by Jude Watson
“We still need more information,” Anakin said carefully. “Surely you can see that we can’t simply take your word for what you say.”
“I’m hardly about to compromise the safety of those in the resistance just to reassure you,” Joylin said.
“We’re not asking you to reveal identities or secrets,” Anakin told him. “But what makes you think you can overthrow Teda so easily? When are you going to do it? What will happen when you do? You are asking us to trust you. You must trust us. We are taking a risk for you. You must do the same.”
Joylin hesitated. He looked at both of them. He did not glance behind at the watching, shadowy group.
It’s his decision, Anakin thought. He’s the boss.
“The revolt is to be the night of the reception,” Joylin said.
Someone behind him gasped. Someone else said, “No!”
Joylin only half turned. “We must tell them! Once they know, they will help us.” He turned back to Anakin and Ferus. “We’ll start by disrupting communication systems—just some low-level interference at first. We have already infiltrated Teda’s Security Management Control. We have one chance to sabotage the CIP controls for the droid army that Teda uses to control the city and guard the wall. If we strike that blow simultaneously with the capture of all government officials and Teda himself, we can win without bloodshed. We’ll simply lock the officials and their personal troops inside their houses. Without the officials, without the droid army, we can take over.”
Ferus and Anakin didn’t say anything for a moment.
“You can assure us that the droid army will be in your control?” Ferus asked.
“Yes.”
“You will pay us double the rate?” Anakin asked. He named the figure.
“We have it. It has taken years,” Joylin said. “Every family, every individual, has gone without in order to feed our treasury.”
“We’re not interested in how you got it,” Ferus said with a wave of his hand. “But we need to assure for ourselves that you do have it. Half before, half after the revolt.”
“Agreed,” Joylin said.
“We need more detailed information on where we can find the codes,” Anakin said, all business now.
“All you have to do is get beyond the guards. I understand that you are somewhat expert at that.”
Anakin and Ferus nodded. “We must take this back to Slam and Valadon,” Anakin said. “We will need a way to contact you.”
“We will be contacting you tomorrow morning,” Joylin said. “Don’t look for us. We’ll be there. Now, I’ll escort you as far as the wall. I’m sure you were told it is planted with cloudflower vines. It may not surprise you to find that isn’t the case. Like peace and justice on Romin, the name of the wall is just an illusion.”
Anakin and Ferus stood. “Just one more thing,” Anakin said.
Joylin looked at him. With a deal so close to being made, his anxiety had increased. Anakin could feel it humming like a charge in the air.
“We are interested in one of the residents here,” Anakin continued casually. “A scientist named Jenna Zan Arbor. You must guarantee safe passage for her off-planet. We will arrange transportation.”
Ferus’s eyes flickered with surprise at Anakin’s proposal. What if Joylin backed out? Anakin knew he wouldn’t. Joylin was good at concealment. It was most likely a way of life for him. But Anakin could feel his hunger.
If the coup went through as planned, Zan Arbor would be desperate to get away. The Slams could offer her a way out. With the collapse of Teda, her security would crumble. She would need help.
“That is not a problem,” Joylin said. “As long as you are in.”
Chapter Eight
“He tells us there is no risk, but of course there is risk,” Ferus said later that evening. Obi-Wan, Siri, Anakin, and Ferus had eaten a meal around a tiled table in a small, lovely room overlooking the garden. They were careful to speak of nothing of consequence during the meal. They had to assume that the villa had listening devices. But afterward they had gone into the garden. Then they had continued the discussion that had begun when Anakin and Ferus had first returned to the villa and beckoned to Obi-Wan and Siri to come outside.
“It’s a risk worth taking,” Anakin said. Obi-Wan was glad to hear that there was not the usual edge in his voice. Anakin was disagreeing with Ferus. That was usual. But he was doing it without resentment. That was good.
Their adventure together had brought Anakin and Ferus closer. Obi-Wan didn’t delude himself that they were friends. But he did think something had changed.
He kept only half his attention on the argument, letting the words of the others wash over him. With the other half of his mind, he was flipping through the holofile he’d copied at Zan Arbor’s. He had read every word of the uncoded files, enough to tell that she was planning a new operation, this time with partners. Everything depends upon secrecy and speed.
The rest of the files were coded, and he had tried the most difficult formulas he knew to break the code. He had called for help from the Temple and had worked with one of their codebreakers. No luck.
Siri was hanging back, letting the two apprentices discuss the situation. It was good for them to do so, and they were doing it well.
“If we help them, we will be actively supporting an overthrow of power on a planet,” Ferus said. “We have no Senate authorization to do so.”
“We are not the ones overthrowing Teda,” Anakin objected. “And the citizens of Romin are suffering. If we can help them and achieve our mission, why shouldn’t we?”
“Because it can get out of control,” Ferus argued. “Joylin can surprise us. We don’t know anything about this resistance movement. We don’t know who they are or what they want, apart from overthrowing Teda.”
“They are an established resistance group,” Siri broke in. “I contacted Jocasta Nu to ask about them. They have been put down in brutal reprisals, but the movement has been growing steadily in response to Teda’s crackdowns. Madame Nu believes there may be support within Teda’s government as well. They, too, are tired of living in fear. Teda’s prisons are notorious and overcrowded, and you earn a harsh sentence if you displease him. She would not be surprised if many in the army desert. Many of them have families who live outside the wall. They know firsthand the misery and poverty there.”
“You see?” Anakin said. “Joylin and his group are fighting for justice. As we are. We can help them and bring Zan Arbor back to the prison world. You’re making this complicated, Ferus. It isn’t.”
I’m making this too complicated, Obi-Wan thought. It isn’t.
He thought for a moment, remembering Zan Arbor’s primary obsession. He keyed it in as a password: The Force.
The files opened like the motion-sensor doors at the Warm Welcome Inn on Coruscant. One after the other they flashed code accepted. Obi-Wan accessed the first file. The voices of the others faded as he began to scroll through the information.
A chill ran over him, even though the night was warm. The letters pulsed before his eyes. A name he hadn’t expected to see. Yet shouldn’t he have been prepared for it? Wouldn’t Zan Arbor naturally gravitate toward the most powerful criminal in the galaxy, one with the wealth and organization to help her with any scheme she might devise? Or had he contacted her, the one scientist brilliant and amoral enough to join with him? Didn’t they share the obsession with the Force and how it worked?
Granta Omega.
A copy of a message, a profuse thank you from Zan Arbor for Omega’s hosting of their first meeting.
A quick message saying she had to evacuate the Vanqor system and would be in touch.
A confirmation of their next meeting, in which she alluded to their shared interest in the Force.
Another letter, promising to destroy all written records of their correspondence, a promise that of course she had not kept, possibly as security.
Obi-Wan flipped through the next file. The two of them were careful.
They never said exactly what they were planning. Yet it was clear the operation would take place on a large planet in the Core. It would net them not only wealth, but influence.
Siri’s voice broke through his thoughts.
“I’ve listened to you both very carefully, as has Obi-Wan,” she said, shooting him a chastising look, for it was clear to her that he hadn’t been paying attention in the least. “You both make valid points. We must make a decision, however. I think we should go ahead and help Joylin’s group. Obi-Wan?”
“There is another factor we must consider,” Obi-Wan said. “These files indicate that Zan Arbor is in league with Granta Omega.”
“Omega!” Anakin exclaimed in surprise.
Siri and Ferus suddenly became grave. They all knew that these two powerful criminal minds could do more than double the damage if they became partners.
Obi-Wan met Siri’s eyes. She nodded.
“We are going to help the resistance,” Obi-Wan said. “We will take the risk. We need to get Zan Arbor off this planet. We only have tomorrow before our cover could be blown. The best chance we have is if she thinks her safety here is compromised. We will offer her a way out. She will have to take it. There is only one thing.”
Siri cocked an eyebrow at him. He noted that she looked her old self, in her tunic and leggings. It was as if the sight of her in her drifting shimmersilk had been an apparition.
“We might not want to take her to the prison planet,” he continued. “If we do it right, she could lead us to Omega himself.”
“We would have to contact Mace,” Siri said.
Obi-Wan nodded. “I think he would agree. I’ll contact him tonight. It will help us if he can start working on Senate approval for us to help the revolt. But it won’t come in time.”
Suddenly, their mission had grown in importance. Granta Omega could be within their grasp again. This time, Obi-Wan would not lose him.
“We can decide where to take Zan Arbor another time,” Obi-Wan said. “But we should all agree that if we can track Omega through her, we will.”
“I agree,” Siri said quietly.
“I do, too,” Anakin said.
Ferus nodded.
“Now let’s all get some sleep,” Obi-Wan said.
Nevertheless, he knew he would not.
Romin had only one moon, but it was a large, luminous satellite. That night its light seemed enormous to Obi-Wan. It kept him from the sleep he tried vainly to reach.
At last he gave up. He rose from his sleep couch, opened the double doors to the stone patio outside, and walked into the fragrant garden. The air felt heavy. The heat from the day had lingered. Obi-Wan moved among the flowering shrubs. He found the play of moonlight on the glossy leaves more calming than lying on his sleep couch, waiting to feel drowsy. He would let the sights and sounds around him lull him into a kind of relaxation that he hoped would be as restorative as sleep.
He followed a path crowded with bushes that suddenly opened into a small grassy clearing. Ferus sat cross-legged in the middle of the clearing, his eyes closed. Obi-Wan stopped, not wishing to disturb him.
He was turning to go back to the house when Ferus spoke.
“You couldn’t sleep either, Master Kenobi?”
Obi-Wan moved forward. He sat on the grass next to Ferus. It was slightly damp and smelled sweet.
“There are many questions on my mind,” Obi-Wan said. “Sleep won’t come.”
“We face a great enemy,” Ferus said. “And now we find that she’s met with a greater one.”
“Exactly.”
“And that is why you and my Master made your decision this evening,” Ferus said.
“You don’t agree.” Obi-Wan spoke carefully.
“I don’t disagree,” Ferus said. “I recognize that I don’t have the experience to refute what you say.”
Obi-Wan stifled a sigh. He could see why Anakin had a hard time with Ferus. Ferus always said the correct thing. Obi-Wan preferred the spontaneity of his own apprentice.
“I sense your impatience,” Ferus went on. “You think I only say the correct thing just to impress you or my Master.”
“I don’t think that,” Obi-Wan said. “Well, not exactly.”
“Can I help it if the Jedi wisdom I have learned by rote speaks to my heart?” Ferus asked. “I don’t say things because they will please you. I say them because I feel they are true. It’s always been that way, from my earliest memory of the Temple. When I was taught, it was as though I already knew. Every Jedi lesson seemed to fit a groove inside my mind that had already been worn. It was why learning was so easy for me.”
“You have a great connection to the Force,” Obi-Wan said. “No doubt that is why.”
“So does Anakin,” Ferus pointed out. “Far greater than mine. I can see that. Yet he did not have the problems I did at the Temple. He has made great friends there.”
Obi-Wan was surprised. “But you were popular in your class. Everyone looked up to you.”
“Yes, I was the one whom everybody liked, but whom nobody wanted to talk to. I was welcome at every table in the eating areas, but not invited to any particular one. Everyone was my friend, but nobody was my particular friend.” Ferus picked some grass and let it fall idly through his fingers. “I’ve heard the names they call me. A tunic stuffed with feathers and the Force. The ruler of Planet Dull.”
Obi-Wan frowned. He had not known these things.
Ferus waved a hand. “It’s all right. It’s all true, isn’t it? I’ve never been able to joke like the others. I know I can be pompous, too correct. I never learned how to tease the other students. They came to me for help with their studies, they looked to me for answers, but no one wanted to be my friend. Not my true friend, the way Anakin has Tru Veld and Darra.”
Was it a trick of the moonlight, or did Ferus suddenly look younger than his years? Usually, he looked much older. His noble features and the streak of gold in his dark hair had given him a look of maturity early on.
But now he looked uncertain, questioning. Young.
“You will find friendships later in life,” Obi-Wan said, after a pause. “Friendships are hard to maintain for the Jedi. It is why we treasure them. Let go of your longing, and what you want will come.”
“Or else I am meant to stay the way I am,” Ferus said. “I wish I had what Anakin has. His connection to the Force is strong, yet he also connects to beings very strongly.”
“Yes,” Obi-Wan agreed. “I’ve seen this. It’s something Qui-Gon Jinn had, too.”
“I know that Anakin will never be my friend. He knows I fear for him. I give him warnings when I know I shouldn’t, when I know it’s none of my business. So he resents me. I thought in the beginning…since I was a little older…that I could tell him things that other students couldn’t. It’s just I see things a fellow student would see.”
Here it was. Ferus had been leading to this. He wanted to tell him something. Obi-Wan felt impatient with him, but he calmed the impulse. He felt protective of Anakin. Ferus didn’t understand him. He had always been the correct student, the one who did everything right. He could not begin to know the fears and regrets Anakin had to deal with.
“And what do you see, Ferus?”
“I fear for him,” Ferus said quietly. “To admire him and feel fear for him at the same time didn’t make sense to me. It took me a long time to understand why I feared for him. I wanted to be sure there was no envy in it.”
“Do you envy him?” Obi-Wan asked.
“I suppose all the students do, in a way,” Ferus said. “He is the Chosen One. But what worries me is his will.” Ferus hesitated. “His power is so great that he thinks his judgment is as well. You saw his arguments tonight. He sees something is right, so therefore he must do it. He argues against you without hearing you. He thinks he can change situations, beings. Maybe he can’t do it alone, not yet. But someday he will. Should we trust someone who always believes he speaks with the voice of absolute right?”
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That is it, Obi-Wan thought. That is what I see. What surprised him was that it was coming out of the mouth of one of Anakin’s peers, a boy only a year or two older than Anakin, someone who had only been on a couple of missions with him.
Ferus is always watching me, Anakin had told Obi-Wan resentfully.
And so Ferus was. But Ferus’s mature judgment surprised Obi-Wan. Surprised him and irritated him, he had to admit. Ferus did not allow for the goodness of Anakin’s heart. He did not see how hard Anakin tried. He did not know that Anakin questioned himself all the time.
“You are very observant, Ferus, but you must accept that I know him better than you,” Obi-Wan said carefully. “Anakin can be arrogant. I know that. But he is also learning and growing. He is respectful of his great power. He does not abuse it. He is younger than you, but he has seen much injustice, many terrible things. I do not think it so wrong that he wants to change things. You must understand that it isn’t ambition that drives him. It is compassion.”
Ferus nodded slowly. “I will think about what you said.” He stood. “Please know that I say these things only because he is the Chosen One, and the stakes are so high. Good night, Master Kenobi.”
“Good night,” Obi-Wan said.
He could have said more, but it wasn’t appropriate to debate Anakin’s character with another apprentice. He would have to sift through Ferus’s words and ponder them. He would have to let go of his impulse to protect Anakin and search for the truth in what Ferus had said. Ferus had touched on his own fears, and he needed to think about that.
He breathed in the night air. Not tonight, he decided. He valued his new confidence in Anakin. He needed to guard it. He needed to forget what he feared, just for a little while longer. He wanted to treasure what he had.
Chapter Nine