Jedi Apprentice Special Edition 2: The Followers (звёздные войны)

by Джуд Уотсон

  The problem was, he did not know how to put the words together. He did not know exactly what to say. And whenever he offered Anakin this kind of guidance, the boy brushed it aside. It was almost as if Anakin thought that the things Obi-Wan was trying to warn him about did not apply to him.

  With a sigh, Obi-Wan wished that Qui-Gon were still alive. He would know just what to say, what to do. He would be able to get through to Anakin.

  "I think we're being followed," the pilot said after they came out of hyperspace, breaking into Obi-Wan's thoughts.

  Obi-Wan rose and approached the controls. It was not unlikely, he realized. Whoever sabotaged the ship could easily be on their tail.

  Obi-Wan carefully searched the ship's detection system. He found nothing.

  Soon they landed safely on Kodai. After instructing the pilot not to leave the planet, Obi-Wan led Anakin downtown.

  "We need to get to the water soon," Obi-Wan explained as they made their way up the main street. The tide was already going out, but they weren't going to wait for it to hit its lowest point. If they did, they might be too late; they had to beat Norval, or whoever was after the Holocron. This time they had to get there first.

  Anakin looked around. "There's not much here, is there?" he asked.

  "No," Obi-Wan replied. "There was a huge tidal wave several hundred years ago, and many Kodaians were killed. Most of the survivors fled the planet. Those who remain await another giant wave, and in their minds, certain death."

  Anakin grimaced. "That's pretty bad," he said.

  Obi-Wan laughed. "I agree, Padawan." Then his expression grew serious. "I would not choose to live my life in such a way. But the Kodaians did not choose, either. It would be difficult to have a history of loss."

  Anakin was thoughtful as they scoured the town. "You'd think there'd be diving shops everywhere," he finally said. "Practically the whole planet is sea."

  "True. But the people are afraid of it," Obi-Wan reminded him.

  "They seem afraid of us, too," Anakin said. "Whenever we pass someone, they move more quickly and look away."

  "You are observant, Anakin," Obi-Wan said proudly. "Kodaians do not feel comfortable around strangers."

  After checking the tide and finding it was not yet the right time to dive, the Jedi made their way back to the ship. Many Kodaians went out of their way to avoid them on the streets. Others stopped to stare at them.

  And a few shouted warnings about the deadly sea and its hidden evils.

  "Master," Anakin suddenly said. His voice was quiet, almost hesitant.

  This was unusual for the boy. "I have something to tell you."

  Obi-Wan stopped and turned toward his Padawan. "What is it?" he asked.

  "I found a holoprojector when we were at Omal's apartment. It… it had a message on it, one of the messages Master Ki-Adi Mundi told us about.

  " Obi-Wan's eyes widened. "A message showing a Jedi being killed?" he asked.

  Anakin nodded.

  For a moment Obi-Wan did not know how to respond. This was important information — not something an apprentice should keep from his Master.

  "Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked in a raised voice.

  "I… I didn't think it was important," Anakin mumbled. "We already knew the messages existed, and you wanted to get back to the ship."

  Obi-Wan stared at his Padawan. He never would have considered keeping this kind of information from Qui-Gon. As a Jedi team, it was essential that they share every piece of knowledge they gathered. They had to trust each other. Completely.

  With a jolt, Obi-Wan realized that Anakin might not totally trust him. Why else would he keep something like this from him?

  As Obi-Wan stared down at his Padawan learner, an awful thought crept into his mind: He wasn't sure he completely trusted Anakin, either.

  "You should have told me immediately," Obi-Wan said sternly. "Be sure that you do so next time."

  Anakin looked down at his feet. "Yes, Master," he said.

  Without another word, Obi-Wan turned away and continued down the street.

  The Jedi were silent as they walked back to the ship. Inside, Dr.

  Lundi was asleep in his cage, his loud snores filling the hold. He woke abruptly when the Jedi entered.

  "Can't a prisoner get some sleep around here?" he grumbled, wiping a line of drool off his chin with one hand and rubbing his eye with another.

  "Not when he has agreed to provide important information," Obi-Wan replied flatly. "I need you to answer some questions about your last journey to the bottom of the Kodaian sea. It's time for you to tell us what you know."

  The professor glared at Obi-Wan for several long seconds. It was true that he had agreed to answer questions in exchange for the chance to look upon the Holocron once more. "Go on," he finally said.

  "Ten years ago you came to Kodai to go after the Holocron," Obi-Wan said. "And one of your star pupils came after you."

  "Norval," Lundi said, nodding. "He was my star pupil. Had such a hunger for knowledge."

  "Dark knowledge," Obi-Wan noted, looking pointedly at Dr. Lundi.

  Lundi shrugged. "It is not my responsibility how the boy used what he learned. I was only the teacher. I simply passed the information along."

  Lundi's casual response made Obi-Wan angry. He obviously took his powerful position as a teacher very lightly. Didn't he understand the effect he had on people? Didn't he know he was responsible for the destruction of at least one young life?

  "But Norval was strong — stronger than even I knew," Lundi went on.

  "He got to the Holocron first. He brought it up still inside its vault. We fought over it, and it fell into the geyser crater."

  Obi-Wan closed his eyes as disappointment surged inside him. Though he'd known that the Holocron could have fallen deeper into the pocketed seafloor, he'd hoped it wasn't true. It meant that the Holocron was very far down.

  And located inside a gushing geyser that was incredibly treacherous, even at the lowest tide. The Holocron could easily be so far down that no one would be able to retrieve it. But what if it wasn't?

  Obi-Wan was not feeling confident about anything on this mission. Yet he had no choice but to move forward — before someone else did.

  Chapter 20

  Anakin squinted into the darkness as the loaded gravsled zoomed over the exposed sea-floor. The tide was already partially out, and soon they would be traveling over the water.

  "That way," Obi-Wan said, pointing off to the left. They were the first words he'd spoken to him since their argument. Anakin felt badly about not telling his Master about the hologram message sooner, but wasn't sure why it was such a big deal. He did tell him, didn't he?

  Anakin turned the vehicle. Beside him, Dr. Lundi was staring through the bars of his portable cage. His eyes were wide, and he couldn't sit still. He seemed like an excited child.

  He can't wait to see the Holocron, Anakin thought. The ancient artifact had quite a reputation to live up to. As he increased the gravsled's speed, the young Jedi secretly hoped that it would.

  The gravsled zoomed over the water, heading straight toward the crater. Anakin thought he saw something sticking up above the shallow sea.

  It looked like a diving platform.

  "Just ahead," Obi-Wan said. Anakin could hear the disappointment in his Master's voice. He pulled the gravsled up beside a platform piled with equipment and cut the engine.

  Obi-Wan stared down at the water suit and air tank. "Someone has already been here," he said. "I only hope they haven't found the Holocron."

  Anakin scanned the surface of the sea. He could feel a powerful, dark energy surrounding them. But he wasn't sure if it was because the Holocron was still below, or because it had been there for years.

  "The Holocron is gone," Lundi cackled. He waved his arms, smacking several against the top and sides of his travel cage. "He came back.

  Norval's got it."

  Obi-Wan pulled on his breather and gestured for
Anakin to do the same. In spite of Lundi's words, the Jedi couldn't leave this time until they were certain that the Holocron was not still under the sea. After checking to make sure that Lundi's cage was anchored securely to the gravsled, they dove into the water.

  Obi-Wan led the way down the side of the crater to the rocky shelf below. It was a long way down and Anakin felt a surge of excitement as they dropped lower and lower. This was a mission.

  Once they were on the shelf, it was easy to locate the geyser — a huge mass of hot water gushed out of it every several minutes. That didn't leave them much time to investigate what was below.

  Anakin dove down into the crater after his Master, kicking as hard as he could. There was nothing in front of him except the inky blackness of the deep sea. He could barely see his Master's legs moving back and forth just a few meters in front of his face. At last Obi-Wan lit a glow rod.

  Down, down, down they swam. Anakin's ears popped several times from the pressure, and the water got warmer and warmer.

  After what seemed like several minutes, Anakin caught a glimpse of a sinister red glow several meters in front of them, rising from the seafloor. His breath caught in his throat as he came to a halt. The water here seemed to pulsate with energy, and he had to concentrate to stay in one place. The same appeared to be true for his Master.

  Obi-Wan gestured for Anakin to stay put and cautiously swam forward toward a glowing vault. Anakin saw his legs move back and forth, then stop.

  Obi-Wan thrust his glow rod into the tomblike box. It was empty. A second later Obi-Wan had turned around and was pointing up. He wanted Anakin to head back to the surface.

  Anakin wondered how long they'd been down there. Five minutes? Six?

  There wasn't much time before the geyser would blow again.

  Turning around as quickly as he could, he bolted for the surface. But swimming up was not easy. It almost felt as if something was holding him down, keeping him in the geyser. Kicking hard, he moved slowly upward.

  Anakin's legs were aching when he felt a small gush of warm water rush past him. With a series of furious kicks, he surged ahead. He did not want to be anywhere nearby when the geyser erupted.

  Finally the geyser walls disappeared and the Jedi were once again in open water. Sprinting forward, they moved away from the geyser mouth just as a giant burst of scalding water shot out.

  The Jedi wasted no time getting back to the gravsled. Now that they knew the Holocron was not there, they had to get back to civilization as soon as possible.

  Anakin pulled off his breather and started the gravsled. They were practically moving when Obi-Wan climbed out of the water.

  "It was gone," Lundi declared, looking at the Jedi's empty hands.

  "Clever. The boy is clever — more clever than I thought. I should have suspected. Yes, suspected. He almost had it the last time, he did. Until Omal got in his way. Lucky for me. Unlucky for him. Omal gave me a chance to attack — to get the Holocron for myself. But Norval was a formidable opponent. I have to hand it to him…"

  Lundi's voice trailed off as he lost himself in the ten-year-old memory.

  "Where would Norval take the Holocron?" Obi-Wan asked.

  Professor Lundi crossed several arms across his chest. "A deal, a deal," he said defiantly. "We had our deal. I told you secrets for a chance to see the Holocron. But I didn't see it, did I? The game is up, up, up.

  And you lost. The boy has the Holocron. The boy. Ha!"

  Anger swelled inside Anakin. He waited for his Master to do something, to shake some sense into the old loon. But Obi-Wan was silent as he stared glumly at the professor.

  Wearing a sinister smirk, Lundi looked from Anakin to Obi-Wan.

  "Though I doubt the boy actually knows what to do with it," he added under his breath. "But at least he's not cowardly like you and the rest of your robed friends."

  That's it. Anakin switched off the gravsled and lunged at the professor. He could smell the old Quermian's rancid breath as he leaned in close to his face.

  "This isn't funny, wormhead," he said furiously. "Your boy may not know what to do with the Holocron, but the Sith will."

  The smile disappeared from Professor Lundi's face as he stared back at Anakin. He dropped all of his gangly arms to his sides.

  "I suspect you know your history, professor," Anakin shouted, forcing the Quermian's long neck farther and farther back. "And that you're well aware if the Sith gain power it's not just the Jedi who will die."

  Chapter 21

  Obi-Wan looked back and forth between Anakin and Dr. Lundi. He knew that Anakin's outburst was not appropriate. It was not the Jedi way, and Anakin seemed to let anger overtake him too easily. Obi-Wan could still see a flicker of fury in his eyes. As his Master, it was his duty to reprimand the boy for his behavior. To counsel him about the danger of negative emotions.

  But the outburst seemed to have an effect on Lundi. For the first time since they'd left Coruscant, the professor appeared cowed. The young Jedi had actually managed to intimidate Professor Lundi. For this Obi-Wan was grateful.

  Obi-Wan watched his Padawan return to the controls and start the gravsled engine.

  He is so different from me, he thought. Our relationship is so different from the one I shared with Qui-Gon.

  Of course with Anakin, Obi-Wan was no longer the Padawan. He was the Master, and it was his job to lead, to teach. He often found himself wondering if he was ready for this awesome responsibility. It had all happened so fast — one day he was a Padawan learner himself, and the next he was Anakin's Master. He could not help but feel that it was really a role for Qui-Gon.

  Like Qui-Gon, Anakin had a tendency to break the rules. He often chose to follow his instincts instead of the Jedi code. But his decisions, while sometimes rash, almost always got results. They almost always put the mission a step ahead, and often left Obi-Wan at odds.

  This is not the time for a reprimand, Obi-Wan thought as they sped back toward shore. They had to get to the hangar before Norval rounded up transport and left the planet altogether.

  Within a few minutes the gravsled was at the hangar. But their hired ship and its pilot were nowhere to be seen.

  "He's fled," Obi-Wan said, grimly looking around the hangar.

  "That coward," Anakin said with disgust. "I never should have fixed his ship. The next time I see him — "

  "We don't have time to deal with that now," Obi-Wan interrupted.

  "Let's find out who has left the planet in the last few hours and see if we can track them."

  After securing the still-silent Lundi's cage to a hangar wall, Obi- Wan and Anakin split up to search the hangar. Obi-Wan had seen Norval ten years earlier, and had described him to his Padawan. But aside from an average-sized young man with dark hair, they didn't have much to go on.

  The hangar was not particularly busy, and none of the pilots Obi-Wan approached had seen Norval — or at least they said they hadn't seen him. If they said anything at all. Disappointed, Obi-Wan decided to check the hangar records.

  Only one ship had left in the last few hours. It was headed toward the Ploo Sector. But no planet was specified.

  "Did you find anything?" Anakin asked as he approached his Master.

  "Nobody would talk to me."

  "Just this," Obi-Wan said, tossing Anakin the records. It seemed that the Holocron had eluded him a second time. Trying to find a mystery ship in a vast sector was a long shot, and it was all they had to go on.

  "Why would he go to the Ploo Sector?" Anakin asked.

  Several meters away, Lundi stuck his narrow head through the bars of his cage. "Norval was a good student. A great one. In fact the only thing that surpassed his desire for knowledge and power was his greed." Dr. Lundi stood up as straight as he could inside his cage. "I was offered vast riches by several anonymous parties to turn over the Sith Holocron should I ever capture it. One of the parties wanted to rendezvous beside my home planet of Ploo II."

  The Jedi exchanged glance
s. Should they believe him? Lundi had several reasons to thwart their progress. He probably enjoyed the idea of Norval having the Holocron, of his using it for his own evil uses. He would take pride in that. Norval was, after all, Lundi's prize student.

  But for the first time Obi-Wan felt he had some insight into Lundi's thoughts. It was as if a wall had been torn down, and Obi-Wan sensed that the professor was telling the truth. The Quermian wanted to go after the Holocron himself. He wanted a chance to see it again, to be close to its power.