Джуд Уотсон - Jedi Apprentice Special Edition 1 - Deceptions

Bant hesitated.

"The truth," he warned.

"No… I cannot…"

Sano Sauro spun around and faced the Senators. "So we are to trust the feeling of an eleven-year-old that she was in mortal danger, so that any efforts to free her were justified. A young man is dead because of this?"

"But I know my abilities and my capacities," Bant cried. "I am sure I was close to death!"

"I have no more questions," Sano Sauro said.

"I think it's time to end for today," Pi T'Egal announced. "We will meet again tomorrow at the same time."

The Senators rose. Bant rose shakily from the chair and approached Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon.

"I failed you…"

"No," Qui-Gon said firmly. "You told the truth."

"It's all right, Bant," Obi-Wan said. "It was that Sano Sauro, twisting everything. He has no respect for Jedi."

"The Senators do," Qui-Gon told her. "They will not swallow his interpretation. Do not fret about it." He led her gently toward the door, speeding up his pace a fraction in order to avoid Vox Chun and Sano Sauro, who were also heading in that direction.

Obi-Wanwas left with Kad Chun. Their eyes met. A wave of anger washed over Obi-Wan, a wave he knew he must resist. But he could not. They had attacked Bant, and he could not forgive them for that.

Kad caught his anger. Obi-Wan saw the flash of satisfaction in the pale gaze that was so like Bruck's.

"So you are not so perfect, are you, Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Kad asked in a tone of soft menace. "I see the hate in your eyes."

"I don't hate you, Kad," Obi-Wan answered, struggling to keep his voice even. "But that attack on Bant-is that your idea of justice?"

Kad's hands balled into fists. "And killing my brother-is that your idea of mercy?" he spat out.

Their gazes locked. Obi-Wan had never faced such blazing, personal hatred and pain. He felt the shock of it hit him. He wanted to run, but he stood his ground.

Kad finally tore his gaze away. Then he turned and hurried after his father.

There was nothing more he could do for Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon reflected as he boarded an air taxi for Centax 2. He had said everything that needed to be said. One of the hardest tasks of a Master was the decision to step back. His Padawan needed to deal with his feelings on his own.

And Tahl needed his help, whether she wanted it or not.

He landed on Centax 2 and took the moving walkway to the Jedi base. He found Tahl in the tech dome, going over starship specifications. By now she could recognize his step moments after he entered a room.

"I thought I needed to know some details of a starship engine," she said without preliminaries. She pushed away the voice recorder that read specifications aloud to her and turned to him. "How was the hearing?"

"Hard to say."Qui-Gon sat next to her. "It was very hard on Bant."

"Bant? Why?" Tahl's tone was sharp. Qui-Gon noted how she instinctively jumped to Bant's defense.

"Sano Sauro grilled her about how long a Mon Calamari can stay underwater. Bant was forced to say that she could not be sure how close to death she was."

Tahl groaned. "And Bant would see that as a betrayal of Obi-Wan."

"I'm afraid so. I'm hoping Obi-Wan will talk to her at the Temple. Even in the midst of his own pain, he will reach out to Bant. Obi-Wanhimself cannot find composure."

She sighed. "They do so much and have come so far. We can't forget they are still young."

"I know he'll be fine in the end," Qui-Gon said. "But it's hard to stand by and watch him go through this." He looked at Tahl searchingly. "Yet it is satisfying just the same to be able to stand by him."

Tahl turned and ran her fingers over a blueprint. The lines were raised so that her fingers could read the shapes, and the voice recorder told her what she was examining. "I didn't realize that the thrust dampers were located so far to the rear," she said coolly.

Obviously, even a gentle hint that Tahl could benefit from a Master/Padawan relationship would be ignored. Qui-Gon decided to follow her lead. Primarily because he knew he had no choice. "Have you interviewed the two workers yet?" he asked.

"No, I was just about to. They know an investigator is here. I wanted them to be nervous. Do you want to come?"

"If you don't mind-"

"Of course I mind," Tahl said, rising smoothly. "But since when does that stop you?"

At least there was amusement in her tone. Qui-Gon walked beside her to the adjoining hangar, where the starfighters were refitted.

Once they got into the hangar itself, Qui-Gon had to restrain himself from taking Tahl's arm. The ground was cluttered with tools and stacks of parts, large and small. But using her extraordinary reflexes and special training, Tahl now used a gliding walk that guided her safely around obstacles.

"You do not need TooJay any longer for navigation, I see," Qui-Gon remarked, referring to Tahl's endlessly chattering personal navigation droid.

Her lips curved in a smile. "I worked very hard so that I don't. But I brought her here anyway. Unfortunately, I still need her for some things."

"The mechanics are to the left," Qui-Gon instructed. He studied them as he and Tahl approached.

One was a Twi'lek, with large head tails wrapped up in cloth to keep out of his way. His skin was light blue. The other mechanic washuman, his body short and compact, the sides of his head shaved so that his close-cropped hair ran down the center of his head.

"We wonder if we could have a few words with you," Tahl said.

The two mechanics put down their tools and turned to them. "Of course," the Twi'lek said a bit nervously. "I am Haly Dura and this is Tarrence Chenati. What can we do for you?"

"We are investigating the mechanical failures on the starfighters," Qui-Gon explained.

"We already have gone through an investigation," Haly Dura said. "We were cleared."

"We just want to ask a few questions," Tahl said. "Clee Rhara has asked for our help."

"I'm sure we have answered all those questions," Haly Dura said impatiently.

"Then you will answer them a second time," Tahl said, a hard edge beneath her calm tone.

Tarrence Chenati glanced at his coworker. "Of course we will cooperate. We do not want a cloud of suspicion over our heads. We are concerned as well. We have gone over every moment of our shifts with Clee Rhara but can't understand how it could have happened."

"This is a restricted area," Haly Dura said. "We're the only ones allowed here. That means that someone must have broken in after hours."

Qui-Gon studied both mechanics. He concentrated on looks and gestures for clues that one might be lying, knowing that Tahl would pick up vocal clues.

"You do all the repair work on the starfighters, correct?" Tahl asked.

The two workers nodded, then realized Tahl could not see them.

"Yes," they said together.

"What about the ionization chamber?" Tahl asked.

The last accident had taken place because of a malfunction in the ionization chamber, Qui-Gon knew.

"The ionization chamber did not need retrofitting," Haly Dura said. "We ran a check on it, of course."

"How do you do that?" Tahl asked pleasantly.

"On the control panel. Here." Haly Dura indicated a computer panel. "It showed no problems."

"The starship was cleared for flying the next day," Tarrence Chenati said. "Until then the ship was here, in the hangar, under tight surveillance."

"Do you mind if we look around?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Help yourself."

The two mechanics went on with their work, soldering laser power converters. Qui-Gon and Tahl strolled through the hangar.

"Did you pick up anything from our two friends?" Qui-Gon murmured.

"A smell," Tahl whispered back. "It was on Tarrence Chenati but not Haly Dura. Could be nothing. It's an industrial smell, though. I have an idea. Let's come back after they've gone."