He drove her relentlessly backward. He saw her lip curl with anger as she flicked the whip, sending it within millimeters of his flesh. He slashed downward. The lasers tangled with a buzzing noise.
Suddenly the blaster was in her hand. He had only caught a blur of movement as she reached for ft. But he was ready, his lightsaber spinning in a continuous arc to deflect the fire. The Force surged in him, making every movement sure.
But he could not concentrate on everything at once. He lost his connection to the ground. Chips of stone lay around the muddy surface, and they were slippery. His foot slid and he lost his balance. He caught himself before he fell but his loss of concentration cost him.
She moved to his right and charged, firing as she went. Obi-Wan slid on the slippery stones, struggling to regain his footing as he deflected the furious round of fire, twisting his body. He felt the rush of air as the whip snaked around him.
For the first time, he was seriously worried. He was outmatched and he knew it. He did not have Qui-Gon's perfect mastery of the Force. And he could not meet the dual challenge of the whip and the blaster. He could not get close enough to disarm her, and he doubted he would be lucky enough to capture the whip a second time. He had only managed to do so back on Simpla-12 because Astri had barreled down on Ona Nobis in a gravsled.
Doubt is your first enemy. How many times had he heard that in class?
Yet he knew deep within that this doubt was justified. With a whip as well as a blaster, she could keep him running while she remained still. Sooner or later he would tire. He saw how much he depended on Qui-Gon during a battle. He could pick up on Qui-Gon's strategy, but he could not formulate it himself. He would put up a good fight, maybe even wound her, if he were lucky to get close enough. But she would win. She knew this territory well and she had set the trap. He had walked right into it.
All of these calculations roared through Obi-Wan's mind even as he regained his footing and faked a pass at Ona Nobis, forcing her to retreat a few steps. He knew it was a temporary victory.
The hardest decision, Qui-Gon had told him once, is to walk away. He had not understood that. Until now. It went against everything he'd learned about battle, everything he was as a Jedi.
Or did it? The mission was his first concern.
Ona Nobis was not part of his mission. As far as they knew, she had no connection to Jenna Zan Arbor now. She had picked a fight solely for revenge.
Which meant there was no reason to fight. Behind Ona Nobis, tall girders framed a wall of the wing. He needed a few seconds, that was all Concentrating all his will, he reached out a hand toward a fusioncutter lying on the ground. He felt the Force move, and the fusioncutter slid along the mud and then flew with sudden momentum straight toward Ona Nobis.
Surprised, she slashed at it with her whip. Obi-Wan felt the power in his legs as he leaped straight over her head toward the girder above. He landed, slipping just a bit from the mud on his boots. But he knew he would regain his balance. He bent his legs and leaped again, this time to a higher girder.
Far below, the whip snaked toward him. It could not reach him as he leaped to the next high girder. From here, he leapfrogged his way down, out of her reach at the far side of the site. Her howl of rage rang in his ears as he raced away.
Chapter 9
Siri was waiting for Obi-Wan back in the atrium, her vivid blue eyes snapping with impatience.
'This place is crazy,' she said before Obi-Wan could speak. 'There is no Wing M. Or if there is, I can't find it, and would you care to make a bet on how helpful the Sorrusians were? Plus, Astri isn't even registered here. I went to Wing A, and they had never heard of her. So then I asked about Rai Unlu. Get this — they've never heard of him, either. Or at least that's what they tell me. I don't know whether they're lying, or I'm trapped in a nightmare.' For the first time, Siri noticed Obi-Wan's mud- splattered tunic and dirty face. 'Did you fall in a puddle?'
'I had a run-in with Ona Nobis,' Obi-Wan said. 'This whole thing was a setup. I don't think Astri's here at all. Ona Nobis lured us here to get revenge on me.'
'So what happened?' Siri asked, instantly poised for action.
Obi-Wan thought the decision to leave the battle was hard. He hadn't thought ahead to telling Siri. This was harder.
'We fought. I left,' he said.
Siri looked incredulous. 'You ran away?'
Obi-Wan felt his annoyance rise. Why did Siri have to put it that way? He struggled not to let his anger show. The best way to tell her what happened was not to offer excuses.
'I was outmatched this time.' The words seemed to come out smoothly, but they felt as though they'd been torn from his throat.
Siri opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. Obviously, there were many things she wanted to say. Just as obviously, Adi had taught her well.
For once, she kept her thoughts to herself.
Yet the expression on her face spoke more clearly than anything she could have said. Siri could not understand leaving the scene of a battle.
She could not imagine a situation in which she would give up. She had not been in as many battles as Obi-Wan. She was more used to the training rooms at the Temple, where she had usually been the winner. When she had lost, she had bowed to her opponent with grace. Then she beat them in the next encounter.
She did not yet realize that even for the best Jedi, there were battles that could not be won. Qui-Gon had taught Obi-Wan that. As skilled a fighter as he was, Qui-Gon knew that surprises in battle came often. You could train for them, but you could not predict them. Sometimes you had to cut your losses.
