The Evil Experiment

by Jude Watson

uncertain. There wasn't a sign of life anywhere, not even vegetation. Who

  could survive in such a harsh land? Perhaps the tribe had moved on.

  They hiked to a sheltered canyon near the foothills of the mountain

  range. The coordinates matched what Tahl had given him, but there was no

  sign of a tribe. Obi-Wan slogged through the sand, looking for a clue.

  "If they were here, they aren't now," Obi-Wan said. He kicked at a

  rock. "I don't know how any living being could survive here. There's no

  food, no water."

  "I wouldn't be so sure." Astri bent down and showed him the underside

  of the rock. It was covered in a greenish substance. She grinned. "Hungry?"

  Obi-Wan smiled and turned to scan the walls of the canyon. "I think

  there might be caves in the canyon wall."

  Astri squinted. "Perhaps they take shelter there during the hot part

  of the day."

  "It's worth a look," Obi-Wan agreed.

  Suddenly, an eerie, high-pitched sound split the air. Obi-Wan could

  not tell if it was the wind, or some strange being.

  "What was that?" Astri asked fearfully.

  He glanced around, searching for movement. His hand went to his

  lightsaber. He sensed danger, but he did not know where it was located.

  The Force whirled around him, pulsating with the rhythm of the moving

  sand. He saw a flicker of movement high above. Something was flying down

  toward him from the canyon wall. Then, more and more shapes filled the air.

  Not shapes. Sorrusians. Obi-Wan and Astri were under attack!

  Obi-Wan leaped backward as one Sorrusian nearly landed on top of him.

  They were armed with weapons Obi-Wan had never seen before. They were

  carved from bone and sharpened on each end. His attackers whirled them in a

  circle so fast that the sharpened ends were just a deadly blur. There were

  ten, eleven, twelve of them. He was vastly outnumbered.

  Unused to battle, Astri stumbled backward, panic on her face at the

  numbers of Sorrusians. She fumbled for her vibroblade.

  Obi-Wan needed to move fast to cover Astri. He leaped and spun,

  neatly cleaving his opponent's weapon in two.

  "Stay behind me, Astri!" he called. She moved a few steps backward,

  already slashing with her vibroblade at an attacker from her right.

  Obi-Wan cleanly sliced another Sorrusian's weapon in two, and sprang

  to protect Astri from three Sorrusians advancing from different directions.

  Astri's vibroblade came down on the sharp blade of the Sorrusian

  weapon, slicing it to a dull end. Lightsaber pulsing, Obi-Wan whirled and

  dispatched two opponents with a sky-to-ground sweep followed by a quick

  reversal. He dropped to one knee and sliced the weapon of the third.

  The others had seen what the lightsaber could do and began to

  retreat. Obi-Wan saw this with relief. He did not want to harm any members

  of this tribe. Any chance he had of cooperation would be lost.

  One of the robed members of the tribe raised a hand and emitted a

  harsh, cawing sound. Simultaneously, the rest of the tribe dropped their

  weapons.

  "We do not bring trouble to your people," Obi-Wan said to the

  Sorrusian who had raised his hand. "We come for help."

  "We do not help strangers."

  There was a gasp when Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber and it

  disappeared with a buzzing sound.

  The Sorrusian leader circled around Obi-Wan and Astri. He said

  something in a dialect Obi-Wan didn't understand. His gestures indicated

  that they had hoped to find something worth stealing and were disappointed.

  Obi-Wan reached into his survival pack. "I have food capsules." He

  held out a handful of capsules, and they were quickly snatched away. A

  female handed them out to the children first.

  Obi-Wan watched the tribe eat hungrily. There wasn't much to satisfy

  them. He wished he had more food. Astri quickly distributed her rations as

  well.

  Obi-Wan took a few steps toward the leader, who had refused the

  rations and watched the tribe eat.

  "Why do you stay here if you are starving?" Obi-Wan asked. "Across

  the mountains is a fertile valley."

  The leader said nothing. Obi-Wan feared the stony Sorrusian silence

  would not crack. But the leader must have felt he owed Obi-Wan a response

  since they had given a gift of food.

  "You think we remain here because we choose to do so?" He shook his

  head. "Once there were fertile patches in the desert as well. We planted

  and had plenty to eat. It was a hard life, but it suited us. Then ten years

  ago a dam was built. The water was diverted from our lands. Harsh winters

  have followed, one after another. What little land we were able to

  cultivate has dried up."

  "Then why do you remain?"

  "We have tried to move to more fertile lands, but are constantly

  driven back by other tribes. We are too weak to take land by force."

  "The government of Sorrus will not help you? The planet has an

  irrigation system - "

  The leader gave a harsh laugh. "The government of Sorrus built the

  dam. And worst of all, our tribe voted for it. We were told it would

  benefit us. But to get irrigation systems, one must bribe officials."

  The members of the tribe began to drift back toward the canyon wall.

  "We have come looking for someone," Astri said to the leader.

  He did not answer, but kept his glance on the sandy expanse.

  "She uses the alias Reesa On," Obi-Wan said. "She is a bounty hunter.

  She is about my companion's height and size, but with a shaved head. You

  must know her. She comes from your tribe."

  The leader did not answer this time.

  "Please help us," Astri said quietly. "Lives of those we treasure

  depend on it."

  The leader simply walked away.

  Astri looked after him, distress on her face. "Make him tell us, Obi-

  Wan. We can't just give up. "

  No, they couldn't give up. But what could they do?

  A Sorrusian boy a little younger than Obi-Wan came forward. "I know

  who you are looking for," he told them. "I know her real name and things

  about her. I can tell you things."

  Obi-Wan gave him a shrewd glance. "What do you want in return?"

  The boy pointed to Obi-Wan's lightsaber. "This."

  No Jedi was ever willingly separated from his lightsaber. Obi-Wan

  reached out with the Force. He turned his attention to the boy's mind.

  "You admire the lightsaber, but do not want to possess it," Obi-Wan

  said. "You will tell us the information freely."

  The boy looked puzzled. "No, I won't. I just told you that. It's a

  trade, or nothing."

  It never failed to amaze him. Just when he began to feel confident of

  his Jedi abilities, he was reminded that he was only an apprentice. He

  could not access the Force as surely as Qui-Gon. He could not affect the

  boy.

  "Come on. What do you say?" The boy's avid eyes rested on Obi-Wan's

  lightsaber, tucked securely in his belt.

  Stricken with doubt, Obi-Wan hesitated. He could not give up his

  lightsaber. It was unthinkable. But was it the only way to save his Master?

  He felt trapped between centuries of Jedi tradition and his own

  anguish. The dilemma
squeezed the air from his lungs. He could not speak.

  He could not choose.

  And meanwhile, his Master could be dying.

  CHAPTER 9

  The next time she let him out of the tank, Qui-Gon was alarmed at the

  extent of his relief. He had feared that she would change her mind.

  Again, he fell to the floor of the lab. Again, he did not rise until

  he was sure he would be able to stand.

  Dressed once more in white, her pale hair drawn back, she surveyed

  him with glittering eyes. "I am disappointed in you."

  His small smile was an effort. "How tragic for me."

  "You are not weakening as fast as the others. I don't know why."

  "I am sorry to disappoint you. Should I try to die quicker?"

  Nil sidled forward a few more steps, his hostile gaze on Qui-Gon. He

  poked him with the barrel of a blaster. "Do not joke with Madame!"

  "Are you going to help me this time so you can have your freedom a

  little longer?" Zan Arbor asked sharply.

  "If I'm to help you, I need strength. I must use my muscles," Qui-Gon

  said. "If I could walk outside the lab..."

  She shook her head. "Impossible."

  "If you want me to use the Force, why do you weaken me?" Qui-Gon

  asked. "When the body weakens, its ability to connect to the Force does as

  well."

  "I know that," Zan Arbor snapped. She prowled around the lab

  restlessly. "I discovered that right away. But I need to analyze your

  blood. I believe there is a way to harness the Force in it. But I can't

  find it! If I can discover more properties of the Force and how it's used,

  I can begin to break down exactly what it is."

  Qui-Gon did not want to anger her, only distract her. He wanted her

  to forget how long he was outside the chamber.

  "What about your other research?" he asked. "Is investigating the

  Force worth giving all that up? You saved beings throughout the galaxy. You

  are renowned."

  "I am tired of renown," Jenna Zan Arbor said, as sulky as a child.

  "What did I get for it?"

  "Respect," Qui-Gon answered. "And the knowledge that you have done

  good for your fellow beings."

  "I thought that mattered once," Zan Arbor said bitterly. "It does

  not. I still had to fight in the Senate for research money. I still had to

  convince half-brained leaders to run trials of my vaccines. I still had to

  spend endless hours trying to fund my projects. I should have been working!

  I am too valuable to have to waste my time."

  "That is true," Qui-Gon said. "I did not realize your difficulty."

  Jenna Zan Arbor was consumed with her own brilliance, he saw. Such beings

  liked to talk about themselves. If he was careful not to annoy her, he

  would be able to stay out of the chamber and learn more about her. His only

  hope for escape lay in understanding his captor.

  "No one does," Zan Arbor said, pacing back and forth. "When famine

  struck Rend 5 and I bioengineered a new food to feed the entire planet, did

  I get a reward? When the Tendor Virus struck the entire Caldoni system and

  my vaccine cured millions, what did I receive in return? Not enough. I

  learned my lesson."

  "What did you learn?" Qui-Gon noticed that Nil was looking at Zan

  Arbor worshipfully. His attention had drifted from guarding Qui-Gon.

  "That I must not depend on the galaxy to recognize my greatness," Zan

  Arbor said. "I must depend on myself to raise the funds I need. A famine

  here, a disease there - what does it matter? They will get sick, they will

  go hungry for a time. Then they will pay for a cure." "I don't understand,"

  Qui-Gon said.

  Zan Arbor did not answer him directly. "There is morality in the

  galaxy, but I have not seen it," she mused. "I have seen greed and violence

  and laziness. If you look at it that way, I do them a favor. I thin out

  populations and the strong survive."

  Qui-Gon saw behind the veil of her words to a truth that shocked him.

  He struggled to conceal his disgust. His voice was calm and even when he

  asked the next question. "So you introduce a virus into a population so

  that you can then cure it?"

  But Zan Arbor must have picked up something in his tone. "I forgot

  for a moment about the Jedi morality. You think this is wrong."

  "I am trying to understand your reasoning," Qui-Gon said. "You are a

  brilliant scientist. It's hard to follow the turns of your thoughts."

  The answer seemed to please her. "Of course I approached the problem

  scientifically. I used models. I calculated how many deaths it would take

  before a population panicked. Then I introduced the virus in a certain

  amount and waited for it to replicate. When a certain amount of people were

  killed, the leader would contact me. Then I would pretend to work on the

  antidote I already had prepared. When they were desperate and ready to open

  their treasuries to me, I dispensed it. So you see there were no

  unnecessary deaths."

  Zan Arbor's eyes were shining with the pride of accomplishment. Qui-

  Gon saw that everything she said made absolute sense to her. He realized

  that she was crazy.

  Did that make his situation easier, or more complicated?

  "You are greatness!" Nil burst out.

  Zan Arbor did not seem to register his praise. "I had to do this, you

  see," she said to Qui-Gon. "The mystery at the heart of the Force is my

  greatest research problem. I had to fund that research. If I get to the

  heart of the Force, I get to the heart of power. I get to the heart of

  existence itself."

  "And when you do that, what next?" Qui-Gon asked.

  "I will have all the power I need at last," she said. "Then friends I

  have left behind will understand that if sacrifices were made... I... made

  them for a good reason."

  Qui-Gon noticed the slight hesitancy. "Do you mean Uta S'orn?"

  "She is my friend. She has stood by me. Supported my work in the

  Senate. I was grateful, of course." Jenna Zan Arbor looked uncertain for

  the first time. "But one cannot let gratitude interfere with science."

  "So when you discovered that her son was Force-sensitive, you saw a

  way to further your research," Qui-Gon guessed.

  "He said yes right away!" Jenna Zan Arbor cried. "He would do

  anything for money. He did not realize the commitment he had to make. He

  was a scientific subject. Surely he should have known there were risks

  involved..."

  "But he did not expect to die," Qui-Gon said.

  "I did not expect it either," she said quickly. "But what kind of

  life did he lose? A life of despair. Uta grieved for her son every minute

  of her life while he was alive. It is no different now."

  "So you believe she will understand," Qui-Gon said.

  Behind Zan Arbor's coolness, he sensed unrest. "She must. It is

  logical."

  "It will be an interesting conversation, I'm sure," Qui-Gon said

  neutrally.

  "It is time for you to use the Force," she said suddenly, as if she

  regretted her words. "And this time, I want to see something more than your

  moving an object a few inches."

  Qui-Gon summoned the Force. He closed his eyes and felt it around

  him, felt it
connect him to the living beings here and the world outside -

  wherever he was. He gathered it inside his body to help it heal...

  And he felt an answering call.

  Someone else was here. Obi-Wan? Qui-Gon concentrated, drawing the

  Force around him.

  No, not Obi-Wan. Someone else. She was holding someone else here,

  someone who was Force-sensitive. And whoever it was, he or she was very

  weak.