Astri hesitated.
"I know you think I have no right to tell you what to do," Obi-Wan said. "That's true. But I represent the Jedi. You must trust us, not just me."
Reluctantly, Astri nodded. "So we're a team?"
Obi-Wan nodded grimly. "For now."
Astri was hopeless with a blaster, but she was adept with a vibroblade. Obi-Wan gave her a quick lesson in strategy and defense. Her body was agile and strong, and she was surprisingly quick.
"Try to stay behind me or at my side," Obi-Wan told her. "But don't get in the way of my lightsaber."
"Don't worry," Astri told him.
The door to the training room opened and Tahl hurried inside. She immediately turned her face toward Didi's daughter.
"Astri, you're here, too?"
"Yes."
"I have a clue," she said. "It's not much, but it's something. I couldn't find anything on Reesa On, but just on a hunch I ran the name through the language of Sorrus."
"The bounty hunter's home planet," Obi-Wan told Astri.
"It turns out that 'reesa on' means something in an obscure Sorrusian dialect," Tahl said. "It's spoken by a tribe living in a remote area of Sorrus."
"What does it mean?" Astri asked.
Tahl's mouth twisted. "'Catch me.' There is actually a childhood game among this tribe called 'reesa on."
"So the name is a taunt," Obi-Wan said. "Catch me if you can."
"Exactly," Tahl agreed. "I have the coordinates of the tribe's area.
I doubt that the bounty hunter is there. Jedi teams have been sent on other leads. Most are working on finding Zan Arbor's lab by tracking medical shipments. This is such a tiny lead. Still…"
"We could find out more about her," Obi-Wan said.
"And we have nothing else to go on," Astri agreed.
Tahl cocked her head as if testing the meaning behind Astri's words.
"We?"
"I'm going with Obi-Wan," Astri declared. Tahl shook her head. "You can't go on a Jedi mission, Astri."
"But this isn't a mission," Astri argued. "There's no danger involved."
"Where the bounty hunter is or could be, danger is there," Tahl said sharply. "Don't forget that."
Astri's chin set defiantly. Even though Tahl couldn't see her, Tahl was able to pick up her stubbornness. She frowned.
"I promised Astri she could come with me for a time," Obi-Wan told Tahl. "The bounty hunter shot her father, Tahl. She has a right to track her, too. And she'll be in less danger if she's with me. I'll send her back to the Temple if I think the bounty hunter is on Sorrus."
"I don't like this," Tahl declared. "I should confer with Yoda. You need to be temporarily assigned to a Jedi Master, Obi-Wan. Or else stay at the Temple."
"But I'm not going on a mission, just scouting out a lead. Qui-Gon needs my help," Obi-Wan argued.
He saw the hesitancy on Tahl's face.
"I have to find my Master, Tahl," Obi-Wan said steadily. "I feel him.
I know he needs me. Let me go."
"I'm sure we are breaking several rules here," Tahl murmured.
Obi-Wan smiled. "Qui-Gon would like that."
Tahl smiled, too. "Yes," she said softly. "There is a tech transport ship that could drop you off at the capital city closest to the desert tribe…"
Obi-Wan looked at Astri. "Let's go."
Chapter 7
Qui-Gon waited for his hour of freedom. He did not know when Zan Arbor would grant it. He wanted it so badly it was difficult for him to think of anything else.
Being suspended in this vapor without sight and sound was a particular kind of torture. Deprived of his senses, he experienced dislocation. He had to be conscious of his mind at all times, wrench it back to its surroundings. He could move his muscles very little, and he flexed them, one by one, every half hour. That was an effort. The constant withdrawal of blood was beginning to sap his strength.
He knew that at the Temple he was appreciated for several things: his physical strength, his connection to the living Force, and his patience.
Now he hung in a chamber, and none of these things were available to him.
He would just have to find other things he was good at.
The loss of his patience was the worst. He could not calm his raging desire to be free. He dreamed of freedom as another might dream of food.
So much for his great forbearance. Now he realized that he had many more lessons to learn. How many times had he heard Yoda advise an advanced student that for a Jedi, true mastery of a skill was only the beginning step to understanding it? How many times had he said the same to Obi-Wan?
The more you know, Padawan, the less you know.
By the time this was over, he would see how much he still had to learn about patience.
Was it his imagination, or was the vapor beginning to thin? Qui-Gon looked down and could see his feet. Yes, the vapor was slowly siphoning away. Did that mean that Zan Arbor was about to release him?
He had made no plans for his first release. His only intention was to talk to Zan Arbor again. Somehow he felt he would gain a clue of how to proceed.
The vapor cleared. His heartbeat quickened. He saw movement outside the transparent wall of the chamber.
"I see you're excited, Qui-Gon." Zan Arbor's cool voice penetrated the chamber. "Try to contain yourself. I didn't throw you a party."
The chamber walls slid down, disappearing into the floor. Qui-Gon's knees buckled and he fell forward. The floor against his cheek felt like a gift. Sense had been deprived for so long that the texture of the stone, the coolness of the temperature, felt like fresh rain on his face.
He saw Zan Arbor's boots approach, centimeters from his nose.
"Men have fallen at my feet, but it was in my younger days," she remarked. "How nice to see I still have that power."
He would not speak until he knew his voice would be steady. He reached deep inside for the reserve of strength he knew was still there. He had protected that reserve during the long hours of his captivity.