Джуд Уотсон: Jedi Apprentice 13: The Dangerous Rescue

The days of captivity had taken a worse toll on him than he'd thought.

Qui-Gon received a sense of satisfaction when he saw Zan Arbor's expression turn from smugness to alarm. She knew now that the tide would turn against her. With a sharp command, she ordered four droids to surround her. Her back was to the wall.

Qui-Gon accessed the Force to help him overcome his body's weakness.

He deftly attacked, slashing through the metal bodies of the droids while Siri whirled and dived, her lightsaber a blur. The young girl's footwork was impeccable. Obi-Wan was hampered by his vibroblade but kept up a steady attack, sweat pouring down his face.

There were only five droids left, excluding the guard around Zan Arbor. Qui-Gon did not need to look at Adi for confirmation as he drove the droids toward her. They would catch them in a pincer movement.

Understanding his intent, both Siri and Obi-Wan moved to flank him.

The plan would have worked perfectly if Tup hadn't chosen that moment to make a break for safety. Hearing a slight lull in blaster fire, he scrambled out from underneath the hovering gravsled arid dashed toward the hallway.

Unfortunately, he crashed into two droids, driving them back toward Obi-Wan. The droids wheeled and raised their arms toward Tup, prepared to blast him.

"G-giberbtz and h-ham!" Tup screamed.

Obi-Wan was closest. He accessed the Force and leaped, coming down with both feet hitting the two droids squarely. The droids wobbled and the blaster fire went awry. Obi-Wan landed and swung his vibroblade at the first droid. It raised its blaster toward Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon reached out a hand to use the Force to send the droid flying.

Nothing happened. Adi reversed direction to neatly slice the second droid in two.

"Zan Arbor," Siri said tersely.

Jenna Zan Arbor had taken advantage of the distraction to slip out from behind the droids that were guarding her and dash down the hall. She was just disappearing into a turbolift.

"There are stairs," Qui-Gon told Adi. "Second door on the left."

"Siri and I will follow," Adi told him, already starting off.

"We'll see to the prisoner," Qui-Gon said, signaling to Obi-Wan.

He raced down the hallway, his Padawan by his side. They burst into the lab. Qui-Gon strode to the cloud-filled chamber and cut through the material with Obi-Wan's lightsaber. The transparent material peeled back and gas escaped in a vaporous cloud.

The chamber was empty.

"We have been fooled," Qui-Gon said quietly. "Maybe Noor R'aya is in the other lab," Obi-Wan suggested.

Qui-Gon looked startled. "Noor R'aya? The prisoner was a Jedi?"

"Adi thinks so."

"She said I did not know him, but I was close to him," Qui-Gon murmured. "Of course that is so. Every Jedi shares a bond."

"We should head for the launching pad," Obi-Wan said. "Zan Arbor said it is on sub-level one.

"In that case," Qui-Gon said, "I am sure it is not. Come, Padawan."

He did not know for certain if he was right, but he had come to know the turnings of Zan Arbor's mind, the way she strategized. She would enjoy flipping the situation so that the Jedi were in the opposite place of where they should be when she made her escape.

So instead of heading for sub-level one, Qui-Gon headed for the roof.

He did not trust the turbolift. No doubt she would have sabotaged it.

He took the stairs, Obi-Wan at his heels.

They burst out onto the roof just in time to see Jenna Zan Arbor's craft rise in the air. They saw the body of Noor R'aya in the seat next to her. He was slumped over as if he were too weak to raise his head. She smiled and waved a split second before the craft shot into the upper atmosphere.

They had lost her again.

Obi-Wan waited while the Jedi medic, Winna Di Uni, attended to Qui- Gon. She located the sensor implanted in his bloodstream and carefully extracted it. While he waited, Obi-Wan searched the lab and located Qui- Gon's light-saber. It was a great pleasure for him to place it back in his Master's hands.

"How is Didi?" Obi-Wan asked Winna.

She smiled. "On the mend. He is already suggesting better ways to prepare his meals."

Qui-Gon groaned. "Whatever you do, don't listen to him." Didi's abilities as a chef were dismal.

Winna touched Qui-Gon's shoulder. "You've been through a trauma, Qui- Gon. Your body has not recovered fully. I suppose it would be fruitless for me to tell you to take it easy."

Qui-Gon winced as he slid off the examination table. "Not until we find Noor."

Obi-Wan saw the signs of fatigue he had missed in his joy to have his Master well and safe. Jenna Zan Arbor had drained Qui-Gon's body of blood.

She had kept him confined for long periods of time. His skin looked pale and his face drawn. The experience had weakened him.

"Are you sure you shouldn't return to the Temple?" he asked Qui-Gon in a low voice.

"No," Qui-Gon said sharply.

Adi and Siri strode into the room.

"We've checked all the computer files," Adi said crisply. "There's no indication of where she might go next."

"There was an assistant, Nil," Qui-Gon said.

"Not anymore," Siri said. "We found him in one of the storage rooms.

A lethal injection, we think."

"He was a liability," Qui-Gon said. He turned away. "She will stop at nothing."

"Yes, that's why we must find her," Adi agreed quietly.

Cholly, Weez, and Tup peered around the corner.

"If you're no longer in need of our services, we thought we would go back to our poverty-stricken but basically safe existence," Cholly offered.

"She had the credits in her hand," Weez said. "If only Tup hadn't started the engine — "

"Or knocked over the droids — "

"Woosh, everything is all my fault, all the time, forever," Tup complained.

"Yes, it is," Cholly and Weez said together.

Qui-Gon's comlink signaled. "It's Tahl."

A miniature hologram of Tahl appeared before them. "I am relieved to hear that you all are safe and that Didi will recover," she said. "The Force is with us. Winna, how is Qui-Gon?"

"Fine," Qui-Gon said tersely.

"Excuse me, did I ask you that question?" Tahl demanded. She was one of the few Jedi who was brave enough to challenge Qui-Gon, let alone tease him. "Winna?"

"He has undergone a great trauma," Winna said. "My best advice would be to return to the Temple, but I know he is needed. There will be no lasting damage. He just needs rest and food."

"Then you will release him on a mission?" Tahl asked.

"Release me?" Qui-Gon thundered irritably. "Am I still a captive?"

"No, you are a stubborn Jedi who might push himself beyond a limit his body cannot handle," Tahl answered.

"I see no danger to him," Winna said reluctantly. "I have seen how quickly Qui-Gon is able to recover his strength. As long as he has been honest with me about how he is feeling and not covering up any weakness."

Qui-Gon glared at her.

"I'm sure he was covering them up," Tahl said crisply. "However, we must pursue Jenna Zan Arbor. The Council wishes the two Jedi teams to join together to find Noor."

Obi-Wan glanced at Siri. So he would have to work with her again, side by side. He hoped she had learned a little more humility since their last mission.

"I have news for you, Obi-Wan," Tahl said. "And you will not like it.

Nor do I. As soon as she was assured that Didi would make a full recovery, Astri left the Temple. She has gone off to pursue Ona Nobis in hopes of getting the reward."

"Astri is no match for Ona Nobis!" Obi-Wan cried in surprise.

Tahl sighed. "I know this. Yet there is nothing the Jedi can do. She does not wish our protection any longer. We cannot force it."

Obi-Wan felt frustration and worry battle within him. Yet he knew Tahl was right. The Jedi did not impose protection. And his mission was to find Jenna Zan Arbor.