Lament

by Maggie Stiefvater

  "Very good, Padawan," Obi-Wan congratulated him. "I could not ask for a more perceptive reading of the situation."

  Anakin gave him a sidelong look. "If I am so perceptive, why don't you trust me?"

  Surprised at the blunt question, Obi-Wan sat opposite from Anakin.

  Memory flooded back. Qui-Gon had kept things from him, too. Now Obi-Wan understood his Master's caution. But he also remembered how Qui-Gon's decision to share his past had deepened their connection. It was what he wanted for himself and Anakin.

  It was time to tell his Padawan about Bruck.

  He took his time, explaining theTemplesabotage, his history with Bruck, and the agony of seeing a boy he'd known die. He explained the hearing but did not tell Anakin of the guilt he felt. Anakin did not have to know every detail.

  Anakin shook his head in disbelief when Obi-Wan had finished. "How could they suspect you?"

  Obi-Wan's gaze grew cloudy. "Bruck and I had never gotten along.

  After his death I wondered if I had been the best Jedi I could have been.

  Instead of meeting his anger with my own, could I have absorbed it without complaint? Could I have tried to understand the source of it?

  Would that have changed the course of Bruck's life?"

  Obi-Wan's gaze cleared, and he looked at Anakin with his usual keenness. "You see why the Jedi Masters at theTempleoften speak to you of anger and fear, Anakin. They have seen what it can do. So have I."

  "I have, too," Anakin volunteered. "I was a slave, remember, and the son of a slave? I was not brought up in theTemplesurrounded by fountains and peace and gentleness. I think I know better than anyone what fear and anger can do." Anakin's voice was suddenly harsh.

  Obi-Wan paused, letting the tone remain in the air between them. "I have not forgotten that, Anakin," he said quietly."Nor should you. It is part of what shapes you. But if that memory always brings you back to your anger, you must find a way to think of it differently."

  A soft knock came at the door. "Are you in there?" Den called softly.

  Obi-Wan quickly crossed to the door. "We've been locked in. Can you get us out?"

  Den chuckled. "Does a dinko bite? Does a howl runner howl? Does a nightcrawler--"

  "All right, Den," Obi-Wan said through the door. "But first we need a comlink. I have to contact theTemple."

  "No problem," Den murmured. "I'll be back before you notice I'm gone. Don't go anywhere."

  They heard his footsteps recede.

  "Let's get back to Vox Chun," Obi-Wan said. "If we both picked up that it was odd he wasn't nervous about the Senate reaction, we should wonder why."

  "I don't know," Anakin confessed.

  "There are two possible answers," Obi-Wan said thoughtfully. "One, that Vox has a powerful ally in the Senate who will smooth over any difficulties for the BioCruiser. Or two--and this is more disturbing--

  that Vox is allied with an organization that is even more powerful than the Senate." Obi-Wan stood up and began to wander around the room. "The galaxy has changed. It's full of criminal organizations. Some of them are enormously powerful. With the Senate mired in debate, there is little they have done to control this. Even Chancellor Palpatine is powerless to stop their growth."

  "If the second guess is true, do you think this powerful organization is interested in the BioCruiser?" Anakin asked.

  "Well, it does have a large treasury," Obi-Wan mused. "But attacking a ship this large has logistical problems. They wouldn't want to destroy the ship--they'd lose the treasury. There could be another reason, something else we don't know yet."

  They heard a series of beeps at the door, and it slid open. Den jumped inside quickly and the door hissed shut behind him. He tossed Obi-Wan a comlink.

  "You see? I can always get you out of trouble," he beamed.

  "You got us into trouble," Obi-Wan pointed out. "Vox and Uni figured out that someone had broken into the text-doc files."

  "Kill me now!" Densaid, his hand over his heart. "I did my very best. Nobody's perfect."

  Obi-Wan signaled Tnani at theTemple. A moment later his voice came through. "Obi-Wan, I have been trying to signal you. Someone answered but they did not use the coded frequency."

  "My comlink was confiscated," Obi-Wan explained. "What do you have?"

  "The text-doc for Kern checks out on all the normal channels for deep background," Tnani said. "But a little further digging tells me that Kern is actually a fabricated identity. This being called Kern died eight years ago. Here is the odd thing--he was a Senate operative."

  "A no-name," Obi-Wan said.

  "Yes, that is the term. Those names are retired, but someone has resurrected this one."

  "Thank you, Tnani." Obi-Wan turned to the others. "If Kern is in league with Vox, they must be planning something. And if they suspect that we are close to exposingthem, that might step up their timetable."

  "Right now there is a General Meeting taking place in the great hall two levels down," Den told them. "Everyone is required to attend, except for skeleton staff. Vox's quarters are empty." He held up the small device he had used to circumvent the door's security system. "I can break in."

  Anakin jumped up. "What are we waiting for?"

  They met no one as they hurried to Vox's quarters. It only took Den three seconds to break into the room. Vox had plush, comfortable quarters twice the size of Uni's. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Den searched the room and went through Vox's holofiles. They found nothing suspicious.

  "Well, of course he wouldn't leave anything incriminating out in the open," Den said, his gaze roaming the room. "Let's see. Beings usually hide things according to their natures. Vox is vain, lazy--never seen him volunteer to help a soul on this ship--and frail." Den crossed to Vox's sleep-couch and lay down on it experimentally. "You see?

  Everything is right here, so he doesn't have to get up. Comlink, monitor, light, mirror--I told you he was vain ..." Den flipped over in order to examine the buttons on a console. "Why are there so many buttons on this thing?"

  Den pressed a button, and the closet doors opened. Another, and the light over the washbasin came on. He pressed buttons and levers and dials, activating various doors and lighting controls. He pressed one button and loud music suddenly blared. Anakin covered his ears.

  "Glad to see you're keeping this low profile," Obi-Wan shouted over the music as Den fell off the sleep-couch in an attempt to turn the music off.

  The music ended abruptly. The silence was complete. Den remained on the floor.

  "Den?"

  "Well, kill me now. What's this? Another control panel." Den reached out an arm and pressed a button just below the slat of the sleep-couch, where someone lying down could easily reach it. The thick railing of the sleep-couch support slid out, knocking Den in the head. It revealed a secret drawer cleverly concealed in the bottom of the sleep-couch.

  "Ow!" he cried, rubbing his forehead.

  Obi-Wan hurried forward. "What is it?"

  Den craned his neck to see into the compartment. He let out a low whistle. "Somebody's not turning over his own wealth to the ship treasury, that's for sure," he said. "Look at all this crystalline vertex. Tradable throughout the galaxy." Den held up his cupped hands, displaying the currency. "Can you imagine his face if he found all this gone?" Den made an approximation of Vox's long, thin face, then added an expression of horror.

  "Put it back," Obi-Wan told him sternly.

  "Joke, right?"Den asked hopefully.

  "May I remind you that you're a former thief?" Obi-Wan pointed out.

  Den sighed and let the vertex run through his fingers back into the drawer. "Let's try the next button. This time I'll keep my distance." Den jumped up on the sleep-couch for safety this time. He pressed the next button, and another concealed compartment slid out.

  Obi-Wan hurried forward. "There's a holoprojector here, too. Now we're getting somewhere." Obi-Wan quickly activated the device, accessing the file directory.

  "Let's see," Obi-Wan mu
rmured. "Here's an itinerary of stops the BioCruiser will make over the next six months."

  "That's odd," Den said. "I didn't think stops were planned in advance. We just cruise until we have a problem, then find the nearest planet. Or at least we're supposed to think so."

  "Here's an evacuation plan for the ship." Obi-Wan accessed the file. "It looks prettyroutine . But why would Vox be so interested in safety procedures?"

  "Beats me. I was on the original committee that drafted the plan.

  He never came to the meetings. What's that?" Den pointed to an icon at the bottom of the plan. Obi-Wan touched it, and another file opened. It was titled "Broken Circle," but it was blank.

  "This could be coded," Den said. "Holofiles can appear blank if you don't know the password. Not to worry, my friends. I never met a code I couldn't crack. I just need a little time." He looked over at a chrono on Vox's table. "We'd better get back. The meeting is over. But let's take this before we go." Den reached down and swept up the tiny holoprojector unit. He stuffed it inside his shirt.

  "But Vox will notice that it's missing," Anakin said.

  "So what?"Den grinned. "By the time he figures it out, you two will be halfway to Coruscant."

  They had started toward the door when Obi-Wan noticed a light flashing on Vox's main control panel. "What's that?"

  Den went forward to examine it. "There's a ship approaching the docking bay. Could it be your pickup?"

  "If it is, we'd better get back to our quarters," Anakin said ...

  just as they heard footsteps outside the door.

  CHAPTER 19

  Obi-Wan signaled them to retreat toward the closet. He would rather avoid confrontation. It was imperative that they get the holoprojector out so that Den could break the code of that file. They squeezed inside Vox's huge closet, pressed up against his many fine tunics and robes.

  Obi-Wan left the door open a tiny crack.

  Vox entered the room. He immediately crossed to his sleep-couch. He accessed the hidden drawer with the crystalline vertex. Obi-Wan heard Den let out a muffled groan as Vox scooped it out into a drawstring pouch.

  Vox tucked the pouch inside his tunic. He looked around the room for a moment, his eyes taking in the comfortable quarters. Then he hurried out, the door closing behind him.

  They eased out of the closet.

  "If he's takingall his vertex, something's up," Den said.

  "Can you get us to the docking bay to meet Garen without being seen?" Obi-Wan asked. "Another Jedi might come in handy."

  "Does a nightcrawler crawl?" Den grinned.

  Den knew the unused corridors of the ship, where food and supplies were moved from one area to another. He was able to get them to the docking bay without being seen. They lingered near the outflow pipes.

  Garen's sleek starship had landed, and he was checking in with the BioCruiser's technicians.

  "If they don't know we're missing, they will soon," Obi-Wan said.

  "We have to get Garen's attention."

  Anakin focused inward. He drew in the Force from all the elements around him. He motioned to Garen and saw the tall young man look up. His gaze roamed around the docking bay and then focused on where they were hiding.

  "He knows we're here," Anakin said.

  Den gazed at him, baffled. "How did you do that?" He shook his head. "Is it really too late for me to become a Jedi? I could use some of those skills. Not to mention those lightsabers."

  "Yes, it's too late," Obi-Wansaid, his eyes on Garen.

  Garen was now talking in a friendly way with the BioCruiser tech worker, gesturing around the giant hangar. Obi-Wan knew that his old friend was complimenting the ship and the design. The tech worker nodded, gesturing at the space, and walked off. Garen began to casually stroll around the hangar, seeming to admire its design.

  He came closer and lingered near them. "What's up?"

  Obi-Wan spoke in a low voice. "Things have changed. We need you to sneak away and come with us."

  "Be happy to." Garen glanced around at the tech workers. They were busy at the console, so he quickly melted back in the shadow of the outflow pipes.

  Obi-Wan quickly explained the situation. "We need to investigate what Vox Chun is doing before we leave the ship," he concluded. "I have a feeling the people aboard the BioCruiser could be in danger."

  Gravely, Garen nodded.

  "I've got a place where we can hole up until I break this code,"

  Den told them. "It's not far."

  They sneaked back the way they had come. As they reached the utility corridor they had used to enter, suddenly Den sprang back and motioned to them to do the same. "It's Kern," he whispered. "Why is he heading to the docking bay?"

  They pressed back into the shadows of the columns supporting the bay. Kern passed them, looking harried.

  Garen frowned. "Who is that?"

  "We think he might be in league with Vox," Obi-Wan told him. "We don't have proof yet."

  Garen nodded, but his expression still seemed absentminded."He looks... familiar."

  "Come on," Den urged.

  Den led them through a maze of utility corridors to the greenhouse where he raised the native flowers and vegetables of Telos. At the sight of blooming purple flowers, Obi-Wan suddenly remembered a ride on a speeder over the fields and mountains of the Telosian wilderness, so many years ago. They had fought so hard to save Telos. Yet its natural beauties had ended up destroyed. Offworld had started the process, under the name of the company UniFy. Other powerful interests had taken up where Offworld had left off. ...

  Remembrance flooded Obi-Wan. "Broken Circle," he said to Den. "What happened to Offworld after it was kicked off Telos?"

  "I suppose they went on to ravage the rest of the galaxy," Den said. "They reorganized under a different name, I heard. They were never allowed to operate on Telos again."

  "Xanatos had a scar on his cheek," Obi-Wan said. "He made it himself by pressing his father's molten ring against his skin. The ring had been broken by Qui-Gon's lightsaber. It was a broken circle."

  "Do you thinkBroken Circleis Offworld?" Garen asked.

  "It makes sense," Obi-Wan said. "Vox was secretly in league with Xanatos and Offworld. What if he never broke those ties? And Offworld was used to setting up other companies to conceal their involvement."

  "So Vox could have never stopped working for them!" Den said excitedly. "Let me tackle that coded file."

  Quickly, Den set up the holoprojector. He used the code "Offworld,"

  and nothing happened.

  "Try UniFy," Obi-Wan suggested.

  Den typed out the word. "We're in," he said in satisfaction. The others pressed forward to read the file.

  "We're right," Obi-Wan said. "These are the records of a mining corporation."

  Anakin's face fell. "But this is just a list of planetary operations. That doesn't help us much."

  Obi-Wan exchanged a glance with Den. "Unless ..."

  Den nodded grimly. He called up the file that listed the BioCruiser's scheduled stops.

  "Each of the stops the BioCruiser has made has been to a planet targeted by Offworld for development," Obi-Wan noted. "Vox Chun is always in the landing party."

  "And up to no good, I'm sure. Bribes or intimidation, who knows,"