The Followers

by Jude Watson

  Obi-Wan looked back and forth between Anakin and Dr. Lundi. He knew

  that Anakin's outburst was not appropriate. It was not the Jedi way, and

  Anakin seemed to let anger overtake him too easily. Obi-Wan could still see

  a flicker of fury in his eyes. As his Master, it was his duty to reprimand

  the boy for his behavior. To counsel him about the danger of negative

  emotions.

  But the outburst seemed to have an effect on Lundi. For the first

  time since they'd left Coruscant, the professor appeared cowed. The young

  Jedi had actually managed to intimidate Professor Lundi. For this Obi-Wan

  was grateful.

  Obi-Wan watched his Padawan return to the controls and start the

  gravsled engine.

  He is so different from me, he thought. Our relationship is so

  different from the one I shared with Qui-Gon.

  Of course with Anakin, Obi-Wan was no longer the Padawan. He was the

  Master, and it was his job to lead, to teach. He often found himself

  wondering if he was ready for this awesome responsibility. It had all

  happened so fast - one day he was a Padawan learner himself, and the next

  he was Anakin's Master. He could not help but feel that it was really a

  role for Qui-Gon.

  Like Qui-Gon, Anakin had a tendency to break the rules. He often

  chose to follow his instincts instead of the Jedi code. But his decisions,

  while sometimes rash, almost always got results. They almost always put the

  mission a step ahead, and often left Obi-Wan at odds.

  This is not the time for a reprimand, Obi-Wan thought as they sped

  back toward shore. They had to get to the hangar before Norval rounded up

  transport and left the planet altogether.

  Within a few minutes the gravsled was at the hangar. But their hired

  ship and its pilot were nowhere to be seen.

  "He's fled," Obi-Wan said, grimly looking around the hangar.

  "That coward," Anakin said with disgust. "I never should have fixed

  his ship. The next time I see him - "

  "We don't have time to deal with that now," Obi-Wan interrupted.

  "Let's find out who has left the planet in the last few hours and see if we

  can track them."

  After securing the still-silent Lundi's cage to a hangar wall, Obi-

  Wan and Anakin split up to search the hangar. Obi-Wan had seen Norval ten

  years earlier, and had described him to his Padawan. But aside from an

  average-sized young man with dark hair, they didn't have much to go on.

  The hangar was not particularly busy, and none of the pilots Obi-Wan

  approached had seen Norval - or at least they said they hadn't seen him. If

  they said anything at all. Disappointed, Obi-Wan decided to check the

  hangar records.

  Only one ship had left in the last few hours. It was headed toward

  the Ploo Sector. But no planet was specified.

  "Did you find anything?" Anakin asked as he approached his Master.

  "Nobody would talk to me."

  "Just this," Obi-Wan said, tossing Anakin the records. It seemed that

  the Holocron had eluded him a second time. Trying to find a mystery ship in

  a vast sector was a long shot, and it was all they had to go on.

  "Why would he go to the Ploo Sector?" Anakin asked.

  Several meters away, Lundi stuck his narrow head through the bars of

  his cage. "Norval was a good student. A great one. In fact the only thing

  that surpassed his desire for knowledge and power was his greed." Dr. Lundi

  stood up as straight as he could inside his cage. "I was offered vast

  riches by several anonymous parties to turn over the Sith Holocron should I

  ever capture it. One of the parties wanted to rendezvous beside my home

  planet of Ploo II."

  The Jedi exchanged glances. Should they believe him? Lundi had

  several reasons to thwart their progress. He probably enjoyed the idea of

  Norval having the Holocron, of his using it for his own evil uses. He would

  take pride in that. Norval was, after all, Lundi's prize student.

  But for the first time Obi-Wan felt he had some insight into Lundi's

  thoughts. It was as if a wall had been torn down, and Obi-Wan sensed that

  the professor was telling the truth. The Quermian wanted to go after the

  Holocron himself. He wanted a chance to see it again, to be close to its

  power.

  "We need a ship to get us to Ploo II," Obi-Wan said. "Quickly."

  CHAPTER 22

  According to the flight records, the ship that left for the Ploo

  Sector was very large and not particularly fast. Anakin knew that if they

  were going to catch it, they'd need a fast vehicle with a powerful

  hyperdrive.

  There was only one such ship in the hangar. The pilot looked at the

  Jedi warily as they approached.

  "Ploo II?" he repeated with disdain. "No thanks. I just got here, and

  won't be doing anything but taking a nice long rest."

  "I can pilot," Anakin said. "You can even stay here and rest. We'll

  bring the ship back when we're finished."

  The pilot looked at Anakin as if he were crazy. Anakin couldn't blame

  him. If it were his ship, he wouldn't let some stranger take it off planet,

  either. Not even a Jedi.

  But they needed the ship. Badly.

  Obi-Wan waved his hand in front of the pilot's face. "You can trust

  us to borrow the ship," he said slowly.

  "I guess I can trust you to borrow the ship," the pilot said.

  "We will bring it back when we are finished," Obi-Wan added.

  "Just bring it back when you are finished," the pilot echoed.

  Anakin grinned. They weren't lightsabers, but Jedi mind tricks really

  came in handy sometimes.

  "I'll get Lundi," Obi-Wan said.

  Anakin nodded and boarded the ship. From the pilot's seat he plugged

  in the coordinates for Ploo II. Minutes later Obi-Wan and Lundi were on

  board, and the ship was heading into the atmosphere.

  Anakin thought he might have a chance to talk to Obi-Wan on the way,

  but Obi-Wan silently left the cockpit shortly after they had taken off.

  Anakin guessed that he was still upset.

  Trying not to think about it, Anakin studied the computer's

  programmed hyperdrive route. If there was a faster way to get there, he

  wanted to know about it. They had to catch the Holocron thief.

  There appeared to be only one direct route, and the computer had

  chosen it. Anakin engaged the hyperdrive, and the nearby stars streaked by

  in flashes of blinding light.

  Once the ship was safely in hyperspace, Anakin could step away from

  the controls and relax a bit. Moving into the hold, he saw that the

  professor was sound asleep. He'd been sleeping a lot lately, and as Anakin

  studied him he appeared older and more frail. His body shuddered with every

  breath. It seemed as if his life forces were ebbing.

  Asleep and helpless in his cage, the professor seemed more pitiful

  than threatening. Anakin almost felt sorry for him. But then, the Quermian

  had not made this mission an easy one. He had been difficult from the

  start, and the way he'd treated his Master had infuriated Anakin.

  Now, under his direction, they were chasing a ship on its way to Ploo

  II. Was it the right planet, or were they simply on a fruitless chase? It
/>   would be so easy for Lundi to lead them astray. After being locked up by

  Jedi for ten years, it was entirely possible that he was out for revenge.

  Anakin couldn't really blame him for wanting to take his imprisonment out

  on someone.

  Anakin watched Lundi sleep for a long time and tried to meditate. He

  was left with many questions about Dr. Lundi and the Holocron.

  But he didn't think that the professor was lying to them about

  following Norval. Anakin sensed that they were closing in on something

  powerful and evil... and believed it to be the Holocron.

  Anakin got to his feet and moved toward the pilot's seat. It was

  almost time to bring the ship out of hyperspace. Sitting down at the

  controls, he suddenly felt a ripple in the Force. He quickly brought the

  ship out of lightspeed. The familiar starriness of space came into view

  around him.

  But that was not the only thing Anakin saw.

  Obi-Wan was beside him in an instant. "I felt a wave in the Force,"

  he said.

  Anakin pointed to a sleek gray ship visible in the viewscreen.

  "It just passed us," he said.

  "Whose ship is it?" Anakin asked, wide-eyed.

  Obi-Wan sighed. "I don't know," he confessed. "But I have a feeling

  we'd better get to Norval's ship before it does."

  The large ship shuddered. Anakin had been pushing it hard since

  they'd sighted the sleek gray vessel, and wasn't sure how much longer it

  would hold up. The speed they were flying at was certainly faster than the

  craft was accustomed to. By the time they landed somewhere it would

  probably need repairs.

  The mysterious gray ship was now in front of them and had slowed

  down.

  Anakin's Master stood beside him with his eyes closed. "I feel

  something powerful, but it could be coming from that ship and not the

  Holocron. We've got to locate Norval quickly. I have a hunch that whoever

  is aboard that ship is after the Holocron too.

  "I'll keep an eye out," Anakin assured his Master. "Why don't you

  prepare a shuttle. When I find his ship you can be ready to board

  immediately."

  Obi-Wan nodded at Anakin gratefully. "Monitor all ship-to-ship

  communications and let me know if you sense anything unusual."

  While Obi-Wan prepared a shuttle, Anakin carefully circled the gray

  ship in a wide arc.

  Anakin was just coming around the gray ship when another, larger ship

  came into view in the space lane. Anakin felt instantly certain that it was

  Norval's. There was a strange flutter in his stomach, like nausea.

  Anakin switched on his comlink. "I see another ship," he reported.

  "And I'm feeling kind of weird. I'll bet the Holocron is in there."

  "Good. I'm closing the shuttle hatch now," Obi-Wan said. "Activate

  the shuttle bay doors immediately."

  Anakin pressed a button on his control panel and Obi-Wan's shuttle

  shot out of the ship. It looked tiny as it hurtled toward Norval's massive

  vessel. Anakin hoped it would land safely on Norval's ship without being

  detected by the mysterious gray craft.

  As Anakin watched the shuttle approach Norval's ship, a voice spoke

  up behind him. Lundi.

  "Too late, too late," he murmured.

  Anakin turned around and saw that Lundi's eyes were closed. Was he

  asleep, or awake? Too late for what? Anakin wondered.

  He didn't have long to ponder. Just then a huge blast rocked the

  ship.

  CHAPTER 23

  From the small window in the tiny shuttle, Obi-Wan saw a red blast

  explode against Anakin's ship. The gray vessel had finally detected their

  ship and was clearly not pleased about its presence.

  The sight of the red laser triggered something in Obi-Wan's memory,

  and a familiar feeling of helplessness washed over him. But there was no

  way he could get back to the ship fast enough to help his Padawan. And

  there was the Holocron. He had to go after it while he had the chance. He

  would not leave it behind again.

  Obi-Wan quickly sent a mental message to his Padawan. You can do it,

  Anakin, he told him. Just think carefully...

  Within minutes the shuttle locked into the docking bay on Norval's

  ship. After powering down the tiny craft, Obi-Wan quietly slipped out into

  the bigger ship.

  As he moved down a glistening white corridor, the sound of more laser

  fire echoed in Obi-Wan's ears. Anakin's ship was getting pounded. Obi-Wan

  suddenly wished he and his Padawan had resolved their discussion on Kodai.

  You can't do anything about that now, he told himself. He had to

  focus and think clearly if he was going to find the Holocron on this giant

  craft.

  Obi-Wan hurried down several sterile corridors. As he reached the end

  of one he suddenly felt something evil washing over him. He knew exactly

  how his Padawan had felt a few minutes earlier. The Holocron was close.

  Obi-Wan rounded a corner and spotted a large room at the end of the

  passageway. A humanoid figure stood with its back to the door, waiting. And

  there, on a transparisteel table, sat the glowing red Holocron.

  Obi-Wan approached the room carefully. But before he was through the

  door the figure turned toward him.

  "I have been waiting for you," Norval said.

  Obi-Wan focused hard on the dark-haired man in front of him as

  queasiness threatened to overtake him. He sensed that, in fact, he wasn't

  the person Norval had been waiting for. He'd been expecting someone else -

  Lundi, perhaps. Or whoever was piloting the sleek gray ship.

  "Powerful, isn't it?" Norval cackled. "The nauseous feeling takes

  some getting used to. When you are comfortable with the power, it

  disappears."

  Obi-Wan dove for the Holocron, but Norval quickly stepped in front of

  it.

  "This information would be wasted in the hands of the Jedi," he spat.

  "You have no idea what to do with power."

  Obi-Wan could see that Norval was not going to give up without a

  fight. Reaching down to his utility belt, he unhooked and ignited his

  light-saber.

  I must end this quickly, Obi-Wan thought. He hoped the sight of his

  lightsaber would make Norval back down and hand over the Holocron. I must

  get back to help Anakin before it is too late.

  But Norval did not back down. He simply reached for his belt and

  ignited a lightsaber of his own.

  CHAPTER 24

  Anakin unleashed another round of laser fire. He'd been circling the

  sleek gray ship, pummeling its hull. Every blast appeared to find its

  quick-moving target. But they didn't seem to have any effect.

  I should have chosen a ship with decent firepower as well as speed,

  Anakin thought grimly. I should have known I'd need to be prepared for

  battle.

  Anakin had taken several hits without sustaining much damage. Only

  that first firing had created a problem, and losing the hyperdrive was

  minor compared to what could have been damaged.

  Still, the ship could be hit again at any moment - and with dire

  results. He had to get out of there. But where could he go? The large gray

  craft clearly had a long firing range. It would take se
veral minutes to get

  far enough away to be safe....

  Thinking fast, Anakin turned the ship around and headed straight for

  Norval's behemoth. If he could just keep the giant vessel between him and

  the mystery ship, he'd count on the gray ship not firing on him. The pilot

  wouldn't want to risk the Holocron - he hoped.