Obi-Wan noticed a flush spread over Astri's cheeks.
"What about you, Astri?" he asked.
She glanced at her father. "Well. Sometimes I used Fligh for more than sweeping."
"You used Fligh?" Didi asked, incredulous. "After you told me I should not associate with him?"
Astri looked uncomfortable. "We were not getting enough business. I'd spent so much money on the cafй. If it closed you'd never let me forget it. And I knew that Fligh hung around the Senate. I paid him to pass along tips to me about which Senators would be hosting important dinners. Then I could have a head start and bid on the job. Recently Fligh came to me with two pieces of information: one, that someone might throw Senator S'orn a going-away party soon, and two, that Jenna Zan Arbor was hosting a testimonial dinner. I paid him for both tips."
"You paid him for information? Ha!" Didi cried. "I am not the only one in this family to stretch the truth a bit!"
"This isn't the time to reproach Astri," Qui-Gon said sternly.
"I am not reproaching! I am congratulating," Didi insisted.
Astri's cheeks were pink. "Anyway, Fligh gave me a data pad for safekeeping. He told me he had just traded for it. He asked me to keep it for him. I was in the middle of something, so I stuck it in one of the ovens. The oven was broken," she added hastily. "To tell you the truth, I forgot about it until the night we left."
"Where is it now?" Qui-Gon asked urgently.
"Here," Astri said. "I brought it with us. My data pad was smashed, so I thought I'd use this one."
She reached over to a nearby table and handed it to Qui-Gon. "I haven't had a chance to see what's on it yet."
Qui-Gon quickly accessed the files on the data pad. A strange code streamed across the screen.
"The files are all coded," he mused.
"They must be Jenna Zan Arbor's," Obi-Wan said, looking over his shoulder. "These are probably formulas."
"Yes. Let me send it to Tahl. She can take it to our code experts." Qui-Gon jacked into the data pad and transferred the files to his own corn-link. He then contacted Tahl.
"Sure, send it along," Tahl said. "I'll get right on it and contact you as soon as we break it."
"This is high priority," Qui-Gon told her. He switched off the connection. "I don't think we should wait. I have several destinations in mind. There are contacts who can hide you," he told Didi and Astri.
"I won't mind leaving this place," Astri said with a shiver. "It's awfully lonely. Just us and the lonesome wind. The caretaker told us there's no one here at this time of year. At first we thought this an advantage."
Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon froze.
"Caretaker?" Qui-Gon asked.
"She came with the place," Didi said. "Relax, Qui-Gon. She's at least a hundred years old."
"Where is she?" Qui-Gon asked, his hand on his lightsaber.
Astri looked puzzled. "She brings provisions once a day. She's not here now."
Qui-Gon's uneasy feeling changed to alarm. Simultaneously, the two Jedi activated their lightsabers.
"Let's get to the cruiser," Qui-Gon said. "But our things —" Astri began.
"Leave them."
They started toward the door, but it was too late. At that moment, durasteel coverings on the windows slid down with a clang. They heard the harsh sound of locks snapping throughout the house. The snug hideaway had turned into a prison.
They were trapped. And Qui-Gon had no doubt that the bounty hunter was in the house with them.
Chapter 15
"What's going on?" Didi whispered.
"Where is the lighting console?" Qui-Gon asked Didi.
"Over there." Didi pointed to a console that was mounted on a table.
Qui-Gon strode over and powered down all the lights. Darkness dropped like a curtain. Obi-Wan could not see a thing, but he waited, knowing his eyes would adjust.
"Remember how she fought last time, Padawan," Qui-Gon said to him in a murmur. "Her strategy is to attack those we defend in order to keep us busy. Expect her to move in their direction first. Watch her shoulders to tell you which way she will move."
"I have the data pad, Qui-Gon," Astri whispered. "It's in my tunic."
"Keep it safe," Qui-Gon whispered back. "We don't need it anymore, but it is our insurance. If the bounty hunter thinks we can tell her where it is, she won't kill us."
"Ah, reassuring news," Didi said. His voice shook with terror.
"Stay between us," Qui-Gon instructed Didi and Astri. "We can't protect you if you stray. We're going to cut through those window shields."
They moved forward with Astri and Didi between them. Obi-Wan's vision had adjusted and he kept his eyes moving around the room, waiting for a shadow to move and materialize into the bounty hunter.
But even he was not prepared for how fast she struck. The laser whip came out of nowhere, spiraling in the air toward Astri. Qui-Gon leaped forward, lightsaber already slashing downward. It collided with the whip. A harsh buzzing sound rose from the contact.
The whip curled back and struck again, this time toward Didi. Obi-Wan was prepared, stepping into his left-to-right sweep. The whip wrapped around his lightsaber and smoked before uncurling and flying backward. The lightsaber could not cut it.
He could see her now. At least he could see the shape of her body. He could not see her eyes. She was dressed all in black; it was hard to track her as she moved. Only the slight gleam of her boots and armor told him where she was heading. She did not make a sound.
The whip unfurled again, dancing over their heads as though it were a living thing. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan kept their lightsabers moving, twirling them above their heads to fend off the lethal whip. All the while Qui-Gon pressed steadily forward.
Suddenly Astri began to fire her blaster. Her shots went widely off the mark, peppering the durasteel over the windows. The blasts ricocheted back toward them. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon had to move quickly to deflect them. In the meantime, the whip snaked out again and knocked the blaster from Astri's hand. It skittered across the floor.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan kept moving toward the windows. The bounty hunter realized their objective and sprang forward, somersaulting in a blur toward them. Her move ended in a sharp kick, close enough to land a glancing blow at Astri's ribs. A slight clang resulted from the sole of her boot hitting Astri's tunic. Obi-Wan saw the knowledge in the bounty hunter's face. She knew that Astri had the data pad.