The Ties That Bind

by Jude Watson

  years ago, Alani had been slightly taller than Eritha, but now they were

  the same size.

  As if recognizing his difficulty, the other girl smiled. "I am

  Eritha. This is my sister Alani."

  "I'm afraid I can't tell you apart," Qui-Gon said.

  "It's hard, but in time people can," Eritha replied.

  "Some people," Alani amended. "Why are you here on New Apsolon? Is it

  a Jedi mission?"

  "Not exactly. Let me present to you my Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi."

  "Any friend of yours is one of ours," Alani said. "We will never

  forget your kindness to us six years ago."

  "How is Tahl?" Eritha asked eagerly. "We were hoping she was with

  you."

  "Tahl is on New Apsolon, but I'm afraid I'm not in contact with her

  yet," Qui-Gon said. "Did you send for her?"

  The twins exchanged surprised glances. "No," Alani said. "Why would

  we do that?"

  "You do not feel in danger?" Qui-Gon asked. "Since your father's

  murder, you might feel that New Apsolon is not safe for you."

  "We are safe here with Roan," Eritha said. "He was our father's best

  friend. He will protect us. We have everything we need here and don't need

  to go out if we don't wish to. We have private gardens in the back of the

  residence."

  "I see that you are troubled, Qui-Gon," Alani said. "Of course Eritha

  and I are aware that there are those on New Apsolon who believe Roan had

  our father assassinated. We do not believe such a thing."

  "Roan has been like a father to us," Eritha said. "After our father's

  death, we saw his grief.

  It was real. He would not allow us to leave this residence. He said

  he would be our father now." "We are a family," Alani said firmly.

  Qui-Gon nodded. He would not challenge the girls' beliefs. But he

  would not take them as truth, either. He had known the girls at the age of

  ten, bewildered by their world's conflicts and longing for their father as

  he spent long years imprisoned. They had been protected by Ewane's

  followers, who had proven their devotion to their leader by sheltering his

  daughters. Perhaps they still were unable to cope with the complexities of

  a world where sabotage and treachery were practiced. The cozy room and

  private compound told him that they were still sheltered.

  "So you haven't heard that Tahl is on New Apsolon?" Qui-Gon asked.

  The girls shook their heads.

  "If she is, I wish she would come and see us," Alani added.

  Qui-Gon nodded. A feeling of dread loomed inside him. If the girls

  had not called Tahl, who had? And where was she?

  CHAPTER 6

  With no leads, Qui-Gon decided that until they thought of a plan of

  action, observation was their best strategy. They walked past the

  government buildings, noting the high security. Everyone seemed to be on

  alert.

  Obi-Wan read the inscription on a windowless building nearby. Unlike

  its graceful neighbors, this one was squat and long. "It's the former

  headquarters of the Absolutes," he said to Qui-Gon. "It's now a museum."

  "Let's go in," Qui-Gon suggested. "It could be that the Absolutes

  still have power here. Groups such as that find it hard to disband. The

  more we learn about them the better off we are."

  They paid a small fee to enter. They found themselves in a

  surprisingly tiny hall with a low ceiling. Carved into the stone archway

  above an entranceway to the rest of the building they read ABSOLUTE JUSTICE

  CALLS FOR ABSOLUTE LOYALTY

  A petite, wiry woman approached them, dressed in a navy tunic and

  trousers. Her jet-black hair was cropped short, and Obi-Wan noted that her

  right hand was twisted, the knuckles of the fingers large and knotted.

  "Welcome. I am Irini, your tour guide. All the guides to the museum

  are former prisoners of the Absolutes. Let's begin the tour."

  They followed her underneath the archway and down a long corridor,

  where she accessed a thick durasteel door. Immediately they found

  themselves in a cell block. They walked past the deserted security desk

  through the row of cells.

  "Here is where prisoners were detained before undergoing

  'reclassification,' which was the Absolute term for torture," Irini

  explained. Her voice was calm and dispassionate. "Often prisoners were kept

  waiting without food or water for long periods, to break down their

  resistance. They were not allowed counsel or contact with their families.

  If you are visitors to our world, you may have noticed the many memorials,

  especially in the Worker Sector. The white columns stand for those who gave

  their lives on the spot. The blue columns memorialize those who were taken

  by the Absolutes and arrested. There is a column on Teligi Road for me."

  Irini stopped before the last cell. "I was held here for three days,

  then moved to the reclassification area. I was a prisoner for a total of

  six months."

  "Why were you arrested?" Obi-Wan asked. Since Irini was a tour guide,

  he assumed it would be all right to ask such a question.

  "In addition to my job in the tech sector, I ran a Worker newspaper,"

  Irini said. "We wrote about change through peaceful protest. Our venture

  was not illegal, but the Absolutes accused us of advocating violence. The

  charges were false. They were afraid of our influence with the other

  Workers. Technically the Workers were allowed freedom of expression, but in

  actuality the Absolutes tried to control what we could say or do."

  "Could you vote?" Obi-Wan asked curiously.

  "Again, technically yes. But the Civilized Authority - which is what

  our United Legislature used to be called - placed the oldest voting systems

  in the Worker Sector. Often the systems broke down, or Workers could not

  register. Votes were not counted. Demands for recounts were refused. Soon

  we saw that to effect change, we had to take more dramatic means."

  "Sabotage," Qui-Gon said.

  She nodded. "Yes, that was the principal strategy. When I was

  released from this place, I joined this movement. We were high-tech workers

  sending goods out to the galaxy. If the goods were defective, profits would

  fall. The Civilized were worried about profits above all. Eventually they

  saw that they had no choice but to negotiate with us. It was a long, hard

  struggle. Let me show you how hard. Come this way to the torture rooms."

  Irini led them through room after room, each one designed for a

  different kind of detainment or torture. Some rooms were bleakly empty of

  equipment, yet the thick walls and doors spoke more eloquently than any

  device of what had been done there. One room held a single object, a coffin

  like device made of durasteel and plastoid materials. There was a narrow

  slit at the top.

  "This is a sensory deprivation containment device," Irini said

  quietly. "All of them were destroyed except for this one, which we keep as

  a reminder of what went on here. Some were kept in the device so long that

  they went mad. Others were given paralyzing drugs and died inside it."

  She led them into another chamber with screens along one wall. Behind

  them a projector lens protruded from the back wall. "But t
his is what we

  feared the most. Here we were forced to watch the torture of others.

  Sometimes it was people we knew, friends, family. The Absolutes used probe

  droids largely to monitor the Workers. They kept the vital statistics of

  all of us on file for easy tracking. They could find anyone if they needed

  to." Irini stared at the blank screens. "They found out I was engaged to be

  married and found my fianc©."

  Obi-Wan drew in his breath. He could not imagine the kind of mind

  that would devise such a torture. This time, he did not feel he could ask

  Irini what had happened.

  Irini glanced at him. "What they did not realize, the Absolutes, was

  that for the one being tortured it somehow helped to know others were

  watching. The Absolutes thought only of the pain they could inflict - the

  double pain of the victim and the watcher, you see. But the victims took

  courage from the idea that they would be brave for those who knew and loved

  them. They would withstand anything for love. Probe droids are illegal on

  New Apsolon now. No one wants to bring back those days again."

  She looked back at the screens again. "There were many days in this

  place that I said goodbye to life. Yet I did manage to survive."

  "It must be difficult for you to return," Qui-Gon said. "And yet here

  you are, giving tours to others."

  "Remembering is most important," Irini said. In the dim light, she

  held up her twisted hand. "I considered myself lucky to leave with only one

  hand damaged. They broke my hand in order to prevent me from working in the

  tech sector again. But what they stupidly did not know was that I am left-

  handed. I was just as fast a worker when I got out. Maybe faster. I had no

  trouble getting another job." Her smile was unexpectedly brilliant,

  lighting up her tense, drawn face. "I had a cause to work for."

  "Have all the Absolutes been arrested?" Qui-Gon asked.

  Irini shook her head as she led them down a catwalk to a lower level,

  past another row of cells, these with low ceilings so that an adult could

  not stand upright. They had to duck their heads as she led them inside. Her

  tunic gaped slightly as she bent, and Obi-Wan saw a small slender chain

  with a silver emblem around her neck. The delicacy of the jewelry seemed at

  odds with her brusque manner and severe clothing.

  "Not by any means. Many of the former Absolutes went underground.

  Some were protected by powerful allies among the Civilized. Recently secret

  records of the Absolutes were found. The government sealed them. That is

  one thing the Workers are still fighting. We want the records opened so

  that we can know who our enemies were."

  "Why were they sealed?" Obi-Wan asked. Irini led them out of the tiny

  chamber and back to the catwalk. Obi-Wan took a relieved breath that he

  tried to hide. After only a few seconds in the dark, tiny space, he had

  felt as though an oppressive weight was on him.

  "Those in power say that to release the records would compromise the

  efforts underway to find the criminals. Also, there were mere bureaucrats

  in the Absolutes - secretaries, assistants, tech people who were not

  involved in torture or containment. What kind of punishment do they

  deserve, if any? The government is afraid that if they release the names of

  these people, there will be mob rule and a chance for violence out of

  revenge. They say each person on this list must be investigated before the

  name is released. There are some among the Workers who do not believe this.

  They believe it is merely another attempt to shield the criminals. Roan had

  promised to release the records after he was elected, but has not done so."

  "Yet," Qui-Gon said.

  "Yet," Irini said. "Or maybe never. He is a Civilized, after all."

  She opened the door back into the main area of the building. A draft

  blew from the empty space, blowing back Qui-Gon's robe. Irini stood,

  holding the door open, facing him. Her eyes flicked down to his utility

  belt.

  Her dark eyes flared with surprise. "You are a Jedi."

  "What makes you think so?" Qui-Gon asked.

  "I know a lightsaber when I see one." Irini's gaze ticked over them.

  "I should have known you weren't just tourists. Why are you here? Did Roan

  send for you? Are things so dangerous for him on New Apsolon that he feels

  he needs to call on the Jedi for protection?"

  "I get the impression that you do not trust Roan," Qui-Gon said.

  Irini's eyes went flat, and she stared at him coolly. "The Absolutes

  taught me one thing, stupid as they were," she said. "Trust no one."

  CHAPTER 7

  As they exited the museum, Obi-Wan's mind was full of reflections on

  what he had seen. He could not imagine lrini's choice to continue to walk

  into that building and give tours, to return to a place where she had been

  tortured and abused. Then he remembered Bant. She had almost died in the

  waterfall pool at the Temple, yet it was still her favorite place to swim.

  She said it was better to remember than to forget.

  But how much remembering was good to do? How did you know when to put

  memories aside?

  He looked over at Qui-Gon, ready to ask the question, but Qui-Gon did

  not seem in the mood to philosophize. His face was set in grim lines as he

  walked purposefully down the avenue, even though they had no purpose in

  mind.

  "Something is wrong," Qui-Gon said under his breath. "I can feel her.

  She is here. She is close. But something is wrong."

  Qui-Gon's expression did not change, nor did his pace, but Obi-Wan

  felt a shift in his concentration.

  "Do not turn around, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said. "When we come to the end

  of this avenue, go right. There appears to be an alleyway there. As soon as

  we turn, look for cover."

  "Trouble?" Obi-Wan asked in the same calm tone.

  "A probe droid."

  "I thought they were illegal."

  "Apparently they are still in use despite this. It could be merely

  surveillance. It might not be tracking us, but I think it is. Let's find

  out what it will do."

  They reached the alley, and Obi-Wan quickly darted in, Qui-Gon at his

  heels. Immediately he saw that it was a service area for the buildings on

  that street. Gravsleds were outside some doors, and a skiff suitable for

  transporting goods sat in front of a utility entrance.

  Without exchanging a word, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan darted behind the

  skiff. The probe droid zoomed into the alley and revolved, sensors

  blinking, searching for them.

  Qui-Gon did not move. Obi-Wan knew his Master was waiting to see what

  would happen.

  Was the probe droid programmed to keep searching? How determined was

  the surveillance?

  The probe droid zoomed up the alley and back down, searching for

  movement. The Jedi were trained to keep perfectly still. They did not even

  blink. They could slow down their breathing and their life processes so

  that even the sensitive probe droid couldn't pick them up.

  The probe droid didn't leave the alley. Slowly it revolved, moving up

  and down the street.

  "It's not going away. Fine," Qui-Gon mut
tered. "Let's provoke it."

  He stood suddenly and strode toward the middle of the alley. The

  probe droid had picked up the movement immediately and had already revolved

  and positioned itself to get Qui-Gon back in its sensor range. With a

  gesture that seemed almost casual, Qui-Gon leaped into the air, activating

  his lightsaber, and cut through the droid in one smooth motion.

  "Now let's see what - " he began, but was cut off by blaster fire

  from above.

  The blaster fire was so close to his Master that Obi-Wan's heart gave

  a lurch. That did not prevent him, however, from activating his own

  lightsaber and slashing forward to protect him in the same moment. If Qui-

  Gon's reflexes had been a split second slower, he would have been cut down.

  As it was, the sleeve of his robe was seared by the blaster heat.