Джуд Уотсон - Jedi Apprentice 11 - The Deadly Hunter

"My friend," he said, "I am afraid. Danger stalks me. I need your help."

"Tell me," Qui-Gon said. "You know I will help if I can."

Didi took a deep breath. "Only two days ago, I was almost kidnapped. I was simply walking down the street when a woman wearing plastoid armor came at me from behind on a swoop. Some sort of whip wrapped around my body and I was yanked toward her. Luckily a Cavrilhu happened to be standing near. He didn't like the fact that she knocked off his visor as she passed. He gave chase with a rather large vibroblade and she had to abandon her attempt. She left him with a lashing to remember her by."

"Who was she?" Qui-Gon asked.

"A bounty hunter," Didi said in a whisper. "I asked around. Nobody can be in this sector without information getting back to me. No one knows her home planet, but she's humanoid."

Qui-Gon received this news with dismay. Didihad always managed to stay on the right side of the law — barely. Qui-Gon gave his friend a piercing look. "A bounty hunter? Why is she after you?"

"It was not me, I swear," Didi said fervently. "I may feed, let us say, some dubious creatures in the underworld, but I am no criminal. You know this, my friend. All right, all right," he said before Qui-Gon could speak, "perhaps I have once or twice bought my provisions on the black market. Maybe I've made a gambling bet or two. That doesn't mean I break laws."

Qui-Gon sighed. "It is against your best interest to gamble in such a way on Coruscant, Didi."

"Of course it is! How well I know that!" Didi cried, bobbing his head furiously in agreement. "But I'm convinced the bounty hunter is not after me. No doubt some government on another world has confused me for someone else. It happens, you know."

Qui-Gon saw the disbelief on Obi-Wan's face. He knew that his Padawan did not approve of Didi. He had not seen Didi's generous heart, the way he took care of the many beings who crowded his cafй without letting them know it. One of the lessons Obi-Wan needed to learn was to look beneath the surface. Perhaps this was one way.

"What would you like me to do, Didi?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Talk to her and tell her that there's been a mistake. Convince her that I'm innocent," Didi said earnestly.

"How would I find her?" Qui-Gon asked.

Obi-Wan shot him an incredulous look. Qui-Gon answered him with a glance that spoke as clearly as words. Wait, Padawan.

"I know where she is staying. An inn not far from here," Didi said rapidly. "You could go right now. For a Jedi, this is a tiny favor. It will take five minutes of your time. So easy for one as wise and strong as yourself. She cannot ignore a Jedi. You know how I love your person, Qui-Gon. I would never endanger you. Your life must be long, for I value you so."

Qui-Gon's eyes twinkled. "Ah, I see. I must live a long life for your sake, Didi."

"Ha! And you are so clever, too. Jedi wisdom, it catches me every time! Of course I didn't mean you should live long for me only," Didi said hurriedly. "So many depend on you. Like your Padawan here. Is that not right, Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan did not look pleased to be dragged into Didi's coaxing. "Excuse me, Didi," he said. "But if you're innocent of any charge, why can't you see the bounty hunter yourself? Ask her to do a retinal scan or check your identification papers. The matter can be cleared up in seconds."

"That would be a very good plan, were I not such a cowardly person," Didi told Obi-Wan earnestly. He turned back to Qui-Gon. "You see how he worships you. Just as I do. You question my love for you, and it hurts me." Didi dabbed at his dry eyes with a napkin he swooped up from a stack on the desk.

"All right, Didi," Qui-Gon said, bemused. "You can stop all this drama. I will see your bounty hunter."

Didi beamed. "She is at the Soft Landings Inn. It's in the third Senate Quadrant on Quarter Moon Street."

"We'll return shortly," Qui-Gon said. "Try not to get into any more trouble while we're gone."

"I will remain here and be very good," Didi assured him.

The Jedi quickly made their way through the crowded cafй and reached the street.

"I don't understand," Obi-Wan burst out as soon as they were in the open air. "Why do you trust him? What if Didi actually did commit a crime and he's using you to get the bounty hunter off his trail? His story doesn't make sense to me. Bounty hunters can be unprincipled, but they rarely make mistakes. Why did you agree?"

"Didi might seem disreputable to you, but I've never known him to lie," Qui-Gon answered calmly. "And he's right — he knows all the criminals on Coruscant, but he's not one himself."

"Master, it is not for me to question your decision," Obi-Wan said. "But it seems to me that you are involving us in something that is bound to be dangerous and is none of the Jedi's concern. Here is a man who seeks out criminals and the dregs of the galaxy in order to get information, which he then sells to the highest bidder. If you live in that sort of world, you deserve whatever bad luck comes your way."

"Perhaps," Qui-Gon said.

"I don't understand why you're helping him," Obi-Wan said, frustrated.

Qui-Gon hesitated. Then he said, "It's because he is my friend."

"This place doesn't look as if it provides a soft landing to me," Obi-Wan observed, casting a dubious eye at the Soft Landings Inn. "More like a full-scale crash."

"I've seen many places such as this," Qui-Gon said. "It is a place for space travelers to get a few hours of sleep. It's not arranged for comfort."

The building was made from salvaged materials — durasteel sheets and conductor pipes that wrapped around the building as though they were strangling it to a last gasp. The entire structure leaned to one side. It looked as if a small push could knock it over. The stairs leading up to a battered durasteel door were lined with overflowing garbage bins.

"Well," Qui-Gon said philosophically, "we might as well get this over with."

They mounted the stairs and pressed a button to access the door. A voice came from a speaker mounted next to the frame.

"Na hti vel?"

"Visiting a guest," Qui-Gon said.

The door slid open. A small Togorian female shuffled out.

"We're looking for a woman," Qui-Gon said. "She's humanoid and wears a plastoid armor plate —"

"Third level. Number two." The Togorian swiveled to return to her room.

"What's her name?"

The Togorian didn't turn. "Who cares? Pays in advance."

Qui-Gon lifted an eyebrow at Obi-Wan. Obviously, the Soft Landings Inn didn't worry about security.

They hurried up the creaking stairs to the third level. Qui-Gon knocked on the door marked 2. There was no answer.

"I am Qui-Gon Jinn, a Jedi Knight," Qui-Gon called through the door. "We mean you no harm. We just wish to ask you some questions. I respectfully request permission to enter."

Again, there was no answer. But after a moment, the door slowly slid open. Obi-Wan sensed a slither of movement near the floor, but no other disturbance. The door seemed to have opened on its own. It was dark inside the room, and he could not see anyone. He felt danger shimmer out at him like cracks in broken transparisteel.

Qui-Gon must have felt the warning as well. Yet he walked boldly into the room without drawing his lightsaber. Obi-Wan did the same.

Qui-Gon headed directly to a window. He tilted the shade and pale yellow light filtered in.

The bounty hunter sat facing them on a stool, her back against the wall. Her shaved head picked up the light and gleamed like a pale moon. Her dark eyes studied her visitors without interest. Underneath the plastoid chest plate and thigh-high boots, her body was powerful and strong. When she stood, she would be close to Qui-Gon's height.