Chapter 13

Tino looked up, startled by Obi-Wan's cry. Obi-Wan was already gathering the Force to make his leap. He landed on the catwalk overhead and teetered back for an instant, trying to get his balance.

Fortunately, Ona Nobis was surprised and her timing was off. The whip flailed uselessly in the air. Obi-Wan had time to note the shock turning to anger on Ona Nobis's face as he raced down the catwalk and onto the chute leading straight toward her.

Astri was already running up the stairs, trying to get to Tino. His lightsaber in his hand, Obi-Wan dodged the boxes that Ona Nobis began throwing down at him. He did not look forward to tangling with the bounty hunter without Qui-Gon by his side.

He reached the next catwalk. The whip flashed above his head. Obi-Wan saw it coming and slashed at it with the lightsaber. The two lasers tangled as the whip wrapped around the blade of his lightsaber.

Below him, Astri pushed Tino behind a stack of durasteel bins. Ona Nobis unfurled her whip once more, releasing Obi-Wan's lightsaber.

Immediately, he charged toward her. In a flash, she set the whip to normal mode and snaked it around the railing of the opposite catwalk. Then she used the whip to swing to the other side. Obi-Wan heard the clang of her landing on the metal catwalk.

She now had a clear shot at Tino.

"Astri!" Obi-Wan yelled.

Astri looked up and saw Ona Nobis. Her face was white and drawn with fear but she grabbed Tino and pushed him farther behind the bins, making sure he was safe before joining him. Obi-Wan admired her courage as he jumped on top of the catwalk railing and paused before his leap across open space.

For him, the Force was sometimes elusive. He was still learning. But now he could feel it around him, steady and strong. It was almost as though Qui-Gon was with him, joining his strength with Obi-Wan's. He leaped across the gap.

He grabbed the railing of the opposite catwalk, his body slamming against the metal. He had no time to feel the pain. He swung himself up and over and charged.

Ona Nobis's lip curled as she set her whip to laser mode. With the other hand, she drew her blaster. The fire pinged around him as he swung his lightsaber in a wide swath, deflecting the fire. He moved steadily toward her.

Meanwhile, Astri urged Tino onto the gravsled. Kicking aside several bins, she got behind the controls and pushed the gravsled to full power. It zoomed down the catwalk away from Ona Nobis.

Good work, Astri.

Ona Nobis cracked her whip. It tangled with the lightsaber. Obi-Wan twisted his wrist, hoping to flick the whip away. Instead, it curled back and struck again.

Obi-Wan twirled his lightsaber around in a lightning-fast move, corkscrewing around the flexible whip. It wound around his lightsaber in a complex tangle.

With a snarl, Ona Nobis pulled back on the whip, but could not dislodge it. She fired her blaster, but she was off-balance and Obi-Wan was able to turn away to avoid it.

He knew he would not be able to avoid it for long, however. He needed his lightsaber to deflect the fire. Still, he was anxious to deprive his opponent of her most potent weapon. He did not want to let go of the whip.

Use your opponents' strategies against them and you take away their power.

He took a chance and moved closer. She had expected him to pull back, and he drove her farther off balance.

Get your opponents to lose their grace, and they will lose their purpose, Padawan.

Grimly, he advanced farther, pushing against the lightsaber as she stumbled backward, still unwilling to let go of the whip. Her blaster fire pinged harmlessly on the metal catwalk. Her eyes burned with hatred.

He saw now that two of the fingers of her left hand had fused together. No doubt it was as a result of the injury he had inflicted in the battle in the Cascardi Mountains. The hatred and rage she felt was like a thick toxic cloud surrounding them.

He guessed that if he moved quickly, he might be able to release the whip and strike her down before she had a chance to land a blow. He remembered how casually she had shot Didi. And Qui-Gon. He remembered his Master falling back into her ship. He matched her rage and hate with his own.

Do not meet hate with hate. Meet it with purpose.

But what was his purpose? He did not want to take her life, only her freedom. He needed to capture her. Only then would they be able to force her to lead them to Jenna Zan Arbor and Qui-Gon. She would have to make a deal.

Suddenly, he saw Astri behind Ona Nobis. Alone on the gravsled, Astri drove at top speed toward the bounty hunter. They had her between them now.

Ona Nobis heard the noise behind her. She gave one last, enraged look at Obi-Wan. Then she abandoned the struggle for the whip and leaped over the catwalk onto a ramp below. She slid down, her body straight and sleek.

The ramp disappeared through the floor below into a lower level.

Obi-Wan leaped after her. He, too, slid down the ramp, bumping down as fast as he could, keeping his lightsaber in the air.

But when he got to the bottom, Ona Nobis was gone. He saw a small door leading outside that the droids used. He could not fit through it, but Sorrusian bones compressed so that they could fit in small spaces. He had lost her.

Furious, Obi-Wan trudged back up the ramp to Sector One. Astri waited on the ground floor with a shaky Tino.

"She's gone," Obi-Wan said.

"At least she left this." Astri held up the whip. "Who was she?" Tino asked. He shook his head dazedly. "And who are you?"

Quickly, Obi-Wan explained why they were there. "If there's anything you can add about Ren, we would appreciate it," he finished.

"I owe you both my life," Tino said. "Of course I'll tell you what I know."

He wiped his hands on his unisuit. His blue eyes grew cloudy. "Ren was my buddy. He watched my back, and I watched his. When he told me about volunteering for this experiment, I tried to talk him out of it. He wouldn't listen. Nobody listens to anybody. Especially on Simpla-12. Those clowns Cholly, Weez, and Tup thought it was a great idea."

Tino sat down shakily on a durasteel bin. "He came back really spooked. Said he didn't realize what he'd been in for. He talked this scientist into letting him go and promised to come back. But he wasn't going back, he said."

"Did you notice a change in him?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Sure. He lost all his strength," Tino said. "He could hardly squash a bug. That's why he hid at my place. He kept saying…" Tino looked at Obi-Wan. "That he'd go to the Jedi for help, as soon as he was strong enough. But first he had to go back to the lab."