He wrenched his mind to stillness.

A slight noise overhead alerted him that someone was now traveling in the duct system. Qui-Gon kept his eyes trained on the duct closest to the treasury door.

Moments later, the grate slid open. Xanatos and Bruck somersaulted through, both dressed in black, blending into the darkness. The only gleam of light was of Bruck's white ponytail and Xanatos' pale skin.

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon moved as one. They sprang forward, lightsabers activated.

The surprise on Xanatos' face was gratifying. He gave a strangled cry of rage and sprang back, his hand reaching for his lightsaber.

Bruck was not as quick. He stumbled back, fumbling. The hilt of his lightsaber was in his hand when Qui-Gon, with a delicate touch, knocked it away without touching Bruck's skin. He did not want to harm the boy, just capture him.

Obi-Wan sprang toward Xanatos as Qui-Gon came at him on the other side.

But this time Xanatos surprised them. Instead of trying to elude them, he leaped forward and grabbed Bruck. He held his glowing red lightsaber against the boy's neck.

"Don't come any closer," he said, his eyes snapping a challenge. "You know I'll do it, Qui-Gon."

"Xanatos?" Bruck's eyes wobbled in fear.

"Be quiet," Xanatos snapped. "Now I have two hostages, Qui-Gon," he continued. "Do you want to sacrifice two young lives?"

Qui-Gon made a subtle movement toward Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan felt the Force surge. Qui-Gon was reaching out to him, trying to tell him something. But what?

If your plan is good, there is no reason to abandon it.

Obi-Wan remembered that Qui-Gon had wanted him to seem impatient, close to the edge of control. Xanatos would not look at him as a threat.

"You're not going to let him get away with this, are you?" Obi-Wan shouted, pumping desperation in his voice. "I don't care about Bruck! Let's charge him!"

"The boy is ruthless, Qui-Gon," Xanatos purred. "Did he learn this from you?"

With a cry, Obi-Wan started toward Xanatos. At the same time, Qui-Gon sprang forward. Xanatos gave Bruck a violent shove away from him, trying to use the boy to block Obi-Wan's advance. At the same time, he stepped forward to meet Qui-Gon's first strike.

Bruck dropped to the floor and scrambled for his lightsaber. Obi-Wan leaped to prevent it, but Bruck grasped it, rolled away, and sprang to his feet.

"Make sure she is dead!" Xanatos hissed at Bruck. "Now!"

Bruck took off toward the end of the hallway.

"After him!" Qui-Gon roared to Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan raced to catch up to Bruck, but Xanatos stepped to the side and made a diving sweep at him. Obi-Wan parried the violent blow, but it drove him backward. He slashed at Xanatos, but Xanatos blocked his every move while twisting to evade Qui-Gon's attack.

Grimly, Qui-Gon stepped up his pace, going after Xanatos again and again, so relentlessly that Obi-Wan was free to maneuver.

He didn't want to leave Qui-Gon alone with Xanatos. But he had to stop Bruck. It was an impossible choice, but he had to make it.

Leaving Qui-Gon behind, Obi-Wan took off to save Bant.

Qui-Gon felt the dark surge of Xanatos' anger charge the air. He did not meet it with his own.

Once he had hated Xanatos, but he could not exist with hate and continue to be a Jedi. He did not hate his enemy. He wished to stop him.

There was a difference. He knew Xanatos wanted him to use hate and anger.

Xanatos wanted more than anything to prove that Qui-Gon Jinn could violate the Jedi Code. That would be his victory.

Qui-Gon found his core of purpose and stillness even as he vaulted, somersaulted, came at Xanatos from one approach, then another. His will collided with that of his former apprentice.

Xanatos flipped backward twice, then changed hands and came at Qui-Gon from a different angle. This was a new skill. Now Xanatos fought with two hands. Qui-Gon would have to be alert for a sudden change in attack. He parried Xana- tos' blow with a backhanded sweep, then whirled to jab an uppercut toward the chin. Xanatos stepped back, anticipating the move. But Qui-Gon was already reversing. His next blow missed Xanatos by a hair. He saw the displeasure in his eyes.

Xanatos turned and ran. Qui-Gon gave pursuit, running swiftly up the staircase and bursting into the Jedi Council room.

The Force warned him to duck, and he rolled away to his left. A small table smashed into the wall behind him, propelled by the Force. Qui-Gon ducked as a viewscreen followed, smashing as it hit the wall behind his head. He sprang forward, descending on Xanatos with a lightning-fast series of lunges.

"Your age is slowing you down, Qui-Gon," Xanatos panted. "Five years ago you would have dispatched me inside the security chamber. Now I am faster than you."

"No," Qui-Gon said as their lightsabers clashed. "You just talk more."

He circled Xanatos, looking for an opening. Xanatos kept moving, keeping the Council chairs between them. Using the Force, Xanatos caused one to slide away and smash against the wall. Then he pounced.

Their battle assumed a new ferocity. Again and again their lightsabers tangled as each tried to gain the advantage.

"Give up, Qui-Gon," Xanatos growled. "I will outlast you. I will kill you here, then steal the vertex. Your precious Jedi will have to go on without you."

Qui-Gon blocked a sweeping blow. "Your small mistakes have always been your downfall."

"I… don't… make… mistakes." Xanatos grunted out the words as he took an involuntary step backward under the fury of Qui-Gon's assault.

"Your footwork betrays you," Qui-Gon answered, pressing his advantage with a slashing blow. "You don't realize how you let me know your next move.

Notice how your body is leaning just slightly. You're placing more weight on the ball of your left foot. You're going to move left."

Xanatos shifted his balance, and Qui-Gon, already anticipating his reaction, drove forward. Xanatos nearly dropped his lightsaber as he slammed against the wall.

Ready to push his advantage, Qui-Gon leaped after him. But Xanatos switched hands again, parrying Qui-Gon's blow as he leaped across the room.

He landed on a table close to the window. Gripping his lightsaber, he cut a hole in the window that overlooked the tall towers of Coruscant.