"Are you sure we have to leave here in two days?" Anakin asked wonderingly.
Siri was completely uninterested in her surroundings. "They've created a paradise within the city walls, but it's an empty one. There is no economy to speak of. Did you see those stores? Expensive things to buy, but nobody except Teda and his confederates can afford them. And the workers live in misery right outside the walls." She shook her head. "How can anyone enjoy all this, knowing that?"
"It doesn't surprise me," Obi-Wan said. "They are glad they are inside the city walls, not outside. Now, we'd better get started." He turned to Anakin and Ferus. "Siri and I will make the first visit to Zan Arbor to gather information. In the meantime, you two should do some basic reconnaissance. Walk the streets. Have conversations. Note security, traffic patterns, and escape routes."
"Any specific objectives in mind?" Ferus asked. "No," Obi-Wan said.
"You never know what will turn out to be useful later."
"I've studied the maps of the city," Ferus said. "I'm sure I can plot possible escape routes or — "
Obi-Wan interrupted him curtly. "Maps are useful, but I learned something else from Qui-Gon. A map is not the territory. Go."
The two Padawans hurried off. Siri adjusted her utility belt. "I'm assuming you have a plan."
"Almost," Obi-Wan said. "Just follow my lead. Unless…"
"Unless?"
"Unless you'd rather stop off at Teda's for that lunch," Obi-Wan teased. He ducked as an overstuffed pillow, lifted by the Force, flew straight at his head.
It was easy to get an audience with Jenna Zan Arbor. Obi-Wan merely announced at 'the front gate that Slam and Valadon wished to see her.
Apparently, egomaniacal evil scientists and master thieves needed no introduction, for they were ushered inside immediately.
They were led to a room overlooking the gardens by a tall, hulking Phlog who was obviously a bodyguard. His gigantic hands pushed open a pair of double doors. As he walked through, his head barely cleared the doorway.
Zan Arbor sat in a chair perfectly positioned to backlight her bright hair and soften her features. She wore a simple silver gown with an azure belt.
Obi-Wan hadn't seen her in eighteen years. During that time he had changed much. He was taller. Older. Less surprised at the galaxy, and more rueful. Maybe sadder. On his occasional glimpses in a mirror, he saw the years on his face. It did not concern him; the fact that the years marked him was inevitable and right. Yet Zan Arbor looked almost unchanged from when he had known her. No doubt she consulted the best medical data in the galaxy to keep herself looking so well-preserved.
Obi-Wan bowed. "Thank you for seeing us."
Even while she smiled a greeting, Zan Arbor's green eyes ticked over him and Siri. "We new arrivals on Romin should stick together," she said.
"Great Leader Teda has told me of your accomplishments. I was eager to make your acquaintance. Your reputation precedes you."
"As does yours," Obi-Wan complimented.
Zan Arbor waved at two ornate chairs placed in front of her. As Obi- Wan and Siri sat, she began to pour tea from a silver pot. The cups were made of translucent porcelain that Obi-Wan could see was among the finest the galaxy had to offer. Lovely urns and bowls were placed in a cabinet made of gleaming wood with fittings carved from rare stones. He looked around the beautifully appointed room. How had Zan Arbor managed to set herself up in such luxury so soon?
"And how are you finding Romin so far?" she asked, handing Siri a cup while seeming to notice every detail of her dress, down to her bare legs and her soft gold boots. Zan Arbor's lips pressed together in some kind of disapproval.
"We've only just arrived," Siri said. "But we are delighted to find it so pleasant and luxurious. Not to mention safe."
"Yes, you will not have to worry here," Zan Arbor said, handing a cup to Obi-Wan. "Great Leader Teda protects his friends. Romin is a perfect place to retire." She took a sip of tea, lowering her eyelids.
"Or not," Obi-Wan said.
Zan Arbor looked up.
"It is also," Obi-Wan said loudly, "a perfect place from which to do business."
Zan Arbor inclined her head. "That, too. Or so I hear."
"And we are far too young to retire," Siri said, following Obi-Wan's lead.
"As are you, I am sure," Obi-Wan said.
Carefully, Zan Arbor put her teacup down on a polished stone table.
"Perhaps you should tell me why you've come."
"We've come to make the acquaintance of the finest scientific mind in the galaxy, it is true," Obi-Wan said, crossing his legs and smoothing out some of the feathers attached to his cloak. "We have also come to tempt you with an offer."
"I assure you, I am retired." Zan Arbor slid an errant blond hair back into her perfect coiffure. "But I am listening."
"We have a plan that I'm not at liberty to discuss fully," Obi-Wan continued. "It involves a great deal of wealth. A planetary treasury, in fact. You may have heard that we've had some success in that area. We're a modest bunch, but we're most confident we can build on that success." Obi- Wan smiled. Wouldn't Slam smile, at this moment? A con man would toot his own horn, but he would do it with a wink. He would seduce his listener.
Zan Arbor seemed to respond to his smile. She waved a hand, allowing him to proceed.
"We have the tech diagrams and a detailed way to get inside our target," Obi-Wan said. "We just need help with the guards. If we had an air delivery system that would slow down or incapacitate them for twenty minutes, we could raid the entire treasury."
Zan Arbor gave a tiny smile. "And so you came to me."
"Word has reached us of your experiments on Vanqor," Siri broke in.
"An exciting development. You have the key to controlling minds. If you can control minds, you can control fortunes." She shrugged. "It's as simple as that."
"Or as complicated."
"We would arrange it so that your involvement would remain hidden,"
Siri continued. "We would take all the risks."
"You would be an equal partner, however," Obi-Wan said.
"We have the false ID docs ready," Siri said. "We can leave tomorrow.
Tonight, if you wish. You could come aboard our ship, and we'd have you back here in two days. No one would even have to know you were gone."
Obi-Wan admired how Siri had picked up on his plan. Once they were in space, they could take her back to the prison planet. They would put her into custody without anyone getting hurt. Obi-Wan was hoping that her greed would be her undoing.
"A little effort for a great reward," Obi-Wan said. He flashed her a smile again, but this time she did not respond as before. He felt his heart sink.
"Why would I do this?" Zan Arbor waved a hand. "As you can see, I have everything I want. Every luxury is here. I live in a palace. I have the fastest ship in the galaxy at my disposal. What more do I need?"