He turned with relief to his friend Bant. They had gone through Temple training together, and she was the being he most relied on for her support and understanding. But there was something cool in the way Bant returned his regard. Obviously, she was upset. She had been Tahl’s apprentice.
“We are sorry to be here under such tragic circumstances,” Bant said to Qui-Gon.
Obi-Wan even picked up a hint of coolness in her greeting to Qui-Gon. That was a bigger surprise. Bant revered Qui-Gon, and Qui-Gon had a special place in his heart for Obi-Wan’s friend.
Qui-Gon did not seem to notice the change. He was too consumed by his own grief, Obi-Wan knew. He nodded at Bant.
“Tahl is inside,” he said.
“We will see her for a moment,” Mace said. “Then I would like a briefing on where we stand.”
Qui-Gon gave a heavy nod. Mace and Bant disappeared inside. They returned after a few minutes. Bant looked shaken. Mace closed the double doors behind them quietly and moved farther down the hall.
“This Chief Security Controller, Balog, was responsible,” Mace said. “We know this for sure, yet we don’t know where he is. Correct?”
Qui-Gon did not speak, so Obi-Wan said, “Yes.”
“Tell me what happened,” Mace said, his eyes on Obi-Wan. He seemed to understand that Qui-Gon did not want to talk. Qui-Gon’s eyes were on the door to the room where Tahl was, as though only the slimmest whisper of respect was keeping him in the hall.
“Once we knew that Balog had captured Tahl, we obtained two probe droids to track him,” Obi-Wan explained.
Mace frowned. “Aren’t probe droids now illegal on this planet?”
“Yes,” Obi-Wan said, swallowing. He was well aware that Jedi were not supposed to break laws on other worlds. “But you can buy them on the black market. It was our only chance to find Tahl. We had good reason to believe she would be in a sensory deprivation device, so we knew that the longer it took to find her, the more danger she would be in. The probe droids told us that Balog had struck out across open country and entered the quarry region of the planet. Eritha, one of the daughters of the late ruler, Ewane, followed us. She had discovered that her twin sister, Alani, was in league with the Absolutes. This was a shock, because both Eritha and Alani are Workers. When the Civilized were in power, they used the Absolutes for surveillance and torture of Workers - including Alani and Eritha’s father.”
“I know the Absolutes were the secret police of New Apsolon,” Bant said hesitantly. “I didn’t get a chance to be thoroughly briefed. Weren’t they outlawed after Ewane was elected?”
“Yes. But the Workers suspect that the secret police never disbanded, ” Obi-Wan said. “We discovered that they are right. But we never suspected Balog was in league with them. He’s a Worker and was a protŠgŠ of Ewane. Now we know from Eritha that Alani arranged the kidnapping of herself and her sister to throw us off the track and gain public sympathy. At the same time, we believe it was a trick to lure Roan into the hands of the Absolutes. Roan was elected after Ewane was killed.”
“Roan was a Civilized, not a Worker,” Bant said.
“Right. But he had great sympathy for the Worker cause and worked closely with Ewane to bring about justice for all the people of New Apsolon. He even took in the twins when Ewane was murdered.”
“And Alani betrayed him,” Bant said slowly. “She must be very corrupt.”
“We stumbled onto a village of Rock Workers while we were pursuing Balog,” Obi-Wan went on. “Their entire village was destroyed in a raid, except for one Rock Worker, Yanci. She’s the one who helped us find the secret headquarters of the Absolutes. That’s how we rescued Tahl. But it was too late. Qui-Gon brought her back here, but the damage to her internal organs was too severe….”
“Balog killed her slowly,” Qui-Gon said. His voice sounded hoarse and rusty.
“He escaped in an underwater aqua skimmer,” Obi-Wan added. “He was impossible to track, and we needed to get Tahl to safety.”
“And now?” Mace asked. “We see on the streets that there is unrest here. If Alani is planning some sort of takeover, it will be soon. Immediate pursuit of Balog is wise.”
“That is what we think,” Qui-Gon said.
“Yet attention to the mission at hand will also bring results,” Mace went on. “If Balog is now in hiding, we’ll need to track him by his ambitions. Ambitions reveal direction.”
“The Workers contacted me,” Obi-Wan said. “They investigated all the file systems in the Absolute headquarters. Everything had been wiped clean. We don’t have much to go on.”