Jedi Apprentice_ The Ties That Bind Part 7

They burst into the gardens. At first Qui-Gon could only pick out a riot of color from the ma.s.ses of flowering bushes surrounding them. Paths ran through the bushes, narrow and twisting. It was impossible to get a view of any kind.

"See if you can glimpse the back wall," Qui-Gon directed Obi-Wan.

"Look for signs of entry."

Qui-Gon scanned the back of the house. Everything looked quiet and serene. Not a curtain stirred. At first glance, there was no sign of distress or danger. Then Qui-Gon noticed that a door was slightly ajar.

"Qui-Gon!"

Qui-Gon turned and raced down the path. He caught up to Obi-Wan as his Padawan raced through the twisting paths. "I saw something ahead - movement. And I think.."

They turned a corner. Ahead they could see a team of intruders hauling something over the wall. It was about the size of a person, black and s.h.i.+ny. There was a slit in the top.

Qui-Gon recognized the sensory deprivation container from the Museum of the Absolute. But why were the intruders dragging it over the wall?

Then he saw, through the slit at the top, a strand of golden hair waving.

"They have the twins," he said.

They activated their lightsabers and charged.

The intruders were masked and dressed in dark clothing. They saw the Jedi approaching. One of them reached for a transmitter.

"Overhead, Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon shouted.

Probe droids suddenly buzzed above them. Blaster fire rained down.

Lightsabers swinging, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan deflected fire while they raced to the wall.

Other probe droids approached, high enough to avoid retaliation and peppering the Jedi with fire. The intruders had the advantage. They dropped over the wall and disappeared.

It would be difficult to leap over the wall and deflect fire at the same time. Qui-Gon knew that. He had no choice.

He accessed the Force and leaped. Beside him, he saw Obi-Wan do the same. They sailed over the wall, high above. In those quick seconds, Qui-Gon had a chance to swipe two probe droids. Obi-Wan neatly cleaved one in half. The three droids fell sizzling to the ground.

They landed on the other side of the wall. A long expanse of gra.s.s stretched before them. Parked on it were large swoops.

The intruders had already loaded the two containers onto swoops. As the Jedi raced forward, they took off.

A concealed door in the wall opened and security forces rushed through. Qui-Gon recognized Balog, the head of security.

"What's going on?" he barked angrily. "What are you doing here?"

"I think the twins have been taken on those swoops," Qui-Gon said, pointing at what was now a fleet of dots in the sky.

Balog spoke quickly into his comlink, giving the coordinates of his position and asking for air support.

"Did you see them?" he asked.

"We saw two sensory deprivation containers, the same design that we saw at the museum. I saw one of the girls' hair. That's all."

Balog turned to the guards. "Check the house again. And check the grounds." He then turned back to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. "I thought you were tourists. What were you doing here?"

"We are Jedi," Qui-Gon answered. "We are not here on an official mission. I knew the girls six years ago. We came to see them."

Balog gave them the hard stare of a security officer who was used to lies. Something must have convinced him, because he sighed. "This happened on my watch. I thought security was perfect. Somehow they got through the house security and immobilized the guards. They tripped the alarms, but it took too long for us to get here."

"Do you have suspects?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Obviously, it could be the Absolutes," Balog said. "Those devices were supposed to be destroyed, but of course we know that some must have been smuggled out. Anyone could have bought them on the black market. In other words, no, I don't know who took the twins." He gazed at the sky.

"I just hope that whoever took them is planning to ransom them. I hope this is a kidnapping, not..."

He did not complete the sentence. "The use of the containers points to that," Qui-Gon said. "If the intruders were going to kill the twins, they would have done so here."

Balog ran a hand over his forehead. "I must tell Roan personally.

He will be devastated."

He walked off, too distracted to say a farewell.

Qui-Gon stared after him. "Unless Roan already knows," he said.

CHAPTER 14.

They met Tahl in a prearranged location deep in the Worker Sector.

It was a small park that commemorated an early protestor of Apsolon's system. A single white gla.s.s column stood in the middle of the small green. They kept their hoods drawn over their faces as they circled the park, around and around. Once she heard the news of the twins, it had taken three turns for Tahl to speak.

"I do not think it was the Absolutes," she said finally. "I believe I would know it. There were extreme factions of the group, but they are under the control of the central committee now. At least I think so. It's a possibility, but I'm more inclined to think that Irini and the Workers kidnapped the twins. They feel strongly that Roan murdered Ewane. Perhaps they could even justify the kidnapping as keeping the twins away from danger."

"You should join us in tracking the kidnappers," Qui-Gon said. "If you believe the Absolutes are not involved, it is a waste of time for you to remain there."

"I said I thought they weren't involved," Tahl corrected. "There is always the possibility that rogue members have done this. I need to stay in place and investigate. It would be natural for the Absolutes to try to find out who did it. I can use their surveillance resources."

Obi-Wan noted that his Master seemed to be restraining his objection. He did not understand why. Tahl was right. She should remain undercover, at least until they knew who had taken the twins.

"Do you think Roan could be involved?" he asked Tahl.

"I don't know," Tahl said. "Of course we need to entertain the possibility."

"We were on our way to speak to him when we interrupted the kidnapping," Qui-Gon said.

"Maybe we should try to speak to him now," Obi-Wan suggested.

"It might be hard," Tahl pointed out. "He will be on a full-scale alert. He won't have time for us.

Just then Qui-Gon's comlink signaled. When he answered it, it was Balog. Qui-Gon listened intently for a few moments, then clicked off the communication.

"It will be easier than we thought," Qui-Gon said. "Roan has asked to see us."

Roan met the Jedi in his office at the ma.s.sive Inst.i.tute of Government Service building. Despite the grandeur of the building, his office was spa.r.s.ely furnished, with chairs lined up against a wall, a long table that served as a desk, and a bare floor of gray stone. The window looked down on the streets. On their own, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had seen the signs of protest beginning. As the word spread of the twins'

fate, people were spilling out into the streets.

The Workers had organized quickly. Across the street in the square they had formed a solid cube of beings in the same shape as the many monuments in the city. More continued to arrive. The front line carried a banner: ARREST ROAN NOW Roan turned from the window as they entered. He was, in midlife, an imposing figure, with one silver streak on one side of his dark hair. He bowed in greeting.

"Welcome. If I had known you were here before this, I would have called for this meeting earlier."

"We are not here officially, so did not want to trouble you," Qui-Gon said.

"Consider yourselves official," Roan said grimly. His dark eyes looked haunted. "We need help to find the girls. I know that you want to find them, too. I am also aware that there are those who believe that I was behind the murder of their father and now their abduction. I have summoned you here to tell you this is not so."

"Why do you think the rumor began?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Because since Ewane's murder the structure of the government has been in a precarious state. There are those who are calling for new elections. My enemies have encouraged the rumor that I killed Ewane."

Roan paced in front of the window. It was coated so that he could see out, Qui- Gon noted, but the people ma.s.sing below could not see him.

He turned and faced the Jedi. He spread his hands. "I do not know what to do. My planet has struggled for fairness and achieved freedom for all its people. Now it is in danger of losing that stability. I see visions of ruin whenever I close my eyes. Yet I know I can prevent this ruin. I just don't know how. Events seem to unfold before me and I am powerless over them."

Qui-Gon felt a rush of sympathy for Roan. The man truly looked haunted. And Qui-Gon himself knew what it was like to be plagued by visions. He knew what it felt like to have events rush by as if he'd once seen them unfold in a dream and had only now remembered it.

"What would you like us to do?" Qui-Gon asked.

But just then Roan's internal communication unit signaled. With an impatient gesture, he went to answer it.

"I left instructions that I was not to be disturbed - "

"Yes, Governor. But we have received an external communication.

They ask for you only. They say they are the kidnappers."

Roan looked at the Jedi. "I would like you to hear this." He spoke into the comm unit. "Please put them through."

The voice that came through the comm unit was obviously electronically manipulated. It had an eerie, echoing quality, half machine, half living being.

"Good afternoon. Today the descendants of Ewane were taken in a raid. We are holding them. We are willing to release them upon your meeting certain conditions."

"Are they all right?" Roan asked. "Let me speak to them."

"They are safe and were not harmed. Do not speak. Listen."

"I will pay for their release - "

"Do not speak! We do not want money. We want you to resign your position as Supreme Governor. You will say you are bowing to the will of the people. You will call for new elections. You will never reveal that you have resigned in order to free the twins."

Roan met Qui-Gon's eyes. Qui-Gon saw that he would agree. He had no choice.

"Oh, yes. If you say you will do this, and you go back on your word, both you and the twins will be killed. Make no mistake that we are capable of getting to you anywhere. Even with Jedi protection."

"All right," Roan said, leaning toward the comm unit. "I agree to your terms. But I must see the twins and escort them to safety. I don't want them frightened again."

"That would be acceptable. We will contact you with details."

"When?" Roan asked urgently, but the communication was cut off.

Roan sat down heavily. "They are alive, at least. If we can believe them."

"You must not go to this meeting alone," Qui-Gon said. "When they contact you again, you must ask for a Jedi escort. You must ensure that both you and the twins come back from this meeting alive."

Roan nodded. "I will. I know you will protect them. I am all they have. I must do as the abductors ask. But I will be grateful for your a.s.sistance. Our first concern is the lives of those girls."

CHAPTER 15.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan left Roan, who promised he would call the Jedi as soon as the kidnappers contacted him again. They had only gone a few steps from the government building when Qui-Gon's comlink signaled.

"Qui-Gon, I need you."

It was Tahl. Qui-Gon felt his worry collect into one burning ma.s.s in his chest. She sounded breathless, in trouble. Not to mention that she was asking for his help.

"Tell me."

"I don't know how, but they discovered that I am a Jedi. They are afraid of how much I know. I escaped from the headquarters, but they've sent probe droids after me. Qui-Gon, I... I can't see the droids - "

"Do you know your location?"

"I crossed to the Worker Sector. I went four blocks south, three blocks east. I am concealed in a memorial, you know the ones with the standing columns?"

"Yes." Qui-Gon was already walking rapidly toward the Worker Sector.

"I'm hiding between the gla.s.s columns, but it won't take long before the probe droids locate me. There are many beings on the streets, so that will confuse them for a time, but - "

"We are on our way."

Qui-Gon quickly explained the situation to Obi-Wan, and they began to run. Tahl could not sense the droids through the Force, and this made her predicament all the more dire. He remembered precisely the location of the Absolute headquarters.