'No idea.' They could have been unconscious for hours and transported off Von-Alai. It didn't matter. Because Dooku had not contacted the Temple, no one had known they were on Von-Alai. There was no way to track them.
Lorian would not beat him. He vowed that it would not happen. Things didn't look good — he was bound and imprisoned at the moment — but Dooku would find his opportunity and he would use it.
'Perhaps Eero will find us,' Qui-Gon said. 'Or tell the Temple where we are.'
'Eero is part of this,' Dooku said. 'He set us up.'
'But he is your friend,' Qui-Gon said. 'And he was hurt in the invasion.'
'So it seemed. Injuries can be faked. Eero was a good actor, nothing more. I was foolish not to think of it before. This should be a lesson to you, Padawan. Have as many friends as you want, but do not trust them. Believe me, I know what I am speaking of. The person who has imprisoned us was once in training with me.'
'He is a Jedi?' Qui-Gon asked, shocked.
'He went through training but was dismissed. Never mind why. We were friends once. I am beginning to suspect that he might hold some kind of grudge against me. So there is more going on here than you know.'
'You mean you knew he was the space pirate?' Qui-Gon said no more but the words hung in the air. And you did not tell me?
'I recognized him as he left Senator Annon's ship.' 'And you think Eero is in league with him?'
'I suspect so. Betrayal is part of life, Qui-Gon, and we can't always see it coming.'
Qui-Gon strained against the energy cuffs.
'That won't do anything but exhaust you,' Dooku told him. 'You must accept that sometimes you are in situations over which you have no control. Accept the situation and wait for your opportunity. Besides, we are farther along than we were before.'
'In what way?'
'We were looking for the space pirate, and now we have found him.
We'll get taken to him eventually. He won't be able to resist gloating — he never could. When we find him, we will wait for our opening, and we will not make mistakes.'
Dooku closed his eyes. He did not like to feel anger and humiliation roiling inside him. He needed inner calm. He never acted out of anger.
Long minutes passed. He felt his heartbeat slow. Then he heard the swish of the doors opening.
'Old friend,' Lorian said.
At the sound of his voice, rage spurted up in him again. He did not open his eyes until he had controlled it.
'I realized some time ago, Lorian, that we were never friends,' Dooku said evenly.
Lorian had grown into a handsome man. He was all lean muscle. His thick gold hair was cropped short, throwing into relief the bold lines of his face and his green eyes. 'You haven't changed,' he said, then smiled. 'Yet it's good to see you, even though it's unfortunate for me. If a Jedi had to be tracking me, I would've hoped for anyone but you. You knew me too well. Once.'
'Yes,' Dooku said. 'I knew how you would lie and cheat to get your way.'
'What is so bad about what I've done?' Lorian asked. 'It was hard being in the galaxy all alone, trying to make my way. All I knew was the Temple. Did that ever occur to you, Dooku? We were raised in a bubble, and then everything I knew was taken away from me. I was forced out into the galaxy, a young boy with no Master to guide me.'
'The Jedi hardly set you adrift,' Dooku said. 'They arranged a position for you in the Agricultural Corps.'
Lorian snorted. 'Tending hybrid plants on a Mid-Rim planet? Would you be satisfied with that life, after all the training we went through?'
'I had no reason to have to accept it,' Dooku said. 'I did not violate the Jedi Order. You did. You seem to forget that.'
'I was young and made a mistake.' Lorian's face hardened. 'I paid dearly for it. Was I supposed to turn into a farmer? I was trained as a Jedi! So instead I went into business for myself.'
'As a space pirate.'
'Just temporarily. I started out kidnapping criminals, but that got risky. You'd be surprised how reluctant gangs can be to come up with the ransom. So I looked to Senators next. The only problem was, they had the best security. But what if their security wasn't as good as they thought it was? When I heard Kontag was sliding into bankruptcy, it gave me the idea. So I bought this factory and offered Kontag a deal.'
'A factory that employs children.' Qui-Gon's voice was flat. His gaze told Lorian that he held him in contempt.
Lorian strolled toward Qui-Gon, his face alight with curiosity. 'So this is your apprentice, Dooku? Qui-Gon Jinn? Yes, I can see you in him. He is as sure of his own rightness as you are. What would you have me do, young Padawan? Fire the child workers? Many of them support families. Parents who are injured or too sick to work, or parents who have abandoned them so they are supporting their brothers and sisters. Would you have them starve?'
'I would find a better way,' Qui-Gon said.
'Ah, he is unshakable. Well, I'll tell you this, young Jedi. I am planning to phase out the child labor. Improve conditions. But do you know what that takes? Money. The Jedi don't deal with credits. They don't speak of them. But the rest of us have to eat, you know.'
