CHAPTER 8
Obi-Wan had captured her laser whip back on Simpla-12. He was not
happy to see that she had replaced it. It danced toward him, an arc of
supple, lethal light. He struck out at the whip before it reached him. The
two lasers tangled and smoked.
He could not move as fast as Ona Nobis. That, he remembered. He could
not defeat her with quickness. She was an astoundingly agile fighter with
lightning-fast moves. Her mind was quick as well. She always had surprises
up her sleeve.
Cleverness. Acrobatics. Cunning. Flexibility. She had everything he
had been taught was important in battle. His adversary did not have the
Force, but she might have the advantage.
In this partially enclosed space, he was too vulnerable. He must get
out in the open. Obi-Wan drove Ona Nobis back with a furious flurry of
moves, forcing her to concentrate on defending herself. When she was
slightly off balance he vaulted to the top of the unfinished wall.
Balancing for a moment, he leaped down into the construction site.
Here there were obstacles - graysleds, drills, large piles of metal
poles, blocks of stone, a durasteel skeleton of the exterior walls of the
wing, a deep, muddy pit. Yet he could use them for defense and attack. Here
the Force could help him.
The whip snaked to the top of the wall behind him, curling around an
exposed rod. A moment later Ona Nobis used it to haul herself up. Her head
swiveled toward him in the black visor she wore to conceal her eyes. Then
she leaped down, landing lightly, already furling the whip for another
attack.
Her lips curled back from her teeth. "I've been waiting for this,"
she said.
He was ready. Every sense was alert, every particle of his being
focused on the battle ahead. He had to be. The trick was to get her close.
From a distance, she used the whip to devastating effect. If he were
closer, she would have no room to maneuver.
The perfect attack begins with your attention. Every pebble can be an
obstacle or an opportunity. Hone your focus. Add speed, timing, strategy,
surprise. Do not forget the Force is with you.
Obi-Wan leaped to his opponent's left side. He used a technique Qui-
Gon called "false attack." He knew he would not win with this strategy, but
he did not mean to. He wanted to draw her forward toward him.
His lightsaber whirled and blurred as he moved, deflecting her
curling whip with its spiked edge. He saw her hand move toward the blaster
strapped to her hip and he blocked it with a flurry of moves so fast she
had to concentrate to keep up.
The ground was treacherous with mud and debris, but he used the Force
to aid every step. He leaped on a pyramid of stone blocks and used the
momentum to flip in midair and come at her left. Instead of stepping
backward, she stepped forward, an unexpected move for anyone but Ona Nobis.
Good. He had expected it, planned for it.
He twisted in midair, adding momentum to his leap. He landed behind
her. Now her back was to a sinkhole filled with mud and water. There was no
telling if it was shallow or meters deep.
He drove her relentlessly backward. He saw her lip curl with anger as
she flicked the whip, sending it within millimeters of his flesh. He
slashed downward. The lasers tangled with a buzzing noise.
Suddenly the blaster was in her hand. He had only caught a blur of
movement as she reached for ft. But he was ready, his lightsaber spinning
in a continuous arc to deflect the fire. The Force surged in him, making
every movement sure.
But he could not concentrate on everything at once. He lost his
connection to the ground. Chips of stone lay around the muddy surface, and
they were slippery. His foot slid and he lost his balance. He caught
himself before he fell but his loss of concentration cost him.
She moved to his right and charged, firing as she went. Obi-Wan slid
on the slippery stones, struggling to regain his footing as he deflected
the furious round of fire, twisting his body. He felt the rush of air as
the whip snaked around him.
For the first time, he was seriously worried. He was outmatched and
he knew it. He did not have Qui-Gon's perfect mastery of the Force. And he
could not meet the dual challenge of the whip and the blaster. He could not
get close enough to disarm her, and he doubted he would be lucky enough to
capture the whip a second time. He had only managed to do so back on
Simpla-12 because Astri had barreled down on Ona Nobis in a gravsled.
Doubt is your first enemy. How many times had he heard that in class?
Yet he knew deep within that this doubt was justified. With a whip as well
as a blaster, she could keep him running while she remained still. Sooner
or later he would tire. He saw how much he depended on Qui-Gon during a
battle. He could pick up on Qui-Gon's strategy, but he could not formulate
it himself. He would put up a good fight, maybe even wound her, if he were
lucky to get close enough. But she would win. She knew this territory well
and she had set the trap. He had walked right into it.
All of these calculations roared through Obi-Wan's mind even as he
regained his footing and faked a pass at Ona Nobis, forcing her to retreat
a few steps. He knew it was a temporary victory.
The hardest decision, Qui-Gon had told him once, is to walk away. He
had not understood that. Until now. It went against everything he'd learned
about battle, everything he was as a Jedi.
Or did it? The mission was his first concern.
Ona Nobis was not part of his mission. As far as they knew, she had
no connection to Jenna Zan Arbor now. She had picked a fight solely for
revenge.
Which meant there was no reason to fight. Behind Ona Nobis, tall
girders framed a wall of the wing. He needed a few seconds, that was all
Concentrating all his will, he reached out a hand toward a
fusioncutter lying on the ground. He felt the Force move, and the
fusioncutter slid along the mud and then flew with sudden momentum straight
toward Ona Nobis.
Surprised, she slashed at it with her whip. Obi-Wan felt the power in
his legs as he leaped straight over her head toward the girder above. He
landed, slipping just a bit from the mud on his boots. But he knew he would
regain his balance. He bent his legs and leaped again, this time to a
higher girder.
Far below, the whip snaked toward him. It could not reach him as he
leaped to the next high girder. From here, he leapfrogged his way down, out
of her reach at the far side of the site. Her howl of rage rang in his ears
as he raced away.
CHAPTER 9
Siri was waiting for Obi-Wan back in the atrium, her vivid blue eyes
snapping with impatience.
"This place is crazy," she said before Obi-Wan could speak. "There is
no Wing M. Or if there is, I can't find it, and would you care to make a
bet on how helpful the Sorrusians were? Plus, Astri isn't even registered
here. I went to Wing A, and they had never heard of her. So then I asked
about Rai Unlu. Get this - they've n
ever heard of him, either. Or at least
that's what they tell me. I don't know whether they're lying, or I'm
trapped in a nightmare." For the first time, Siri noticed Obi-Wan's mud-
splattered tunic and dirty face. "Did you fall in a puddle?"
"I had a run-in with Ona Nobis," Obi-Wan said. "This whole thing was
a setup. I don't think Astri's here at all. Ona Nobis lured us here to get
revenge on me."
"So what happened?" Siri asked, instantly poised for action.
Obi-Wan thought the decision to leave the battle was hard. He hadn't
thought ahead to telling Siri. This was harder.
"We fought. I left," he said.
Siri looked incredulous. "You ran away?"
Obi-Wan felt his annoyance rise. Why did Siri have to put it that
way? He struggled not to let his anger show. The best way to tell her what
happened was not to offer excuses.
"I was outmatched this time." The words seemed to come out smoothly,
but they felt as though they'd been torn from his throat.
Siri opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. Obviously, there were
many things she wanted to say. Just as obviously, Adi had taught her well.
For once, she kept her thoughts to herself.
Yet the expression on her face spoke more clearly than anything she
could have said. Siri could not understand leaving the scene of a battle.
She could not imagine a situation in which she would give up. She had not
been in as many battles as Obi-Wan. She was more used to the training rooms
at the Temple, where she had usually been the winner. When she had lost,
she had bowed to her opponent with grace. Then she beat them in the next
encounter.
She did not yet realize that even for the best Jedi, there were
battles that could not be won. Qui-Gon had taught Obi-Wan that. As skilled
a fighter as he was, Qui-Gon knew that surprises in battle came often. You
could train for them, but you could not predict them. Sometimes you had to
cut your losses.
He wanted to tell Siri this, but Siri would not listen. She liked to
find things out her own way. And you did not go to her for a sympathetic
ear.
"We'd better contact Qui-Gon and Adi," Obi-Wan said, turning away.
They found a secluded place to talk in the gardens in the center of
the med complex. Qui-Gon's calm voice came through the comlink, and Obi-Wan
quickly described what had occurred.
There was a pause. "You did well, Padawan," Qui-Gon said. Obi-Wan
felt some of the tension inside his body uncurl. Qui-Gon understood his
decision, at least. "Ona Nobis is only a distraction for us now. But this
news distresses me. Astri has not checked in with Tahl. If Ona Nobis used
her as a lure, that means she must know that Astri is on Sorrus. She must
know where she is."
"Siri and I can look for her - "
"No," Qui-Gon interrupted. "Hard as it is, I must agree with Tahl.
Astri has made her own decision. She has not asked for our help." "But - "
"Obi-Wan, listen to me. Do nothing. Tahl, Adi, and I will discuss
this. You and Siri return to the Temple immediately."
It was Qui-Gon's sternest voice. Obi-Wan tucked his comlink back into
his belt. Reluctantly, he turned to Siri. "We'll be able to hitch a ride
from the main landing platform."
She nodded. She was silent on the walk back to the landing platform.
Obi-Wan did not know what to say, either. He and Siri had formed a bond
during their adventure on Kegan. He had liked her spirit and humor and had
depended on her courage. Obviously, they still had a distance to travel
before they became real friends. He felt a sudden sharp ache for his friend
Bant, who would never let him feel like a coward for leaving the scene of a
battle. She would trust his judgment. Siri only trusted her own.
When they got to the landing platform, Obi-Wan looked for a hauler on
a direct run to Coruscant. The first pilot he approached refused, but
pointed to another pilot nearby.
"Donny Buc is about to make a run. He'll probably let you hitch a
ride. He's been laid up for repairs for a day, but he's ready to roll."
Obi-Wan saw a pilot squatting near his ship, drinking a carton of
muja juice. He signaled to Siri and approached him.
"Sure, I can always find room for Jedi," the pilot said. "Are you
ready to leave now?"
"Yes." Obi-Wan had a sudden impulse. "By any chance, has someone else
tried to hitch a ride earlier today? She's tall and has a shaved head - "
"Sure, I remember her," the pilot said, taking a last gulp of juice.
He wore a tattered leather helmet and sported a short black beard. "Her and
some of her friends were looking for transport to the far desert."
"Friends?" Obi-Wan asked, puzzled.
"Three of them," the pilot said. "They kept quarreling about how much
they were willing to pay. Wouldn't listen to a word the girl said."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes. "Their names wouldn't be Cholly, Weez, and
Tup, by any chance?"
"That was them!" the pilot chortled. "What a bunch of chuckleheads."
"Did you transport them to Arra?" Obi-Wan asked. That was no doubt
where she was headed.
He shook his head. "Couldn't swing it, I had repairs to wait for. I
told them to take an air taxi. Saw them heading toward the taxi platform."
Obi-Wan drew Siri aside. "Now we can be pretty sure that Astri is
here. We've got to check this out. It won't take long. If this pilot will
take us to Arra first, we can pick up Astri and bring her back with us to
the Temple."
"But Qui-Gon and Adi want us to return immediately."
"That was before we knew for sure that Astri was here," Obi-Wan
argued. "We know that Ona Nobis is here in the capital city, so we won't be
in danger. We can swing by, pick up Astri, and head straight for the
Temple."
Siri shook her head. "We are wasting time, Obi-Wan. I don't
understand why we had to rescue Astri in the first place. Why is Qui-Gon
bending the rules for this girl? She isn't a Jedi. She can't lead us to
Jenna Zan Arbor. This is a distraction."
"She needs us," Obi-Wan said. "Qui-Gon has known her since she was a
child. If she is in danger and we can help, we must. Your Master sent you
here to Sorrus, just as much as Qui-Gon did."
Siri gave him a stony glance. "Adi did not want to. She went along
with Qui-Gon out of loyalty."
"Then you should do the same for me."
Siri said nothing for a long moment. She squinted into the distance,
as if counting the tall buildings in Yinn La Hi. "All right," she said
finally. "But we must not delay more than a few hours."
Obi-Wan quickly made a deal with the pilot.
"All right. It's only a little out of my way," the pilot said. "I
wouldn't want your friend to get herself in trouble."
They boarded the transport and took off. Obi-Wan's impatience made
the flight seem to last forever. As the pilot slowed the engines and began
landing procedures, a blinking warning light suddenly lit on the panel.
"Well, eclipse my moon, there's that same problem," he said, hitting
the panel with an angry fist. "That mechanic didn't fix my pr
oblem after
all. Maybe I shouldn't have bought that discount part. I'm going to have to
drop you and head back to Yinn."
"But we have to get to Coruscant!" Siri exclaimed.
"Well, you can come back with me, if you want," Donny Buc said
genially, slowing the engines further. "Don't worry, we'll make it back to
the landing platform. Should be a couple of hours, that's all."
Siri groaned in frustration. "I don't believe this! We could have
been halfway to Coruscant by now."
"Sorry, little girl," Buc said cheerfully. "The hyperdrive's busted.
Lucky we made this detour so I can get back to the mechanic. You could
hitch another ride from Yinn, I guess. But nobody else was making a run
near Coruscant today."