'Unhappy news I have,' Yoda said without preliminaries.'Ruled the Senate has to form a subcommittee to investigate Bruck's death. Vox Chun has a hidden powerful ally there. Discovered we have that Sano Sauro is a prosecutor. Rumor is he is hungry to make his mark. Return you must, Qui-Gon. Three witnesses there will be- yourself, Bant, and Obi-Wan. Fear I do that this process will take its toll on your Padawan.'
Qui-Gon's heart sank. 'Yes,' he said softly. 'I fear it will as well.'
Chapter 5
The hearing committee of the Senate did not waste time. They called the Jedi to their private inquiry room the very next day.
Obi-Wan felt a sense of dread as he dressed that morning. He could barely choke down his morning meal. He was almost relieved when it was time to meet Qui-Gon and head for the Senate.
'There will be fifteen Senators on the panel,' Qui-Gon explained to Bant and Obi-Wan as they threaded their way through the Senate's lavender halls. The hallways were thronged with Senators striding by importantly, with scurrying aides, consorts, and droids at their heels.
'I will be called first,' Qui-Gon explained.'Then Bant. Obi-Wan will be last. Sano Sauro will try to twist your words, so be sure you speak the truth with every sentence you utter. The Jedi have elected not to use a representative. We have truth on our side. Remember that.'
Obi-Wan nodded. Qui-Gon's calm gaze was reassuring. The walls of the Inquiry Room were fashioned from transparisteel, so Obi-Wan could see that the Senators had already gathered at the long table inside. It was set up on a platform. Vox Chun, Kad Chun, and Sano Sauro were already sitting opposite them. An empty table waited for the Jedi.
'Senator Pi T'Egal is the head of the committee,' Qui-Gon said softly, indicating the Senator who sat at the center of the table. 'That is good. He is a friend of the Jedi.'
The transparisteel doors slid open. Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Bant gave short bows to the Senators. Then they took their places at the empty table.
'If we are all here, we can begin,' Pi T'Egal said. He pressed a button and the transparisteel walls turned opaque. Obi-Wan had expected the shift, but it made him feel suddenly trapped.
Find your calm center. He struggled to breathe as Pi T'Egal consulted his data pad and pressed a few buttons. Bant's fingers gently squeezed Obi-Wan's forearm in support.
At last Pi T'Egal looked up. 'This is not a criminal trial,' he said. 'It is an inquiry only. Vox and Kad Chun have asked for a full accounting of the death of Bruck Chun in the Jedi Temple. We Senators have agreed to rule whether the death was by mischance or if Obi-Wan Kenobi bears some measure of responsibility for this. If our ruling is deliberate intent or responsibility, Vox and Kad Chun can then pursue the matter in the criminal courts of Coruscant. Does everyone understand this?'
Everyone nodded.
Pi T'Egal turned to Vox Chun. 'Do you understand that if we find there is no responsibility by others for your son's death you cannot pursue this further?'
'I do,' Vox Chun said.
'Then let us begin. The first witness will be the Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn.'
Qui-Gon rose and went to a chair set up on the platform, angled so that all the Senators could see him clearly.
'Please inform us of the events leading up to and surrounding the death of Bruck Chun.'
Qui-Gon began easily, quickly sketching the problems theTemplehad been experiencing and the fact that there was an intruder on the grounds.
'We knew that Bruck Chun was involved in the petty thefts,' he said. 'He disappeared, and we also knew that a more powerful figure had intercepted security. We assumed that Bruck Chun had smuggled this being into the Temple.'
'You did not know this as a fact,' Sano Sauro interrupted.
'No,' Qui-Gon said, his cool gaze resting on the attorney. 'That is why I used the word 'assumed.''
'Please go on, Qui-Gon Jinn,' Pi T'Egal said.
Qui-Gon outlined the many instances of sabotage, including the attack on Yoda and the sabotage of a horizontal turbolift that had trapped a dozen small children and their caretaker. Then he explained how they discovered that their adversary was his former Padawan, Xanatos, who was then head of the giant mining corporation, Offworld. They trapped Xanatos and Bruck outside the Jedi Council room as the two burst through an overhead vent.
'I knocked Bruck's lightsaber from his hand,' Qui-Gon said quietly. 'Xanatos grabbed the boy and held the lightsaber to his neck.'
Sano Sauro sat up straighter. 'So Xanatos threatened the boy? Bruck Chun was his prisoner, not his accomplice?'
'No,' Qui-Gon said. 'Xanatos felt loyalty to no one. He was willing to endanger Bruck's life in order to gain an advantage.'
'Such is your belief,' Sano Sauro sneered.
'Yes. Based on many encounters with Xanatos, I have come to see how he reacts under pressure,' Qui-Gon answered. 'We were able to force Xanatos to push Bruck aside. Bruck was able to recover his lightsaber. Xanatos told him to go to Bant and make sure she was dead.'
Pi T'Egal leaned forward. 'He said those words?'
