Jedi Quest_ The Changing Of The Guard Part 9

Teda and Zan Arbor were at a safe house well outside the city. The Jedi borrowed a Gian airspeeder from one of the refugees they'd taken in.

The house was in a forest so densely wooded that they had to abandon the speeder and hike in to the prearranged coordinates. They were met by General Yubicon, Teda's chief of staff.

"It's just a quarter kilometer this way," he said.

Anakin could tell that the general led them in a way designed to confuse them. He did not realize he was dealing with Jedi. Anakin knew he could find his way back easily.

They came to a small clearing. The house in front of them was made of prefabricated plasteel materials so it could be dismantled and moved quickly. That must have been Teda's secret. His safe house never stayed in the same place.

Guards encircled the house. Anakin knew more were positioned in the woods. He couldn't see them, but he knew they were there. Obviously, Teda had retained at least part of his army.

A guard at the door ushered them in. They were expected.

The house was tiny compared to the palace, but it was not rustic.

It was furnished sparely but lavishly, with plush seating and thick rugs.

The rooms flowed into each other, forming a square around a central courtyard that was open to the sky. They were led to the courtyard, where they found Teda and Jenna Zan Arbor waiting for them.

Teda seemed a bit shaken, but Zan Arbor was composed. Not a hair of her perfect coiffure was out of place. Wearing his mask once more, Anakin kept to the rear with Ferus as Obi-Wan and Siri moved forward. As one of the lesser members of the Slam gang, he hoped to escape Zan Arbor's notice completely. He still remembered the intense focus she had given him as she questioned him about the Force. He wasn't afraid of her, but he wouldn't mind staying out of her way.

As Anakin expected, Teda and Zan Arbor were totally focused on Siri and Obi-Wan, the leaders of the gang. The Jedi had changed back into their Slam wardrobes. Siri was wearing another revealing robe, this time in a pale pink. She had complained about having to don her attire again, but you'd never know it now by the way she drifted forward and let her hand rest in Teda's in greeting. You'd never suspect that she held the leader in contempt as she smiled, turned so that her skirt flared out, and settled herself in a chair, coyly crossing her legs. Obi-Wan, too, managed to continue his part of the farce, smiling graciously as he sat to the sound of his jingling robes.

"Thank you for coming," Teda said. "Of course you realize that this so-called revolt of the people is a temporary situation only. It will all go away, I a.s.sure you."

"But that is not why you are here," Zan Arbor said, obviously bored by the subject of the revolt. "You came to me yesterday and offered me a chance to join you in an enterprise. Unfortunately, I had to refuse you.

Now I ask for the chance to tempt you instead."

Obi-Wan tilted his head. "I'll try to forgive you for refusing me.

Please continue."

Siri gave Teda a glance through her eyelashes. "I love to be tempted."

Zan Arbor looked annoyed at Siri's flirtatiousness. "Teda and I have been working together on a certain enterprise - "

"Excuse me," Teda said. "But I haven't lost my t.i.tle, you know."

Out of Teda's sight line, Zan Arbor rolled her eyes. "Great Leader Teda and I are partners together in an enterprise. Because of the sudden, surprising nature of the revolt, even though there was enough warning if you were clever enough to catch it, and the complete inability of Romin's supposedly great army to retaliate - "

Interesting, Anakin thought. Zan Arbor isn't afraid of Teda in the least. She's taunting him, right to his face. And he's taking it.

" - we find ourselves in a situation in which we are in need of your help. Thus we are able to offer you a chance to join with us. In short, we need false text docs, very complete, which I understand is your specialty."

"That would not be a problem," Obi-Wan said. "We just need access to our s.h.i.+p and our files. Our s.h.i.+p has survived the revolt, I'm happy to say. "

"Mine did not," Zan Arbor said, flicking an angry gaze at Teda. "It was a Luxe Flightwing. Completely destroyed."

"Ah. So you are stranded on Romin." Obi-Wan clucked his tongue.

"How unfortunate."

"Naturally, we will pay you your normal fee," Teda said. "Or a little more," Obi-Wan said with a grin. "Considering the circ.u.mstances."

Zan Arbor nodded, an acceptance of Obi-Wan's point that they had no one else to turn to. "We also need your heist skills for a particular job. Or rather, this is not just a job. It's an opportunity to change your lives. The scope of it means that if we are successful, you can retire and live very well for the rest of your lives."

"We already live well," Siri pointed out.

"You will live better," Zan Arbor snapped.

"And you will not be a fugitive," Teda said in a voice like honey.

"You will have plenty of systems to choose from to live in." He winked at Siri. "Just tell me where you choose, so I can visit."

"In other words, you are in the right place at the right time, for once," Zan Arbor said. "You have a chance to change your destiny as small- time crooks."

"Jenna, Jenna," Teda chided. "You are talking about the Slams. They are brilliant masterminds."

Zan Arbor waved a hand. "I mean no disrespect. I speak the truth. I am offering them something they would never be able to contemplate by themselves. Slam, even though you lie for a living, you should respect that I won't lie to you. Now, where is your s.h.i.+p?"

"It's at the main landing platform. Fueled and ready." "Good. So, are you in?"

"Whoa, let's pull back on the throttle a bit. I haven't heard enough yet," Obi-Wan said. Anakin knew what his Master was thinking. He had to get more information, information that Zan Arbor and Teda wouldn't want to part with. This must be the scheme that Zan Arbor was working on with Granta Omega.

"We're intrigued," Siri chimed in. "We need a few more details.

What is the nature of the job?"

"You don't need to know that yet," Zan Arbor said. "Are you well financed?" Obi-Wan asked.

"That is not a problem," Zan Arbor a.s.sured him. "Do you have other partners?" Obi-Wan asked. "One other," Zan Arbor said reluctantly.

Siri fixed her blue gaze on Teda. "I hope that this partner's stature is as great as yours. Though I can't imagine it."

"It is," Teda boasted, before Zan Arbor could stop him. "He is the most powerful business power in the galaxy. He - "

"That is enough," Zan Arbor interrupted. She turned to Obi-Wan.

"Now, our first step is to get off-planet. We must get to your vehicle."

"Have you heard Joylin's ultimatum?" Obi-Wan asked Teda. "He is threatening to execute your loyal officers. Hansel is the first."

"I heard. Oh, poor Hansel. I feel so very badly for him," Teda said with a sigh. He rubbed his hands together. "Now, are you sure you have enough fuel? We are traveling to the Core, to Coruscant."

"Coruscant?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Teda, be quiet," Zan Arbor snapped, her voice hard. "Who is your text doc expert?" she asked Obi-Wan. "Waldo," Obi-Wan said, indicating Anakin.

Zan Arbor turned. The sun came out from behind a cloud, and Anakin felt suddenly exposed in the bright light, even with his headgear disguise.

A long moment ticked by. Anakin felt uncomfortably warm. The Force suddenly surged. A warning.

"I know you," she said.

"I don't believe so."

"We have crossed paths."

"Perhaps," Obi-Wan said. "We've traveled widely."

"Joylin has closed down the s.p.a.ceport, but we have received permission to leave," Siri interrupted. "However, we must do it within the hour. Can you be ready?"

"I am ready now," Zan Arbor said. Her attention slid away from Anakin. There were more pressing matters to deal with.

"Then let us go," Obi-Wan said.

There was a commotion outside. Teda leaped to his feet, a blaster in his hand. The Jedi turned.

The real Slam and the rest of his gang burst into the courtyard.

Slam pointed a finger at Obi-Wan. "Impostors!" he cried.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

Teda looked alarmed, but Zan Arbor suddenly smiled, as if she had just figured something out. She turned back to Anakin.

"Jedi," she said. "Now I remember."

Now Teda looked panicky. "Jedi?"

She rose and drew closer to Anakin, ignoring the Slams and the other Jedi. "Good disguise. But it isn't your face that beings remember.

It's your manner. Your power. The way you move. I remembered you after our visit together on Vanqor. I asked about you. Teda, don't you admire me for recognizing that this scruffy prisoner, one among so many, was different? You're Anakin Skywalker."

She gazed at him with a hungry expression. Anakin felt unnerved.

"I have studied the Force for so long," she murmured. "Never did I expect such a prize."

"I'm not your prize," he spat out.

"Well, you're my prisoner, and that's the same thing. Do you know how many guards are surrounding you right now?"

Obi-Wan shot Anakin a look. The Jedi could fight. They could escape. But Obi-Wan was telling him to wait. They had more to discover.

The stakes were too high.

"We can take them to the prison and have them executed on the spot," Teda said.

"Don't be so hasty," Zan Arbor said.

"Look, you don't have to kill them," Slam said, looking uneasy now.

"Just tell them to stop impersonating us."

Valadon, as tall as Siri and as blond, shot her an icy look. "And give us our clothes back."

Zan Arbor had not taken her eyes off Anakin. "Do you know what we have here, Teda?"

"Yes," he moaned. "A big headache."

"Leverage. Remember our discussion before? If we bring a great prize to our partner, he will look at us differently. We can negotiate a different split."

"What are you talking about, Jenna?" Teda asked impatiently.

"Prizes? Leverage? Please remember I am a ruling ruler who was just kicked out of his palace. I'm not in the best of moods!"

"The Chosen One," Zan Arbor said softly to Anakin, so that no one else could hear. "I was told about you. My interest in the Force is deep.

Enough to know how your destiny is your burden. Do you remember the Zone of Self- Containment? I can bring that back to you."

He remembered feeling content, a contentment without a tether to sadness or guilt. There was just the sun and serenity, a serenity he had never achieved as a Jedi. The Jedi had promised him that, and it had not happened. Perhaps it never would.

"Ah," she said softly, "speaking of temptation..."

He pulled off the mask. There was no need for it now. "I'm not tempted by you," he responded.

"I saw how you enjoyed it," she said. "I can make all your burdens disappear."

"My only burden at the moment is having to talk to you," Anakin shot back.

She smiled. Anakin could see that once, before evil had twisted her, she had been seductive. Her smile was lush, appreciative, inviting.

"You remind me of someone I knew a long time ago," she said.

Obi-Wan overheard that. "Qui-Gon Jinn," he said. Zan Arbor whirled around. She walked closer to Obi-Wan. "Do I know you?" "Obi-Wan Ken.o.bi."

She laughed in delight. "Obi-Wan! But you were just a boy! You've grown up well," she said, appraising him. "I heard Qui-Gon died on Naboo.

And Yaddle has recently 'joined the Force,' hasn't she - a Jedi Council member? It makes you think, doesn't it?" She shook her head. "What is happening to the Jedi? Their strength diminis.h.i.+ng, their best leaders struck down. And yet they don't see that they are declining. Such a pity to watch. So intriguing to study."

Anakin saw Siri's eyes flash. She did not speak. He knew from experience that she did not spar with villains. She just waited her turn.