Qui-Gon stopped.
'I did not merely withdraw your blood, Qui-Gon,' she continued. 'I also injected a device into your system. Not only does it measure your vital signs — by the way, your heart is beating quite rapidly right now — but it also contains a transmitter. If you cross the threshold of this building, that transmitter will set off another. There is another subject in my lab. If you leave, a poison will be released into his system. He will be dead in thirty seconds. You do not know him, but you are close to him.
There is a riddle for you. And a choice.' She gave a bland smile. 'Perhaps you will accept my hospitality for a little while longer.'
The screen went black. Obi-Wan turned to Qui-Gon.
'She could be bluffing.' Qui-Gon shook his head. 'She is not.'
'But you have no real evidence that someone else is here,' Obi-Wan said desperately.
'But I know someone is,' Qui-Gon said. He turned to Obi-Wan. He saw the desperation and dread in his Padawan's eyes. 'You know what you must do, Padawan.'
'No,' Obi-Wan said, shaking his head violently. 'I will not leave you.'
'You must.' Qui-Gon put his hand on Obi-Wan's arm. 'You did well. You released me from the chamber. But I cannot leave this building, and you must bring those medicines back. Didi's life, and other lives, hang in the balance.'
'I can go,' Astri said. 'I will take the antitoxins.'
'You have acted bravely, Astri,' Qui-Gon told her. 'But we cannot let that much responsibility rest with you. Those vaccines and antitoxins must be duplicated. Both of you must go.'
'I can't leave you,' Obi-Wan repeated, his voice shaking.
'You must, Padawan,' Qui-Gon said. 'Getting those medicines back to the Temple is a Jedi mission. A Jedi must complete it.'
'There is a Jedi team on the way here,' Obi-Wan said. 'But now that she knows we have found her. She'll fortify this place. She'll devise ways to keep us out…'
'She cannot keep the Jedi out,' Qui-Gon said firmly. 'Give me your comlink.'
Obi-Wan handed Qui-Gon his comlink. Then he gave him his lightsaber.
It was the greatest gift one Jedi could give another. Qui-Gon placed his hand on the hilt.
'I will keep it safe until you return for it,' he said. 'Now go.'
Astri hurried forward. She pressed the button to access the door.
Fresh air rushed in with the scent of coming rain.
Obi-Wan looked back at Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon saw anguish and heartbreak on his Padawan's face. 'I will return.'
He nodded. 'I will be here.'
Obi-Wan and Astri left. The door hissed shut behind them. Qui-Gon stood in the doorway, Obi-Wan's lightsaber in his hand. The stale air of the lab soon chased away the fresh scent of rain. He had seen freedom only meters away. Now it was gone.
He turned back toward the lab and his new enemy. And now the game would begin.
