'Not to mention murder,' Obi-Wan added.
Winna's frown grew deeper as shock slowly registered on her face.
'You mean that Zan Arbor has deliberately deprived the galaxy of her medicines?'
'I think it a very great possibility,' Tahl said. Winna's expression was grim. 'My patient will die without that antitoxin.'
'I don't understand.' Astri had come up behind them so quietly they had not heard her. 'You say that Jenna Zan Arbor has the medicine that my father needs, and you can't find her?'
'I am afraid that is the case,' Winna said.
Obi-Wan went to Astri. He hovered by her side, uncertain of what to say or do. 'You mustn't lose hope,' he said.
She nodded, her mouth tightening. He saw her shoulders shaking. She was trying not to cry aloud.
'Obi-Wan is right,' Winna said. 'The antitoxin must be held somewhere in the galaxy. We will find it, Astri.'
'I know you will do everything you can.' 'Our good friend Didi is, Astri,' Yoda told her. 'Take good care of him, we will.'
'You are very kind.' Astri turned and walked toward the window. She stared out blankly. 'She has lost hope,' Tahl murmured.
'Bad news, it was,' Yoda said. 'Hard to absorb.'
'I'd better get back,' Winna said tersely, and hurried off.
'Go to Astri, you should,' Yoda told Obi-Wan. 'Her friend you are.
Console her, you must. Hope must not die while Didi lives.'
But Astri wasn't really his friend. He'd just met her. And he wasn't very good at consolation. If only Qui-Gon were here!
Yoda and Tahl left, and Obi-Wan went to stand awkwardly by Astri's side.
'He's going to die,' she said. 'And I will be alone.'
'We cannot lose hope,' Obi-Wan said. 'The Jedi are capable of extraordinary things. We will find the antitoxin or Jenna Zan Arbor.'
'I am certain that you will,' Astri said. 'But will Didi still be alive? He looks so small, Obi-Wan. His spirit filled him. Now he's so weak.
..'
'He is not weak,' Obi-Wan said. 'He had one of the strongest spirits I've ever seen. It is still there, his strength.'
'I thought I had troubles once,' Astri said slowly. 'Running a business wasn't easy. But now I know despair for the first time. Even if Didi survives, we have lost everything. The cafc has been closed by our landlord. We owe him credits we cannot pay. Even as I sit by Didi's bedside, begging him to live, I wonder what he will return to. And it's my fault. I spent all our savings on improvements for the cafc. We have nothing.'
Obi-Wan did not have to wonder what Qui-Gon would say. 'You have each other.'
'You're right, Obi-Wan. I'm feeling sorry for myself.' Astri rubbed her forehead. 'It's just that I'm so tired.'
'Why don't you rest here?' Obi-Wan suggested, indicating the seating area. 'You wouldn't have to go to the sleeping quarters. I will make sure you won't be disturbed, unless… unless Didi awakens.'
Astri sank onto the cushions and laid her head down. 'Maybe just an hour,' she said as her eyes closed.
Obi-Wan decided he would stay until he was sure she was asleep. His nerves were jumping. He was anxious to check with Tahl and the Jedi code breakers. He wanted to be present when they cracked the datapad.
He reached into his tunic to remove the Force-sensitive river stone that Qui-Gon had given him. He often found comfort in turning the smooth stone around in his hand. It made him feel closer to Qui-Gon.
A crackle alerted him that there was something else in his inner pocket. Obi-Wan took it out. It was a durasheet. On it, Jenna Zan Arbor had written the names of the guests she had invited to Didi's Cafc. The names were already beginning to fade.
Obi-Wan thought back to only a few days before. Qui-Gon had asked her to write out the information when they'd visited her at her hotel.
Qui-Gon never did anything without a reason. Obi-Wan frowned, thinking hard. They had gone to see Zan Arbor because they had discovered that she had learned about Didi's Cafc from Didi's friend Fligh. Fligh had stolen the datapad of both Senator S'orn and Zan Arbor. Later he had been found dead, his body drained of blood. At that point, they did not know if Zan Arbor was involved. They were just following a thread.
In other words, Zan Arbor hadn't been a suspect. So why had Qui-Gon asked for this list?
Back then, Obi-Wan thought that the Outlaw Tech gang had hired the bounty hunter. But Qui-Gon must have had his doubts. Had he been trying to link the bounty hunter to Zan Arbor?
They had never solved the mystery of how the bounty hunter had been able to break into Didi's Cafc after Zan Arbor's guests had left. They knew the cafc had been locked up tight, every door and window bolted.
Could Qui-Gon have wondered if one of the guests had stayed behind?
