[Jedi Quest] - 08(29)

Zan Arbor waved a hand. “I mean no disrespect. I speak the truth. I am offering them something they would never be able to contemplate by themselves. Slam, even though you lie for a living, you should respect that I won’t lie to you. Now, where is your ship?”

“It’s at the main landing platform. Fueled and ready.” “Good. So, are you in?”

“Whoa, let’s pull back on the throttle a bit. I haven’t heard enough yet,” Obi-Wan said. Anakin knew what his Master was thinking. He had to get more information, information that Zan Arbor and Teda wouldn’t want to part with. This must be the scheme that Zan Arbor was working on with Granta Omega.

“We’re intrigued,” Siri chimed in. “We need a few more details. What is the nature of the job?”

“You don’t need to know that yet,” Zan Arbor said. “Are you well financed?” Obi-Wan asked.

“That is not a problem,” Zan Arbor assured him. “Do you have other partners?” Obi-Wan asked. “One other,” Zan Arbor said reluctantly.

Siri fixed her blue gaze on Teda. “I hope that this partner’s stature is as great as yours. Though I can’t imagine it.”

“It is,” Teda boasted, before Zan Arbor could stop him. “He is the most powerful business power in the galaxy. He - “

“That is enough,” Zan Arbor interrupted. She turned to Obi-Wan. “Now, our first step is to get off-planet. We must get to your vehicle.”

“Have you heard Joylin’s ultimatum?” Obi-Wan asked Teda. “He is threatening to execute your loyal officers. Hansel is the first.”

“I heard. Oh, poor Hansel. I feel so very badly for him,” Teda said with a sigh. He rubbed his hands together. “Now, are you sure you have enough fuel? We are traveling to the Core, to Coruscant.”

“Coruscant?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Teda, be quiet,” Zan Arbor snapped, her voice hard. “Who is your text doc expert?” she asked Obi-Wan. “Waldo,” Obi-Wan said, indicating Anakin.

Zan Arbor turned. The sun came out from behind a cloud, and Anakin felt suddenly exposed in the bright light, even with his headgear disguise.

A long moment ticked by. Anakin felt uncomfortably warm. The Force suddenly surged. A warning.

“I know you,” she said.

“I don’t believe so.”

“We have crossed paths.”

“Perhaps,” Obi-Wan said. “We’ve traveled widely.”

“Joylin has closed down the spaceport, but we have received permission to leave,” Siri interrupted. “However, we must do it within the hour. Can you be ready?”

“I am ready now,” Zan Arbor said. Her attention slid away from Anakin. There were more pressing matters to deal with.

“Then let us go,” Obi-Wan said.

There was a commotion outside. Teda leaped to his feet, a blaster in his hand. The Jedi turned.

The real Slam and the rest of his gang burst into the courtyard. Slam pointed a finger at Obi-Wan. “Impostors!” he cried.





CHAPTER FIFTEEN


Teda looked alarmed, but Zan Arbor suddenly smiled, as if she had just figured something out. She turned back to Anakin.

“Jedi,” she said. “Now I remember.”

Now Teda looked panicky. “Jedi?”

She rose and drew closer to Anakin, ignoring the Slams and the other Jedi. “Good disguise. But it isn’t your face that beings remember. It’s your manner. Your power. The way you move. I remembered you after our visit together on Vanqor. I asked about you. Teda, don’t you admire me for recognizing that this scruffy prisoner, one among so many, was different? You’re Anakin Skywalker.”

She gazed at him with a hungry expression. Anakin felt unnerved.

“I have studied the Force for so long,” she murmured. “Never did I expect such a prize.”

“I’m not your prize,” he spat out.

“Well, you’re my prisoner, and that’s the same thing. Do you know how many guards are surrounding you right now?”

Obi-Wan shot Anakin a look. The Jedi could fight. They could escape. But Obi-Wan was telling him to wait. They had more to discover. The stakes were too high.

“We can take them to the prison and have them executed on the spot,” Teda said.

“Don’t be so hasty,” Zan Arbor said.

“Look, you don’t have to kill them,” Slam said, looking uneasy now. “Just tell them to stop impersonating us.”

Valadon, as tall as Siri and as blond, shot her an icy look. “And give us our clothes back.”

Zan Arbor had not taken her eyes off Anakin. “Do you know what we have here, Teda?”