by Джуд Уотсон
But there was no comm service in hyperspace.
"We can send a distress signal to the Temple," Siri said. "We should at least do that, so they know we're in trouble."
Even if they can't help us. Obi-Wan knew exactly what Siri would not say.
She leaned over and sent the distress signal.
Taly was flipping through diagrams on the screen. "Let me study this schematic for awhile."
Taly leaned closer to concentrate. They watched as he studied diagrams and readouts. Then he turned around. "Uh, guys? Would you mind not hovering? It's not helping my concentration."
Obi-Wan crossed to another datascreen. He and Siri went over the same information as Taly.
"I don't know what to do," Obi-Wan confided to her. "I could go over this information a thousand times, and I don't think I could figure it out."
"You'll think of something," Siri said. "Or I will, or Taly will."
"We have two hours," Obi-Wan said.
Time seemed to creep, but suddenly, an hour had passed. Obi-Wan tried not to look at the chrono on the instrument panel, but the seconds ticked by in his head. Taly had his head in his hands.
"There's one thing we can try," Taly finally said. "Disrupt the reversion process during the last cycle and reverse it. Then go forward again, but this time, switch over to auxiliary power. "
"In other words, you'd activate the explosion, then cancel it, and hope it doesn't reactivate in time," Obi-Wan said.
"But we have no way of knowing how fast it will re-arm," Siri pointed out. "We could blow ourselves up."
"That's the danger," Taly conceded.
Obi-Wan and Siri exchanged a glance.
"At least Taly's plan gives us a chance," Obi-Wan said.
Taly balled up his hands into fists. "I should be able to figure this out! I should be able to dismantle it!"
Obi-Wan put his hand on his shoulder. "Taly, it's all right. It's very ingenious. Very detailed. None of us can dismantle it."
"Let's wait until the last possible minute, to be sure we can't come up with another idea. Then we can follow through," Siri proposed. "Agreed?"
"Agreed," Obi-Wan said.
Taly nodded, his face pale.
It was a gamble they could pay for with their lives, and they knew it.
They had nothing left to try.
Taly sat in the far side of the cockpit. He had accessed the holomap and was simply flicking through space quadrants, one after the other, staring at the light pulses that indicated planets and moons.
Siri had disappeared from the cockpit. She had been staring at the datascreen. She had climbed down into the engine bay. She had gone over operations manuals. She had not come up with anything. Obi-Wan knew she felt just as helpless as he did. They weren't used to feeling this way.
He went searching for her. She was curled up in the cargo hold, on the floor, wrapped in a blanket. Without a word she opened the blanket so Obi-Wan could slide next to her. It was cold. He was reminded of the early morning hours they spent in the cave, watching the sun come up.
"I think we've hit something we can't solve," Siri said. "That's not supposed to happen."
"Yoda would say that Jedi aren't infallible. We are only well prepared."
"Well prepared, we are," Siri said gently in Yoda-speak. "Infallible, we are not."
They laughed softly.
"When the moment comes, we'll be together," Obi-Wan said.
He put out his hand. Siri slipped hers into it. At her touch, something moved between them, a current that felt alive.
At last he felt what it was like to touch her. He realized that he'd been thinking about it for days. Maybe for years. She wound her fingers around his, strong but gentle, just as he knew she would. He could feel the ridge of callus on her palm from lightsaber training, but the skin on her fingers was soft. Softness and strength. He'd known he would feel that.
Something broke free inside him. He felt filled up with his feeling, even though he couldn't name it. He couldn't dare to name it. Yet it was suddenly more real than anything in his life. More real than the danger they were in. More real than the Jedi.
"Siri."
Her voice was a whisper. "I feel it, too."
She turned her face to his. Her eyes were brimming with tears. She half-laughed, half-cried. "Isn't this funny? Isn't this the strangest thing?"
"No," Obi-Wan said. "This has always been there. I just never wanted to see it. Since that first time I spoke to you, when you were so angry at me for leaving the Jedi," Obi-Wan said. "You were eating a piece of fruit. You just kept chewing and staring at me, as though I didn't matter."
Siri laughed. "I remember. I was out to get you. I wanted to make you angry."
"You made me furious. You always knew how to do that."
"I know. And you were always so right. So fair. You made me furious, too. Lots of times."
"And then we became friends."
"Good friends."
"And now," Obi-Wan said, hardly daring to breathe, "what are we?"
"On a doomed ship," Siri said. "So I guess the question is, what would we have been?"
She tightened her grip on his hand. She leaned forward, and put her lips against his cheek. She didn't kiss him. She just rested there. In that instant Obi-Wan felt something: a connection that bound him to her, no matter what. Siri. He wanted to say her name out loud. He wanted to never move from this cold floor. He wanted to touch the ends of her shimmersilk hair and breathe in the scent that came off her skin.
"Whatever happens," she whispered against his cheek, her lips warm and soft, softer than he could ever imagine, "I'll remember this."
Chapter 14
Qui-Gon piloted the pod to the nearest landing available, a spaceport moon aptly named Haven. The bounty hunters tried a pursuit, but they weren't very determined and it was soon clear that they didn't regard the Jedi as much of a threat. They had somewhere to get to that was vastly more important. Bounty hunters were always concerned most with finishing the job and receiving their payments.
Qui-Gon and Adi sat at a table in a dingy cafe called The Landing Lights. They had tried to contact the Temple, but a meteor storm in the upper atmosphere at the spaceport had temporarily cut all HoloNet communication and grounded the ships. They had managed to procure a ship, a fast star cruiser with a pilot who would cheerfully do anything for the Jedi. It was fueled and ready to go. The only trouble was, they had no clue as to where they were going. If all had gone well, Obi-Wan and Siri had caught the freighter and were on their way to Coruscant with Taly. Their Padwans could even be waiting for them to be in touch.
"Well, we didn't learn much by boarding that ship," Adi said. "Was it worth it?"
"We acquired the tiniest bits of information," Qui-Gon said. "But with this last one, we might be able to put the puzzle together."
"M-T-G," Adi said. "A meeting."
"Exactly. So we can assume that all twenty targets will be present."
"Twenty planetary leaders at one meeting," Adi mused. "That could be any morning at the Senate. How can we possibly pin it down?"
"I don't think the meeting is at the Senate," Qui-Gon said. "Remember that Raptor said if he cancelled the mission, he'd head back to the Core? If the mission was on Coruscant, that wouldn't make sense." Qui-Gon glanced up at the display monitor overhead. "Interference is cleared. We can contact the Temple."
He reached for his comlink. "Let's find out what Jocasta Nu has to say." Qui-Gon quickly contacted her. Her crisp voice greeted him in seconds.
"Qui-Gon, it's about time you contacted the Temple." Jocasta Nu's tone never failed to make Qui-Gon feel like a disobedient student. "Are you aware that your Padawan has sent a distress signal from deep space?"
"No." Qui-Gon exchanged a worried glance with Adi. "From where?"
"It is not my job to interpret distress signals," Madame
Nu said huffily. "However, from what I understand, the signal was sent from hyperspace. We have been unabl
e to track whatever ship it was sent from. It's not a registered ship."
"They aren't on the freighter," Qui-Gon said to Adi worriedly.
"Now, I suggest you tell me why you are contacting me." "Adi Gallia and I are on the trail of a team of bounty hunters that are headed by a leader named Magus. They are set to assassinate twenty planetary leaders at a meeting." "Twenty! That's rather ambitious."
"They are five very capable assassins. Do you have any background on Magus?"
"Magus… I know that name. One moment." Qui-Gon waited, knowing that Madame Nu was accessing her vast store of knowledge. All Jedi had access to the Archives, but Madame Nu had a gift for interpreting unrelated facts, as well as an unbelievable memory for names. Once she heard a name, she never forgot it. "Yes, Magus has done work for the Corporate Alliance in the past. Nothing illegal. But we suspect him of being a secret assassin. If you could confirm that, we could put him on the Galactic Apprehend List."
The Corporate Alliance! Of course. With the devious Passel Argente as Alliance Magistrate, the organization had changed from one that promoted good business relations to one that used trickery and intimidation to extend its power. But would they go so far as to back an assassination plot?
"I should be able to confirm that very soon. Now can you check on interplanetary meetings within the next five days?"
"Master Qui-Gon Jinn," Jocasta Nu said in her firmest voice, "are you aware how many interplanetary meetings there are every day in the galaxy? Hundreds, at least. Why, on Coruscant alone…"
"You can exclude Coruscant. And any planets in the Core. Let's start with any meeting that would concern the Corporate Alliance. And… my guess is it will take place in some sort of high-security location. Somewhere so safe that the leaders will forgo their usual security measures."
"All right, then. That helps. Somewhat." Qui-Gon could picture Madame Nu's thin-lipped frown. "Let's start with the treaty database… yes. Hmm. No, that wouldn't.. perhaps… no. No, no, maybe? Let me try… wait… this is a possibility. Yes, yes, I think this is definitely a solid possibility. It's not an official meeting — not recorded, but we pick up things here and there. It's hard to keep a high-level meeting completely secret. Twenty planetary leaders, all heads of the largest worlds in their systems. They have various grievances against the Corporate Alliance and are considering a twenty-systemwide ban against conducting any business in the Alliance. They are trying to pressure Passel Argente, I imagine."
"He wouldn't like that," Qui-Gon said.
"No, indeed. He's a bully, and bullies can get nasty about such things. It would severely curtail the Alliance's power in a fairly large sector. Not to mention that it would send a message to other systems trying to resist Argente's strong-arm tactics that they can take action themselves. You see, the Senate has not been able to control these groups — like the Trade Association, and the Techno Union — we've been having a great deal of trouble with them lately — "
"Yes, I understand," Qui-Gon interrupted. He didn't have time for Madame Nu's summary of the bureaucratic problems of the Senate, no matter how insightful. "Where is the meeting to take place?"
"At a conference site on Rondai-Two. The Ulta Center — ultimate luxury, ultimate security. Do you need another Jedi team, Qui-Gon? I would be happy to pass along this information to Yoda, though it is not strictly within my purview to do so."
"I'll consult with Adi and be in touch. Thank you, Madame Nu."
Qui-Gon ended the conversation and turned to Adi. "Passel Argente. Even though he is a Senator, he is also a Koorivar and a leader of the Corporate Alliance, and his grudges against the Republic are plain to see. He's behind all this. He's not just a bully, he's cunning. He knows he has to stamp out resistance at the start. Has to hit it hard, to intimidate others who are thinking of crossing him. It's the way he operates."
"You don't know that for sure," Adi said.
"I feel it."
"Feelings are not proof and are inherently illogical," Adi said.
Qui-Gon turned to her. "Don't you feel it, too?"
After a slight pause, Adi inclined her head in her regal way. "I do."
While Qui-Gon was speaking, Adi had already located Rondai-2 on her datapad. Now she pushed the screen toward Qui-Gon.
"We're lucky. Two day's journey. We'll make it in time." Adi raised her troubled gaze to his. "But what about our Padawans?"
Qui-Gon looked out at the vastness of space, the clouds of stars. He felt the emptiness inside him, the yawning feeling he got when he knew Obi-Wan was in trouble and he could not get to him. For the shortest space of a moment, he thought of what it would be like to lose both Tahl and Obi-Wan, and the hugeness of that loss seemed to dwarf the vastness of what lay above him.
"There is nothing we can do. They'll have to take care of themselves."
Chapter 15
Taly suddenly burst into the cargo hold. "I remembered something."
Obi-Wan and Siri jumped up. "A way to fix the reversion?" Obi-Wan asked.
"No, no. I haven't figured that out. But I was just flipping through systems, and I saw this planet, Rondai-Two. You know when you feel a click in your head? I felt a click. I thought I heard the bounty hunter talking about a 'rendezvous' But he really said 'Rondai-Two."
"Are you sure?" Siri asked.
"I'm sure. He said 'on rendezvous,' which seemed weird, because nobody says 'on rendezvous.' He meant a planet."
"So that's where the mission is," Obi-Wan said. "But we can't get there." He started toward the cockpit. "We can do one thing. We can leave the information in the survivor box. If any part of the ship survives, the box might. And the information could get back to the Temple." He quickly accessed the box and entered the information into the datapad. "We need to put this in the escape pod."
Siri and Taly looked at him gravely. They might not survive, but they would have to hope that the information might.
"Now I just have to program the fact that the box has information," Obi-Wan said. "We just have to hope that whoever finds it will bring it to the Temple or the Senate. If it gets into the hands of pirates, it would be lost forever… and there's always space pirates lurking around the outskirts of Coruscant… "
Obi-Wan's own words rang in his ears. "That's our answer," he said.
"What?" Taly asked.
"We can't reprogram in hyperspace. But we can send another distress signal. A general one this time, going out to all ships in the area of reversion. We would keep the signal open. That would allow whoever was tracking us to get a fix on us."
"Who is tracking us?"
"Nobody," Obi-Wan said. "Yet. But space pirates wait for distress signals. They like to prey on dying ships."
"I'm not getting this," Taly said.
Obi-Wan whirled around in his chair. "The ship will blow upon reversion. But what if we get pulled out of hyper-space against our will?"
"An interdiction field," Siri breathed. "If we go through one, we'll be pulled into realspace. But we'll also be sitting ducks," she pointed out. "The ship is almost out of power. If we're attacked, we won't be able to maneuver."
"At least we'll have a fighting chance," Obi-Wan said. "I'd rather meet space pirates than blow up."
Siri grinned. "Well, since you put it that way." Taly swallowed. "If they capture me… "
"We won't let that happen. We will fight to the death for you." Obi-Wan said. He thought for a moment. Taly looked scared and uncertain. But Obi-Wan knew one thing that would give him courage. He would treat him as an equal partner.
"You get a vote, Taly," he said. "If any of us says no, we won't do it. We'll keep with your original plan."
Taly bit his lip. "No, we have a better chance with your plan. Let's do it," he said in a rush. As he said it, he straightened. The color came back into his cheeks. "I'm ready."
Obi-Wan sent the distress signal and kept it on. Now events were out of their control. Obi-Wan tried not to watch the power drain. He tried not to think about what migh
t happen. Siri came over to stand next to his chair. He stood and took his place beside her. They gripped each other's hands.
Taly moved to stand close to the windscreen, as though he could see what was ahead.
"Obi-Wan, no matter what happens," Siri murmured, "I want you to know — "
He looked into her eyes. "I already know."
The ship gave a violent shudder. They did not know if it was the beginning of the breakdown, or if they were in the grip of the field.
