"I put them in order for you," Cholly added.
"But what does it say?" Astri asked urgently. "Do you have a durasheet?" Cholly asked. "I can write it out."
Astri scrambled in a drawer for a durasheet. She handed it to Cholly.
Consulting the cards, he wrote out: L 1 Q2 BU 3 SP 1 2 "What does it mean?" Astri asked, baffled. Cholly, Tup, and Weez exchanged glances. "We have no idea," Cholly said.
"It could be an address," Obi-Wan said. He stared at the sequence of numbers and letters. Different worlds were coded on astrogation maps with abbreviations to identify them. But there were thousands of such abbreviations. He would have to run the sequence through an astrogation computer. The possibilities were almost endless. It would take so much time..
Look for the obvious first. Use what you know. Then move on.
He heard Qui-Gon's words as clearly as if his Master had spoken in his ear. "It could be," he murmured.
Astri only half-heard him. "What did you say?" "S P 1 2," Obi-Wan said. "That's the astrogation abbreviation for Simpla-12."
"So it is," Cholly agreed.
"Could Ren have been held on Simpla-12?" Obi-Wan asked them.
"You could hide anything on Simpla-12," Weez said. "But when he left for the lab, Ren told us he was going off-planet."
"Did you actually see him leave?" Obi-Wan asked urgently.
"No," Tup said. "He said good-bye at a cafc."
"The rest could be an address," Obi-Wan said, staring down at the durasheet. "How is Sim First mapped?"
"By quads and blocks," Weez offered.
"Everything is on level one," Tup said. "There are plans for levels two and three, but no one on Simpla-12 can get organized enough to build."
Obi-Wan pointed to the sequence. "Level One, Quad Two, Block Unit 3,"
he said.
Astri stared at the letters and numbers. "Are you sure?" she asked doubtfully. "This could mean anything."
"I'm not sure of anything," Obi-Wan admitted. "But I say we return to Simpla-12."
Chapter 17
Obi-Wan hailed an air taxi to transport the group to the Temple. As they zoomed through the crowded air lanes, he turned to Cholly, Weez, and Tup.
"I need your help. But we're not going to steal the medicines in order to sell them," he told them. "It would be wrong."
Cholly, Weez, and Tup looked at one another as if this concept was new to them.
"But we helped you," Cholly pointed out, disappointed.
"Why should we keep helping you, if we don't get anything?" Weez asked plaintively.
"This scientist has a bounty hunter working for her named Ona Nobis,"
Obi-Wan said. "There's a reward for her capture."
"Hey, wait a second," Astri said. "That reward is mine!"
Obi-Wan shot her an impatient look. "You can share it. We need their help. And we need it now."
Astri's aggrieved look faded. "You're right."
Obi-Wan scrawled a few items on a durasheet and handed it to Cholly, Weez, and Tup. "Once we get to Simpla-12, we need you to find these items as quickly as you can. Then you'll meet us at the address."
Cholly looked at the list, puzzled. "Obviously, you are crazy, my friend." Then he grinned and tucked the durasheet into his tunic. "But perhaps you will make our fortune. So we're with you."
Obi-Wan had called ahead to alert Tahl that they were coming. He saw her erect figure on the landing platform as they docked. She had agreed to supply him with air transport back to Simpla-12.
Astri leaped from the air taxi as soon as it docked.
"My father?"
"The same," Tahl said. "Obi-Wan, who is with you?"
"Some new friends," Obi-Wan explained. He drew Tahl aside and told her what he'd discovered. "I don't know for sure if Zan Arbor's lab is on Simpla-12," he said. "But there's a chance it could be. And there's a good chance that the antitoxin Didi needs is still stored there — along with Qui-Gon."
"A slight chance is better than none," Tahl said thoughtfully. "If you feel strongly that you must pursue this, then you should do so. But if you find that you are right, contact me immediately. If Jenna Zan Arbor knows that someone has found her, she could kill Qui-Gon."
"I know," Obi-Wan said quietly. "But if I could get inside and find Qui-Gon without alerting her, we would have the information we need to send in the Jedi."
"But how could you do this?" Tahl asked. "And are you sure you could get out again?"
He wasn't sure if he could. But it didn't matter. He had to save Qui- Gon and Didi. That was most important. Obi-Wan glanced at Astri. "I have a plan."
"Do not take any impulsive action, Obi-Wan," Tahl warned. "Simpla-12 is not far. I can send several teams to you if they are needed. And make sure there is no surveillance on the building from the outside. Nothing must alert her that you are there."
"I would never endanger Qui-Gon's life," Obi-Wan told her soberly.
"But I feel that the longer he remains her captive, the more danger he is in."
"I believe this, too," Tah I said softly. Her comlink signaled, and she frowned. "Now I must go.
Several teams are pursuing important leads. May the Force be with you, Obi-Wan."
Tahl hurried away. Obi-Wan climbed into the transport, where Astri and the others were waiting. He powered up the engines and headed straight for the upper atmosphere. With every second, he felt Qui-Gon's life was dwindling. With all his heart, he begged Qui-Gon silently to hold on.
Quad Two was on the very outskirts of Sim-First. Here, any attempts to keep order or cleanliness were abandoned. Many of the buildings were sealed with durasteel sheeting. An occasional speeder flashed by, but there were no pedestrians on the walkways.
Astri squinted through the drizzle. "I didn't think Sim-First could get any worse," she murmured.