“I will not give such an order!”
Adi and Qui-Gon activated their lightsabers in a split second. Obi-Wan and Siri quickly followed.
“I’m afraid we must insist,” Qui-Gon said. “A Jedi is being held captive on your grounds. That makes you responsible. If we must fight a battle to release him, know that we will.”
Min K’atel looked uncertain. “There is no other Jedi here. Only wards full of sick children and elders.”
“I saw a sick elder,” Min K’atel’s daughter, Joli, suddenly piped up. She shook the doll in her lap, moving its arms and legs. “He made this.”
“And how did he give it to you?” Adi asked gently.
“He threw it down into the bushes,” Joli said. “He threw down other toys to the children. Mine is the best.” She smiled down at the doll in her lap. “It is the prettiest.”
“Mine is the prettiest!” a young girl said, running forward, waving a doll.
“No, mine!” A boy shook a toy in the air. Qui-Gon walked forward. He gently took the doll from Joli’s hand. He held it against his robe. The color and texture of the threads matched exactly.
“Do you still say a Jedi is not on your property?” he asked Min K’atel.
Min K’atel’s eyes traveled high above to the window where his daughter had seen the toy-maker. It was in Uta S’orn’s quarters.
He did not look at Uta S’orn. “Search her quarters,” he said to the captain of the guard.
Uta S’orn shrugged as the members of the royal guard rushed off. “They will find nothing.”
“If that is so, then I will apologize most humbly,” Min K’atel said. He turned to the guard droids. “Surround Senator S’orn.”
The guard droids wheeled in formation. But instead of turning on Uta S’orn, they turned on the Jedi.
CHAPTER 20
“They have been reprogrammed,” Qui-Gon said tersely.
The words had barely left his mouth when the droids began to fire. Blaster fire erupted in a flash around the Jedi.
Only the group immediately around them realized what was happening. The partygoers on the lawn thought the flash was part of the celebrations. They applauded as the Jedi began to spin, their lightsabers a blur. Musicians played nearby, and the people turned toward the music.
Obi-Wan thought of the many children surrounding them. His primary objective was to contain the battle so that they would not be injured by stray blaster fire. He knew the others had the same thought.
The droids stayed in formation, wheeling to attack and
then regrouping. Uta S’orn slipped off her seat of honor and disappeared into the crowd.
The Jedi did not need to confer on strategy. Along with protecting the Belascans in the garden, they had to get to Uta S’orn’s quarters. They formed a tight circle to deflect the blaster fire and attack the royal droids. As they fought, they moved steadily forward, fanning out to break the strict formation of the guards.
“Cover me,” Qui-Gon said tersely.
Adi, Siri, and Obi-Wan stepped up the attack. They were a blur of movement now, moving together, covering one another and then reversing to deliver a furious attack on the droids.
Obi-Wan reached out to Adi and Siri, catching the rhythm of their battle strategy. Adi relied on Siri’s quick footwork and gymnastic leaps. Siri depended on Adi’s dazzling lightsaber action. Together, they were an amazing pair.
But even as they littered the grounds with broken droids, more arrived in what seemed to be a never-ending stream. They poured out of the palace guard room, blaster rifles pointed at the Jedi.
Fighting battle droids had its own challenges. Their weakness was the same as their strength: They did not think. They responded to stimulus. They saw beings as targets to be destroyed. Their complicated wiring could be compromised by one good blow. Yet their accuracy was impeccable.
Even as he fought, Obi-Wan kept in mind that Qui-Gon had run into the palace alone. He would meet Ona Nobis there. He remembered with alarm how Qui-Gon had not been able to clear the fence earlier. Qui-Gon needed backup.
He knew Adi was thinking the same thing. Without a word or a glance, they accelerated their drive with a furious series of volleys. They pushed forward until they were at the entrance to the palace.
Obi-Wan launched a quick reversal, sweeping up with his lightsaber, then leaping and twisting in midair to come down behind the droids. He attacked from behind, leveling four with two blows. Meanwhile, Adi and Siri slipped inside the palace. Obi-Wan leaped again, this time landing on the threshold of the entrance. With a backward kick that sent a droid flying, he raced inside.
The palace was dim after the blazing lights of the festival outside. Obi-Wan sensed rather than saw movement. Adi and Siri were heading up a grand staircase.