Part 8 (1/2)

Obi-Wan tore his eyes away from Lena and took several steps toward Zanita. She whirled around suddenly, the blaster now aimed at him.

”Ah, a Jedi,” she said. ”Of course.”

She fired several rapid blasts. Obi-Wan was surprised by her incredible accuracy, and had to dodge and weave to avoid being hit by two and deflect three of the bolts with his saber at the same time.

Stepping forward, he felt one of the bolts graze his robe. He spun around and leaped into the air, landing on Zanita's right side and grabbing the blaster. Zanita hurled herself forward onto Lena's body. Her shoulders shook violently as several sobs escaped her throat.

The true leader of the Cobral had been defeated, and was probably thinking of the time she would soon be spending in prison.

Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber and re-clipped it to his belt.

There was a small hole in his robe where the blaster bolt had grazed him.

He fingered it gingerly, grateful that he was not wounded. But Lena.. .

All of a sudden Obi-Wan heard a rus.h.i.+ng sound behind him.

”Obi-Wan, look out!” someone shouted. It was Qui-Gon.

For a split second Obi-Wan was not sure where to look. Then he saw the glimmer of a weapon in Zanita's hand. It was a vibroblade.

Before Obi-Wan could disarm her a second time, Zanita had plunged the reverberating blade into her chest.

A moment later she fell to the floor next to Lena, dead.

CHAPTER 20.

Qui-Gon looked up from his sleep couch in his quarters at the Jedi Temple to see his Padawan standing in the doorway.

”I thought you might like to come with me to see Lena,” he explained.