Джуд Уотсон - Jedi Apprentice 13 - The Dangerous Rescue

Servants, officials, and townspeople milled about on the lawns, fragrant with evening dew.

Min K'atel sat, beaming, with his wife. Their daughter sat between them, wrapped in a warm quilt. Uta S'orn sat to their right. As the Jedi walked toward him, Min K'atel's wide smile faded and he fixed them with a stony glance.

"I have received a report that saboteurs broke into the water purification center, no doubt to reintroduce more deadly bacteria," he said. "My security chief tells me these saboteurs were Jedi. Either you are impersonating Jedi, or everything I know of your order is wrong. Which is it?"

The Leader gave a signal, and the gleaming guard droids appeared, flanking the group of Jedi.

"We are neither saboteurs nor impersonators," Adi said in her strong, commanding voice. "We are Jedi Knights, come to find one of our own and to investigate your troubles."

"We do not need your help," Min K'atel said haughtily.

"But you need to know what we discovered," Qui-Gon said. "The bacteria in your water supply was deliberately introduced."

"You are strangers here," Min K'atel replied stonily. "You do not know that on Belasco, this bacteria arrives every seven years."

"We do know this," Qui-Gon said. "As did the person who bioengineered the bacteria to reproduce. She knew that you would not suspect that it was artificially introduced into your system because it was something you had seen before. But this bacteria was different. It was meant to multiply in response to the attempt to contain it."

Min K'atel stared at them. "And who would do this thing, and why?"

"Someone who stood to profit by eliminating it," Adi replied. "A brilliant scientist named Jenna Zan Arbor. She is behind the scientific group who will cure it, and she will make a fortune, enough to help her escape justice and remain a fugitive."

"She is not Belascan," Min K'atel guessed. "How could she do such a thing without help?"

"She had the help of a prominent Belascan who had access to areas of the highest security," Adi responded. She fixed her commanding gaze on Uta S'orn.

S'orn did not bluster or deny the charge. She raised an eyebrow and looked disdainfully at the Jedi.

Min K'atel glanced at S'orn. "This is preposterous," he said. "You try to cover your own involvement by accusing one of Belasco's finest citizens! I will contact the Jedi Council. I will not let this accusation stand!"

"Uta S'orn is hiding Jenna Zan Arbor and the Jedi Master she is holding hostage," Qui-Gon stated. "If you would give the order to search her quarters, you would find them."

"I will not give such an order!"

Adi and Qui-Gon activated their lightsabers in a split second. Obi- Wan and Siri quickly followed.

"I'm afraid we must insist," Qui-Gon said. "A Jedi is being held captive on your grounds. That makes you responsible. If we must fight a battle to release him, know that we will."

Min K'atel looked uncertain. "There is no other Jedi here. Only wards full of sick children and elders."

"I saw a sick elder," Min K'atel's daughter, Joli, suddenly piped up.

She shook the doll in her lap, moving its arms and legs. "He made this."

"And how did he give it to you?" Adi asked gently.

"He threw it down into the bushes," Joli said. "He threw down other toys to the children. Mine is the best." She smiled down at the doll in her lap. "It is the prettiest."

"Mine is the prettiest!" a young girl said, running forward, waving a doll.

"No, mine!" A boy shook a toy in the air. Qui-Gon walked forward. He gently took the doll from Joli's hand. He held it against his robe. The color and texture of the threads matched exactly.

"Do you still say a Jedi is not on your property?" he asked Min K'atel.

Min K'atel's eyes traveled high above to the window where his daughter had seen the toy-maker. It was in Uta S'orn's quarters.

He did not look at Uta S'orn. "Search her quarters," he said to the captain of the guard.

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.

"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.