'Now we will leave you here,' Goq said. 'We will wait for you in the next canyon. If you follow the canyon wall, you will find us.'
Obi-Wan thanked them, and Goq and Bhu left.
'Here's a datapad, Obi-Wan,' Astri called excitedly.
Obi-Wan hurried over. He quickly accessed the file system. To his relief, the files were not coded.
'These are case files,' he said, scrolling through. 'Clients. Jobs she took on.'
'Any hint of where she could be now?' Astri asked.
'Hold on. Let me access the latest file.' Obi-Wan clicked a few keys.
He read carefully through the information. 'This is it,' he said excitedly.
Astri crouched down next to him. 'What is it?'
'It's the case she's working on now,' Obi-Wan said. 'I guess her work for Jenna Zan Arbor is over.' He pointed at the screen. 'She's shadowing the governor of Cinnatar. That's in this system. It's less than a day's travel from here.'
'The governor must be her next target,' Astri agreed.
'I'll contact the Temple for a Jedi team.' Obi-Wan reached for his comlink, but its indicator light was already activated. Tahl was looking for him.
A moment later, Tahl's clear voice came through the comlink. 'We've broken Zan Arbor's code at last. The Jedi are extremely concerned. We know that Zan Arbor is conducting experiments on the Force. We fear that she is holding Qui-Gon in order… in order to experiment on him.' Tahl cleared her throat. 'Her first experiment was on a subject with the initials RS.'
'Ren S'orn?' Obi-Wan guessed. They had known that Senator S'orn's late son had been mixed up in the mystery of the attack on Didi. They had not known why.
'That is what we believe,' Tahl confirmed. 'There is a lab notation that further experiments would be done. Yet none were. The notation is dated a few days before Ren S'orn was found dead on Simpla-12.'
Obi-Wan swallowed. Ren S'orn's body had been drained of blood. He had been an experimental subject of Jenna Zan Arbor's. But Qui-Gon was so strong, so clever. Surely he would not suffer the same fate.
'You know our fears, Obi-Wan,' Tahl said, her voice low.
'Yes.'
'I was hoping you had a lead on the bounty hunter. We are discussing how next to proceed.'
'I think I do,' Obi-Wan said. 'We've found out the bounty hunter's real name. It is Ona Nobis. I believe her next job is to assassinate the governor of Cinnatar.'
'We will warn him and send a team there to meet you immediately,'
Tahl said. 'Send Astri back here. Contact me when you arrive on Cinnatar.'
Tahl shut the communication. Obi-Wan stared at the datapad of Ona Nobis.
'Come on, Obi-Wan,' Astri urged. 'There's no time to lose. I'm not going back to the Temple. I'm coming with you.'
'Wait,' Obi-Wan said.
'Don't even try to argue,' Astri said, her dark eyes burning. 'I'm coming. Hurry. We don't want to miss the last transport back to the city.'
He knew he should be hurrying to catch the transport. But something was wrong. Something inside was warning him.
Always listen to doubt. Even in times of great haste, take time to listen. Then trust it.
Qui-Gon's words. Obi-Wan thought about his hesitancy. Something was telling him that Cinnatar was not where he would find answers.
'Obi-Wan!' Astri called in frustration.
'Tell me something, Astri,' he said. 'The bounty hunter Ona Nobis is clever. Again and again she surprised us. She even outwitted Qui-Gon.'
'Yes,' Astri said impatiently.
'So why would she choose as an alias a name that we could trace to the place where she was from?'
'Because she didn't know you would trace it,' Astri said.
'A part of cleverness is not underestimating the cleverness of your opponent,' Obi-Wan said, shaking his head. 'She knows the resources of the Temple. Why would she take such a risk?'
Astri took a few steps toward Obi-Wan. 'What are you saying? That she wanted us to find her?'
'No. She wanted us to find this.' Obi-Wan gestured at the cave. 'And this.' He pointed to the datapad.
'But it was so hard to find. Bhu stumbled on the cave by accident…'
'It was only a matter of time before some member of the tribe found this place,' Obi-Wan said. 'They wander in search of food and water. She knows this.'
He touched the datapad. 'What if she wanted to send us on the wrong trail? What if she is still working for Jenna Zan Arbor?'
