by Jude Watson
The two Padawan teams split up. Anakin and Tru retraced their steps back to the Emergency Command Center. They needed to get permission from Galen to access the central power source.
"Why not?" Galen said, waving a hand. "Our tech experts can't fix it. Give it a try."
Anakin and Tru entered the comm center. "Thanks for backing me up," Anakin said. "Have you noticed how Ferus has been taking control?"
"No," Tru said. "I've noticed he's had some good ideas. So have you."
"Well, I don't like being bossed around," Anakin muttered.
Tru gave him a sidelong look. "This isn't a game of sabaac, Anakin. No one is keeping score. We're all just trying to do the right thing."
"I don't like the way he operates, that's all," Anakin said.
Tru shook his head. "You're doing the same thing he's doing, Anakin. You're thinking ahead. You're coming up with ideas. You two are the most experienced Padawans on the mission. It's natural. I like Ferus. You would, too, if you gave him a chance. He has plenty of friends for a reason."
"Ferus doesn't have friends. He has followers" Anakin said. He didn't like the way the conversation was going, so he began to study the console. "This is pretty standard."
Tru bent over some large-scale holofiles. "I found the blueprint of the system," he said. "We should be able to pinpoint the problem. Fixing it is another matter."
"Let me try the rangefinders first," Anakin said. He bent over the tech console, his fingers flying. He was lucky that he had excelled in his tech classes. He hadn't been content to merely learn what the Masters had wanted him to. He had haunted the tech rooms at the Temple, eager to find out how everything worked.
Anakin tried sending a series of messages, then backtracked through the system, attempting to locate the precise problem.
Puzzled, Anakin frowned.
"I know, I don't get it, either," Tru said, jumping into the middle of a conversation they weren't having, as he usually did. "It doesn't make sense. If the toxin had created a disturbance in the atmosphere, the sensors should be recording the activity."
"Everything checks out on the planet itself," Anakin said, clicking a few more keys. "The system should be working."
"Only it isn't," Tru said. "You've got to trust reality over a sensor. No matter how much it hurts."
"Sensors don't lie unless they're broken," Anakin said.
"And these aren't." Suddenly, he looked up and met Tru's silvery gaze.
"No," Tru said.
"Yes," Anakin said. "What else can it be? The comm system isn't being jammed in the planetary atmosphere. It's being jammed from space."
Tru whistled under his breath. "Which means someone, somewhere, wants to cut the planet off. And that can only mean one thing."
"Invasion," they said together.
Chapter Thirteen
Curi sat in the office, a plate of untouched food pushed away from her and a datapad in front of her. She rested her head against her hand, and, behind her mask, her eyes were closed.
Obi-Wan and Siri paused. If Curi was resting at last, they didn't want to disturb her.
Without opening her eyes, she spoke. "We can't find it.
Whatever makes Wilk immune to the toxin, we might never know. We've checked out everything."
"I'm sorry," Siri said.
Curi opened her eyes. She started to scratch her head, then remembered she was in her bio-iso suit. She grimaced.
"There's something else. We used our lab facilities to run the tests. While we waited for results, I looked up everything on the toxin. I'd already done that when this first happened, but things were moving so fast… I didn't have time to look closely. There are gaps in the research."
"What do you mean?" Obi-Wan asked. "Gaps in the way it was conducted?"
"No," Curi said. "Gaps in the records. There are files missing."
"So it's possible that — " Siri began.
"That the accident wasn't an accident," Curi finished.
They left Curi, who was about to return to her lab to investigate further. Obi-Wan looked at Siri.
"The ferry ships should have landed by now."
She nodded. "Let's go."
The Avoni fleet had landed on the outskirts of the Isolation Sector. Obi-Wan and Siri took Curi's airspeeder, which she'd made available for their use. They stopped the speeder a few hundred meters away from the ferry ships, hiding it behind a rocky outcropping.
The wind was strong here, driving the dust against their clothes. The bio-iso suits protected their eyes and skin from the peppery blasts.
The gleaming black ships had landed in formation. A few Avoni workers dressed in bio-iso suits were ferrying skiffs out the cargo loading doors.
"No doubt they're going to use the skiffs to ferry the Radnorans from Aubendo to the fleet," Obi-Wan murmured.
"There must be another ship on the other side of the energy gate for Tacto."
"Then why off-load them now?" Siri asked. "And why are they full of durasteel crates?"
"Good question," Obi-Wan said. "Let's get closer."
They moved from rock to rock, trying to get close enough to see what was inside the skiffs. As they lingered in the shadow of a ship's wing, the passenger ramp suddenly lowered. An Avoni officer strode down.
"Progress report!" he called out to the workers.
The worker quickly approached him with a datapad. Obi-Wan glanced at Siri, and after a wordless communication they both dashed up the passenger ramp.
The ship hallway was deserted. Quickly they made their way down it. Now they were in the cargo hold of the ship. There were no ground craft here. No guards or officers.
Obi-Wan accessed a door, keeping himself well out of sight as it slid open. He peered into the doorway. He found himself looking inside a large cargo bay. It was filled with Battle Droids that were ominously familiar.
"These are the Prototype Droids we fought in the Clear Sector," Siri said. "How did the Avoni get them?"
They stepped through the doorway. At that instant, a detector light turned red.
"Mistake," Obi-Wan muttered. "I think we just tripped a silent sensor."
Suddenly an alarm sounded. "Intruder," a pleasant voice announced. "Intruder."
"Not so silent," Siri said grimly. "Let's get out of here while we can."
But even as they turned, the first line of attack droids snapped to life. Behind them, the next line flipped into position. And blaster fire erupted around the Jedi.
Chapter Fourteen
Obi-Wan and Siri knew that they were no match for this many droids. And at any moment, Avoni troops could appear.
Blaster fire pinged around them. Behind them, the door began to slide shut.
Obi-Wan and Siri deflected blaster fire as they moved backward. The frequency of the fire was astonishing. The air filled with smoke. In their bio-iso suits, the Jedi could not move with their customary grace. Obi-Wan felt blaster fire uncomfortably close to his shoulder.
"Obi-Wan!" Siri called.
The doors were closing, and they were too far to make it.
Obi-Wan stepped forward and, with one smooth motion, sliced a droid in half. He took the severed trunk of the body and tossed it back just in time to land between the closing door and the wall. With a grating noise, the door closed on the droid. The metal began to compress with a terrible groaning sound as the door struggled to shut. The gap was just wide enough for Siri to fit through. Even as she squeezed past, the door was closing. Obi-Wan's lightsaber danced, a blade of light that deflected the ongoing blaster fire of the droids. He squeezed through the opening after Siri. A Prototype Droid tried to follow and smashed into the door. Obi-Wan tumbled into the hallway as another droid fired between the gap. Blaster fire zinged past their ears. The droid tried to barrel its way through the remains of the first droid and the closing door.
Obi-Wan and Siri didn't hesitate. As more droids thudded against the half-closed door, they ran for the ramp.
The Avoni officer was
still busy with the workers. He must have received a shipboard communication through his headset, for he turned and scanned the area. "Intruders!" he snapped to the workers. "Leave the skiffs. Secure the ferry ships!
Lock down all cargo holds!"
The workers began to move. In their bio-iso suits, Obi-Wan and Siri were able to blend in. They made their way along the line of ships, looking busy. Then they ducked behind the rocks and doubled back to their speeder.
They jumped inside and took off.
"At least we weren't seen," Obi-Wan said. "The Avoni won't know we're on to them."
"They'll know someone was aboard when they find several smashed droids and a broken door," Siri said as she piloted the speeder.
"They could think that it was a droid malfunction," Obi- Wan said. "At least for a while."
"Well, that reminds me. What exactly are we on to?" Siri asked. "If all of those cargo holds are full of Battle Droids, we're in trouble. What I don't understand is how they're going to get the droids to Aubendo. It seems like they're using the skiffs for cargo."
"I don't know. But there's no doubt in my mind that the Avoni are planning an invasion," Obi-Wan said. "That much is clear. But we have a worse problem."
Siri nodded, her clear blue eyes suddenly clouded. "We might have to let them."
They found Ry-Gaul and Soara with Curi. Ry-Gaul and Soara were studying some results on Curl's data-pad. Everyone looked grave.
"Bad news?" Siri asked.
"No, it's actually good news," Curi said. "It's just puzzling news. We discovered why Wilk is immune to the toxin. He was never exposed at all."
"What do you mean?" Obi-Wan asked. "He sneaked back into the Isolation Sector."
"Exactly. And he didn't get infected," Curi said. "When none of the immunity tests checked out, I went back and checked the research. We ran more tests. The toxin has a short half-life. The poison is already benign. It doesn't threaten the Clear Sector at all."
"Are you absolutely certain of this?" Siri asked.
For her answer, Curi slowly removed her mask. Then she stepped out of her bio-isolation suit.
"I am willing to test it," she said. "I suggest you keep your suits on, for now. If I'm wrong, you should be here to run things."
Obi-Wan admired Curi's courage. "If you're right, this is good news," Obi-Wan said. "We suspect that Avon is attempting a takeover of your planet."
"Wait a second," Siri said. "They must know the toxin has dispersed. That's the key to their takeover. They get everyone off-planet, and then they move in."
"But the Avoni were wearing bio-iso suits," Obi-Wan said.
Siri shrugged. "Just in case someone came by — like we did."
"Maybe that accounts for the missing research records,"
Soara said. "Could someone have gotten past your security system, Curi?"
Curi didn't say anything for a moment.
"Curi, we don't have time for your hesitations," Soara prodded bluntly.
"No, our security is first-rate," Curi said hesitantly.
"So it would have to be an inside job," Obi-Wan said.
Curi bit her lip. "I want to say no. But there is something I haven't told you about Dol Heep. I've had direct dealings with him. Somehow he found out we were working to develop a new weapon with that toxin. The Avoni wanted exclusive rights to it. They were willing to pay a fortune.
I was opposed — I have told you of my feelings about the Avoni. Not to mention that we weren't even close to completion of our research. But Galen wanted to do the deal.
He pointed out that we sell to anyone in the galaxy who will pay the price. Why stop now? He had a point. He did not like that I had come to believe we needed to do business a different way. We had terrible arguments. In the end we agreed that our relationship as brother and sister was more important than business. So Galen agreed to my point of view. He had no choice, really. He wouldn't be able to run the lab. He's strictly a research scientist. Dol Heep was furious at our refusal to deal with his planet. When the toxin was released, I just assumed it was an accident."
"And now?" Soara prodded when Curi fell silent.
"And now I'm wondering why Galen didn't know that the toxin has a short half-life," Curi burst out. "He was the one who developed it. How could Galen have made this mistake? How could he not have known?"
"I think you know the answer to that," Obi-Wan said. "He does know."
Chapter Fifteen
When Ferus and Darra arrived at the communication center, they were shocked at the news that the communications were being jammed from space.
Darra grabbed the end of her sandy Padawan braid and chewed on it nervously. "Do you think it's the Avoni?"
Anakin and Ferus nodded at the same time.
"It sure looks that way," Ferus said. He glanced at the communication console, then at Anakin and Tru. "Good work, you two. I never could have figured out that system."
"It's a perfect plan," Tru said. "Evacuate everyone off- planet. They all go willingly. Then move in."
Darra realized she was chewing on her braid and made a disgusted face. She flung it behind her shoulder. "Talk about an easy takeover."
"The question is, do we still move the Radnorans onto the Avoni transports?" Anakin asked. "We need to tell Galen this news. Maybe there's a way to delay the process until we can get more information."
"Not so fast," Darra said. "Ferus and I discovered something. The factory that made those prototype droids belongs to Galen and his sister Curi."
"Isn't it too much of a coincidence that there were security lapses at both factories?" Ferus asked. He swung one powerful leg over a chair and sat astride it.
Thoughtfully, Tru leaned back in his chair. He wrapped both his rubbery legs around each other several times, then crossed his ankles. "So Galen could be involved in the release of the droids," he said. "Or even the original industrial accident."
"Or Curi," Darra said. "Or both. Or neither. It could be an employee of theirs. Or an ex-employee. In other words, it could be anyone on this planet. And we have to find them in less than an hour! Not too much of a problem for a first mission." She reached for her braid again.
Ferus leaned over and slipped his hand into Tru's pocket.
He tossed Darra a piece of figda candy. "No stress, Darra."
"We have threads, but no patterns," Anakin said. "Our Masters could be in danger. They don't know about Curi's connection to the Prototype Droids. She could be dangerous.
We have to go over to the Isolation Sector and warn them."
"Hold on," Ferus said. His dark eyebrows lowered. "First of all, we were ordered to remain here, no matter what.
We've been taught to heed our Masters — it's an important part of the Jedi Order."
"But things have changed," Anakin argued.
"And second, there are no bio-iso suits for us," Ferus added.
Anakin lifted his chin. "I'm not afraid. If my Master is in danger, I'll go. You can stay here and be safe."
For the first time, Anakin saw Ferus flush with anger.
"This isn't a bravery contest, Anakin. Think like a Jedi."
"Don't give me orders!" Anakin shot back hotly.
"Our first duty is to the citizens of Radnor!" Ferus snapped.
Darra stepped in between them. "Okay, ferrocrete heads, let's calm down. We're supposed to work together, remember?
Time is running out for the citizens of this planet. Let's focus on that."
"It's him!" Anakin and Ferus exclaimed together.
Darra's lips quirked. "Ah. At last you agree on something."
"Anakin is right. Our Masters could be in danger," Tru said. Anakin started to speak, but he held up a hand. "Ferus is also right. We must think like Jedi. And that means we must trust our Masters. We can't assume that they haven't discovered the same information that we have. We must proceed with the mission. If we have to cross over to the Isolation Sector, we will. But not yet."
"What do you suggest?" D
arra asked.
"If the Radnorans remain on the planet, they will die,"
Tru said. "Therefore, we must allow the Avoni to transport them off-planet. But we must foil the invasion somehow."
"Four Padawans are going to foil an invasion from an entire planet?" Darra asked. She glanced at Ferus. "If you say no stress, I'll bite you."