The Evil Experiment

  "I can't sleep until I know Qui-Gon is safe," Obi-Wan said. "Is there

  any news?"

  Tahl's sightless green-and-gold striped eyes were filled with

  frustration. She shook her head, her lips tightening. "I've got every

  contact working, Obi-Wan," she told him. "Giett has returned from his long

  mission and is back on the Council, so Ki-Adi-Mundi is helping with the

  galactic search. We could not ask for a better analyst."

  Obi-Wan nodded. Ki-Adi-Mundi had stood in for Giett on the Jedi

  Council for a time. With his binary brain, he was able to sift through an

  extraordinary amount of information and analyze it.

  "We don't have anything on the bounty hunter," Tahl continued. "She

  has no known friends or comrades. Those who have hired her refuse to talk,

  even to us. They're scared of retaliation. But we're working on it."

  "What about Jenna Zan Arbor's datapad?" Obi-Wan asked. "There must be

  something on it that somebody wants."

  "We can't crack the code," Tahl said. "Most scientists encode their

  data - it doesn't mean that she is connected to the bounty hunter or Qui-

  Gon's disappearance. But just in case, we don't want to alert her that

  we're on her trail. We have to explore all options until we find the right

  way to proceed. I won't rest until we find him, Obi-Wan."

  "I know," Obi-Wan told her. Tahl was just as close to Qui-Gon. They

  had gone through Temple training together.

  "Teams we have all over the Duneeden system, Obi-Wan," Yoda told him.

  "Find we will a trace of the bounty hunter's ship."

  "We know the ship was equipped with a hyperdrive," Tahl said

  worriedly. "There's a good chance she didn't remain in the Duneeden system

  at all. But we're going to check out every lead."

  "News I have of one Jedi team," Yoda told them. "Dispatched they were

  to Zan Arbor's lab on her home planet of Ventrux. Find we did that the lab

  has been closed down. Dismissed the workers were, and paid off."

  A spark lit Tahl's eyes. "Well, at least that's something. Jenna Zan

  Arbor has to be involved. We've got to crack that code!"

  Yoda nodded. "Think we do that she has another base of operations,"

  he said. "Searching for it, we are." He turned to Obi-Wan. "A difficult

  time for calm it is. Yet calm you must find. When news comes, go with a

  steady heart you must. Direction you need. Direction we will find."

  Obi-Wan's heart was far from steady. But Yoda was right. He must be

  resolute, and resolution only came with calm.

  The door to the inner chamber slid open. Winna came forward quickly.

  "Didi's infection has been identified. The blaster fire must have

  been tainted with a solution to trigger infection."

  "Do you have a cure?" Obi-Wan asked.

  Winna nodded. "The treatment has been discovered. It is an antitoxin.

  But I have bad news. The lab that sells it has been shut down. There are no

  stockpiles that we can find. This lab was the only source in the galaxy."

  Obi-Wan glanced at Tahl. By the look on her face, he knew she was

  thinking the same thing. Yoda nodded slowly.

  "What's the name of the lab?" Obi-Wan asked. "Arbor Industries,"

  Winna replied.

  It was the answer Obi-Wan had expected to hear.

  CHAPTER 3

  He was getting weaker, not stronger. Qui-Gon felt his body float. He

  wanted to give himself up to the sensation, bob in the oddly pleasant

  vapor, let it lull him into long sleeps. Even in his worst illness, he had

  never felt so weak.

  Was she doing something to keep him weak? Blood was extracted

  regularly, but that still did not account for his fatigue.

  Isolated from the world, from other living creatures, he knew the

  Force still worked around him. He closed his eyes and reached out to it. He

  would gather it around him like a shield. Qui-Gon felt the Force move

  inside the chamber. He concentrated harder...

  Through the veil of vapor, indicator lights outside his chamber

  glowed. Dimly, he heard a sensor ring shrilly and the sound of hurrying

  footsteps. Then Zan Arbor's amplified voice again:

  "You just accessed the Force. Good. Don't be afraid to do so."

  "How did you know?" Qui-Gon asked. The question was out of his mouth

  before he had a chance to think. His surprise had triggered it.

  "I am monitoring your body functions. When you access the Force, your

  body temperature drops. Your heartbeat slows. So strange. Once I thought

  the Force would have the opposite effect. But it works mysteriously. That's

  why it is so interesting to study."

  So she was studying the Force. Qui-Gon turned this new fact over in

  his mind. The Force could not be measured or manufactured. But if a

  scientist of Jenna Zan Arbor's brilliance was studying it, it was possible

  she could discover things she should not know. He must not underestimate

  her intelligence.

  Which meant he could not use the Force to heal himself.

  "Why are you so interested in the Force?" he asked.

  "Ah, we are full of questions today," she murmured.

  "There is not much else to do in here," Qui-Gon pointed out.

  "What about your famous Jedi meditation? That should pass the time."

  "Even meditation has its limits," Qui-Gon said dryly.

  He heard a low laugh. "Why shouldn't I study the Force? Why should

  the Jedi be the only ones to study it?"

  Qui-Gon thought before answering. He needed to keep her talking. He

  needed to appear to be interested in her studies.

  "That is a good point," he said. "We believe the Force connects us

  all."

  "That is exactly my point!" Zan Arbor said excitedly. "The Jedi

  should welcome my interest."

  "How do you know they do not?" Qui-Gon asked. "You haven't asked us."

  "I don't need your permission," she snapped.

  He was losing her. "I didn't mean that," he said. "You are a

  brilliant researcher. You might want to share your findings with the

  galaxy."

  "When I am ready," she said. "But not until then."

  "And what are you looking for?"

  She did not answer for a moment, and he was afraid the conversation

  was over. Then she said, "My colleagues are fools."

  Qui-Gon waited. He did not want to seem too eager. Something told him

  that Jenna Zan Arbor wanted to talk.

  "You've traveled. You must have seen that the galaxy is full of

  fools."

  "I have seen that many beings do not trust their eyes, their minds,

  or their hearts," Qui-Gon said.

  "Exactly! So you see what I have to deal with," Jenna Zan Arbor said,

  her voice warming. "I have just come from a conference at the Senate. My

  colleagues are chasing dreams, not ideas. New ways to make starships go

  faster. New engines, new fuels, new hyperdrives. They try to find ways to

  make weapons more powerful, more effective. They look for new sources of

  power. Faster. Bigger. Better. That is what they chase. They ignore the

  most powerful energy in the galaxy. The Force is far more important than

  any of these. With the Force, you can move minds. That is much more

  important than ships!"

  "I would agree with that," Qui-Gon said.

  "How ironic," Zan
Arbor said. "Only a Jedi would understand. And yet

  only the Jedi can be my best subjects. The others... even those who had the

  Force, who were, as you call them, Force-sensitive... they did not know

  what they had. They could not control it. It is hard to measure something

  that will not be controlled. That was the flaw in my experiments."

  Qui-Gon had a sudden notion that chilled him. Was Zan Arbor keeping

  him in a condition of weakness so that he would use the Force to heal

  himself?

  He could do nothing in this chamber. He would never escape if he

  didn't get out, even for a short time.

  Perhaps he could form some sort of bond with his captor.

  "I will make a deal with you," he said.

  "I hardly think you are in a position to offer deals," Jenne Zan

  Arbor said, amused.

  "I think I am," Qui-Gon returned quietly. "I have something you want.

  That puts me exactly in that position."

  There was a pause. "What do you want?"

  "I want to be let out of this chamber for two hours a day," Qui-Gon

  said. "If you do this, I will use the Force to heal myself. If you do not,

  I will not access it."

  "You will die," she warned.

  "Yes," Qui-Gon replied calmly. "As a Jedi, I am prepared for death.

  It does not frighten me."

  "I do not make deals!" Zan Arbor cried shrilly. "I am the leader

  here! I make the decisions!"

  He did not answer. He closed his eyes. He was gambling that she would

  not refuse him. He sensed the fever in her, the compulsion to follow

  through on her experiments. She would give in.

  "All right," she snapped. "But not two hours. One hour. That's all.

  Do we have a deal?"

  "We have a deal," Qui-Gon answered. He had expected her to counter

  with one hour. It was not a problem. One hour would have to be enough.

  CHAPTER 4

  Yoda, Tahl, and Obi-Wan were silent for a long moment. The news that

  Jenna Zan Arbor controlled access to Didi's antitoxin disturbed them.

  "It's very strange," Winna continued. "Not only is Arbor Industries

  closed, but there is no other source we can find anywhere. There must be

  some mistake, something we haven't thought to check. This infection is very

  rare, but still, Arbor Industries should have allowed other labs to stock

  the antitoxin. This is an astonishing breach of ethics. They left no word

  when they'll reopen, or where - "

  "Something you should know, there is," Yoda interrupted. "Under

  suspicion by the Jedi, Jenna Zan Arbor is."

  "She could be involved in Qui-Gon Jinn's disappearance," Tahl said.

  "Not to mention murder," Obi-Wan added.

  Winna's frown grew deeper as shock slowly registered on her face.

  "You mean that Zan Arbor has deliberately deprived the galaxy of her

  medicines?"

  "I think it a very great possibility," Tahl said. Winna's expression

  was grim. "My patient will die without that antitoxin."

  "I don't understand." Astri had come up behind them so quietly they

  had not heard her. "You say that Jenna Zan Arbor has the medicine that my

  father needs, and you can't find her?"

  "I am afraid that is the case," Winna said.

  Obi-Wan went to Astri. He hovered by her side, uncertain of what to

  say or do. "You mustn't lose hope," he said.

  She nodded, her mouth tightening. He saw her shoulders shaking. She

  was trying not to cry aloud.

  "Obi-Wan is right," Winna said. "The antitoxin must be held somewhere

  in the galaxy. We will find it, Astri."

  "I know you will do everything you can." "Our good friend Didi is,

  Astri," Yoda told her. "Take good care of him, we will."

  "You are very kind." Astri turned and walked toward the window. She

  stared out blankly. "She has lost hope," Tahl murmured.

  "Bad news, it was," Yoda said. "Hard to absorb."

  "I'd better get back," Winna said tersely, and hurried off.

  "Go to Astri, you should," Yoda told Obi-Wan. "Her friend you are.

  Console her, you must. Hope must not die while Didi lives."

  But Astri wasn't really his friend. He'd just met her. And he wasn't

  very good at consolation. If only Qui-Gon were here!

  Yoda and Tahl left, and Obi-Wan went to stand awkwardly by Astri's

  side.

  "He's going to die," she said. "And I will be alone."

  "We cannot lose hope," Obi-Wan said. "The Jedi are capable of

  extraordinary things. We will find the antitoxin or Jenna Zan Arbor."

  "I am certain that you will," Astri said. "But will Didi still be

  alive? He looks so small, Obi-Wan. His spirit filled him. Now he's so weak.

  .."

  "He is not weak," Obi-Wan said. "He had one of the strongest spirits

  I've ever seen. It is still there, his strength."

  "I thought I had troubles once," Astri said slowly. "Running a

  business wasn't easy. But now I know despair for the first time. Even if

  Didi survives, we have lost everything. The caf© has been closed by our

  landlord. We owe him credits we cannot pay. Even as I sit by Didi's

  bedside, begging him to live, I wonder what he will return to. And it's my

  fault. I spent all our savings on improvements for the caf©. We have

  nothing."

  Obi-Wan did not have to wonder what Qui-Gon would say. "You have each

  other."

  "You're right, Obi-Wan. I'm feeling sorry for myself." Astri rubbed

  her forehead. "It's just that I'm so tired."

  "Why don't you rest here?" Obi-Wan suggested, indicating the seating

  area. "You wouldn't have to go to the sleeping quarters. I will make sure

  you won't be disturbed, unless... unless Didi awakens."

  Astri sank onto the cushions and laid her head down. "Maybe just an

  hour," she said as her eyes closed.

  Obi-Wan decided he would stay until he was sure she was asleep. His

  nerves were jumping. He was anxious to check with Tahl and the Jedi code

  breakers. He wanted to be present when they cracked the datapad.

  He reached into his tunic to remove the Force-sensitive river stone

  that Qui-Gon had given him. He often found comfort in turning the smooth

  stone around in his hand. It made him feel closer to Qui-Gon.

  A crackle alerted him that there was something else in his inner

  pocket. Obi-Wan took it out. It was a durasheet. On it, Jenna Zan Arbor had

  written the names of the guests she had invited to Didi's Caf©. The names

  were already beginning to fade.

  Obi-Wan thought back to only a few days before. Qui-Gon had asked her

  to write out the information when they'd visited her at her hotel.

  Qui-Gon never did anything without a reason. Obi-Wan frowned,

  thinking hard. They had gone to see Zan Arbor because they had discovered

  that she had learned about Didi's Caf© from Didi's friend Fligh. Fligh had

  stolen the datapad of both Senator S'orn and Zan Arbor. Later he had been

  found dead, his body drained of blood. At that point, they did not know if

  Zan Arbor was involved. They were just following a thread.

  In other words, Zan Arbor hadn't been a suspect. So why had Qui-Gon

  asked for this list?

  Back then, Obi-Wan thought that the Outlaw Tech gang had hired the

  bounty hunter. But Qui-Gon must have had his doubts.
Had he been trying to

  link the bounty hunter to Zan Arbor?

  They had never solved the mystery of how the bounty hunter had been

  able to break into Didi's Caf© after Zan Arbor's guests had left. They knew

  the caf© had been locked up tight, every door and window bolted.

  Could Qui-Gon have wondered if one of the guests had stayed behind?

  Astri might not have noticed in the confusion of departure.