The note of insolence in Sano Sauro's voice changed to the soft purring of a deadly animal. "You say you were near your limit underwater. Is there a prescribed amount of time a Calamarian can be without oxygen?"
"No," Bant said. "It varies from individual to individual."
"Have you ever passed out underwater, Bant?"
"No."
"Never reached your limit?"
"No," Bant said. "Not until that day."
"Yet you did not pass out, did you? How old are you, Bant?" Sano Sauro asked, suddenly switching gears.
"I am twelve. I was eleven at the time this happened."
"If you had never reached it before, and you did not reach it that day, how do you know you were close to death?" Sano Sauro fired the question abruptly.
She blinked slowly. "I felt death was near-"
"So it was a feeling."
Obi-Wan's muscles tensed. Confusion flittered over Bant's face. She had not expected this attack.
"Jedi are taught to trust our feelings."
"Ah. And what was your state of mind?"
"I was in a meditativestate, waiting for death should it choose to come."
"Can you say for sure how much longer you could have held out, if Kenobi had not rescued you?"
Bant hesitated.
"The truth," he warned.
"No… I cannot…"
Sano Sauro spun around and faced the Senators. "So we are to trust the feeling of an eleven-year-old that she was in mortal danger, so that any efforts to free her were justified. A young man is dead because of this?"
"But I know my abilities and my capacities," Bant cried. "I am sure I was close to death!"
"I have no more questions," Sano Sauro said.
"I think it's time to end for today," Pi T'Egal announced. "We will meet again tomorrow at the same time."
The Senators rose. Bant rose shakily from the chair and approached Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon.
"I failed you…"
"No," Qui-Gon said firmly. "You told the truth."
"It's all right, Bant," Obi-Wan said. "It was that Sano Sauro, twisting everything. He has no respect for Jedi."
"The Senators do," Qui-Gon told her. "They will not swallow his interpretation. Do not fret about it." He led her gently toward the door, speeding up his pace a fraction in order to avoid Vox Chun and Sano Sauro, who were also heading in that direction.
Obi-Wanwas left with Kad Chun. Their eyes met. A wave of anger washed over Obi-Wan, a wave he knew he must resist. But he could not. They had attacked Bant, and he could not forgive them for that.
Kad caught his anger. Obi-Wan saw the flash of satisfaction in the pale gaze that was so like Bruck's.
"So you are not so perfect, are you, Obi-Wan Kenobi?" Kad asked in a tone of soft menace. "I see the hate in your eyes."
"I don't hate you, Kad," Obi-Wan answered, struggling to keep his voice even. "But that attack on Bant-is that your idea of justice?"
Kad's hands balled into fists. "And killing my brother-is that your idea of mercy?" he spat out.
Their gazes locked. Obi-Wan had never faced such blazing, personal hatred and pain. He felt the shock of it hit him. He wanted to run, but he stood his ground.
Kad finally tore his gaze away. Then he turned and hurried after his father.
Chapter 6
There was nothing more he could do for Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon reflected as he boarded an air taxi for Centax 2. He had said everything that needed to be said. One of the hardest tasks of a Master was the decision to step back. His Padawan needed to deal with his feelings on his own.
And Tahl needed his help, whether she wanted it or not.
He landed on Centax 2 and took the moving walkway to the Jedi base. He found Tahl in the tech dome, going over starship specifications. By now she could recognize his step moments after he entered a room.
"I thought I needed to know some details of a starship engine," she said without preliminaries. She pushed away the voice recorder that read specifications aloud to her and turned to him. "How was the hearing?"
"Hard to say."Qui-Gon sat next to her. "It was very hard on Bant."
"Bant? Why?" Tahl's tone was sharp. Qui-Gon noted how she instinctively jumped to Bant's defense.
"Sano Sauro grilled her about how long a Mon Calamari can stay underwater. Bant was forced to say that she could not be sure how close to death she was."
Tahl groaned. "And Bant would see that as a betrayal of Obi-Wan."
"I'm afraid so. I'm hoping Obi-Wan will talk to her at the Temple. Even in the midst of his own pain, he will reach out to Bant. Obi-Wanhimself cannot find composure."
She sighed. "They do so much and have come so far. We can't forget they are still young."
"I know he'll be fine in the end," Qui-Gon said. "But it's hard to stand by and watch him go through this." He looked at Tahl searchingly. "Yet it is satisfying just the same to be able to stand by him."
Tahl turned and ran her fingers over a blueprint. The lines were raised so that her fingers could read the shapes, and the voice recorder told her what she was examining. "I didn't realize that the thrust dampers were located so far to the rear," she said coolly.
Obviously, even a gentle hint that Tahl could benefit from a Master/Padawan relationship would be ignored. Qui-Gon decided to follow her lead. Primarily because he knew he had no choice. "Have you interviewed the two workers yet?" he asked.
"No, I was just about to. They know an investigator is here. I wanted them to be nervous. Do you want to come?"
"If you don't mind-"
"Of course I mind," Tahl said, rising smoothly. "But since when does that stop you?"