Andra had quick reflexes. She hit the ground and kept rolling until she had reached safety behind an enormous fallen tree trunk.
Obi-Wan was seriously outnumbered. Qui-Gon's lessons snapped through his mind in precision order.
Keep moving.
Use reversals? surprise them.
Change hands when you can.
Come at them from above and below.
Use your ground.
The ground was uneven. The droids would have more trouble maneuvering. Obi-Wan used the fallen logs and soft moss beds to give him height and spring. He flipped backward and dispatched one droid with a blow to the head. Using the momentum of the swing, he dived at the next one's legs.
Two down.
Andra rose, vibroblade in hand, as Obi-Wan slashed at the third droid. Andra deftly evaded blaster fire and smashed the droid from behind.
Three down.
The fourth droid swiveled to attack Andra. Obi-Wan deflected its blaster fire with his lightsaber, then kicked out at the droid who was coming at him from the right. Andra leaped and cleaved off the droid's arm. Off-balance, the droid wobbled, and Obi-Wan was able to cleanly slice it in half. It toppled.
A vine hung down from a tree overhead, and Obi-Wan, grabbing it with one hand, used it to swing himself forward to knock over the droid who was aiming at Andra. The blaster fire erupted a split second before he swiped horizontally, cutting the droid in half.
Andra gave a cry and lay still.
Obi-Wan whirled even faster now, beheading one droid and turning to knock another off its feet. He buried his lightsaber in the droid's control panel.
Obi-Wan rushed to Andra's side. He bent over her, feeling for her pulse.
Her hand came up, weakly swatting him away. "Don't worry, I'm not dead. I just had the wind knocked out of me."
Obi-Wan rocked back on his heels, relieved. "Are you sure?"
"The blaster fire hit my pack, I think." Gingerly, Andra slipped the pack off her shoulder. Blaster holes had shredded the material. She reached inside and took out the recorder. The case was pockmarked with blaster fire, and part of it looked melted.
"Oh, no!" she breathed. She accessed the playback mode, but the recorder merely buzzed and then went still.
"Don't worry," Obi-Wan said, patting his tunic. "That's why we brought a backup." His mind was already moving to the next step, as Qui-Gon had taught him. Do not reflect on mishaps unless they have lessons to give.
"Now we have another problem," he said. "Do you know any place nearby where we could get a fast transport?"
Andra paled. "No. We'd have to hike for hours. We don't have time. Katharsis is to start in an hour. We'll never make it!"
"Let's contact Qui-Gon and see if Den was able to rig the lottery," Obi-Wan suggested. He activated the comlink. Qui-Gon answered it immediately.
"I'm glad to hear from you, Obi-Wan," he said, relief in his voice. "Did you get the evidence?"
"Not as much as we'd hoped," Obi-Wan said. "The park is definitely being developed for mining, but we have no proof that Offworld is responsible."
Qui-Gon's sigh came through the comlink. "It will have to do. I don't want to put you and Andra in any more danger." "Was Den able to rig the lottery?"
"Yes," Qui-Gon answered. "He'll be one of the three citizens allowed to bet on the final game. He's tapped into the system and knows who the winner will be. Xanatos is delivering the grand prize."
There was a short pause. Obi-Wan felt disappointment thud through him. If only they could connect what they'd found to Offworld! They could expose Xanatos in front of the citizens he had hoodwinked.
Qui-Gon picked up on his thoughts. "Obi-Wan, you did your best. It's time to come back.
At least the global parks of Telos will be saved. Head back now."
Obi-Wan hesitated. If he told Qui-Gon that they had no transport, there was nothing Qui-Gon could do. He wouldn't have time to head out to get them and return in time for Katharsis. Telling him what had happened would only add needless worry.
"Soon," he answered instead. "We have one last thing to take care of."
"All right," Qui-Gon answered. "I'll see you at the dome. And be careful, both of you."
Andra winced. Obi-Wan signed off.
"What are you thinking?" she asked. "How can we get back to Thani?"
"We have one option," Obi-Wan said grimly. "We probably have a few minutes until they miss the droids. We have to sneak back inside and steal a transport."
Andra looked nervous, but she nodded. "It's our only chance. Let's go."
They followed the route back through the cavern. They hovered inside in the shadows of the opening, carefully waiting until a surveillance team walked through. As soon as they were gone, they slipped outside and dodged the steaming pools. They crouched behind a mole miner near the malab pile.
"What now?" Andra asked.
"I have an idea," Obi-Wan told her. "When | was plowing through those memos back at UniFy, many of them dealt with Tech Dome D. They were building a landing pad there. But I don't see one, do you? It has to be concealed inside, so it wouldn't be visible to anyone in the air. Considering the size of this operation, I'd say they were planning to bring in maintenance haulers."
Andra nodded. "Good guess." "That means Offworld," Obi-Wan said. "They have a fleet of haulers. And they need other air transport for smaller jobs. If we can get into Tech Dome D, we can find evidence of Offworld and escape at the same time."
"So all we have to do is find Tech Dome D, then figure out how to get inside, record evidence, steal transport, and make it back to Than! before Katharsis is over," Andra said. "As Den would say, kill me now."
Obi-Wan grinned. "We can do it."
Keeping to the shadow of the malab hill and ducking out of sight when surveillance teams marched into view, Obi-Wan and Andra made their way to where they had glimpsed tech domes in the distance. Obi-Wan focused his macrobinoculars on each dome until he found Tech Dome D. He focused on its bay doors. Workers busily walked in and out, some piloting gravsleds, some carrying durasteel bins.
When you want to leave someplace unobserved, pick the busiest spot.