[Jedi Apprentice] - 16(14)

Mace saw the look of puzzlement on the faces of Bant and Obi-Wan. “Her sudden bid for power and the quick support she received could mean that she bought the list from Oleg,” he told them. “At any rate, it is worth investigating.” Mace gathered his cloak around him. “If she has the list, she could be in danger. Whoever has possession of it could end up like Oleg. Come. Her residence is not far.”

Mace’s long stride covered more distance than Obi-Wan could make at a slow run. He and Bant had to jog to keep up with him.

Legislator Pleni lived alone in a small, elegant dwelling made of the gray stone that so much of New Apsolon was built with. All the lights inside the house were on. Mace pressed the illuminated bar that would alert her that she had visitors. They waited by the panel to announce themselves, but there was no answer.

“She could have left the lights on when she went out,” Mace said. “But let’s explore just the same.”

The look on his face was uneasy. Mace had a deep connection to the Force. Obi-Wan had felt nothing, but now he focused his attention on the Force, reaching out around him. He did not pick up anything.

They walked around the perimeter of the dwelling. Mace seemed to grow more worried as they walked. When they reached the back, Obi-Wan felt it, too - a disturbance in the Force. He glanced at Mace, who saw traces of a probe droid’s entry into a high window.

The door was secured, but Mace didn’t hesitate. He cut a hole in it with his lightsaber and strode in. Obi-Wan and Bant followed.

The stone floors gleamed. Not an item seemed out of place. They walked through the empty rooms in the eerie silence. Then they mounted the stairs.

Upstairs, they finally saw evidence of a struggle. Furniture was overturned. Large crystal vases were smashed.

Mace looked up to the ceiling. He pointed to several smudge marks. “Probe droids.”

The disturbance in the Force was now more than a ripple for Obi-Wan. It was a cresting wave. He moved forward, his hand on his lightsaber hilt. He turned a corner into Legislator Pleni’s bedroom. It was untouched except for a halfway ajar door riddled with blaster fire.

Obi-Wan walked forward slowly, dreading what he would find behind that door. He nudged it open with the toe of his boot.

Legislator Pleni lay curled up in the corner, her hands clutching a blaster. A probe droid lay at her feet. She was dead.

Mace came up behind him noiselessly. Obi-Wan heard his deep sigh.

“We are always one step too late on New Apsolon,” Mace said. Obi-Wan could locate in his voice the determination that this would no longer be the case.

They heard noises below, and the sound of feet on the stairs. Minutes later, a security squad burst in.

“She is in here,” Mace said.

He brought Obi-Wan and Bant downstairs, where the evidence of Legislator Pleni’s horrible death was not in front of their eyes. They were questioned by the security squad, then told they were free to go. Still, Mace lingered.

When the security squad came downstairs at last, having completed its investigation, Mace stopped the head officer.

“Any conclusions?”

“Yes,” the officer said, brushing past them.

Mace stood in front of him, effectively blocking his path. “You know that Manex has ordered the security squads to cooperate with the Jedi.”

The officer hesitated. A gleam of malice lit up his eyes. “Fine. Let me tell you what we discovered then. Legislator Pleni was killed by a probe droid. We have been able to trace its owner.”

“You have a name?” Mace Windu asked.

“Certainly.” The security officer bared his teeth in a smile. “Your Jedi friend, Qui-Gon Jinn.”





CHAPTER 10


Qui-Gon got started early the next morning. He had spent most of the night going from cafŠ to cafŠ, trying to gather information. As the hours got later, tongues grew looser, but he did not discover anything that put him on Balog’s track. Gossip swirled about Alani’s bid for the Supreme Governor position and a growing swell of support for Manex. Neither helped him at all.

He spent the rest of the night on a bench in a grassy park, impatiently waiting for dawn. He could feel Balog out there, maneuvering, scheming, plotting his next move. He could feel the absence of Tahl as an ache so deep he could not face it directly. When he thought of her last days, what Balog had put her through, he would have to move, have to get up and walk through the park, driving himself to exhaustion so that he would not think of the dark vengeance that burned inside him. He would have to conquer it… somehow. He pushed his mind to numbness. It was the only way he could go on. Before long he had explored every path in the large urban park. He could draw a map of it blindfolded.