The Master of Disguise

  weapons. Some usable transport. But anything that had not been destroyed

  had been looted.

  Obi-Wan stopped. Not looted, he suddenly realized. The village had not

  been looted. It did not bear the scars. It had undergone a siege. That he

  could tell. But the valuables hadn't been stolen. They had been removed.

  He retraced his steps. He combed through the buildings, now knowing

  exactly what he was looking for. It didn't take him long. He found the

  first tunnel opening in the closet of a prosperous house that was almost

  empty of furnishings. The opening was set into the floor of patterned wood

  panels. If he hadn't been looking for the seam, he would have stepped right

  over it. It was cleverly concealed in the design on the wood.

  He lowered himself down into the tunnel. It had been clumsily dug, but

  it was reinforced well with plastoid tubing. He kept his bearings as he

  wandered through the underground walkways. There were several exits. One

  was in the back of the school. One in the clinic. And one opened out deep

  in the forest, on the other side of the Haariden camp. They were so close

  that Obi-Wan could clearly see the weariness in one soldier's face as he

  leaned over to unroll his bedding on the forest floor.

  Obi-Wan returned to the others and beckoned to Soara. He explained

  what he had found.

  "Should we evacuate now?" Soara asked, glancing at Darra. "We'll be

  taking a great risk if we try to sneak by the Haariden camp."

  "Too great a risk, I fear," Obi-Wan said. "If it were just the four of

  us, it would be one thing. But we can't count on the scientists. They've

  been on the run for weeks. They're worn out. I think we need to strike an

  offense first. Now. They are settling down to sleep. It's the best time. If

  we can knock out their tracking devices and some weaponry, we'll be ahead."

  Soara nodded. "You and I must go. We should leave Anakin here in case.

  "

  Obi-Wan nodded. He was glad Soara didn't hold Anakin's rash action

  during the battle against him.

  But when he told his Padawan their plan, Anakin seemed crestfallen at

  not being included in the attack.

  Obi-Wan felt exasperated. Anakin's reaction seemed that of a boy,

  anxious to be in on the action. It wasn't worthy of his Padawan. "This is

  important," he told him. "You need to protect the scientists and Darra.

  Soara and I won't be long."

  "But you might need me," Anakin said. "It's a large patrol."

  "We have surprise on our side. No, Padawan. You must remain here."

  "I would not fail you this time," Anakin promised.

  Obi-Wan saw it then, the hunger on Anakin's face. It was not a hunger

  for action. It was the need to redeem himself.

  Obi-Wan spoke gently. "The best thing you can do for Darra is remain

  here to protect her."

  Anakin looked down, struggling to accept the order. "As you wish,

  Master."

  "You must keep your focus, young Padawan," Obi-Wan murmured, so that

  the others wouldn't overhear. "This is not a judgment on you. This is the

  best way to proceed."

  Anakin nodded, keeping his eyes down. "All right," he muttered.

  Obi-Wan hesitated. Now he could feel the shame behind Anakin's

  questions. His Padawan's feelings ran deep. His shame was filling him now,

  and he thought that only action could relieve it. He was wrong, but Obi-Wan

  would need time to explain why this was so.

  He knew that his Padawan needed him. Yet he had to go. He struggled

  for words to leave behind, but he had none. The only thing left to do was

  walk away.

  CHAPTER FOUR,

  Anakin watched his Master walk away from him. There was no doubt or

  hesitation in how Obi-Wan moved. Ever. Anakin wanted to move through his

  own life with the same assurance. Yet time and again he found himself

  confronting miscalculation and error. Time and again he moved when he

  shouldn't have moved, said what he shouldn't have said, or turned when he

  should have stayed still.

  It was times like this when his connection to the Force felt like a

  burden more than a gift. It pulsed around him so strongly and he could feel

  it so easily that he used it to act instead of to strategize. Obi-Wan had

  told him the Force must be used for caution and control as well as action.

  So far he had not learned that lesson. It was because he did not understand

  it. During the battle he had seen which way the blaster fire would come. He

  had exactly determined its movement and speed. But he had not factored in

  the notion that Darra would be moving, too.

  If it had been a Temple exercise, it wouldn't have mattered. Darra

  would have perhaps received a bruise at most. She would have landed lightly

  on her feet, the way she always did, and turned to him with a quick retort

  and a smile. Instead, she was wounded and in shock.

  Nothing had gone right on this planet, Anakin thought, almost angry

  now. He felt lost in a dark world, spinning in a system he did not know.

  The scientists had rolled themselves into thermal blankets and were

  trying to catch a few hours of sleep in the corner. Through the half-

  demolished roof above, Anakin could see the cold night sky. The

  constellations were not familiar to him and made him feel even farther away

  from home.

  He crossed the room and crouched by Darra. Her eyelashes cast shadows

  on her pale cheeks. There was a fine sheen of perspiration on her skin. He

  watched her breathe in and out.

  I'm sorry, he spoke in his mind.

  He felt a presence by his shoulder. The scientist TicVerdun looked

  down at Darra. "It is hard to see a friend this way, I know."

  "Yes," Anakin said. He did not want to discuss his feelings with this

  stranger.

  "Yesterday I would have said that Jedi are used to pain and suffering

  and thus can bear it better than we do," Tic Verdun continued. "Today I

  find I would be wrong. You seem to feel it more."

  "Not more," Anakin said. "It's just that we put ourselves in the way

  of danger. It is our path. We see one another's strength. We see one

  another at our best. So we know exactly how much we lose when one of us

  goes down. And we feel... if only we could have been the one to fall."

  He felt Tic Verdun's eyes on him. "I saw that you wanted to go with

  your Master and Soara Antana. If you wish to follow them, I will take

  responsibility for Darra Thel-Tanis and the rest of us. The others are

  tired. I am still strong."

  Anakin was impressed. No wonder Tic Verdun had been the group's scout.

  He had great courage.

  Anakin shook his head. "I can't go. But thank you." He turned away

  again and sat down next to Darra. He didn't want to be rude, but he wasn't

  in the mood to talk.

  But Tic Verdun didn't get the hint. He sat down, too. "The Force," he

  said. "You have to see how it would be intriguing to a scientist. Something

  that cannot be seen, cannot be measured. And it can only be felt by a

  select few. Here I am with someone who can feel it and use it. I saw it

  happen just a short while ago. Can you explain how it works to me? Can you

  tell me anything at
all?" He added hastily, "Or is it forbidden to speak of

  it?"

  "It is not forbidden," Anakin said. "But it is not done."

  Tic wrapped his arms around his knees. "I see."

  Now Anakin was afraid he'd been rude. "It is hard to talk about it. It

  is something I can feel around me. Something I can gather and tap into,

  like a deep well. It sustains me and frustrates me - "

  "Frustrates you?" Tic's dark eyes were alive, curious. Anakin leaned

  back against the cold stone wall. He felt very tired. "Sometimes. It is so

  vast..."

  "That you feel small." Tic gave a sad smile. "I study the galaxy. I

  know how that feels. How simple it is, and yet how intricate and complex.

  It is all around you and you are at the center of it, yet you are nothing

  compared to it."

  "Yes," Anakin said. Tic had put into words what he had been feeling.

  No one had ever done that before. Not even Obi-Wan. Sometimes the Force

  made him feel... lonely.

  "And you will never truly understand it," Tic added softly, "yet you

  will spend your life trying. And sometimes you ask yourself, is it worth

  it? Is it foolish of you to devote yourself to trying to know the

  unknowable?" He laughed. "All I know is, it can't be wise."

  "Wisdom is not what we seek," Anakin said, repeating a Jedi saying.

  "Wisdom can only be found."

  Tic shook his head, grinning. "Whatever that means. And I thought the

  scientific institute was hard."

  When Tic smiled, Anakin realized that he was younger than he'd

  thought. He wasn't much older than Obi-Wan. Tic had made him feel better,

  and he didn't think anyone was capable of that.

  Suddenly the sound of explosions split the air. The scientists all

  jumped to their feet, fear on their faces. Darra stirred but did not wake.

  "What is it?" Reug Yucon whispered the words harshly.

  Anakin heard the sound of alarmed voices from the Haariden camp. Soara

  and Obi-Wan had begun their attack. Every muscle seemed to contract with

  the effort of staying still. He wanted so badly to go.

  "Should we leave?" Joveh D'a Alin asked anxiously. "We could be

  trapped here."

  "No," Anakin said. "We'll wait here."

  Waiting was the hardest thing. Like him, the scientists wanted to

  move. But they wanted to run from the source of the explosions. He wanted

  to run toward them.

  "We are lucky to have you with us," Tic said quietly. A small

  consolation, Anakin thought. But he'd take it.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  If any of the Haaridens were trying to grab some sleep, they were now

  disappointed. The patrol troops had been so certain that they were safe

  that they hadn't bothered to post guards. It was easy for Obi-Wan and Soara

  to sneak into the camp. The Haaridens had left the small arms jumbled

  together in a heap. Soara and Obi-Wan easily jammed the flechette launchers

  and the missile tube, and pocketed all the thermal detonators.

  Then they tossed a detonator into the brush in order to wake everybody

  up. While the Haaridens scrambled for their blasters, the only weapons left

  to them, the Jedi stood, waiting.

  Before the quickest Haariden could shoot, Obi-Wan called, "Think

  first. Surrender is your best option." The Haariden captain spoke up, his

  blaster leveled at Obi-Wan's chest. "Why should we surrender? We are forty,

  and you are only two."

  "I can think of one good reason," Obi-Wan said, holding up the thermal

  detonators. "We have ten of these. The blast radius is five meters for

  each. We can toss these accurately and quickly and demolish this entire

  patrol in exactly five seconds."

  "You'll blow yourself up," the Haariden captain sneered.

  Obi-Wan smiled. "I don't think so."

  The next thing the captain knew, Obi-Wan had somersaulted over his

  head and landed on his other side. "Maybe I need to remind you," Obi-Wan

  said. "We are Jedi."

  The other Haariden soldiers looked nervous. They glared at one

  another, then at their captain.

  "I'm not inclined to find out if they can do it," one soldier

  muttered.

  "Why should we?" another said.

  "This isn't even our fight," the first soldier added. "Why can't we

  just return to our unit?" another asked.

  The captain eyed the thermal detonator in Soara's hand, her thumb over

  the release.

  "What happens to us?" he asked.

  "We have no quarrel with you," Obi-Wan said. "As long as we have safe

  passage to our transport."

  The captain paused. Then he slowly lowered his blaster.

  Soara and Obi-Wan dropped the thermal detonators back into the pockets

  of their tunics.

  "What do you mean, it's not your fight?" Soara asked.

  "We were paid to split off from our unit and attack you," the captain

  said, wiping a weary hand across his forehead.

  Soara and Obi-Wan exchanged a glance. "Who paid you?" Soara asked.

  The captain looked evasive. "No one we knew. I mean, not a native

  Haariden. An outlander."

  "His name?"

  "He didn't say."

  "What did he look like?"

  The captain was about to answer, but a blank look came over his face.

  He shook his head several times. "Isn't that strange," he said. "I honestly

  don't remember."

  A pulse began to beat inside Obi-Wan. He gripped the hilt of his

  lightsaber.

  "What is he to you?" Soara asked. "I would think you would rather have

  the Jedi on your side."

  The captain gave a sad smile. "The Jedi can't help us. We are

  perfectly capable of destroying ourselves. Yes, he gave me his name. It was

  Granta Omega."

  The name only confirmed what Obi-Wan had already suspected. He had met

  Granta Omega before. Omega had hired a group of bounty hunters to hunt him

  down, as well as Anakin and another Jedi. Obi-Wan had still not found out

  why. He knew that Omega was not a Sith, but he collected Sith artifacts.

  Omega was also a void, a person with enough power to appear so neutral

  as to fade from the memory of those who had met him. He did not have a

  Force-connection, but he had cunning. And for some reason, he despised the

  Jedi.

  Obi-Wan was not surprised to run into Granta Omega again. But why

  here, and why now?

  Suddenly the horizon lit up with a dull red glow.

  "The battle has resumed," the captain said tiredly. "We should return

  to our unit." He hesitated. "Since you have spared our lives, I will also

  tell you this - all units have been called to the battle on the other edge

  of the forest. You will have no trouble reaching your transport safely. Our

  concerns now lie elsewhere." He bowed. "Captain Noq Welflet, at your

  service."

  He looked at the soldiers, who had dropped back to the ground. Some of

  them sat, their heads in their hands. Others looked numbly around.

  "My soldiers are exhausted," he said. "I took the credits from Granta

  in order to feed and clothe them. I did not want to fight the Jedi. I do

  not want to fight at all, actually." He made an attempt at a laugh, but

  began to cough. "My lungs are full of smoke and ashes," he murmured.

/>   "Why do you continue?" Obi-Wan asked.

  Captain Welflet's eyes were red-rimmed above his straggly beard.

  "Because I must."

  Soara raised a hand to take in the exhausted patrol, the ruined

  village, the blackened stumps. "And it's worth all this? Your land ruined,

  your people dead?"

  The captain sighed. "I only know there is no alternative."

  Obi-Wan and Soara headed back to the others. They were both saddened

  by their experience on Haariden. There seemed little chance for peace.

  They hurried back to the group and told the scientists the good news.

  They should reach the transport without incident.

  "And the Haariden patrol?" Anakin asked.

  "They've gone back to join the war," Obi-Wan said. "They won't bother

  us." He would tell Anakin about Granta Omega back at the Temple. Now they

  needed to focus on getting off-planet.

  Soara and Obi-Wan fashioned a body sling and tied Darra gently against

  Obi-Wan's chest. They hiked to the transport, making good time now. The sky

  lightened and a pale sun rose as they reached the ship.

  The scientists boarded with weary relief. Obi-Wan gently set Darra