“The small one,” Elzar told him. “The senator for Sullust and a royal pain in the backside.”

Stellan crossed his arms. “Spoken like a true Jedi.”

Mann shrugged. “Look, I was sent to Valo to sweep for trouble, yes?” He jabbed a gloved finger at the Sullustan. “That guy has been on my scope ever since he crashed Samera’s reception. The Force is telling me he’s up to something, and the Force is never wrong.”

“But our interpretation of it can be.”

Mann blew out. “Don’t give me that. You said you sensed it.”

“I sensed that you were troubled, not that Toon was up to no good.”

Ouch! thought Bell. That didn’t sound like a loaded statement, at all! What was going on between these two?

“You’ve been troubled for weeks.”

“Something is coming,” Mann said gravely. “I can feel it, you can feel it, and Zettifar could feel it if he weren’t trying to close himself off from the Force.” Mann looked straight at him, and Bell felt his mouth go dry. “What’s that about anyway?”

“I … I was injured recently,” Bell stammered, knowing the explanation wouldn’t hold water. “I’ve found connection to the Force … painful.” At least that part was the truth.

Weak or not, Mann seemed to accept the excuse, or at least was too busy to worry about it right now. He turned back to Stellan. “Toon is up to something. He’s supposed to be at the outpost in an hour for the chancellor’s tour.”

“We all are,” Stellan reminded him.

“And yet he’s here,” Mann continued, ignoring his superior. “Above this dive. With his bodyguard. What kind of senator needs a bodyguard anyway.”

Stellan peered over the edge of the building. “I’ve seen worse.”

“The bodyguard?”

“The bar!”

Elzar snorted a short laugh. “Because you’re always hanging out in tapcafes. But whatever you think about it, this is the last place you’d expect to find a senator.”

“He said he had meetings.”

“But with who? That’s the question. If Toon has something to do with what I’ve been feeling …”

Mann’s voice trailed off, and he and Stellan shot a look at the window. Even Bell felt it, shielding himself from the Force as he was. There were more people in the room now, at least three, maybe more. They couldn’t see who, only shadows thrown against the wall and Toon standing with his side to the window, talking to the newcomers, the Orzrelanso at his side.

Beside Bell, Mann rummaged in a pouch connected to his belt and pulled out a small dish that he connected to the end of a comlink, screwing it tightly into place.

“Is that a listening device?” Stellan asked as Mann pointed the dish at the open window.

“We can’t rely on the Force for everything,” Mann told him, adjusting a dial on the back of the unit.