Джуд Уотсон: Jedi Apprentice 13: The Dangerous Rescue

He would have to use stealth. He had found the ventilation shaft that ran through the ceiling. He had been crawling for what felt like a long time. He could not make a sound to alert her, and he had to be mindful of his direction as well. The various shafts were a maze. But if he was careful, he could wind up in the ceiling over Zan Arbor's head.

What then? Qui-Gon wondered. He could drop down on her from above.

But what if the trigger for the sensor was concealed in her clothing? Even if it were somewhere on a console, could he persuade her to disable the sensors? Could he believe her if she said she had?

He didn't know the answers to those questions. But he could not wait outside the door, wondering what was going on inside.

He spied a vent ahead and carefully moved toward it. He lowered his face and peered through.

He was over the lab at last. He saw the top of Zan Arbor's head. The same kind of transparent chamber he had been kept in was in the middle of the room. It was filled with a cloudy gas, so he could not see the occupant.

Zan Arbor paced back and forth with short, quick steps. He recognized the angry movement. Something else had gone wrong.

"Do not think you can fool me," Zan Arbor said furiously. "I know you are willing yourself to die. You refuse to access the Force. I will not let that happen!" She strode over to a bank of equipment. "You want to die?"

she asked shrilly. "Then know what it feels like to die!"

She turned an indicator knob. Qui-Gon did not know what she was doing. He could only imagine. Zan Arbor's goal was to break down the essential elements of the Force into something she could measure and control. Qui-Gon knew firsthand how ruthless she could be if her subject did not cooperate.

Hold on, he urged the prisoner silently.

She switched off the dial. "Well? Are you still so interested in dying? Now show me the Force!" Qui-Gon saw her send a sharp gaze to a chronometer to check the time. She was under some kind of pressure. Why?

"All right, then. If I cannot use you, you are just a liability. But I'll take all your blood before you die, just for being so uncooperative."

Her hand went for the dial again. It was time to act. Qui-Gon eased out Obi-Wan's lightsaber in one swift, practiced movement and reared back to kick through the vent.

But he checked himself just in time as an indicator buzzed and Zan Arbor hesitated. She pressed the communication button.

A voice blared, "Droid shipment."

"It's about time," she snarled.

She whirled and stalked from the room without another word. Qui-Gon settled back on his haunches, thinking. He could not release the prisoner until he knew that Zan Arbor was immobilized and unable to kill him. But any delay could seal his doom completely.

He was more trapped in his freedom than he'd been as a prisoner. What should he do?

The gravsled ride was smooth while they were outside, but Cholly, Weez, and Tup had trouble maneuvering the craft through the narrow hallways of the lab. Each time Weez slammed into a wall, Obi-Wan, Astri, and Adi were thrown against one another, and the droids rattled noisily overhead.

"That's enough!" Obi-Wan recognized Zan Arbor's commanding tone.

"Just stop! You can unload where you are."

With a last shuddering lurch, the repulsorlift engine lowered the gravsled to the floor.

"You can see that we only brought you the finest droids," Cholly said.

"These are your finest? I'd hate to see the rest."

"If you pardon my saying this, this is Simpla12, ma'am," Weez said respectfully. "There isn't much choice to be had."

"I suppose so. Give me the CIP."

Obi-Wan tensed. The Central Intelligence Processor would program all the droids at once. Adi had instructed Cholly to try to program the droids himself. Would Zan Arbor allow him to do so?

"There's the matter of our fee…" Cholly said.

"Not until I'm sure these droids are operational."

"I can program them for you, ma'am," Cholly offered. "Part of our service. We aim to please!"

"It pleases me to program them myself. Give me the CIP." Apparently, Cholly hesitated, for Zan Arbor snapped, "Now!"

Adi let out a breath. Obi-Wan knew what she was thinking. It would have been easier if they didn't have the droids to contend with.

They heard a series of beeps and the sound of the droids' movements as they were activated.

"Follow my voice command only," Zan Arbor rapped out. "You will surround and protect me. We will be leaving from the launch pad on sublevel one in five minutes."

The droids beeped an affirmative response.

"Now unload them and I'll pay you the credits," Zan Arbor said to Cholly, Weez, and Tup. "Quickly!"

Overhead, Obi-Wan heard the noise of droids being unharnessed and wheeled off the gravsled platform.

"Watch out, Tup!" Cholly called. "You just — " "I didn't! Weez — "

"Don't pull that way, push — "

"Not that way, over here, you idiots!" Zan Arbor shouted.

"I have it!"

"No, you don't!"

"I do!"

"No, you — "

A screeching noise and a great crash sent the gravsled shaking.

"Woosh," Tup said in a small voice. "Guess I didn't."

"Do it this way, Tup," Cholly shouted.

"If you didn't shout like that, I wouldn't be so confused," Tup dithered. "Just let me — "

The gravsled rose slightly in the air. There was a crash.

"Turn off the engine! You're tipping it!" Zan Arbor screamed. "The droids are falling — " "Gibbertz and ham, let me — "

"Don't touch that!" Cholly and Weez screamed at the same moment.

It was too late. Tup hit the hidden lever, and the compartment door sprang open. Adi, Obi?Wan, and Siri tumbled out onto the floor. They rolled away from the repulsorlift engine as the gravsled hovered a few inches above the floor.

"Jedi!" Zan Arbor screamed.

Most of the droids had been unloaded, and the Jedi had landed right in the midst of them. The gravsled hemmed them in against the wall.

"Attack!" Zan Arbor shouted, backing away from the gravsled. "Shoot to kill!"

Tup's face went white, and he dropped to the floor. Cholly and Weez jumped off the gravsled. The droids wheeled, positioning the blasters built in their arms.

Adi, Obi-Wan, and Siri reached for their lightsabers. Blaster fire erupted from every direction. They were caught in a deadly crossfire.

Qui-Gon had just decided to go through the vent and rescue the prisoner when he heard the sound of blaster fire. That could mean only one thing. A Jedi team had arrived.

With one smooth motion he cut through the shaft with Obi-Wan's lightsaber and dropped to the floor. Then he accessed the lab door and burst out into the hallway, racing toward the sound.

He rounded the corner and swept the battle with one glance. The Jedi were faced with twenty armed droids. Obi-Wan had no light-saber, just a vibroblade. Jenna Zan Arbor stood in the opposite corner, watching. The sneer on her face announced that she was confident of victory.

Qui-Gon watched for a few extra seconds in order to grasp Adi's strategy. Even while she mowed down droids, she protected Obi-Wan from the worst of the fire. She was using a series of short, fast combinations designed to obscure the fact that she was steadily making progress toward Jenna Zan Arbor and the hallway to the rest of the lab.

Obi-Wan was using the vibroblade effectively, but it was no match for blaster fire. Qui-Gon decided, even as he leaped, that his job would be to protect his Padawan, leaving Adi free to go after Zan Arbor.

A flash of joyful relief lit Obi-Wan's face as he saw Qui-Gon sail toward him. His moment of distraction was smoothly covered by Adi, who in a lightning strike took out a droid who aimed a blaster at Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon came down, knocking out two droids as he landed and whirling to deflect fire from a third. He was surprised to find that although he had succeeded, his reaction times were slow. He could not trust his body to move quickly.