Jedi Quest 8: The Changing of the Guard

Chapter Five

The Jedi arrived at their villa. It was modest, considering the neighborhood, but it was still several cuts above the places Obi-Wan and Anakin usually stayed on a mission. The sleep couches were deep and piled with luxurious coverlets. The reception rooms were large and sunny. A garden off the kitchen held flowering plants and flourishing vegetables and herbs.

"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?"

"I have found," Obi-Wan said softly, "that there are needs, and there are wants. So the question is not what more do you need, but what more do you want?"

She raised an eyebrow, impressed with this despite herself. "Very clever. But I can supply my own wants." She pushed her tea tray away in dismissal. "Your little plan sounds intriguing. I wish you luck with it."

"I assure you, the rewards are greater than you can imagine," Obi-Wan said, trying again.

This seemed to amuse Zan Arbor greatly. "I doubt that." She gave a small laugh, as though to herself. "There is what I can imagine, and what actually lies ahead. I'm sorry to say that you must have more than this to tempt me. But don't take it personally. We cannot be collaborators, but we're going to be neighbors. Let us be friends as well."

Pasting a smile on his face, Obi-Wan thought for a moment. He refused to believe that Zan Arbor had truly retired. Why would she turn down a chance to raid a planetary treasury with very little risk to herself? Of course, she might be wary to commit to a plan with a gang she didn't know.

Yet she had dismissed them quickly and then closed the door against any further exploration of working together.

Zan Arbor stood. "This has been lovely. I'm sure we'll meet again. Hue will see you out."

The same tall Phlog appeared. Zan Arbor disappeared through the doorway, leaving a waft of perfume behind.

"Charm him," Obi-Wan quickly whispered to Siri as he pretended to swipe a sweet from the tray.

She looked at Obi-Wan in disbelief. "Are you serious? He's a walking slab of muscle. It would be like charming a side of bantha meat."

"Valadon could do it," Obi-Wan pointed out.

He heard her breath hiss out between her teeth.

Obi-Wan hesitated by the tea table, pretending to finish his cup of tea. Siri sauntered across the room to Hue. Obi-Wan watched her over the rim of his cup.

He almost choked. The Siri he knew was gone. This Siri didn't stride across the room. She… wafted. Something happened with her hips and her legs and her hair. He wasn't sure what. He just knew that they moved differently. He just knew that whatever it was, it was female.

Siri locked her blue eyes on the Phlog's face. "You are one tall specimen, even for a Phlog," she said in a silky voice that was just as new to Obi-Wan. "You know, I always had a special thing for Phlogs. I feel so..

protected when I'm around them."

Hue didn't blink, just kept dull dark eyes on Siri's face. "As long as we're on your side," he said sharply.

She smiled. "Is that a threat? Oooh. I'd better be on my best behavior."

Oooh? Did I just hear correctly? Obi-Wan couldn't believe it.

"You seem to be doing all right," the Phlog said. "I've always wanted my very own bodyguard," Siri purred. "If you ever get tired of working here…"

"I'm tired of working here every day," Hue said. "But I work where the pay is. Know what I mean?"

"Very wise. I so admire a practical male," Siri cooed.

The slab of meat and muscle that was the Phlog looked suddenly as though his bones were made of crankcase oil. His hungry eyes followed Siri's every move as she enticed him farther out of the room and down the hallway.

"Could you take just the teeniest moment and let me peek into the gallery?" she asked him. "I'd love to see more of the house."

The Phlog followed Siri in her drifting shimmersilk as though he were attached by a string. Obi-Wan put down his teacup. The Phlog seemed smitten, but Obi-Wan doubted he had more than a minute.

He had been busy while chatting with Zan Arbor. He had practiced seeing without looking. He knew that the intricate and beautiful cabinetry concealed something. The joinery at the hinges and openings told him that.

He ran his fingers over the cabinet, calling on the Force to help his instinct, his vision, the very cells on his fingertips. He wished Anakin were here. Anakin's Force connection never failed to astonish him, even in his ease with inanimate objects. Once Anakin had told him that Soara Antana, the great Jedi fighter, had taught him how to let walls speak to him. Since then, Anakin had seemed to be able to judge the space between molecules as well as the objects the molecules made up.

Obi-Wan knew that somewhere in this house was evidence that Zan Arbor was planning something. It was an instinct, based on knowledge of her.

Greed drove her, of course, but also her ego. She was not the type to retire.

And when she had said, There is what I can imagine, and what actually lies ahead, what had she meant? At first he'd thought that she was referring to the fact that he could have been overstating the rewards of his plan. But now he didn't think so. She was making a private reference to her own plans. Plans that would make his seem puny. That was the reason she had dismissed them.

Ah… there. Obi-Wan found the invisible seam. Another half second later, he found the catch. The cabinet opened silently, revealing a datapad, holofiles, corn-links — a concealed office.

He quickly pressed keys on the datapad. To his relief, not all the files were coded. He had so little time. He would have to start with the last file Zan Arbor had consulted. He keyed in the necessary steps. He, as well as Anakin, regularly kept up with the latest techniques from the tech expert at the Temple, Jedi Master Toma Hi'llani.

The holofile appeared in front of him. Communications from someone or some organization, merely identified with a random series of numbers that changed with every communication. A standard device for concealment.

He scanned it quickly. He could hear Siri's voice now, heading back toward the reception room, pitched just a bit louder to warn him. He read quickly.

Safe houses arranged…

Officials to bribe have been contacted…

A start date must be decided on with care… Everything depends upon..

Obi-Wan whipped out his datapad and slipped in a miniature disk. It would take only a few seconds to copy the file.

"Oh, can't I just peek into the kitchen? You can't imagine how much I love to cook… no?" He could hear the playful petulance in Siri's voice, almost see her mouth pursing in a pout.

Ten seconds to go…

"Now, where did Slam go? I thought he was right behind us. He's probably still eating those sweets…." Five seconds…

"Oops, I dropped my scarf…"

Done.

Obi-Wan closed the holofile, slid the office shelf back into the cabinet, closed the false front, adjusted an urn, closed the cabinet, threw himself into a chair, and swept the sweets off the tray. He stuffed some down his tunic and two in his mouth just as they walked in the doors.

"Mmmfffphhh," he said to Siri.

She sighed. "I knew it! You ate them all! So rude, I have to apologize for him. We'll be going now."

Giving Hue a last flirtatious smile, Siri beckoned to Obi-Wan.

Followed by the heavy tread of the Phlog, they accessed the front door and escaped into the sunlight.

"That had better be worth it," Siri said.

"It was," Obi-Wan said. "Zan Arbor is planning something. I made a copy of a work disk. Some of the files are coded. I can try to crack them back at the villa.

Siri shuddered. "I think that Phlog left fingerprints on my arm."

"Oooh," Obi-Wan teased.

Siri raised an eyebrow at him as they walked. "If you want to stay alive," she warned, "don't ever make that sound again."