Qui-Gon suddenly looked pale. 'Our security is in the hands of the top security officer, Balog himself…'
'Could it be Balog?' Obi-Wan asked. 'If so, sending him to the meeting was not wise. He has a hidden agenda. He is not for Roan, but against him.'
'So the chance for peace may be compromised,' Qui-Gon said grimly. He turned to Irini. 'You must be aware that Balog may be playing false in peace negotiations. We do not know for sure, but we need to consider this.
This meeting is too important to risk.'
'By the way, shouldn't you be there?' Obi-Wan asked. 'It starts at dawn.'
Irini looked puzzled. 'What meeting?' she asked.
Chapter 19
The look on Irini's face made him act faster than he had ever moved in his life. Qui-Gon was out in the hall before he was even conscious of rising from his chair. But even as fast as he moved, he knew Obi-Wan was behind him.
He had sent Tahl off with Balog. There was no meeting. Balog had separated her from them for a reason. He did not know the reason, but he feared the worst.
He had failed her. With all his reliance on his vision, he had not trusted it far enough. He had let her go.
Balog had told them that the meeting was to be held in a secret meeting room in the nearby Institute for Government Service building. Qui- Gon and Obi-Wan raced there through the empty streets. The rising suns stained the pavement with red. The world was beginning to stir.
'We could be wrong,' Obi-Wan said as they ran. 'There are others who could have been behind the kidnapping. Irini thinks that several know the security code.'
'Yes, we could be wrong,' Qui-Gon agreed. But he did not think so.
He knew the secret meeting room was off Roan's office. They pounded down the hall. Roan's assistant was just opening up the office. He looked shocked as the Jedi burst in.
'What are you doing here?'
'The secret meeting room,' Qui-Gon said. 'Take us there.'
'I… I don't know,' the assistant stammered. Qui-Gon took three steps toward him. He said only one word. 'Now.'
The assistant nodded nervously. He accessed a hidden door in the paneling, then led them down a short corridor. Another durasteel door was at the end of it.
Qui-Gon's footsteps slowed at the sight of what lay outside the door.
A voice cried out inside his chest.
No!
Tahl's lightsaber lay in a small bin. With it were several blasters.
She would never have been separated from her lightsaber if she hadn't been convinced that without it the meeting would not take place.
'Access the door,' Qui-Gon ordered the assistant.
The door slid open. There was an empty table. Empty chairs. There was no sign of Balog or Tahl.
In an agony of frustration, Qui-Gon raised the hilt of his lightsaber and brought it down on the table. The table cracked and a long jagged split appeared.
Obi-Wan looked at him, astonished. He had never seen Qui-Gon lose control before.
Qui-Gon closed his eyes and weaved with the intensity of emotion inside him. He saw her dull eyes, felt her weak touch, heard her voice in his ear.
'It is too late for me, dear friend.'
His Padawan spoke at his elbow. 'We will find them, Qui-Gon.'
He swallowed against his anguish and guilt, pushing them down, down deep where they would not interfere with his reason, his judgment, his purpose.
He opened his eyes and met the resolute gaze of his Padawan. He wanted to tell Obi-Wan that if they did not find her in time, if his vision came true, he knew one thing: He would be forever changed. Forever half of what he was. What he could have been.
'We must,' he said.
