[Jedi Apprentice] - 11(9)

“I think it better if you stay out of it,” Qui-Gon said in a kindly tone, for Fligh’s tone was sincere. “We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet.

“Then call on me when you need me. I will do my best, which I am sure you can guess is not much.” Fligh cackled. “But there you go.”

Qui-Gon stood. “We might have to return and ask you more questions.”

“I am always here,” Fligh said. He waved at the empty cafŠ and his jar of muja juice. “Where else can one find such excitement?”

Since they were already in the Senate building, Qui-Gon decided that their next stop should be Senator Uta S’orn’s office.

The outer room was empty, so Qui-Gon knocked on an inner door.

“Telissa?” The door was flung open. A Belascan female stood, one hand on her hip, wearing the trademark Belascan headdress of wrapped jeweled cloth, as well as an irritable expression. “Oh, sorry. I thought you were my assistant.” Her glittering eyes swept them, and her expression changed. “Oh. Jedi. Excuse my rudeness.”

“May we speak with you for a moment?” Qui-Gon asked.

“I am very busy… all right. Enter.” Senator S’orn swiveled and walked back into her private office. She waved them to two chairs set in front of her desk.

Qui-Gon seated himself and began with preliminaries. “You are resigning next week, Senator S’orn.”

She looked startled. “But how do you know this?”

“The information is out there,” Qui-Gon said. “It is for sale. I do not know if anyone has bought it yet, but no doubt someone will. We cannot prevent that.”

Senator S’orn dropped her head in her hands. “My data pad. It was stolen at the Senate commissary. My resignation announcement was on it.

Obi-Wan glanced at Qui-Gon. Obviously, Fligh had lied about how he’d received the information.

She raised her head. “Disaster. I’m sponsoring legislation in two days. If this gets out beforehand, I’ll have no support.”

“Did you see anyone nearby who could have stolen it?” Qui-Gon asked.

She shook her head. “Just the usual Senate crowd.” She laced her fingers together and bowed her head for a moment in thought. Then she raised her head and put both hands flat on the desk. “Decision. I must announce my resignation immediately. Then I can rally supporters to the legislation by saying they must help me with my legacy. I’ll play on their sympathies.” She drummed her fingers on the desk as she calculated her strategy. Her mind seemed to be elsewhere as she said absently, “Thank you for telling me.”

Qui-Gon stood. “Thank you for your time.”

She did not say good-bye or acknowledge them again. Her mind was already working to fix her problem. Obi-Wan followed Qui-Gon out the door.

“Why didn’t you ask her about Didi?” he asked Qui-Gon.

“Because it wouldn’t have gotten me anywhere. If she put a death mark on Didi’s head, she would hardly admit it,” Qui-Gon said. “And I can’t see how she could trace the theft of the data pad to Didi. Do you?”

“Only if she’s lying,” Obi-Wan said after a moment. “If she’d seen Fligh steal it, it would be easy to trace him to Didi. But why go after Didi, and not Fligh?”

Obi-Wan thought this over some more. He felt at a disadvantage. Qui-Gon seemed to have an insight into the hearts and minds of beings that he did not.

“Still, Senator S’orn’s distress seemed sincere to me,” he said slowly. “She was barely polite and not terribly nice, but not evil. Just busy.”

“A typical Senator,” Qui-Gon said with a half smile.

“She seemed surprised that the information was out,” Obi-Wan said.

“Yes, she did,” Qui-Gon mused. “Unless she is a very good actress. But she did seem sincerely upset.”

“Why did Fligh tell us that an assistant got her announcement out of the trash?” Obi-Wan asked. “It’s obviously not true.”

“He didn’t actually say that, Padawan,” Qui-Gon said. “He just indicated that as one of many ways he could have gotten the information. No, Fligh stole the data pad. He would not want to admit that to us, however.”

“This seems like a dead end to me,” Obi-Wan said in conclusion. “Senator S’orn certainly doesn’t look like a murderer.”

Qui-Gon’s blue eyes were keen. “Tell me, Padawan. What does a murderer look like?”





CHAPTER 6


The wide Senate doors at the south exit were crowded with beings hurrying inside and outside the building. They were all intent on getting somewhere fast, some of them barking into comlinks, others with harried, preoccupied looks on their faces.