coolly.
If Clee noticed Tahl's manner, she made no sign of it. 'Here we are, the three of us, all together again!' she said cheerfully.
'Yes,' Tahl said.
Qui-Gon shot Clee a look. They hadn't seen each other in years, but their old friendship gave them a connection that would never weaken. She knew immediately that he wanted to talk to Tahl alone.
'Obi-Wan, do you want to see the starships?' Clee asked.
'Yes!' Obi-Wan answered immediately.
'Come on, Garen and I will show you the fleet,' Clee said, striding toward the door. 'Then we'll head back for the evening meal. See you there, Qui-Gon.'
Qui-Gon waited until the others had left. He did not approach Tahl. 'You're angry that I came.'
She turned away from him so that he could not read the expression on her lovely face. Sometimes she did this so that he would not have an advantage.
'You think I am in need of help. You think I cannot handle a mission alone.'
Qui-Gon was about to insist that such a statement was ridiculous, but he stopped himself. He did not need to see Tahl's face to realize that she was feeling vulnerable. The act of choosing a Padawan had pushed her up against something deep inside that hurther, that made her doubt herself. He knew that feeling well, for different reasons.
'No,' he said. 'I came because Obi-Wan had a hard time with Vox Chun. I am worried about him. I knew he would enjoy seeing the base. If we could help out as well, it might distract him further.'
'Ah,' Tahl said mockingly, 'and that is the only reason you came?'
'I heard that you had decided not to take a Padawan-'
'And you thought I might need a heart-to-heart talk.' Tahl whipped her face around again. He read lines of bitterness there. 'You want to tell me how reluctant you were to take a Padawan, how much it cost you, how valuable it has turned out to be, how I must realize that even though I am blind I have much to give to an apprentice. Do you think I don't know every word you would say? So please refrain. Any discussion of Padawans or Bant is off-limits. I mean it, Qui-Gon.'
'All right,' he said quietly. 'But will you, as a favor to me and Obi-Wan, let us help you in your investigation?'
'Just know that I do it for Obi-Wan.'
'Fair enough.'He walked closer and drew up a chair next to her. 'What do you have so far?'
'My contacts in the Senate tell me that there are rumors that Clee Rhara sabotaged the ships herself,' Tahl said, passing a weary hand over her eyes.
'Why would she do that?' Qui-Gon asked, startled.
'In order to prove to the Senate that the project needs funding and more up-to-date ships,' Tahl said.
Clee's booming indignation suddenly echoed off the metal walls of the tech dome. 'What a load of sludge oil!' She strode toward them, her hands on her hips. 'I would never endanger my pilots!'
'I thought you were giving Obi-Wan a tour of the starfighters,' Qui-Gon said.
'I came back to make sure you two weren't killing each other,' Clee said. 'I remember how you used to scrap at the Temple.'
'We are Jedi Knights now,' Qui-Gon said. 'We don't scrap.'
Tahl smiled. 'We argue, and then I win.'
Clee flopped in a chair. 'Well, I'm glad to see both of you. I'm really in a mess. If I don't figure out who is sabotaging my fleet, I'm sure the Council will cancel the whole program. I can't let that happen!'
'Tell me about security,' Qui-Gon said.
'Ships are refitted at a nearby yard, and all the workers have undergone Senate security checks. After the first incident, I restricted the workers who take care of Jedi ships to two. It slows things down, but it's safer. Each of them has passed the highest level of security clearance from the Senate. I thought everything would be fine. Yet another incident happened after this.'
'So it has to be one of the two workers,' Qui-Gon said.
'Or someone is finding a way to sneak into a highly restricted area,' Tahl said.
Clee leaned forward and gripped her hands in frustration. 'I can't tighten security more than I already have. Those Senate security checks are incredibly thorough.'
'There's another possibility,' Qui-Gon said. 'Someone in the Senate is behind this, and one or both of the security clearances is false.'
'I didn't think of that,' Tahl said. 'That would explain the rumors in the Senate. The same someone could be responsible. Someone who wants this project to fail.'
'But why?' Clee asked. 'Who would object to a handful of Jedi Temple students learning how to fly starfighters?'
'Someone who is afraid of the Jedi increasing their power,' Qui-Gon mused. 'The program is still young. Its potential may scare them.'
Qui-Gon's comlinksignaled, and he excused himself to answer it, walking a few paces away. It was Yoda.
