Magus turned and gave one more blast of fire. It hit Helina where she still lay stunned on the duracrete. She died instantly. Her usefulness to the Separatists was over, and she had become a liability.
Magus took off. Obi-Wan knew it was useless to go after him. By the time he got to a cruiser, Magus would be in the upper atmosphere.
He turned and walked toward Helina. He crouched next to her and allowed himself a moment to mourn the loss of a life.
“I can’t believe it was Helina,” Taly said, his voice hollow.
“Magus got the codebreaker,” Siri said.
Taly shook his head. “Helina only thought she had it. We made two prototypes. She took one, but I put a bug in it. I’m the only one who knows where the real one is.”
“Magus is no doubt taking it to the Separatists,” Siri said.
“We have to get the codebreaker to the Republic before the Separatists know the one they have is a fake,” Obi-Wan said. “We have to monitor their broadcasts.”
“Bring it to us,” Padme told Taly, sounding like the queen she had once been.
“I have it,” Taly said, opening his tunic to reveal the codebreaker strapped across his chest. “And I’m coming with you. If Magus is after me again, I want your personal guarantee for my safety for the duration of the Clone Wars. That’s a condition of your purchase of the codebreaker.”
Padme gave him a cool glance. “You never stop negotiating, do you?”
“I just want what I want.”
“This is your last condition,” she told him. “And you had better guarantee that this box is the real codebreaker.”
Taly grinned, and the boy Obi-Wan had known was back. “It is.”
CHAPTER 27
They blasted off for the Azure Spaceport. The finest tech experts in the Republic army were already there, waiting to receive the codebreaking device.
Obi-Wan spoke to Anakin. “I suggest you get some rest on the journey. And PadmŞ looks exhausted. If you could persuade her that she needs rest, it would do her good.”
Anakin’s gaze was opaque.
I so rarely know what he is thinking anymore, Obi-Wan thought.
“Yes, Master,” Anakin said.
He is still obedient, but it is as though he makes an effort to be so.
Obi-Wan watched as Anakin went over to speak quietly to PadmŞ. She nodded, and the two of them left the cockpit.
That left Siri and Taly and Obi-Wan. Siri kept her eyes on the instruments, even though Obi-Wan had plotted the course and there wasn’t much for her to do. It all felt so familiar, the three of them in a cockpit, heading away from danger and most likely into more of it.
“Tell me something, Taly,” Obi-Wan said, spinning around in his chair to face him. “Passel Argente placed Helina Dow in your employ. She bided her time, but Argente always meant to destroy you. Why are you still protecting him?”
“Protecting him?”
“He hired those bounty hunters and you never told the Senate.”
“It was my last bargaining chip.”
“But he hired Magus, and Magus killed your parents.”
“Magus did that for revenge. I didn’t blame Argente for their deaths. I blame Magus.” Taly’s face grew hard.
“So why didn’t you tell?”
“I knew I would have to start over,” Taly said. “I knew I needed a patron. I waited until I was older, and then I approached him when I was ready to take back my name and start my company. Who do you think gave me my first business loan?”
Obi-Wan shook his head ruefully. Qui-Gon had been right. Taly had known all along, and he had used that information. It must have taken an enormous amount of nerve to contact Passel Argente and demand hush money.
“I used Argente, but I never trusted him. He ended up coming at me in a way I didn’t expect. But if I went to the Senate today and told some committee about a twenty-year-old plot, they’d laugh me out of the chambers. They have enough problems. Everything has changed, hasn’t it? My best revenge on Argente now is to help you win the Clone Wars.”
“Well, that’s one thing we should be grateful for, at least,” Siri said. She seemed more amused than irritated by Taly.
Taly approached her. “I have something for you.” He held out his hand. Siri’s old warming crystal lay in his palm, the cool deep blue of the crystal glowing slightly.
She took it wonderingly. “But how - “
“I went back to Settlement Five and bought it back from the same vendor you sold it to,” he said. “I tracked him down. I always wanted to give it to you someday.”
“Thank you, Taly,” Siri said. She closed her fingers over it. A flush of pleasure lit her face.