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

  A baby gundark had snuggled into a deep cavity in the wall. It was sleeping only centimeters from him. Just… don't… wake… it up…

  He could not have been faced with a worse prospect. It was disaster to fall into a nest of treacherous beasts. It was a catastrophe to blunder into one of their young.

  Holding his breath, Obi-Wan began to ease his way past.

  RRRRAAAAWWWWKKK!

  The roar split the air. The crater shook with the impact of a gundark's running footsteps. The young gun-dark awoke. Rrrraaaaawwww!

  Obi-Wan dropped the distance he'd traveled back to the floor. He ran.

  The gundark let out a scream and leaped up, heading straight to its young to ensure it was safe. Then it leaped down to deal with Obi-Wan.

  The creature wasn't tall, but the strength of its four arms was immense. A common tactic was to grab prey by the claws of the massive arms that rose from the gundark's shoulders. Then the creature crushed the captured prey to death with the two slender arms that rose out of the muscled chest. The long, sharp claws could also rip a being to shreds. Of course, a gundark was also capable of simply tearing off the head of its prey with the large teeth that jutted out of its lower jaw. Once its bloodlust had been awakened, rare was the gundark that did not achieve its objective of rendering its victim into pieces of flesh and bone.

  Obi-Wan was completely exposed, and he knew that caves were all around him. He couldn't hide. He drew his lightsaber even as he backed up but held it by his side, trying to show the creature he did not mean it harm.

  But gundarks were not known to be reasonable.

  The attack was ferocious. The gundark made for him, all four arms reaching, trying to claw him. Huge teeth snapped and saliva poured out.

  Obi-Wan smelled heat and anger. He was forced to slash at the gundark as it came at him relentlessly, its howl filling the cavity of the crater.

  He heard the thump of footsteps. More gundarks were approaching. Obi- Wan fumbled for his cable launcher. He'd have to risk it. He sent it flying above. It hit something. He tested the line. He activated the launch, but the gundark grabbed him with one claw and threw him back down on the floor.

  He felt the jolt in every bone. He rolled away as the creature swung down to finish him off. The gundark missed, scoring the rock with deep grooves.

  Four more gundarks thundered into the space, snarling, ready for the kill. Obi-Wan felt his back hit the wall of the crater. Desperately, he looked above. He reached out to the Force even as he sent up a shout he knew had little chance of being heard.

  "Anakin! Anakin, I need you!"

  Chapter Thirteen

  If Anakin had felt that there was a veil between him and his surroundings before, he was now beginning to feel breaks in that veil.

  There were moments of clarity, brief flashes, in which he knew he was seeing reality. During those moments he felt something deep within him, like a hook lodged in his heart, and he was glad to slip behind the veil again.

  It was odd that he was able to achieve battle-mind, but he had. The movements were so ingrained in him that he leaped and twisted and ran without feeling the effort, much as he did when the Force was with him. He had taken down at least five security droids on STAPs, and maneuvered so that another two fired at each other. He still had three more STAPs to contend with, as well as the Vanqor guards on swoops. He was fighting as well as he ever had.

  When Obi-Wan had been blasted into the crater, Anakin hadn't had more than a second to react. He assumed that his Master could handle whatever was down there. Obi-Wan could get out by himself.

  Somewhere inside, Anakin knew this was a curious decision for him to make, one that he wouldn't have made normally. But it seemed logical, too.

  Obi-Wan was a Jedi, used to getting out of tight spots.

  Besides, Obi-Wan had always told him not to jump into things, to take his time. So why shouldn't he? His first priority was to take care of the droids and get the disk to Typha-Dor.

  Anakin felt the veil slip again. It was happening more frequently now.

  He missed his calm. He wanted to be back in the garden. He didn't want to feel fear, or apprehension, or pain. He wanted to feel serene, as though nothing could touch him. He wanted it so badly.

  Gundarks in the crater suddenly roared. Anakin fended off blaster rifle fire and drew closer to the crater. He thought he heard Obi-Wan calling him. The call came from within him, as though he heard it in his heart.

  Something tugged at him. The hook that was buried so deep that he could barely feel it. He did not want to reach for it. He wanted it to lay buried.

  Obi-Wan needed him.

  But I needed him. And when he came, he asked for the disk. He did not come for me.

  The pain this thought caused him to grab the remains of the veil. He wanted to wrap himself into its brand of unconsciousness.

  I don't want to feel anymore!

  Anakin leaped up and severed a droid in two that had the misfortune to pilot his STAP too close to the ground. Hunks of smoking metal clattered to the rocks below.

  He realized what was wrong, what the essential conflict within him was. To be a Jedi was to follow his feelings. But if his feelings tortured him, what was he to do with them?

  Grief.

  Guilt.

  Resentment.

  Shame.

  He had felt all of these things. Because of leaving his mother, because of Yaddle, because of Obi-Wan. I don't want to feel!

  He struck out savagely at a STAP that had come in low, its lone droid pilot firing dual blaster rifles. He cut the droid's head off.

  "Anakin!" He could hear Obi-Wan clearly now, his voice strained and desperate.

  I don't want to feel!

  The hook in his heart seared him, and he knew its name. It was love.

  The love he felt for his Master was lodged firmly within him. It was a connection that had grown from the first moment Obi-Wan had told him that he would take him and train him.

  He had learned one thing about love: It was besides the point. It didn't make anything smoother, or better. Most of the time, it just complicated things.

  Why would he want to feel again, when feeling hurt so much?

  Why would he want to remember Shmi with guilt as well as pleasure?

  Why would he want to revisit his torment over the death of Yaddle?

  Why would he want to take up the burden of caring what Obi-Wan thought or felt about him?

  Because it's right.

  Anakin groaned aloud. The thing he couldn't get away from, the certainty within him, the essential truth he had learned through all his training at the Temple, that was what he could see now. He knew what was right.

  He ripped the veil and felt the Force flood in with all its power. He realized that the Zone of Self-Containment had not allowed him to access the Force except at the most basic level, and he hadn't even known it. Now he felt it grow.

  Along with the Force he felt his emotions again. They came at him in a rush, as if they'd been held back and now were free to overflow. They bombarded him as cruelly as the laser cannons shooting above. He wanted to sink to his knees from the tide washing over him, all the emotion he had suppressed and hoped never to feel again.

  "Anakin!"

  His Master's cry filled him.

  He stood, drawing the fire of the droids and guards. He began to run.

  Explosives shattered the rocks behind him. Two droids on STAPs dived, shooting both blaster rifles at him, trying to catch him between them.

  Accessing the Force, he tumbled through the gap between them, allowing the power of the blast to catapult him in the direction of his Master's voice, straight into the dark pit of the gundark nest.

  Chapter Fourteen

  One gundark had raked Obi-Wan's back with its claws. Another had thrown him against the wall. His left leg was going numb. He had killed one gundark, mortally wounded another… but would more come? He was weakening.

  He was losing. He was tra
pped in the dark with the roaring, ravenous beasts, and he had no doubt he would be torn limb from limb. They knew they had wounded him, and they were circling in for the kill.

  If this was where he would become one with the Force, so be it. Yet he would fight to his last breath to prevent it. He would prefer a less gruesome end than this.

  Obi-Wan thrust his lightsaber into a gundark's vulnerable neck. The blow made the gundark scream in agony and retreat. Obi-Wan whirled and retreated in turn as another bounded forward, its red eyes blazing with the scent of the kill.

  Suddenly he felt the Force fill the cavernous space. A flash of light appeared overhead, and Obi-Wan heard a whistling noise. It was Anakin, leaping straight into the circle of gundarks, his lightsaber held in attack position.

  When Obi-Wan had wondered if Anakin had abandoned him, he hadn't blamed him. He knew their mission demanded that Anakin get to Typha-Dor.

  But it had hurt him to think his Padawan could leave him.

  How could he have held such a thought? Anakin would never have abandoned him. Anakin would never betray him.

  Anakin landed on a gundark's back. He plunged his lightsaber into the soft tissue at its neck. As the gun-dark thrashed, Anakin leaped down and, twisting to avoid a descending claw, slashed at the next gundark, cutting off two of its arms.

  Anakin had given Obi-Wan time to take a breath. He was hampered by his leg and shoulder, but he was able to join Anakin, forcing the gundarks back toward the deep cave that had formed under the curve of the crater wall.

  Anakin took the lead, fighting brilliantly, his lightsaber moving to deflect as well as attack, his footwork always pressing the gundarks back while protecting Obi-Wan from another assault.

  From another cave, three gundarks tried to outflank the Jedi. Anakin sensed them moments before Obi-Wan. The Padawan somersaulted into them, taking them off guard. While Obi-Wan dodged to draw the attention of the first group, he watched Anakin spring up amid the second group. One gundark lost a leg, another its sight. A third recoiled as Anakin slashed at its chest.

  The gundarks piled back into the cave, howling and screaming from their wounds.

  "Thanks for coming!" Obi-Wan shouted over the noise.

  "Any time."

  There was a flash to Anakin's gaze that he knew well. His eyes were bright.

  Something has changed, Obi-Wan thought. Anakin is back.

  "They haven't given up," Obi-Wan said. "They're waiting." He indicated his leg. "I can't climb very well."

  Anakin activated his cable launcher. "Then let's go the easy way."

  "There are gundarks nesting in the cave walls."

  "I saw them on my way down." Anakin wasn't troubled by the knowledge, that was clear. He grabbed Obi-Wan as if he weighed nothing and activated the cable.

  They landed on a ledge that was free of a nest. Anakin activated the cable again.

  "You planned the journey back as you came down," Obi-Wan said.

  They landed again, and Anakin activated the other cable line. "Yes."

  Obi-Wan marveled at that. It was what made Anakin a great Jedi. His battle mind was total and went everywhere. He saw every possibility, planned every move, and had even planned his escape.

  They reached the surface and climbed over the lip of the crater. Obi- Wan took a deep breath, relieved to have left the horrifying nest.

  He prepared to take cover when they emerged, but the sky was empty. He could see twisted metal and decimated droids scattered about.

  "Did you get them all?"

  "No, there were three STAPs left, plus two guards on swoops," Anakin said, tucking his cable launcher back into his belt. "I thought it was time to get you. I made it look as though a blast sent me into the crater. I imagine that when they saw me fall into the gundark nest, they thought I was done for."

  "Most likely. No one survives a gundark nest." Obi-Wan looked around.

  "Now what? The only place to steal a transport is the camp. And I don't think breaking in will be as easy the next time." He looked over at the scattered remains of the exploded STAPs. "Can you make something out of those that will fly?"

  Anakin surveyed the scraps of metal on the ground. "Are you serious? I couldn't even make a helmet out of it."

  "How about fuel?"

  "Possibly, but as you know, STAPs don't carry much."

  "I left the swoop about twenty-five kilometers from here. We could refuel it"

  "We won't get far," Anakin said. "I say we head back to the camp.

  Maybe I can figure out the departure code so we don't get blown up. How did you get into the camp, anyway?"

  "You don't want to know." Obi-Wan groaned. He certainly wasn't eager to hook himself onto a flying transport again.

  Obi-Wan's comlink signaled and, surprised, he answered it.

  A familiar voice rang dryly in his ear. "Well, I'm here to rescue your sorry self once again. Honestly, I don't know what you'd do without me."

  Obi-Wan grinned. "I think we found a ride," he told Anakin.

  Chapter Fifteen

  They had only minutes to wait until two red-and white Jedi cruisers landed a few meters away. Siri was the first to appear, striding down the landing ramp, her short blond hair glinting in the sun. "Need a lift?"

  "If you insist," Obi-Wan responded.

  Obi-Wan and Siri had won their friendship through trials. They had always bantered and bickered. A deep respect lay underneath their light words, but it had taken some time for Anakin to see it.

  Anakin was glad to see Siri, but seeing her meant he would have to see her Padawan, Ferus Olin. He wished that someone else — anyone else — had turned up to rescue them. The two of them had never gotten along, and things were worse between them since their mission on Andara, when Ferus had been abducted and Anakin had withheld the knowledge from Obi-Wan.

  Anakin felt he'd had good reasons, but neither Obi-Wan or Ferus had understood them.

  Ferus emerged from the starship. Tall and erect, he greeted Obi-Wan and Anakin with a proper nod. "Master Kenobi. Anakin."

  "We're on another mission to the Xanlanner system," Siri said. "We got your distress signal. A couple of old friends of yours are ferrying me, Ferus, Ry-Gaul, and Tru Veld."

  Anakin brightened. "Tru is here?" Tru Veld was his best friend. That would lighten the burden of seeing Ferus again.

  He wondered if he would have felt this much pleasure if he had still been in the Zone of Self-Containment. He realized that the zone also blocked out feelings of intense happiness as well. He had paid a price for his serenity.

  Obi-Wan suddenly moved toward the starship that Siri had emerged from.

  "I should have known!" he called. "That was such a wobbly landing!"

  Anakin smiled. The landing had been perfect. But Obi-Wan was allowed to tease his oldest friend, Garen MuIn. They had gone through Temple training together, just as Anakin and Tru had.

  "You're one to talk about wobbling," Garen said, noting Obi-Wan's slight limp. There was concern underneath his words. "You look like you could use a medic."

  "Maybe a touch of bacta," Obi-Wan admitted. "I tangled with a gundark or two."

  "Ouch," Garen said. He laid a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Let's find the medpac."

  Tru Veld bounded down the ramp of the other star-ship. His Master, Ry- Gaul, followed more slowly, his keen gray eyes surveying the landscape. Tru hurried up to Anakin, his silver eyes glinting. He was a Teevan, and had long, many-jointed arms and legs that caused him to walk like a rolling wave of water.

  "Our paths cross, and it makes me glad," he said to Anakin.

  "We're certainly glad to see you," Anakin said. "We have to get to Typha-Dor immediately."

  Tru nodded. "That's why we're here."

  "Who is that?" Anakin asked. He indicated a Jedi, a human woman with bright orange hair. She was compact and fit, and stood talking to Obi-Wan, Ry-Gaul, and Siri as Garen administered bacta to Obi-Wan's wound.

  "That's Clee Rhara. She's an amazing pil
ot. She — " "Once ran the pilot program for Jedi students," Anakin said. "She's a legend."

  Clee Rhara walked over. "Anakin Skywalker. We meet at last." Her shrewd eyes studied him. "I was a good friend of Qui-Gon's. We were students together."

  "I'm honored to meet you, Master Rhara," Anakin said.