"And she can take either of mine. You don't need to direct her."

Juno's frown deepened, but he didn't say anything.

"We'd best be getting back inside," Zanita said brightly when Juno didn't move. "We have guests to attend to."

With a last look at the three visitors, Juno turned and followed his employer back into the cooking quarters.

"Another close one," Lena whispered, shivering slightly. "Rutin never liked Juno, and he gives me the creeps." She eyed the door Juno and Zanita had just disappeared through, then turned and started toward the vehicle hangar. "Let's get out of here before something else happens."

Minutes later Lena and the Jedi were on their way back into the city.

"It was nice of Zanita to offer up her land-speeder," Obi-Wan noted from the front seat.

"Very nice," Lena agreed. But she did not say anything else. She suddenly seemed to focus very hard on piloting the speeder.

Once again in the backseat, Qui-Gon considered the events of the last few hours. Though he didn't particularly want to admit it, he felt at a loss. He was not able to decipher whether Zanita or Lena were being honest — either with each other or himself and Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon sighed. For the millionth time he wished that Tahl were still alive. Aside from the aching absence that still burned inside him, he knew that her sharp perception and intuition would uncover the truth. She would not be distracted by the composed, polished surfaces of these women. She would cut through all of that and get to their real intentions, their motives.

Qui-Gon bowed his head and tried to let the grief of missing Tahl move through him. Isn't that what Yoda had taught him — what he had repeatedly told his Padawan?

Allow yourself to feel the emotions, then let them go. Qui-Gon focused on the words. He felt the grief well up inside him until he was sure it would break him, shatter him to pieces. Then, with every nerve of his body, he tried to let the pain go.

It wouldn't.

His head aching, Qui-Gon opened his eyes. It was always the same. He felt the incredible fullness of the pain, and then endless hollowness. The grief never actually left. It emptied him, but it would not leave him alone.

Obi-Wan was silent as the landspeeder traveled through the city. He could sense his Master's melancholy mood, and Lena was attentive only to driving. She navigated skillfully through the city, and Obi-Wan was yet again impressed by her composure. Less than half an hour ago they had nearly been killed. Yet she seemed to have wiped the memory away as easily as one wipes a crumb from a table.

Obi-Wan had assumed that they were going back to Lena's warehouse hideout. Instead she turned off toward her ransacked apartment after making sure they were not being followed. Obi-Wan considered inquiring about this, but thought better of it. He guessed that Lena was being silent for a reason.

Lena parked the landspeeder several hundred meters away from her building. They approached carefully, and found only one guard outside the turbolift. He was dozing off. Moving quickly past him, they entered the turbolift and were whisked to the top floor. Once inside her flat, Lena moved through room after room at a rapid pace, the Jedi at her heels.

Qui-Gon did not say anything, but followed with assurance. Obi-Wan felt a moment of frustration as he realized that his Master was not experiencing the same confusion he was. Even in his depressed state he seemed to know exactly what was going on.

It took a bit of effort for Obi-Wan to keep up with the two people in front of him. Lena led them out the secret exit they had used before, then down flight after flight of stairs. She did not slow her pace when they reached the alley. She simply hurried down several blocks, turning this way and that. Finally she hailed an air taxi and they all climbed inside.

Relieved not to be chasing after Lena and his Master, Obi-Wan sat back against the seat. "Were we being followed?" he asked. It was the logical reason for Lena's actions.

"Not that I know of," Lena said in a strange tone. She sounded almost giddy, as if the idea were amusing. "Zanita is really a wonderful woman.

I'm lucky to know her."

Obi-Wan thought it was strange that Lena was speaking about her mother-in-law as if they were acquaintances and not family. But once again he kept quiet. What did he know about families, anyway?

Lena told the taxi driver to let them off several blocks from the warehouse. Once they were walking again, she relaxed a little. A moment later she reached out and touched Obi-Wan's arm.

"Sorry about that," she said, looking into his eyes. Obi-Wan tried to ignore the way he felt when she gazed at him.

"I couldn't talk in the taxi because of the sky drivers' collective,"

she explained. "They are Cobral supporters. And as for Zanita's vehicle, well, let's just say that it has plenty of added surveillance equipment that even Zanita might not know about."

Obi-Wan nodded, and Lena turned and kept walking. She spoke quietly, but loud enough for both Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to hear.

"That statue falling was no accident. I'm sure the base is completely secure, no matter what Juno says. There are several traps on the property — the Cobrals call it security. They say they have to protect what's theirs."

"Who do you think triggered it?" Qui-Gon asked, speaking for the first time since they'd left the Cobral property.

"I don't know," Lena replied. "The Cobrals have many allies — paid and unpaid. Although Juno is Zanita's servant, he works for Solan first.

I'm sure he would be handsomely rewarded if he succeeded in killing me."

The group's mood was contemplative as they navigated the streets and arrived back at the warehouse.

Inside, Mica was pacing the living space. A medium-size package lay on a low table.

"This arrived while you were out," Mica said. She picked up the package and thrust it into her cousin's hands. She seemed slightly agitated.

Lena took the package and turned it over. It was covered in a thin gray wrapping material. There was nothing written on the material other than her name in block letters: LENA COBRAL.