"Yet he knows Jhompfi, and may have seen something in the past that will point the way."

"I doubt he'd be willing to discuss it," Obi-Wan said. "At least not with strangers."

"Did Iask if he would be willing?"

Obi-Wan felt his throat tighten. "Are you suggesting I force his mind?"

"No, of course not," C'baoth assured him. But the words, Obi-Wan knew, were for Anakin's benefit. That was, in fact, exactly what C'baoth had been suggesting. "We're the protectors of the weak, not their oppressors. At the same time, a crime has been perpetrated against a Jedi. Such a thing cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. Even if Padawan Jinzler chose not to fight in her own defense," he added darkly.

Obi-Wan frowned. "What do you mean?"

"There have been no reports of lightsabers being seen in the city, Master Kenobi," C'baoth said patiently. "Nor has news of multiple severed limbs reached my ears. Lorana Jinzler is only a Padawan, but I have certainly instructed her in combat better thanthat."

"Of course," Obi-Wan said, a sudden idea striking him. If C'baoth was right about Lorana going quietly with her kidnappers. . "Thank you for your time, Master C'baoth."

"I will expect my Padawan to be at my side when I meet Iviagistrate Argente and Guildmaster Gilfrome in the morning," C'baoth warned.

"Understood," Obi-Wan said. Breaking the connection, he slid the comlink back into his belt.

"So how are we going to find her?" Anakin asked.

"Master C'baoth gave us the hint himself," Obi-Wan told him. "He's right: if Lorana had fought against her attackers, we certainly would have heard of it. Therefore, she didn't."

"Okay," Anakin said. "And that means what?"

"It means that she must have decided that surrendering quietly would gain her more than fighting," Obi-Wan said. "She probably hoped she'd be taken into the center of the conspiracy where she could meet the people in charge. But. "

He let the word hang expectantly in the air, hoping Anakin would pick up the train of logic. "But they'd be crazy to bring a Jedi to their leaders," the boy said slowly. "Even a Padawan."

"Exactly," Obi-Wan said. "And what's the fastest way to tell if someone like Lorana is a Jedi?"

"If you catch her carrying a lightsaber," Anakin said, his voice suddenly picking up on Obi-Wan's own cautious hope. "So she had to get rid of it!"

"Right," Obi-Wan confirmed. "And she probably got rid of it on the spur of the moment, someplace near where she was kidnapped."

"Someplace close enough for us to be able to sense its Ilum crystal," Anakin finished excitedly. "But we'll still have to get pretty close, won't we?"

"True, but at least out in the street we'll beable to get that close," Obi-Wan pointed out. "If she and her lightsaber were both inside a house, we probably wouldn't be able to spot the crystal, at least not from outside." He gestured down the street, darkened now except for the faint glow of streetlights. "We'll start here in the Covered Brush area. Jhompfi was smart enough to stay away from his own house, but he may have been stupid enough to go to a nearby friend's. If we don't find anything, we'll start going through the poorer neighborhoods of Patameene District."

"Because that's the sort of neighborhood Jhompfi's used to?"

"No, because that's where they use hedges instead of walls to mark the land boundaries," Obi-Wan said. "You're not going to bury a lightsaber inside a stone wall without somebody noticing. If we don't find her there, we'll move on to the wealthier areas, then move on to other districts."

Anakin took a deep breath. "All right. I'm game if you are."

"Good," Obi-Wan said. "Then clear your mind, my young Padawan. It's likely to be a long night."

They'd been tramping the streets for hours when Obi-Wan finally felt the tingle he'd been waiting for.

The Ilum crystal in Lorana's lightsaber was close at hand.

He looked sideways at Anakin, waiting for the boy to sense it as well. Even in the middle of a serious situation, training exercises were part of a Padawan's life.

They got three more steps before Anakin's steady footsteps suddenly faltered. "There," the boy said. "Just ahead, on the left."

"Very good," Obi-Wan said approvingly, letting his eyes drift around the neighborhood. It was still a good two hours till dawn, and the houses around them were dark and silent, their inhabitants fast asleep.

Or at least, most of them were. The particular inhabitants they were interested in would be very much awake. "No, don't go to it," he told Anakin, catching the boy's arm as he started toward the hedge where Lorana's lightsaber lay hidden. "Here, around on the other side-quickly, now."

Together they moved around the end of the hedge and ducked down out of sight. "Is someone watching us?" Anakin murmured as Obi-Wan led them in a crouch to within a few meters of the lightsaber.

"We'll find out in a moment," Obi-Wan said. "Tell me, what would you do if you were guarding a prisoner in the middle of the night and suddenly something strange happened outside your window?"

"I don't know," Anakin said, frowning in thought. "I suppose it would depend on how strange it was."

"Let's find out." Stretching out to the Force, Obi-Wan reached his mind across the distance and triggered Lorana's lightsaber.

With a mutedsnap-hiss the green blade lanced out, startlingly bright in the nighttime darkness. A few small leaves showered down where they'd been cut loose from their branches, but the handle was wedged solidly in place and stayed where it was. "Now, let's see who in the neighborhood is still awake," he commented.

They didn't have long to wait. Less than a minute later a door in one of the houses across the street opened, and a lone Brolf peered anxiously out, his eyes darting around. Seeing no one, he lumbered across the street to the blazing lightsaber.

For a moment he stared at it uncertainly. Then, gingerly, he reached into the mesh of branches and pulled the weapon free. Holding it at arm's length, he turned it carefully in his hand, clearly trying to figure out how to shut it off.

"Allow me," Obi-Wan spoke up, rising to his full height behind the hedge. Reaching out with the Force, he closed down the lightsaber.

The Brolf was fast, all right. Almost before the blade had vanished he leapt into action, jumping sideways and hurling the lightsaber straight at Obi-Wan's face as he hauled a blaster out of his tunic.

Fast, but stupid. Obi-Wan was a Jedi, with Jedi reflexes, and he had his own lightsaber ready in his hand before the Brolf even started his leap. Reaching up with his free hand, he caught Lorana's weapon and then ignited his own, casually catching the Brolf's shot on his blade and sending it ricocheting off into the night sky.