by Jude Watson
He heard beeping and opened his eyes. Zan Arbor sat at the console,
leaning forward to study a monitor.
"Excellent," she breathed.
He let the Force slip away. She turned and scowled.
"I am tired," he said.
"Then you won't mind returning to your chamber to rest," she taunted.
Yes, he minded. But not as much as he had before. Someone else was
here. Next time she let him out, he would be ready to fight.
CHAPTER 10
Before Obi-Wan could speak or move, Astri stepped forward. "Why do
you want his light-saber?" she asked the boy.
He thrust out his chin. "What difference does it make?"
"What if you want it so you can use it against us?" Astri challenged.
"Why should we hand it over then?"
"I don't want to kill you!" the boy protested.
Astri studied him. "But you do want to find food for your family and
your tribe. And you think if you had this weapon you could defeat the tribe
on the other side of the mountain."
The boy stared greedily at the lightsaber. "I have seen what it can
do."
"There are two problems with your plan," Astri said calmly. "The
first is that you have to train for years in order to use a lightsaber.
Isn't that right, Obi-Wan?"
He nodded. "Even then, you have more to learn."
"So you wouldn't get anywhere," Astri concluded. "Except maybe you'd
cut off your own foot. The second thing wrong with your plan is that it
won't solve your problem. Maybe if you fought this tribe and won - which is
highly unlikely, by the way - you'd get enough food for a week, or a month.
But you'd still be starving when the food ran out. You'd have to fight
again. And this time the other tribe would be prepared to meet the attack."
The boy stared at her sullenly. "So what? I would still have the
lightsaber. I would fight them."
"Still, we aren't about to hand over such a powerful weapon so
easily," Astri said. "We'll make you a deal."
Obi-Wan shot her a look. We? He hadn't said a word.
Astri ignored him. "If you tell us what you know, I'll cook you and
your family a delicious meal. I'll show you where to find food and how to
prepare it so you won't ever have to go hungry.
The boy laughed. "You'll show me how to be a cook?"
"I'll show you how to feed your tribe," Astri corrected. "Not for a
week, or a month, but always. And if I can't do it, you get my friend's
lightsaber."
Obi-Wan shot Astri a look. He hadn't agreed to this. She put a finger
to her lips.
The boy looked out over the vast landscape of sand. Not a living,
growing thing could be seen. Slowly, he smiled.
"It's a deal."
"Okay," Astri agreed. "Run and get a pack to put food in and we'll
begin."
The boy's name was Bhu Cranna. He followed behind them as Astri and
Obi-Wan trudged through the sand.
"I hope you know what you're doing," Obi-Wan murmured.
"You stick to lightsabers. I'll stick to food." Astri moved to the
shadow of the canyon wall. Where sand met rock, she dug down into the
crack. She came up with a small purple mold.
"Looks delicious," Obi-Wan said doubtfully.
Grinning, she handed it to Bhu. "You'll see."
For the next hour, Obi-Wan and Bhu trailed behind Astri, following
her instructions as they scraped mold off the bottom of rocks and dug deep
underneath the sand to find roots. Astri cut off strips of flesh from a
spiny plant and then captured the juice that flowed from its heart. They
crawled on their hands and knees through a cave to find mushrooms growing
in the cracks of rocks.
Obi-Wan fretted about the delay, but something told him that
information about Reesa On was crucial to finding Qui-Gon. He only hoped
that Astri's plan would work.
"When I took over the cooking at the caf©, I had a plan," Astri
explained as she pulled the spines out from the fleshy plant she'd sliced
into pieces. "Every week I would feature dishes from one world in the
galaxy. Luckily, Sorrus was one of those worlds. I chose it because it's so
large and so many Sorrusians travel through the galaxy."
"If this is their own food, why doesn't the tribe know how to find
this?" Obi-Wan asked, indicating the plants and mushrooms they had
gathered.
"Because we were always able to cultivate crops," Bhu volunteered.
"It's only recently that we've run completely out of water."
Astri nodded. "In the Tira desert on the other side of Sorrus, they
never had a water source, so they live off the desert. I figured that the
same kinds of plants must grow here, too. And they do." She held up a
gnarled root. "This is called turu root. Tastes pretty awful raw. But if
you cook it right, it can be delicious."
Obi-Wan looked doubtfully at the plant. "I can't believe Didi's and
Qui-Gon's lives hang on a root. Can you really make all this taste good?"
"Just watch me."
Astri pounded roots into paste. She spread mushrooms out in the sun
to dry. She ground little bits of leaves and roots and combined them into
spices. Then she began to roast this and stir that and assemble the various
items into a meal.
When the meal was ready, Astri served it to the boy and his family.
Bhu turned out to be the son of the tribe leader, Goq Cranna. He was the
first to taste the meal, trying each food one at a Lime and chewing without
expression. The boy and his mother waited, looking at him expectantly. Obi-
Wan found that he was holding his breath.
"It's good." Pleased, the father turned to Astri. "Where did you find
these things?"
"I can show you," Bhu said.
"And I can tell you about more," Astri added. "But now you must tell
us about Reesa On."
The leader stood. "Her name is Ona Nobis. Bhu will show us where to
go."
Obi-Wan and Astri followed Bhu and Goq Cranna across the dunes. As
they walked, Astri said softly to Obi-Wan, "Now, what was that you said
about my not being able to cook us out of trouble?"
"I stand corrected."
"We do not speak of Ona Nobis," Goq explained as they caught up to
him. He spoke in short bursts, like the rest of the tribe. "Her name is
forbidden. For money, she betrayed us. A shameful thing. The government
agent spoke to us of the wonders of the dam. We were skeptical. Yet she
urged us to listen. She persuaded us. Later we discovered that she and this
agent had conspired together. They knew the dam would turn our land into
this arid place. The agent owned land across the mountain. He wanted
fertile lands. So he received the water.
We received the sand."
"What happened to Ona Nobis?" Obi-Wan asked.
"She left before we realized our mistake. We know how she makes her
living. Another shame."
"Where are you taking us?" Astri asked.
"My boy found this place," Goq said. "She kept a hideout. Cleverly
hidden."
They came to another, smaller canyon. Bhu hesitated when he came to
an outcropping of a rock wall.
"When we turn this corner, the wind will be
very strong," he warned.
He raised his hood and directed them to do the same.
"It is the way the land is formed," Goq said. "It creates a
downdraft. This is a place where no one goes."
They turned the corner. Obi-Wan was nearly blown off his feet. Astri
staggered, and he reached out a hand to steady her. He pulled her forward.
The wind here was terrible. It drove the sand against their skin and in
their eyes. They covered most of their faces with their cloaks.
"This way!" Goq shouted. "Stay close!"
Obi-Wan followed on Goq's heels. The closer they got to the far
canyon wall, the worse the sandstorm became. He could no longer see Bhu,
who was only a few meters ahead.
When he saw Goq drop to his knees he did the same. He motioned to
Astri to go ahead of him so he could be sure she would not get lost.
Obi-Wan crawled, following the others. Ahead he saw Astri disappear
into a small opening in the rock face. He squeezed himself through.
Immediately, the wind stopped. Obi-Wan wiped his face and tried to
shake the sand out of his hair and tunic folds. Bhu lit a glow rod.
"Follow me," he whispered. "In a few meters, we will be able to
stand."
Obi-Wan crawled after Astri. She passed through another opening, and
he followed.
Immediately the walls widened. He got a sense of air and space around
him. He stood cautiously.
Bhu shined the glow rod. Obi-Wan saw a smooth floor and walls,
bedding rolled up in a corner, and something covered with a tarp. He
quickly reached for his own glow rod.
He lifted the tarp and held his glow rod high to illuminate the
boxes.
"Med supplies. Survival rations."
"We took a vote and decided to leave the survival rations intact,"
Goq told them. "We did not want her to know that we found this place." He
gave a short smile. "We were getting close to raiding the food until you
came along. Now we do not need to."
"So she doesn't know you've found this place?" Obi-Wan asked.
Bhu shook his head. "We have been very careful. I think she was here
recently. One of the survival ration packs is gone."
"Now we will leave you here," Goq said. "We will wait for you in the
next canyon. If you follow the canyon wall, you will find us."
Obi-Wan thanked them, and Goq and Bhu left.
"Here's a datapad, Obi-Wan," Astri called excitedly.
Obi-Wan hurried over. He quickly accessed the file system. To his
relief, the files were not coded.
"These are case files," he said, scrolling through. "Clients. Jobs
she took on."
"Any hint of where she could be now?" Astri asked.
"Hold on. Let me access the latest file." Obi-Wan clicked a few keys.
He read carefully through the information. "This is it," he said excitedly.
Astri crouched down next to him. "What is it?"
"It's the case she's working on now," Obi-Wan said. "I guess her work
for Jenna Zan Arbor is over." He pointed at the screen. "She's shadowing
the governor of Cinnatar. That's in this system. It's less than a day's
travel from here."
"The governor must be her next target," Astri agreed.
"I'll contact the Temple for a Jedi team." Obi-Wan reached for his
comlink, but its indicator light was already activated. Tahl was looking
for him.
A moment later, Tahl's clear voice came through the comlink. "We've
broken Zan Arbor's code at last. The Jedi are extremely concerned. We know
that Zan Arbor is conducting experiments on the Force. We fear that she is
holding Qui-Gon in order... in order to experiment on him." Tahl cleared
her throat. "Her first experiment was on a subject with the initials RS."
"Ren S'orn?" Obi-Wan guessed. They had known that Senator S'orn's
late son had been mixed up in the mystery of the attack on Didi. They had
not known why.
"That is what we believe," Tahl confirmed. "There is a lab notation
that further experiments would be done. Yet none were. The notation is
dated a few days before Ren S'orn was found dead on Simpla-12."
Obi-Wan swallowed. Ren S'orn's body had been drained of blood. He had
been an experimental subject of Jenna Zan Arbor's. But Qui-Gon was so
strong, so clever. Surely he would not suffer the same fate.
"You know our fears, Obi-Wan," Tahl said, her voice low.
"Yes."
"I was hoping you had a lead on the bounty hunter. We are discussing
how next to proceed."
"I think I do," Obi-Wan said. "We've found out the bounty hunter's
real name. It is Ona Nobis. I believe her next job is to assassinate the
governor of Cinnatar."
"We will warn him and send a team there to meet you immediately,"
Tahl said. "Send Astri back here. Contact me when you arrive on Cinnatar."
Tahl shut the communication. Obi-Wan stared at the datapad of Ona
Nobis.
"Come on, Obi-Wan," Astri urged. "There's no time to lose. I'm not
going back to the Temple. I'm coming with you."
"Wait," Obi-Wan said.
"Don't even try to argue," Astri said, her dark eyes burning. "I'm
coming. Hurry. We don't want to miss the last transport back to the city."
He knew he should be hurrying to catch the transport. But something
was wrong. Something inside was warning him.
Always listen to doubt. Even in times of great haste, take time to
listen. Then trust it.
Qui-Gon's words. Obi-Wan thought about his hesitancy. Something was
telling him that Cinnatar was not where he would find answers.
"Obi-Wan!" Astri called in frustration.
"Tell me something, Astri," he said. "The bounty hunter Ona Nobis is
clever. Again and again she surprised us. She even outwitted Qui-Gon."
"Yes," Astri said impatiently.
"So why would she choose as an alias a name that we could trace to
the place where she was from?"
"Because she didn't know you would trace it," Astri said.
"A part of cleverness is not underestimating the cleverness of your
opponent," Obi-Wan said, shaking his head. "She knows the resources of the
Temple. Why would she take such a risk?"
Astri took a few steps toward Obi-Wan. "What are you saying? That she
wanted us to find her?"
"No. She wanted us to find this." Obi-Wan gestured at the cave. "And
this." He pointed to the datapad.
"But it was so hard to find. Bhu stumbled on the cave by accident..."
"It was only a matter of time before some member of the tribe found
this place," Obi-Wan said. "They wander in search of food and water. She
knows this."
He touched the datapad. "What if she wanted to send us on the wrong
trail? What if she is still working for Jenna Zan Arbor?"
"You could be right, Obi-Wan," Astri said slowly. "But we need to be
sure."
If he made the wrong choice, it could mean Qui-Gon's life. Yet a
choice must be made.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes. He filtered out haste and worry. He breathed
in his fear of making a wrong choice and let it go. He listened to his
instinct. If it was wrong to go to Cinnatar, where was he to go?
After a long moment, he opened his eyes. "We are going
to Simpla-12,
where Ren S'orn was found," he told Astri.
CHAPTER 11
The next time Qui-Gon was released from the chamber, Jenna Zan Arbor