The Ties That Bind

by Jude Watson

  heard the door hiss open. They were pulled outside and then pushed along

  for a short distance. Another door was activated. Qui-Gon felt himself

  shoved inside.

  He did not know what lay ahead, but he had his lightsaber. His hands

  were still bound, but he would find a way to resist.

  He was forced into a chair. A bright light was in his face. He knew

  his Padawan was beside him.

  "Here are the Jedi."

  "We can see that, brother." The voice was low and powerful, with a

  wry twist to the cadence that he knew well. "You may leave us."

  Yes, his hands were bound. Yes, he was blindfolded. He was a prisoner

  with no way out that he could tell. But Qui-Gon's heart sang. He had found

  Tahl.

  CHAPTER 10

  He sensed other presences in the room. At least three, he thought.

  "Why are you on Apsolon?" a male voice asked.

  "A stopover," Qui-Gon replied. "We are traveling, and I was here six

  years ago. I had some curiosity as to how this world fared."

  "Who sent for you?" another voice barked. "No one."

  "Why were you present at a secret meeting of Workers?" a third shrill

  voice asked.

  "We were not present at the meeting. We were observing it. Surely

  your own people could tell you that."

  "Just answer the questions. Who is your contact in the Workers?"

  "No one."

  "You were seen with lrini. How did she contact you initially?" She

  did not contact us. We went for a tour."

  On and on the questions came. Qui-Gon answered them briefly. Tahl did

  not speak again. No doubt she had spoken first to let him know that she was

  in the room. Somehow she had infiltrated the inner circle of the Absolutes.

  She had done it in a short amount of time, and she had done it well. Qui-

  Gon admired her skill, but then, he always had. He felt almost liquid with

  relief that he had found her. A growing desperation had haunted him, and he

  had had to push thoughts of his vision aside.

  When he released her, her body could not stay upright. She seemed to

  fold into his arms like drifting silk. Odd, because he had always counted

  on her strength. Now he felt the softness of her hair, her skin, the

  lightness of her bones. He felt how she could melt against him and become

  part of him. Tears sprang to his eyes at the way one of her hands curled

  weakly around his neck.

  He wrenched his mind back to the present. He realized that the three

  men were arguing.

  "Killing them would send a message," one said.

  "Two messages. One to the Workers, one to Roan. It will show them we

  have power. But do we risk tipping our hand?"

  "Perhaps if we threaten to kill them and then do so, it would be

  better."

  The three continued to argue. Qui-Gon did not worry. The absence of

  Tahl's voice told him something important: She had done more than

  infiltrate the inner circle. She had gained power.

  Again, Qui-Gon marveled at her fearlessness. Yet it only increased

  his own fears for her safety. His belief in his vision strengthened. Now he

  saw it as a vision that could happen, if she stayed on this dangerous

  course.

  "T, you have said nothing," one of the men said at last.

  "We will let them go," Tahl said. Immediately the others erupted in

  shouts. "

  "Why?

  "Just let them go?"

  "This makes no sense!"

  But the three quieted so abruptly Qui-Gon knew that Tahl had made

  some kind of gesture. That was the kind of power she had.

  "Again you all fail to factor in the one thing that we lack in our

  struggle," Tahl said. "Popular support. We cannot achieve power without it.

  I know you don't like to hear this. But the people of Apsolon are used to

  thinking they have a voice in government now. We can give them that

  illusion. That is not difficult. But we still need their support."

  "What does this have to do with the Jedi?" someone asked sullenly.

  "The Jedi are still respected on Apsolon. The people think they were

  responsible for keeping the peace during the transition. They see them as

  neutral - "

  "They supported our dissolution! They were against us!"

  "I am talking about appearances," Tahl snapped. "Always remember that

  appearances are much more important than reality. If we kill the Jedi and

  take responsibility for it, our hope of popular support will be gone. There

  will be time enough to kill our enemies."

  "Well, why don't we just kill them and get them out of our way? We

  don't have to take responsibility for it."

  There was a short silence. Qui-Gon could feel the tension in the

  room. He could only imagine the look of scorn that Tahl was directing at

  the speaker.

  When she spoke, her voice was measured and slow, as if she were

  talking to a child with no notion of the way things worked. "First of all,

  killing Jedi is not cut and dried. You don't just kill them and expect no

  consequences. There would be an investigation. Certainly one from their

  order, and perhaps one from the Senate. This time, when we take power, we

  want the backing of the Senate. We have discussed this. We will be clever

  this time. The people will have the illusion that they have some control.

  Second, if you do make the decision to eliminate a powerful enemy, you do

  it so that you will gain something from it. If we discredit the Jedi and

  then kill them, we will gain. We cannot discredit them if we don't let them

  go."

  "But they have heard everything we have been saying! We spoke freely

  because we thought they would be eliminated."

  "It does not matter," Tahl said. "We have control. We are more

  powerful than the Jedi on our own world. Stop being such cowards! Now leave

  me. I will send for R to release them."

  Qui-Gon heard the three men file out. He heard a rustle of fabric

  being unwound next to him.

  "Thank you," Obi-Wan said quietly.

  Then Tahl approached him. But instead of unwrapping his blindfold, he

  felt her crouch in front of him.

  "So, Qui-Gon," she said. "At last we are equal."

  "Hardly. You were always my better." "Flattery will not give you back

  your sight." "I don't have to see you. It is enough to know you are safe."

  Tahl sighed. He felt her warm breath stir his cheek. A moment later

  he felt the cool precision of her fingers as she unwrapped his blindfold.

  It took a moment for his eyes to take her in. She was in disguise.

  Her distinctive green and gold striped eyes were now dark. Her hair was

  cropped short and the color of a pale moon, contrasting with her dark honey

  skin.

  She kept her face toward him, as if reading him with her senses. He

  regarded her strange new eyes, and his disquiet at seeing her disguise

  faded as he saw his familiar Tahl behind their new color. He could not help

  it; he was happy.

  She must have known it, for suddenly she reached out and touched his

  face with her fingertips. He felt her fingers against his lips.

  "You are smiling."

  "Yes."

  "Don't."

  She did not drop her hand, but kept it against his mouth. He
saw that

  she unable to keep the small smile off her face and his own smile broadened

  beneath her hand.

  "I can't seem to get rid of you," she said. "No," Qui-Gon replied.

  "You cannot."

  Obi-Wan watched the two friends. He felt that they had forgotten he

  was in the room. They even seemed to have forgotten the mission. He could

  not begin to know the tangle of feelings in this deep friendship. Tahl had

  been angry at Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon had kept himself aloof from her for awhile.

  These things he knew. But he did not know why these things had happened. He

  only knew it had something to do with Tahl's resentment of Qui-Gon's need

  to watch out for her since she had been blinded.

  On this mission, he had often felt out of step with Qui-Gon. Over the

  years he had learned how his Master strategized. But now it was as if Qui-

  Gon was following some sort of internal logic he could not decipher. He did

  not know what was in his Master's mind. There had been many times when Qui-

  Gon's thoughts had been unclear to him, but never had it felt quite like

  this. There was a veil between them. Yet, looking at Tahl, he saw that she

  did not feel it. He tried not to feel jealous of that.

  Tahl stood. "We can't talk here. Follow me. There is an exit this

  way."

  She walked purposefully toward the door and accessed it. Obviously

  she knew this place well. She turned right down a short corridor. Obi-Wan

  could not tell what kind of a building they were in. It was industrial, and

  completely bare. Perhaps it had been a warehouse of some kind.

  Tahl climbed a ramp to the next level. They saw no one. She walked

  toward a set of tall bay doors suitable for loading merchandise. Next to

  them was a smaller door for workers. She accessed this and they stepped out

  into the cool night.

  "It's an abandoned warehouse," she told them. "The Absolutes bought

  it. They have a large treasury. The street is down at the end of the yard.

  I'll walk a little way with you, but I must return."

  They slipped through the yard and exited out on a narrow street.

  "Where are we?" Qui-Gon asked.

  "At the very edge of the Civilized Sector," Tahl explained. "If you

  follow this road, you will meet the State Boulevard where the government

  offices are."

  CHAPTER 11

  "Tell us your plan," Qui-Gon said. "Obviously, the situation is more

  volatile than we'd thought. We are here to help."

  "I must admit that help would be welcome," Tahl said. "It wasn't hard

  for me to see that the twins are in danger. But I don't yet know from whom.

  I suspect the Absolutes, which is why I infiltrated them. But I've found

  nothing. Roan could be the secret leader behind them, but I've yet to

  discover if that is so."

  "The twins told us they hadn't seen you," Obi-Wan said.

  "They were trying to protect me," Tahl said. "We agreed I should go

  underground. They got me the false identity papers that said I was once a

  member of the Absolutes. It was a large, bureaucratic organization at one

  time. Many did not know the top-level operatives."

  "So the twins did send for you," Qui-Gon said.

  Tahl nodded. "When I arrived, I was surprised to find that they were

  not in hiding, as they'd said. They admitted embellishing their plea in

  order to ensure that I would come. They suspect that Roan was, in fact,

  responsible for the murder of their father. They are virtual prisoners in

  his home. I was ready to escort them off-planet into exile, but as we all

  discussed the situation, I was impressed with their maturity and courage,

  and also distressed by the state of things on New Apsolon. The twins are

  symbolic to the people. If they leave, the last traces of honorable

  government go with them. The twins changed their minds and insisted on

  staying. I decided that they needed to know exactly how much power the new

  Absolutes were gathering, and proposed that I go under cover. The twins

  were against the idea, but eventually agreed and helped me."

  "How strong are the Absolutes?"

  "Not as strong as they think," Tahl said. "Their numbers are small,

  and their organization is in a state of chaos. There is no real chain of

  command. It was easy for me to rise in the structure. The Absolutes are now

  engaged in low-level activity - gathering information, doing surveillance,

  and occasional harassment of the Worker Resistance. But what I don't like

  is that they have a vast treasury. They are amassing weapons."

  "So they must have important backing from somewhere," Qui-Gon

  observed.

  "Yes. But I don't know where. Yet. That's where you can help."

  Obi-Wan glanced at his Master. He saw a struggle on Qui-Gon's face.

  He knew why. Qui-Gon did not want to oppose Tahl, but he did not agree with

  her. The reason was obvious.

  "Tahl, the Jedi have not received an official request to help any

  party in this government,"

  Qui-Gon said. "It is unclear as to whether Roan was involved in the

  late leader's death. It is uncertain whether the Absolutes will ever gain

  enough power to be a real threat. The planet is struggling with its new

  society, yes. But is that a reason for the Jedi to interfere?"

  "But we did receive a request," Tahl argued. "From the twins. They

  are the daughters of the late ruler. Surely they have an official voice.

  And they are in danger."

  "If that is so, then we should return to the original plan and get

  them off-planet," Qui-Gon said. "There is no reason to get involved in

  internal politics."

  Tahl stopped walking. "What about our loyalty to those girls?"

  "This is not a question of loyalty - "

  "On the contrary. They asked for my help, and I intend to give it.

  They want more than safety. They want to remain on their home planet. A

  planet that is stable and peaceful."

  "The Jedi cannot promise them that," Qui-Gon said.

  "You are so logical," Tahl said, shaking her head. "You block out

  your feelings, just as you did years ago. You look at this so

  dispassionately. You do not care enough."

  Obi-Wan saw that Tahl's words had wounded Qui-Gon.

  "I am a Jedi," he said. "So are you. There are ways to approach a

  mission, ways that have been shown over thousands of years to work."

  "You were always the first one to break the rules."

  "When the mission called for me to do so. This mission does not. And

  please..." Qui-Gon's voice roughened. "Do not accuse me of not caring. That

  is unfair."

  They walked in silence for a moment. Obi-Wan longed to find the wise

  words to heal this division between the two friends, but he did not know

  how. Tahl had hurt Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon had hurt Tahl. He could feel that. He

  felt helpless to change it. The two friends now seemed to almost hate each

  other. He could feel their anger and disappointment in the crisp slap of

  their footsteps on the pavement.

  At last Tahl spoke. "Let us reach a compromise," she said. "I need

  your help. Just give me one week. I will remain with the Absolutes under

  cover. You and Obi-Wan will investigate the murder of Ewane. I would ask

  you to
begin with Roan's brother, Manex. Manex is extraordinarily wealthy -

  he used his political contacts to make a fortune before and after the

  bloodless revolution. There are many who suspect him of corruption. He

  could have been behind a plot to murder Ewane in order to bring his brother

  to power. Roan might have been involved in the plot as well. If we can find

  evidence that either Roan or his brother is guilty, we can begin to bring

  peace to New Apsolon."

  "A week isn't much time," Qui-Gon said.

  "Not for most," Tahl said. "For you, it will be enough. If we fail to

  uncover any new evidence, we continue to offer safe passage to the twins.