The Master of Disguise

  warning. There was a disturbance in the Force here. He realized that it had

  been there for some time. Anakin felt slow surprise trickle through him.

  Here? But he was among friends. Perhaps he was confused. Perhaps he

  was wrong. Soara had showed him that his connection to the Force was not as

  clear as he'd once supposed.

  He tried to focus on his feelings, but they seemed to run off his body

  like water. He blinked several times and realized he was sleepy. He had to

  struggle to stay awake. Mellora was speaking again, and he had to focus in

  order to hear her. Had his fight with Ferus tired him out so?

  ".. more tea? No, I don't think you should." She laughed, her red lips

  parting. Her dark hair was as sleek as the pelt of a water animal.

  "Anakin?" Tic's face seemed to loom in front of him. He patted

  Anakin's arm gently. "Are you all right? I have to tell you something. Are

  you listening?"

  Anakin focused on Tic. "Yes?"

  "Everything we told you about Granta Omega is a lie," Tic said, still

  smiling.

  Anakin struggled to understand his meaning. "I... don't... understand.

  "

  "Oh, don't worry. You will."

  "But we do have something to show you," Mellora said. "Something he

  owns." From beneath the folds of her white tunic she brought out a small

  pyramid. "Omega gave me this."

  It was a Sith artifact. Now Anakin knew the origin of the disturbance

  he had detected. It grew stronger, and he felt nausea rise in his throat.

  He tried to sit up, but the chair now seemed to hold him down.

  Mellora turned the cube in her hands. "At first I found the images

  disturbing. But Granta talked to me about them. Power can be disturbing.

  That's where its beauty lies. Do you understand?"

  Anakin's tongue felt thick. "No." He had been so foolish. So

  incredibly foolish and na¯ve. He saw the mug on the table in front of him.

  He had drained every drop. He wasn't tired. He was drugged.

  "Don't worry, we didn't poison you," Tic said. "It's because we have

  respect for the Jedi that we did this. We know it's the only way to slow

  you down."

  Tic's voice had not changed. He still sounded friendly and warm.

  "We've immobilized you in order to talk to you. We don't wish to harm you."

  "We only wish to discuss the Force," Mellora said.

  The other faces turned to him. Now their bright interest, he saw, was

  not interest at all. It was not so simple. It was greed. They were ravenous

  for information about him. He had thought he was learning from them, but

  all the time, they were studying him.

  "Mellora and I are the only scientists here," Tic said. "I'm afraid I

  lied to you about my friends. We are simply a group of ordinary beings who

  are interested in the extraordinary. We have a common interest in the

  Force."

  "We wanted to find a Force-sensitive being to talk to about it,"

  Mellora said.

  In other words, Anakin thought, they were a Sith cult. No matter how

  friendly they seemed. No matter how much they wanted him to think they were

  harmless. He had tangled with a Sith cult before. Although they weren't

  Force-sensitive, they were drawn to the dark side and they could be

  dangerous.

  But why Tic Verdun? He was a respected scientist.

  And how do you know that? You don't know anything about him except

  that you liked him.

  Anakin thought back to the mission on Haariden. He had liked Tic

  because Tic had seemed to understand him. He had been the bravest of the

  scientists, too. He had been the one to go off and scout for patrols. He

  had risked his life, they said..

  He had been gone for hours, they said..

  "Do you understand?" Tic asked him softly. "Do you, Anakin Skywalker?"

  "You are Granta Omega," he said.

  "Very good." Tic turned to the others, pleased. "You see how his mind

  continues to work? On an ordinary being, that drug would immobilize his

  thoughts as well as his legs."

  Anakin thought about trying to rise. He thought he would have enough

  strength to reach the door. He had not begun to tap into the Force yet.

  Wait. That's what Obi-Wan would say. He had enough strength for one

  try. He knew that. And if he had enough strength for only that, he had

  better plan it.

  "Back on Haariden, you said the Force frustrates you," Tic said.

  No. l spoke hastily. It was because of what happened with Darra. But

  Anakin said nothing. He did not want to have a conversation with Tic.

  Omega. He found it unnerving to see the same friendly look in his bright

  eyes, the good humor on his face.

  "That interested me," Omega said. "I thought, this Jedi is different.

  He recognizes not only what power is, but what it isn't. What it can be.

  Power is... protection. It is what stands between you and losing what you

  have. I'm not talking about material things, either. I'm talking about...

  everything."

  Anakin didn't understand. But then, he didn't want to.

  Tic leaned forward. His warm eyes met Anakin's.

  Not Tic. Granta Omega. He is not your friend.

  The words Tic and Omega blurred in his mind. He remembered a man

  sitting on a snowy mountainside, his skin knitted together with synth-

  flesh. He could not reconcile the two images, the two men. It all seemed

  unreal.

  "I've asked about you," Omega said. "I know you. I know you because I

  grew up like you. I wasn't a slave, but I might well have been. My mother

  worked at things she should not have, harder than she should have, longer

  than she should have - just for me."

  My mother did the same.

  "My mother worked herself to death for me," Omega said.

  I can only hope that Shmi is well and safe.

  "What is the Force for, if not to protect what you have? Why should

  you give that up because you are a Jedi? The Force can bring you all the

  power you need. Yet the Jedi tell you that you must have nothing. Why is

  that?"

  "Ours is a path of service," Anakin said.

  "And who do you serve? The Senate?" Omega laughed softly. "A group of

  fools who can be bought?" "We serve justice."

  "Whose?"

  "Justice does not have a master."

  "Shouldn't it?" Omega leaned back again, resting against the pillows.

  "I am just a seeker, as you are. You have been told that the Sith belong to

  the dark side. Yet the Jedi know little of the Sith. What you don't know

  could fill galaxies. Well, you do know one thing - that there is one Sith

  still alive. I know this, too. I wanted to be rich enough to find that

  Sith. Then one day I realized that was wrong. The only way I would find a

  Sith is if I was rich enough, powerful enough, so that he wanted to find

  me. I am not rich enough yet. But I will be."

  Omega paused. "I'm not Force-sensitive. I can never be a Sith. I have

  found something at last that I cannot buy. But I can be close to that

  power. I can sit at his side, as I am sitting by your side."

  "That's why you attack the Jedi," Anakin said. "You want to impress

  him."

  "Yes, you see? It's nothing personal." Omega leaned closer to him.

/>   "Don't you think I could have killed you if I wanted?"

  "No," Anakin said. "I know you think you could have."

  "I like you," Omega said. "I liked what I saw on Haariden. Your Master

  you can keep. Typical Jedi." He waved a hand. "But you... you I like."

  "I'm honored," Anakin said.

  "Sarcasm from a Jedi? I knew I liked you." Omega leaned back against

  the cushions and crossed an ankle over his leg comfortably. "You're

  different because you didn't grow up in that Temple. You know how power

  works because you were ground down beneath it. You know how the powerless

  have only their dignity to comfort them, and how, some days, that is not

  enough. Not nearly enough."

  Shmi. He had left her with nothing but her dignity. Mellora stood

  restlessly. "Let me show him." No.

  "Yes." Mellora reached into her pocket and withdrew Darra's

  lightsaber. "I've been learning how to use it. One day I will fight a Jedi.

  "

  The Force he had kept at bay shot through him, revitalizing his

  muscles. The sight of Darra's lightsaber in Mellora's hand had done it. He

  felt strength move through him. He knew he could rise now.

  Even Omega looked amazed when he shot to his feet. He activated his

  lightsaber in a motion so fast they could not follow it with their eyes.

  "How about today?" he taunted, taking a step toward her. "Are you

  ready to fight a Jedi today?" His voice was thick and it was an effort to

  get the words out. He could feel his leg muscles trembling but he knew they

  couldn't see it.

  "Well, well," Omega breathed. "Impressive."

  But the others were not so calm. They drew blasters.

  "Shoot him!" Mellora shrilled. She activated the lightsaber clumsily.

  Anakin took a step. He felt unsteady but in control. Mellora began to

  wave the lightsaber. She tried to execute an offensive thrust, but the

  lightsaber swung crazily. She was not able to balance it.

  "Mellora, don't be foolish," Omega warned.

  But Mellora did not drop the lightsaber, and Anakin was more afraid

  that she would injure herself than he was of the blasters. He knew his

  usual control would be off, so he would have to compensate. He could not

  risk a complicated move. Simple was best.

  Keeping the lightsaber in one hand, he struck out with a strong kick

  in order to dislodge Darra's lightsaber from her hand. But Mellora

  surprised him by twirling away. She was still hampered by the lightsaber,

  but the combination of Anakin's slowed reaction time and her own skill

  caused him to miss. Anakin stumbled, and to his surprise he could not

  recover easily.

  He went down on one hand. Mellora smiled. She raised the lightsaber.

  Even she could probably manage a downward stroke.

  He called on the Force. It surged through him. He balanced on one hand

  and swept his feet in an arc that hit Mellora on the ankles and took her

  down. Darra's lightsaber went flying.

  The others scattered, afraid of the lightsaber, and wildly fired their

  blasters. Granta Omega looked up, his mouth open, his hands outstretched

  for the lightsaber.

  Desperately, Anakin threw himself at Granta Omega. He hit him

  broadside, and they both fell. The lightsaber clattered to the floor,

  deactivated.

  The group saw Anakin on the floor with their leader and pointed their

  blasters at him. He raised his own lightsaber to deflect the fire, but he

  could see that he would not be able to hold out for long.

  Then suddenly a blue blur appeared through the door. Metal peeled back

  and Obi-Wan leaped through the opening.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  For a moment, no one moved. Anakin felt as though he had used up his

  last reserve of strength. He was sprawled on the floor, looking up at his

  Master. Mellora lay frozen, her eyes moving from the lightsaber on the

  floor to the activated one in Obi-Wan's hand.

  Granta Omega laughed at the same moment that the blasters fired.

  Obi-Wan stepped forward, his lightsaber constantly moving, deflecting

  the fire. Blaster bolts pinged off the walls. Obi-Wan came and stood over

  Anakin, who began to try to rise.

  Granta Omega's fingers closed over the fallen lightsaber's hilt. With

  the other hand, he reached down and activated a switch on a device hanging

  on his belt. A door in a console opened and released five seekers into the

  air. They honed in on Obi-Wan and peppered him with blaster fire. Obi-Wan

  swung his lightsaber, deflecting the fire, and leaped in the air to slash

  the seekers one by one. He had his hands full. Anakin watched as Granta

  Omega, Mellora, and the rest of the group escaped through a window. Omega

  held Darra's light-saber.

  Anakin saw it happening and felt responsible again. If his Master

  hadn't needed to protect him, he would have captured them all. A last surge

  of strength helped him down one seeker with an awkward swing from the

  floor. Obi-Wan took out the last two.

  He reached down and helped Anakin to his feet. "What happened?"

  "They drugged me. The mug..."

  Obi-Wan picked up the mug and shoved it in his tunic. "We'll analyze

  it at the Temple."

  "They had a Sith artifact. A Holocron pyramid. Tic is Granta Omega - "

  "I know." Obi-Wan searched the room. "They must have taken it with

  them." He crouched in front of the console. He reached in and rummaged

  through a travel kit. He threw aside several basic items, then held up a

  portable scanner. He studied it for a moment. "Now this is interesting."

  Anakin nodded. He felt as though it took him several long minutes to

  complete the nod. Obi-Wan noted this and jumped to his feet.

  "We'd better get you back to the Temple."

  Obi-Wan stood in front of the assembled Jedi Council. In one hand he

  held the portable scanner. He stood respectfully as the Jedi Council sat,

  absorbing what he had told them.

  "Certain you are of this," Yoda said.

  "Completely."

  "Ambitious, this Granta Omega is."

  "That is the danger. He infiltrated the Senate expedition because he

  knew it was going to examine the mineral rights of Haariden. It was the

  Senate's secret plan to defuse the civil war. I read the expedition's

  report. It was incomplete, but it shows one thing clearly - there is an

  active volcano on Haariden. The mountain Kaachtari will soon have a massive

  eruption, an eruption so powerful it will change the coastline nearby. The

  titanite that has been hidden in the planet's core will spew out with the

  lava. A giant tidal wave will form and cover the landmass. Sano Sauro has

  buried the report, but it is in the Senate archives." Obi-Wan held up the

  portable scanner. "This is an underwater scanner. He is planning to mine

  the titanite from the sea. He will be able to do so if we don't stop him. I

  believe he wants to control the bacta market for the entire galaxy."

  "What do you wish to do, Master Kenobi?" Ki-Adi Mundi asked. "He has

  not committed a crime."

  "Not for the bacta, no, not yet," Obi-Wan said. "Although he did use

  an alias to get on a Senate expedition, and that would lead to censure, at

  least. He has committe
d serious crimes against the Jedi, however. He has

  paid bounty hunters and soldiers to attack us on two occasions. He drugged

  my Padawan."

  "This is something you know, but you must also prove," Ki-Adi-Mundi

  said. His second heart pulsed in his high skull. "That is the difficulty."

  "I can bring him back to Coruscant for questioning by the Senate,"

  Obi-Wan said. "At least we can prevent what he plans. He wants to gain even

  greater power and wealth in order to attract the hidden Sith Lord. He

  admitted this to Anakin."

  "Perhaps he would attract him," Mace Windu said. "If we let him, if we

  stood back and watched, we would be able to track the Sith Lord ourselves.

  He would be flushed out of hiding before he is ready."

  "Are you saying we should not stop Omega?" Obi-Wan asked in disbelief.

  Mace Windu looked at him sharply. "We are not drawing conclusions. We

  are speculating."

  "All sides of the issue we must examine," Yoda said.

  Mace Windu swiveled in his chair to look out over the twinkling lights

  of Coruscant. "Darkness lies ahead. We can all feel it. Is this a place