Джуд Уотсон - Jedi Apprentice 16 - The Call To Vengeance

It was a cresting wave. He moved forward, his hand on his lightsaber hilt.

He turned a corner into Legislator Pleni's bedroom. It was untouched except for a halfway ajar door riddled with blaster fire.

Obi-Wan walked forward slowly, dreading what he would find behind that door. He nudged it open with the toe of his boot.

Legislator Pleni lay curled up in the corner, her hands clutching a blaster. A probe droid lay at her feet. She was dead.

Mace came up behind him noiselessly. Obi-Wan heard his deep sigh.

"We are always one step too late on New Apsolon," Mace said. Obi-Wan could locate in his voice the determination that this would no longer be the case.

They heard noises below, and the sound of feet on the stairs. Minutes later, a security squad burst in.

"She is in here," Mace said.

He brought Obi-Wan and Bant downstairs, where the evidence of Legislator Pleni's horrible death was not in front of their eyes. They were questioned by the security squad, then told they were free to go. Still, Mace lingered.

When the security squad came downstairs at last, having completed its investigation, Mace stopped the head officer.

"Any conclusions?"

"Yes," the officer said, brushing past them.

Mace stood in front of him, effectively blocking his path. "You know that Manex has ordered the security squads to cooperate with the Jedi."

The officer hesitated. A gleam of malice lit up his eyes. "Fine. Let me tell you what we discovered then. Legislator Pleni was killed by a probe droid. We have been able to trace its owner."

"You have a name?" Mace Windu asked.

"Certainly." The security officer bared his teeth in a smile. "Your Jedi friend, Qui-Gon Jinn."

Qui-Gon got started early the next morning. He had spent most of the night going from cafc to cafc, trying to gather information. As the hours got later, tongues grew looser, but he did not discover anything that put him on Balog's track. Gossip swirled about Alani's bid for the Supreme Governor position and a growing swell of support for Manex. Neither helped him at all.

He spent the rest of the night on a bench in a grassy park, impatiently waiting for dawn. He could feel Balog out there, maneuvering, scheming, plotting his next move. He could feel the absence of Tahl as an ache so deep he could not face it directly. When he thought of her last days, what Balog had put her through, he would have to move, have to get up and walk through the park, driving himself to exhaustion so that he would not think of the dark vengeance that burned inside him. He would have to conquer it… somehow. He pushed his mind to numbness. It was the only way he could go on. Before long he had explored every path in the large urban park. He could draw a map of it blindfolded.

The suns rose, and people began to trickle out into the streets. Qui- Gon saw the morning begin with relief. He went to a cafc across from the Legislature for a light breakfast and watched and waited until the official buildings were full of people beginning their day.

Qui-Gon was still dressed in a traveler's cape over his tunic. He hoped he would not be recognizable as a Jedi. He decided to pose as a businessman looking for new opportunities on New Apsolon.

Just as he was about to leave, he overheard a conversation behind him. Two aides had just greeted each other. He heard the name "Legislator Pleni." And then he heard the name "Qui-Gon Jinn."

Qui-Gon bent over, pretending to sip his tea, while he filtered out the noise of the cafc and concentrated on the conversation behind him. He then received the unwelcome shock of discovering that he was wanted for the murder of a Legislator.

Which might make his intelligence-gathering plans in official buildings of the Legislature this morning more difficult than he had anticipated. Qui-Gon had great respect for the security officers on New Apsolon. He was certain that every one of them had a detailed physical description of him. And the Legislature's offices were guarded by security officers.

Qui-Gon's hands curled around his teacup. He had to place them in his lap. The urge to smash the cup into tiny pieces was too great. It seemed that every time he wanted to take a step forward, he was kicked a step back.

He let out air through his nose, breathing quietly and steadily. He was not thinking like a Jedi. Frustration must be controlled. There was always a way.

The streets were still crowded, but he needed to keep moving. He also needed a better disguise than a cloak. He could not hide his size, but he could transform himself in different ways. Qui-Gon left the cafc and went shopping.

Within a half hour, he had transformed himself into a dark-eyed businessman in a veda cloth robe. His long hair was concealed by a wrapped cloth headpiece favored by the elite of the planet of Rorgam. He had found it in a small shop selling used items. It would be good cover to pose as a citizen of Rorgam, a world made up of immigrants from many different worlds.

Qui-Gon headed for the halls of the Legislature. Because New Apsolon was a tech center for this corner of the galaxy, many deals were made here.

With the growing instability of the planet, there was a certain frenzy in the air.

A security officer stood at the first checkpoint. Qui-Gon had no choice but to walk through. If he couldn't walk through the hallways without a challenge, he wouldn't be able to do anything.

He was relieved when he made it past the security officer, who merely gave him a bland look and moved his gaze to sweep the visitor behind him.

He was lucky that Manex had not instituted higher security procedures that required text docs for admittance.

There were several things he needed to know. Why was he a suspect in Pleni's death? He had never heard of her until that morning. Was her death connected to Oleg's? Had she, too, tried to buy the list? Qui-Gon decided that the only course open to him was to present himself as a possible buyer as well. If the word got out that a prosperous businessman from Rorgam had money to spend, sooner or later someone would come forward with something to sell.

Drawing his robe around him, Qui-Gon plunged into the throng.

He was deep in conversation with an important Legislative aide when he saw Eritha and Alani heading down the hall. Alani was talking with a group of admirers who clustered closely around her. To his relief, they turned off down the hall. Eritha brought up the rear, and she spotted Qui- Gon. A look of surprise, then greeting, came over her face. Qui-Gon ignored her.

Eritha hesitated. Then her face smoothed out and became emotionless when she realized he did not want her to recognize him. All of this took only a beat of a moment. Once again Qui-Gon had cause to admire Eritha's cleverness. The girl had good reflexes.

Eritha signaled him discreetly and moved into a side hall. Qui-Gon wrapped up his conversation with the aide and casually strolled after her.

The hallway was empty, and she made sure he had followed before accessing a door. He followed her inside into a small conference room.

To his surprise, Eritha threw herself in his arms. "I'm so glad to see you," she said. "I was so worried." He patted her shoulder, and she stepped back. "You shouldn't be here. Do you know that you're wanted for murder?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "Do you know why? I've never met Legislator Pleni.

Did Balog set this up?"

"I don't know," Eritha said. "Possibly. I know that Alani is still in touch with him. I'm here trying to get information. I think I have a lead.

But I have to be careful. I don't want Alani to suspect, so I'm pretending to completely support her candidacy. And there's a rumor going around the Legislature that you should know about. Manex has the list of secret Absolute informers."