Jedi Quest 7: The Moment of Truth (звёздные войны) Read online

  She gave no sign that she had recognized him.

  Instead she casually scooted back until she was closer to the fence.

  She absently drew in the dirt with a finger, looking casual.

  "Is everyone all right?" Obi-Wan asked, bending over with the servodriver.

  "Yes. But Anakin has been taken away. No one knows why."

  "Where?"

  "There is a gray building across the compound. Unmarked. He was taken there. Listen, they don't know who we are yet. They don't know he's a Jedi.

  Which makes me think."

  He was anxious to find Anakin, but Obi-Wan bent closer to hear what Shalini would say. "If Mezdec had gone straight to Vanqor, he would be there by now. He would have told them we were traveling in Vanqor airspace and they would have figured out who we are. Which tells me that Mezdec didn't go to Vanqor."

  "Where do you think he went?"

  "I think he went to Typha-Dor. He would assume that either we had been captured or we were still making our way there."

  "But why would he go to Typha-Dor?"

  "To deliver the invasion plans. But not the real ones."

  Obi-Wan let out a breath. "Of course. They would accept whatever he would bring as real."

  "He will destroy us single-handedly," Shalini said, her voice raw.

  "All is lost."

  "No," Obi-Wan said. "If we can make it in time — " "Anakin has the disk. You must get it — "

  "You there!" An angry voice cut through Shalini's words. "Attendance check!"

  "Find him and go. Don't worry about us. Save Typha Dor."

  Shalini rose and walked off, unwilling to risk exposing Obi-Wan.

  Obi-Wan tucked the servodriver in his pocket and went off in search of the building Shalini had indicated. He knew from experience that wearing dirty coveralls and affecting a purposeful stride would render him close to invisible.

  He found the building and decided his best course was to walk right in. He was making up his plans now as he went along, counting on his connection to the Force to guide him. He found himself in a small vestibule. A security checkpoint was just inside the plain durasteel door.

  "Checking on those valves in the air handlers," Obi-Wan said.

  The officer looked down at his datascreen. "I didn't get an alert."

  Obi-Wan shrugged. "I'll come back. They probably won't blow."

  The officer nodded, then did a double take. "Hold on. Probably?"

  Obi-Wan shrugged again.

  The officer sighed. "I'm not going to get blamed for this one. Come on in." He pressed a button, deactivating the security shield. Obi-Wan strolled in, as though he had all the time in the world.

  As soon as he was out of sight, he walked rapidly down the corridors, looking in open doors and observation windows. Many of the rooms were empty. He rounded a corner and saw a pair of double doors. Through a window he saw a courtyard dappled with sunlight.

  He drew closer to the window. Anakin sat on a bench, his hands in his lap. He didn't appear to have been abused. He wasn't in pain. Nothing about him had altered, and yet… he looked different somehow.

  Something was wrong. Something was off. And Obi-Wan didn't have time to analyze it. He had to get Anakin out of here.

  Chapter Ten

  Anakin was thinking about detachment. It was the goal of Jedi training. It was a discipline that took years to learn. It was not about controlling emotion, but allowing it to flow through you.

  Well, he certainly felt detached. He knew somehow he had been drugged, his brain chemistry altered, even though he wasn't sure how it had been done. Was this how it felt, he wondered, to be truly one with the Force? It was a peaceful place to be, so unlike the battles he usually fought in his mind and heart. Was it so terrible to reach this place through a simple procedure, rather than through years of study and trial? He had admired Obi-Wan's serenity, had envied it. Now he had it. Why did he feel that Obi- Wan would not value it?

  The flash of irritation — he felt at his Master was gone in a moment, almost before he had felt it. Anakin smiled. That was certainly something he was unable to do on his own. Being able to think about his Master without emotion was an interesting experience.

  Sunlight flashed on the double doors. Someone was entering the garden.

  At first the sun was in his eyes. Then he saw that it was his Master, dressed in coveralls. No doubt he had come to rescue him. Anakin noted that he should feel glad. Yet he did not. Did he feel disappointed? He couldn't locate an actual feeling.

  "Anakin? Are you all right?" Obi-Wan's voice was low.

  "I'm fine," he said.

  "We have to get out of here. I have a way out."

  "That's good." It was good that Obi-Wan had a way out. Anakin stood.

  He moved with the same alertness he always had, but something was different. It was as though he was watching himself from above.

  Yet how good it was to fall into step beside Obi-Wan. Good because he felt so peaceful. How pleasant it was to be Obi-Wan's companion and yet not worry about the emotion connected with that.

  Obi-Wan peered into his face. "What did they do to you?"

  Anakin decided at that moment that he must not tell his Master what had been done to him. There was no reason to. No doubt the effect would wear off soon, and until then he wanted to spin out the peace he'd found without Obi-Wan judging how he'd found it.

  "Nothing." Technically, this was true. He'd received no drugs that he knew about. "I suppose they had plans for us."

  Obi-Wan gave him a quick look, as though he didn't believe him. But they didn't have time to stop.

  Obi-Wan led him to a utility closet. There, he gave Anakin a medic's pale blue coat. "Do you still have the disk?"

  The disk. How odd that he hadn't thought of it. But Obi-Wan had, of course. Was that why his Master had come? For the disk. Not for him. There had been a time when he would have pondered on this, and the thought would have given him pain.

  Anakin wrenched his mind back to Obi-Wan's question. It seemed to take more effort than it should to remember what had happened to the disk.

  "I know where it is. It's with my lightsaber."

  Obi-Wan gave him an odd look. "And where is that?" "Where we bathe.

  There are storage bins."

  "Show me."

  Obi-Wan followed behind Anakin so that it would not seem that they were together. Anakin led him into the room with the large tubs. It was empty. He walked to the storage bin, which was jumbled with the same tunics and belts.

  "In here."

  With a sound of exasperation, Obi-Wan plunged his hands into the bin.

  He sorted through the tunics and belts. Anakin bent over to help. He found his belt and removed the disk. Obi-Wan handed Anakin his light-saber. Then he took the disk from Anakin and slipped it inside his tunic.

  "Once we get out of here, we'll head straight for the landing pad,"

  Obi-Wan said crisply. "We're going to have to steal a transport. Can you do that?"

  Why was Obi-Wan talking to him as though he were a fourth-year student? "Of course."

  "Follow me then."

  Obi-Wan led the way. As they approached the security desk, Obi-Wan began talking loudly.

  "If I say that the valve shutoff is broken, then it's broken. There's no need to talk to my superior." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at the security officer. "He's going to tell you the same thing I said. I said, it's broken, you have to shut down the system. If you want to know about a bacta bath, go to a medic. If you want to know about valves, come to me.

  Understand?" Obi-Wan kept talking as the security guard released the security shield. Obi-Wan activated the door and waited for Anakin to walk through. "He's going to say the same thing. You have to shut down the system…."

  The door hissed closed behind them. Obi-Wan headed down the path.

  Anakin strode next to him. He was content to follow his Master's plan.

  No one stopped them as they walked across the com
pound and moved onto the landing pad.

  "This looks fast." Obi-Wan climbed up on a small starship. "We need something that can get us to TyphaDor." He accessed the cockpit and jumped in. "Let's go, Anakin."

  Anakin leaped up on the starship and slid into the cockpit next to his Master. He looked at the controls. "I'm going to have to hot-wire it," he said.

  "That's the idea," Obi-Wan answered.

  Anakin opened the sensor panel. Even though he still existed in the bubble of his calm, he remembered exactly what to do. He switched wires and juiced the ignition. Then he closed the panel and slid back into the pilot's seat. The engine started on the first try.

  "Great," Obi-Wan said with relief. "Let's get out of here. Now," he added urgently, as a security officer began to wave frantically at them. No doubt he assumed they'd forgotten the departure check proceedings.

  Anakin eased the throttle. The graceful ship rose, and he shot away from the camp.

  Obi-Wan let out an audible sigh. "Things aren't usually that easy."

  Anakin glanced at the cockpit indicators. "They aren't this time, either. Apparently by hot-wiring the ship, we skipped an essential step in the procedure."

  A red light was blinking on the console. Obi-Wan leaned forward.

  "What's that?"

  "We should have entered a code on the ground. It's a system to prevent escapes, I guess."

  "And what is it?" Obi-Wan asked impatiently.

  "The ship is programmed to self-destruct," Anakin answered.

  Chapter Eleven

  "I'd guess we have about four seconds," Anakin said as he increased the ship's speed, heading toward the surface.

  "You guess?"

  Anakin cut back on the speed, almost throwing Obi-Wan to the floor. He leveled out the ship. "We'd better jump."

  Anakin's calm was getting to Obi-Wan. "Excellent notion." Considering that the ship is about to explode.

  Anakin raised the cockpit dome. They jumped to the top of their seats.

  Obi-Wan knew he had about two seconds to pick a place to land. Anakin had plotted the course well. They weren't over rocks, but a gradual slope.

  Still, landing would be tricky.

  "Jump!" Anakin shouted as the siren began to sound.

  They jumped. The Force pulsed around them. Obi-Wan looked down at the hard ground below. It became less than solid in his mind, an accumulation of particles and pebbles. It would yield to him. He would fall as lightly as a leaf.

  He landed hard for the second time that day. Obi-Wan groaned. The Force was with him, yes, but the ground was still hard. He landed more like a tree trunk than a leaf. He fell onto his shoulder. He felt his tunic rip and a rock scrape his cheek.

  Anakin landed more gracefully, seemingly without effort, and went into a roll to absorb the shock. Above them, the ship exploded.

  Now the danger was from the sheets of falling, flaming metal. Obi-Wan and Anakin kept rolling down the slope, gaining speed now. Obi-Wan saw a cluster of boulders ahead and simply rolled right up to it. Anakin did the same. They huddled in the shelter of the largest boulder, watching the metal fall to the surface and burn out.

  Obi-Wan leaned against the boulder. "That was fun." "Sorry, Master. I didn't realize."

  "Not your fault. There was no way to know." Obi-Wan sighed. "Without transport, we've got a problem," he said. "We're in the middle of a wilderness infested with gundarks."

  "We've got another problem," Anakin said. He pointed to the sky. A fleet of STAPs and two security transports with mounted laser cannons were headed toward them.

  "No doubt the self-destruct sensor sends a signal back to the camp that an escape is in progress," Anakin said.

  "No doubt," Obi-Wan said dryly. He scanned the area for cover. The only good cover lay in the deep craters. "Here's a question. Would you rather take your chances with a fleet of STAPs or a nest of gundarks?"

  The first laser cannonfire thundered. Obi-Wan and Anakin exchanged a glance, then began to run. They would take their chances in the craters and hope to avoid the gundarks.

  The cannonfire ripped the ground behind them as they ran. The air rolled into them with the shock of the blast. It was hard to stay on their feet as they dashed toward the deeper craters.

  "Not that one!" Obi-Wan shouted as blaster cannon-fire thundered past his ears. He recognized the prints of gundarks outside the crater.

  Anakin veered. He was running fast, moving and weaving, but Obi-Wan picked up no communion with him, no Force connection. It was as though he were running with a stranger.

  Anakin had lied to him. He knew that. Something had happened to him in that medical building. Did whatever it was somehow prevent Anakin from telling Obi-Wan about it? Or was it Anakin's decision to hide something from him?

  I don't know the answer to that. And that means I don't trust him. Not completely. Not anymore.

  One of the security transports dived toward him. Dual laser cannons blasted. Obi-Wan jumped, but the impact of the explosion against the rocks threw him further into the air. The next thing he knew he was falling, blasted headlong, deep into the black hole of a crater… and a gundark nest.

  Chapter Twelve

  Obi-Wan landed on his sore shoulder inside the wall of the crater and ricocheted into midair again. He called on the Force to help him. He pictured a nest of gun-darks at the end of his fall. He felt time slow down. He was able to pick out a clear landing site below.

  He landed on a smooth stone floor and crashed up against a boulder, slamming his head. Relief coursed through him as well as pain. At least he had stopped in relative safety. There was no way to judge how big the crater was. He was more than a hundred meters into a pit left by an astroid thousands of years ago. He couldn't see through the black gloom. He could smell the gundarks, however, and hear them. They found the craters to be ideal nesting grounds, safe from other predators, and good bases from which to launch lethal attacks on their prey.

  It was said that the cry of a gundark could freeze a being's blood.

  Obi-Wan didn't know about that, but the sound of them didn't make him feel very comfortable.

  Gundarks had keen eyesight and good hearing. Their sense of smell was excellent. So far they had not realized an intruder was in their nest, but it was only a matter of time. He would have to use his cable launcher, and it would be a huge risk. The launcher would not reach high enough to get him completely out of danger. The sides of the crater were hundreds of meters high. Climbing out would be a long process, and would bring him into close proximity with the creatures.

  He looked around cautiously. Through the gray gloom he could see now that tucked into the sides of the crater were deep caves. That was the source of the gun-darks' noise. They were nesting there.

  He peered above. He wondered how Anakin was doing with those security droids. Had he found shelter?

  The roar of gundarks suddenly echoed in the crater. Obi-Wan began to quietly move away from the sound. He knew that if he was discovered, he could not fight the gundarks alone, even with his lightsaber and the Force.

  There would be too many of them. He would need Anakin.

  He couldn't risk a glowrod. He felt his way forward cautiously. If he could find some footholds in the wall, he could climb it. Climbing would be slower, but it would attract less attention. He would have to risk the journey.

  A roar and the sound of a gundark rolling over made him freeze. He could smell the creature. Surely the creature could smell him. Obi-Wan didn't move. He tried not to sweat. The gundark snorted, then rolled over again. Obi-Wan realized it was asleep.

  He moved carefully away. The ground was more uneven here. Several centimeters of fine dust covered some kind of rock shale. It was slippery and the rocks shifted under his weight. When a rock slithered and cracked, he held his breath.

  Nothing. The gundarks roared again, but their roars had covered up the sound of his movement. And the one in the cave to his left was still sleeping.

  Obi-Wan felt the sid
e of the crater at last. He ran his hand along it.

  It was pockmarked with holes. Good. He should be able to climb it without the launcher.

  He put one foot in a cavity and tested it. Then he cautiously lifted himself up. So far, so good. He climbed up a few more meters.

  He was balanced to take his next step when he felt a soft breath tickle his ear. Now he knew what it meant to have his blood freeze. He felt as though his veins were clogged with ice.