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A laserboard outside discreetly flashed specials. "Nothing spaceworthy," Qui-Gon said. "But no doubt he can tell us where to purchase a ship."
They walked inside. The dwellers of Quadrant Seven were humanoid, with small, pointed ears and short, whiskery ante
He didn't ask them what they wanted, or if he could help them. He just stood, waiting for them to speak. "We're looking for a space cruiser," Qui-Gon said. "I don't sell that here," the dealer said.
"We thought you could tell us where in Settlement Five we could purchase one."
"Nowhere. There's no call for selling of space cruisers. Quadrants don't like to travel out of their own atmosphere."
"But surely," Qui-Gon said patiently, "there is a way to get off planet."
"Well, of course there is."
Adi kept her tone even. "Maybe you could tell us what that is."
"Wait for the freighter. It comes once a month." Qui-Gon felt his heart fall. "Once a month?"
The dealer seemed to feel that he had no need to elaborate.
"Can you tell us when it will stop again?" Adi asked.
The dealer consulted a calendar on his datapad. "Ah, that would be market day."
"And market day is…"
"In five standard days time."
Qui-Gon took out his comlink. "Can you tell us where on Quadrant Seven we could find a space cruiser? We could contact them and — "
"Ah, that would be Settlement Twenty-three. That's where you'd be able to bargain for a ship. But you can't contact them by comlink. There's a BlocNet on Quadrant Seven. Comlinks are licensed. Ordinary citizens aren't allowed to carry them, just emergency perso
"But why outlaw comlinks?" Adi asked.
"Don't believe in 'em. Comlinks make distances shorter. And when distances get shorter, problems get bigger. We like to slow things down on Quadrant Seven. Which reminds me, you need a permit to send a HoloNet message off planet. It will be monitored and archived, too."
"And who has access to the archives?" Adi asked. "Everyone. Makes beings nicer if they know they can't send out messages that aren't public."
Adi and Qui-Gon stared at each other in frustration. That meant if they sent a message to the Temple, everyone would be able to see it. The bounty hunters could trace them.
"Can we buy a speeder to travel to Settlement Twenty-three?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Sure. But you have to apply for a permit. All outlanders do."
"How long will it take to get a permit?"
"Hard to say. Could be a week."
Adi was becoming used to the dealer's way of talking. "Or…?
"Could be a month. Hard to say."
"This is ridiculous," Adi muttered. "What a way to run a planet."
"We haven't had a war in five hundred and seventy-three years," the dealer said. "Don't have toxic pools or chemical air. Everybody pretty much gets along. That doesn't sound too ridiculous, does it?"
Adi just sighed.
"If I were you, I'd wait for the freighter. Quadrant Seven is a nice place to visit. Of course we don't have much in the way of hotels or cafes. And we don't go in for amusements the way they do in other places. There's not much to do. But still."
"Look, we don't have time to wait," Qui-Gon said. "Can't you find a way to help us?"
"Nope." The dealer's face was still blandly polite. He would be friendly, but not help them. That much was clear. They walked out of the shop.
"Looks like we're waiting for the freighter," Adi said. "We'll just have to lay low. We could send a coded communication to the Temple… "
"But why risk it?" Adi completed the sentence. "If by some chance the bounty hunter searches the planet, that's the first place he'd investigate. Even a coded message would stand out."
"We can canvass the area, look to see if anyone owns a ship and try to buy it," Qui-Gon said.
Adi nodded. "It doesn't appear that Quadrant Sevens travel, but we might get lucky."
"It's only five days," Qui-Gon said. "The assassination will take place in a week. This can all work, if nothing else goes wrong."
He felt the dark side surge as a warning just as Adi pulled him back from walking out into the watery sunlight. The bounty hunter was striding by on the street, his pale eyes flicking into the shadows.
"Something else just went wrong," Adi said.
Chapter 7
"Let's follow him," Adi murmured. "Better to know where he is — and perhaps we'll learn something."
Qui-Gon nodded. They melted into the crowd in the street. It was rare that a being knew when he was being followed by a Jedi. They were able to use the Force to direct objects to move into their path if someone turned to look behind them. They were able to move before their prey could track their steps. After a short time, the Jedi were able to so absorb their quarry's way of moving that they could predict it and easily avoid discovery.
The bounty hunter was good. He was careful. Yet he was no match for them. Adi and Qui-Gon followed him easily as he walked to the opposite edge of Settlement 5 and then struck out across the hills and rocks.
This area was even more rugged than where they'd left Obi-Wan and Siri. They trailed him through a series of small, deep canyons. The boulders offered plenty of hiding places. At last he slipped into a narrow opening and disappeared. Qui-Gon and Adi carefully moved forward. Positioning themselves behind an outcropping, they peered into the opening.
It led to a canyon that was just a cleft in the landscape. They recognized the bounty hunter's light freighter. Next to it was a slightly larger ship. Together they took up nearly the entire width of the canyon.
The bounty hunter disappeared into the larger ship. The ramp was down, and Qui-Gon and Adi slowly made their way there. With a glance at each other, they agreed to try to observe what was going on. It was worth the risk.
They crept up the ramp and slipped inside the ship. They heard raised voices coming from the cockpit.
Good, Qui-Gon thought. If a group was arguing, they would be too distracted to stay alert.
Tall and graceful, Adi moved ahead of him down the hall, her boots soundless on the polished floor. She beckoned to him. She had found a vent at eye level, in a storage room right off the cockpit. Qui-Gon could see quite clearly into the next room.