[Jedi Apprentice] - 12(32)

“Do you know the name of the antitoxin?” Qui-Gon asked, indicating the shelves.

Astri tore off her helmet and scanned the labels. She placed her hand on a shelf. “Here.” She removed several vials and filled a pouch on her utility belt with them. She then filled her pockets with as many other vials as she could. Obi-Wan took handfuls of medicines and tucked them in his tunic.

“What now?” Qui-Gon asked. “Do you have a way out?”

Obi-Wan shook his head. “We’ve tied up one guard. Are there other guards?”

“I don’t think so,” Qui-Gon said. “She relies on Nil and the security system. Between the three of us we should have no difficulty. Zan Arbor does not yet know she has been invaded. Our odds are excellent.”

The intercom crackled, and they turned to watch the screen. Ona Nobis appeared.

“I have arrived,” she said. “Nil, give me access. Nil!”

“It appears our odds have changed,” Qui-Gon said.





CHAPTER 19


Qui-Gon looked over at Astri’s panicked face. He could not imagine what it had taken for this young woman to come this far. She had cooked and run a cafŠ, and now she was facing death on a dangerous mission to save her father.

“Do not worry,” he said softly.

“But now Zan Arbor will realize she’s been tricked,” Astri said. “We’ll all be trapped. What should we do?”

“Leave,” Qui-Gon said, opening the door. “We’ll have to come back for the other prisoner. Zan Arbor will discover that she has been invaded. But she won’t know where we are.”

They raced down the hallway. Qui-Gon felt the weakness in his legs as he ran. Strength was returning, but he knew he would have trouble if he had to fight the bounty hunter. He wished he had his lightsaber.

Before they turned the corner toward the double doors, Qui-Gon stopped and peered around. Jenna Zan Arbor had left the doors ajar. She had her back to them. Ona Nobis stepped into the building.

“There’s been a security breach,” Jenna Zan Arbor said breathlessly. “I can’t find Nil. I think someone is here, trying to rescue Qui-Gon. Two people, one of them a Jedi. Maybe both of them. You must find them.”

“My mission has been completed,” Ona Nobis said in a flat tone. “I came for my payment.”

“What are you talking about?” Zan Arbor’s voice rose. “I’m telling you I’m in trouble!”

“I am telling you it is not my concern,” Ona Nobis said in the same emotionless tone. “You sent me after that friend of Ren S’orn on Simpla-12. The Jedi beat me there. That was my last task for you. I have taken on another job. And I have my own plans for that Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

“Listen to me,” Jenna Zan Arbor spat out. “There are intruders in this lab. You must search the premises and destroy them.”

Ona Nobis did not answer. She held out her hand for payment.

“But Obi-Wan Kenobi could be here right now!”

“I will meet him on my terms. Not yours. Not here.”

“If you think I’m going to pay you, you are mistaken,” Zan Arbor hissed.

Ona Nobis stared at Zan Arbor with a flat, neutral gaze. “If you think you can threaten me, you are mistaken. Keep in mind who I am. Do you want to pay me what you owe me, or do you want to die?”

Jenna Zan Arbor seemed to shrink. She was no match for Ona Nobis, and she knew it. She reached inside her robe and withdrew an envelope. She slapped it in the bounty hunter’s open palm.

“You will never work for me again,” she said furiously.

“How that crushes me,” Ona Nobis said coldly. She tucked the envelope into her belt, turned, and left.

The door hissed shut behind her. Qui-Gon quickly herded the others back to the storage room. With any luck, Zan Arbor would hurry back to her lab to try to find Nil. They would use the opportunity to escape.

She walked by them, her face flushed and furious.

“At last,” Astri breathed.

They moved out into the hall and accessed the double door. They were steps away from the entrance when the speaker buzzed. The monitor at the front door suddenly filled with Jenna Zan Arbor’s face.

“Greetings to my unwelcome guests, and to Qui-Gon,” she said smoothly. “I assume you are on your way to my door to escape. Perhaps you should pause for a moment and consider this. Do you really think I would be so foolish as to rely on one stupid guard and one basic security system to protect what is mine?”

Qui-Gon stopped.

“I did not merely withdraw your blood, Qui-Gon,” she continued. “I also injected a device into your system. Not only does it measure your vital signs - by the way, your heart is beating quite rapidly right now - but it also contains a transmitter. If you cross the threshold of this building, that transmitter will set off another. There is another subject in my lab. If you leave, a poison will be released into his system. He will be dead in thirty seconds. You do not know him, but you are close to him. There is a riddle for you. And a choice.” She gave a bland smile. “Perhaps you will accept my hospitality for a little while longer.”