Magus rose slowly. If he was bothered by the dissension in the others, it wasn’t apparent. “Our employer leaves the details to me. As you should.”
“We did that,” the being with the cranial horn said. “And now we don’t know if the kid is dead or not. We don’t know if he blabbed yet or not. We don’t know if he’s on his way to the Senate to testify.”
“I heard you the first time, Pilot,” Magus said, the anger now clear in his tone.
“Really? Because it doesn’t seem like you’re listening,” the female said irritably.
“Lunasa is right,” Raptor said. “You’ve got a problem listening to any voice but your own.”
Magus slammed a vibroblade down on the table. “Enough whining!” he exploded. With the exception of Gorm, the bounty hunters all looked unnerved. “I said I would take care of the boy. First we need to complete the preparations we discussed. There’s still much to be done, and we’re wasting time here.”
Without waiting for agreement, Magus simply strode off. Qui-Gon and Adi had to scurry back along the corridor to avoid him. He strode down the ramp and headed for his own ship.
“Who elected him king, I’d like to know,” Lunasa muttered.
“He recruited us,” Pilot said. “But the employer talks to me, too. I can go to him anytime.” A bragging note had entered his voice.
“Whoa, and that makes you so special,” Raptor said. “I’m keeping track of what Magus does,” Pilot said huffily. “That’s all I’m saying.”
“Shut up.” Gorm spoke for the first time. “Let’s go.”
It took them a moment, no doubt because they didn’t want to appear to follow anyone’s orders, but the bounty hunters began to make preparations for departure. Pilot headed for the controls. Lunasa worked on the nav computer. The one Qui-Gon suspected of being Raptor shrugged and took off down the corridor, presumably to his own cabin. Qui-Gon and Adi ducked into a storage room.
“Twenty leaders? It’s much bigger than we thought,” Adi said. “We have to find out who they’re targeting.”
“And why,” Qui-Gon added. “If we find the why, we can discover who hired them.” He thought quickly. “We should stay aboard.”
“But Taly - “
“Obi-Wan and Siri can protect him. They are well hidden. We can return for them. There’s no way off the planet for five days. Magus knows that as well - that’s why he’s leaving. No doubt he plans to return, but we can be back by then.”
Adi frowned. “I don’t like leaving the three of them.”
“Uncovering the plot will help Taly more than our presence,” Qui-Gon said. “I don’t like leaving them, either. But I feel Obi-Wan and Siri can handle this.”
Adi nodded slowly. “Agreed.”
“Once we’re out of the Quadrant Seven atmosphere, we can send them a message,” Qui-Gon said. “Incoming messages aren’t recorded. It’s a risk to leave, but…”
“… we have to take it,” Adi said.
They felt the thrust of the engines. The ship lifted into the air.
“Hey!” they heard Lunasa call. “Magus is staying!”
“He never tells us what he’s doing,” Pilot said.
“I guess he’s going for the kid after all,” Lunasa said. Adi and Qui-Gon glanced at each other. The ship was already climbing to the upper atmosphere. It was too late to get off.
CHAPTER 8
“They should have been back by now.”
Siri kept her voice low, but Taly seemed off in another world. He sat at the entrance to the cave, his arms around his knees. Occasionally he would dip his head down and stare at the ground.
“I know.” Obi-Wan wanted to argue with her, but he didn’t have a good feeling about the length of time Qui-Gon and Adi had been gone.
“I should go look for them.”
“They told us to stay here.”
Siri shook her head impatiently. “Obi-Wan, in all my years of knowing you, I can’t tell you how many times you’ve told me what I should be doing. “
“Well, somebody has to,” Obi-Wan said with a grin.
But Siri didn’t crack a smile. “They could be in trouble.”
“Or they could be negotiating for a starship. Or they could be contacting the Temple. Or they could be on their way back. They could be doing a thousand things. None of which are our concern. Our concern is Taly. They told us both to protect him. So here we stay.”
Siri’s jaw set stubbornly. She stared stonily out into the landscape.
Taly suddenly rose and came back to stand with them. “I have a proposition for you,” he said.