She whipped around to face him. “That is impossible.”
“It is true,” Obi-Wan said. “We know that Jenna Zan Arbor is conducting experiments on the Force. We know she contacted your son - “
Uta S’orn laughed in disbelief. “You are on the wrong track. Jenna is my friend. I have helped her with her funding, introduced legislation for her, gotten her onto committees, sometimes at personal risk to my career… She would never hurt my son. She didn’t even know him.”
“Did she tell you that she contacted him on Simpla-12?”
Uta S’orn went pale. She knew the Jedi did not lie. “You know this is true?”
Obi-Wan nodded. “Tell me. She knew Ren was Force-sensitive, didn’t she?”
“I told her in confidence…”
“This was at the beginning of her experiments,” Obi-Wan said, thinking. “She probably couldn’t get to any Jedi. She was looking for anyone who was Force-sensitive, most likely. Beings no one would miss - ” Obi-Wan saw pain constrict Uta S’orn’s features. “I am sorry. I know you miss your son. Perhaps she thought you would not.”
“I was not in touch with Ren at the time,” Uta S’orn said reluctantly. “I told Jenna I had disowned him. I was trying to be strong.”
“She offered him money if he would be a subject in an experiment,” Obi-Wan said quietly. “He went. When he returned, his friends say he was changed. He was afraid.”
Uta S’orn’s legs seemed to collapse underneath her. She sat on a chair. Her hands went to her mouth. “Did she… hurt him?”
“We are not sure what happened,” Obi-Wan said. “Or why he was killed. Do you know where Jenna Zan Arbor’s lab is? Not her official lab. But another lab, a secret lab.”
Uta S’orn shook her head. “I didn’t know she had one.”
“We think Ren left a clue behind,” Obi-Wan said. “Do you have anything of his?”
She stood and went to the pile of boxes in a corner. She withdrew a small durasteel bin. “This is all he owned. If there’s a message here, I haven’t found it.” She handed it to Obi-Wan. “Take it. And if you find out your suspicions are true, find her.”
“I will,” Obi-Wan promised.
Quickly, he and Astri hurried outside. The walkways teemed with beings. The area surrounding the Senate was always crowded.
“We need to go through this bin, but we don’t have time to get to the Temple,” Obi-Wan said. “I don’t want to do it in public. Ona Nobis could be anywhere.”
“Didi’s CafŠ is close, and I still have the key,” Astri said. “Follow me.”
She led him down an alley and across the square. Now Obi-Wan recognized where he was. They would approach Didi’s CafŠ from the back. Astri snaked through several alleys and they came to the back door.
“Good, the landlord hasn’t rented it yet,” she said, swiping her key card through the lock. The door hissed open.
There was no power to the building, so Astri opened a shutter a crack to let in enough light to see. They sat at the long kitchen table. Obi-Wan carefully removed the contents of Ren’s bin and spread them out on the table.
A utility pouch with one protein food capsule and
a
small servodriver. A few credits. A vibroshiv. A few crystals. A deck of cards for sabacc. A tunic with empty pockets. A thermal cape, folded neatly.
They were all items carried by the kind of being who owned little and ranged throughout the galaxy. Nothing special. And if there was a message here, he couldn’t read it either. Disappointment thudded through him.
Astri slumped in the chair. “It’s a dead end.”
Obi-Wan felt a presence nearby. Out of the corner of his eye a fleeting shadow flickered. There was someone hovering outside the half-shuttered window. He did not turn and look. Instead, he signaled to Astri with a glance that something was amiss.
“Maybe there is something hidden in the lining of the tunic,” he said in a normal voice. “I’ll fetch something to slice it open.”
“Try the office,” Astri said. Under the cover of the table, she withdrew her vibroblade from its holster.
Obi-Wan left the kitchen at a normal pace but raced up the stairs to the private quarters above. He slid open a shutter noiselessly and looked down at the alley. Someone in a long, dusty tunic was peering in the kitchen window. The hood to the tunic was raised. He could not identify the person as Ona Nobis, but he knew such a disguise would be easy for her.
He eased out onto the ledge and paused for a moment, gathering the Force. He would need help if he was to meet this opponent again. Drawing his lightsaber in one smooth movement, he leaped toward the intruder below.