[Jedi Apprentice] - 12(18)

“This way!” Goq shouted. “Stay close!”

Obi-Wan followed on Goq’s heels. The closer they got to the far canyon wall, the worse the sandstorm became. He could no longer see Bhu, who was only a few meters ahead.

When he saw Goq drop to his knees he did the same. He motioned to Astri to go ahead of him so he could be sure she would not get lost.

Obi-Wan crawled, following the others. Ahead he saw Astri disappear into a small opening in the rock face. He squeezed himself through.

Immediately, the wind stopped. Obi-Wan wiped his face and tried to shake the sand out of his hair and tunic folds. Bhu lit a glow rod.

“Follow me,” he whispered. “In a few meters, we will be able to stand.”

Obi-Wan crawled after Astri. She passed through another opening, and he followed.

Immediately the walls widened. He got a sense of air and space around him. He stood cautiously.

Bhu shined the glow rod. Obi-Wan saw a smooth floor and walls, bedding rolled up in a corner, and something covered with a tarp. He quickly reached for his own glow rod.

He lifted the tarp and held his glow rod high to illuminate the boxes.

“Med supplies. Survival rations.”

“We took a vote and decided to leave the survival rations intact,” Goq told them. “We did not want her to know that we found this place.” He gave a short smile. “We were getting close to raiding the food until you came along. Now we do not need to.”

“So she doesn’t know you’ve found this place?” Obi-Wan asked.

Bhu shook his head. “We have been very careful. I think she was here recently. One of the survival ration packs is gone.”

“Now we will leave you here,” Goq said. “We will wait for you in the next canyon. If you follow the canyon wall, you will find us.”

Obi-Wan thanked them, and Goq and Bhu left.

“Here’s a datapad, Obi-Wan,” Astri called excitedly.

Obi-Wan hurried over. He quickly accessed the file system. To his relief, the files were not coded.

“These are case files,” he said, scrolling through. “Clients. Jobs she took on.”

“Any hint of where she could be now?” Astri asked.

“Hold on. Let me access the latest file.” Obi-Wan clicked a few keys. He read carefully through the information. “This is it,” he said excitedly.

Astri crouched down next to him. “What is it?”

“It’s the case she’s working on now,” Obi-Wan said. “I guess her work for Jenna Zan Arbor is over.” He pointed at the screen. “She’s shadowing the governor of Cinnatar. That’s in this system. It’s less than a day’s travel from here.”

“The governor must be her next target,” Astri agreed.

“I’ll contact the Temple for a Jedi team.” Obi-Wan reached for his comlink, but its indicator light was already activated. Tahl was looking for him.

A moment later, Tahl’s clear voice came through the comlink. “We’ve broken Zan Arbor’s code at last. The Jedi are extremely concerned. We know that Zan Arbor is conducting experiments on the Force. We fear that she is holding Qui-Gon in order… in order to experiment on him.” Tahl cleared her throat. “Her first experiment was on a subject with the initials RS.”

“Ren S’orn?” Obi-Wan guessed. They had known that Senator S’orn’s late son had been mixed up in the mystery of the attack on Didi. They had not known why.

“That is what we believe,” Tahl confirmed. “There is a lab notation that further experiments would be done. Yet none were. The notation is dated a few days before Ren S’orn was found dead on Simpla-12.”

Obi-Wan swallowed. Ren S’orn’s body had been drained of blood. He had been an experimental subject of Jenna Zan Arbor’s. But Qui-Gon was so strong, so clever. Surely he would not suffer the same fate.

“You know our fears, Obi-Wan,” Tahl said, her voice low.

“Yes.”

“I was hoping you had a lead on the bounty hunter. We are discussing how next to proceed.”

“I think I do,” Obi-Wan said. “We’ve found out the bounty hunter’s real name. It is Ona Nobis. I believe her next job is to assassinate the governor of Cinnatar.”

“We will warn him and send a team there to meet you immediately,” Tahl said. “Send Astri back here. Contact me when you arrive on Cinnatar.”

Tahl shut the communication. Obi-Wan stared at the datapad of Ona Nobis.

“Come on, Obi-Wan,” Astri urged. “There’s no time to lose. I’m not going back to the Temple. I’m coming with you.”

“Wait,” Obi-Wan said.