Star Wars: Darth Maul 02: Shadow Hunter by Michael Reaves

Author:Michael Reaves
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science-Fiction.Star Wars
ISBN: 9780345435392
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Published: 2001-01-30T08:00:00+00:00

Obi-Wan Kenobi sensed death as he once more neared the site of Master Bondara’s wrecked skycar. It wasn’t the Jedi’s passing that he had noticed earlier; this was something new.

As he drew closer he saw smoke rising from the street and noticed strobes flashing from police cruisers surrounding the area. Obviously some new disaster had occurred here—one important enough to bring the local law enforcement out.

After leaving the Tusken Oasis, he had decided to return to the last place that Darsha and Master Bondara had been seen, which was in the latter’s skycar. A floating barricade warned the Padawan to stay back, and for a second Obi-Wan considered doing so. This was the Crimson Corridor, after all. No doubt some unconnected crime was being investigated here, and if that was the case, he would only get in the way.

But then he felt it again—the sense of foreboding that had so unnerved him when he’d been at the site before.

Obi-Wan maneuvered his vehicle past the barricade. A forensics droid was ready to warn him off, but when it saw that he was a Jedi Padawan, it let him through. The Jedi did not like to use their secular powers, but within the structures of the Republic they were legally empowered to cross police lines on any investigation that touched on their own.

As he landed just outside the scanning line of police lasers, two plainclothes investigators—a Mrlssi and a Sullustan, both of whom looked like they’d rather be anywhere but here—made their way to intercept him. The Mrlssi spoke first.

“Can we help you?”

Obi-Wan decided to see what response he got with part of the truth. There was no reason for them to know that two Jedi Knights had gone missing.

“I’ve been following reports of a criminal who has been reported operating in the area. Apparently there have been some assaults …” He let his statement taper off, focusing on the reactions of the pair, hoping to provoke a response. “I was led to believe that there might be some connection here.”

The Sullustan looked at the Mrlssi. “Well, yeah, there might be. Come have a look.”

Obi-Wan followed the two over toward a new piece of wreckage, perhaps half a block from Master Bondara’s vehicle. Although it had been badly burned and the metal twisted in the heat of the fire, it was plain that a large section of the police unit had been sheared away, and there was a cut through the canopy where the pilot droid would have sat.

“Any ideas, Padawan? …”

“Kenobi. Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

The Sullustan spoke. “Recognize the skycar type?”

Obi-Wan shook his head. “Is there any significance to it?”

The investigator nodded. “This is—or was—a PCBU: police cruiser backup unit. They’re specifically designed to aid officers answering calls in places like the Crimson Corridor. SOP is to hover back ten meters, up fifteen meters from answering units.”

Obi-Wan could see the problem they were wrestling with. How could someone get fifteen meters into the air to reach the PCBU without getting shot?

“Was anyone killed?” he asked, although he already knew the answer.

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