"Why are you following me?"

She leaned over, trying to catch her breath. Her braids were unraveling, and her face was flushed.

"Does Manex have the list?"

"No. Was that why you are following me?"

Eritha shook her head. "It's because I couldn't wait until you contacted me. I guessed you would go to Manex tonight. I've got the information you need. I overheard Alani. I know where Balog is. I can take you there."

The Jedi still kept watch over Manex, who had now retired to his reception room for a rest. Mace covered the front of the residence while Bant stayed outside in the rear. Obi-Wan was positioned behind the curving stairway. From here he had a vantage point to the door of the reception room. He had a feeling it would be a long night.

Use your time. You'll find one day that you have too little of it.

Qui-Gon's words rose in his mind. Obi-Wan was still going over and over what he should have done when he saw his Master. The cloudy aura he felt around Qui-Gon had worried him deeply. He sensed confusion and static, and it prevented him from truly connecting. It had shaken him. Maybe it had prevented him from acting more quickly. Should he have followed Qui-Gon, gone with him no matter what he said?

Use your time…

Obi-Wan didn't think he could. His thoughts were too confused.

That is the time you need discipline most. That is what your training is for.

All right, then. He would stop the voice of Qui-Gon in his head by obeying him.

Although he was tired, although he felt that he had gone over the events of the past days too many times to count, Obi-Wan focused his mind and started again. He went over every event since he and Qui-Gon had stepped foot on New Apsolon. He turned things over in his thoughts, searching for inconsistencies. He considered every unanswered question and every possible answer.

lrini had sworn that she wasn't the one who had fired on them on their first day. They had never discovered who it had been for sure. Balog?

They hadn't yet been a threat to him, had they?

Was it just a coincidence that security showed up at Mota's while they were buying the probe droids? It seemed likely now that Alani had told them about Mote in order to trap them. She could have been the one to alert security that the Jedi were buying illegal goods.

The droids must have been reprogrammed to attack Pleni.

Obi-Wan pushed these questions aside. He did not think they would bring him closer to Balog. If only the answers were clear. If only they could get a solid lead. If only Eritha had come through with information on Balog. She had been at her sister's side for more than two days now. Surely she must have learned something.

Would it prove too difficult for Eritha to betray her sister?

But she had already taken a step she could not retake, Obi-Wan knew.

On finding out that her sister was behind Tahl's kidnapping, she had gone in search of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. She had risked much to do so. She could easily have lost her life in the cave. Obi-Wan remembered how afraid Eritha had been as the explosives were going off and the cave was collapsing. He admired how she'd been able to go on so bravely despite her fear. He still remembered her scream. They forgot me! They left without me!

Obi-Wan concentrated for a moment. There was something about the way Eritha had sounded that bothered him now. What was it? The emotion that was driving her was slightly off from what he would expect.

Astonished. She'd been astonished. And betrayed.

They forgot me!

As if they shouldn't have, as if she were somehow privileged, even though she was a prisoner.

If she had been a prisoner…

And why had she been heading toward the back of the cave?

Yes, the smoke had been thick near the front of the cave. But wouldn't she have tried to push through?

She was heading for the other exit near the back of the cave, Obi-Wan realized. But how had she known about it? They had not found it when Eritha had been captured. She should have had no way of knowing how deep the cave was.

Slow down, Obi-Wan warned himself. There could be other explanations for what had happened. Eritha had been panicked. She was reacting, not thinking.

But since the suspicion had been lodged in his mind, Obi-Wan went back to Eritha's behavior while they were together. He concentrated, bringing the memory back moment by moment, as fresh as if it had happened that morning.

Eritha had seemed sincere when she caught up with them. Shortly after, they'd been attacked by the Rock Workers. Eritha had been genuinely surprised by the attack, Obi-Wan was sure, and genuinely afraid. When Qui- Gon had warned her to stay behind them, she had readily agreed.

So why then did she suddenly dodge forward when their probe droid was in sight? She had forced them to protect her. As a result, Obi-Wan had received a leg injury and their probe droid had been destroyed. Could it have been a desperate attempt to destroy their only method of tracking Balog?

And what about the attack on the Rock Worker settlement? Qui-Gon had told him that he had met up with Eritha before dawn. She had been planning to refuel the speeders. Or so she had said. But what if she'd actually been planning to leave? If she and Alani were plotting against the Jedi, they had done their work. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were without a probe droid. They had no way to track Balog. Eritha had not known that Obi-Wan was better and was able to travel. She would have most likely assumed that Qui-Gon would stay in the settlement.

Maybe she was leaving because she knew of the attack.

Could it be possible? Obi-Wan wondered.

Could Eritha have misled them into thinking that she was the good sister? Were both sisters out for the power they could grab?

There was one last thing. When Obi-Wan and Eritha had arrived back in New Apsolon, Eritha had been furious that Manex had stepped in and offered his own med team for Tahl. Obi-Wan had seen it in her eyes. He had thought it was because she held the same distrust for Manex as he did and was concerned about Tahl's recovery. But what if the opposite were true? What if she didn't want Tahl to recover?

What if he had suspected the wrong person? What if Manex was good, and Eritha was bad? Never had he longed for Qui-Gon more.

When Manex had told them of his decision to run for office, Obi-Wan had brought up Alani. Why had Manex hesitated? Was there a reason he was running against Ewane's daughter?