[Jedi Apprentice] - 13(30)

“This way,” Adi called to him as she ran.

Obi-Wan started for the stairs. Suddenly, blaster fire erupted near him. Chips of stone flew from the step where his foot had been. He turned to attack, but his balance was slightly off. He knew his countermove would be clumsy.

He saw a blur near his shoulder. Siri had leaped from the top stair. She twisted in midair, holding her lightsaber high. As she came down, she sliced off the head of a royal guard droid.

“Thanks,” Obi-Wan said.

“Anytime.”

Obi-Wan raced up the grand staircase, Siri now behind him. He called on the Force to direct him, following the stir of air and heat that Adi had left in her pursuit. He ran down long corridors. Ahead, he heard the sound of shouting.

He burst into a high-ceilinged room. Jenna Zan Arbor stood in the center, her hands in front of her. Noor was bound and shackled with energy cuffs at his ankles and wrists.

“I am holding the formula for the eradication of the waterborne bacteria,” Jenna Zan Arbor said, holding up a palm-sized datapad. “There is one crucial linkage missing from the version the scientists hold. Only I can cure this world. If you kill me, many will die.”

Qui-Gon’s lightsaber was held at his side. Adi stood near him. Obi-Wan had stopped short. He waited for the two Jedi Masters to decide on a strategy.

“We do not want to kill you,” Qui-Gon said.

“Capture is death to me,” Jenna Zan Arbor said. “It’s freedom or nothing.”

Adi and Qui-Gon did not look at each other. Yet Obi-Wan sensed that they were communicating. Noor’s eyes were closed,. but Obi-Wan felt the Force from him, as well. And this time Zan Arbor had no instruments to measure it.

He felt, rather than saw, Qui-Gon gather his strength. Obi-Wan felt its power.

Elation surged through him. Qui-Gon was back.

The datapad flew from Jenna Zan Arbor’s hand and into Qui-Gon’s suddenly extended left palm. At the same time, he leaped forward, his lightsaber slicing the air. Jenna Zan Arbor flinched, but he merely slashed at a hanging behind her. A large tapestry on the wall flipped over to land on top of her. At the same time, Adi sprang forward to free Noor.

Qui-Gon calmly tucked the datapad in his utility belt. He bent to capture Jenna Zan Arbor as she came up from underneath the tapestry, coughing from the dust.

“After all your experiments with the Force, in the end you failed to understand its power,” Qui-Gon said.

She fixed him with a look of rage. “I should have killed you when I could.”

“That,” Qui-Gon said, “was your other mistake.”

Obi-Wan looked around for Siri. She should have been right behind him. She was not. Alarm ticked inside him. Siri was always where the battle was.

And where was Ona Nobis?

Obi-Wan turned and ran back down the long corridor. He reached out to the Force, searching for Siri. She was close. He could feel her. In times of danger, their connection grew closer.

She was above him.

He raced to the staircase. It curved up and around and he lost sight of the top in the dimness. Obi-Wan dashed up the curving staircase. He paused at each landing but heard and felt nothing. She was still above him. At last he reached the top. A long corridor with thick carpets stretched before him. Frustrated, Obi-Wan paused. Siri was not on this floor.

He spied a small door to his right. Obi-Wan flung it open. He saw a narrow staircase twisting upward to the roof. In that instant he knew that Siri was up there and needed him.

He charged up the stairs, activating his lightsaber as he ran. He burst out onto the roof.

For a moment, his eyes were dazzled. The festival lights blazed far below. The lawns beyond were inky black. This portion of the roof was flat, but gables and turrets surrounded him.

He saw the pale violet glow of Siri’s lightsaber. Her back was to the roof wall. Ona Nobis had her cornered. The laser whip wrapped around Siri’s lightsaber, nearly wrenching it from her grasp. Siri placed her other hand on the hilt and held on, but she stumbled. Ona Nobis withdrew the blaster from the holster strapped to her thigh.

Obi-Wan charged, even as he reached out a hand to direct the Force. He could not count on his ability to move objects. But the Force surged this time, knocking the blaster from Ona Nobis’s hand and sending her staggering slightly from surprise.

Obi-Wan did not stop, but leaped and twisted in order to come at Nobis from her other side, leaving Siri free to regroup.

The whip furled and his lightsaber hit it with a sizzle. Smoke curled upward. He twisted the lightsaber to release it. Ona Nobis reached for her second blaster.

Siri gripped her lightsaber and advanced. Sweat soaked her hair and tunic. Grimly she swung at Ona Nobis but the bounty hunter twisted away.

“Come on, children,” Ona Nobis spoke at last. She bared her teeth. “You can do better.”