"You are very kind." Astri turned and walked toward the window. She stared out blankly. "She has lost hope," Tahl murmured.

"Bad news, it was," Yoda said. "Hard to absorb."

"I'd better get back," Winna said tersely, and hurried off.

"Go to Astri, you should," Yoda told Obi-Wan. "Her friend you are.

Console her, you must. Hope must not die while Didi lives."

But Astri wasn't really his friend. He'd just met her. And he wasn't very good at consolation. If only Qui-Gon were here!

Yoda and Tahl left, and Obi-Wan went to stand awkwardly by Astri's side.

"He's going to die," she said. "And I will be alone."

"We cannot lose hope," Obi-Wan said. "The Jedi are capable of extraordinary things. We will find the antitoxin or Jenna Zan Arbor."

"I am certain that you will," Astri said. "But will Didi still be alive? He looks so small, Obi-Wan. His spirit filled him. Now he's so weak.

.."

"He is not weak," Obi-Wan said. "He had one of the strongest spirits I've ever seen. It is still there, his strength."

"I thought I had troubles once," Astri said slowly. "Running a business wasn't easy. But now I know despair for the first time. Even if Didi survives, we have lost everything. The cafc has been closed by our landlord. We owe him credits we cannot pay. Even as I sit by Didi's bedside, begging him to live, I wonder what he will return to. And it's my fault. I spent all our savings on improvements for the cafc. We have nothing."

Obi-Wan did not have to wonder what Qui-Gon would say. "You have each other."

"You're right, Obi-Wan. I'm feeling sorry for myself." Astri rubbed her forehead. "It's just that I'm so tired."

"Why don't you rest here?" Obi-Wan suggested, indicating the seating area. "You wouldn't have to go to the sleeping quarters. I will make sure you won't be disturbed, unless… unless Didi awakens."

Astri sank onto the cushions and laid her head down. "Maybe just an hour," she said as her eyes closed.

Obi-Wan decided he would stay until he was sure she was asleep. His nerves were jumping. He was anxious to check with Tahl and the Jedi code breakers. He wanted to be present when they cracked the datapad.

He reached into his tunic to remove the Force-sensitive river stone that Qui-Gon had given him. He often found comfort in turning the smooth stone around in his hand. It made him feel closer to Qui-Gon.

A crackle alerted him that there was something else in his inner pocket. Obi-Wan took it out. It was a durasheet. On it, Jenna Zan Arbor had written the names of the guests she had invited to Didi's Cafc. The names were already beginning to fade.

Obi-Wan thought back to only a few days before. Qui-Gon had asked her to write out the information when they'd visited her at her hotel.

Qui-Gon never did anything without a reason. Obi-Wan frowned, thinking hard. They had gone to see Zan Arbor because they had discovered that she had learned about Didi's Cafc from Didi's friend Fligh. Fligh had stolen the datapad of both Senator S'orn and Zan Arbor. Later he had been found dead, his body drained of blood. At that point, they did not know if Zan Arbor was involved. They were just following a thread.

In other words, Zan Arbor hadn't been a suspect. So why had Qui-Gon asked for this list?

Back then, Obi-Wan thought that the Outlaw Tech gang had hired the bounty hunter. But Qui-Gon must have had his doubts. Had he been trying to link the bounty hunter to Zan Arbor?

They had never solved the mystery of how the bounty hunter had been able to break into Didi's Cafc after Zan Arbor's guests had left. They knew the cafc had been locked up tight, every door and window bolted.

Could Qui-Gon have wondered if one of the guests had stayed behind?

Astri might not have noticed in the confusion of departure.

And the bounty hunter was a master of disguise…

Obi-Wan looked over at Astri. She was sleeping peacefully. He could leave her for a short time.

He crossed to a small desk in the corner. Quickly, he copied the fading names onto a fresh durasheet and tossed the old one in the trash container.

He headed out the door. It wasn't much to go on, but it was a direction.

Chapter 5

Yamele Polidor Nontal Quincu Aleck W'a Ni Odus Dobei Eranusite B'Zun Mai Reesa On Von Taub Obi-Wan took an air taxi to the Official Committee Liaison Office at the Senate. This office handled the transportation and residence needs of the many committees from around the galaxy that came to petition the Senate. Since it was a Jedi request, he was given the home-worlds and contact information of each being on the list.

Quickly, Obi-Wan scanned it. Only three of the guests were still staying on Coruscant. The others had returned to their homeworlds. He would start here. If he found nothing, he would move on. If he had to travel to the Outer Rim for a clue, he would do it.

Yamele Polidor and Von Taub still had business with the Senate and were staying in a guesthouse nearby. Obi-Wan went there first. He found them together in the sitting room, going over the record of the meeting they had attended that day.

Obi-Wan explained that he was on a Jedi mission to discover who had broken into Didi's Cafc after their group had left.

Yamele Polidor was a petite Rindian with pointed ears and two eight- fingered hands. She nodded politely at Obi-Wan. "Of course I will be glad to help."

The Corweillian Von Taub nodded. "As will I." "Did anyone come into the cafc while you were there?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Just the members of our own party," Yamele Polidor answered in the low, singsong manner of a Rindian.

"Did you notice anyone on the street outside?"

Von Taub shook his head. "We left, and the owner of the cafc, a young woman, locked the door after us. Jenna Zan Arbor was very upset with the service and food. I didn't think it was that bad, myself." He smiled.

"Maybe I'm more used to disorganization. But Jenna is a scientist who can't tolerate disorder."

"Do you know the other names on this list well?" Obi-Wan asked. He handed the list to them.

Yamele Polidor ran one of her long fingers down the list. "I know all of these scientists personally, except for Dobei Eranusite and Reesa On."

"I know Dobei quite well," Von Taub said. "Reesa On was a stranger to me as well."