"The more we fit, the more she'll take, if we're lucky!" Cholly
exclaimed. "Don't put them in that way, Tup, you're taking up too much
room."
"Woosh, I'm doing the best I can."
Adi sighed. "This is taking too long." She thumped on the top of the
panel. "Hurry it up!" she shouted.
"Yes, yes, we're hurrying. Only a few minutes more," Cholly called.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes. Why was he always asked to be patient at the
moment he was jumping out of his skin? Every second of delay was
frustrating.
Adi spoke quietly. "Knowing Qui-Gon, I am sure that he has his own
plan, Obi-Wan. We are not his only means of rescue."
"I am sure that he does as well," Obi-Wan said, grateful for Adi's
words of reassurance.
"There is just one thing that troubles me," Adi murmured. "I only
hope his plan does not collide with ours."
CHAPTER 3
For days, while he was stuck in the vapor-filled chamber, all Qui-Gon
had wanted to do was get out and stretch his muscles. Thanks to his
Padawan, he had been released from the chamber. But now, when he finally
had his freedom, he found himself in an even tighter space - a ventilation
shaft.
Jenna Zan Arbor had sealed herself into the room where she held the
other prisoner. It had been a wise move. She knew that Qui-Gon would not
dare to break in. She knew he would not gamble with the other being's life.
He could not use Obi-Wan's lightsaber to get through the door. He
could not take any aggressive action. With a sensor in his body and one in
the other prisoner's, both of them could be dead in an instant.
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?
CHAPTER 4
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.
CHAPTER 5
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.
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.
CHAPTER 6
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 groane
d. "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-