[Jedi Apprentice] - 13(23)

“How do you know he was sick?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Because he was taken out on a med-splint. I don’t think he was conscious. A medic met them when they landed. A tall Belascan male.”

That could have been Ona Nobis in disguise.

“Do you know where they went?” Obi-Wan asked.

The worker shifted her feet. She was constantly moving as Obi-Wan asked her questions. And she seemed so nervous. “No, but they had to file a flight plan.” Gazing at Obi-Wan, she wiggled her foot.

Obi-Wan noticed the movement and looked down. A small hand was curled around the worker’s ankle.

“That’s my boy, Ned,” she said in a whisper. “Please don’t report me. I had to bring him to work this week. My mother is ill and she’s the one who takes care of him.”

Obi-Wan smiled down at the boy, who looked up at him. A small toy was clutched in his dirty fist. “I won’t tell. Thank you for your help.”

He hurried over to Qui-Gon to tell him what he’d learned.

“That sounds like a good lead,” Qui-Gon said. “I’m sure the flight plan is false, however.”

But Adi was more skeptical. “I would like better confirmation,” she said. “There are many ill elders on Belasco. I’m not sure if this will convince Uta S’orn.”

“I hate the thought of Noor being unconscious,” Siri said worriedly.

“She drugged him, most likely,” Qui-Gon said. “If that was really Noor,” Adi said.

Obi-Wan caught Qui-Gon’s irritation. Adi’s instincts were renowned, but she did not abandon her need for absolute facts. They needed proof. Suddenly, Obi-Wan remembered something that had nagged at him.

“Wait,” he told the others. Then he hurried back over to the worker.

She looked at him anxiously. “I’ll lose my job if you tell my supervisor about Ned - “

“Don’t worry,” Obi-Wan assured her. He crouched down and spoke to the boy. “That’s a nice toy. Can I hold it for just a second?”

The friendly boy nodded and handed it to Obi-Wan.

It was a model of a tiny V-wing cruiser. It had been cleverly fashioned from slender threads tightly wrapped over bits of metal.

Obi-Wan fingered the threads. They had come from a Jedi’s robe. Noor had only pretended to be unconscious. He had left them a clue.





CHAPTER 15


Now that they knew for sure that Noor was on Belasco, they had to discover why Jenna Zan Arbor had traveled there. Adi and Qui-Gon set up two datapads on board the consular ship. They ran the Senate transcript on one datapad, and Uta S’orn’s on the other. Obi-Wan and Siri sat, watching intently.

“Look for the smallest difference,” Qui-Gon advised. “There will be much talk, so listen carefully.”

The holocam had recorded a session in the Senate that dealt with regulations in the Mindemir system. Senators got up and spoke endlessly about complicated rules. They interrupted one another and heaped praise and scorn on one another. They spoke for long minutes and said nothing.

Siri caught Obi-Wan’s eye and faked a huge yawn. Adi saw the gesture.

“Every task requires full attention,” she told Siri sternly. Then she turned back to Qui-Gon and murmured, “But I’m having trouble myself.”

“I don’t understand,” Obi-Wan said. “Uta S’orn isn’t even visible in the transmission.” “Exactly,” Qui-Gon said.

Obi-Wan was mystified. He

returned

his

attention

to

both transmissions, but it was hard to know what he was looking for.

At last a list of regulations was passed. The holocam hovered above as Senators rose to the front of their boxes to vote. The regulations were passed by a majority. Then, the screen went black.

“Shall we play it again?” Adi asked.

“Do we have to?” Siri muttered.

“Wait,” Qui-Gon said. He scanned backward as the vote was called. “I think I know what is different. Here.” He pointed to the screen on the left, which was the official Senate transmission.

“Look at the delegate from Hino-111,” he said. He pressed the zoom function on the transmission for a closer view. “He is not pressing the ‘yes’ button. He is voting against the measure. Yet in the audio he is voting for it.” Qui-Gon pressed the zoom function on the second datapad. “And here, he has recorded a ‘no’ vote. This is Uta S’orn’s version.”

Adi leaned closer. “She altered the official Senate record?”

“I’m sure if we study this we will find other votes that have been changed. The Senate recorder uses the official transcript to record votes. These regulations were never passed. Senators vote on thousands of regulations. Mindemir is a small system. It is a risky move, but this transcript is from eight months ago. Obviously, she got away with it.”