reached out a hand to direct the Force.
He could not count on his ability to move objects. But the Force surged this time, knocking the blaster from Ona Nobis's hand and sending her staggering slightly from surprise.
Obi-Wan did not stop, but leaped and twisted in order to come at Nobis from her other side, leaving Siri free to regroup.
The whip furled and his lightsaber hit it with a sizzle. Smoke curled upward. He twisted the l
ightsaber to release it. Ona Nobis reached for her second blaster.
Siri gripped her lightsaber and advanced. Sweat soaked her hair and tunic. Grimly she swung at Ona Nobis but the bounty hunter twisted away.
"Come on, children," Ona Nobis spoke at last. She bared her teeth.
"You can do better."
Obi-Wan catapulted forward. He worked in tandem with Siri now, the two of them flanking the bounty hunter. This time when she furled her whip he leaped high to meet it, corkscrewing his lightsaber around and around so that the whip would tangle momentarily. He knew that Siri would take the opportunity to attack.
Blaster fire pinged next to him. It was very close. He hung in the air, holding on to the whip, every muscle straining.
She tried to twist the whip out of his grasp. Her strength was extraordinary. He felt his wrist wrench and he began to fall. The whip spiraled out, free again. He used his fall to twist one more time and surprise her with a roundhouse kick. Her second blaster flew from her hand and she let out a howl of rage.
Siri bounded forward to join him as he landed. Now they had her cornered. She restored the whip to normal mode and sent it flying high to wrap around a drainpipe nearby.
He saw that she meant to escape. She never stayed if she felt she was losing. She pulled herself up and over Obi-Wan and Siri, using the whip to propel herself high above their heads. For a moment her body hung motionless in the dark night sky.
She was holding on with one hand. What was she doing with the other?
"Siri, watch out!" Obi-Wan cried, as a third blaster appeared in Ona Nobis's hand.
At that moment, Adi charged through the door to the roof. She leaped high, slashing at the bounty hunter's whip. She neatly sliced it in two.
A surprised look came over Ona Nobis's tight features. She hung suspended in midair for one quick moment. Then, without the whip's support, she tumbled over backward and fell through the inky night far, far below.
Chapter 21
Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Siri, and Adi stood outside the small building near the Senate on Coruscant.
"Ready?" Astri called.
"Ready," Qui-Gon answered.
Astri flipped a switch. Halo-lights glowed, spelling out DI I'S NEW CAF Astri sighed. "I guess it still needs work. That's what I get for using Fligh as an electrician."
"At least the food is good," Cholly said. He held up a chunk of spicy ahrisa. "This is the best I ever tasted."
"Mmmph," Tup agreed, his mouth full. Weez handed him a napkin.
Astri beckoned the Jedi inside and placed them at a center table. She poured tea for them.
"I don't like having Fligh as a partner, but he promised he would go straight," Astri said. "And he did find investors for us."
The cup stopped halfway to Qui-Gon's mouth. "Legitimate investors?"
"Of course!" Didi bustled forward from the bar. He had lost some weight during his illness, but had regained his rosy cheeks and merry temperament. "Fligh and I have learned our lesson."
"I hope so," Astri murmured. "All I know is, I'm keeping the financial records."
"I'm sure you'll be a great success," Adi said, toasting her.
Astri sat down at the table with them. "Have they set the punishment for Zan Arbor and S'orn?"
Qui-Gon nodded. "They have been exiled to a prison world for the rest of their lives."
"I can't believe Uta S'orn was an accomplice," Astri said, shaking her head. "Her best friend killed her son, and she still continued to do business with her!"
"Never underestimate the power of greed," Adi said soberly. "Uta S'orn wanted to make a fortune. Jenna Zan Arbor offered her that opportunity. She was the backing behind the scientific company on Belasco."
"Their plans nearly went awry when Zan Arbor was sidetracked by her interest in the Force," Qui-Gon added. "The fact that her friend had a Force-sensitive son was too tempting for Zan Arbor to resist. And when Uta S'orn found out what happened, her greed overcame her anger and grief."
"They are quite a pair," Siri said, grimacing.
Astri got up to fix the lunch she had promised to the Jedi. Siri beckoned to Obi-Wan and drew him into a quiet corner.
"I just wanted to say I was glad to see you turn up on the roof to help me fight Ona Nobis," she said. "I guess I thought less of you for fleeing the battle on Sorrus. I did not understand how powerful she was.
She could have killed me, Obi-Wan."
"I cannot imagine that," Obi-Wan said. The embarrassment on Siri's face made him want to smooth over the situation. "You are the best Padawan fighter I've ever seen."
"Except for you," Siri said. "I have fought you in Temple exercises many times, Obi-Wan. I should not have questioned your ability or your nerve. I was wrong." The words seemed torn from her reluctantly.
"I have been wrong myself," Obi-Wan said lightly. "As well you know."
"Adi says I have learned an important lesson," Siri went on. She made a wry face. "And I hate learning lessons. I thought too much of my own abilities. Even though I'm a Jedi, I am not invincible. There are many in the galaxy who can defeat me. Now I understand why we were taught over and over that our motive must be sure, our concentration total. I underestimated the dark side of the Force. I will try not to do that again.
And I know now that I will not always be strong. I will not be afraid to recognize when I am weak."
"An important lesson for Padawans," Adi said, overhearing them.
Obi-Wan threw a glance at Qui-Gon. "And for stubborn Jedi Masters."
Qui-Gon took a placid sip of tea. "I have no idea who you mean," he said, his eyes twinkling.
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