by Jude Watson
"The Jedi?" Adi asked. "How?"
"We see the Jedi surrounded by darkness," V-Tan said. "That is all we know. The darkness comes from within them and then spreads to engulf them."
"Perhaps our destruction will come from an explosive device sent to destroy an entire planet without a shiver," O-Vieve said.
"There is no explosive device powerful enough to destroy a whole planet," Qui-Gon said.
"Not yet, perhaps," O-Vieve corrected softly, and Qui-Gon felt a shiver go up his spine.
"We see masked soldiers," V-Tan said. "We do not know who they are, or what they want. Only that they are evil. They will bring fear and suffering."
"But your visions could be wrong," Adi said.
"Visions sometimes are. The Jedi themselves are not unused to them. Yet we recognize that we can only see things that may be."
"That is why we act as we do." O-Vieve looked at Qui-Gon with an intense gaze. "If you could choose your death, Qui-Gon, wouldn't you rather die in peace and comfort than violently in battle, in shock and despair?"
Qui-Gon fixed her with an icy stare. "We are not allowed to choose our deaths."
"And it is not up to you to choose what is best for your people," Adi said. "You say that each citizen has a vote. Yet you control the process. You monitor their thoughts and conversations. All because of a vision that may not come to pass. Is that fair? Is it fair to take a child from her parents based on a dream of an unnamed evil?"
O-Vieve looked away. Obviously, the question had disturbed her.
Qui-Gon took the opportunity to press the point. "Adi Gallia and I have seen your Tech Circle and your Med Circle. We have seen what you do have compared to what you could have. There have been advances in medicine and technology that could save your people suffering and hardship. Is it right to deny them?"
"We do not deny them," V-Tan said, shaking his head. "We save them."
"There must be some sacrifice in order to preserve the General Good," O-Vieve said, turning back to them. Her voice once again rang with firm authority. "This meeting is over. We will send your Padawans after you. We have a good ship, well-stocked, equipped with a hyperdrive for them. We send you good wishes on your journey." Her blue eyes suddenly held the glint of steel. "But if you try to remain in Kegan atmosphere, know this: Your ship will be blasted out of the sky."
Obi-Wan and Siri were able to slip back into the throng of students crowding around the large data screen while the stragglers completed the course.
O-Bin read the scores, her usual fixed smile on her face. It faltered. "O-Siri and V-Obi, step forward."
Obi-Wan and Siri stepped forward.
"You have tampered with the data screen," she rapped out. "Ten punishment marks apiece--"
"Excuse me, Guide O-Bin." The soft-spoken girl named O-Iris spoke up. "V-Obi and O-Siri completed the course that fast. I saw them leap up on the durasteel wall."
"And I saw them navigate the twisting beam in only three seconds,” another boy said. "No one has ever done that."
"They were already through the first lap while I was only a third through the first," someone else said.
O-Bin's smile disappeared. She cleared her throat. "I see. Well. Let us see if O-Siri and V-Obi can match their skill on the rec course with obedience in class."
She walked off quickly. The students lined up to follow. Many glanced at Obi-Wan and Siri, speculation in their eyes. Obi-Wan had not foreseen that their prowess on the rec course would gain them more attention. Obviously, no one had ever run the course so fast.
Back in class, O-Bin began the lesson.
"Today we will cover the Kegan system of government as compared to other worlds. After studying other societies throughout the galaxy, V-Tan and O-Vieve have devised the best form of government. No one citizen on Kegan is more important than any other--"
"Really?" Siri said bluntly. "Then why do V-Tan and O-Vieve tell you what to think and what to do?"
"Three marks, O-Siri. You're amassing quite a collection," O-Bin said, her smile tight. "I suppose you enjoy kitchen duty."
"It sure beats sitting in class," Siri shot back.
This time, Obi-Wan heard a few students stifle a giggle.
"Two more marks," O-Bin said. "Getting back to the lesson, the freedoms we enjoy here on Kegan are unparalleled--"
Again, Siri interrupted. "Is that why all the children are confined to a walled compound and can't leave without triggering an alarm?"
"O-Siri!"
"And why aren't citizens free to travel off-planet?" Obi-Wan chimed in.
"V-Obi! Four marks for both of you!"
"But Guide O-Bin, they have a point," O-Iris said. "Can you address it?"
O-Bin's lips thinned. "No, I cannot. It is not a valid observation."
"It seems valid to me," V-Iris said hesitantly.
"And if we're free, why can't we choose what jobs we want to do?" another student asked.
"My father wanted to work in the Tech Circle, but was assigned to Traffic Control," someone said. "He hates it."
"They say they are not of our world," O-Iris said. "You call them liars. Yet we saw how they ran the course. No one on Kegan has that kind of skill."
"That's enough!" O-Bin's face was red. She turned to Siri and Obi-Wan. For once, her anger was evident, not covered up with a bland, false smile.
"This is all your fault!" she said shrilly. "Yours is not to question The Learning! It has been devised by those far wiser than you. It is taught by those who know more than you."
"Then you should be able to explain it," Siri pointed out.
"If we are so free, why can't we speak out?" O-Iris asked.
"Enough!" O-Bin shouted. She stabbed at a red button by the door. Seconds later, Security Guides burst in.
She pointed to Obi-Wan and Siri. "Take them away! They have disrupted my class! They are enemies of the General Good!"
Obi-Wan and Siri were pulled out of class and taken to the admin center. There, a stern Control Guide told them that because of their repeated disruptions, they were being reassigned.
Their destination was the Re-Learning Circle.
Obi-Wan and Siri exchanged a glance of satisfaction. It was exactly as they'd hoped.
They were marched across the yard and into the field, then down the ramp into the facility. Immediately, all air and light were blocked out. The Re-Learning Circle was dank and cold, the walls and floors the same shade of dull gray. They were separated immediately. Obi-Wan was taken to a cell and locked inside. The light was dim. There was a mat on the floor to sleep on. That was all.
He did not know what he had expected. But he had not expected this.
Within minutes, his door hissed open. A Guide in a navy chromasheath tunic and pants walked in, a bundle in his arms.
"I am the Guide who will start you on the path of Re-Learning," he said. "Put this on." He held out a sensory-deprivation suit.
Obi-Wan knew he had to go along for now, until he could find Davi. He climbed into the suit and the Guide fastened it securely. He could not see or hear. The world around him dropped away. He could only hear his own breathing.
A lecture began in the padded earphones that covered his ears. He could not dislodge it no matter how he twisted. It was similar to the blackout hood he had worn at the Temple for the cooperation exercise. The difference was he could not remove this himself. He was trapped.
Kegan is a perfect society dedicated to the General Good. The Guides are here to help you. Do not trust others. Only trust your Guides.
The Inner Core worlds are full of dangers...
Travel is difficult and unnecessary...
Kegan medicine is the most advanced in the galaxy...
"Wrong!" Obi-Wan screamed despairingly. "It's all wrong!"
But he could not block out the voice.
Qui-Gon and Adi entered their transport. Adi took the controls. She coolly eyed their starfighter escorts as she fired up the engines.
"Those are so ol
d they should be junked," she said. "We won't have any problem outrunning them."
"Let's hope those laser cannons are just as old," Qui-Gon remarked mildly.
They rose smoothly and headed for the upper atmosphere, the starfighters flanking them closely. Adi was one of the best Jedi pilots Qui-Gon knew. Her response time was amazingly fast, and her feel for her craft was instinctive. If anyone could lose four starfighters without risking damage to their craft, it was Adi.
Because they knew one thing: They would not leave Kegan without their Padawans.
Qui-Gon had thought Adi too cautious at times during this mission. Now he saw how determined she could be.
"Ready for a ride?" she asked Qui-Gon.
He checked to make sure he was securely strapped in his seat. "Ready."
With one deft movement, Adi flipped the craft over, nearly clipping the wings of the starfighter next to it. She dived down at a screaming speed, then rolled several times. Trying to keep up, one starfighter spiraled out. The starfighter pilot fought to stabilize his craft.
"That model doesn't have the maneuverability this one does," she murmured. "Pity."
Adi pushed the engines to maximum speed and turned hard right, pushing the ship to the limits of its maneuverability. Warning blaster fire erupted off their port side, but Adi was already turning as she climbed, and it passed harmlessly by the wing. It ripped into the wing of the other starfighter, however. Flames erupted from its fuel line.
"Hoped that would happen," Adi muttered. The second starfighter took off, back down to the planet for repairs.
Now Adi reversed direction. Instead of trying to elude the two remaining ships, she headed straight for them. Thinking she was about to crash into them, both starfighters went into a dive and fired at the same time.
Adi was able to easily avoid the fire with a few quick turns. The starfighters were below them now, still diving. Adi pushed the engines to the maximum. They zoomed off and soon lost the two craft.
"Good flying," Qui-Gon complimented her. "And here I thought Yoda sent you on this mission just to watch over me. Maybe he knew we'd need your flying skills."
Adi threw him an amused glance from her dark, almond-shaped eyes. "Yoda didn't send me to watch you. Not in the way you think. Siri and I are a new team. He wanted her to see how a good Master-Padawan team operates."
"So Yoda isn't keeping an eye on us?"
"On the contrary. You and Obi-Wan have proven your effectiveness. Yoda felt Siri needed to learn cooperation with another Padawan as well."
Qui-Gon considered this. "I believe I learned the same lesson," he said softly.
Adi gave him one of her rare smiles. "And I as well."
Qui-Gon plugged in the coordinates for Kegan's high plateau and they settled back for the short ride. Soon they zoomed over the targeted area. Mist shrouded the landscape below. Qui-Gon peered first at his data screens, then with his own keen gaze. The mist parted, and it appeared - a vast compound ringed with a high stone wall. Long, low-domed buildings lay within the larger compound as well as cultivated fields and open space.
"The mist is a good cover," Adi said. "I'll land outside the wall near those rocks."
They landed, concealing the ship behind a stand of rocks and scrub. They climbed out and quickly crossed a field and scaled the wall. The mist lay low on the ground, so thick it was hard to see more than a short distance ahead. Qui-Gon and Adi patrolled the compound, letting their keen senses tell them when Guides were near. They moved like shadows through the fog. They climbed on top of the buildings and looked through the skylights. They peered through every window. They found nothing.
"They aren't here," Adi Gallia said. "Maybe they were, and they moved them. No doubt O-Vieve and V-Tan have already sent out an alert for us. They know we'll head here. I think we should leave and consider our next step. Maybe we should head back to Kegan and see if Melie and Nen have come up with anything."
Qui-Gon paused. He lifted his head and closed his eyes. He felt the Force around him. He reached out to it, hoping it would tell him if his Padawan was near.
He felt nothing.
"All right," he said reluctantly. "Let's go."
At first he had struggled to block out the voice.
Trust the Guides to show you the way to the General Good. They monitor it. They know it. Trust them. Do not trust your friend or neighbor.
Then he realized that he should not struggle. That only made the voice more insistent. He practiced the Jedi way and accepted. The voice washed over him like water. He did not have to drink it in.
How long would this go on? It seemed to be lasting for hours. He could find his calm center; the voice would not penetrate. He knew Siri could do the same. They would not go crazy listening to that steady, melodic voice that told lie after lie.
But what about Davi?
At last he was released from the sensory-deprivation suit by his Guide. At first he could only blink. The soft noises of people and movement outside his door, the breathing of the Guide seemed loud and intrusive. Obi-Wan imagined that this was like being born.
"How long have I been here?" Obi-Wan asked.
"That I cannot say," the Guide said pleasantly. "Now it is time for the cleansing room. I'll lead you if you can't see quite yet. It's normal."
"I can see." Obi-Wan's eyes were adjusting now. The gray walls and gray floors were like an extension of the darkness he had been plunged into for so many hours. He walked next to the Guide down the corridors, passing a Medic Guide, this one different from the one he'd seen aboveground so many days before.
No. Today. I saw that Medic Guide earlier today.
He had to hold on to his sense of time. He would find a way to mark it in his room.
I won't be here that long. We came for Davi. We'll find him and get out.
They had come because they felt they owed Davi. They had come to help a friend. They had thought it would be easy to rescue him and get out. They were wrong. This would not be easy. It had been impulsive, Obi-Wan realized. And he had promised himself back at the Temple that he would not be impulsive again. He would be careful.
Maybe he'd been influenced by Siri. She was always ready to jump, to move, to take action. He shouldn't have listened to her.
Do not listen to others. Listen only to the Guides.
Obi-Wan shook his head, blocking out the memory of the voice. The Guide ushered him into the cleansing room. He pointed out the heating spray and cooling spray, towels, and a fresh tunic.
"I will be back in three minutes," he said.
Obi-Wan felt the pulse of the warm water against his back. He felt a sudden connection to the land above him, the living creatures, the beings around him. Qui-Gon was here. He was searching. He knew it. He felt the strong, sure connection.
I'm here, Qui-Gon. I am below. Don't stop searching.
They had this connection once, but it had frayed. Would Qui-Gon hear him? Would he answer him?
He felt nothing.
Obi-Wan moved to the cooling spray, then toweled himself off and dressed. He was on his own. He could trust no one.
Only the Guides could be trusted for truth and ...
Obi-Wan stopped in the middle of buckling his utility belt. He had not heard those words as spoken by the voice in his ear. He had heard the words in his own voice.
Fear snaked through him. They had gotten to him in only one session. Obi-Wan took a breath. He summoned up his training. He focused on the calmness within. It drove out the fear.
I am not alone, he told himself firmly. I have Siri. And I trust her.
Food service took place in a large hall filled with students. Obi-Wan could not see their faces. Like him, they wore concealing hoods. Strict silence was maintained. Security Guides patrolled the aisles between the long tables, making sure no one started a conversation.
The Learning Circle had been strict. Friendships were discouraged. If one student got too close to another, they would find themselves transferred to a di
fferent quad. But conversation was allowed at food times, and students did interact. Here, everything was designed to break a student down. Isolation was the tool.
Obi-Wan tried to peer under hoods to see if Siri was looking for him. He searched for a small, slight form that could be Davi. He could not tell if either of his friends were here.
A harsh buzzer sounded, and there was a loud scrape of chairs against the floor as everyone stood, finished or not. Obi-Wan lined up with the others. How would he be able to make contact with Siri? He would have to find a way. Perhaps he could fake an illness. There seemed to be many med wards in this building . ..
Ahead of him, his sharp eyes had caught a slight movement. A slender tail flicked out of a tunic pocket. The student quickly put a hand inside.
Davi!
They marched down the long gray hallway in a row. One by one the students split off into separate cells. Obi-Wan kept his head down but his eyes fixed on Davi. He made a note of the cell Davi had disappeared into. There were no numbers on the doors, so he counted the doors until he got to his own.
He would contact Davi tonight. There was no time to lose. Davi was sensitive. He was afraid of being alone. What was this place doing to him? And how would he find Siri? Obi-Wan pondered the problem. He would have to trust the Force to guide him. He could not delay any longer. He would use his lightsaber to cut through his cell door after lights out.
That night, he timed the regular stroll of the Security Guides. He calculated the distance down the hall. He would have just enough time to get Davi, pause inside his cell for the next patrol, then take off and look for Siri. It would be risky. He would have to count on the Guide to not notice the damaged cell doors. The lighting was low enough that he just might get away with it.
A buzzer announced lights out, and three seconds later his light was extinguished. Obi-Wan sat cross-legged on the floor of his cell. He would wait until he was sure that most students were asleep.
He had waited only a few minutes when a whisper came to him faintly.
"Obi-Wan! What are you doing? Catching a nap?"
"Siri?"
"Who do you think it is, V-Tarz? Stand back."