Jedi Apprentice(18)

Suddenly, the cloudiness of Qui-Gon’s mind cleared, and facts clicked into place.

“We have to explore the bottom of that lake,” he said.

Tahl’s mind made the connection as quickly as Qui-Gon’s did. “The thief is hiding the stolen items there?”

“Maybe.”

“Obviously, I’m out,” Tahl said ruefully. “How’s your swimming, Qui-Gon?”

“Fine,” Qui-Gon said. “But I know someone who can do the job better.”

Bant’s silver eyes widened as she opened her door and saw Qui-Gon and Tahl.

“I would never hurt the Temple -” she began tearfully.

“Bant, we need your help,” Qui-Gon interrupted kindly.

Quickly, he told her what they needed. He didn’t want to involve the regular Jedi security patrol if he didn’t have to. Everyone at the Temple was still a suspect. But both Qui-Gon and Tahl were convinced of Bant’s innocence.

The Calamarian girl was the perfect choice. She swam every day, and her clothes gave off a faint smell of water and humidity. That was the scent Tahl had picked up in Qui-Gon’s quarters. Bant no doubt knew the lake bottom well. She could do the search more efficiently than Qui-Gon could.

Bant nodded her acceptance, her tears already drying.

“Of course I can do that,” she said. “For a Calamarian, it’s nothing.”

Together, the three hurried back to the lake.

“You’ll have to cover the whole lake,” Qui-Gon told Bant as they came to the beach. “But I’m guessing that if something is hidden below, it will be fairly close to shore.” He smiled at her. “Not everyone is as good a swimmer as you.”

Bant stripped down to the suit she wore for bathing. “Don’t worry if I’m underwater for a long time.”

Qui-Gon was glad she’d given him the instruction after she disappeared under the surface. Even though he knew she was amphibious, the amount of time she could spend underwater still tried his nerves. He watched and Tahl listened just as intently for the small splash Bant made as she resurfaced. Each time, she shook her head, took a deep breath, and dived underwater again.

The illumination bank had powered down to dusk when Bant resurfaced again. Qui-Gon was ready to ask her to stop. He didn’t want to exhaust the girl. But she waved at them excitedly.

“I found something!”

Qui-Gon slipped off his boots and waded into the cool water. He swam out to Bant. Taking a deep breath, he followed her underwater.

The lake water was dark. He could barely make out the flicker of Bant’s pale skin as they swam down, down to the bottom. Qui-Gon wished he’d been prepared. He should have brought an underwater glow rod and a breather. He’d been too impatient.

But suddenly the crate loomed in front of him, settled into the fine sand at the bottom of the lake. Qui-Gon circled around it. There was no plant life or algae on it, which meant it had only sunk recently.

He signaled to Bant to surface, but she remained underwater as he fastened a carbon rope around the container. He tugged at it, and the container rose. It was heavy. Bant grabbed part of the rope to help, and together, they pulled the crate to the surface.

Qui-Gon emerged, gasping for air. Bant was breathing easily. She treaded water while he regained his breath. Then they towed the container to shore. When he could stand, Qui-Gon carried it up to the beach.

He described the container to Tahl. “I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“I have,” Bant said. She knelt and ran her fingers along it. “We have them back on my world. Since so much of it is underwater and prone to floods, we store things in watertight containers. Look.” She found a hidden panel and opened it. “You can place things in this compartment. Then you close the panel and activate the vacuum pump. It removes the water, then slides the item into the dry interior compartment. That way you can put things in without taking the container out of the water.”

“Clever,” Qui-Gon said. “Can you open it?”

“I think so.” Bant pressed another button. The hinged top popped open.

Qui-Gon looked inside. “The lightsabers!”

Qui-Gon searched through the items. “Most everything is here, but I think some things are missing.”

“The crystals?” Tahl asked.

“Not here,” Qui-Gon said. Disappointment thudded through him. But this was a start.

“What do we do now?” Tahl wondered.

Qui-Gon turned to Bant. “You have done well today. Can you keep what you did to yourself?”

Bant nodded. “I will tell no one, of course.”

Qui-Gon ran his hands over the container. “I must ask you to do one last thing. Help me return this to where we found it.” He looked at the calm, shadowy surface of the lake.