Jedi Apprentice 9: The Fight for Truth (звёздные войны)

by Джуд Уотсон

  "Where the General Good is best served," V-Davi responded promptly. He scraped the vegetable mush into a big container and placed it in the cooler that ran along one wall. Then he began to carry the dried plates to the racks. "When you are twelve, you appear before a committee in which your aptitude is assessed. Then you receive more specialized training in your area."

  "But what if you're assigned to something you don't want to do?" Siri asked.

  "You are happy, because you know you are contributing to the General Good." V-Davi mopped up a bit more soapy water that Siri had spilled. He leaned against the sink and put his hand in his pocket nervously. "I'll probably go into food service. There is a shortage."

  Siri gave him a shrewd glance. "What do you want to do, V-Davi?"

  "I want to work in the Animal Circle," V-Davi admitted. "But there is a surplus. So it wouldn't help the…"

  "General Good," Siri completed. "I get it."

  Suddenly, Obi-Wan heard a peep peep. Was it a warning security device?

  He looked around quickly, but could see no lights or indicators.

  V-Davi looked nervous. "We'd better go."

  Again, Obi-Wan heard the peep peep. He realized that it was coming from V-Davi's pocket.

  "What's that?" Siri asked bluntly.

  V-Davi moved toward the door. "Nothing. I must go. Lockdown is soon."

  He hurried away, and something floated through the air back toward Obi-Wan.

  He caught it. It was a feather.

  "V-Davi," he called. "Stop."

  V-Davi stopped.

  "What are you holding?"

  Siri walked forward. She peered into V-Davi's cupped hands. "It's a humming peeper."

  Obi-Wan stepped forward. V-Davi must have been hiding the tiny bird in his pocket. It perched in his cupped hands, a lovely creature with bright yellow and blue feathers.

  V-Davi's eyes darted fearfully from Obi-Wan to Siri. "It has a hurt wing. I found it in the yard. I was going to turn it in. I swear I was!"

  Siri reached out a finger and stroked the bird. "He's cute."

  "l-l just rescued this one creature," V-Davi stammered. "I would never break the rules of The Learning."

  Suddenly, Obi-Wan saw a tiny quivering nose stick out of V-Davi's other pocket.

  "And what's that?"

  V-Davi's eyes were wide. "That's a baby fer-bil," he whispered. "Please don't turn me in, V-Obi."

  "Of course we won't turn you in," Obi-Wan assured him. He stroked the furry creature's head.

  "Is having pets against the rules?" Siri asked.

  "Of course. There are no domestic pets allowed on Kegan," V-Davi said.

  "It is contrary to the General Good to lavish attention on a subspecies.

  They are used for food products and cultivation only." His gray eyes studied them, suddenly fearful. "You are outsiders, aren't you?"

  "Yes," Siri said. "But we're also your friends."

  A relieved smile spread over V-Davi's face. "Students of The Learning are not encouraged to form personal attachments. If you make a close friend, you find he or she is moved to another Learning quad. So we must be careful.

  But you must call me Davi now. When one forms a bond on Kegan, the title letter of your name is dropped."

  "Then you can call us Obi-Wan and Siri," Obi-Wan said.

  Davi reached out and put one hand on Obi-Wan's forearm and one on Siri's. "You are my first friends. Maybe it does not add to the General Good. But I am happy. Now, since you are my friends, on Kegan we believe in trying to help our bonded friends achieve their hearts desire." He took a deep breath. "Therefore, Obi and Siri, I will help you escape. Tonight."

  The constant buzzing noise should have alerted him. Instead, it had become background, and Qui-Gon had ceased to notice it. That was what they counted on, he supposed. A constant presence can be easier to ignore than a random one.

  There was complete surveillance on Kegan. The skyhoppers overhead had to be equipped with listening and watching devices. It was the only explanation.

  V-Nen and 0-Melie had asked for their help in the only way available to them: with glances and hints.

  Qui-Gon and Adi did not dare speak, even in the open air. Without another word, they started toward the Communications Circle.

  Qui-Gon's keen gaze swept across the round buildings in the Circle. He saw one open window in the building to his left. He indicated it to Adi with a tilt of his head. She nodded.

  They walked into the building and quickly made their way through a maze of corridors toward the room with the open window. They were sure V-Nen and O-Melie would be waiting.

  The door was slightly ajar. Qui-Gon hesitated outside.

  "Come in quickly please," V-Nen whispered.

  "And please close the door," 0-Melie added.

  "This is a safe room," V-Nen said as soon as the Jedi entered and shut the door behind them. "Melie and I have installed anti-surveillance devices.

  The skyhoppers you may have noticed overhead are actually unpiloted auto-hoppers that contain audio and visual surveillance devices. Everything we say and do is recorded. There are transmitters in our homes that beam up to them."

  Qui-Gon and Adi exchanged glances. "We thought that might be the case,"

  Qui-Gon said. "How did the citizens of Kegan allow this?"

  "It began as an anti-crime measure," 0-Melie explained. "Society was stable, but petty theft and pilfering was common after we changed to a bartering system. V-Tan and O-Vieve proposed we use autohoppers as security devices, and we all voted on it. Originally they were supposed to patrol the market only. Then it was extended to the Dwelling Circle and beyond. No one expected that it would be used to monitor conversations and activities. It happened slowly, and now we are watched all the time."

  "But if every citizen on Kegan gets a vote, couldn't you vote them out?" Adi asked.

  V-Nen shook his head. "Every citizen gets a vote, but V-Tan and O-Vieve decide what we should vote on."

  0-Melie gave a sad smile. "We have the illusion of democracy. Not the reality."

  "Tell us how we can help you," Adi said gently. "What do you think happened to O-Lana?"

  0-Melie and V-Nen exchanged a frightened glance. "We are worried about her safety," V-Nen said quietly. "There are whispers and rumors about children who vanish."

  Qui-Gon recalled something that had bothered him at the time. "Is that what O-Yani meant when she said O-Lana would not disappear!"

  0-Melie nodded. "Some children enroll at the Learning Circle and are never heard from again."

  "The Learning Circle?" Qui-Gon asked quickly. "Where is that?"

  "That Circle is not in the city of Kegan, but in an outlying area,"

  V-Nen explained. "The Learning is a course of teaching developed by O-Vieve and V-Tan. It was introduced about fifteen years ago. Before that there was no central authority and children were schooled at home."

  "We don't know where it is, only that it is in the open country,"

  0-Melie answered. "It is thought better for the children if parents are not allowed there. Children attend the Learning Circle from the age of four.

  There are no exceptions. Truants are dealt with harshly."

  "That's why there are no children on the streets," Adi said.

  "Obi-Wan and Siri!" Qui-Gon exclaimed. "Could they have been taken there by mistake?"

  "It's possible," V-Nen said. "We hear that the Truant Guides take action first and ask questions later. And they might not believe your Padawans if they say they are not from Kegan. There are very few citizens who know the Jedi are here. O-Vieve and V-Tan thought it best if your arrival was kept secret."

  "You see, we contacted you without V-Tan and 0-Vieve's permission,"

  0-Melie said. "We took the chance that our Benevolent Guides would not dare refuse the Jedi. They did not. They allowed you to come. But they would not let us see you alone."

  "They claim it is for our protection," V-Nen told them. "They believe that darknes
s surrounds the Jedi."

  Qui-Gon was startled. "I don't understand."

  "O-Vieve has prophetic visions," O-Melie explained. "V-Tan has dreams.

  Many of their predictions have come true. That is why the people of Kegan trust them. O-Vieve had a vision of the Jedi. She claims that an evil force will engulf those who are close to the Jedi. All Keganites are afraid of the Jedi."

  So Adi was right. That was what she had picked up from V-Haad and 0-Rina. Fear.

  "But we doubt O-Vieve's vision," V-Nen said. "We want what's best for our daughter. We had to contact you. We know Lana wasn't taken for routine testing. We would have heard something by now."

  A sob broke loose from O-Melie.

  V-Nen put his arm protectively around his wife. He laid his hand on her hair, holding her head against him gently. He spoke with his cheek resting against her hair. "I'm sorry to say these things out loud, Melie, but I know you are thinking them, too. We must be strong for Lana's sake. We must allow the Jedi to help us. We can't do it alone."

  Slowly, O-Melie raised her head. Tears sparkled in her eyes. "Men is right," she said shakily. "We need your help."

  "And we are here to give it," Qui-Gon said.

  V-Nen put his hand on Qui-Gon's forearm. O-Melie put hers on Adi Gallia's.

  V-Nen said, "Now we are Nen and Melie to you. Our fate is twined with yours."

  "We will find your daughter," Qui-Gon assured them.

  "You must be careful," Nen told them. "We are part of a faction on Kegan that opposes O-Vieve and V-Tan. We believe that the isolation policy is wrong. Trade and exploration could be good for Kegan. The surveillance is what has made our anti-isolationist movement so difficult. It's not that we are arrested or forbidden to discuss things — on the contrary, V-Tan and O-Vieve insist that Kegan is an open society. Yet somehow those of us who ask why we cannot travel beyond Kegan are punished — moved to job sectors we do not like, forced to share housing unexpectedly, given low priority for requests… things that make life difficult on Kegan. You may imagine that the movement has thus lost many members. The rest have learned to be careful."

  "But now they have gone too far. They have taken our daughter," Melie said. "I do not want to be careful any longer."

  "V-Tan and O-Vieve have said that if one Keganite leaves the planet it will cause our destruction," Men continued. "They will prevent Lana leaving in whatever way they can."

  "We must find her before it's too late," Melie said, her voice trembling.

  "Yet every move is watched. Every word we say is heard," Nen added in despair.

  "I have an idea," Qui-Gon said. "Auto-hoppers are controlled by CIPs — Central Instruction Processors."

  "Yes," Nen agreed. "The CIP is in a guarded building right here in the Comm Circle."

  "If Adi and I can disable the CIP, they will need to recall the autohoppers until it is repaired. In the meantime, the people will be able to share information more freely. You will be able to mobilize your group, and we will have time to search for Lana."

  "Qui-Gon, I must speak to you," Adi said sternly.

  She drew Qui-Gon into the corner.

  "I must object to this plan," she said in a low tone that vibrated with worry. "It is totally opposed to the Council's wishes. We will directly interfere with the Kegan government if we disable a CIP."

  "But how else can we complete our mission?" Qui-Gon argued. "We didn't know before we arrived that the people here were under constant surveillance. We didn't know that two powerful rulers were controlling them. And our Padawans and an innocent child weren't missing!"

  Adi pressed her lips together. She cast her eyes on the floor, thinking.

  "Adi, we must find them," Qui-Gon said softly. "This is the only way."

  Adi raised her head. Her deep brown eyes still were clouded by doubt.

  She did not speak.

  "I understand if you don't wish to help me," Qui-Gon said firmly. "But I will disable that CIP. The question is, will you come with me?"

  Davi, Obi-Wan, and Siri sat in a dark corner of the food hall.

  "What are we waiting for?" Siri whispered to Davi.

  "Lockdown," Davi said. "The lights will go on and off three times. The Security Guides will change shifts. V-Tarz is on tonight. He'll sit at the surveillance post in the admin center. If anyone steps foot out of the dorm quads, an alarm will sound."

  "So how will we escape?" Siri asked.

  "V-Tarz waits five minutes after lockdown, then turns off security in Quad 7 and raids the kitchen," Davi said with a grin. "I found this out the night I met Scurry." He placed the ferbil on his palm and fed it a few seeds. "Scurry was in the food prep area. He must have gotten in somehow and couldn't find his way out. I knew if they found him he'd be… gotten rid of. I was trying to figure out how to keep him when the lockdown warning came. I decided to spend the night where I was. It's six punishment marks if you're caught out after lockdown. V-Tarz came in for a snack, so I hid."

  "How do you know he does it every night?" Obi-Wan asked.

  "Because you can see the security light blink off in the dorm," Davi explained. "I come out here almost every night. Sometimes I'm… I'm afraid to be alone in the dark."

  "But you sleep in a room with twenty other boys," Obi-Wan said.

  "I'm still alone," Davi said. Embarrassed, he looked down quickly to pet the ferbil.

  "Listen, I know what you mean," Siri said bluntly. "This place could give anyone the wild shivers."

  Davi looked up with a shy smile. Once again, Siri's forthright manner had reassured him, Obi-Wan noted. He would never have imagined that Siri was capable of comforting anyone.

  "Scurry helps," Davi said. "And my other pets. I find them in the yard during rec period. Most of them are hungry or scared or hurt. I smuggle them in and keep them by my bed. At night I sneak in here to get food for them.

  Sometimes I sneak outside just to see the stars."

  "How do we get out?" Obi-Wan asked.

  "Through the windows in the cleansing room of Quad 7," Davi said. "You can use the shower heads to swing up. It's an easy drop to the ground. Then you'll have to steal a landspeeder. I can give you the coordinates of the city."

  The lights turned on and off three times. A soft signal sounded.

  "In another five minutes, the floor will be alarmed," Davi whispered.

  "But then V-Tarz will turn it off again. I'll show you the way."

  "Why don't you come with us, Davi?" Siri asked.

  Davi shrank back. "Why would I do that?"

  "Don't you want to find out what's really happening in the galaxy?"

  Siri asked. "Don't you want a chance to do what you want to do?"

  "But the galaxy is a dangerous place," Davi said.

  "Some of it is dangerous," Obi-Wan said. "Not all."

  "There are places on Coruscant, where we live, that place orphan children with parents," Siri told him. "You could have a family. You could keep pets and work with animals."

  "I have a family," Davi said nervously. "The General Good is a family."

  "But Davi, The Learning is telling you lies," Siri said. "Don't you trust us?"

  "It's not that I don't trust you," Davi said worriedly. "But the power of evil that controls the galaxy might be telling you things that aren't true. Misinformation is spread to confuse the people and keep them in line."

  "But that's exactly what's happening here," Siri protested.

  "If I leave, the Masked Soldiers will come and attack Kegan," Davi said, shaking his head. "This is the vision of O-Vieve and V-Tan. No one must leave. The General Good will suffer, and invaders will come."

  Siri and Obi-Wan exchanged a frustrated glance. Davi had been trained in The Learning for too long. He could not accept what they told him as true.

  They heard the heavy tread of V-Tarz. The massive Keganite moved through the food hall, heading for the kitchens. Obi-Wan stayed perfectly still. In only a few minutes, he and Siri would be free.

  I
f everything went according to plan…

  A voice suddenly split the silence. "V-Tarz!"

  Another Security Guide stood in the doorway. "What are you doing?"

  "Security alert in the kitchens," V-Tarz said quickly. "Probably just a malfunction. Maybe the infrared alarm. I was just checking it out."

  "I'll go with you. New orders are for two posted guards during the lockdown hours. We'd better get Quad 7 back online quickly." The other Guide moved toward V-Tarz.