'And here I thought it was your tongue that was sharp,' Qui-Gon said.
She laughed as she steadied the cup with one hand and began to pour.
'And Yoda arranged a surprise for me. An unwelcome surprise, I must say, but don't ever tell him. He — '
'One centimeter to the left!' A musical voice rang out from behind them suddenly. Startled, Tahl spilled the tea on her wrist.
'Stars and galaxies!' she cried.
Qui-Gon handed her a napkin. He turned to see a droid roll into the room. It had the silver body shell of a protocol droid, but Qui-Gon could see that other features had been ineluded. Extra sensors were built into the head, and the arms were longer. Now they shot out and took the cup from Tahl.
'You see, Master Tahl, you spilled the tea,' the droid said.
'I spilled it because you startled me, you hunk of recycled tin,' Tahl sputtered. 'And don't call me Master Tahl.'
'Yes, certainly, sir,' the droid replied.
'I'm not a sir. I'm a female. Who's the blind one here?'
Qui-Gon tried to hide his grin. 'What's this?' he asked, indicating the droid.
'Meet Yoda's surprise,' Tahl said with a grimace. '2JTJ, but call it TooJay. It's a personal navigation droid. It's supposed to help me with domestic matters until I can navigate alone. It scans for obstructions and I can program it to lead me to any destination.'
'Seems like a good idea,' Qui-Gon remarked as TooJay efficiently cleaned up the spill and poured more tea.
'I'd rather walk into walls,' Tahl grumbled. 'It's thoughtful of Yoda, but I'm not used to having a constant companion. I never did take a Padawan.'
Qui-Gon sipped his tea. Once he had felt as Tahl did. He hadn't wanted a Padawan after his first, Xanatos, had destroyed every bond of honor and loyalty between them. He enjoyed being alone. He liked being responsible for only himself. Then Obi-Wan had come into his life. He had grown used to having him there.
'I'm sorry, Qui-Gon,' Tahl said gently. 'That was a careless remark. I know you miss Obi-Wan.'
Carefully, Qui-Gon set down his cup. 'If I am not to help you pour the tea, then can I request that you not tell me how I am feeling?'
'Well, perhaps you don't know that you miss him,' Tahl said. 'But you do.'
Annoyed, Qui-Gon stood. 'Do you forget what he did? He stole the starfighter to destroy those deflection towers. If he had been shot down, you would have died on Melida/Daan!'
'Ah, so you have a new talent. You can see things that might have been.
Must come in handy.'
Qui-Gon paced in front of her. 'He would have stolen it again, if I hadn't stopped him. He would have left us on that planet with no way to get off.'
Tahl pushed Qui-Gon's chair out with her foot. 'Sit down, Qui-Gon. I can't see you, but you're making me nervous. If I don't blame Obi-Wan, why should you? It's my life you're talking about.'
Qui-Gon didn't sit, but he did stop pacing. Tahl cocked her head, trying to gauge his mood.
'It was a tough call,' she said in a gentler tone. 'You went one way, Obi-Wan another. It seems to me that you're the only one who continues to blame the boy. And he is a boy, Qui-Gon. Remember that.'
Qui-Gon was silent. Once again, he found himself discussing Obi-Wan.
And he didn't want to discuss his Padawan with Tahl, or even Yoda. No one knew how much of himself he had invested in the boy in such a short time. No one knew how Obi-Wan's decision had grieved him.
'Maybe we should talk about the investigation,' he said finally. 'It's a high priority. We're wasting time.'
'True,' Tahl said, nodding. 'I think the Council is right. We can't treat this lightly. There is danger here.'
'Where should we start?' Qui-Gon asked, sitting down. 'Do you have any ideas?'
'One of the thefts was in a semi-restricted area,' Tahl pointed out.
'Some student records are missing. Let's see who has access to the Temple registry. When you don't know where to begin, the obvious is a good place to start.'
Obi-Wan strapped a blaster to his hip and made sure his vibroblade was in its holster. He had received a report of holdouts in the Melida sector who had refused to turn over their weapons.
He, Cerasi, and Nield were still living in the Young's underground vault until accommodations could be found. It wouldn't be right to take housing when so many were without. He walked out into the main vault where his Security Squad waited. He nodded at Deila, his second in command. They were ready.
They climbed up a ladder to a grate and hoisted themselves onto the street. They had gone only a few steps when Obi-Wan heard the sound of running footsteps behind him. He turned and saw Cerasi.
'I heard about the holdouts,' she said as she ran up, fastening her warm hooded tunic. 'I'm coming with you.'
Obi-Wan shook his head. 'Cerasi, this could be dangerous.'
Her green eyes glinted. 'Oh, and the war we fought together wasn't?'
