"Shall I tell you how Yoda explained it to me when I was even younger than you are?" "Yes, Master." Qui-Gon gazed out the viewport while he spoke.
"On distant Generis stands an especially dark, dense, and near impenetrable growth of sallap trees. For many generations it was necessary to travel a long distance around the forest to reach the glorious deep-water lake on the far side. But then a Sith Lord thought to blaze a trail directly through the trees, in the hope of providing a quicker route to the lake.
"As you might imagine, only a few have taken both routes and lived to tell of their experiences. But all agree that while the path through that dark wood is shorter, it actually fails to arrive at the lake.
Whereas the path that skirts the forest, though long and arduous, not only arrives at the shore, but is, in itself, a destination." Without glancing at Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon asked, "On As — meru, did you venture into t dark wood, or did you remain in the light, with the Force as your companion and ally?" "I had no destination in mind, other than to follow where the Force led me."
"Then you have the answer." Obi-Wan swung to face the starfield. "The Sith were before Master Yoda's time, were they not, Master?" Qui-Gon came close to smiling. "Nothing was before Yoda's time, Padawan." Obi-Wan turned to glance toward the gunship's forward cabin. "Master, about Cindar-was "No, I don't trust him at all." "Then why have we come to Karfeddion?" "We have to begin somewhere, Obi-Wan. In time, even Cindar's lies will betray his true intentions." "In time for us to prevent Captain Cohl from doing whatever Havac has tasked him to do?" "That, I can't say, Padawan." Just then, Cindar wandered forward, his gaze falling on the discarded Jedi robes and lightsabers.
"Won't you feel naked without them?" Obi-Wan swung away from the console to face him.
"We want to be certain to give the wrong impression." "That's good planning," the Nikto said.
"Especially since I'm new to Karfeddion myself, and haven't an idea where to begin looking for Cohl or Havac." Qui-Gon glanced at him. "Don't concern yourself about that. I suspect we've already made a beginning." With the gunship grounded in the docking bay, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Cindar descended the boarding ramp and set out to make inquiries at some of the disreputable cantinas and tap — cafs that surrounded the spaceport. They weren't twenty meters from the ship when a pair of maintenance technicians intercepted them at the exit to the street.
"Hawk-Bat, right?" the taller of the two said to Qui-Gon.
Qui-Gon looked the man in the eye. "Who's asking?" "No offense, Captain,"
the other said, showing his grease — stained hands in a mollifying gesture.
"We just wanted to tell you that you just missed him." Obi-Wan started to say something, but thought better of it.
"We just missed him?" "Launched a couple of hours back," the tall one replied, "with a full complement of crew in a beat-up Corellian freighter."
"Oh, that ship," Qui-Gon said.
The shorter tech adopted a conspiratorial look.
"Are you three part of this Eriadu business?" "What do you think?" Qui- Gon said rhetorically.
The two techs traded meaningful glances. "You wouldn't by chance need a couple of spare hands, would you, Captain?" the taller one asked.
Qui-Gon pretended to assess them. "I've no need for technicians. What are your other talents?" "Same as the ones Cohl was flying with, Captain," the tall one said with increasing assurance. "Light and heavy arms, melee weapons, explosives, you name it." "Small wars and revolutions," the other enthused.
Qui-Gon nodded. "I'll pass the word along to Captain Cohl." The taller one nudged his partner in anticipation.
"Much appreciated, Captain." "Can you tell us what's planned?" the other asked.
"Just so we know how to prepare?" Qui-Gon shook his head firmly.
The taller man frowned. "We understand. It's only that we heard it was extermination work." Qui-Gon said nothing in a blank-faced definite way.
"Well, you know where to find us, Captain," the short one said.
Qui-Gon let them take a few steps toward the exit before he called out.
"By the way, was Havac with him?" The question clearly puzzled them.
"Don't know the name, Captain," the shorter of the pair said. "Just Cohl, his Rodian sidekick, and the ones Cohl had hired." The other man grinned broadly. "And the woman." Qui-Gon raised his eyebrows. "So she was there, too.
" The tall one laughed shortly. "If looks could kill, eh, Captain?" Qui-Gon didn't so much as glance at Obi-Wan until the pair had left the docking bay.
But by that time, Cindar had already made his move.
"You're one lucky fellow," the humanoid said, holding his blaster where he could cover both of them.
"Not from where I'm standing," Qui-Gon said.
"You weren't meant to hear any of that," Cindar went on. "I didn't know anything about Cohl's coming to Karfeddion." "So this was just to keep us away from Eriadu." Cindar sneered. "Yeah, and this is as far as it goes, Jedi. Too bad you left your lightsabers on board." Qui-Gon folded his arms. "We had to make you feel confident about drawing your blaster and revealing yourself."
"Huh?" Obi-Wan threw a small sound toward the ship, and Cindar whirled. When he spun back to the two Jedi, they had moved.
Spying Obi-Wan ten meters to his right, Cindar triggered a bolt, but Qui- Gon called on the Force to shove Cindar's blaster hand, and the bolt went wild. At the same instant, Obi-Wan leapt over Cindar's head, landing directly behind him.
Cindar spun on his heel, prepared to fire.
Obi-Wan swept his right leg through a forward circle, knocking the blaster from Cindar's hand.
Crouching suddenly, he whirled one foot, kicking Cindar's legs out from under him.
The thickset humanoid fell hard on his side, but sprang nimbly to his feet and began to advance, throwing combinations of punches and kicks, which Obi-Wan blocked with his raised forearms and knees.
Frustrated, Cindar threw his arms around Obi-Wan in a front-facing hug, only to end up hugging himself when Obi-Wan made himself slender and dropped out of the embrace. Off — balanced, Cindar staggered forward and crashed into one of the Hawk-Bafs landing struts.
Obi-Wan leapt and landed.
Cindar charged-but with hidden purpose.
Anticipating Obi-Wan's next leap, Cindar stopped short, then threw a powerful roundhouse kick. Tagged in the torso as he was landing, Obi-Wan moved with the force of the blow, cartwheeling to one side, and landing square on both feet, facing Cindar. The humanoid charged once more, catching the impact of Obi-Wan's abrupt back flip, full in the jaw.