The Evil Experiment

  son who had died. Naturally I followed her wishes."

  "Why wouldn't Senator S'orn want her son's killer to be found?" Astri

  asked, baffled.

  "You will have to ask her," Captain Yur T'aug said. "I do not know."

  The last time Obi-Wan had seen Senator S'orn, he had been ushered

  into a grand office in the Senate building. She had been dressed in rich

  ceremonial robes. Since that time, Senator S'orn had resigned.

  She lived in a building near the Senate where other Senators from

  many worlds kept quarters. She opened the door, dressed in a plain linen

  smock that hung to the floor. She was not wearing the elaborate wrapped

  headdress of her home world of Belasco. Her dark hair hung loosely down her

  back.

  She did not look happy to see Obi-Wan. "More questions," she said.

  "Where's your big friend?"

  "I don't know," Obi-Wan said. "That's why I'm here."

  She shrugged, then turned and walked into her quarters.

  Obi-Wan and Astri followed. Boxes and bins were piled around them,

  some of them sealed, others half open. She was packing.

  "You are leaving?"

  "I am returning to Belasco. To do what, I don't know." She gave Obi-

  Wan a direct look. "Please ask what you came to ask. I am busy."

  The Senator had always been direct. He would meet that directness

  with his own. "Why did you have Captain Yur T'aug drop the investigation

  into your son's murder?"

  "What good would it have done to continue?" Uta S'orn said with a

  sigh. "He was killed by some lowlife, some criminal on Simpla-12. He

  associated with them, gambled with them, probably got into an argument. He

  led a life of squalor. Why investigate it, why drag every sordid detail

  into the sun? Who knows what Captain Yur T'aug could have found about Ren?"

  Uta S'orn's expression was tight and strained. "I did not want to know.

  Don't you understand? I want it all to go away, and you keep bringing it up

  again."

  "But your son might have left a clue behind to help find his killer,"

  Astri said. "He said he would leave a clue behind in case he was killed."

  "Can't you understand that I don't care?" she said impatiently. She

  picked up a blanket and began to fold it.

  "What if you knew his killer?" Obi-Wan asked. "Why would I know the

  dregs of Simpla-12?" she scoffed.

  "We believe that Jenna Zan Arbor was involved in your son's death,"

  Obi-Wan told her.

  She whipped around to face him. "That is impossible."

  "It is true," Obi-Wan said. "We know that Jenna Zan Arbor is

  conducting experiments on the Force. We know she contacted your son - "

  Uta S'orn laughed in disbelief. "You are on the wrong track. Jenna is

  my friend. I have helped her with her funding, introduced legislation for

  her, gotten her onto committees, sometimes at personal risk to my career...

  She would never hurt my son. She didn't even know him."

  "Did she tell you that she contacted him on Simpla-12?"

  Uta S'orn went pale. She knew the Jedi did not lie. "You know this is

  true?"

  Obi-Wan nodded. "Tell me. She knew Ren was Force-sensitive, didn't

  she?"

  "I told her in confidence..."

  "This was at the beginning of her experiments," Obi-Wan said,

  thinking. "She probably couldn't get to any Jedi. She was looking for

  anyone who was Force-sensitive, most likely. Beings no one would miss - "

  Obi-Wan saw pain constrict Uta S'orn's features. "I am sorry. I know you

  miss your son. Perhaps she thought you would not."

  "I was not in touch with Ren at the time," Uta S'orn said

  reluctantly. "I told Jenna I had disowned him. I was trying to be strong."

  "She offered him money if he would be a subject in an experiment,"

  Obi-Wan said quietly. "He went. When he returned, his friends say he was

  changed. He was afraid."

  Uta S'orn's legs seemed to collapse underneath her. She sat on a

  chair. Her hands went to her mouth. "Did she... hurt him?"

  "We are not sure what happened," Obi-Wan said. "Or why he was killed.

  Do you know where Jenna Zan Arbor's lab is? Not her official lab. But

  another lab, a secret lab."

  Uta S'orn shook her head. "I didn't know she had one."

  "We think Ren left a clue behind," Obi-Wan said. "Do you have

  anything of his?"

  She stood and went to the pile of boxes in a corner. She withdrew a

  small durasteel bin. "This is all he owned. If there's a message here, I

  haven't found it." She handed it to Obi-Wan. "Take it. And if you find out

  your suspicions are true, find her."

  "I will," Obi-Wan promised.

  Quickly, he and Astri hurried outside. The walkways teemed with

  beings. The area surrounding the Senate was always crowded.

  "We need to go through this bin, but we don't have time to get to the

  Temple," Obi-Wan said. "I don't want to do it in public. Ona Nobis could be

  anywhere."

  "Didi's Caf© is close, and I still have the key," Astri said. "Follow

  me."

  She led him down an alley and across the square. Now Obi-Wan

  recognized where he was. They would approach Didi's Caf© from the back.

  Astri snaked through several alleys and they came to the back door.

  "Good, the landlord hasn't rented it yet," she said, swiping her key

  card through the lock. The door hissed open.

  There was no power to the building, so Astri opened a shutter a crack

  to let in enough light to see. They sat at the long kitchen table. Obi-Wan

  carefully removed the contents of Ren's bin and spread them out on the

  table.

  A utility pouch with one protein food capsule and a small

  servodriver. A few credits. A vibroshiv. A few crystals. A deck of cards

  for sabacc. A tunic with empty pockets. A thermal cape, folded neatly.

  They were all items carried by the kind of being who owned little and

  ranged throughout the galaxy. Nothing special. And if there was a message

  here, he couldn't read it either. Disappointment thudded through him.

  Astri slumped in the chair. "It's a dead end."

  Obi-Wan felt a presence nearby. Out of the corner of his eye a

  fleeting shadow flickered. There was someone hovering outside the half-

  shuttered window. He did not turn and look. Instead, he signaled to Astri

  with a glance that something was amiss.

  "Maybe there is something hidden in the lining of the tunic," he said

  in a normal voice. "I'll fetch something to slice it open."

  "Try the office," Astri said. Under the cover of the table, she

  withdrew her vibroblade from its holster.

  Obi-Wan left the kitchen at a normal pace but raced up the stairs to

  the private quarters above. He slid open a shutter noiselessly and looked

  down at the alley. Someone in a long, dusty tunic was peering in the

  kitchen window. The hood to the tunic was raised. He could not identify the

  person as Ona Nobis, but he knew such a disguise would be easy for her.

  He eased out onto the ledge and paused for a moment, gathering the

  Force. He would need help if he was to meet this opponent again. Drawing

  his lightsaber in one smooth movement, he leaped toward the intruder below.

  CHAPTER 16

  "N0000000
000!" the intruder cried.

  Still in midair, Obi-Wan looked down at the surprised face of Cholly.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Weez and Tup spring back out of the

  way.

  Obi-Wan twisted his body in midair to avoid landing on Cholly. But a

  panicked Cholly moved as well, and Obi-Wan half-landed on him. He cushioned

  the fall with his hands, feeling the shock of the impact up to his armpits.

  "Oof! You're a big one," Cholly puffed.

  Obi-Wan rolled off and sprang to his feet. He gazed at the three

  incredulously as Astri burst through the kitchen window, vibroblade in

  hand. She took in the situation with one swift glance.

  "What's going on?" she demanded. "What are the three of you doing

  here?"

  Tup looked at Weez. "Uh. Sightseeing?" Obi-Wan deactivated his

  lightsaber but kept it in his hand. "You are interfering with a Jedi

  mission," he said sternly. "There are lives at stake. So answer me, now!"

  "Gibbertz and ham, everyone is so touchy today," Tup said. He blew

  out a breath. "Woosh."

  "We have just as much right to be here as you do," Cholly said.

  "It's a free planet," Weez added. He frowned. "Isn't it?"

  Astri brandished her vibroblade menacingly. "It's a big planet. And

  there's no one around. Haven't you noticed that?"

  Cholly scampered backward. "Whoa, whoa, strong lady, okay, okay. We

  were following you because of Ren's box."

  "What about Ren's box?" Obi-Wan asked.

  "His personal effects, yes?" Cholly asked. "We requested them from

  his mother after he... left us."

  "We said, for sentimental reasons. We were his best friends," Tup

  added.

  "She said no, why should she give what's left of her son to his

  lowlife lizard friends?" Weez said. "Some people have no generosity."

  "So true, wise friend," Cholly agreed sadly. "The universe is so

  often against us."

  Astri rolled her eyes. "Cut the blather. Why do you really want the

  bin?"

  Cholly, Weez, and Tup exchanged glances.

  "Ah, if we tell you, you won't cut us out of the deal?" Cholly asked.

  Obi-Wan and Astri exchanged a glance. Obi-Wan did not trust the three

  scoundrels, but they could give them a lead.

  "We'll cut you in," Astri said.

  Cholly, Weez, and Tup exchanged another glance. Then they all nodded

  simultaneously.

  "The place where Ren was held," Cholly said. "He said the lab had

  stockpiled medicines. Vaccines, antitoxins, cures for many viruses."

  Astri stiffened. "And?"

  "Well. We thought, if such a place has such a stockpile, someone

  somewhere would want to buy it. And someone would have to sell it."

  "So why shouldn't the someone be us?" Weez asked.

  "But Ren said no," Tup volunteered.

  "He, too, wanted to steal the medicines," Cholly said. "But he did

  not want to sell them. He wanted to turn them over to the Senate, or the

  Jedi. Some agency that would disperse them honestly. And get this scientist

  in trouble."

  "We had a small disagreement about this," Weez said. "We would help

  him steal them, but only if we made a profit of some kind."

  "So what happened?" Astri demanded. "Did he tell you where the lab

  was?"

  "This disagreement was not resolved," Cholly said. "Instead, Ren was

  murdered. But he told us he had the location of the lab in a safe place. So

  if something happened to him, someone would know where to go."

  "Then something happened to him," Tup added helpfully.

  "And his mother would not release his belongings," Weez said.

  "So we had nothing, just like before," Cholly added. "Until you came

  along. Then we thought, well, if you are on the trail of who killed Ren,

  perhaps we can find these medicines somehow."

  "So we followed you," Weez said. "You see? No harm done. The end!"

  "Unless, of course, you wish to steal the medicines as well," Cholly

  added. "There is great profit here for all."

  Astri grabbed Obi-Wan's arm and pulled him away. "Now we know for

  sure that Zan Arbor didn't destroy the antitoxins she developed. She has

  them, Obi-Wan! We have to find that lab!"

  "I know," Obi-Wan said. "But they don't know where the lab is."

  "May I suggest something?" Cholly broke in. "Perhaps if we could look

  at Ren's effects, we would see something you did not. Because we knew him,

  you see. We would understand the message that you could not."

  "Why would he leave you a message if he didn't want to steal the

  medicines?" Astri asked angrily.

  "Because we are better than nothing," Tup said.

  "At least he knew we would try to find the lab," Weez said.

  "I hate to say it, but they make sense," Obi-Wan murmured to Astri.

  "We might as well see," she agreed.

  Beckoning to the trio, Obi-Wan and Astri led them inside the caf©.

  Obi-Wan gestured at the items on the table.

  "This is what was in the bin," he said.

  Cholly picked up various items. "Not much here."

  "No datapad?" Weez asked.

  Obi-Wan shook his head.

  "No big sign that says, LOOK HERE?" Tup asked hopefully.

  Weez picked up the sabacc cards and rifled through them. "We played

  many a game with these."

  "Until no one would play with us anymore," Cholly said.

  Weez sighed. "They thought we cheated. The galaxy is so unfair to

  beings like us."

  "Did you cheat?" Astri asked.

  "Well, yes," Weez admitted. "We marked the cards. We had our coded

  system. But we didn't bet much. Se we didn't cheat them out of very much."

  "We were fair cheaters," Tup said.

  "We are so misunderstood," Cholly said sadly. "Wait a minute," Astri

  said. "You marked the cards?"

  "It's an honest living!" Tup protested.

  Astri took the cards from Tup's hands and spread them on the table.

  "Look at them carefully. Is anything different?"

  The three stared down at the cards for a long moment. Then,

  tentatively, Tup reached out one finger and moved a card away from the

  pack.

  "Look," he said, pointing to the design on the back. "See the mark?"

  "Of course," Cholly said. He squinted at the cards.

  Cholly moved another card. Then Weez moved a third. One by one, they

  separated cards from the pack. Then Cholly arranged them in a row.

  "These are marked," Cholly said.

  "But the marks don't make sense for sabacc," Tup said.

  "They correspond to numbers and letters," Weez said.

  "I put them in order for you," Cholly added.

  "But what does it say?" Astri asked urgently. "Do you have a

  durasheet?" Cholly asked. "I can write it out."

  Astri scrambled in a drawer for a durasheet. She handed it to Cholly.

  Consulting the cards, he wrote out:

  L 1 Q2 BU 3 SP 1 2

  "What does it mean?" Astri asked, baffled. Cholly, Tup, and Weez

  exchanged glances. "We have no idea," Cholly said.

  "It could be an address," Obi-Wan said. He stared at the sequence of

  numbers and letters. Different worlds were coded on astrogation maps with

  abbreviations to identify them. But there were thousands of such

  abbreviations. He would have to run the sequence through an astrog
ation

  computer. The possibilities were almost endless. It would take so much