If he made the wrong choice, it could mean Qui-Gon's life. Yet a choice must be made.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes. He filtered out haste and worry. He breathed in his fear of making a wrong choice and let it go. He listened to his instinct. If it was wrong to go to Cinnatar, where was he to go?
After a long moment, he opened his eyes. "We are going to Simpla-12, where Ren S'orn was found," he told Astri.
Chapter 11
The next time Qui-Gon was released from the chamber, Jenna Zan Arbor was not in the lab. Nil pushed him forward roughly. This time, Qui-Gon did not fall. He had gained back some of the strength he had lost. The Force was helping him now, slowly, by degrees. He was learning now to use his captivity to reach out to the Force and let it trickle rather than flow.
Knowing that at least one other being was held here had helped him.
It had given him a purpose larger than himself.
"Where is she?" he asked Nil, trying to sound casual.
"None of your business," Nil growled. "Maybe she doesn't want to talk to you anymore."
Qui-Gon gave him a considering glance. "Maybe it's you who doesn't want me to talk to her."
"You mock her," Nil burst out. "You are not her friend. You don't realize her greatness."
"Well, you work with her, Nil. No doubt you see things that I do not.
You are the one who is valuable to her," Qui-Gon said.
"That's right!" Nil thumped his chest. "I am the one who protects Jenna! Don't forget that. If you try anything, I will shoot you down. I will not be the one to miss like Ona Nobis!"
Ona Nobis. That must be the bounty hunter.
"Yet if she only has you to talk to, she might get bored," Qui-Gon added.
"She was not bored before you came!" Nil snarled. "I was enough for her."
So Nil was the only guard.
Qui-Gon drew the Force around him. A sensor light began to glow on the console as his vital signs slowed, but Nil did not notice.
"She doesn't need Ona. She doesn't need you. She has me," Nil muttered. "All this talk distracts her."
Qui-Gon intensified his effort. He knew that when the Force was strong, the sensor would make a shrill sound. He needed a split second of distraction, no more.
The piercing sound of the sensor split the silence. Nil turned, startled.
In that moment, Qui-Gon moved, quicker than the eye could see. He had gathered his strength for just this moment. He twisted Nil's arm behind his back and disarmed him of one blaster before Nil could blink. He tried to remove the other blaster from Nil's belt as Nil twisted. Nil put his hand over Qui-Gon's, squeezing, and the blaster went off. The pulse of blaster fire pinged past Nil's ear. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he fainted.
Qui-Gon dragged Nil to the door. He remembered the tones of the security code and plugged it in. Then he pressed Nil's thumb against the register. The door opened. He dragged Nil back, but as he did a red light suddenly shone on the console and the door began to close. There must have been an extra security precaution he didn't know about.
Qui-Gon threw Nil down and lurched forward. He got his arm inside the door before it closed.
Pain ripped through him, but he did not extract his arm. He maneuvered his body so that his other arm was free. He reached over to the lab table. A long, steel instrument lay on the table, just out of his reach. Concentrating the Force, Qui-Gon caused it to fly into his hand.
Using all his strength, he pushed the door farther open. It opened, centimeter by agonizing centimeter. When the opening was big enough for him to squeeze through, he wedged the steel instrument against the door to hold it. Then he eased through.
He raced down the hallway, every sense alert. He did not want to run into Zan Arbor. Three doors led off the hallway. One to the left, one to the right. One straight ahead. Qui-Gon paused.
He listened with the Force. He sent out as much of his energy as he could. The effort was exhausting.
He felt an answering burst.
Qui-Gon turned right. He accessed the door and found himself in another hallway. Qui-Gon took the first door to his right. To his disappointment, he saw he had merely accessed a storage area. Shelves ran from floor to ceiling and were filled with durasteel containers and medical bins. He glanced at the labels. There were enough antitoxins and medicines here to cure whole worlds…
There was a disturbance in the Force. Qui-Gon began to turn, but he felt a pain in his back. His legs went numb. He fell.
"That's enough!" Jenna Zan Arbor barked.
Qui-Gon saw her approach along with Nil. Nil was carrying a harness.
He strapped it onto Qui-Gon, who was now paralyzed.
"Drag him back to the lab," Zan Arbor said. "Thank you, Qui-Gon, for that magnificent demonstration of the Force. I will have some readings to analyze now. Thank my stars I can always count on Nil to be outsmarted."
Nil leaned down. Fury twisted his face.
"We should kill him," he said to Jenna Zan Arbor.
"All in good time," she said coolly.
Chapter 12
In a galaxy full of notorious planets, Simpla-12 was one of the most notorious of all. Once, it had been rich in minerals, but held little life and no native beings. The planet had been mined and abandoned. Then gradually it became a landing spot for trawlers and a haven for space pirates. A small colony sprang up, and an economy of sorts developed, based on gambling and the sale of black market goods. Violence was common.
There was only one colony on Simpla-12, called, in a burst of optimism, Sim-First. No other colonies had followed. Instead Sim-First had spread like mold over the planet's surface. The outpost was a sprawling, snaking growth of buildings with a maze of narrow walkways made of metal ties sunk into the dirt. Mud oozed from the cracks between the ties. Many of the buildings had fallen into disrepair and had been patched with scrap metal and odd bits of plastoid materials.
Simpla-12's sun was weak. The planet was known for its heavy cloud cover, which made for a constant drizzling rain that dripped from a sky of lead.
"You take me to the nicest places," Astri murmured as they slogged through the mud.
"It's perfect for someone who wants to hide," Obi-Wan said. Was that why his instinct told him to come here? Was Jenna Zan Arbor's secret lab on Simpla-12? When he had contacted Tahl to tell her his destination, he could tell by her tone that she thought he was on the wrong trail. She did not try to stop him, however. She had sounded distracted, as though she was concerned with more important leads. No doubt she was relieved that Obi-Wan and Astri were pursuing what she felt would be a fruitless mission. It would keep them safe and out of trouble.