Jedi Apprentice_ The Only Witness Part 3

Lena smiled at her mother-in-law. 'That would be most appreciated,"

she said. "Thank you, Zanita."

Juno scowled at Lena, then started off toward the vehicle storage building.

"Lena knows where the landspeeders are housed, Juno," Zanita said.

"And she can take either of mine. You don't need to direct her."

Juno's frown deepened, but he didn't say anything.

"We'd best be getting back inside," Zanita said brightly when Juno didn't move. "We have guests to attend to."

With a last look at the three visitors, Juno turned and followed his employer back into the cooking quarters.

"Another close one," Lena whispered, shivering slightly. "Rutin never liked Juno, and he gives me the creeps." She eyed the door Juno and Zanita had just disappeared through, then turned and started toward the vehicle hangar. "Let's get out of here before something else happens."

Minutes later Lena and the Jedi were on their way back into the city.

"It was nice of Zanita to offer up her land-speeder," Obi-Wan noted from the front seat.

"Very nice," Lena agreed. But she did not say anything else. She suddenly seemed to focus very hard on piloting the speeder.

Once again in the backseat, Qui-Gon considered the events of the last few hours. Though he didn't particularly want to admit it, he felt at a loss. He was not able to decipher whether Zanita or Lena were being honest - either with each other or himself and Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon sighed. For the millionth time he wished that Tahl were still alive. Aside from the aching absence that still burned inside him, he knew that her sharp perception and intuition would uncover the truth.

She would not be distracted by the composed, polished surfaces of these women. She would cut through all of that and get to their real intentions, their motives.

Qui-Gon bowed his head and tried to let the grief of missing Tahl move through him. Isn't that what Yoda had taught him - what he had repeatedly told his Padawan?

Allow yourself to feel the emotions, then let them go. Qui-Gon focused on the words. He felt the grief well up inside him until he was sure it would break him, shatter him to pieces. Then, with every nerve of his body, he tried to let the pain go.

It wouldn't.

His head aching, Qui-Gon opened his eyes. It was always the same.

He felt the incredible fullness of the pain, and then endless hollowness.

The grief never actually left. It emptied him, but it would not leave him alone.

CHAPTER 7.

Obi-Wan was silent as the landspeeder traveled through the city. He could sense his Master's melancholy mood, and Lena was attentive only to driving. She navigated skillfully through the city, and Obi-Wan was yet again impressed by her composure. Less than half an hour ago they had nearly been killed. Yet she seemed to have wiped the memory away as easily as one wipes a crumb from a table.

Obi-Wan had a.s.sumed that they were going back to Lena's warehouse hideout. Instead she turned off toward her ransacked apartment after making sure they were not being followed. Obi-Wan considered inquiring about this, but thought better of it. He guessed that Lena was being silent for a reason.

Lena parked the landspeeder several hundred meters away from her building. They approached carefully, and found only one guard outside the turbolift. He was dozing off. Moving quickly past him, they entered the turbolift and were whisked to the top floor. Once inside her flat, Lena moved through room after room at a rapid pace, the Jedi at her heels.

Qui-Gon did not say anything, but followed with a.s.surance. Obi-Wan felt a moment of frustration as he realized that his Master was not experiencing the same confusion he was. Even in his depressed state he seemed to know exactly what was going on.

It took a bit of effort for Obi-Wan to keep up with the two people in front of him. Lena led them out the secret exit they had used before, then down flight after flight of stairs. She did not slow her pace when they reached the alley. She simply hurried down several blocks, turning this way and that. Finally she hailed an air taxi and they all climbed inside.

Relieved not to be chasing after Lena and his Master, Obi-Wan sat back against the seat. "Were we being followed?" he asked. It was the logical reason for Lena's actions.

"Not that I know of," Lena said in a strange tone. She sounded almost giddy, as if the idea were amusing. "Zanita is really a wonderful woman. I'm lucky to know her."

Obi-Wan thought it was strange that Lena was speaking about her mother-in-law as if they were acquaintances and not family. But once again he kept quiet. What did he know about families, anyway?

Lena told the taxi driver to let them off several blocks from the warehouse. Once they were walking again, she relaxed a little. A moment later she reached out and touched Obi-Wan's arm.

"Sorry about that," she said, looking into his eyes. Obi-Wan tried to ignore the way he felt when she gazed at him.

"I couldn't talk in the taxi because of the sky drivers'

collective," she explained. "They are Cobral supporters. And as for Zanita's vehicle, well, let's just say that it has plenty of added surveillance equipment that even Zanita might not know about."

Obi-Wan nodded, and Lena turned and kept walking. She spoke quietly, but loud enough for both Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to hear.

"That statue falling was no accident. I'm sure the base is completely secure, no matter what Juno says. There are several traps on the property - the Cobrals call it security. They say they have to protect what's theirs."

"Who do you think triggered it?" Qui-Gon asked, speaking for the first time since they'd left the Cobral property.

"I don't know," Lena replied. "The Cobrals have many allies - paid and unpaid. Although Juno is Zanita's servant, he works for Solan first.

I'm sure he would be handsomely rewarded if he succeeded in killing me."

The group's mood was contemplative as they navigated the streets and arrived back at the warehouse.

Inside, Mica was pacing the living s.p.a.ce. A medium-size package lay on a low table.

"This arrived while you were out," Mica said. She picked up the package and thrust it into her cousin's hands. She seemed slightly agitated.

Lena took the package and turned it over. It was covered in a thin gray wrapping material. There was nothing written on the material other than her name in block letters: LENA COBRAL.

CHAPTER 8.

"Rutin," Lena said, gazing down at the package. She ran her fingers over her name. "This is Rutin's handwriting," she explained, looking up at the Jedi. "I'd recognize it anywhere."

Qui-Gon looked down at the package, feeling quite certain that it was some sort of trap. Rutin was dead, was he not?

"I'd like to have a look at that," he said, stepping forward. "I want to make sure it is not dangerous before you open it."

Lena frowned. "Rutin would never put me in danger," she said adamantly.

Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow. From what he could gather, Rutin had put her in significant danger. But he saw no point in reminding Lena of that now.

"It could be a trap," Qui-Gon said plainly. Lena scowled slightly at Qui-Gon. Perhaps, Qui-Gon mused, she felt he was stealing her last gift from Rutin But she gave Qui-Gon the package.

Closing his eyes, Qui-Gon held the package for several moments.

When he opened them again, he returned the package to Lena.

"I do not sense anything immediately grave," he said. But he was not convinced that the package was from Rutin, or that it would help them gain evidence against the Cobral. He was not convinced of anything.

Lena set the box on the table and opened it with a small pocket blade before removing the wrapping. Then she began to empty its contents and set them on the table: a pair of black boots, a small vial of dirt...

Lena's face fell as she looked over the contents of the box. "This doesn't make sense," she murmured.

"I think I'll go make us all something to eat," Mica said, excusing herself.

"Good idea, Mica," Lena said. "I'm starved."

Qui-Gon sat down next to Lena as soon as Mica left the room. He was unclear about the motives of both women, but felt he might be able to get some answers if he addressed them individually.

"Have you had any visitors to the warehouse?" he asked, not wasting any time.

Lena turned her attention away from the package and shook her head.

"No, why?"

Instead of answering, Qui-Gon asked another question. "Have you received mysterious packages before today?"

Lena shook her head again. "No, of course not. I would have told you about them."

"I'm glad to hear that," Qui-Gon said, not entirely sure that he believed her.

The next question was perhaps the most important. "Is Mica the only one who knows about this place?" he asked quietly.

Lena looked up quickly. She was frowning.

"I think I'll go see if Mica needs any help with the food," Obi-Wan said abruptly.

Qui-Gon gave a brief nod to his Padawan, indicating that he thought it was a good idea. But he did not take his eyes off Lena's face.

Still frowning, Lena got to her feet. "Yes, Mica is the only other person besides you and Obi-Wan who knows about this apartment," she said flatly. She turned to face Qui-Gon again, her hands on her hips. "But do not question my cousin's loyalty. Mica and I grew up together. We are like sisters. And she is not in league with the Cobrals."

Lena crossed the room, then let out a sigh and came back to sit next to Qui-Gon. "I don't even like to discuss the Cobrals in front of Mica," she said slowly. "As a very young girl she witnessed the murder of her mother, and the memory is still excruciatingly painful."

"The Cobrals were responsible for her mother's death?" Qui-Gon asked, slightly surprised.

Lena nodded sadly. "They killed her in cold blood. Mica was only seven and she saw the whole thing. It was a huge loss, and perhaps an even bigger trauma. She has never gotten over it."

Qui-Gon was silent as this information sank in.

"Everything on Frego is so complicated," Lena said with a heavy sigh. "But I will try to explain. As I've said before, the Cobrals have many allies on Frego. For centuries Frego's government treated the citizens poorly - taxes were high and public services virtually nonexistent. Fregans worked hard only to have their money taken from them.

"The Cobral family changed all of that. While it is true that they made their fortune selling drugs and weapons and had a rough reputation, they used their power to force the government to provide the basic services people needed. They even lowered taxes and raised wages."

"Which made life for the people better," Qui-Gon said. He had visited planets with similar stories. A corrupt power ousted an unjust government, making positive changes. But the means through which those positive changes were made had its own kind of evil.

"Today the government acknowledges that the ways of the past were wrong, that they treated the people unfairly," Lena continued. "And many politicians resent having to operate under the Cobral thumb. They want to do right by their people. Or at least some of them do. Others appear to be n.o.ble, but are corrupt to the core."

"I see that the Cobral makes things quite complicated," Qui-Gon commented. "For everyone, it seems."

"There is no honesty, no safety," Lena stated. "We live by whims and not laws. That is why the violence has to stop. I know there is a better way, and I want Frego to have a chance for a new beginning-the beginning that Rutin and I did not have."

Tears welled in Lena's eyes, and for the first time Qui-Gon softened toward her. He understood just how she felt. He and Tahl had never had a new beginning, either.

Lena wiped her cheek. "There are some politicians who would also like to forge a new path for the future. And some people would like to support a new government. But many others feel a strong debt to the Cobrals for making life better."

Lena gazed solemnly at the package and the boots on the table. "It seems that no one can break free."

"But you trust your cousin completely?" Qui-Gon asked, getting back to his original line of questioning.

Lena looked Qui-Gon in the eye. "Without hesitation. As I told you, she is like my sister. Mica longs to avenge her mother and shed the corruption. Perhaps more than anyone."

Qui-Gon did not point out that Rutin and Solan were brothers.

Instead he took a breath and let it out slowly.

"I'm afraid that Mica may have revealed your whereabouts," he stated. "Or else another party has discovered them on their own."

CHAPTER 9.

Obi-Wan entered the food galley and was only half surprised to see that the room was empty. Turning back down the hall, he spotted an old turbolift in one of the makeshift bedrooms. A second later he felt the building shudder. Mica was running away.

Obi-Wan leaped into the turbolift shaft, landing gracefully on top of the lift just as it came to a halt. Activating his lightsaber, he sliced a hole in the metal and jumped down a second time. But the lift was already empty. He heard the echo of Mica's receding footsteps as she raced toward the door.

Obi-Wan knew he should continue to follow her... doing so could provide information vital to the mission, and to Lena. What if Mica was out to hurt her cousin - what if her actions put Lena in even greater danger?