Around the Jedi he felt too exposed. Mace would see how difficult it was for him to maintain serenity.
He could even order Qui-Gon back to the Temple. Qui-Gon could not allow that.
The truth was, he dreaded the moment he would walk back into the Temple and know that Tahl's footsteps would never echo in its halls again.
The Temple would never again welcome him in the same way. Loss would be as much a part of it as shelter.
His fever to catch Balog battled with his fear of the future, when this mission would be over. He would be faced with only his grief to bear, and he would have to look ahead to empty years. What would happen to him then?
A deep chill caused him to shudder. The cool wind was drying his sweat. He saw a security patrol ahead and quickly turned down a side street. Once again he would not sleep tonight. He would have to keep alert.
Every officer in the city was now looking for Qui-Gon Jinn.
But he had learned something. They had tied him to the murder through the probe droids. He could not understand why the probe droids had attacked someone instead of tracking Balog, as they had been programmed to do. He wondered if the two droids that had veered off when attacking him had actually been his own droids. It had been strange that they had suddenly gone away. Did that mean that his droids had attacked Oleg, too? Someone had reprogrammed them.
He needed answers, and for once he knew where to find them. He would pay a visit to the black-market dealer, Mota, who had sold him the droids.
If they were reprogrammed, Mota was undoubtedly the link to whoever reprogrammed them. And if that person was Balog, he might have a way to contact him.
Qui-Gon circled back and glanced down the street. The security officer was gone. He struck out across the road into the park. There were more places to hide here in case he was spotted. And cutting across the park would bring him closer to the Worker Sector.
Qui-Gon suddenly sensed that someone was behind him, matching his footsteps and trying to match his speed. Qui-Gon melted off into the trees.
He made an arc and came up behind his pursuer. He saw a glint of gold hair in the darkness. It was Eritha.
He strode forward and grasped her arm. She gasped, then saw it was him. She was breathing hard, as if she'd just had a hard run. 'I've been following you since you left Manex,' she said. 'Or at least I've been trying to. I lost you and kept circling around. Finally I thought I saw you enter the park.'
'Why are you following me?'
She leaned over, trying to catch her breath. Her braids were unraveling, and her face was flushed.
'Does Manex have the list?'
'No. Was that why you are following me?'
Eritha shook her head. 'It's because I couldn't wait until you contacted me. I guessed you would go to Manex tonight. I've got the information you need. I overheard Alani. I know where Balog is. I can take you there.'
Chapter 13
The Jedi still kept watch over Manex, who had now retired to his reception room for a rest. Mace covered the front of the residence while Bant stayed outside in the rear. Obi-Wan was positioned behind the curving stairway. From here he had a vantage point to the door of the reception room. He had a feeling it would be a long night.
Use your time. You'll find one day that you have too little of it.
Qui-Gon's words rose in his mind. Obi-Wan was still going over and over what he should have done when he saw his Master. The cloudy aura he felt around Qui-Gon had worried him deeply. He sensed confusion and static, and it prevented him from truly connecting. It had shaken him. Maybe it had prevented him from acting more quickly. Should he have followed Qui-Gon, gone with him no matter what he said?
Use your time…
Obi-Wan didn't think he could. His thoughts were too confused.
That is the time you need discipline most. That is what your training is for.
All right, then. He would stop the voice of Qui-Gon in his head by obeying him.
Although he was tired, although he felt that he had gone over the events of the past days too many times to count, Obi-Wan focused his mind and started again. He went over every event since he and Qui-Gon had stepped foot on New Apsolon. He turned things over in his thoughts, searching for inconsistencies. He considered every unanswered question and every possible answer.
lrini had sworn that she wasn't the one who had fired on them on their first day. They had never discovered who it had been for sure. Balog?
They hadn't yet been a threat to him, had they?
Was it just a coincidence that security showed up at Mota's while they were buying the probe droids? It seemed likely now that Alani had told them about Mote in order to trap them. She could have been the one to alert security that the Jedi were buying illegal goods.
The droids must have been reprogrammed to attack Pleni.
Obi-Wan pushed these questions aside. He did not think they would bring him closer to Balog. If only the answers were clear. If only they could get a solid lead. If only Eritha had come through with information on Balog. She had been at her sister's side for more than two days now. Surely she must have learned something.
