The Moment of Truth Read online

  that he never seemed to have time to address the problem of the tension

  between them. Every day was packed with things to do, with travel, with

  missions or Council meetings. The galaxy teemed with trouble. The Senate

  was sometimes mired in procedures. The problems of an apprentice and his

  Master got lost in the chaos that surrounded them.

  Obi-Wan was all too aware that guilt and shame could percolate and

  turn into anger, and he was alert for the signs of it. So far, Anakin just

  seemed remote. This, he had to remind himself, was normal for a young man

  of sixteen.

  That is what you keep telling yourself. But is it true?

  His mind had circled around to the beginning. Obi-Wan let out a puff

  of exasperation, which he hoped Anakin did not hear. He concentrated on his

  steps through the icy snow.

  The kilometers passed in silence. The outpost was tucked into a

  mountain range that rose from the glaciers. Obi-Wan thought he could make

  out its outline in the distance with the electrobinoculars, but it was hard

  to be sure. Land and sky merged in a sea of white. The clouds seemed to

  lower as they walked, and a few flakes separated from the thick blanket

  above them and drifted lazily down. Soon the flakes thickened and the wind

  freshened, driving the snow against their faces.

  Obi-Wan looked at the horizon. A silvery clump of snow seemed to be

  falling fast against the white sky. But he wasn't seeing snowflakes. It was

  a cruiser.

  "Surveillance," he said crisply to Anakin. "Drop down."

  It was the only thing to do. There was no cover. They dropped to the

  ground, their faces in the snow. From above, their white survival gear

  would blend with the landscape. They heard the whirr of the engines above

  and stayed perfectly still. The ship was going slowly, tacking over the

  area in a sweep. Obi-Wan slowed down his breathing and his life processes,

  a Jedi technique. He knew Anakin would do the same. It would make it

  difficult for a life-form sensor to pick up their traces. The cold would

  help them, too.

  Obi-Wan didn't think of the cold, or the imminent danger. He let his

  mind slow as his body processes had. He made himself a blank, just another

  piece of white against a white background.

  The whirr of the engines softened and waned. They waited until they

  could hear nothing, concentrating so hard that Obi-Wan heard the tiny plink

  plink of the icy snowflakes hitting the ground beside him.

  Anakin rolled over. Ice had caked in his hair. He blinked the snow off

  his eyelashes. "I feel like a frozen jujasickle."

  "You look like one, too. But it's better than being shot at."

  "If you say so." Anakin stood and dusted the snow off his legs.

  "They'll be back. We'd better hurry." Obi-Wan consulted the map on his

  datapad. "We're close. We have to be careful now. We don't want to lead the

  Vanqors to the outpost."

  "Let's hope they don't find the - "

  A loud explosion suddenly sounded. Obi-Wan and Anakin turned back the

  way they had come. Obi-Wan put the electrobinoculars to his eyes. He saw a

  thin plume of smoke.

  "They blew up our ship," he said.

  They didn't need to say out loud what they were thinking. If the ship

  at the outpost wasn't operable, they could be stuck on the moon for some

  time. If the outpost was destroyed, they would have no shelter.

  They found the strength to move faster. There wasn't much daylight

  left, and traveling in the darkness would be difficult. At least moving

  faster kept them warmer. The snow continued to fall and then turned into a

  blizzard. The falling temperature transformed the flakes into icy pellets

  that stung their cheeks. Despite his discomfort, Obi-Wan was grateful for

  the storm. It would hamper the search effort by the Vanqors.

  "The shortest route will be over the glaciers," he yelled over the

  noise of the storm to Anakin. "It's also the hardest."

  "Let's do it," Anakin shouted back. They both knew that the sooner

  they found shelter, the safer they would be.

  The glaciers loomed ahead, tall blocks of ice hundreds of meters

  thick, some rising up to create mountains of ice. They began to climb

  upward, using their cable launchers to haul themselves directly up the

  sheer face of the ice. Despite their thermal gloves, their fingers felt

  frozen. It was hard to grab the cable and find purchase on the ice. Obi-Wan

  saw the effort and strain on his Padawan's face, and he felt it in his own

  body as he pushed forward, every meter a battle now.

  After several hours of hard climbing, they were close to the

  coordinates of the outpost. The climbing was more gradual now, and they

  were able to move faster. The darkness grew around them.

  Obi-Wan checked the coordinates. "The outpost should be right here."

  He squinted ahead in the now-gloomy light. He saw nothing, just the

  same blank whiteness that they'd been traveling in since they'd started.

  Had his eyesight been affected? He checked the coordinates again.

  "I know where it is," Anakin said suddenly, striding forward.

  Obi-Wan followed him. He relied on coordinates. Anakin relied on his

  perceptions. He couldn't see it, but he could feel it.

  Ahead, what at first appeared to be a sheer ice cliff was really the

  wall of the outpost. Obi-Wan could now see that ice had completely covered

  the structure, which was made of a thick white material able to withstand

  extreme cold without cracking.

  There seemed to be no entry, and no way to alert anyone inside that

  they were there. Anakin pounded on the wall. There was no response.

  Now that they were standing still, the wind and cold cut into them,

  insinuating cold fingers inside their clothes. Obi-Wan wondered if they

  would have to set up camp and try again in the morning.

  Just then the ice began to groan. A door slowly eased open, pushing

  against the ice that caked it. It stopped halfway.

  A slender human woman stood, her hands on a blaster pointed at them.

  "We are Jedi, sent by Typha-Dor," Obi-Wan said. "You must be Shalini."

  He had studied the text docs of the crew during the journey from the

  Temple. Shalini was the crew leader. Her husband, Mezdec, was the

  communications officer.

  Slowly, the blaster lowered. Shalini's silvery eyes sent them a sharp

  glance. "So our leaders have remembered we exist."

  "They could not reach you. Your comm unit is down."

  "I'm aware of that. It's been down for over a month. Glad they decided

  to check on us." She stood aside. "Come in."

  Obi-Wan ducked his head to get through the doorway. They stood at the

  entrance to a small room. The lights were at half power. A weapons rack

  stood to one side. On the other was a console with surveillance and data

  equipment. Another console was near the doorway. Obi-Wan noted that it was

  damaged, with scorch marks indicating close blaster fire. Positioned around

  the room were four other crew members, all with blasters pointed at the

  doorway.

  "It's all right," Shalini said. "They've been sent by Typha-Dor." She

  tucked her blaster into her belt.

 
; One man leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He looked weak

  and pale. "About time."

  A tall, muscular woman slipped her blaster into a shoulder holster.

  "Past time."

  The welcome wasn't quite the friendly one Obi-Wan had imagined. Then a

  tall man in a thick pullover strode forward. "Don't mind us. It's been a

  long haul. We're very glad to see you."

  "This is Mezdec," Shalini said. "He's our first officer. I am Shalini,

  the leader of the group. The others are Thik" - the weak-looking man nodded

  at them - "Rajana, and Olanz." The muscular woman nodded curtly at them,

  and the other man, bald and as tall as Mezdec, raised a hand in greeting.

  "But where are the rest?" Obi-Wan asked. "There are supposed to be ten

  of you."

  "Not anymore," Shalini said. "We had a saboteur in our midst. Samdew

  was the communications officer. We discovered that he was a spy for the

  Vanqors. He destroyed our comm system right after we were able to intercept

  the Vanqor invasion plans."

  "He also disabled our transport," Mezdec said. "So we've been stuck

  here. We're almost out of food, so we're especially glad to see you."

  "In that case, let's begin with a meal." Obi-Wan reached for his

  survival pack. "We brought extra rations in case."

  He and Anakin doled out the protein packs. The group sat down and

  split up the food. While they ate, Obi-Wan scanned the equipment. He took a

  second look at the damaged comm control console. "What happened?"

  "It was the middle of the night," Mezdec said. He swallowed and pushed

  the rest of his food away. "I was awake, and I heard Samdew at the comm

  unit. I thought he was doing a sweep - we monitored the channels

  constantly, and I assumed he was checking to see if anything turned up. I

  was awake anyway, so I got up to see if anything was happening."

  "There was quite a bit of chatter on the system," Shalini said. "The

  Vanqors knew we had been able to monitor their comm channels. In order to

  confuse us, they'd flood us with information. That made Samdew a crucial

  member of our team. He was our senior information analyst."

  "I stood in the doorway. He didn't hear me," Mezdec said, his eyes

  clouding at the memory. "And I saw that he wasn't monitoring transmissions.

  He was transmitting to the Vanqor fleet. I realized he was a spy. I blasted

  the console. I didn't know what else to do. It was the fastest way to stop

  him. I didn't want to kill him. But he turned and moved toward me, and the

  next shot hit him in the chest."

  "It's all right, Mezdec," Shalini said quietly. She put her hand on

  his arm.

  "I heard the blaster fire," Rajana said, taking up the account, as

  Mezdec had fallen silent. "I heard Samdew fall, and I ran in. While he was

  on the ground, he tried to shoot Mezdec just as Thik came in after me. Thik

  was hit in the knee and went down." Rajana looked at Mezdec. "I was the one

  who fired the fatal blast. Not you."

  "Samdew died," Shalini said. "What we didn't know was that before he

  died, he activated the fire system in the sleeping quarters. The room goes

  into lockdown, and all the oxygen is sucked out."

  "He had disabled the warning siren, but not the procedure. Four of our

  crew were in there," Mezdec said. "They suffocated. By the time we realized

  what had happened, they were dead."

  "He meant for all of you to be in there," Anakin said.

  "Yes," Shalini said. "We imagine that he was sending his last

  transmission. He didn't need to be undercover anymore, and the easiest

  thing to do was get rid of us."

  "If the Vanqors know your location, why haven't they attacked?" Obi-

  Wan asked.

  Shalini shook her head. "We don't think they do. We think Samdew was

  in deep cover. He never sent a transmission before that night, and Mezdec

  stopped him before the transmission went through. All transmissions were

  coded and timed, so we would have known if he'd been in contact with the

  Vanqors. We assume that his mission was to remain until we had cracked the

  Vanqor code and learned something vital."

  "Which we did," Rajana said.

  "Yes, let's get back to that," Obi-Wan said. "What have you learned?"

  "We have the details of the Vanqor invasion plans," Shalini said.

  "Troop movements, coordinates, the invasion sites. We have it all on this."

  Shalini held up a small disk. "It's crucial that we get the information to

  Typha-Dor."

  "We'll have to leave from here," Obi-Wan told her. "We have good

  reason to believe that the Vanqors have destroyed our ship. I'm afraid it's

  only a matter of time before they find this outpost."

  "Samdew sabotaged the transport," Mezdec reminded them. "I can fix

  anything, but I can't fix it." Anakin stood. "Let me try."

  CHAPTER THREE

  Anakin disappeared into the transport hangar. Obi-Wan had no doubt

  that if anyone could fix the vehicle, it would be Anakin. He had a genius

  for fixing the unfixable.

  Shalini looked worried. "Mezdec has tried for weeks to fix the ship.

  With all possible respect for your apprentice, he'll never be able to get

  it up and running. Are you certain nothing can be salvaged from your

  transport? Maybe we should chance a walk there. We don't know for sure that

  Vanqor has set an ambush. There might be parts we could use. I'll go, if

  you can give me the coordinates."

  "Shalini, no," Mezdec protested. "It's too dangerous."

  "No, it's not," Shalini said. "It's necessary."

  "You'd never make it at night," Mezdec argued. "Survival gear can't

  protect you from that kind of cold. Besides, you know the rule. We only go

  in pairs." He touched her hand. "As you and I do," he said in a gentle

  tone.

  She smiled, but shook her head. "We should try every avenue. I am

  responsible for this disk." She touched her belt, where she had tucked the

  disk into a hidden slit. "I have another idea. We could return to the Jedi

  ship, expecting an ambush. A few of us could pretend to surrender. Then the

  others could attack the Vanqor ship. We could get off-planet in their

  transport."

  "That's a highly unlikely scenario," Obi-Wan said. "And a last resort.

  Let's give Anakin a chance before we make that decision."

  Everyone ignored Obi-Wan. "Maybe we should split the team," Olanz

  said. "A few of us could go with Shalini at first light. We could take the

  missile tube and some flechette launchers."

  "Our strength is in our numbers," Rajana argued. "We should remain

  together."

  "Thik can't travel," Mezdec pointed out.

  "I can travel," Thik said. "Just not very fast."

  "And what of the ones who remain behind?" Rajana asked. "We're almost

  out of heating fuel. Whoever stayed would be facing death."

  "We have faced death all along," Thik said.

  "That doesn't mean we should invite it in," Mezdec said.

  Thik smiled slightly. "Isn't this just like our home-world. We spend

  so long arguing about what's the best way to do something that we never get

  anything done."

  "That doesn't mean we should be invaded," Rajana said sharply.

  Shalini turned to O
bi-Wan. "We've been cooped up together for too

  long," she said. She gave a tense smile. "When we haven't been trying to

  find a way to get off this moon, we've been arguing about the best way to

  do it. Thik has a point."

  "Typha-Dor is lucky," Thik said. "We are rich in resources. We have

  abundant sunshine and water. Our world is large and varied. We have a large

  workforce. Yet we have never learned how to truly manage our resources and

  turn them into the wealth we need."

  "Yes, yes," Rajana said impatiently. "And Vanqor is a small, dusty

  planet. Yet they have learned how to get the most out of what they have.

  Their industries are booming. They are wealthier than us, despite their

  small size. That does not mean they deserve to conquer our star system!"

  "I am not defending Vanqor's aggression," Thik said. "You know that,

  Rajana. Why am I here, if not to sacrifice my life if I must for my

  homeworld? I am just saying that even Vanqor could have lessons to teach

  us."

  "The Vanqors are greedy and ruthless," Mezdec said darkly. "If they

  have something to teach us, I have no desire to learn it."

  "It is that attitude that sets us up for conflict in the first place,"

  Thik said. "If we had been more willing to negotiate years ago, we would