Jedi Apprentice 11: The Deadly Hunter

"Enough," he said.

She lay rigid, but he felt a flicker of movement in her right hand. He saw the glint of a vibroblade. Moving only her fingers, she flicked it with expert aim toward Astri.

Obi-Wan's blow with the lightsaber was only a split second too late. It grazed the bounty hunter's fingers in a searing wound. At the same time he leaped backward, twisting in midair to try to catch the blade with his other hand. He used his Jedi reflexes to slow time down, allowing him to eye exactly where to grab it. The hilt thudded into his hand.

The bounty hunter stuck her wounded fingers in the snow for an instant. Her teeth sank into her lower lip.

The pain must have been terrible. She spoke for the first time. Her eyes blazed hatred at Obi-Wan. "You… will… pay."

Suddenly a lunge line shot out from her utility belt. It had a homing beacon to her cruiser, attaching itself to it and yanking her backward. Her body bounced across the ice. It must have been excruciatingly painful.

"Stay with them," Qui-Gon directed, and took off after her.

Obi-Wan watched as Qui-Gon gained on the bounty hunter. She scrambled into her cruiser. The engines fired and the loading ramp began to close as Qui-Gon gave a great leap and landed.

Horrified, Obi-Wan saw the flash of blaster fire. Qui-Gon staggered.

"Master!" Obi-Wan screamed.

Qui-Gon fell backward into the bowels of the ship. The ramp retracted. The ship rose in the air and shot away into the upper atmosphere.

Obi-Wan could hear as if for the first time the wind whispering along the surface of the snow. Astri raggedly breathed behind him. The echo of his own anguished cry reverberated off the mountain as he watched the ship disappear.

Had Qui-Gon been captured by the bounty hunter, or had he captured her? Was he mortally wounded? Was he alive — or dead?

The anguish of not knowing made Obi-Wan want to crash to his knees. But there were wounded he had to care for. Qui-Gon had told him to stay.

"Don't lose heart, Qui-Gon," he whispered. "I'll find you. Hold on."

He would find a way to bring back his Master.