He followed her into the mine. She gave him protective headgear and led him into the south lift tube. 'The K region is safe,' she assured him. 'We've managed to shore up Core 6. We know through sensing devices that the new vein is below it. It's a level we haven't even dug to yet.'
K-7. Core 6. Startled, Qui-Gon looked at the instrument panel on the elevator. As they descended, the indicator lights clicked on. Core 10. Core 9. Core 8. Core 7. .
The nightmare rose in Qui-Gon's mind with all its dark power. 'Is there a Core 5?' he asked VeerTa.
She shook her head. 'We don't have the technology to go that deep. It's too close to the planet core. Offworld has developed deeper core technology, but if we try to buy or leas it, we could tip them off. We hope to get enough ionite out of Core 6.' The Core 6 light glowed, and the elevator stopped.
Qui-Gon exited the tube and started to turn left.
'No,' VeerTa said. 'The tunnel is completely blocked that way.'
She hit a switch near the door, and lights set into the rock walls glowed. Qui-Gon could see now that the tunnel was narrow and low-ceilinged, with a hydraulic track that ran down the center. The tunnel curved to his left as was swallowed up by inky blackness. There was a pale, bluish cast to the light glistening off the blue-black rock, reflection the presence of azurite.
'Clat'Ha and I came to see the damage,' VeerTa went on. 'the lift tube in the north tunnel was damaged, but should be operational in a few days. We have to fix that first.
She turned right and led thee way down the tunnel. A pile of rocks lay in their path, and a hole had been blasted in the tunnel floor. 'The blast must have reacted with some gases below this level,' she explained. 'Here, the blast moved upward.' She bent down and picked up a rock. She scratched it with a fingernail. Qui-Gon caught the glint of a dull silver glow. 'Clat'Ha noticed this. We took it back to study. She had a hunch, and she was right. Ionite. We dropped sensors and saw how much we had.'
'You're going to have to be careful,' Qui-Gon said. 'If Xanatos finds out — '
VeerTa nodded. 'That's why we need you. We'd like you to join the board of directors of Home Planet. With you on the board, Offworld wouldn't dare try to undermine us. They'd have to go up against a Jedi.'
Qui-Gon was already shaking his head. 'Jedi are forbidden to take part in any profit-making enterprise,' he said. 'We can't profit from our protection. It's an unbreakable rule.'
'But think of the riches you'd be entitled to!' VeerTa said urgently. 'You wouldn't have to keep them for yourself. You could donate them.'
'I'm sorry VeerTa,' Qui-Gon said firmly. 'I'll help in any way I can. But this I cannot do.'
VeerTa looked disappointed. Obviously, she didn't understand the role of a Jedi. 'I'll have to be satisfied with that, then' she said. Her eyes glittered as her gaze roamed the mine shaft. 'It's all here. Our future. I only pray we will succeed.'
'I will do everything in my power to ensure it,' Qui-Gon promised. Something told him the task would not be easy.
Chapter 8
Obi-Wan told Si Treemba about his conversation with Qui-Gon. The Arconan nodded, as if he'd expected it.
'Clat'Ha would say the same,' he said. 'We need more proof.'
'Just what I was thinking,' Obi-Wan declared.
Si Treemba hummed with nerves. 'The last time you had that look in your eye, we ended up in a Hutt prison.'
'Relax,' Obi-Wan said. 'We're only going to stake out the annex tonight. We'll go for a little stroll in the dome, then wind up there. What can go wrong?'
'Any number of thing,' Si Treemba moaned.
Obi-Wan and Si Treemba stretched out flat between two rows at the edge of the field. They pulled a green tarp over their heads for warmth and camouflage.
'You might as well go to sleep,' Obi-Wan said. 'I'll take the first shift.'
'If you're sure,' Si Treemba mumbled. He closed his eyes. A moment later, he began making the snuffling sound Arconans make when they sleep.
Obi-Wan felt charged with excitement about the stakeout. After only an hour, however, his eyelids began to droop as well. He couldn't fall asleep! Maybe he could take a quick exploratory tour. That would wake him up.
He slithered out of the field and stood. Brushing himself off, he headed for the boor to the annex. He wanted another look at that sealed box with the broken circle on it. Something told him that Qui-Gon had recognized the mark. Maybe there was a way to ease it open without anyone knowing he'd tampered with it.
Once again, he used the Force to open the door. Everything was exactly where he had left it. He crossed to the box.
Just as he reached it, he heard a noise behind him. He whirled around and saw a hooded figure approaching. At first he thought it was Si Treemba, wrapped in the tarp. The he realized it was a stranger in a shiny black cape.
'Who are you?' he asked. He felt the uneasy ripple of something dark in the Force.
'A friend,' the hooded figure said. 'Someone who was once just like you.' He threw off the hood. His blue gaze was warm and friendly. 'I used to be his apprentice, too.'
'Qui-Gon's?' Obi-Wan asked suspiciously. 'I'm not really his Padawan. And everyone says his Padawan died.'
