Jedi Quest 7: The Moment of Truth (звёздные войны)

by Jude Watson

  Sirens blared and red lights flashed. The surface loomed closer. Red dirt was kicked up by their turbulence. It looked as though they were about to crash into boulders as big as buildings. The ship rolled to one side, nearly sending them into a massive rock formation. Anakin corrected it.

  Sweat beaded his upper lip.

  Obi-Wan saw a smooth plateau ahead. Anakin would try to land there. He slowed his speed, and the ship wobbled, rolling from side to side. If they hadn't strapped in, they would have been flung against the walls.

  "I've lost the left stabilizer completely!" Anakin shouted. "Hang on!"

  The ship slammed into the unforgiving ground. Obi-Wan felt his body rise up as though it weighed nothing. He came down, jarring teeth and bones. He tasted blood in his mouth. The ship careened down the plateau, tearing chunks of vegetation and knocking into small boulders. The noise was tremendous. The ship suddenly seemed a fragile thing, shaking so hard Obi-Wan wondered if it would simply fall to pieces.

  The end of the plateau was less than fifty meters away. If the ship didn't stop moving, they would careen right off it, straight into the canyon bottom hundreds of meters below. Anakin frantically worked the controls. Obi-Wan saw the lip of the plateau approach. Slowly, slowly, the ship began to slide. A terrible groaning noise, worse than the harsh grating of the crash, rose in the air around them, battering their ears like a physical force. The ship suddenly tipped almost all the way to one side, slamming Obi-Wan against the console.

  Then the ship crashed against a boulder and stopped.

  Obi-Wan looked around. Thik looked pale. No doubt the bumpy landing had been hard on his injury. Shalini's forehead was bleeding. Olanz and Rajana looked shaken but all right.

  "We've got to get out of here fast," Obi-Wan said.

  He unbuckled himself and Anakin did the same. They helped the others to quickly extricate themselves from their seats. The landing ramp wouldn't engage, and the door had been mangled from the landing. Obi-Wan and Anakin set to work with their lightsabers to cut a hole through the hull.

  Anakin suddenly stopped. He bent over to look through the viewport.

  "They must have contacted Vanqor planetary security. Guard ships are approaching," he said. "They've located us."

  "Do you have any smoke grenades and air masks aboard?" Obi-Wan asked Shalini.

  "I'll get them," Rajana said. She hurried down the aisle of the ship, holding on to seat backs to stay upright.

  Obi-Wan spoke even as they continued to peel back the hull with their lightsabers. "Our best chance is to launch down that canyon on cables.

  Anakin, you take Shalini and Olanz. I'll take Thik and Rajana. We'll use the smoke grenades for cover. Turn on your tracking device in case we lose each other."

  The hole was big enough now. Obi-Wan tossed out two smoke grenades.

  The acrid smoke billowed out.

  Without much wind, the smoke hung in the air, a perfect cover. One by one, wearing air masks to protect their lungs, they slid through the hole.

  They were still out of range of the starship's weapons. They had only minutes now. They began to run toward the edge of the plateau.

  Shaken from the landing, some of the group could not move fast. Thik, with his bad knee, was especially slow. Obi-Wan and Anakin helped them along, but within seconds, Obi-Wan did a quick calculation and realized they couldn't make it. The starships could begin shooting through the smoke at any moment. The Vanqors might not be able to pinpoint their location, but they certainly could figure out where they were headed. It was the only avenue of escape.

  Obi-Wan felt desperate. The question was, would the ships try to kill them or take them prisoner?

  They couldn't see the starships, but the first fire tore up the ground in front of them. They jumped back. The fire was constant, preventing them from reaching the edge of the plateau.

  "Back to the ship!" Obi-Wan called. It would at least offer some cover.

  They ran, the fire behind them now. Shalini tripped, but Anakin picked her up and dove underneath the belly of the ship. Thik was still moving too slowly. He was not keeping up with the others and would be a prime target when the smoke cleared. Obi-Wan grabbed him. He ran forward to push Thik into an empty space where crushed metal had created a cubbyhole.

  He saw too late that there was only room for one. Obi-Wan pushed Thik into the space and kept on going. The smoke was starting to clear. Obi-Wan dived for a boulder and took shelter behind it. He was wedged in between the boulder and a larger one behind him. There was barely room, but he doubted he could be seen from above.

  The starships landed. The group huddled under their own ship. Obi-Wan saw Shalini move toward Anakin. She handed him something and spoke rapidly in his ear.

  The disk. She had handed him the disk.

  Obi-Wan realized that the Vanqors had decided on capture. They could have easily blown up the ship by now if they'd wanted.

  Dozens of troops exited their ship. A squad headed for the downed ship while another peeled off to search the area.

  Obi-Wan searched his hiding place. He realized that if he could squeeze a bit further behind the boulder, it opened up into a small cavelike opening impossible to see unless you were right on top of it. It offered a perfect place to hide.

  He could not do them any good by being captured too. It tore at him to leave his Padawan, but it was his only hope.

  He squeezed back into the hole, then doubled over to fit himself into the space. From here he could see through a crevice in the rock out to the ship.

  Soldiers rounded up the group and herded them onto their starships.

  Obi-Wan's heart ached. There was no way he and Anakin alone could fend off dozens of soldiers and well-armed enemy ships.

  The starships took off and shot away into the distance. Slowly, Obi- Wan hauled himself up. He panted out his exhaustion and his frustration.

  Then he made himself stand and turned his thoughts toward rescue.

  Chapter Six

  The soldiers had bound their hands behind them and pushed them aboard the starships. Anakin felt the disk burn against his skin. So far he had not been searched, but he would use the Force to divert attention. Shalini had entrusted the disk to him, and he wouldn't fail her.

  She had spoken rapidly in his ear. "Take this. It will be safest in the hands of the Jedi. For the safety of my people, please get it back to Typha-Dor."

  "I pledge my life on it," Anakin had said.

  The starships flew over the deep fissures of the Tomo Craters. On the lip of a crater, a small compound huddled. Out of the viewport, Anakin glimpsed gray buildings, energy fences, security towers, and a small landing pad.

  "Welcome to paradise," one of the soldiers snickered. "The Tomo Camp."

  Dressed in his survival suit like the others, with his lightsaber safely hidden, Anakin was not identified as a Jedi. Shalini refused to give her name, along with the others. The admitting guard didn't seem to care.

  They were searched, but Anakin was able to use the Force to confuse his guard, and his cable launcher, his lightsaber, and the disk were not taken.

  They were stripped of their survival gear and given rough brown tunics to wear. Then they were herded out into a small yard surrounded by energy fencing. The wind was cold and tore at their clothes. Around them swirled other prisoners from other worlds in the Uziel system, planets already conquered by Vanqor.

  Anakin looked around. The walls of the crater were sheer and hundreds of meters tall. It was clear that the only way into the camp was by air.

  How would Obi-Wan rescue him? The ship had been destroyed in the crash.

  The answer was that Obi-Wan most likely would not be able to get to him. It was all up to Anakin. Anakin did not mind this knowledge. He didn't mind depending on his own skill.

  He had a time limit. Shalini had told them that the invasion was due in only three days. He would have to find a way to escape soon. The key to the survival of the entire planet of Typha-Dor lay hid
den in his tunic pocket. He had managed to conceal the disk from the guards, but he didn't kid himself that he would be able to evade the heavy security measures by the Force alone.

  He had made the mistake once of thinking he was more powerful than he was. He would never do it again. He would not make a move until he was sure.

  An Uziel prisoner in a faded uniform drifted near them. "What's the news? Have the Vanqors invaded Typha-Dor?"

  Shalini's eyes glinted. "No. And if they do, we will drive them back."

  The prisoner looked weary. "That's what we said on Zilior."

  "Have there been any escape attempts here?" Shalini asked.

  "One. He's dead. My advice is to accept your fate." The prisoner drifted away.

  "I make my own fate," Shalini said to her cohorts. She looked at Anakin. "Do you have any ideas?"

  "Not yet," Anakin said easily, sitting down on the cold ground.

  "What are you doing?" Shalini asked. "Aren't you going to do something?"

  "I am," Anakin said. Tuning out the others, he began to watch.

  There was only one solution. Anakin had to get to the transport pool.

  The question was when. There were four groups of guards on eight-hour shifts, so that overlap guaranteed that one group was always relatively fresh. In addition, sentry droids constantly buzzed the compound. It wasn't impossible. But it would take the right timing.

  Anakin still had his lightsaber and his cable launcher. He could launch over the energy fence, but then he would have to cross thirty meters of open space to get to the transport pool. The transports were heavily guarded, but not the ones needing repair. If he made it to the repair shed, he could slip inside. He would just have to hope that he could fix a transport and take off before his absence was noted.

  He couldn't take the others. He would have to escape alone, and hope to return for them.

  There was no sense waiting. He would escape that night.

  The gate door slid back. An officer entered, surrounded by guards and droids. He began to walk through the crowd as the prisoners shrank back.

  "What's going on?" Shalini whispered.

  "A sweep," a prisoner muttered next to her. "They come every few weeks and take several of us."

  "No one ever comes back," someone else murmured. "They take them to an unmarked building. There are rumors of medical experiments."

  The officer pointed a finger at one prisoner, then another. The guards surrounded them and herded them together.

  Then the officer wheeled about and pointed directly at Anakin. "Him."

  "No," Shalini whispered.

  Anakin considered resisting. With a glance at the others the guards had herded together, he decided he could not. He knew that if a battle ensued, others would die.

  And there were reasons to submit. Security could be a bit more lax at the facility where they were taking him. Anakin fell into step behind the others.

  They were led to a gray building with no sign outside. When they were ushered inside, Anakin's nose twitched. It smelled like chemicals. So the rumors could be true. The prisoners exchanged uneasy glances.

  They were prodded along the hallway and pushed into a bare white room.

  There a holoscreen took up an entire wall. An image of a human male dressed in a med coat appeared on the screen. He smiled gently.

  "Do not fear. You will not be harmed. On the contrary, you are about to enjoy the experience for which we have chosen you. Welcome to the Zone of Self-Containment. A doctor will be with you shortly to explain. In the meantime, relax."

  "Relax," one of the prisoners snorted. "Good advice, med-head."

  The holo image blinked off.

  "What did he say?" another one of the imprisoned soldiers asked. "The Zone of Self-Containment? What are they going to do to us?" He pressed his fingers to his forehead. "I feel strange."

  Anakin, too, felt light-headed. He suddenly realized why the information had been given to them by a holo image instead of a real person.

  "The room is filled with some kind of gas. They've drugged us," he said as his vision blurred. He felt his knees turn to water. One of the prisoners slumped to the floor.

  Anakin felt himself slipping downward. He fought the sensation of the gas. The others slipped into unconsciousness. He held himself in readiness.

  He tried to move his legs and found that they were too heavy.

  He was the only one conscious when the technicians entered the room in masks. He saw, but he could not move a finger. The technicians began to load the other prisoners onto repulsorlift stretchers.

  "Look at this one, he's still awake," one of the technicians said, drawing closer to Anakin. "Never seen that before."

  "He's not too happy about being here, either," another said.

  One of them leaned closer to Anakin. "Don't fight it, friend. We just want some cooperation in the beginning. I guarantee you'll like your stay here."

  Using every ounce of his will and strength, Anakin grabbed the technician by the collar and brought his face even closer. "Don't… bet…

  on it."

  The technician yelped and struggled to free himself. "Help! For galaxy's sake!"

  The other two rushed over. Anakin could not fight the three of them.

  He was thrown onto the stretcher and strapped down. He dipped in and out of consciousness as the stretcher was powered down the hall. A door opened.

  The light hurt his eyes.

  They began to undress him. My lightsaber, Anakin thought. The disk. He had retained his utility belt and concealed the disk inside a hidden slit.

  He had concealed his lightsaber by lodging it against his body underneath the tunic, strapping the belt tight against the hilt.

  He could not summon the Force enough to distract the technicians from finding it. He was helpless. Only luck could save him from discovery. The belt was unstrapped and hit the tiled floor with a soft thud. His tunic followed. The technician scooped up the bundle and tossed it in a storage box with clothes from the other prisoners.

  Anakin shut his eyes against the harsh light. He felt himself being lifted and slipped into water. He tried to fight, afraid he would drown.

  "Relax, friend," the technician said. "It's just a bath."

  The water was warm. He slid against the side. He was strapped in so that his head wouldn't slip beneath the surface. Anakin's mind drifted as though he were floating off on a deep, dark lake.

  He must have slept. When he woke, he was dry and was wearing a fresh tunic, this one a soft material, in dark blue. He was lying on a sleep couch. The sleep had refreshed him. He felt relaxed and energized. He stretched, marveling at how fluid his limbs felt. The paralyzing drug effects had worn off, but strangely, had left him feeling limber.

  He recognized the technician who handed him a pillow. "Feel better?

  Told you so. Almost time for the evening meal."

  Anakin shook his head.

  "They all refuse at first," the med technician said. "Don't worry, the food isn't drugged. We all eat together, workers and patients."

  Anakin shrugged. Maybe the man was telling the truth. Maybe not.

  Oddly, Anakin didn't care. It was as though cool water had run through his veins, calming every impulse, every desire.

  He walked to the dining hall. Tables were set up, and other patients and med workers were eating. There was a long table with platters heaped with fruits and vegetables, pastries and meats. Anakin saw that everyone ate from the same plates, so he took some food and ate it.

  He chewed, wondering what would come next. He supposed something would happen soon. When it did, he would react.

  The need to help Typha-Dor seemed so distant now. Someone else would help the planet. There was always someone else to do something, if you waited. He would just pass the time here and see what the Vanqors were up to. That could be valuable to the Typha-Dor, too. He needn't worry about the invasion right now.

  He ate and followed some other prisoners out into
the courtyard.

  Warming lights had been set up, and the air was comfortable. Flowers grew, and large, leafy trees. Anakin found a bench and sat. He felt something he had not felt in a long, long time, not since he was a little boy nestled in his mother's embrace: peace.

  I'll fight it soon. When I need to escape, I will. But right now…

  right now, would it be so wrong to enjoy it?

  Chapter Seven