Ch. 23: "You May Hate me" - *N Sync, Bye Bye Bye
Even as his ship pulled out of the planet's gravity, Qui-Gon felt uneasy about the whole situation. Di'ona and Sorin had lost their tracers. Kalifa Sendar had found Sorin and had asked for his help in bringing the former Jedi to the Council. He didn't know where Di'ona had gone. Mace told him that morning that Jedi in the field were watching for her, but Qui-Gon wished someone would actively look for her. Unfortunately, until they settled Obi-Wan's problems, he couldn't - wouldn't - search for her himself.
He landed on Kalantar at the coordinates the Council had given him, in a too-bright afternoon, on top of a warehouse. Kalifa stood next to her ship, cloaked and hooded, but met him as he disembarked. "Follow me," she said, and turned away. Qui-Gon pulled his hood up and followed, frowning at a sharp sense of dislike he got from her, more intense than what he'd felt on Fedlimid. He tucked away next to the other impressions of malice he'd gotten from her, determined to ask her some time about it. He wouldn't bring it up now.
She led him down the outside stairs to the street, down to the next crossroads, and turned left onto a wide avenue with little traffic. Probably a main road, once, but most of the warehouses along here had definitely seen better days. They had no problem avoiding others; most of the beings seeming as eager as they to keep to themselves. They passed a couple, cloaked and hooded as well, standing in the shadow of an alley. The beings looked at them, fear echoing in the Force, but as Qui-Gon and Kalifa continued walking. They went back to their low-pitched squabbling. Before they Jedi had gone much further down the avenue, Kalifa pulled Qui-Gon into a small alcove. "He's in there." She indicated a dilapidated building, smaller than the two that flanked it, directly across from them.
Qui-Gon nodded, looking at her, but he used the Force to look over that building. It didn't look promising. Maybe it had other doors on the side or the back? "Have you checked it out?"
"Not very well," Kalifa admitted. "I didn't want to alert him that I was here before I got some help. The alley in the back is as blocked as the two on either side."
Qui-Gon didn't like it. They couldn't approach without getting seen, and trash and who knew what else choked the alleys on either side of the building. The two warehouses that flanked it seemed empty, although that meant little, and he couldn't see any way to use those to get into the one they wanted. No matter which approach they took, Sorin would likely see them. In that case, a front approach would work best. Sorin wouldn't expect it, at least. He glanced at Kalifa, then started across the road. She hesitated a moment, then caught up to him. "What are you doing?" she hissed.
"He won't expect us to approach like this," he said quietly. "It might give us an advantage." She didn't respond.
The door, unlocked, screeched as he opened it. Qui-Gon took his lightsaber off his belt. Kalifa did the same, and they both stepped inside.
Dust and residue of whatever someone had stored there littered the floor of the warehouse. Dirty skylights reluctantly let in sunlight. Qui-Gon's boots stirred up the dust as he walked further in. The door closed, and they paused to let their eyes adjust. Shadows huddled in the corners and along the walls. They'd have to investigate each one.
"There's an office or something up there." Kalifa gestured up to where something hung on the wall to his left. "He could be there."
Qui-Gon looked around again. "No stairs in here," he said. "Access must be outside.
Kalifa nodded. "I'll check."
"Be careful," Qui-Gon said as she turned to go. "May the Force be with you."
"And with you, Master Jinn." Her voice echoed oddly. She left the door open, but even that didn't help too much. Something high on the wall to his right caught his eye, closer to the end opposite the door. He'd taken three steps when the Force screamed a warning to his senses. Even as he spun, igniting his lightsaber, he leaped back.
A blue lightsaber missed his head by centimeters. He could smell the burnt hair that had caught on the blade. Behind the blade stood Sorin, eyes blazing. Without a word, he struck, and Qui-Gon parried, moving away from the wall into the center of the room. Sorin smiled, and Qui-Gon shuddered at the evil in that smile. Sorin lunged at him, and Qui-Gon parried and stepped out of the way.
He had to shift directions as the Force screamed at him again. A second blade took part of the sleeve of his cloak, and he spun to face his second attacker. It surprised him to see Kalifa Sendar, not Di'ona, as he expected. Kalifa struck when he hesitated, and he scrambled to block the blow. "Surprise," she snarled. The hatred and malice he'd only felt hints of poured off her in waves.
Pulling himself together, Qui-Gon defended himself as they took advantage of his hesitation. His lightsaber blurred as he parried their blows, letting them drive him around the warehouse. For one, it would wear them out, and two, it kept them fairly close together. Their blades clashed with his, and it slowly dawned on him that they used much the same style. Sorin didn't have any finesse or skill left; Qui-Gon nearly got through his guard and Kalifa attacked him with such ferociousness that Qui-Gon had to turn his attention to her. It allowed Sorin to recover and he tried to get around behind Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon flipped over Sorin's head, striking down at him, but Kalifa and Sorin both parried, and then pressed their attack when he landed. He blocked them, slipping sideways out of their reach to strike again.
"Why are you here?" he asked Kalifa.
"Because you ruined all my Master had planned. You stole all she worked for, and you doomed the Jedi by doing it." She attacked as she spoke, a frenzy of moves that he parried only with help from the Force,
"You were also Di'ona's Padawan," he said, stalling for time as he thought furiously. He parried Sorin's blow when Sorin came at him from the side, and reposted so strongly Sorin nearly lost control of his lightsaber. He backed off. "You know where she is."
"Naturally," Kalifa said, slipping around for a better blow at his back. Qui-Gon spun, parried, and lunged. She parried and jumped back as the point of his saber singed the front of her tunic. "She's finishing what she started."
She'd gone after Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon tried to warn Obi-wan through the bond, only to encounter the block at Obi-Wan's end that they hadn't managed to remove yet.
"You can't reach him," Kalifa taunted. "She made sure of that."
Di'ona had caused Obi-Wan's troubles. Again. He should have seen in. He had to finish this, and get back to Obi-Wan. "When?" he asked, doubling his attack on Sorin. Sorin backpedaled frantically, and Kalifa tried to divert Qui-Gon's attention to her. With a gesture, he Force-shoved her away hard enough to knock her into the wall and stun her. He turned back to Sorin, able to focus solely on him. Qui-Gon disarmed him after a couple of exchanges and knocked him out with his own lightsaber.
As he clipped the lightsaber to his belt, the Force warned him and he turned to face Kalifa's determined attack. At the same time, an echo of fear slipped through the blocked bond, something he might have missed if he hadn't tightened his sense of the bond. He attacked, striking with strength and precision fueled with urgency. Her parries became more desperate as he pounded at her. She could barely keep his lightsaber from burning her. Finally, with a twist of his weapon, he got in close enough to trip her and she fell. Her lightsaber went flying, and she froze mid reach for it at the heat from his lightsaber at her throat. "I concede," she said, her voice shaking.
Without moving his weapon, Qui-Gon called her lightsaber to his hand and clipped next to the one he'd taken from Sorin. "Is there a landing pad on the roof of this building?"
She hesitated. "Yes," she said finally.
"Good. You carry him." He indicated Sorin and stepped back, holding his lightsaber ready as she got to her feet and hefted Sorin to her shoulder. With the time to look, he found a smaller door near the back of the warehouse and gestured Kalifa through it. She led the way up the outside stairs to the roof. Once there, Qui-Gon found the small console with the coordinates of the warehouse and transmitted them to his ship.
When the ship landed, it nearly knocked Kalifa and her burden over. Qui-Gon steadied her. The ramp to his ship lowered with agonizing slowness, but he finally prodded her to get on board. "Set him down there," he said, indicating one of the passenger seats, "and you sit there." She obeyed as he pulled out the Force-suppressing collar the Council had sent with him. He hated the things, hated using them, but he knew he had no choice right now.
Kalifa stared at him, eyes wide with fear. "I give you my word as a Jedi that I will not try to escape," she said humbly.
Qui-Gon snorted. "Your word as a Jedi is not worth much." He considered, knowing he didn't have much time. Finally, he looked at her. "Allow me to put you to sleep."
Kalifa gaped at him, glanced at the collar in his hand, swallowed, and nodded. Qui-Gon gave her the strongest sleep suggestion he could, and she gave in sooner than he expected her to. He extinguished his lightsaber, clipped it to his belt, and buckled Sorin into his seat. He fastened the collar on Sorin, sat down, and got ready to leave.
He'd reached escape velocity when pain flared through the bond. He activated his comm unit to try to reach Obi-wan, but got no answer. The pain ended suddenly. Qui-Gon tried the temple, and got transfered to Mace. "Qui-Gon?"
"I found Sorin, but he wasn't alone. I'm bring his accomplice as well."
"Someone we know?"
"Yes. Kalifa Sendar. She said Di'ona went after Obi-Wan. I tried to comm him, but got no answer. I'm on—"
"I'll go now," Mace interrupted.
"Thank you," Qui-Gon said, and signed off. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It made sense. Mace would reach Arioch sooner than he would, and he didn't have two rogue Jedi to worry about, and only one collar.
None of that made him feel any better.
The trip back to the temple took forever. Qui-Gon tried to meditate once and failed like he hadn't since he'd been Yan Dooku's apprentice. With a shake of his head, he reached down the bond and encountered the block again. It took most of his self-control not to wake Kalifa and interrogate her. He couldn't because he had no way to control her. Finally, he leaned his head against the head rest, closed his eyes, and focused on breathing.
The comm unit chirped. He snatched it up. "Yes?"
"I've got Obi-Wan. He's alive, Qui-Gon, but he's injured. I'll take him to Theela when I get back. She's waiting for him. I'll meet you there."
"Thank you," Qui-Gon said, and let his breath out in a deep sigh as he turned the comm unit off. Mace hadn't sounded hurried or too concerned. He took another deep breath and let it out, his eyes slipping closed. He spiraled down into a meditation of peace and thankfulness that ended when the proximity alarm went off, indicating that he'd reached Coruscant.