Making
49. Nert's Cafe
1st day, 2nd month, standard year 24937
I was sound asleep not long ago, and then awoke to someone shaking me.
"Padawan!"
"What? What is it?"
"A Padawan is dead."
I sat bolt upright, panic shooting through me. Tahl! Or Clee...or Binn...or...who?
"Masters Fors's Padawan," he said, as if reading my mind....really reading my mind. "Stayan. Undercover in Coruscant. He had suceeded in his mission, and was meant to be back here yesterday. He never came back."
(I hate it when people don't come back...)
"We found his body just a few hours. Well, Mace and his Master did...they'd gone out to look for him. They comlinked the Temple with the details...he'd died from a lightsaber wound." He was speaking calmly, but I could see sadness in his eyes.
"They're dispatching five Jedi teams. Three of them I don't know, but one of them is Clee Rhara and Master Rewen. And another one is us. We're to search Coruscant for..."
"Dilan."
The word was out of my mouth before it'd even been in my mouth a second. I hadn't meant to say it. I hadn't meant to think it. Master glanced at me. The sadness in his eyes was gone, replaced with something not unlike fear.
"Anything at all suspicious," he corrected me. "Anything at all."
"When are we leaving?"
He managed a smile. "Ten minutes. You have that long to get out of your bedclothes."
*****
2rd day, 2nd month, standard year 24937
I didn't even get to see Clee. As soon as I was dressed...we didn't even get anything to eat...we hurried down a corridor to the waiting speeder. Then we literally skidded to a stop, because Emlam Fors was standing there.
I had seen her only once before. I hadn't remembered much about her...brownish hair with red streaks in it, hazel eyes, quite pretty...and seeming very dignified, even when badly injured. I looked at her now. She looked like she hadn't slept since the time when Stayan hadn't returned, and there were flecks of vomit around her mouth.
"Let me come with you..." she said, in a voice barely above a whisper.
"No," Master Dooku said, although he said it kindly. He ushered me into the speeder, and sat himself in the driver's seat. He started it up.
"Please," I heard her voice over the sound of the engines. "Please..."
Master didn't answer. I turned and looked at her. She was starting to cry.
-----
"Are you sure...we couldn't have taken her?"
I ventured after a while. "We could have...kept her safe..."
"She'll be alright," Master said, and stared straight ahead. I thought he wouldn't speak again, but he did. "She will."
We drove on. The sun rose in a blaze of light. We must have got miles away from the Temple...and then we slid to a stop, outside a broken old house. Although the sun had risen, the building was dark...it was wedged inbetween three towering skyscrapers, and no light could reach it. It was cold, too.
"Is this where they found Stayan's body?"
"Around here, yes."
"Where have the others gone?"
"To the places on Coruscant where he'd been staying on his mission. Hoping to pick up clues..."
He marched up to the house and peered through the window. Then he looked at me. "It's been searched once already," he informed me. "But no harm in checking again. I want you to stay out here. I want you to stay out here and look around...down the alleyways and such. If you see anyone, ask questions of them...ask them if they've seen anything suspicious..."
I opened my mouth to speak, but he had vanished into the house, his lightsabre ignited. I pulled mine from my belt but didn't light it, and headed down the nearest alleyway.
-----
I walked for a while. The sun glinted off the buildings high above me. Eventually I came out the other side, and found myself on a main street. There weren't as many people and speeders as there could have been, seeing as it was still morning, but it was still fairly busy.
Then I felt a disturbance in the Force.
Something small, but growing. A shadow spreading over me. Someone was here, walking about amongst the people, hiding in the small crowds, heading straight for me...
Still holding my lightsabre, I looked around anxiously. It was a relatively big place. Several stalls and shops, ships flying overhead and speeders flying past...and not too far from me, a small restaurant. I didn't give it much thought. I headed for that. But whatever it was was following...or it seemed like it anyway. Cursing myself, I hurried inside.
It wasn't a very clean place. In fact, it was downright dirty. Packed with people, too. I caught a couple of Rodians glaring at me, and I hid my 'sabre under my robes.
I looked around. Perhaps I should sit down and have some food, but there didn't seem to be many tables left. And whatever it was...it could have been Dilan, but I didn't and don't know and don't want to...had gone.
Suddenly there was a hand on my shoulder. I jumped about a mile. But it wasn't a thief or a murderer...it was a boy. A boy the same age as me, although shorter. (let's face it...everyone's shorter than me). He had a wide smile.
"Looking for a table? Bit busy now..."
"No. Umm...yes."
He led me to a tiny table hidden away in a corner.
"D'ya want anything?"
"Yes please," I said, remembering my missed breakfast.
I looked at a menu stuck above the counter. "I'll have, er, some soup,"
(I pretended not to notice the man sitting behind
me spit his mouthful of soup onto the floor) "And...some of the rolls."
I'd save some for my Master, he hadn't eaten anything either. "Please."
The boy nodded and went to the counter. I picked up my comlink.
"Master?"
"Oh, it's you, Padawan. Where are you?"
"A restaurant. I just ordered you some food."
"Good. Which restaurant?"
"Um...the one near here...I don't know it's name..." I glanced above the counter. "Nert's Cafe."
"Oh suns, not there!"
That puzzled me somewhat. He was about to hang up, but I interupted. "Find anything in the house?"
"Nothing. I'll meet you there. They had better have good food."
Then he hung up.
-----
The food wasn't as bad is I thought it would
be. I set aside a few bread rolls for my Master. He wandered in about five
minutes later.
"All the restaraunts around here and this is the one you ran into," he said reproachfully. "Unpleasant place. Very unpleasant indeed..." He took a bite of one of the rolls, and his face took on an expression of suprise. "Hmmm. Food's improved, though."
"That's my doing," said a voice. It was the boy
who'd found the table for me. Master looked at him. "Just came to see if
you wanted anything else to eat."
"No thank you," Master said. The boy walked off
again.
"So," I asked, while Master ate his roll. "Why is this such an unpleasant place?"
"Oh, Nert is a friend of Yoda's."
"Really?"
"Why, I don't know." he added. "He brings nothing but trouble. Bounty hunters..." I saw the boy's head shoot up from behind the counter. "...smugglers, you name it."
"Oh."
We finished eating in silence.
"Now," Master said. "Our next plan of action. Rewen called...he and everyone else are heading back for the Temple. They've found nothing either. He sounded quite frustrated..."
"I don't blame him."
"No, I don't blame him either. We should head
back too. Now, I think the best thing would be to get permission to view
all the Coruscant security tapes, but unfortunately that requires a lot
of form-filling..."
Suddenly, I felt a different sort of disturbence.
One even nearer. I glanced over at my Master and concern was in his eyes.
Then it faded.
"Not who we're looking for, no..." he muttered, and turned around. On the other side of the room, on a table near the window, there sat a man and a Falleen. The Falleen was clutching a blaster, and the man was twitching nervously. I couldn't hear what they were saying. I started to move towards them. Master put his hand on my shoulder.
"That's Nert," he muttered. "I'm not so sure we should bother! He's gotten himself out of these things on his own before, and I'm not sure it would be useful for everyone in the restraunt to know we're Jedi..."
I gave him a look, then reddened, as it was probably disrespectful. But then he shrugged.
"Not a good idea," he said. "But better make sure it's ok anyway..."
So I went. I inched around tables until I was close enough to hear what they were saying.
"One more week. One more day, even! I have a son to raise."
"You've had your chance. One too many chances, if you ask me."
Out of the corner of my eye I saw the boy, making his way towards the table nervously.
"But...."
"No buts. You might have been able to talk yourself out of it with the others, but not me."
He raised the blaster. The boy was running, about to get in the way. Without giving myself time to think I force-pushed him to the other side of the room, where he crashed into and overturned a table, and then stepped forward with my lightsabre and sliced the blaster clean in two.
There was dead silence. The boy picked himself up and brushed the bits of food from his clothes. The Falleen glanced at his hand as if to check it was still there. (It was.) With a snarl he picked up his two broken bits of blaster, stood up and hissed at Nert.
"The Jedi won't be on your side for long, filth!"
And then he ran away, banging the glass door behind him. I watched him through the window...and then felt a hand slap my back.
"By the suns and ships and stars! You saved my life, lad!"
Everyone else took this as a sign they could start talking again. As the chatter resumed, Nert led me to his table. I saw my Master hurrying over oto us...and the boy, as well.
"That was amazing!" Nert said, his eyes bulging from his head. "How can I ever..."
The boy reached us and jumped up on the table instead of taking a seat. He faced me, an astonded grin on his face. "You saved him!"
I nodded. Master stood by my seat awkardly.
"How'd you like some food?" Nert said. "Completely free of charge, of course. Anything you like. Eat everything we've got, I don't mind, you saved my life back there..."
"No," came Master's voice. "I'm afraid not. We have business, you see."
"Oh," Nert's face fell a little, then he suddenly glanced up at my Master. "Hey...I recognize you."
"Indeed?"
"You used to come here all the time. Said you wanted to get away from the Temple. You used to write here. All the time..."
Master held up a hand. "Yes, Nert. Thank you. We really must leave now..."
"Well, come back anytime. And bring ffriends. You can have anything you like, on the house. Anything you like, young..." and then he trailed off, and said with a chuckle. "So...what's your name?"
"Qui-Gon Jinn. Oh, and this is my Master, Dooku."
"Knew it was a silly name like that," Nert said, nodding at us with a smile. "Nert," he added, holding a hand for my to shake. "Owner of this fine establishment. And now forever in your debt."
I shook his hand and tried to find the right words, ones which wouldn't make me sound arrogant or stupid. "It was nothing, really."
The boy suddenly stuck his hand out as well. "Didi." he annouced. "And thank you for saving my father,"
I shook his hand as well. "It was no problem, honestly. You don't owe me or anything."
"Nonsense!" Nert said cheerfully. "Come here anytime..."
"Thank you, Nert. I'm sure he will," Master said with a sigh, and then made to leave. I got up to follow him.
"Bye, then" I said to Nert and Didi. "I'll see you soon, I promise."
They both nodded gleefully. "Good!"
"We'll prepare the best food for you," Didi said.
I nodded and smiled, and then went to rejoin my Master.
*****