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All of the suspects, in one room.
Obi-Wan was seated rigidly on a brocaded chair near Risoin. Also at the large, round table were several councillors—Sabyian, Lord Altorias, Lady Loried, Lord Kasiral. Kalienn, the advisor, was speaking softly near the high windows with Captain Sahimar.
Obi-Wan envied Qui-Gon his position. He was seated near the Sovereign at a smaller table, but neither of them was speaking much.
Of all the people at the table, Obi-Wan liked Councillor Sabyian the best. He was a stooped, elderly man with kind eyes and a white beard. He was also the quietest person at the table, which Obi-Wan was grateful for.
"Kenobi," a deep voice clanged into his thoughts. The dark, insolent-looking Altorias was staring straight at him with eyes like arrows. "I asked you, have you ever been to Sol-Kaspa?"
Obi-Wan had never heard of such a place. "I-" he began.
"Please!" Lady Loried ejaculated, her large brown eyes dominating her slickly pretty face for a moment. She vaguely reminded Obi-Wan of a predatory cat he had seen once in a wildlife reserve, and her bright red sheath only helped that image. "Only decadent fools like you go you Sol-Kaspa, Altorias!" She reached across and pinched Altorias's bare arm.
"Wouldn't do that if I were you," Kasiral said dryly. "He might hit back."
Loried stopped, looked around with suddenly frightened eyes, then sank back in her chair. Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed at Altorias, who was shoving the food around on his plate. The merriment of these young nobles had an undercurrent of fear that was impossible to miss... How well did they know each other? Trust each other?
Well, at least Risoin couldn't yell at him publically, he realized wryly. The older Jedi simply sat next to Obi-Wan, apparently sunk in thought. He would answer shortly if spoken to, but Obi-Wan found himself making conversation for two.
"Kenobi?"
He shook out of his reverie. "Hm? Yes?"
Loried was leaning forward, staring at him. "I said, what's it like to travel from one world to another?"
"Oh, it's... very interesting," Obi-Wan replied lamely, wishing that he speak without engaging his mind.
Loried laughed in a strained manner. "I've been absolutely nowhere—but I see a lot of officials from other worlds here. No order. No brains. No compassion. They all slump around like-"
She stopped short, her dark cheeks flushing as she caught Altorias's eye. He was looking at her in a concerned, warning manner. Her gaze sank down to her lap, as if she were ashamed.
Obi-Wan felt a chill run down his back as Altorias and Kasiral began to make artificial conversation, trying to fill the awkward void that Loried had created...
The Sovereign was unusually tense, her long fingers curled into fists on the arms of the gold-plated chair. A bristled, black, one-eyed alsepi curled at her feet, deliberate reminder that she was not to be trifled with.
As Qui-Gon reseated himself next to her at the table, the alsepi raised his triangular head and panted happily. He smiled and discreetly pulled a scrap of meat from his plate, dropping it to the floor, where the beast pounced over his boot and slurped it down noisily. Several other dining guests, including a barely-restrained Obi-Wan, glanced over at the source of the noise.
Qui-Gon sighed. Time to get down to business.
Forking a piece of meat with his right hand, he discreetly slipped his left hand under the table and tugged at Saleil's dress. Her brown eyes went wide, and quickly turned to him, still innocently eating, then down at where a small brown scrap of writing leather had been left in her lap.
Nodding in the direction of the brooding Captain Sahimar, standing by the door, she slowly uncurled the bit of leather. Hastily-scratched letters read:
I NEED A COMPUTER PASS.
Her brow wrinkled, but she slipped a hand under her shimmering cloak and pulled out a silvery chip, glinting between her pearl-painted nails. She reached to the table and discreetly sent it spinning across the tabletop with a grating sound, under the rim of Qui-Gon's plate.
Qui-Gon smiled a little as her thumb deliberately brushed a knife, sending it clattering to the floor. Everyone jumped, then relaxed. "I'm sorry," the Sovereign said with a faint smile.
"My lady," said one of the bodyguards, dashing to her side and plucking the knife up from the smooth stone floor. The Sovereign accepted it with a gracious nod and waved for the meal to continue.
In one smooth move, Qui-Gon rose and brushed his hand under the plate, bringing the computer pass out and slipping it into his loose sleeve. "My lady, I ask to be excused," he said with a small bow. "I have something to accomplish."
The Sovereign nodded graciously as Qui-Gon bowed to the assembled guests, and quickly left the hall, with the guards looking suspiciously after him.
Obi-Wan felt his spirits begin to sink as Risoin, Loried and Kasiral began to talk of a planet on the Rim that he had never heard of, someplace called Odoriad. He toyed with a shapeless green vegetable on his plate, watching the alsepi circle the Sovereign protectively, growling low in its throat.
"Obi-Wan?" The Sovereign was looking at him as he rose instinctively.
"Yes?" he asked, momentarily forgetting to tack on the "my lady."
She was looking at him in an odd way, the crystal-beaded crest over her brow rustling a little as she tilted her head. "I sense that you would prefer to be elsewhere. If so, I urge you to go."
Then she winked.
Obi-Wan was momentarily convulsed by the sight, and the artless way she did it. Only someone were looking directly at her would see it. He bowed hastily and slid his chair back, feeling the eyes of the other guests—Risoin in particular—on him.
As the doors clanged shut, he heard Qui-Gon's voice saying, "Come this way, Obi-Wan."
In the dim light, he saw Qui-Gon's strong features in the dim light of a computer console. A silvery chip was jammed into the slot, and Obi-Wan saw with a shock that Qui-Gon was going through secure Aladell files. "Master," he gasped. "What are you doing?"
"Searching for a motive," Qui-Gon replied, deadpan. He shifted to the side and gestured at the chair. "See what's there?"
Obi-Wan slid into the chair and stared. "These are the motives?" he asked slowly.
"Yes, they are."
Obi-Wan rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "But everyone in that room had an opportunity, and a motive!"
Qui-Gon sighed. "Obi-Wan, at dinner, did you sense anything unusual from the others?" he asked slowly.
Obi-Wan frowned, thought back. "No... just fear. They're all afraid, but none of them FELT guilty."
Qui-Gon's lips curved in a small smile. "I know, Obi-Wan," he said almost dreamily. "I didn't sense anything either. But I do think I know how the killer is working, how he's hiding from us, and what connection it has to-"
The console snapped off, plunging the room into blackness. The thin line of light near the floor, seeping under the door, vanished as a bloodcurdling scream echoed through the hall...