"You will never gain what you seek," Qui-Gon told her. "There is a fatal flaw in your plan."
She smiled. "So you say. And what is that?" "Understanding the Force takes wisdom — " "Are you telling me I am not wise?" she asked.
"You have intelligence. Maybe genius. But that is not wisdom."
He had disturbed her. She covered it with a laugh. "I've heard of Jedi mind tricks. You are trying to get me to doubt myself. "That is impossible."
"Here is an example of what I mean," Qui-Gon said. "You do not recognize what truth is, so you call it a trick. That is why you are not wise, Jenna Zan Arbor. Wisdom is something you cannot identify because you cannot measure it with your instruments."
She struggled to maintain her tight smile. "Anything else I am lacking to understand the Force?"
"The most important thing of all," Qui-Gon said. "An open heart."
Her expression tightened. "That is an abstraction. Meaningless.
Enough of your games. Enough of you. The final experiments will begin.
Thank you for your contributions to science. You will die in the isolation tank. I need your blood.".
The vapor grew thick. Jenna Zan Arbor's face disappeared. The syringe entered and pierced his flesh. He watched his blood move down the tube.
Qui-Gon closed his eyes. Now, there were only two things ahead. Two things he must keep in balance, far apart though they might be. He must hope for rescue. And he must prepare for death.
Chapter 15
"Captain Yur T'aug is busy," the sergeant said.
"He will see me," Obi-Wan said firmly. "This is a Jedi matter."
The sergeant paused. Coruscant security forces were expected to cooperate with the Jedi, even if they didn't want to.
"I will ask him — "
Pushing past the sergeant, Obi-Wan strode through the door. Captain Yur T'aug sat at a long, polished desk. He was a tall, muscular Bothan, dressed in the security force navy uniform with tall boots polished to a high gleam. He was bent over, staring in a mirror while he clipped his beard. He looked up in surprise as Obi-Wan and Astri walked in.
"I am not to be disturbed!" he shouted. "Why did you drop the investigation into Ren S'orn's death?" Obi-Wan demanded. He had no time for preliminaries.
"How dare you question me!" Captain Yur T'aug sprang to his feet and stalked toward Obi-Wan and Astri. He came within centimeters of their faces. "Get out!" he bellowed.
"Not until I get answers," Obi-Wan said, meeting the captain's gaze resolutely. He had learned from Qui-Gon how to meet bullies with calm strength. He did not raise his voice. Still, he felt intimidated by the captain's manner. He was only a boy. Would the captain listen to him?
"I have no answers to give you," Captain Yur T'aug sneered. "I investigated a murder. The killer was not found. The case file was rotated to inactive. Do you know how full our caseload is here?"
"Ren's friend told you that he might have been killed because he had information that someone did not want to get out," Obi-Wan said. "You did not question anyone else. Why is that?" Obi-Wan paused. "The Jedi are making this investigation a priority, Captain Yur T'aug."
"So they send a boy to question me?"
"I represent the Jedi Council. Know that if you oppose us, we will pursue this matter."
Captain Yur T'aug backed up a step. "Always the Jedi stick their noses in my business and I am asked to accept it."
"We are working for the same goal," Obi-Wan pointed out. "Justice.
Did Jenna Zan Arbor pay you to drop the investigation?"
A flicker of surprise flared in Captain Yur T'aug's angry gaze. But was it because Obi-Wan had guessed the truth, or because he did not know Jenna Zan Arbor was involved?
"The Jedi Council wishes to know the answer," Obi-Wan said. "We will go through official channels if we must. It would be easier if you would tell me the truth here and now."
Captain Yur T'aug let out a breath, as if he'd made a decision. "It is true I was asked to drop the investigation. But it was the request of Ren S'orn's mother. Uta S'orn is — was — a powerful Senator. And it was her son who had died. Naturally I followed her wishes."
"Why wouldn't Senator S'orn want her son's killer to be found?" Astri asked, baffled.
"You will have to ask her," Captain Yur T'aug said. "I do not know."
The last time Obi-Wan had seen Senator S'orn, he had been ushered into a grand office in the Senate building. She had been dressed in rich ceremonial robes. Since that time, Senator S'orn had resigned.
She lived in a building near the Senate where other Senators from many worlds kept quarters. She opened the door, dressed in a plain linen smock that hung to the floor. She was not wearing the elaborate wrapped headdress of her home world of Belasco. Her dark hair hung loosely down her back.
She did not look happy to see Obi-Wan. "More questions," she said.
"Where's your big friend?"
"I don't know," Obi-Wan said. "That's why I'm here."
She shrugged, then turned and walked into her quarters.
Obi-Wan and Astri followed. Boxes and bins were piled around them, some of them sealed, others half open. She was packing.
"You are leaving?"
"I am returning to Belasco. To do what, I don't know." She gave Obi- Wan a direct look. "Please ask what you came to ask. I am busy."
The Senator had always been direct. He would meet that directness with his own. "Why did you have Captain Yur T'aug drop the investigation into your son's murder?"
"What good would it have done to continue?" Uta S'orn said with a sigh. "He was killed by some lowlife, some criminal on Simpla-12. He associated with them, gambled with them, probably got into an argument. He led a life of squalor. Why investigate it, why drag every sordid detail into the sun? Who knows what Captain Yur T'aug could have found about Ren?"
Uta S'orn's expression was tight and strained. "I did not want to know.