The Shadow Trap Page 9

  its presence. Obi-Wan glided to a stop, and they jumped out of the speeder.

  They hurried along the few remaining meters. The tunnel curved ahead.

  Omega must be somewhere beyond the curve.

  Walking slowly and cautiously now, they rounded the corner. They had

  come to a large landing area. The doors were slid back into the walls,

  revealing the large open space. Omega stood talking to a man dressed in

  heavy armor.

  Anakin saw rows upon rows of bins marked with their contents.

  Fl©chette launchers. Flamethrowers. Missile tubes. There were enough

  weapons here to mount an invasion.

  Which, of course, was the point.

  "A troop of battle droids and some guards," Obi-Wan murmured. "Nothing

  we can't handle."

  "Prepared for this, he was not," Yoda said.

  The seeker buzzed closer. Suddenly, a shadow moved, and blaster fire

  erupted. The seeker exploded into shards of metal.

  "Got it," Feeana said. "Looks like we have company. Just as I told

  you."

  From behind Feeana, the battle droids appeared, rolling into attack

  formation. First one line, then another, and another. A grenade launcher

  rolled into place.

  Omega smiled, and Anakin realized that he had known they were coming.

  Feeana had betrayed them.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Obi-Wan saw at once they were hopelessly outnumbered. Behind the

  attack droids row after row of gang soldiers appeared, all of them armed

  with repeating blasters. They wouldn't lack for additional weaponry. It was

  piled up around them.

  Behind his troops, Omega stood on a gravsled with Feeana. Omega's arms

  were crossed, as if in expectation of a staged battle for his pleasure, and

  a slight smile was on his face.

  "Do we have a plan?" Anakin asked hopefully.

  Yoda drew his lightsaber. "Time for strategy, it is not. Time for

  battle, it is."

  Obi-Wan felt the Force move, a giant wave that propelled him forward

  into the room. He caught the flow and felt it charge his first move, a

  devastating sweep at five attack droids at once. He cut a swath through

  them all and they clattered to the floor, smoking.

  Omega's smile slipped, just a fraction.

  Yoda had moved forward with Obi-Wan and Anakin, but his style was less

  dramatic than Obi-Wan's sweeps and Anakin's whirling lightsaber. His arm

  barely seemed to move; his attacks seemed more flicks than stabs. Yet ten

  attack droids were on the floor in a heap of twisted metal.

  Obi-Wan saw the heavy durasteel containers suddenly move, floating up

  in the air, propelled by Yoda's use of the Force. As they hung above, the

  hinged lids opened, and flamethrowers spilled out in a fiery arc. Spewing

  fire, they rained down on the rest of the weapons. The blast of discharged

  explosives filled the air, smoke rose, and the remaining cache of weapons

  fused from the intense heat.

  The line of gang soldiers stumbled back from the fiery spectacle,

  coughing from the acrid smoke. They wavered.

  "Forward!" Omega screamed.

  "Gladly," Obi-Wan said, and he charged forward, Anakin and Yoda at his

  side. Their lightsabers were hums of glowing energy. The Force moved, and

  droids went flying. The others were reduced to scrap. They mowed through

  the second line of droids, and then the next.

  The soldiers stumbled backward. Some began to flee.

  "Hold the line!" Omega shouted. Then he turned his back and leaped off

  the gravsled.

  Obi-Wan saw Yoda lift his hand and send a trio of attack droids

  smashing against the wall. Even Anakin now was using a Force push to clear

  his path to attack the next line of droids. Obi-Wan had time to admire his

  Padawan's form, balance, and concentration. Clearly, Yoda's summoning of

  the Force had brought something out in Anakin. He was fighting more

  brilliantly than Obi-Wan had ever seen.

  So Obi-Wan felt confident in leaving him with Yoda to finish off the

  droids. Omega was about to escape.

  He gathered the Force and leaped, clearing the attack lines of droids

  and sailing over the retreating gang soldiers, who did not bother to try to

  stop him.

  A hundred meters ahead, Feeana was facing what appeared to be a smooth

  tunnel wall made of a plastoid material. She pressed something at the side,

  and 'a recessed door slid open. Omega and Feeana disappeared inside. The

  door slid shut behind them.

  Obi-Wan raced toward it. He did not bother to search for the release,

  but plunged his lightsaber into the plastoid wall. He cut a hole in seconds

  and pushed his way through.

  He found himself in what was obviously meant one day to be a transit

  tunnel. It had been blasted out of rock, but the job had not been

  completed. Razor-sharp shards of rock jutted out from the sides of the

  tunnel.

  A small, sleek silver cruiser was parked in a flat area ahead. Obi-Wan

  did not recognize the make, but it was clear to him that Omega would be

  able to fly aboveground and then blast out of Mawan airspace into the

  galaxy. He would escape again. He was seconds away from doing it. Even now,

  he was accessing the cockpit shell to climb in, Feeana at his heels.

  Not this time.

  "Always have a second exit plan," Omega said as he stood inside the

  craft, the cockpit dome still raised. "My father taught me that."

  Something about the expression on Omega's face stopped Obi-Wan from

  moving forward. Omega would sacrifice Feeana in order to escape. Obi-Wan

  knew it, Omega knew it. The only one who didn't know it was Feeana. She was

  still on the hull of the ship, impatiently waiting for Omega to move so she

  could slide into the passenger seat.

  Obi-Wan was also puzzled. In his investigation of Omega's background,

  he had learned that Omega never knew his father.

  "Surprised?" Omega said. He was almost drawling now, as if he had all

  the time in the world. "I had reasons to keep my father's identity a

  secret. But I think it's time I had the pleasure of telling you. I am the

  son of Xanatos of Telos."

  Xanatos! Obi-Wan felt as though he had been struck. The former Padawan

  of Qui-Gon's who had turned to the dark side. Qui-Gon's greatest enemy.

  Obi-Wan had seen the evil that Xanatos had done. Xanatos had even invaded

  the Temple and tried to kill Yoda.

  "You killed my father," Omega said. "He was greater than his Master,

  and Qui-Gon couldn't bear it, so he killed him - with your help."

  "He killed himself," Obi-Wan said. "He jumped into a toxic pool on

  Telos rather than be captured by Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon tried to save him."

  "My father would never have killed himself!" Omega shouted.

  "You have spent your life constructing your own brand of truth," Obi-

  Wan said. "But it is not the real truth."

  "Granta, let me in," Feeana said, an edge of pleading to her voice.

  "We have to get out of here!"

  "My father protected me," Omega said. "He told me tales of the Jedi

  and the Temple and how they misunderstood the Force." A bitterness crept

  into his tone. "He had hoped that I would inherit his gift. But he knew

  when I was an
infant that I would never be Force-sensitive."

  Obi-Wan saw the opening. He saw the pain in Omega. "And he was

  disappointed," he said.

  "He left me his company!" Omega burst out, as if he were bragging. As

  if his father had left him something better than love, better than

  approval. "He left me his fortune in Offworld."

  Offworld was the corporation that Xanatos had formed, a mining

  operation that had used slaves and bribes and violence to build its wealth.

  Omega didn't create his wealth out of nothing. He had started with it.

  Obi-Wan wanted to kick himself down the tunnel. He should have

  guessed! He should have known that beneath the jibes and insults there was

  something personal, something bitter, in the way Omega felt about him and

  the Jedi. He should have known!

  He had the clues - why else would Sano Sauro pluck the promising boy

  away and send him to school? Sauro was hardly a benefactor to the poor.

  Sauro had known Xanatos well, had operated himself on Telos. And then there

  was the mystery of the boy's origins - why else were the mother and son on

  Nierport Seven, a moon that was basically a refueling stop? They were

  hiding, of course. Xanatos had sent them there. And after he died, they

  didn't have the resources to leave.

  Omega blamed Obi-Wan for his father's death. He was bitter that he did

  not inherit his father's gift. So he would chase the Force all over the

  galaxy. He would grow even wealthier than his father had been. He would

  prove to a man no longer living that he was worthy.

  Now Obi-Wan even saw Xanatos in his son. The eyes with the metallic

  glint of blue durasteel. The thick black hair.

  He had every clue, and he had missed it.

  "You are just like your Master," Omega sneered. "My father told me

  about Qui-Gon, how he held him back. You do the same with Anakin. Control

  is what you seek, and you hide it behind Jedi lessons." He spat the word

  "Jedi" like a curse. "Why don't you let him be himself? Why don't you show

  him what power he can have?"

  Obi-Wan didn't have to turn. The Force hummed in the tunnel, and he

  knew Anakin was behind him. Anakin had heard everything.

  "It ends here, Omega," Obi-Wan said.

  "It will never end until you are dead," Omega said. He reached out and

  grabbed Feeana's ankles. With a quick, powerful thrust, he threw her off

  the hull of the ship. Screaming, Feeana flew in midair, straight for the

  jagged, knife-edged rocks.

  Anakin leaped. The Force added distance and precision. He caught

  Feeana in his arms just millimeters from the pointed shards, twisting in

  midair in order to land safely.

  Obi-Wan, too, had leaped, trying to land on the cruiser hull. But he

  had to swerve to avoid Anakin, and Omega had already gunned the engine. He

  took off, the cockpit dome still unengaged. Obi-Wan landed badly and fell

  to one knee.

  The cockpit dome slid down. The cruiser gained speed.

  Omega had escaped again.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Anakin watched as his Master rose. A heaviness seemed to lie on Obi-

  Wan, a weariness Anakin had never seen before.

  He kept a firm grip on Feeana, who was staring down the tunnel in

  shock, amazed that she had been left behind.

  Anakin knew that all his questions were in his eyes. He had heard of

  Xanatos. Every Jedi student had heard the story of the Temple invasion.

  Obi-Wan had told him a little of it. Now Anakin realized how much more

  there was to know.

  "We will discuss this later, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "We have a mission

  to complete."

  When they emerged back into the substation, the battle was over. Decca

  was just arriving with her troops.

  They were staring in disbelief at the litter of broken droids, fused

  weapons, captured forces, and only three Jedi.

  Obi-Wan stepped over a pile of droids to speak to Yoda. "Omega has

  escaped. What should we do now with Decca?"

  "A little reason now we shall use," Yoda said. "A dead end, she has

  come to. Listen now, she will." He moved forward to talk to Decca.

  "I thought you would lose," Feeana said numbly to Anakin. "I was

  afraid for my troops. I had had some dealings with Granta. He always said I

  could join him. He said he would protect me and my gang. I was such a fool.

  "

  There was nothing to say, Anakin saw. He led Feeana to sit with the

  other prisoners and then returned to Obi-Wan.

  "So your vision was true," Obi-Wan said. "Yaddle met her death here.

  We just did not know how to interpret it."

  Anakin nodded. A lump rose in his throat. Why did having the vision

  make him feel so responsible?

  "And yet it was not true, as well," Obi-Wan said. "The vision was not

  about Shmi. It was about you. It was about the temptations in your life."

  He hesitated. "What did Omega tell you?"

  Anakin hesitated and then said, "That the Jedi were holding me back.

  That I could free the slaves on Tatooine, free my mother. He said he would

  help me do it."

  "That must have tempted you," Obi-Wan said.

  Anakin said nothing. He could not admit it, but he could not lie.

  "It is all right, Anakin. It is understandable that you would want to

  ease your mother's life. But being a Jedi means that your ties are to all

  beings. You are the only Jedi with such a strong, deep tie, and it makes it

  harder for you. But remember, a life of service is not only about giving

  up. It is about giving."

  "I don't believe you're holding me back," Anakin said. "I hate him for

  saying it."

  "Hate is not an answer," Obi-Wan said. "Understanding is." He sighed.

  "Xanatos could twist feelings in just that way. He was a dangerous being.

  Just as Omega is. We'll meet him again, I'm sure of it."

  Anakin was sure of it, too.

  Yoda walked slowly back to them using his walking stick, his

  lightsaber tucked into his utility belt, his robe swinging. It was the Yoda

  Anakin knew best, the wise teacher, rather than the warrior. He was glad he

  had seen the warrior, however. He had seen how powerful Yoda was, and yet

  he knew somehow that he had seen only one small corner of his power.

  "Leaving the planet, Decca is," Yoda said.

  "How did you manage that?" Obi-Wan asked.

  "Informed her I did that the Jedi are thinking of setting up a

  satellite Temple on Mawan," Yoda said. "Seemed to dismay her, it did."

  "We're thinking of setting up a satellite Temple?" Obi-Wan asked,

  surprised.

  "From time to time, discuss an outpost, the Council does," Yoda said.

  "Merely suggesting it, I was. Enough it was to convince her that it was

  best to leave." He blinked at Anakin. "See you do that the right diplomacy

  is always better than battles, young Padawan?"

  Anakin nodded obediently, but something in his face must have alerted

  Yoda, for suddenly his gray-blue gaze grew keen. "Know you do that Yaddle's

  death was not your fault," he said.

  "I had the vision," Anakin burst out. "I should have known!"

  "And Obi-Wan and myself?" Yoda asked sharply. "Told us of the vision

  you did, and yet know we did not. Blame us
as well, do you?"

  "Of course not," Anakin said. "But things in the vision started to

  come true when I was with Omega. I should never have asked Yaddle to meet

  with him. I should have refused. I should have tried to escape."

  "When you look back, lose your place on the path, you do." Yoda's

  voice gentled. "Learn you will, Anakin, that stars move and stars fall, and

  nothing at all do they have to do with you."

  Yoda walked off with his Master. Anakin was grateful for his words.

  Why hadn't his Master said them? When he'd said that Yaddle's death

  was his fault, Obi-Wan had remained silent.

  He knew in his bones that he had caused a chain of events that led to

  a Jedi Master's murder. Even if that didn't make him responsible, he knew

  it would make it hard for him to sleep at night.

  The vision hadn't been wrong. The essential truth it had left him with

  was part of him now. He felt it inside him like a wound. It was loss. The

  gulf between him and Obi-Wan was wider than ever.