“Clumsy fool!”
Obi-Wan kept walking, carefully
following
Qui-Gon’s
graceful threading through the narrow spaces. Finally, they reached an open area near the back. A long bar ran along one wall. It was crowded with customers.
“That’s enough for you there, Andoran,” a cheerful voice called. “Finish your ale and get a plate of food to eat. You need food, not drink, my good friend. Pilus, do you call this a tip? You just made a fortune running spice to the Quintus system. You can do better - manys the favor I’ve done for you, and I have a daughter to raise. Nadarr, let me refill your tea. No, no, don’t pay me, save it for your wife’s care. Funny how we all get better when we can afford to pay the doctor.”
Qui-Gon grinned. “That’s Didi.”
Obi-Wan still couldn’t see anything. Then a small, round man with a melancholy face jumped onto a stool behind the bar. He reached up to grab a bottle, then turned and saw them.
“Stars and planets, it’s Qui-Gon Jinn! Clear the way, friends, I have a greeting to bestow!” The mournful face creased into a smile. With surprising agility, Didi leaped onto the bar, then onto the floor.
He threw his short arms around the tall Jedi. Obi-Wan stepped back, confused. He had never seen anyone hug Qui-Gon. The Jedi was such a private man that Obi-Wan expected him to disengage himself from the embrace. Instead, he pounded Didi on the back.
“It is good to see you,” Qui-Gon said.
Didi released Qui-Gon. “You rogue, you stayed away too long. But my eyes thank me as they look upon your person.”
Qui-Gon gestured at the cafŠ. “There have been changes. You’ve dressed up the place. New paint, new decoration. It looks nicer.” He cast an eye along the food bar. “And cleaner.”
Cleaner? Obi-Wan thought. You mean it looked worse than this?
“My daughter Astri’s doing.” Didi shrugged his round shoulders. “She’s trying to attract a better clientele. Wants me to get rid of tables, have more elbowroom. Buy new plates… do renovations. She’s even taken cooking lessons! She’ll either ruin me or make me a fortune; I haven’t decided which. And who is this delightful young man with you?”
“This is my Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Qui-Gon said.
Obi-Wan nodded at Didi. “I’m happy to meet you,”
“And I you.” Didi’s face turned serious. He touched Qui-Gon’s arm. “I think fate sent you to my door, my good friend.”
Qui-Gon shot him a keen glance. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything is…” Didi paused. “We can’t talk here. Come into the office.”
Obi-Wan followed behind as Didi slid the panel open and ushered them into a cluttered back room. Supply boxes were stacked to the ceiling, and the desk was littered with account records, folded napkins, and a food-spattered apron.
As soon as the door swung shut behind them, Didi’s cheerful face crumpled. He rubbed his plump hands together and fixed Qui-Gon with a mournful gaze.
“My friend,” he said, “I am afraid. Danger stalks me. I need your help.”
CHAPTER 2
“Tell me,” Qui-Gon said. “You know I will help if I can.”
Didi took a deep breath. “Only two days ago, I was almost kidnapped. I was simply walking down the street when a woman wearing plastoid armor came at me from behind on a swoop. Some sort of whip wrapped around my body and I was yanked toward her. Luckily a Cavrilhu happened to be standing near. He didn’t like the fact that she knocked off his visor as she passed. He gave chase with a rather large vibroblade and she had to abandon her attempt. She left him with a lashing to remember her by.”
“Who was she?” Qui-Gon asked.
“A bounty hunter,” Didi said in a whisper. “I asked around. Nobody can be in this sector without information getting back to me. No one knows her home planet, but she’s humanoid.”
Qui-Gon received this news with dismay. Didihad always managed to stay on the right side of the law - barely. Qui-Gon gave his friend a piercing look. “A bounty hunter? Why is she after you?”
“It was not me, I swear,” Didi said fervently. “I may feed, let us say, some dubious creatures in the underworld, but I am no criminal. You know this, my friend. All right, all right,” he said before Qui-Gon could speak, “perhaps I have once or twice bought my provisions on the black market. Maybe I’ve made a gambling bet or two. That doesn’t mean I break laws.”
Qui-Gon sighed. “It is against your best interest to gamble in such a way on Coruscant, Didi.”
“Of course it is! How well I know that!” Didi cried, bobbing his head furiously in agreement. “But I’m convinced the bounty hunter is not after me. No doubt some government on another world has confused me for someone else. It happens, you know.”