Siri nodded. They hurried toward the circle and ran down a path that wound through rows of leafy trees. Spotting a forested area ahead, they headed for it. They struggled through tall overgrown shrubs studded with brambles that choked the narrow trail. Finally, they stopped in a clearing to catch their breath.
Siri pulled a bramble out of her hair. “I don’t
know why we had to leave at all,” she grumbled. “Just when things were getting interesting, Qui-Gon comes up with a plan to get rid of us. How am I going to learn if I never get to watch two Jedi Masters in action?”
“The mission is what drives us,” Obi-Wan said.
Siri tore another bramble from her blond hair. “You don’t have to repeat Jedi wisdom to me, Obi-Wan. I took the same classes you did.”
Suddenly, she sighed and flopped back onto the soft grass. “I’m just disappointed. I wanted to see how Qui-Gon and Adi would handle this. Something is very strange on this planet. Those Hospitality Guides gave me the shivers. Who knew a smile could be so eerie?”
“That’s why Qui-Gon wanted to see the parents alone,” Obi-Wan told her.
Siri gave him a sidelong look that seemed like pure disgust. “You don’t have to explain the plan to me. I was there.”
She jumped up before he could react. She was always doing that, Obi-Wan thought. She never gave him a chance to apologize or explain. Not that he wanted to.
“Come on,” she said. “We shouldn’t stay in one place for too long.”
“I know that,” Obi-Wan said, moving ahead.
Siri picked up her pace, and they hurried through the overgrown paths. Neither would let the other lead.
This is ridiculous, Obi-Wan thought. Haven’t I learned anything in all my years at the Temple? I shouldn’t be competing with Siri.
But he couldn’t fall back and let her lead, either.
“Maybe we should find the Tech Circle,” Obi-Wan suggested. “If we’re supposed to investigate how the society really works here on Kegan, it seems like a good place to start.”
“That’s the first place they’d look for us,” Siri scoffed.
They emerged from the bushy overgrowth and found themselves alongside a field of tall grass. A dirt path ran along the edge of the field, and they turned down it.
“Do you have a better suggestion?” Obi-Wan asked.
“I think we should mingle with the people,” Siri said. “It’s a human population, so we’ll mix in. And we wear similar clothes, too. We might be able to pick up lots of information just by talking to people.”
Before Obi-Wan could reply, the noise of an engine split the air. A landspeeder was approaching. It was too late to retreat into the shrubbery.
“Let’s try to bluff,” he murmured to Siri.
The landspeeder drew up alongside them. A burly middle-aged man dressed in a chromasheath tunic smiled at them in a friendly way.
“What are you two doing out here?”
“Just out walking,” Obi-Wan said.
“No school today?” the man asked in a pleasant tone.
Here was a trap. Obi-Wan didn’t want to say they were visitors. That would surely send O-Rina and V-Haad on their trail.
“We have permission to be out,” Siri said. “Our parents need help at home. Speaking of which, we’d better head there.”
“Suit yourself.” The man waved them on.
They began to walk past him. But something was wrong. The Force surged, warning Obi-Wan a moment before an electro-jabber swiped at his knees, then his shoulder. They were both glancing blows, enough to send Obi-Wan crashing to the ground. A split second later, Siri crashed next to him. Her breath left her in a hiss. She had never felt an electro-jabber before.
The man picked them up and dumped them like cargo on the rear floor of the landspeeder. Then they roared off.
“O-Lana is gone?” 0-Melie’s face went dead white. She stumbled backward, and V-Nen steadied her. She pressed a hand to her mouth. “How could you have let her go?”
“I had to,” 0-Yani replied, her eyes darting from 0-Melie to V-Nen. “They said she was due for her routine med check. There is no reason for concern. She will come back. She will not disappear.”
V-Nen shot a glance at 0-Melie. A warning glance, Qui-Gon thought. He saw 0-Melie swallow. The look on her face was transformed. Her constricted facial muscles smoothed out. Her lips tilted upward in a strained smile.
“Of course,” she said. “I understand.”
They heard the sound of running footsteps, and the Hospitality Guides hurried toward them.
“Ah, we found you!” 0-Rina said.
V-Haad’s smile did not falter. “We thought you were to wait in the market.”