by Jude Watson
THE CALL TO VENGEANCE
CHAPTER 1
The light tubes in the large dwelling were powered down to half
strength and set to a faint blue hue. The hallways were hushed and dim.
Beyond a pair of opaque glass double doors, a single glass column stood, as
tall as a human figure. It gave off a soft, steady glow.
Blue was the color of mourning on the planet of New Apsolon. Glass
columns were used to commemorate those who had lost their lives to
injustice. This slender shaft of pure light was for the Jedi Knight Tahl.
Manex, the brother of Roan, the late ruler of New Apsolon, had
offered the Jedi his own home in which to mourn Tahl. Manex had tried to
save Tahl by summoning the best med team in New Apsolon to treat her. When
she had died, he had made the appropriate arrangements. He himself had gone
to find the column of light to mark her spirit.
Obi-Wan Kenobi struggled to feel grateful. He did not trust Manex. He
did not trust the man's great wealth or his character. Manex was not
interested in anyone's well-being but his own. Why was he being so kind to
the Jedi?
Obi-Wan wished he could talk to his Master about it. But Qui-Gon Jinn
was unreachable. He had gone inside the room with Tahl and had remained
there ever since.
Obi-Wan sat on the floor outside. He had begun by standing, but
exhaustion finally forced him to sit. He wanted to lie down, but he would
remain upright as long as he could. It was the only thing he could think of
to do for his Master.
The shock was wearing off, but Obi-Wan still had difficulty
understanding that Tahl was gone. It meant looking ahead to a future that
did not hold her spirit, her humor, and her fierce intelligence. There had
been so many times that a kind word or a quick smile had restored him. Tahl
knew his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, better than anyone else. She had helped Obi-
Wan to understand Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan even suspected that she had played a
role in bringing the two of them together after he had left the Jedi order.
That had been a deep rift, hard to heal. Yet Obi‑Wan had always taken great
comfort from the feeling that Tahl wanted Qui-Gon to take him back. She had
comprehended more clearly than anyone why he had done what he did. She knew
he had truly learned an important lesson about his own character, and she
wanted Qui-Gon to give him a second chance.
He had learned many things as a Jedi student - how to turn fear into
purpose, how to deepen discipline into will. But how could he turn grief
into acceptance? There could be no acceptance of this. Yet somehow he must
keep going until he found it.
At first he had been filled with such pain that he could hardly
think. Tahl had been kidnapped by Balog, the Chief Security Controller of
the planet. He had drugged her and imprisoned her in a sensory deprivation
device used for torturing political prisoners. She had been weak when they
had released her. But Obi-Wan had felt certain that Tahl's great strength
combined with her Jedi powers would save her. Never for one second had he
considered the possibility that she would die.
Neither, he was sure, had his Master. When he had run into Tahl's
room at the med center, he had seen Qui-Gon bent over Tahl's still body. He
saw the sensors stream by in flat, crisp lines, showing that her vital
signs were gone. Still Qui-Gon did not move. He held Tahl's hand and
pressed his forehead against hers. Obi-Wan had not only seen his grief, he
had felt it like a living shadow in the room. He realized at that moment
that Qui-Gon's feelings for Tahl were deeper than friendship. They were as
deep and complex as the man himself. Qui-Gon had loved her.
There was nothing Obi-Wan could do to help his Master now. Qui-Gon
had not responded to his words or his presence. Obi-Wan desperately wished
he were older than sixteen. Maybe with more maturity he would know how to
comfort someone whose world had collapsed.
It hurt him to see Qui-Gon suffering. His Master had only left Tahl's
room once, to rush out on a mysterious errand. He had tersely told Obi-Wan
when he returned that he had managed to find two more probe droids. He had
sent them to track down Balog. Now he would return to Tahl's side.
"Is there anything I can do, Master?" Obi-Wan had asked.
"Nothing," Qui-Gon had replied, and closed the door behind him.
Obi-Wan was used to silence between them. It was often a form of
communication. He had come to understand that his Master was a man of few
words. But this silence was different. He could not read it. Over and over
the words Qui-Gon had spoken at Tahl's deathbed ran in his head: There is
no help for me now. There is only revenge.
Revenge. Obi-Wan had never heard Qui-Gon use that word. It was not a
concept the Jedi would ever endorse. No revenge, only justice. That creed
was written on the heart of every Jedi. Revenge led to the dark side. It
twisted the mind and crippled duty into something full of ego and darkness.
Was Qui-Gon battling the dark side inside himself? Balog had taken
away what was most dear to him. He had done it in the most cruel way
imaginable. He had drained Tahl minute by minute of her strength.
Had Qui-Gon sent out the probe droids in order to find Balog so that
he could kill him?
Obi-Wan pushed the thought away. He had to trust his Master. Qui-Gon
would find the calm center he needed to proceed. They must find Balog, but
in the interest of justice, not revenge.
If a Jedi died during a mission, the Jedi Council was supposed to be
contacted immediately. Obi-Wan, in the first period of deep shock after
Tahl's death, had roused himself to ask Qui-Gon about this. Qui-Gon had not
answered. Obi-Wan could see how little procedure meant to Qui-Gon now. So
the apprentice had been the one to contact the Jedi Council and inform them
what had happened.
Yoda had been shocked and deeply distressed, for he had cared about
Tahl, too. A Jedi team would be sent immediately. Over the course of the
day, Obi-Wan had wondered who it would be. If they had left immediately and
taken a fast ship, it wouldn't be long until they reached New Apsolon. He
wasn't sure how he felt about that. A Jedi team would be reassuring... but
would they notice that Qui-Gon was not acting like himself?
Manex appeared in the hall, and Obi-Wan scrambled to his feet.
"Has he come out?" Manex asked, his plump face creased in worry.
"Not for hours," Obi-Wan replied.
"Please let me know if I can be of service. I must go to the United
Legislature. They've called for me. Things are very unsettled in the
government right now. I will be back as soon as I can. I've given
instructions to security to show your Jedi team in as soon as they arrive."
"Thank you," Obi-Wan said.
Qui-Gon stepped into the hall seconds after Manex left.
"I heard
voices," he said heavily.
"Manex has gone to the United Legislature," Obi-Wan said. "Is there
anything I can get you, Master?"
"No. Have the probe droids returned?"
Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'll notify you as soon as they do, of
course. But I think there are other things we can do to capture Balog,
Master. We don't have to wait for the probe droids." He spoke hurriedly,
before Qui-Gon could turn away and go back inside the room. During the long
wait, Obi-Wan had been thinking about their next step. It was the only
thing that pushed away the pain.
"Eritha is still staying with Alani in the Supreme Governor's
Residence," he went on. "She is concealing the fact that she knows her
sister is in league with the Absolutes, hoping to gain more information.
She promised to be a spy for us. Alani might know where Balog is."
"So we must wait for that, too," Qui-Gon said.
"But we could investigate the tie between them," Obi-Wan pointed out.
"How was the alliance formed? What does Alani expect from Balog? What does
he want in return? Where did the Absolutes retreat to after their base was
destroyed in the quarries? And what about the list of the Absolutes' secret
informers? Balog doesn't have it, because he's looking for it. We know that
the Worker Oleg might have had it before he disappeared." O bi-Wan
swallowed. Qui-Gon's gaze went dim. The reason they knew that was because
Tahl had told them. He pushed on.
"If we can find the list first, we can set a trap for Balog. And what
about Manex? What reason does he have for being so kind to us? There are
many leads to investigate. I'm sure there must be rumors swirling at the
United Legislature. Some of them should be followed up on - "
"We are here to find Tahl's killer, not get involved in politics,"
Qui-Gon said sternly. "Our main object is the pursuit of Balog. As soon as
we get information on him, I can leave."
"You mean we can leave," Obi-Wan amended, watching his Master
carefully.
Neither one of them had heard the footsteps approaching.
"We came as soon as we could," a deep familiar voice said.
Obi-Wan turned. The Jedi team had arrived. To his relief, he saw his
good friend Bant. But his relief turned to disquiet when he saw the Jedi
Master was next to her. It was Mace Windu.
CHAPTER 2
Mace Windu took only the most crucial missions now. His duties on the
Jedi Council were many. Obi-Wan realized more fully how important the loss
of Tahl was to the Jedi. He had been thinking of himself and Qui-Gon only,
of the friend they had lost. But Tahl's influence ran much deeper and
wider.
Mace gave both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan a long, measured look. He seemed
to capture their weariness and grief as well as the tension between them.
Obi-Wan wondered how much of their discussion Mace had heard. He grew
uncomfortable under that all-seeing glance.
He turned with relief to his friend Bant. They had gone through
Temple training together, and she was the being he most relied on for her
support and understanding. But there was something cool in the way Bant
returned his regard. Obviously, she was upset. She had been Tahl's
apprentice.
"We are sorry to be here under such tragic circumstances," Bant said
to Qui-Gon.
Obi-Wan even picked up a hint of coolness in her greeting to Qui-Gon.
That was a bigger surprise. Bant revered Qui-Gon, and Qui-Gon had a special
place in his heart for Obi-Wan's friend.
Qui-Gon did not seem to notice the change. He was too consumed by his
own grief, Obi-Wan knew. He nodded at Bant.
"Tahl is inside," he said.
"We will see her for a moment," Mace said. "Then I would like a
briefing on where we stand."
Qui-Gon gave a heavy nod. Mace and Bant disappeared inside. They
returned after a few minutes. Bant looked shaken. Mace closed the double
doors behind them quietly and moved farther down the hall.
"This Chief Security Controller, Balog, was responsible," Mace said.
"We know this for sure, yet we don't know where he is. Correct?"
Qui-Gon did not speak, so Obi-Wan said, "Yes."
"Tell me what happened," Mace said, his eyes on Obi-Wan. He seemed to
understand that Qui-Gon did not want to talk. Qui-Gon's eyes were on the
door to the room where Tahl was, as though only the slimmest whisper of
respect was keeping him in the hall.
"Once we knew that Balog had captured Tahl, we obtained two probe
droids to track him," Obi-Wan explained.
Mace frowned. "Aren't probe droids now illegal on this planet?"
"Yes," Obi-Wan said, swallowing. He was well aware that Jedi were not
supposed to break laws on other worlds. "But you can buy them on the black
market. It was our only chance to find Tahl. We had good reason to believe
she would be in a sensory deprivation device, so we knew that the longer it
took to find her, the more danger she would be in. The probe droids told us
that Balog had struck out across open country and entered the quarry region
of the planet. Eritha, one of the daughters of the late ruler, Ewane,
followed us. She had discovered that her twin sister, Alani, was in league
with the Absolutes. This was a shock, because both Eritha and Alani are
Workers. When the Civilized were in power, they used the Absolutes for
surveillance and torture of Workers - including Alani and Eritha's father."
"I know the Absolutes were the secret police of New Apsolon," Bant
said hesitantly. "I didn't get a chance to be thoroughly briefed. Weren't
they outlawed after Ewane was elected?"
"Yes. But the Workers suspect that the secret police never disbanded,
" Obi-Wan said. "We discovered that they are right. But we never suspected
Balog was in league with them. He's a Worker and was a prot©g© of Ewane.
Now we know from Eritha that Alani arranged the kidnapping of herself and
her sister to throw us off the track and gain public sympathy. At the same
time, we believe it was a trick to lure Roan into the hands of the
Absolutes. Roan was elected after Ewane was killed."
"Roan was a Civilized, not a Worker," Bant said.
"Right. But he had great sympathy for the Worker cause and worked
closely with Ewane to bring about justice for all the people of New
Apsolon. He even took in the twins when Ewane was murdered."
"And Alani betrayed him," Bant said slowly. "She must be very
corrupt."
"We stumbled onto a village of Rock Workers while we were pursuing
Balog," Obi-Wan went on. "Their entire village was destroyed in a raid,
except for one Rock Worker, Yanci. She's the one who helped us find the
secret headquarters of the Absolutes. That's how we rescued Tahl. But it
was too late. Qui-Gon brought her back here, but the damage to her internal
organs was too severe...."
"Balog killed her slowly," Qui-Gon said. His voice sounded hoarse and
rusty.
"He escaped in an underwater aqua skimmer," Obi-Wan added. "He was
impossible to track, and we needed to get Tahl to safety."
"And now?" Mace asked. "We see on the streets that there is unrest
Immediate pursuit of Balog is wise."
"That is what we think," Qui-Gon said.
"Yet attention to the mission at hand will also bring results," Mace
went on. "If Balog is now in hiding, we'll need to track him by his
ambitions. Ambitions reveal direction."
"The Workers contacted me," Obi-Wan said. "They investigated all the
file systems in the Absolute headquarters. Everything had been wiped clean.
We don't have much to go on."
"We have our instincts," Mace said. He turned to Qui-Gon. "Is there a
place we can speak alone, Qui-Gon?"
Reluctantly, Qui-Gon nodded. He turned and led the way down the hall.
As soon as they were alone, Obi-Wan turned to Bant. "I'm so sorry
about Tahl," he said in a rush. "I know how you must feel - "